Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, The Baha'i World: Volume 08 (1938-1940), New York: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1942, bahai-library.com.
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THE BAHA’I WORLD
95 AND 96 OF THE BAHA’I ERA
1938-1940 A.D.
*“

The Purest Branch.

Ill
The Monuments Erected on the Graves of the Mother and Brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

pict3.jpg
UIL
THE BAHA’i WORLD
A Biennial International Record
Prepared under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the United States and
Canada
with the approval of Shoghi Effendi

Volume VIII
95 AND 96 OF THE BAHA’I ERA
APRIL 1938-1940 A.D.
AI
BAHA’i PUBLISHING TRUST
Wilmette, Illinois

Copyright, 1942, by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Reprinted 1981
N 0 T E: The spelling of the Oriental words and proper names used in this issue of THE BAHA’i WORLD is according to the
system of transliteration established at one of the
International Oriental Congresses.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATEs OP AMERICA

To
SHOGHI EFFENDI
Guardian of the Bahã’i Faith this work is dedicated
in the hope that it will assist his efforts to promote that spiritual unity
underlying and anticipating the “Most Great Peace”
of
B AHA ‘ U ‘L LA H
CONTENTS
PART ONE
PAGE
I. Aims and Purposes of the Bahá’i Faith 1
A Worldwide Spiritual Community 1
The Renewal of Faith 3
The Basis of Unity 6
The Spirit of the New Day 9
A Background of Heroic Sacrifice 13
II. Survey of Current Bahá’i Activities in the East and West 15
International 1 5
Pioneer Teachers in the Seven Year Plan 55
Martha Root’s Travels in India, Burma, and Australia, Her Death in
Honolulu 60
The Bahá’i Faith in Iran 73
The Passing of May Maxwell 79
The Bahá’i Faith in the British Isles 81
Consolidation of the Faith in Egypt 85
Bahá’i Activities in ‘Iraq 86
Persecution and Deportation of the Bahá’is of Caucasus and Turkistan 87
The Bahá’i Faith in Australia and New Zealand 90
Bahá’i Activities in India and Burma 92
Important Developments in the Bahâ’i Community of North America 96
Bahá’i Summer Schools 117
The International Bahá’i Bureau 124
Donation of Land in Southern Palestine 125
The Worldwide Bahá’i Community 125
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the United States and
Canada—Annual report, 1938-1939 127
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and
Canada. Supplementary report, 193 8-1939 138
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and
Canada. Annual report, 1939-1940 139
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and
Canada. Supplementary report, 1939-1940 . 157
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the British Isles. Annual
report, 1938-1939 160
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the British Isles. Annual
report, 1939-1940 165
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran. Annual report,
1938-1939 172
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran. Annual report,
1939-1940 191
xv

xvi CONTENTS
PAGE
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of ‘Iraq. Annual report,
1938-1940 194
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and Burma. Annual
report, 1938-1940 196
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Australia and New Zealand.
Annual report, 1938-1940 201
III. Excerpts from Bahá’i Sacred Writings 205
Words of the Báb 205
Words of Bahá’u’llah 212
Cited in The Advent of Divine Justice 212
Prayers and Meditations 2 1 8
Excerpts from Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’llãh 222
Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã 230
The Manifestations of God 230
Explanation of the Rebukes Addressed by God to the Prophets 230
Explanation of the Verse of the Kitdb-i-Aqdas. “There Is No Associate
for the Dawning-Place of Command in the Supreme Sinlessness”. . . 232
Perfections Are Without Limit 234
The Evolution of Man in the Other World 235
The State of Man and His Progress After Death 235
Explanation of a Verse in the Kitdb-i-Aqdas 236
The Existence of the Rational Soul After the Death of the Body 236
Eternal Life and Entrance into the Kingdom of God 237
Industrial Justice 238
The Unity of Religion 240
The Image of God 243
IV. Transfer of the Remains of the Brother and Mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã to Mt.
Carmel 245
The Spiritual Potencies of that Consecrated Spot 245
The Burial of the Purest Branch and the Mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 253
V. The Passing of Munirih Khánum, the Holy Mother 259
Episodes in the Life of Munirih Khánum 259
In Memory of Munirih Khánum 263
A Loving Tribute from Australia 266
VI. The Passing of Queen Marie of Rumania 269
Queen Marie of Rumania and the Bahá’i Faith 271
Treasured Memories by Lilian McNeill 276
Queen Marie of Rumania by Martha L. Root 278
PART TWO
I, The World Order of Baha’u’llah 285
1. Present-Day Administration of the Bahá’i Faith 285
Introductory Statement 285
A Procedure for the Conduct of the Local Spiritual Assembly. . . 294
The Annual Baha’i Convention 299

CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
The Non-Political Character of the Bahã’i Faith 301
Concerning Membership in Non-Bahá’i Religious Organizations. 303
Bahá’is and War 307
The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Babd 309
Interpretations of The Will and Testament 309
Excerpts from The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd. 310
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi 316
Messages from the Guardian 344
2. The Spirit and Form of the Bahã’i Administrative Order 361
Certificate of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual As sembl of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assem bl of the Bahã’Is of the United States and Canada
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assem bl of the Bahã’is of Iran 377
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assem bl of the Bahá’is of Germany and Austria 383
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá’is of India and Burma 391
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assem bl of the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq 392
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’is of Egypt and Sódán 399
Facsimile of Document related to the Incorporation of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt and Südán 401
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá’is of the British Isles 405
Memorandum and Articles of Association of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahã’is of the British Isles 406
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá’is of Australia and New Zealand 419
By-Laws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the City of
New York, N. Y., U. S. A 420
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is
of the City of New York, N. Y., U. S. A 424
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of the City of Sydney, Australia 429
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of the City of Vancouver, B. C., Canada 431
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is
of Cincinnati, Ohio, U. S. A 433
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of San Francisco, California, U. S. A 435
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is
of Lima, Ohio, U. S. A 443
Certificate of Incorporation and Articles of Incorporation of the
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the City of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, U. S. A 447

xviii CONTENTS
PAGE
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of Columbus, Ohio, U. S. A 452
Certificate of Incorporation and Articles of Incorporation of the
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Phoenix, Arizona, U. S. A 454
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of Portland, Oregon, U. S. A 461
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of Jersey City, New Jersey, U. S. A 463
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A 467
Corporation Declaration by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of Peoria, Illinois, U. S. A 470
Corporation Declaration of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahi’is
of Winnetka, Illinois, U. S. A 472
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of Seattle, Washington, U. S. A 475
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A 480
Certificate of Formation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is
of Mexico City, Mexico 484
Membership card used in enrolling new believers in the Bahã’i Faith
in the City of Mexico 485
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Government of the Com monwealt of Australia covering the Name “Bahá’i” and the
Symbol of the Greatest Name 486
Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahi’is of trán 487
Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt and Südán 488
&há’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq 489
Bahá’i Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran 490
Bahá’i Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt and Sfldãn 491
Marriage License issued by the State of Illinois authorizing the
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahi’is of Chicago, Ill., to solemnize
Bahá’i Marriages, with explanatory letter 492
Text in Iranian of the Outline of Bahá’i Laws regarding Matters
of Personal Status submitted for recognition to the Egyptian
Government by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of
Egypt and Sódin 493
Map of Bahá’i holdings showing extension of properties surround in and dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel 500
3. The Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar 503
Foreword 503
The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar 505
Bahá’i Texts for the Nine Outer Doors of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. 516
The Bahá’i Temple used as design for Cachet selected by the Postal
Authorities of Wilmette, Illinois 517

CONTENTS xix
PAGE
Envelope and Article related to the Cachet used by the Postal
Authorities of Wilmette, Illinois 517
Letter of the Postmaster of Wilmette, Illinois, to the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahl’is of the United States and
Canada 518
The Temples of the Ages 519
Une Institution Behaie 525
Two Articles on the Bahá’i Temple published in Finland 533
4. Bahá’i Calendar and Festivals 536
Foreword 536
Bahá’i Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fastng 536
Bahá’i Holy Days on which work should be suspended 537
Additional Material Gleaned from NabIl’s Narrative (Vol. II)
regarding the Bahá’i Calendar 537
Historical Data Gleaned from NabIl’s Narrative (Vol. II) regard in Bahá’u’lláh 540
5. Youth Activities Throughout the Bahã’i World 544
Introductory Statement 544
Bahá’i Youth Activities in the Americas 547
Louhelen Youth Sessions—1939 552
Geyserville Youth Session 554
Green Acre Youth Session 555
Many Youth Are Pioneer Teachers 556
Other Activities of Bahá’i Youth Groups. 557
Bahá’i Youth Activities in Europe and Asia 560
Excerpts from “Bahá’i Youth” Magazine, 1938 to 1939 568
II. References to the Bahá’i Faith 595
1. Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania 595
2. Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University 598
3. Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford 600
4. Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of
British Academy 600
5. Prof. Arminius Vambéry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth 601
6. Sir Valentine Chirol 602
7. Harry Charles Lukach 603
8. Prof. Jowett, Oxford University 603
9. Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York 603
10. Prof. James Darmesteter, École des Hautes Etudes, Paris 604
11. Charles Baudouin 604
12. Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D 606
13. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston 607
14. Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.I.; K.C.I.E 607
15. The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous 609
16. Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A 609
17. Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C 610
18. Leo Tolstoy 610

XX CONTENTS
PAGE
19. Dr. Edmund Privat, University of Geneva 611
20. Dr. Auguste Forel, University of Zurich 612
21. General Renato Piola Caselli 612
22. Rev. Frederick W. Oakes 612
23. Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O’Groat Journal, Wick,
Scotland 612
24. Charles H. Prisk 613
25. Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, D.Litt 613
26. Shri Purohit Swami 614
27. Prof. Herbert A. Miller, Bryn Mawr College 614
28. Viscount Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P 614
29. Rev. K. T. Chung 615
30. Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, University of Sofia 616
31. Rev. Griffith J. Sparham 616
32. Ernest Renan 617
33. The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L 618
34. Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 619
35. Emile Schreiber, Publicist 619
36. Miss Helen, Keller 621
37. Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan 622
38. Sir Flinders Petrie, Archaeologist 622
39. Former President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia 622
40. Archduchess Anton of Austria 622
41. Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons 622
42. H.R.H. Princess Olga of Jugoslavia 622
43. Eugen Relgis 623
44. Arthur Henderson 623
45. Prof. Dr. V. Lesny 623
46. Princess Marie Antoinette de Broglie Aussenac 623
47. Late President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University . . . 624
48. Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugoslavia 624
49. Ex-Governor William Sulzer 624
50. Luther Burbank 624
51. Prof. Yone Noguchi 624
52. Prof. Raymond Frank Piper 624
53. Angela Morgan 624
54. Arthur MoorG 624
55. Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia . . 625
56. A. L. M. Nicholas 625
57. President Eduard Bend of Czechoslovakia 625
58. Sir Ronald Storrs, N.V.C., M.G., C.B.E 626
59. Col. Raja Jai Prithvi Bahadur Singh, Raja of Bajang (Nepal) 626
60. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. . . 627
61. Rt. Hon. M. R. Jayakar 628

CONTENTS xxi
PAGE
III. In Memoriam 631
1. May Ellis Maxwell 631
2. A Tribute to Lua Getsinger. . . 642
3. Martha L. Root . . . 643
4. Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper 649
5. Lady Blomfield 651
6. Rahmatu’lláh ‘Alá’i 655
7. Grace Robarts Ober 656
8. Háji Ghulám-Ridá, Amin-Amin 659
9. Pauline Knobloch Hannen 660
10. Louise R. Waite (Shãhnaz Khánum) 661
11. Isabel Fraser Chamberlain (Soraya) 664
12. Marie B. Moore 666
13. Robert S. Abbott 666
14. Mrs. Margaret Campbell 668
15. Howard M. Kinney 670
16. Margaret Klebs 670
17. Joseph G. Bray 672
18. Georgie Brown Wiles 673
19. Grace Krug 675
20. William M. Miller 676
21. Abu’l-Qásim Gulastãnih 678
22. Habib Miskar 679
23. Muhammad Sulaymán 680
24. Ismã’il-Aqá 680
25. ‘Abdu’l-Iusayn Iqbál 681
26. In Memoriam. List from Babá’i News 682
PART THREE
I. Bahá’i Directory, 1939-1940 687
1. Bahãi National Spiritual Assemblies 687
2. Countries where Bahã’is are resident 688
Abyssinia 688
Afghanistan 688
Albania 688
Argentina 688
Australia 688
Austria 688
Belgium 688
Bolivia 688
Brazil 688
Bulgaria 688
Burma 688
Canada 688

xxii CONTENTS

PAGE
Caucasus 688
Chile 688
China 689
Costa Rica 689
Cuba 689
Czechoslovakia 689
Denmark 689
Ecuador 689
Egypt 689
El Salvador 689
Finland 689
France 689
Germany 689
Great Britain and Ireland 690
Guatemala 690
Haiti 690
Holland 690
Honduras 690 690

Hungary
Iceland
India and Burma
Iran
‘Iraq
Italy
Japan
Jugoslavia
Mexico
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Norway
Palestine and Transjordania 60 690 691 691 691 691 691 691

Panama
Peru
Poland
Rumania
Russia
San Domingo
South Africa .
56dm
Sweden
Switzerland .
Syria
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkistán 691

United States and Canada
Uruguay
Venezuela

‘West Indies, British. 692

CONTENTS xxiii
PAGE
3. Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahi’is of the United States and Canada 694
4. Local Bahi’i Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in
the United States and Canada 699
S. Bahi’i Administrative Divisions infrin 708
6. Directory of Leading Assemblies in Bahi’i Administrative Divisions
Of Iran 712
7. Alphabetical List of Bahi’u’llih’s Best-Known Writings 713
8. List of the Bib’s Best-Known Works 714
II. Bahi’i Bibliography 715
1. Bahi’i Publications of America 715
Books About the Bahi’i Faith 715
Writings of the Bib 718
Writings of Bahi’u’llih 718
Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahi 719
Writings of Shoghi Effendi 721
Prayers 722
Bahi’I Literature in Pamphlet Form 722
Compilations 726
Outlines and Guides for Bahi’i Study Classes. . . 726
2. Bahi’i Publications of England 727
3. Bahi’i Publications of India and Burma 729
4. Bahi’i Publications in French 729
5. Bahi’I Publications in Italian 730
6. Bahi’i Publications in Dutch 730
7. Bahi’i Publications in Danish 730
8. Bahi’i Publications in Swedish 730
9. Bahi’i Publications in Portuguese 731
10. Bahi’i Publications in Albanian 731
11. Bahi’i Publièations in Esperanto 731
12. Bahi’i Publications in Russian 732
13. Bahi’I Publications in German 732
14. Bahi’i Publications in Bulgarian 735
15. Bahi’i Publications in Rumanian 735
16. Bahi’i Publications in Czech 735
17. Bahi’i Publications in Serbian 735
18. Bahi’i Publications in Hungarian 735
19. Bahi’i Publications in Greek 735
20. Bahi’i Publications in Maori 735
21. Bahi’i Publications in Spanish 736
22. Bahi’i Publications in Norwegian 736
23. Bahi’i Publications in Croatian 736
24. Bahi’i Publications in Polish 736
25. Bahi’i Publications in Icelandic 736
xxiv CONTENTS
PAGE
26. Bahá’i Publications in Oriental Languages 736
Tránian 736
Urdu 737
Arabic 738
Turkish 738
Burmese 738
Chinese 738
Hebrew 738
Tartar 738
Gujrati 738
Japanese 738
Armenian 748
Tamil 748
Kurdish 748
Sindhi 748
Bengali 748
Hindi 748
Abyssinian 748
27. Bahá’i Literature in Braille (for the Blind) 748
America 748
France 749
Czechoslovakia 749
Japan 749
28. Bahá’i Periodicals 749
29. References to the Bahá’i Faith in Books and Pamphlets Published
under Non-Bahá’i Auspices 749
30. References to the Bahá’i Faith in Magazines by Non-Bahá’i Writers. 756
31. References to the Bahá’i Faith by Bahá’is in Non-Bahá’i Publications 759
32. References to the Bahã’i Faith in Specialized Reference Works 759
III. Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá’i Literature 760
Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of Iranian Alphabet and
Notes on the Pronunciation of Iranian Words 762
IV. Definition of Oriental Terms used in Bahá’I Literature 764
PART FOUR
I. Articles and Reviews 769
1. Constructive Religion, by George Townshend 769
2. Truth and World Unity, by Horace Holley 776
3. Bahá’u’lláh, by H. M. Bályuzi 779
4. International Bahâ’i Congress Day at the Panama-Pacific Interna tiona Exposition 797
5. Bahã’i Message to the Universities of Northern India, by Martha L.
Root 809
6. Essai sur les Différentes Formes de Prières, by Lucienne L. Migette. . . 819
7. Crisis of the World Psyche, by Wilf rid Barton 825

CONTENTS
PAGE
8. The New Citizenship, by Beatrice Irwin 831
9. The Oneness of Religion, by Doris McKay 835
10. The Well of Happiness, by George Townshend 847
11. Bahã’is and War, by David Hofman 856
12. Conference dans un cercie Bahã’i a Paris, le 19 Mars, 1939, by
Madame J. Monteflore 859
13. Rejoice, 0 Israel, by Alice Simmons Cox 869
14. Pioneer Introduction of the Bahi’i Faith to the Netherlands, by Louise
Drake Wright 877
15. An Interview with A. L. M. Nicolas of Paris, by Edith Sanderson 885
16. Yucatan . . . 1939, by Loulie A. Mathews 888
17. The Scriptures of Different Faiths, by Pritam Singh 892
18. Faith and the Man, by Louis G. Gregory 901
19. Appreciations by Leaders of Thought, by Ruániyyih Moffett 904
20. A Journey to the Arctic, by Nellie S. French 915
21. Tahirih’s Message to the Modern World, by Martha L. Root 918
A Brief Commentary, by Marian Little 921
22. A Brief Survey of the Literature of the Bahá’i Faith in English, by
William Kenneth Christian 925
23. John Ebenezer Esslemont, His Life and Service, by Jessie E. Revell. 929
24. A Letter from Finland, by Vaino Rissanen 936
25. Radio-Nations Calling, by Ethel M. Dawe 937
26. Le Martyre, par Dr. A. Mesbah 940
II. Song Offerings 945
III. Echoes from the Spheres 967
IV. Contents of The Ba/nil World Vol. 1-VIl 1009
V. Maps of Teaching Regions of the United States and Canada, of Central
and South America, and of the Bahá’i World 1033
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Purest Branch jjj
The Monuments Erected on the Graves of the Mother and Brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá v
Letter Addressed to Shogbi Effendi by the Late Queen Marie of Rumania vii, viii, ix
A Gift of the Guardian to the Bahá’is of North America. Some locks of the hair of Bahá’u’llãh arranged by His daughter, Bahiyyih
Khánum, The Greatest
Holy Leaf 5
Twilight view of the grave of Bahiyyih Khánum on Mount Carmel 8
Descriptive Card for Bahá’i Exhibit Prepared by Directors of Temple of Religion 16
Section of the ornamentation of the Bahã’i Temple in Wilmette, Ill., presented by
the American Bahã’is to be placed in the gardens surrounding the tomb of
the Mb on Mt. Carmel 20
Two Views of the k-Iairatu’l-Quds. The recently inaugurated headquarters of
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and
Canada, adjacent to the Bahá’i Temple, Wilmette, Illinois 24
The Bahâ’i exhibit held during the 1938 Canadian National Exhibition at Toronto,
Canada 33
Members of the newly formed Spiritual Assembly of St. Lambert, Province of
Quebec 33
The Bahã’i Exhibit at the Wisconsin State Fair of 1939 showing the Temple model
prominently displayed 38
The Bahá’i booth in the Communications building of the 1939 New York World’s
Fair. Behind the Temple model is shown a detail of the design for the dome
ornamentation 46
Three exhibitions of the model of the Bahá’i Temple: Exposed in a florist shop at
Binghamton, N. Y., display at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque,
N. M., and exhibited in a florist shop window in Port Huron, Mich 50
Official post cards of the 1939 San Francisco World’s Fair and the 1939 New
York World’s Fair showing the different Bahá’i exhibits 56
The exhibit of the Bahá’i Temple model in the Homes and Gardens section of the
San Francisco World’s Fair in 1939 59
Facsimile of part of a letter addressed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Professor Vambery. . . . 66
A display of the Bahá’i Temple model in a window in Philadelphia, Penna 70
The exhibit held at the Sacramento Flower Show in California, 1939 70
Facsimile of two letters written by Professor E. G. Browne, of Cambridge University, concerning the Bahá’i Faith 74
The house of Siyyid Yayá Dárábi, surnamed Valid, which has recently been acquired by the Bahá’is of Iran as an historical site in the
town of Nayriz. . 80
Recently purchased site of the prospective kIairatu’l-Quds to be erected in Cairo,
Egypt 93
xxvii

xxviii ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Recently completed portion of the Uairatu’l-Quds of ‘Iraq, situated in Baghdad 95
Display at the Illinois State Fair, Springfield, Ill 100
Display in the Temple of Religions at the San Francisco World’s Fair, 1939 100
Temple Model Exhibited at Big Bear Lake, California 106
Book Exhibit near the Bahá’i Temple Arranged During Convention 106
Bahá’i Exhibit, New York State Fair, Syracuse, 1939 114
Temple Model on Display at a Florist’s Shop, San Francisco, California 114
Exhibit in Public Library, Yonkers, N. Y 120
The Souvenir Commemorating The Feast of Unity of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá observed
annually at Evergreen Cabin, West Englewood, New Jersey 122
Temple Model Displayed in Window of Red Bank Register, the Local Paper of
Red Bank, N. J., 1939 126
Temple Model Displayed by Louhelen Summer School at the Flint, Michigan,
Flower Show 126
Temple Model on Exhibition in a store in Albuquerque, New Mexico 126
Some of the Bahá’is attending the annual convention of the Bahá’is of the British
Isles, London, 1939 128
The shop which was used by the Báb during his days in Büshihr 130
The bath of Urflmiyyih where the Bãb bathed during His visit to that town. . . 136
Recently purchased historical site where the four Bahá’i martyrs of ‘Iraq, Iran,
lie buried 144
The house of Háji Mirzá Jáni in Kashan which the Baha’is of Iran have recently
purchased to be preserved as an historical site 154
The well used by the Bab is in the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazindaran, I ran 159
The interior of the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazindaran. The X marks the
spot where Mulla Husayn is buried 169
The weapon used by Mulla usayn in the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi. The Persian
inscription reads: “The sword of his honor the Babu’l-Bab” 177
The house of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, the famous Bahá’i
brothers of Isfahan, which has recently been purchased by the Baha’is of
I ran to be preserved as an historical site in that city 192
An early picture of the body of a Bahá’i martyr of Iran 198
Study Class, Baghdad, for training of children 202
Detail of the monument marking the resting place of Bahiyyih Khánum on Mt.
Carmel, Haifa 206
‘Abdu’l-Baha and His brother the Purest Branch. (The Purest Branch is seated
on the left) 246
Tablet revealed by Baha’u’llah at the time when the Purest Branch was being pre pare for the grave in His presence 246
Persian script with translation 248
A glimpse, between the trees of the garden, of the shrines of the Mother and
Brother of ‘Abdu’l-Baha on Mt. Carmel, Haifa 250
The newly made graves of the Mother and Brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá showing the
flowers still in place before work on the erection of their monuments was
begun 252

ILLUSTRATIONS xxix
PAGE
Detail of one of the twin monuments marking the graves of the Mother of ‘Abdu’l Bah and of His Brother, on Mt.
Carmel, Haifa 252
The burial-ground on Mount Carmel in which are laid to rest the immediate family
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. On the right is the shrine of Bahiyyih Khánum, His sister.
On the left the twin monuments marking the resting-places of His mother
and brother. Below them can be seen the dome of the monument of his wife,
Munirih Khánum 254
The Holy Mother, Munirih Khánum, wife of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 260
Monument erected on the site of the grave of Munirih Khánum, the wife of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, on Mt. Carmel, and beneath the shadow of the resting place
of Bahiyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf 264
Her Late Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania 268
A Floral Tribute to Her Majesty the Late Queen Marie of Rumania. Offered by
the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada on the occasion of the service
held in Washington, D. C., July 25, 1938, to commemorate the first anni versar of her death 281
The Bahã’i Community of Cincinnati, Ohio 288
The newly constituted Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Maywood, Illinois, in
1938 288
Spiritual Assembly of Helena, Montana, Newly Constituted, April 21, 1939 318
Spiritual Assembly of East Cleveland, Ohio, Newly Constituted, April 21, 1939,
with members of the Bahá’i Community 318
Sacramento California. Members of the Spiritual Assembly newly established on
April 21, 1938. Photograph shows tree under which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stood in
1912 340
Spiritual Assembly of Richmond Highlands, Washington, Newly Constituted
April 21, 1939 340
Newly formed Spiritual Assembly of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1938 353
Recently constituted Spiritual Assembly of Glendale, Arizona 356
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Vancouver, B. C 430
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Cincinnati, Ohio 434
Members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of San Francisco, California. 434
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Lima, Ohio 446
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Philadelphia, Pa. Taken at the Nineteen
Day Feast, Jan. 19, 1939 446
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Columbus, Ohio 453
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Phoenix, Arizona 453
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Portland, Oregon 460
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Wilmette, Illinois 469
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Peoria, Illinois 469
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Seattle, Washington 474
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Boston, Massachusetts 479
Bahã’is of the newly estabhshed community of Mexico City, Mexico 485
Membership card used in enrolling new believers in the Bahá’i Faith in the City
of Mexico 485

xxx ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Trade mark certificate obtained from the Government of the Commonwealth of
Australia covering the name “Bahá’i’ and the symbol of the Greatest Name 486
Baha’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assem bl of the Bahá’is of Iran 487
Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assem bl of the Bahã’is of Egypt and
Sfldán 488
Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assem bl of the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq 489
Bahá’i Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assem M of the Bahã’is of Iran 490
Bahá’i Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assem bl of the Rahá’is of Egypt and Südán
Marriage License Issued by the State of Illinois authorizing the Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahá’is of Chicago, Illinois, to solemnize Bahá’i marriages, with
explanatory letter 492
Map of Bahá’i holdings showing extension of properties surrounding and dedicated
to the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel 500
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, or Bahâ’i Temple, showing ornamentation of second story
in process, 1938 504
Sculptor carving central panel over doorway 506
Model for detail of First Story of Temple, in Process at Earley Studios 506
An early picture of Louis Bourgeois, the French Canadian architect whose design
for a Bahá’i Temple is now being constructed at Wilmette, Illinois 507
Carving an Original Model 508
Completing the clay model of a unit to go on the first story 508
Design for the Bahã’I Temple by Mr. L. S. Buffington, architect, of Minneapolis,
Minnesota 509
Design for the Bahá’i Temple by Mr. F. J. Woodward, architect, of Washington,
D.C 510
One of the designs submitted by Mr. Charles Mason R.emey, architect, of Wash ington D. C., for the Bahã’i Temple
competition held in New York, 1919. 511
Design submitted by Mr. W. S. Maxwell, architect, of Montreal, Canada, for the
competition for the Bahá’i Temple, held in New York, 1919 512
The site of the first Bahá’i Temple of the western world as it appeared on Sept.
24th, 1920 when excavation for the foundation was begun, in Wilmette,
Illinois 513
Bahá’is and workmen gathered on Sept. 24th, 1920, when the first drilling for
bed-rock was begun at the site of the Bahá’i Temple, Wilmette, Illinois.
The man holding a photograph of the design for the Temple is Louis Bourgeois,
the architect of the building 514
The “Mother Temple of the West” reflected in the still waters of Lake Michigan 515
The Bahá’i Temple used as design for Cachet selected by the Postal authorities
of Wilmette, Illinois and used on all outgoing mail during National Air Mail
Week May 15-21, 1938 517
Letter of the Postmaster of Wilmette, Illinois, to The National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahã’is of the United States and Canada 518

ILLUSTRATIONS xxxi
PAGE
Front Elevation of the Church of St. John Lateran, Rome 520
Church of Notre Dame in Paris 520
Amiens Cathedral, France, Interior 520
The Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem 520
Hall of Ablutions, Mosque of Sulçán Hasan, Cairo, Egypt. (Interior View) . . . 522
The Parthenon, Athens, Greece 522
The Church of Santa Sofia, Istanbul 522
Article from Soumen Nainen, 1938. Published in Finland. 533
Article from Naisten A3ni, 1938. Published in Finland 534
Two views of the land recently purchased by the BahA’is of Iran and destined to
be the site of the first Bahá’i Temple of that country 535
The Bahá’i children’s class of Milwaukee, ‘Wisconsin, taken with their teachers,
1938 545
John Eichenauer, the youngest pioneer of the Bahá’i Faith, who in 1939, at the
age of seventeen, went to San Salvador to establish a center 547
The Bahá’i Youth Group of Alexandria, Egypt 549
Bahá’i youth attending the seventh annual Bahá’i Youth luncheon held in con junctio with the Bahá’i convention, Evanston, Illinois,
1939 551
Teacher and class at the Bahá’i Summer School, Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michi gan during the 1939 Youth Session 553
Attendants at the Youth session of the Bahá’i Summer School at Louhelen Ranch,
Davison, Michigan sss
Group attending the Bahá’i Youth session of the Geyserville Bahá’i Summer
School, California, 1939 559
A meeting of the young Bahá’is from five neighboring centers held at Jamestown,
New York, 1939 561
The Mid-west Regional Bahá’i Youth conference held January 8th and 9th, 1938,
at ‘Wilmette, Illinois 563
The Youth Groups of Pasadena and adjacent Bahá’i Communities. Pasadena,
California, October, 1939 565
The Bahá’i Youth Group of Karachi, India, 1938 569
Some of the Bahá’i Youth of Tihrán celebrating international BabY! Youth Day 573
The Bahá’i Youth Committee of Bombay, India, taken with Martha Root on the
occasion of her tour of India and Burma during 1938 575
Midwest Bahá’i Youth Conference held at Wilmette, Illinois, January 6-7, 1940. 577
The Bahá’i Youth Group of Los Angeles, California, February, 1939 578
The North Shore Youth Group composed of Bahá’is from communities in the
vicinity of the Bahã’i Temple, ‘Wilmette, Illinois, taken in 1939 583
May Ellis Maxwell 632
Friends gathered for burial service of May Ellis Maxwell 633
Miss Martha L. Root, Famous International Bahá’i Teacher 644
Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper, One of the First Bahá’is of the West 649
Lady Blomfield, “Sitárih Khãnum,” Pioneer Bahá’i of England 652
Rahmatu’llãh ‘Alã’i of Iran 655

xxxii ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The coffin bearing the remains of Rabmatu’lláh ‘Alã’i of Tihran being borne to
the Bahá’i cemetery. December 3rd, 1939 655
Grace Robarts Ober 657
Háji Ghulãm-Ridá 659
The body of IIãji Ghulãm-Riçlá, surnamed Amin-Amin, being removed from his
home in Tihran, December 23rd, 1939 659
Leroy loas and Shãhnaz Waite 662
Soraya Fraser Chamberlain 665
Robert S. Abbott 667
Mrs. Margaret Campbell 668
Howard M. Kinney 669
The last resting place of Margaret Klebs, Sunset Cemetery, North Augusta, S. C. 671
Joseph G. Bray 672
Georgie Brown Wiles 674
Grace Krug 675
William M. Miller, Pioneer Bahi’i, Perth, Australia. Ascended to Abhá Kingdom,
Oct. 23, 1939 677
Abu’l-Qasim Gulastánih, Died in Cairo, July 10th, 1939 678
Habib Miskar, Killed in Haifa, March 6th, 1939 679
Mubammad Sulaymán 680
Ismi’il-Aqá. The Gardener of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 681
‘Abdu’l-llusayn Iqbál 682
Thirty-first Annual Convention, United States and Canada 693
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States
and Canada, for the years 1939-1940 698
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma and of the Local
Spiritual Assembly of Bombay bidding farewell to Martha Root after her
lengthy tour of India and Burma 709
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the British Isles,
1939-1940 710
The Bahá’i Community of Adelaide, South Austraha, with the local Bahá’i Youth
Group 711
Bahá’i friends gathered to bid farewell to Mr. Nabili on the occasion of his de partur for KIbul, Afghánistãn, on a teaching trip 718
Views of the first Bahá’i Summer School of (ran held in the vicinity of Tihrán
in 1939 728
Reproductions of the title pages of Bahd’u’lláh and the New Era in the thirtyfive languages in which it has been printed 739-747
Bahá’is of Hobart, Tasmania 754
Miss Martha Root with some of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Australia and New Zealand, 1939
Inter-Assembly Teaching Conference. Held in Los Angeles, California, February
26th, 1939, at the time of the visit of the National Spiritual Assembly. . . 770
Library and reading room of the recently inaugurated Bahã’i Center in Mexico
City, Mexico, 1939 780

ILLUSTRATIONS xxxiii
PAGE
Lecture room of the recently inaugurated Bahá4i Center in Mexico City, Mexico,
1939 781
The Invitation issued by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahi’is of Mexico City,
Mexico, to be present at the inauguration of the Bahá’i Center 782
The first Mexican Bahá’is to visit their American co-workers 793
Festival Hall, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915. Scene
of Ceremonies Honoring the First International Bahá’i Congress 798
Bronze Medallion Presented to the First International Bahá’i Congress 80 1
Frederick W. D’Evelyn, M.B.C.M. (Edin.), Member of the Ways and Means Com mitte of the Panama-Pacific International
Exposition. President of the First
International Bahá’i Congress 805
The tenth annual convention of the Bahá’is of India and Burma held in Karachi,
1938. Miss Martha Root is seated in the center 810
Annual gathering of Bahá’is at the commemoration service for Thornton Chase,
the first believer of America. Inglewood, California, September 3 0th, 1939 . 820
The feast of the New Year being celebrated by the Bahá’is of Miami, Florida, on
“Naw-Rüz,” March 2 1st, 1939 832
A Group of South American Bahá’i Pioneers 833
Book Exhibit. An exhibit of Bahá’i books placed on view at the Dean Hobbs
Blanchard Memorial Library in Santa Paula, California 845
Mme. Draga Illic with a group of friends in Belgrade, Jugoslavia taken in June,
1939 853
A group of country Bahâ’is. Booleroo Centre, So. Australia 854
Mme. Jeanne Montefiore 860
The members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Karachi, India, bidding
farewell to Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her departure for Australia
and New Zealand 868
Some of the Bahá’is of Bombay, India gathered to bid farewell to their indefatigable
fellow-worker, Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her departure for Aus trali and New Zealand. (Miss Root holds a bouquet of
flowers.) 876
The Bahá’i Summer School of Australia and New Zealand. Community Picnic held
during the 1939 session at “Bolton Place,” Yerrinbool, New South Wales. 883
The “Rose Garden” children’s class held during the 1939 session of the Bahá’i
Summer School at “Bolton Place,” Yerrinbool, New South Wales, Australia 884
A. L. M. Nicolas 886
The First Bahã’i Summer School of India held at Simla. In the center is Martha
Root, beloved teacher of the Faith throughout East and West, who was
touring India and Burma 887
Attendants and friends at the Bahá’i Summer School of Australia held at Yer rinbool S.W. Australia, in January, 1939 891
The recently inaugurated Bahá’i Fellowship House in Covington, Louisiana 897
Property in Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, which has recently been presented to
the Faith as a training school for Bahá’is in the Inter-America teaching work 898
Exterior of Henderson Business College, Memphis, Tennessee 900
The Founder, President Henderson, at his desk 900
The Bahá’is of Khartoum, Südán 911

xxxiv ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Bahá’i Group of Tunis 912
Amity Banquet held under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of Pasadena, California, December 3rd, 1938 914
The Feast of the Bahá’i New Year being celebtated by the New York Bahá’is on
March 21st, 1939 923
The Bahá’i Summer School of the British Isles. The upper picture is a group attending the 193 8 session. The center and lower
pictures are of the 1939 session. 93 0
Pastor Väino Rissanen. First to have accepted the Bahá’i Faith in Finland. 1938. . 935
Map of Central America Teaching Region 1035
Map of South American Republics Teaching Region 1037
Map of Teaching Regions of the World Inside back cover
Map of Teaching Regions of the United States and Canada Inside back cover

INTRODUCTION
URING the past fourteen years the Bahã’i community of East and West has learned to anticipate each successive
volume of THE BAHA’I WORLD (the first number was entitled “Bahã’i Year Book”) as the best means by which the
individual believer may keep abreast of the steady development of the Faith throughout the world. This work, in its
illustrations as well as in its text, has recorded as completely as possible the progress of current Bahã’i events and
activities over an area now embracing forty countries. In addition, each volume has presented those “historical facts
and fundamental principles that constitute the distinguishing features of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to this age.”
The existence of so many evidences of a newly revealed Faith and Gospel for a humanity arrived at a turning point in
its spiritual and social evolution has likewise a profound significance for the non-Bahá’i student and scholar who
desires to investigate the world religion founded by the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. For in these pages the reader encounters
both the revealed Word in its spiritual power, and the response which that utterance has evoked during the first ninety
years of the Bahá’i era. He will find what is unparalleled in religious history—the unbroken continuity of a divine Faith
from the Manifestation onward through three generations of human experience, and will be able to apprehend what
impregnable foundations the Bahá’i World Order rests upon in the life and teachings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, the
life and interpretation of ‘Abdu’lBahá, and (since the year 1921) in the development of an administrative order under
the direction of the Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi.
It is the avowed faith of Bahá’is that this Revelation has established upon earth the spiritual impulse and the definite
principles necessary for social regeneration and the attainment of one true religion and social order throughout the
world. In THE BAHA’i WORLD, therefore, those- who seek a higher will and wisdom than man possesses may learn
how, amid the trials and tribulations of a decadent society, a new age has begun to emerge from the world of the spirit
to the realm of human action and belief.
xxxv
STAFF OF EDITORS
AMERICA—
Mrs. Stuart W. French, Chairman, 786 Chester Ave., San Marino, California.
Mrs. Ruth Brandt, 9313 Olympic Blvd., Beverley Hills, California.
Mrs. Mariam Haney, 1763 Columbia Road, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Charles Bishop, Geyserville, California.
Mrs. Marzieh Nabil Gail, 1207 Montgomery St., San Francisco, California.
Miss Florence Mattoon, 105 Sixth St., Wilmette, Illinois.
Mr. Louis Gregory, Eliot, Maine.
Mr. Kenneth Christian, State College of Agriculture, Morrisville, New York.
Mrs. Victoria Bedikian, Photograph Editor, Box 179, Montclair, New Jersey.
SWITZERLAND—
Mrs. Anna Lynch, 19 a- Ave. de Champel, Geneva.
FRANCE—
Mme. Elizabeth Hesse, 96 Blvd. Maurice Barrés, Neuilly s. Seine, Paris, France.
GREAT BRSTAIN—
Mr. David Hofman, 46 Bloomsbury St., W.C. 1, London, England.
‘IRAQ—
Mr. Jamil BaghdádI, P. 0. Box 5, Baghdad.
IRAN—
Miss Adelaide Sharp, Pahlav’s St., Kucheh Bageroff, Tihran.
INDIA AND BURMA—
Mr. Abbassaly Butt, 13 Haig Square, New Delhi, India.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND—
Miss Hilda Brooks; 17 Gurney St., Duiwich Road, Adelaide, Australia.
EGYPT—
Mr. Muhammad Mustafã, Bahá’i Bureau, P. 0. Box 13, Daher, Cairo.
CHINA AND JAPAN—
Miss Agnes Alexander, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Ill.
xxxvii
PART ONE
I.JPON the spiritual foundation established by Bahá’u’lláh during the forty year period of His Mission (1853-1892), there stands today
an independent religion represented by nearly eight hundred local communities of believers. These communities geographically are
spread throughout all five continents. In point of race, class, nationality and religious origin, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh exemplify
well-nigh the whole diversity of the modern world. They may be characterized as a true cross section of humanity, a microcosm
which, for all its relative littleness, carries within it individual men and women typifying the macrocosm of mankind.
None of the historic causes of association served to create this world-wide spiritual community. Neither a common language, a
common blood, a common civil government, a common tradition nor a mutual grievance acted upon Bahá’is to supply a fixed center
of interest or a goal of material advantage. On the contrary, membership in the Bahá’i community in the land of its birth even to this
day has been a severe disability, and outside of (ran the motive animating believers has been in direct opposition to the most inveterate
prejudices of their environment. The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh has moved forward without the reenforcement of wealth, social prestige or
other means of public influence.

Every local Bahá’i community exists by the voluntary association of individuals who consciously overcome the fundamental sanctions
evolved throughout the centuries to justify the separations and antagonisms of human society. In America, this association means that
white believers accept the spiritual equality of their Negro fellows. In Europe, it means the reconciliation of Protestant and Catholic
upon the basis of a new and larger faith. In the Orient, Christian, Jewish and Muhammadan believers must stand apart from the rigid
exclusiveness into which each was born.
The central fact to be noted concerning the nature of the Bahá’i Faith is that it contains a power, fulfilled in the realm of conscience,
which can reverse the principle momentum of modern civilization — the drive toward division and strife—and initiate its own
momentum moving steadily in the direction of unity and accord. It is in this power, and not in any criterion upheld by the world, that
the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh has special significance.
The forms of traditional opposition vested in nationality, race, class and creed are not the only social chasms which the Faith has
bridged. There are even more implacable, if less visible differences between types and temperaments, such as flow inevitably from

THE BAHA’i WORLD
I
AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE
BAHAZ[ FAITH
B HORACE HOLLEY
1. A WORLDWIDE SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY
ttThe Tabernacle of Unity has been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. . . Of one tree are ye all
the fruit and of one bough the leaves. . . . The world is but one country and mankind its citizens.”—
BAHA’u’LLAH.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

the contact of rational and emotional individuals, of active and passive dispositions, undermining capacity for
cooperation in every organized society, which attain mutual understanding and harmony in the Bahá’i community. For
personal congeniality, the selective principle elsewhere continually operative within the field of voluntary action, is an
instinct which Bahá’is must sacrifice to serve the principle of the oneness of mankind. A Bahi’i community, therefore,
is a constant and active spiritual victory, an overcoming of tensions which elsewhere come to the point of strife. No
mere passive creed nor philosophic gospel which need never be put to the test in daily life has produced this world
fellowship devoted to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
The basis of self-sacrifice on which the Bahá’i community staiids has created a religious society in which all human
relations are transformed from social to spiritual problems. This fact is the door through which one must pass to arrive
at insight of what the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh means to this age.
The social problems of the age are predominantly political and economic. They are problems because human society is
divided into nations each of which claims to be an end and a law unto itself and into classes each of which has raised an
economic theory to the level of a sovereign and exclusive principle. Nationality has become a condition which
overrides the fundamental humanity of all the peoples concerned, asserting the superiority of political considerations
over ethical and moral needs. Similarly, economic groups uphold and promote social systems without regard to the
quality of human relationships experienced in terms

of religion. Tension and oppositions between the different groups are organized for dominance and not for
reconciliation. Each step toward more complete partisan organization increases the original tension and augments the
separation of human beings; as the separation widens, the element of sympathy and fellowship on the human level is
eventually denied.
In the Bahá’i community the same tensions and instinctive antagonisms exist, but the human separation has been made
impossible. The same capacity for exclusive doctrines is present, but no doctrine representing one personality or one
group can secure a hearing. All believers alike are subject to one spiritually supreme sovereignty in the teachings of
Bahá’u’lláh. Disaffected individuals may withdraw. The community remains. For the Bahã’i teachings are in
themselves principles of life and they assert the supreme value of humanity without doctrines which correspond to any
particular environment or condition. Thus members of the Bahá’i community realize their tensions and oppositions as
ethical or spiritual problems, to be faced and overcome in mutual consultation. Their faith has convinced them that the
“truth” or “right” of any possible situation is not derived from partisan victory but from the needs of the community as
an organic whole.
A Bahá’i community endures without disruption because only spiritual problems can be solved. When human relations
are held to be political or social problems they are removed from the realm in which rational will has responsibility and
influence. The ultimate result of this degradation of human relationships is the frenzy of desperate strife—the outbreak
of inhuman war.

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA’i FAITH

In stating that the Cause of Bahã’u’lláh is an independent religion, two essential facts are implied.
The first fact is that the Bahá’i Cause historically was not an offshoot of any prior social principle or community. The
teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are no artificial synthesis assembled from the modern library of international truth, which
might be duplicated from the same sources. Bahâ’u’lláh created a reality in the world of the soul which never before
existed and could not exist apart from Him.
The second fact is that the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is a religion, standing in the line of true religions: Christianity,
Mubammadanism, Judaism, and other prophetic Faiths. Its existence, like that of early Christianity, maths the return of
faith as a direct and personal experience of the will of God. Because the divine will itself has been revealed in terms of
human reality, the followers of Bahi’u’lláh are confident that their personal limitations can be transformed by an inflow
of spiritual reenforcement from the higher world. It is for the privilege of access to the source of reality that they forego
reliance upon the darkened self within and the unbelieving society without.
The religious education of Bahá’is revolutionizes their inherited attitude toward their own as well as other traditional
religions.
To Bahã’is, religion is the hfe and teachings of the prophet. By identifying religion with its founder, they exclude from
its spiritual reality all those accretions of human definition, ceremony and ritualistic practice emanating from followers
required from time to time to make compromise with an unbelieving world. Furthermore, in limiting religion to the
prophet they are able to perceive the oneness of God in the spiritual oneness of all the prophets. The Bahá’i born into
Christianity can wholeheartedly enter into fellowship with the Bahã’i horn into Muhammadanism because both have
come to

understand that Christ and Muhammad reflected the hght of the one God into the darkness of the world. If certain
teachings of Christ differ from certain teachings of Moses or Muhammad, the Bahá’is know that all prophetic teachings
are divided into two parts: one, consisting of the essential and unalterable principles of love, peace, unity and
cooperation, renewed as divine commands in every cycle; the other, consisting of external practices (such as diet,
marriage and similar ordinances) conforming to the requirements of one time and place.
This Bahá’i teaching leads to a profounder analysis of the process of history. The followers of Bahá’u’lláh derive
mental integrity from the realization made so clear and vivid by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that true insight into history discloses the
uninterrupted and irresistible working of a Providence not denied nor made vain by any measure of human ignorance
and unfaith.
According to this insight, a cycle begins with the appearance of a prophet or manifestation of God, through whom the
spirits of men are revivified and reborn. The rise of faith in God produces a religious community, whose power of
enthusiasm and devotion releases the creative elements of a new and higher civilization. This civilization comes to its
fruitful autumn in culture and mental achievement, to give way eventually to a barren winter of atheism, when strife
and discord bring the civilization to an end. Under the burden of immorality, dishonor and cruelty marking this phase
of the cycle, humanity lies helpless until the spiritual leader, the prophet, once more returns in the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Such is the Bahá’i reading of the book of the past. Its reading of the present interprets these world troubles, this general
chaos and confusion, as the hour when the renewal of religion is no longer a racial experience, a rebirth of one limited
area of human society, but the destined unification of human-
2. THE RENEWAL OF FAITH
“Theref ore the Lord of Mankind has caused His holy, divine Manifestations to come into the world. He has revealed
His heavenly books in order to establish spiritual brotherhood, and through the power of the Holy Spirit has made it
possible for perfect fraternity to be realized among mankind.”—’ABDu’L-BAHA.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

ity itself in one faith and one order. It is by the parable of the vineyard that Bahá’is of the Christian West behold their
tradition and their present spiritual reality at last inseparably joined, their faith and their social outlook identified, their
reverence for the power of God merged with intelligible grasp

of their material environment. A human society which has substituted creeds for religion and armies for truth, even as
all ancient prophets foretold, must needs come to abandon its instruments of violence and undergo purification until
conscious, humble faith can be reborn.

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAI-IA’f FAITH

A Gift of the Guardian to the Bahã’is of North America. Some locks of the hair of Bahã’u’lláh arranged by His
daughter, Bahiyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf.
These with other sacred relics are preserved in the archives of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, or Bahá’i Temple, Wilmette, Ill,

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Faith alone, no matter how whole-hearted and sincere, affords no basis on which the organic unity of a religious fellowship can
endure. The faith of the early Christians was complete, but its degree of inner conviction when projected outward upon the field of
action sbon disclosed a fatal lack of social principle. Whether the outer expression of love implied a democratic or an aristocratic
order, a communal or individualistic society, raised fundamental questions after the crucifixion of the prophet which none had
authority to solve.
The Bahá’i teaching has this vital distinction, that it extends from the realm of conscience and faith to the realm of social action. It
confirms the substance of faith not merely as a source of individual development but as a definitely ordered relationship to the
community. Those who inspect the Bahá’i Cause superficially may deny its claim to be a religion for the reason that it lacks most of
the visible marks by which religions are recognized. But in place of ritual or other formal worship it contains a social principle linking
people to a community, the loyal observance of which makes spiritual faith coterrninous with life itself. The Bahi’is, having no
professional clergy, f or- bidden ever to have a clergy, understand that religion, in this age, consists in an “attitude toward God
reflected in life.” They are therefore conscious of no division between religious and secular actions.
The inherent nature of the community created by Bahá’u’lláh has great significance at this time, when the relative values of
democracy, of constitutional monarchy, of aristocracy and of communism are everywhere in dispute.
Of the Bahá’I community it may be declared definitely that its character does not reflect the communal theory. The rights of the
individual are fully safeguarded and the fundamental distinctions of personal endowment natural among all people are fully preserved.
Individual rights, however, are interpreted in the light of the supreme law of

brotherhood and not made a sanction for selfishness, oppression and indifference.
On the other hand, the Bahá’i order is not a democracy in the sense that it proceeds from the complete sovereignty of the people,
whose representatives are limited to carrying out the popular will. Sovereignty, in the Bahá”i community, is attributed to the Divine
prophet, and the elected representatives of the believers in their administrative function look to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh for their
guidance, having faith that the application of His universal principles is the source of order throughout the community. Every Bahá’i
administrative body feels itself a trustee, and in this capacity stands above the plane of dissension and is free of that pressure exerted
by factional groups.
The local community on April 21 of each year elects by universal adult suffrage an administrative body of nine members called the
Spiritual Assembly. This body, with reference to all Bahá’i matters, has sole power of decision. It represents the collective conscience
of the community with respect to Bahá’i activities. Its capacity and power are supreme within certain definite limitations.
The various local communities unite, through delegates elected annually according to the principle of proportionate representation, in
the formation of a National Spiritual Assembly for their country or natural geographical area. This National Spiritual Assembly,
likewise composed of nine members, administers all national Bahá’i affairs and may assume jurisdiction of any local matter felt to be
of more than local importance. Spiritual Assemblies, local and national, combine an executive, a legislative and a judicial function, all
within the limits set by the Bahã’i teachings. They have no resemblance to religious bodies which can adopt articles of faith and
regulate the processes of belief and worship. They are primarily responsible for the maintenance of unity within the Bahá’I community
and for the release of its collective power in service to the Cause. Membership in the

3. THE BASIS OF UNITY
‘The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not
that I may confide in thee.”—BAHA’u’LLAH.

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA’I FAITH

Bahá’i community is granted, on personal declaration of faith, to adults.
Nine National Spiritual Assemblies have come into existence since the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921. Each National
Spiritual Assembly will, in future, constitute an electoral body in the formation of an International Spiritual Assembly,
a consummation which will perfect the administrative order of the Faith and create, for the first time in history, an
international tribunal representing a world-wide community united in a single Faith.
Bahá’is maintain their contact with the source of inspiration and knowledge in the sacred writings of the Faith by
continuous prayer, study and discussion. No believer can ever have a finished, static faith any more than he can arrive
at the end of his capacity for being. The community has but one meeting ordained in the teachings—the general
meeting held every nineteen days, on the first day of each month of nineteen days given in the new calendar established
by the Báb.
This Nineteen Day Feast is conducted

simply and informally under a program divided into three parts. The first part consists in the reading of passages from
writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá— a devotional meeting. Next follows general discussion of Bah’i
activities—the business meeting of the local community. After the consultation, the community breaks bread together
and enjoys fellowship.
The experience which Bahá’is receive through participation in their spiritual world order is unique and cannot be
paralleled in any other society. Their status of perfect equality as voting members of a constitutional body called upon
to deal with matters which reflect, even though in miniature, the whole gamut of human problems and activities; their
intense realization of kinship with believers representing so wide a diversity of races, classes and creeds; their
assurance that this unity is based upon the highest spiritual sanction and contributes a necessary ethical quality to the
world in this age—all these opportunities for deeper and broader experience confer a privilege that is felt to be the
fulfillment of life.

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AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA’i FAITH

The complete text of the Bahá’i sacred writings has not yet been translated into English, but the present generation of
believers have the supreme privilege of possessing the fundamental teachings of Bahâ’u’lláh, together with the
interpretation and lucid commentary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and more recently the exposition made by Shoghi Effendi of the
teachings concerning the world order which Bahá’u’lláh came to establish. Of spccial significance to Bahá’is of Europe
and America is the fact that, unlike Christianity, the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh rests upon the Prophet’s own words and not
upon a necessarily incomplete rendering of oral tradition. Furthermore, the commentary and explanation of the Bahá’i
gospel made by ‘Abdu’l-Bahã preserves the spirtual integrity and essential aim of the revealed text, without the
inevitable alloy of human personality which historically served to corrupt the gospel of Jesus and Muhammad. The
Bahá’i, moreover, has this distinctive advantage, that his approach to the teachings is personal and direct, without the
veils interposed by any human intermediary.
The works which supply the Bahá’i teachings to English-reading believers are: “The Kitab-i-fqán” (Book of Certitude),
in which Bahã’u’llâh revealed the oneness of the Prophets and the identical foundation of all true religions, the law of
cycles according to which the Prophet returns at intervals of approximately one thousand years, and the nature of faith
“Hidden ‘Words,” the essence of truths revealed by Prophets in the past; prayers to quicken the soul’s life and draw
individuals and groups nearer to God; “Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh” (Taráxát, The Tablet of the World, Kalimát, Tajalliyát,
Bishárát, Ishráqát), which establish social and spiritual principles for the new era; “Three Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh”
(Tablet of the Branch, Kitab-i-’Ahd, Law-i-Aqdas),

the appointment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Interpreter of Bahã’u’llih’s teachings, theTestament of Bahâ’u’lláh, and His message to the
Christians; “Epistle to the Son of the Wolf,” addressed to the son of a prominent Iranian who had been a most ruthless oppressor of the
believers, a Tablet which recapitulates many teachings Bahá’u’lláh had revealed in earlier works; “Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh.” The significant Tablets addressed to rulers of Europe and the Orient, as well as to the heads of American Republics,
about the year 1870, summoning them to undertake measures for the establishment of Universal Peace, constitute a chapter in the
compilation entitled “Bahá’i Scriptures.”
The largest and most authentic body of Bahã’u’lláh’s Writings in the English language consists of the excerpts chosen and translated
by Shoghi Effendi, and published under the title of “Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.” This work has replaced “Bahá’i
Scriptures” as source of study and meditation, for the volume includes the Author’s words on a great variety of subjects and has the
unique value of the English rendering made by the Guardian of the Faith.
In “Prayers and Meditations by Bahã’u‘lláh,” Shoghi Effendi has similarly given to the Bahá’i Community in recent years a wider
selection and a superb rendering of devotional passages revealed by Bahã’u’lláh.
The published writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã are: “Some Answered Questions,” dealing with the lives of the Prophets, the interpretation of
Bible prophecies, the nature of man, the true principle of evolution and other philosophic subjects; “Mysterious Forces of
Civilixation,” a work addressed to the people of Iran about forty years ago to show them the way to sound progress and true
civilixation; “Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ,” three volumes of excerpts from letters writ-

4. THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW DAY
jf man is left in his natural state, he will become lower than the animal and continue to grow more ignorant and
imperfect. The savage tribes of Central A/rica are evidence of this. Left in their nat-nral condition, they have snnk. to
the lowest depths and degrees of barbarism, dimly groping in a world of mental and moral obscurity. . . . God has
purposed that the darkness of the -world of nature shall be dispelled and the iris perfect attributes of the natal self be
effaced in the effulgent reflection of the Sun of Truth.”—’ABDU’L-BAHA.

THE BAHA’t WORLD

ten to individual believers and Bahá’j communities, which illumine a vast range of subjects; “Promulgation of Universal Peace,” in
two volumes, from stenographic records of the public addresses delivered by the Master to audiences in Canada and the United States
during the year 1912; “The Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” a similar record of His addresses in Paris; “ ‘Abdu’l-Baha in London”; and
reprints of a number of individual Tablets, especially that sent to the Committee for a Durable Peace, The Hague, Holland, in 1919,
and the Tablet addressed to the late Dr. Forel of Switzerland. The Will and Testament left by ‘Abdu’l-Baha has special significance, in
that it provided for the future development of Bahá’i administrative institutions and the Guardianship.
To these writings is now to be added the book entitled “Baha’i Administration,” consisting of the general letters written by Shoghi
Effendi as Guardian of the Cause since the Master’s death in 1921, which explain the details of the administrative order of the Cause,
and his letters on World Order, which make clear the social principles imbedded in Bahá-u’llah’s Revelation.
These latter letters were in 1938 published in a volume entitled “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.” Here the Guardian defines the
relation of the Faith to the current social crisis, and sums up the fundamental tenets of the Bahá’i Faith. It is a work which gives to
each believer access to a clear insight on the significance of the present era, and the outcome of its international perturbations,
incomparably more revealing and at the same time more assuring than the works of students and statesmen in our times.
The hterature has also been enriched by Shoghi Effendi’s recent translation of “The Dawn-Breakers,” Nabil’s Narrative of the Early
Days of the Bahá’i Revelation, a vivid eye-witness account of the episodes which resulted from the announcement of the Báb on May
23, 1844. “The Traveller’s Narrative,” translated from a manuscript given by ‘Abdu’l-Baha to the late Prof. Edward G. Browne of
Cambridge University, is the only other historical record considered authentic from the Bahá’i point of view.
When it is borne in mind that the term

“religious literature” has come to represent a wide diversity of subject matter, ranging from cosmic philosophy to the psychology of
personal experience, from efforts to understand the universe plumbed by telescope and microscope to efforts to discipline the passions
and desires of disordered human hearts, it is clear that any attempt to summarize the Bahá’i teachings would indicate the limitations of
the person making the summary rather than offer possession of a body of sacred literature touching the needs of man and society at
every point. The study of Bahá’i writings does not lead to any simplified program either for the solution of social problems or for the
development of human personality. Rather should it be likened to a clear light which illumines whatever is brought under its rays, or
to spiritual nourishment which gives life to the spirit. The believer at first chiefly notes the passages which seem to confirm his own
personal beliefs or treat of subjects close to his own previous training. This natural but nevertheless unjustifiable over-simplification
of the nature of the Faith must gradually subside and give way to a deeper realization that the teachings of Bahf’u’llah are as an ocean,
and all personal capacity is but the vessel that must be refilled again and again. The sum and substance of the faith of Bahá’is is not a
doctrine, not an organization, but their acceptance of Bahá’u’lláh as Manifestation of God. In this acceptance lies the mystery of a
unity that is general, not particular, inclusive, not exclusive, and limited in its gradual extension by no boundaries drawn in the social
world nor arbitrary limitations accepted by habits formed during generations lacking a true spiritual culture.
What the believer learns reverently to be grateful for is a source of wisdom to which he may turn for continuous mental and moral
development—a source of truth revealing a universe in which man’s life has valid purpose and assured realization. Human history
begins to reflect the working of a beneficent Providence; the sharp outlines of material sciences gradually fade out in the light of one
fundamental science of life; a profounder sociology, connected with the inner life, little by little displaces the super-

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA’i FAITH 11

ficial economic and political beliefs which like waves dash high an instant only to subside into the moveless volume of
the sea.
“The divine reality,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said, “is unthinkable, limitless, eternal, mi— mortal and invisible. The world
of creation is bound by natural law, finite and mortal. The infinite reality cannot be said to ascend or descend. It is
beyond the understanding of men, and cannot be described in terms which apply to the phenomenal sphere of the
created world. Man, then, is in extreme need of the only power by which he is able to receive help from the divine
reality, that power alone bringing him into contact with the source of all life.
“An intermediary is needed to bring two extremes into relation with each other. Riches and poverty, plenty and need:
without an intermediary there could be no relation between these pairs of opposites. So we can say that there must be a
Mediator between God and man, and this is none other than the Holy Spirit, which brings the created earth into relation
with the ‘Unthinkable One,’ the Divine reality. The Divine reality may be likened to the sun and the Holy Spirit to the
rays of the sun. As the rays of the sun bring the light and warmth of the sun to the earth, giving life to all created things,
so do the Manifestations bring the power of the Holy Spirit from the Divine Sun of Reality to give light and life to the
souls of men.”
In expounding the teachings of Bahâ’u’lláh to public audiences in the ‘West, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá frequently encountered the
attitude that, while the liberal religionist might well welcome and endorse such tenets, the Bahá’i teachings after all
bring nothing new, since the principles of Christianity contain all the essentials of spiritual truth. The believer whose
heart has been touched by the Faith so perfectly exemplified by ‘Abdu’lBahã feels no desire for controversy, but must
needs point out the vital difference between a living faith and a passive f ormula or doctrine. ‘What religion in its
renewal brings is first of all an energy to translate belief into life. This impulse, received into the profoundest depths of
consciousness, requires no startling “newness” of concept or theory to be appreciated as a

gift from the divine world. It carries its own assurance as a renewal of life itself; it is as a candle that has been lighted, and in
comparison with the miracle of light the discussion of religion as a form of belief becomes secondary in importance. Were the Bahá’i
Faith no more than a true revitalization of the revealed truths of former religions, it would by that quickening quality of inner life, that
returning to God, still assert itself as the supreme fact of human experience in this age.
For religion returns to earth in order to re-establish a standard of spiritual reality. It restores the quality of human existence, its active
powers, when that reality has become overlaid with sterile rites and dogmas which substitute empty shadow for substance. In the
person of the Manifestation it destroys all those imitations of religion gradually developed through the centuries and summons
humanity to the path of sacrifice and devotion.
Revelation, moreover, is progressive as well as periodic. Christianity in its original essence not only relighted the candle of faith
which, in the years since Moses, had become extinguished—it amplified the teachings of Moses with a new dimension which history
has seen exemplified in the spread of faith from tribe to nations and peoples. Bahá’u’lláh has given religion its world dimension,
fulfilling the fundamental purpose of every previous Revelation. His Faith stands at the reality within Christianity, within
Muhammadanism, within the religion of Moses, the spirit of each, but expressed in teachings which relate to all mankind.
The Bahá’I Faith, viewed from within, is religion extended from the individual to embrace humanity. It is religion universalized; its
teaching for the individual, spiritually identical with the teaching of Christ, supplies the individual with an ethics, a sociology, an ideal
of social order, for which humanity in its earlier stages of development was not prepared. Individual fulfillment has been given an
objective social standard of reality, balancing the subjective ideal derived from religion in the past. Bahá’u’lláh has removed the false
distinctions between the “spiritual” and “material” aspects of life, due to which religion has become sepa

THE BAHA’I WORLD

rate from science, and morality has been divorced from all social activities. The whole arena of human affairs has been
brought within the realm of spiritual truth, in the light of the teaching that materialism is not a thing but a motive within
the human heart.
The Bahá’i learns to perceive the universe as a divine creation in which man has his destiny to fulfill under a beneficent
Providence whose aims for humanity are made known through Prophets who stand between man and the Creator. He
learns his true relation to the degrees and orders of the visible universe; his true relation to God, to himself, to his
fellow man, to mankind. The more he studies the Bahá’i teachings, the more he becomes imbued with the spirit of
unity, the more vividly he perceives the law of unity working in the world today, indirectly manifest in the failure
which has overtaken all efforts to organize the principle of separation and competition, directly manifest in the power
which has brought together the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in East and West. He has the assurance that the world’s
turmoil conceals from worldly minds the blessings long foretold, now forgotten, in the sayings which prophesied the
coming of the Kingdom of God.
The Sacred Literature of the Bahá’i Faith conveys enlightenment. It inspires life. It frees the mind. It disciplines the
heart. For believers, the Word is not a philosophy to

be learned, but the sustenance of being throughout the span of mortal existence.
“The Bahá’i Faith,” Shoghi Effendi stated in a recent letter addressed to a public official, “recognizes the unity of God and of His
Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfettered search after tmth, condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the
fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes
the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and
privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, recommends the adoption of an
auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and
universal peace.”
Those who, even courteously, would dismiss a Faith so firmly based, will have to admit that, whether or not by their test the teachings
of Bahá’u’lláh are “new,” the world’s present plight is unprecedented, came without warning save in the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and day by day draws nearer a climax which strikes terror to the responsible student of current affairs. Humanity itself
now seems to share the prison and exile which an unbelieving generation inflicted upon the Glory of God.

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA’T FAITH 13

The words of Bahi’u’llih differ in the minds of believers from the words of philosophers because they have been given substance in
the experience of life itself. The history of the Faith stands ever as a guide and commentary upon the meaning and influence of the
written text.
This history, unfolded contemporaneously with the rise of science and technology in the West, reasserts the providential element of
human existence as it was reasserted by the spiritual consecration and personal suffering of the prophets and disciples of former times.
The world of Islim one hundred years ago lay in a darkness corresponding to the most degraded epoch of Europe’s feudal age.
Between the upper and nether millstones of an absolutist state and a materialistic church, the people of Inn were ground to a condition
of extreme poverty and ignorance. The pomp of the civil and religious courts glittered above the general ruin like fire-damp on a
rotten log.
In that world, however, a few devoted souls stood firm in their cooviction that the religion of Muhammad was to be purified by the
rise of a spiritual hero whose coming was assured in their interpretation of His gospel.
This remnant of the faithful one by one became conscious that in ‘Ali-Muhammad, since known to history as the Bib (the “Gate”),
their hopes had been realized, and under the Bib’s inspiration scattered themselves as His apostles to arouse the people and prepare
them for the restoration of Islirn to its original integrity. Against the Bib and His followers the whole force of church and state
combined to extinguish a fiery zeal which soon threatened to bring their structure of power to the ground.
The ministry of the Bib covered only the six years between 1844 and His martyrdom by a military firing squad in the public square at
Tabriz on July 9, 1850.

In the Bib’s own written message He interpreted His mission to be the fulfillment of past religions and the heralding of a world
educator and unifier, one who was to come to establish a new cycle. Most of the Bib’s chosen disciples, and many thousands of
followers, were publicly martyred in towns and villages throughout the country in those years. The seed, however, had been buried too
deep in hearts to be extirpated by any physical instrument of oppression.
After the Bib’s martyrdom, the weight of official wrath fell upon Husayn-’Ali, around whom the Bibis centered their hopes. usayn-
’Ali was imprisoned in Tihnin, exiled to Baglidid, frosu Baghdid sent to Constantinople under the jurisdiction of the Sulçin, exiled by
the Turkish government to Adnianople, and at length imprisoned in the desolate barracks at ‘Akki.
In 1863, while delayed outside of Baghdid for the preparation of the caravan to be dispatched to Constantinople, Husayn‘Ali
established His Cause among the Bibis who insisted upon sharing His exile. His declaration was the origin of the Bahi’i Faith in which
the Bib’s Cause was fulfilled. The Bibis who accepted Husayn‘Ali as Bahi’u’llih (the Glory of God) were fully conscious that His
mission was not a development of the Bibi movement but a new Cause for which the Bib had sacrificed His life as the first of those
who recognized the Manifestation or Prophet of the new age.
During forty years of exile and imprisonment, Bahi’u’llih expounded a gospel which interpreted the spiritual meaning of ancient
scriptures, renewed the reality of faith in God and established as the foundation of human society the principle of the oneness of
mankind. This gospel came into being in the form of letters addressed to individual believers and to groups in response to questions, in
books of religious laws and princi 5

A BACKGROUND OF HEROIC SACRIFICE
rro My beloved friends! You are the bearers of thc name of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories of His
mystery. It behooves each one of you to manifest the attribute of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His
righteousness, 1-us power and glory. . . . Ponder the words of Jesus addressed to His disciples, as He sent them forth to pro fragate the
Cause of God.”—THE BAn.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

pies, and in communications transmitted to the kings and rulers calling upon them to establish universal peace.
This sacred hterature has an authoritative commentary and interpretation in the text of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s writings during
the years between Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension in 1892 and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s departure in 1921, Bahá’u’lláh having left a
testament naming ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (His eldest son) as the Interpreter of His Book and the Center of His Covenant.
The imprisonment of the Bahã’i community at ‘Akká ended at last in 1908, when the Young Turks party overthrew the
existing political régime.
For three years prior to the European War, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, then nearly seventy years of age, journeyed throughout
Europe and America, and broadcast in public addresses and innumerable intimate gatherings the new spirit of
brotherhood and world unity penetrating His very being as the consecrated Servant of Bahá. The significance of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s commentary and explanation is that it makes mental and moral connection with the thoughts and social
conditions of both East and West. Dealing with matters of religious, philosophical, ethical and sociological nature,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá expounded all questions in the light of His conviction of the oneness of God and the providential
character of human life in this age.
The international Bahá’i community, grief-stricken and appalled by its loss of the

wise and loving “Master” in 1921, learned with profound gratitude that ‘Abdu’l-Babi in a will and testament had
provided for the continuance and future development of the Faith. This testament made clear the nature of the Spiritual
Assemblies established in the text of Bahá’u’llah and inaugurated a new center for the widespread community of
believers in the appointment of His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as Guardian of the Bahã’i Faith.
During the seventeen years of general confusion since 1921, the Bahá’i community has carried forward the work of
internal consolidation and administrative order and has become conscious of its collective responsibility for the
promotion of the blessed gospel of Bahá’u’lláh. In addition to the task of establishing the structure of local and national
Spiritual Assemblies, the believers have translated Bahá’i literature into many languages, have sent teachers to all parts
of the world, and have resumed construction of the Bahá’i House of Worship on the shore of Lake Michigan, near
Chicago, the completion of which will be impressive evidence of the power of this new Faith.
In the general letters issued to the Bahá’i community by Shoghi Effendi in order to execute the provisions of ‘Abdu’l-
Baha’s testament, believers have been given what they are confident is the most profound and accurate analysis of the
prevailing social disorder and its true remedy in the World Order of Bahã’u’llah.

II
SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’i
ACTIVITIES IN THE EAST
AND WEST
INTERNATIONAL
Br HORACE HOLLEY

THE period from April, 1938, to April, 1940, represented in the present volume, brought humanity to that stage in
the destruction of a long historic cycle when inner incompatibility, prejudice, fear and ambition seize upon the
instruments of civilization and employ the terms of political and economic policy in order to render to violence its
supreme expression. The trend became fixed and irrevocable. Failing to yield itself to the divine Will, human will
became victim to that frenzy which is the more sinister because it is no longer primitive excitement but the
crystallization of implacable formulas of collective power. The individual consciousness is not scaled to such vast areas
of experience. Spiritually little men raise up artificial formulas to serve as substitutes for the essential truths uttered by
the Prophet as He walks among men.
The condition was defined by these words in a cablegram from the Guardian of the Cause received in America August
30, 1939:
“Shades (of) night, descending (upon) imperilled humanity, inexorably deepening.” Dark, encircling night, witnessing
the setting of all the illumined heavenly bodies which had brought light to mankind in the past, hopeless of any new
dawn, the state in which man learns that he must confront his own ignorance and his own evil!
What more can the civilized man do for himself and for others when the ends, the issues and the plans of existence
have been seized from his grasp by Caesar and his legions? What more can the loyal follower of a sectarian creed
accomplish for himself, his church or his neighbors when the ancestral world which the creed might have fitted
is utterly abandoned, an empty house fallen to decay? How long can the stronger, cleverer few hope to fish in troubled
waters when the hurricane engulfs even the dry land and dashes ships of steel against houses of stone? “(The) longpredicted world- encircling conflagation, essential pre-requisite (to) world unification, (is) ineitorably moving to its
appointed climax,” the Guardian cabled a few months later, in 1940.
Immersed in such a vast movement of destiny, knowing that in this crisis there is no escape by migration, discovery,
even by conquest and seizure, the Bahâ’i at moments turns back to significant pictures by which human feeling
attempts to grasp the meaning of times, peoples and civilizations. One of these pictures reveals the image of an
inhuman god, enthroned by a powerful priesthood high above the people, his belly a smoking fire, his worship the
sacrifice of children torn from their mothers’ arms. Another uncovers the rising waters of the great flood, inch by inch
submerging every safety and every stronghold which mankind has built for protection against its foes. One sees, finally,
the Figure of the Holy One walking on earth, asserting truth and love against every human argument and condition, the
miracle of history, shepherding the lowly and sincere into His Kingdom, judging and condemning the cruel, the
truthless, the deniers.
Never in all recorded time has a destined destruction of civilization been stayed by any of the institutions, secular or
religious, through which the civilization has developed to the degree of external glory and inner decay. All that has fed
upon the civilization

THE BAHA’i WORLD

-

—
:
Descriptive Card for Bahá’i Exhibit Prepared by Directors of Temple of Religion

GOLDEN GATE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION

TEMPLE of RELIGION

SAHA’I HOUSE OF WORSHIP

WILMETTE, ILLINOIS

DEDICATED TO THE

UNITY OP RELIGION

AND THE

ONENESS OP MANKIND

LENT ST THE SPIRITOAL AASEMSLY OF THE SAHATA OF SAN FRANOISOO
pict16.jpg

pict17.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

and exploited the weakness of its peoples, all that has attained influence and power for its own ends, all that depends directly or
indirectly upon its injustice, goes down with the collapse of the civilixation as parasites go down with the dying tree. For wars and
revolutions to come, there must he a succession of awful prior defeats in the world of the soul. There must be ahdications of truth and
righteousness, there must be prostitutions of public privilege and power, there must be accommodations entered into with despoilers of
the people. One by one the mighty walls raised by the people of faith must be undermined by creed, ceremony and policy bef ore the
hosts of the destroyers can enter the city gates. The work of evil goes on unchecked and unnoticed when leaders are busy in disputes
concerning the priorities of institutional religion. At last the process cnlçninates in necessity to uphold immoral public policy in the
guise of programs for crisis. At last, having abandoned voluntary effort to remain true to the Faith of God, it becomes imperative for
the multitudes to perform what their faith had originally condemned. Definitions of necessity are a last vain effort of man to remain
rational when he has betrayed the true aim and function of reason.
No concentration of social force nor combination of moribund institutions can restore the youthful vigor and integrity that have been
lost. The spirit creates the social institutions needed for accomplishing tasks concerned with the development of one historic era.
When the tool has done its work, and different instruments are needed, the institutions are destroyed by that same spirit, which then is
engaged in creating new and more effective tools. But faith is the capacity to live positively in and through conditions which to the
denier seem to be utterly irreconcilable and mutually exclusive. The beginnings and the ends of all things on earth are matters of faith.
The tenderest love which the Prophet can convey, and the violence of war itself, can to the man of faith be one and the same mystery.
The outcome of the trend when the power of destruction is manifest discloses the true nature of the prevalent human qualities and
attitudes. Destruction is never merely the

expression of one evil party in relation to another innocent party, for the outcome rests upon prior indifference and non-action as much
as upon explosive ambition. The passive unwillingness of a great body of cultured, humane and civilized people in many countries to
exert themselves sufficiently to establish either justice for their own poor or collective security for all nations, weak or powerful,
provided the opportunity for the active forces to work. Those who build an anvil may deny having built the hammer, but in action the
anvil and the hammer are one instrument and one function. That is why, in a time like the present, there can be so much apparent good
and so much innocence, such wonderful virtues and such heroic suffering. Praiseworthy in relation to ethical standards of the past,
they nevertheless did not suffice to stay the hand of the great destroyers. The eventual outcome of events is their condemnation.
But destruction itself is part of that larger order whose dynamic form is growth. The Bahá’is find in their Faith complete assurance
that this outer darkness will end and the light of spiritual knowledge cover the earth. By the elimination of the social patterns, which
have become agencies of destruction, and the refutation of the human loyalties which serve to organize and perpetuate prejudice of
race, creed, class and nation, the creative spirit sent down through Bahá’u’lláh will gradually disclose its own world pattern and
establish it with the authority of truth and discipline in the hearts of men.
Thus these passing years have to the Bahá’i revealed as never before the constructive nature of the new Dispensation. In his soul and
in his religious commtsnity he can perceive reflections of world order and justice the essence of which shines brilliantly from the
teachings of Bahá’u’lláh above the clouds of war.
The problem of reconciling his relations to the two worlds of past and future the Bahà’i has been able to solve by applying the
instruction cabled by the Guardian on September 24, 1938:
“Loyalty (to the) world order (of) Bahá’u’lláh, (the) security (of) its basic institutions, both imperatively demand (that)

THE BAHA’I WORLD

all its avowed supporters, particularly its champion builders (on the) American continent, in these days when sinister, uncontrollable
forces are deepening (the) cleavage sundering peoples, nations, creeds, (and) classes, resolve, despite (the) pressure (of a) fast
crystallizing public opinion, (to) abstain, individually (and) collectively, in word (and) action, informally as well as in all official
utterances (and) publications, from assigning blame, (or) taking sides, however indirectly, in (the) recurring political crises now
agitating (and) ultimately engulfing human society.”
And, a few months prior to the outbreak of hostilities, to prepare the believers for the future ordeal:
“Fresh, ominous rumblings demonstrate (the) inevitability (and) foreshadow (the) approach (of the) final eruption involving (the)
dissolution (of a) lamentably defective international order.”
The mission of the Bahá’is at this crucial time was emphasized again by the Guardian in his letter addressed to the American National
Spiritual Assembly on May
22, 1939:
“The Edifice of this New World Order, which the Bib has heralded, which the mind of Bahi’u’llih has envisioned, and whose features
‘Abdu’l-Bahi, its Architect, has delineated, we, whatever our capacities, opportunities or position, are now, at so precarious a period in
the world history, summoned to found and erect. The community of the Most Great Name in the Western Hemisphere is, through the
nature of its corporate hfe and the scope of its exertions, assuming, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a preponderating share in the laying
of such a foundation and the erection of such a structure. The eyes of its sister communities are fixed upon it. Their prayers ascend on
its behalf. Their hands are outstretched to lend whatever aid lies within their power. I, for my part, am determined to reinforce the
impulse that impels its members forward to meet their destiny. The Founders of their Faith survey from the Kingdom on high the
range of their achievements, acclaim their progress, and are ever ready to speed their eventual triumph.
“Far be it from me to underrate the gi ganti

proportions of their task, nor do I for one moment overlook the urgency and gravity of the times in which they are laboring. Nor do I
wish to minimize the hazards and trials that surround or lie ahead of them. The grandeur of their task is indeed commensurate with the
mortal perils by which their generation is hemmed in. As the dusk creeps over a steadily sinking society the radiant outlines of their
redemptive mission becosue sharper every day. The present world unrest, symptom of a world-wide malady, their world religion has
already affirmed, must needs culminate in that world catastrophe out of which the consciousness of world citizenship will be born, a
consciousness that can alone provide an adequate basis for the organization of world unity, on which a lasting world peace must
necessarily depend, the peace itself inaugurating in turn that world civilization which will mark the coming of age of the entire human
race.”
By such words has the Guardian of a spiritual world community made it evident that capacity for collective action and initiative has
for a time been centered in North America, whose believers are, until the present trend has been fulfilled, to feel themselves as trustees
for their fellow-workers in other lands, endeavoring, by the reinforcement of this sacred mission, to serve them and to represent them
as though the outer association continued to be as close and complete as the association of their spirits.
BLESSED REMAINS OF PUREST
BRANCH AND ‘ABDU’L-BAHA’S
MOTHER TRANSFERRED TO
MOUNT CARMEL
In the development of the Bahi’i world community, the source of spiritual power and guidance, as well as the central institutions, is
established at Mount Carmel, Palestine. There beats the heart of the Faith, there is concentrated its mind and there operates its will.
Whatever makes for the evolution of its World Center becomes an influence felt throughout the Faith. The period under survey has
been blessed by a great and mysterious event, the transfer of the remains of the two holy beings, the brother and mother of ‘Abdu’l-
Bahi, to the hallowed precincts of the Shrines on Mount

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Carmel. On Christmas eve, 1939, as the Bahá’is were informed by the Guardian in a cabled message, the beloved remains were laid in
state in the Bãb’s Tomb, and on the following day a profoundly moving ceremony was carried out in the presence of believers come
from centers of the Near East, when the remains were reinterred near the resting place of the revered Bahiyyih Khánum, the Greatest
Holy Leaf.
Thus was consummated the reuniting at the focal center of Bahá’i institutions, of the earthly remains of the three figures who, in the
Guardian’s words, “tower . . . above the entire concourse of the faithful.” “The transfer of the sacred remains,” he further stated,
“constitute, apart from their historic associations and the tender sentiments they arouse, events of such capital institutional significance
as only future happenings, steadily and mysteriously unfolding at the world center of our Faith, can adequately demonstrate.”
Bitter and determined efforts had been made by enemies within the family of Bahâ’u’lláh, those members who had violated the Center
of Bahá’u’llih’s Covenant, ‘Abdu’lBahá, to prevent the moving of the remains from their original grave. “The circumstances attending
the consummation of this long, this profoundly cherished hope were no less significant,” the Guardian explained in a detailed letter
dated December 21, 1939. “The swiftness and suddenness with which so delicate and weighty an undertaking was conducted; the
surmounting of various obstacles which the outbreak of war and its inevitable repercussions necessarily engendered; the success of the
long-drawn out negotiations which the solution of certain preliminary problems imposed; the execution of the plan in the face of the
continued instability and persistent dangers following the fierce riots that so long and so violently rocked the Holy Land and despite
the smouldering fire of animosity kindled in the breasts of ecclesiastics and Covenant-breakers alike
—all combined to demonstrate, afresh and with compelling power, the invincible might of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.”
For the American believers, and no doubt for those in other countries as well, these events served to deepen their understanding

of certain mysteries attending the coming of the Manifestation to earth. These high matters were unfolded in the letter from Shoghi
Effendi already cited. “For it must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the conjunction of the restingplace
of the Greatest Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual potencies of that consecrated Spot
which, under the wings of the Báb’s overshadowing Sepulchre, and in the vicinity of the future Mashriqu’lAdhkár, which will be
reared on its flank, is destined to evolve into the focal center of those world-shaking, world-embracing, world-directing administrative
institutions, ordained by Bahã’u’llãh and anticipated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and which are to function in consonance with the twin
institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.” . . . “the association of these three incomparably precious souls . . . in
such a potentially powerful spiritual and administrative Center is in itself an event which will release forces that are bound to hasten
the emergence in a land which, geographically, spiritually and administratively, constitutes the heart of the entire planet, of
of the brightest gems of that World Order now shaping in the womb of this travailing age.”
Concerning the loftiness of the beings whose spiritual capacity can release such forces, we have these excerpts from the writings of
Bahá’u’lláh. “Happy art thou in that thou hast been faithful to the Covenant of God and His Testament, until thou didst sacrifice
thyself before the face of thy Lord, the Almighty, the Unconstrained. Thou, in truth, hast been wronged, and to this testifieth the
Beauty of Him, the Self- Subsisting. Thou didst, in the first days of thy life, bear that which caused all things to groan, and made every
pillar to tremble. Happy is the one that remembereth thee, and draweth nigh, through thee, unto God, the Creator of the Morn. . . . I
have, 0 my Lord, offered up that which Thou hast given Me, that Thy servants may be quickened and all that dwell on earth be
united.”
In such words Bahâ’u’lláh wrote testimony to the Purest Branch, His son, who sacrificed his hfe that the Bahá’is, separated

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Section of the ornamentation of the Bahá’i Temple in Wilmette, Ill., presented by the American Bahá’is to be placed in
the gardens surrounding the tomb of the
Báb on Mt. Carmel.

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pict18.jpg

pict19.jpg

pict20.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’! ACTIVITIES

from Bahá’u’lláh, might have access to Him in the Prison at ‘Akká.
Of the mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His own wife, the Most Exalted Leaf, Bahã’u’lláh wrote: “Thou art the one whom God created to
arise and serve His own Self, and the Manifestation of His Cause, and the Day-Spring of His Revelation, and the Dawning-Place of
His signs, and the Source of His commandments; and who so aided thee that thou didst turn with thy whole being unto Him, at a time
when His servants and handmaidens had turned away from His Face....”” 0 Navváb! 0 Leaf rhat harh sprung from My Tree, and been
My companion! My glory be upon thee, and My loving-kindness, and My mercy that bath surpassed all beings
‘Abdu’l-Bahá added these words: “As to thy question concerning the 54th chapter of Isaiah. This chapter refers to the Most Exalted
Leaf, the mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As a proof of this it is said: ‘For more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the
married wife.’ Reflect upon this statement, and then upon the following: ‘And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the
desolate cities to be inhabited.’ And truly the humiliation and reproach which she suffered in the path of God is a fact which no one
can refute. For the calamities and afflictions mentioned in the whole chapter are such afflictions which she suffered in the path of God,
all of which she endured with patience and thanked God therefor and praised Him, because He had enabled her to endure afflictions
for the sake of Bahá.”
THE PASSING OF
MUNtRIH KHANUM
During the annual Convention of 1938, on April 30, the American Bahá’is received this message from the Guardian:
“Holy Mother, Munirih Khánum, ascended (to) Abhá Kingdom. With sorrowful hearts (the) Bahá’is (the) world over recall divers
phases (of) her rich, eventful life marked by unique services which by virtue (of) her exalted position she rendered during (the) darkest
days (of) ‘Abdu’l-Bahã’s life.”
In reverent honor to this noble spirit, the Bahá’is devoted a session of the Convention to a special gathering in the auditorium of

the Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr, devoted to meditation and prayer. They were conscious that a link with the Apostolic days of their Faith had
broken, a generation of mighty believers in her had passed away, and that it is now for those serving in the days of the first
Guardianship to labor in deeper consecration because such souls as this have lived and marked the path of sacrifice, of devotion and of
fidelity for those who have come after them.
Munirih Khánum was given burial under the shadow of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf. In Memories of My Life,
published fifteen years ago, the believers have her own exquisite story of her unique experiences.
PROGRESS OF THE TEACHING PLAN IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA
Upon the behevers of North America destiny has laid a special task and to them entrusted a special mission during these years of
international turmoil when religious groups in so many countries are denied freedom of action. This mission has been strongly
emphasized and precisely defined by the Gttardian of the Faith in successive letters and cablegrams since 1936. Some of those
references written during the period devoted to THE BAHA’I WORLD, VII are repeated here in order to give more complete
development to this crucial subject.
“(The) Dawn-Breakers (in) previous age have on Persian soil signalized by their acts (the) birth (of the) Faith (of) Bahá’u’lláh. Might
not American believers, their spiritual descendants, prove themselves in turn capable (of) ushering in on world scale the civilization of
which that Faith is (the) direct source and sole begetter.”——October
29, 1936.
“The promulgation of the Divine Plan, unveiled by our departed Master in the darkest days of one of the severest ordeals which
humanity has ever experienced, is the key which Providence has placed in the hands of the American believers whereby to unlock the
doors leading them to fulfil thsir unimaginably glorious Destiny. As the proclamation of the Message reverberates throughout the land,
as its resistless march gathers momentum, as the field of its operation

THE BAHA’! WORLD

widens, and the numbers of its upholders and champions multiply, its potentialities will correspondingly unfold, exerting a most
beneficent influence not only on every community throughout the Bahá’i world, but on the immediate fortunes of a travailing
society.”—November 14, 1936.
“Dual gift Providentially conferred (upon) American Bahã’i community invests recipients with dual responsibility fulfil historic
mission. First, prosecute uninterruptedly teaching campaign inaugurated (at) last Convention in accordance (with) Divine Plan.
Second, resume with inflexible determination exterior ornamentation (of) entire structure (of) Temple. Advise ponder message
conveyed (to) delegates (through) esteemed co-worker, Fred Schopflocher. No triumph can more befittingly signalize termination (of)
first century (of) Bahã’I era than accomplishment (of) this twofold task.”—May 1, 1937.
“Blest and honored as none among its sister communities has been in recent years, preserved through the inscrutable dispensations of
Divine Providence for a destiny which no mind can yet imagine, such a community cannot for a moment afford to be content with or
rest on the laurels it has so deservedly won. It must go on, continually go on, exploring fresh fields, scaling nobler heights, laying
firmer foundations, shedding added splendor and achieving added renown in the service and for the glory of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
The seven year plan which it has sponsored and with which its destiny is so closely interwoven, must at all costs be prosecuted wiith
increasing force and added consecration. All should arise and participate.”—November 25, 1937.
“The outposts of a Faith, already persecuted in both Europe and Asia, are in the American continent steadily advancing, the visible
symbols of its undoubted sovereignty are receiving fresh luster every day and its manifold institutions are driving their roots deeper
and deeper into its soil.
“For no less than six consecutive years this two-fold and stupendous enterprise, which has been set in operation, must, if the American
believers are to prove themselves worthy of their high calling, be wisely conducted, continually reinforced and energeti call

prosecuted to its very end. Severe and unprecedented as may be the internal tests and ordeals which the members of this Community
may yet experience, however tragic and momentous the external happenings which might well disrupt the fabric of the society in
which they live, they must not throughout these six remaining years, allow themselves to be deflected from the course they are now
steadily pursuing. Nay, rather, as the impelling forces which have set in motion this mighty undertaking acquire added momentum and
its potentialities are more fully manifested, they who are responsible for its success must as time goes on evince a more burning
enthusiasm, demonstrate a higher sense of solidarity, reveal greater depths of consecration to their task, and display a more unyielding
determination to achieve its purpose. Then, and only then, will the pleas, the hopes and wishes of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, eternally enshrined in
the Tablets of the Divine Plan, be worthily acknowledged and fulfilled. teLet your exertions, henceforth, increase a
thousandfold” is the earnest appeal voiced by I-Jim in those Tablets. cesummon the people,” He exhorts them, “in these
countries, capitals, islands, assemblies and churches, to enter the Abhd Kingdom. The scope of your exertions must
needs be extended. The wider its range the more striking will be the evidences of Divine assistance.” “The moment,”
He solemnly affirms, ‘this Divine Message is carried forward by the American believers from the shores of America and
is propagated through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of Australasia . . . this community will find itself
securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion.
Then will the whole earth resound with the praises of its majesty and greatness.” The Seven Year Plan, to which every
American believer is fully and irrevocably pledged, during the closing years of the First Century of the Bahã’i Era, is in itself but an
initial stage in the unfoldment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã’s vision of America’s spiritual destiny—a destiny which only those who will have
successfully accomplished this preliminary task can enable the rising generation who will labor after them to fulfil in the course of the
succeeding century.”—April 14, 1938.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

“The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up
of the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned,
and resolute. The American believers, standard-bearers of this world-wide community and torch-bearers of an as yet unborn
civilization, have girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena of service. Their Plan has been formulated. Their
forces are mobilized. They are steadfastly marching towards their goal. The hosts of the Abhá Kingdom are rushing forth, as
promised, to direct their steps and reinforce their power. Through their initial victories they have provided the impulse that must now
surge and, with relentless force sweep over their sister-communities and eventually overpower the entire human race. The generality
of mankind, blind and enslaved, is wholly unaware of the healing power with which this community has been endowed, nor can it as
yet suspect the role which this same community is destined to play in its redemption.”—July 5, 1938.
“The marked deterioration in world affairs, the steadily deepening gloom that envelops the storm-tossed peoples and nations of the
Old World, invest the Seven-year Plan, now operating in both the northern and southern American continents, with a significance and
urgency that cannot be overestimated. Conceived as the supreme agency for the establishment, in the opening century of the Bahá’i
Era, of what is but the initial stage in the progressive realization of ‘Abdu’l-]laha’s Plan for the American believers, this enterprise, as
it extends its ramifications throughout the entire New World, is demonstrating its power to command all the resources and utilize all
the facilities which the machinery of a laboriously evolved Administrative Order can place at its disposal. However we view its
aspects, it offers in its functioning a sharp contrast to the workings of the moribund and obsolescent institutions to which a perverse
generation is desperately clinging. Tempestuous are the winds that buffet and will, as the days go by, fiercely assail the very structure
of the Order through the

agency of which this twofold task is being performed. The potentialities with which an almighty Providence has endowed it will no
doubt enable its promoters to achieve their purpose. Much, however, will depend upon the spirit and manner in which that task will be
conducted. Through the clearness and steadiness of their vision, through the unvitiated vitality of their belief, through the
incorruptibility of their character, through the adamantine force of their resolve, the matchless superiority of their aims and purpose,
and the unsurpassed range of their accomplishments, they who labor for the glory of the Most Great Name throughout both Americas
can best demonstrate to the visionless, faithless and restless society to which they belong their power to proffer a haven of refuge to its
members in the hour of their realized doom. Then and only then will this tender sapling, embedded in the fertile soil of a Divinely
appointed Administrative Order, and energized by the dynamic processes of its institutions, yield its richest and destined fruit.”—
September 10, 1938.
“Recent swift progress (of) Temple ornamentation prompts me entreat American Community (to) focus immediate attention (and)
center energies (upon) corresponding acceleration (in the) Teaching enterprise formulated (in) Seven Year Plan. Final phase (in)
construction (of) Mashriqu’lAdhkár already entered. Initial stage (in the) inaugurated Teaching Campaign still untraversed. End (of)
First Century rapidly approaching. Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Manitoba (and) Nova
Scotia still unsettled. Universal, prolonged intensification (in) pioneer activity (is the) crying need (of this) fateful hour. (The)
establishment (of) one resident believer (in) each virgin territory (is the) precondition (to the) full launching (of the) subsequent,
eagerly- anticipated stage aiming (at the) spiritual conquest (of the) Southern Half (of the) Western Hemisphere. (The) Concourse on
high expectantly await, ready (to) assist (and) acclaim (the) nine holy souls who, independently or as deputies, will promptly,
fearlessly volunteer (to) forsake (their) homes, cast away (their) attachments (and) definitely settle (in) these territories (to)

The recently inaugurated headquarters of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada, adjacent to
the Bahá’i Temple, ‘Wilmette, Illinois.

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Two Views of the Haziratu’l-Quds
pict21.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’f ACTIVITIES

lay firm anchorage (of the) Administrative Order (of this) undefeatable Faith.”—January 26, 1939.
“Newly-launched Central American campaign marks official inauguration (of) long- deferred World Mission constituting
‘Abdu’lBahá’s distinctive legacy (to the) Bahá’i Community (of) North America. Chosen Community broadening its basis, gaining
(in) stature, deepening (in) consecration. Its vanguard now entering arena monopolized (by) entrenched forces (of) Christendom’s
mightiest ecclesiastical institutions. Laboring amidst race foreign in language, custom, temperament embracing vast proportion (of)
New World’s ethnic elements. American believers’ isolated oversea teaching enterprises hitherto tentative, intermittent, now at end.
New epoch opening, demanding exertions incomparably more strenuous, unflinchingly sustained, centrally directed, systematically
organized, efficiently conducted. Upon alacrity, tenacity, fearlessness (of) present prosecutors (of the) unfolding mission depend
speedy (and) fullest revelation, in the First (and) Second Centuries, (of the) potentialities (of the) birthright conferred (upon) American
believers.”
—May 28, 1939.
“The association of the First Mashriqu’lAdhkár of the West with the hallowed memories of the Purest Branch and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
mother, recently re-interred under the shadow of the Mb’s holy Shrine, inaugurates a new, and at long last the final phase of an
enterprise which, thirty years ago, was providentially launched on the very day the remains of the Forerunner of onr Faith were laid to
rest by our beloved Master in the sepulchre specifically erected for that purpose on Mt. Carmel. The birth of this holy enterprise,
pregnant with such rich, such infinite possibilities, synchronized with, and was consecrated through, this historic event which, as
‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself has affirmed, constitutes the most signal act of the triple mission He had been prompted to perform. The site of
the Temple itself was honored by the presence of Him Who, ever since this enterprise was initiated, had, through His messages and
Tablets, bestowed upon it His special attention and care, and surrounded it with the marks of His unfail in

solicitude. Its foundation-stone was laid by His own loving hands, on an occasion so moving that it has come to be regarded as one of
the most stirring episodes of His historic visit to the North American continent. Its superstructure was raised as a direct consequence
of the pent-up energies which surged from the breasts of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s lovers at a time when His sudden removal from their midst
had plunged them into consternation, bewilderment and sorrow. Its external ornamentation was initiated and accelerated through the
energizing influences which the rising and continually consolidating institutions of a divinely established Administrative Order had
released in the midst of a community that had identified its vital interests with that Temple’s destiny. The measures devised to hasten
its completion were incorporated in a Plan which derives its inspiration from those destiny-shaping Tablets wherein, in bold relief,
stands outlined the world mission entrusted by their Author to the American Bahá’i community. And finally, the Fund, designed to
receive and dispose of the resources amassed for its prosecution, was linked with the memory and bore the name of her whose ebbing
life was brightened and cheered by those tidings that unmistakably revealed to her the depth of devotion and the tenacity of purpose
which animate the American believers in the cause of their beloved Temple. And now, while the Bahá’i world vibrates with emotion
at the news of the transfer of the precious remains of both the Purest Branch and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s mother to a spot which, watched
over by the Twin Holy Shrines and in the close neighborhood of the rosting-place of the Greatest F-Ioly Leaf, is to become the focus
of the administrative institutions of the Faith at its world center, the mere act of linking the destiny of so far-reaching an undertaking
with so significant an event in the Formative Period of our Faith will assuredly set the seal of complete triumph upon, and enhance the
spiritual potentialities of, a work so significantly started and so magnificently executed by the followers of Bahã’u’lláh in the North
American continent.”—December 30, 1939.
“(The) stupendous struggle now convulsing (the) major part (of the) European

THE BAHA’i WORLD

continent (is) progressively revealing (the) ominous features, (and) increasingly assuming (the) proportions, (of the) titanic upheaval
foreshadowed seventy years ago (by the) prophetic pen (of) Bahá’u’llah. (The) disruptive forces associated (with) humanity’s worldshaking ordeal (are) closely interrelated (with the) constructive potentialities inherent (in the) American believers’ Divinely-ordained
Plan. Both (are) directly hastening (the) emergence (of the) spiritual World Order stirring (in the) womb (of a) travailing age. (I)
entreat (the) American Bahá’i Community, whatever (the) immediate or distant repercussions (of the) present turmoil on their own
continent, however violent its impact (upon the) World Center (of) their Faith, (to) pledge themselves anew, before (the) Throne (of)
Bahá’u’lláh, (to) discharge, with unswerving aim, unfailing courage, invincible vigor, exemplary fidelity (and) ever-deepening
consecration, (the) dual responsibility solemnly undertaken under (the) Seven Year Plan. (I) implore them (to) accelerate (their)
efforts, increase (their) vigilance, deepen (their) unity, multiply (their) heroic feats, maintain (their) distant outposts (in the) teaching
field (of) Latin America, (and) expedite (the) termination (of the) last stage (in the) ornamentation (of the) Temple. (I am) praying
continually (with) redoubled fervor.”—June
13, 1940.
“(The) long-predicted world-encircling conflagration, essential pre-requisite (to) world unification, (is) inexorably moving (to its)
appointed climax. Its fires, first lit (in the) Far East, subsequently ravaging Europe (and) enveloping Africa, now threaten devastation
both (in) Near East (and) Far West, respectively enshrining (the) World Center and (the) chief remaining Citadel (of the) Faith (of)
Bahá’u’lláh. (The) Divinely-appointed Plan must (and) will likewise pursue undeflected (its) predestined course. Time (is) pressing.
(The) settlement (of the) two remaining Latin Republics, (the) sounder consolidation through formation (of) firmly-knit groups in
newly-opened territories, (the) provision (of) adequate means (for the) ornamentation (of) last six faces (of) first

story (of) Temple, stand out (as) vital requirements (of) approaching supremely challenging hour.”—July 21, 1940.
Finally, in The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi has given a more extensive exposition to the theme. The following
excerpts are taken from that work:
“Superb and irresistible as is the beauty of the First Mashriqu’l Adhkár of the West
it should be regarded . . . as no more than an instrument for the more effective propagation of the Cause .
“In this respect it should be viewed in the same light as the administrative institutions of the Faith which are designed as vehicles for
the proper dissemination of its ideals, its tenets, and its verities.
“It is . . . to the teaching requirements of the Seven Year Plan that the community
must henceforth direct their careful and sustained attention.
“To teach . . . should at no time be regarded as the exclusive concern or sole privilege of Bahá’i administrative institutions.
“How often . . . have the lowliest adherents . . . been capable of winning victories for their Cause.
“The field . . . so immense, the period so critical, the Cause so great, the workers so few, the time so short, the privilege so priceless, that
no follower . . . can afford a moment’s hesitation.
“So precious an opportunity . . . may never again recur. Now is the time, the appointed time, for the American believers
to proclaim, through the agencies and channels of a specially designed Administrative Order, their capacity and readiness to rescue a
fallen and sore-tried generation.
“The teaching campaign . . . acquires .
an importance . . . that can not be over estimated. “Launched . . . through the creative
energies released by the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ it must . . . be carried out in conformity with certain principles.
“Those who participate . . . must . .
thoroughly familiarize themselves with the history and teachings . . . study . .
the literature . . . delve into its teachings, assimilate its laws and principles, ponder its admonitions, tenets and purposes, commit

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

to memory certain of its exhortations and prayers, master the essentials of its administration . . . keep abreast of its current affairs.
“They must . . . obtain . . . a sound knowledge . . . of Islam.
“They must, whenever they contemplate any specific mission in the countries of Latin America . . . acquire a certain proficiency in the languages . . . of
those countries.
“No participator of this inter-American campaign must feel that the initiative
must rest solely with those agencies, whether Assemblies or committees, whose . . . concern is . . . this vital objective.
“It is the bounden duty of every American believer . . . to initiate, promote and consolidate, within the limits fixed by the administrative principles . . . any
activity he or she deems fit to undertake.
“Neither should the threatening world situation, nor . . . lack of material resources, of mental equipment, of knowledge, or of experience . . . deter any
prospective pioneer teacher.
“Having on his own initiative . . . resolved to arise . . . let him carefully consider every avenue of approach . . . survey the possibilities . . .
devise such methods as association with clubs . . . or participation in social, cultural, humanitarian, charitable, and educational organizations.
“Let him ... preserve its dignity, and station . . . safeguard the integrity of its laws and principles . . . decide . . . the suitability of either the direct or indirect
method of teaching.
“Let him . . . shower . . . kindness upon the seeker . . . refrain at the outset from insisting on such laws and observances as might impose too severe a strain . . .
Let him, as soon as that stage (maturity of faith) has been attained, introduce him to the body of his fellow-believers, and seek
to enable him to contribute his share to the enrichment of its (the Bahá’i community’s) life.
“Let every participator . . . bear in mind the necessity of keeping in close and constant touch with those responsible agencies designed to direct,
coordinate, and facilitate the teaching activities of the entire community.

“They . . . should, through constant interchange of ideas, through letters, circulars, reports, bulletins . . . insure the smooth and speedy
functioning of the teaching machinery of their Administrative Order.
“Upon every participator . . . rests the spiritual obligation to make of the mandate of teaching . . . the all-pervading concern of his life.
“If he be member of any Spiritual Assembly let him encourage his Assembly to consecrate a certain part of its time .
to . . . consideration of such ways and means as may foster the campaign of teaching.
“If he attends his summer school . . . let him consider such an occasion as a .
precious opportunity . . . to enrich . . . his knowledge.
“Let him . . . seek . . . through inter- community visits to stimulate the zeal for teaching.
“Let any one who feels the urge .
direct in particular the attention . . . of the Negro, the Indian, the Eskimo, and Jewish races to his Faith.
“Let those . . . holding administrative positions . . . bear in mind the vital and urgent necessity of insuring . . . the formation . . . of groups . . .
and enable these .
nuclei to evolve . . . into properly functioning . . . Assemblies.
“To implant . . . the banner of Bahã’u’lláh in the heart of these virgin territories, to erect the structural basis of His Administrative Order
in their cities and villages .
constitute . . . the first and most significant step.
“These undertakings . . . require . . . on the part of the National Spiritual Assembly and of both the National Teaching and Inter-America
Committees, painstaking investigations preparatory to the sending of settlers and itinerant teachers .
“The number of Bahá’i teachers, be they settlers or travelers, must be substantially increased.
“The material resources to be placed at their disposal must be multiplied, and efficiently administered.
“The literature with which they should be equipped must be vastly augmented.
“The publicity that should aid them in the distribution of such literature should be

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extended, centrally organized, and vigorously conducted.
“The possibilities latent in these countries should be diligently exploited, and systematically developed.
“The various obstacles raised by the widely-varying political and social conditions
should be closely surveyed and determinedly surmounted.
“The careful translation of such important Bahá’i writings as are related to the history, the teachings, or the Administrative Order of
the Faith, and their wide and systematic dissemination . . . would appear to be the chief and most urgent measures to be taken
simultaneously with the arrival of the pioneer workers in those fields.
“In countries where no objections can be raised by the civil authorities or any influential circles, this measure should be reinforced by
the publication, in various organs of the Press, of carefully worded articles and letters, designed to impress upon the general public
certain features of the stirring history of the Faith, and the range and character of its teachings.
“Every laborer in those fields, whether as travehng teacher or settler, should . . make it his chief and constant concern to mix, in a
friendly manner, with all sections of the population . . . study the approach best suited to them, to concentrate . . . on a few . . . and to
endeavor . . . to implant such love, zeal and devotion in their hearts as to enable them to become in turn self- sufficient and independent
promoters of the Faith in their respective localities.
“An effort . . . can and should be made, not only by representative Bahá’i bodies, but also by prospective teachers, as well as by other
individual believers ... to seize every opportunity ... to make the acquaintence, and awaken the genuine interest, of such people who are
either citizens of these countries, or are in any way connected with them
“Care ... should . . . be exercised lest in their eagerness to further the international interests of the Faith they frustrate their purpose, and
turn away, through any act that might be misconstrued as an attempt to proselytize and bring undue pressure upon

them, those whom they wish to win over to their Cause.
“I would particularly direct my appeal to those American believers . . . who may find it possible, whatever be their calling or
employment . . . to establish permanently their residence in such countries as may offer them a reasonable prospect of earning the means
of livelihood.
“Should they find it impossible to take advantage of so rare and sacred a privilege, let them . . . determine . . . to appoint a deputy who, on
that believer’s behalf, will arise and carry out so noble an enterprise.
“As to those who have been able to leave their homes and country . . a special duty
devolves upon them . . . to keep .
in constant touch with the National Committee specifically entrusted with the promotion of their work, and to cooperate .
with their fellow-believers in those countrses.”
For the reports of the actions taken in carrying out the teaching plans adopted in the light of the mission conferred upon the American
Bahá’is we turn to the admirable reports prepared by the Inter-America and Teaching Committees for the year 193 8- 1939 and the
year 1939-1940.
INTER-AMERICA TEACHING
193 8-1939
“A brief account of the several journeys that have been made during the Bahá’i year by various believers are herein outlined. Many
details must be omitted which we would like to give if space allowed, but it is hoped that their example may be tripled in the near
future, and that the record of pioneers, following Shoghi Effendi’s “Advent of Divine Justice,” will be by next year a volume.
“Although Mr. and Mrs. Ward Calhoon’s visit to Cuba was made before the Convention of 1938, the account of it did not reach the
Inter-America Chairman in time to include it last year, but because of its interest and value to us all it is included now.
“It was the intention of our Bahã’i friends to visit the West Indies, but when they arrived in Florida and realized the length of time
such a trip would take, they

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

gave it up and decided on Cuba instead. They knew no one there and applied to a travel agency, but were not led to accept their offer;
feeling that guidance was necessary, they waited until they felt drawn toward a particular agency. Here they met Dr. Margolis,
President of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, who all unasked answered their fervent prayer by giving them letters of introduction
to people in position to assist the Cause. One of these letters was to the editor of the only English newspaper printed on the island.
And the immediate response of the Editor was to run a splendid article, with photographs as well as an account of the Bahâ’i Faith, in
“The Havana Post,” the Spanish “ci Mundo” copied it so that it reached both the English and Spanish people of Cuba. Another letter
was to Sr. Enrico Berenguer, often called the good will Ambassador of Cuba. He invited the Calhoons to his famous estate Rio Crystal
Gardens in company with Signor Gomez. After admiring the gardens and the grounds Mr. Calhoon drew him aside and told him of the
new day and the new message.
“Signor Berenguer at once became interested and listened with great attention. Finally he said, ‘You have been sent here by some
Divine Agent. Although I was brought up in the Roman Catholic Church, I long ago decided to search for truth by myself, and I feel
that this is the truth.’ Mr. Calboon took colored pictures of the gardens and fountains. I can do no better than to quote from the letter
received from Mr. Calhoon to show the lovely spirit that actuated these friends. “The most significant feature of our experience was
the manner in which we were led to influential people in Cuba. Especially in having the opportunity to meet Signor Berenguer. He is a
born leader and has a winning personality and a deep consciousness of spiritual truth. We are, indeed, grateful to Bahá’u’lláh for the
privilege of doing His Work and in gaining publicity and newspaper articles in both English and Spanish in this land where we knew
no one. Through the medium of speaking in public aided by colored pictures and slides, we hope to make further trips of this same
kind.”

“Following Mr. Calhoon’s visit of last year, Mr. Phillip Marangella of New York City made a journey to Cuba this year, and though
the visit was short, splendid contacts were established. Through the influence of Dr. Arango, president of the Lions Club, a full sized
picture with an accotint of the Faith was printed in ‘El Mundo,’ followed by an article on the New World Order in the ‘Havana Post.’
Dr. Ramos, associate director of the National Library finally consented to place a copy of Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era in circulation.
Joachim Sant’Anna, a cultivated Spaniard, promised an introduction to his circle upon Mr. Marangella’s next visit. Signor Wiener,
president of Centro Isarelita (Jewish Youth Group) promised to arrange a lecture on the Cause for his three hundred members. Mr.
Stone, a student at the Havana University was deeply interested in Bahá’i principles. Signor Castellani, of the Hospital Calixto Garcia,
also received the Message with deep interest. Signor Estrada, a deputy for the detective force and delegate of the Liberal party, will
upon a return visit, call a group of students for discussion. Signor Dominges, program director 0f the radio station, offered to include
Mr. Marangella in his published booklet when he returned to Cuba, while the announcer promised him a full hour over the station
C.M.W., called the voice of the Antilles, because it is heard through the West Indies and South America. At the Royal Palms Hotel,
where Mr. Marengella stayed, he interested the proprietor, Pascual Mozau and made friends with and gave the Message to the desk
clerk, night clerk, dining room employes, page boys and musicians. Among the latter he found two highly spiritual and open-minded
men, Manual Gomex and Luis Blanco, who Mr. Marengella believes would be the leaders of study groups and could be depended
upon for foundation work. We may well congratulate Mr. Marengella upon his splendid accomplishment in so short a time.
“To our beloved teacher, Mrs. Frances Benedict Stewart, was entrusted the important and difficult task of opening the doors of South
America. When one pictures that vast continent, with its many days’ journeys between cities, its varied races within these

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cities, it becomes evident that only the power which is ‘far from the ken of men and angels’ could direct this gigantic labor.
“Frances Stewart set sail from New York on a Norwegian freighter in September, and in twenty days landed in Buenos Aires, the
center of the Argentine. Spanish is her native tongue. This is an important factor in explaining delicate points of the Revelation that
might fail to be clear otherwise. Whether on sea or land she gave messages to all with whom she came in contact. Her first words
written from Buenos Aires were, ‘Truly my cup runneth over with certainty and joy,’ for many, many doors are open to this Message.
Whenever I speak of the coming of a new Prophet, the response is, ‘Surely it is wonderful that in the midst of this bewildering chaos, a
new manifestation of God’s is sent to humanity’ “—And she continues, “One of the great families of the Argentine is named Roggio.
Many hospitals and schools bear the name, and a member of this important family has become attached to me because of the Bahá’i
Message, and has invited to her palatial house, the foremost scientists and professors, to hear of the Cause of Bahi’u’llah.” Before long
Mrs. Stewart had gathered together a group of eighteen men and women desirous of Bahá’i study, though greatly hampered by the
lack of adequate Spanish translations, a lack that we are working to overcome day and night. She found this group sincere and eager to
form themselves into a definite part of the Bahá’i world.
“Mrs. Stewart had been specially urged by the National Spiritual Assembly to pay a visit to Montevideo, Uruguay, if possible. So
leaving the study group under the leadership of Dr. Luis M. Di Cristofoso, she crossed into this small and very beautiful state.
Bringing letters from important people she was guided anew and able to choose those whom she felt were sincere seekers, and before
long she stablished a group of nine souls and placed it under the leadership of Sr. Simon Rosenzweig, a Russian engineer. He had
lived in many parts of the world and knew ‘Akkã and Haifa well. Mrs. Stewart describes him as having a brilliant mind combined with
a radiant spirit.
“Having received word from the Inter-

America Committee that the N.S.A. favored a journey into Chile, her own land, she set forth on this arduous and long trek. Crossing
the Andes is harder and slower than any trip of which I know. Martha Root, the first of the believers to visit South America, made part
of her memorable journey on mule back. Today means of transportation are immeasurably easier. ‘Coming over the wonderful Andes
was a great experience, one I shall never forget,’ writes Mrs. Stewart, from Valparaiso, Chile, January 16th. Bringing with her letters
from her connections in Montevideo and Buenos Aires, opportunity was at hand. She gave four lectures before the Women’s
Federation. Had dinner with, and afterwards addressed, the Masons; spoke on the Bahi’i Peace Plan before two hundred people,
among whom she found a few who had studied by correspondence with persons in North America, and she adds, ‘I am inviting these
students to my hotel for a special conference.’ To a chosen number she spoke on the Administration and from this number formed a
group that will, like those of the Argentine and Uruguay, study with a view to forming the first Chilean Assembly. She placed this
group under the leadership of Sitra Sara Luzg Bravo, who has studied Theosophy for many years, and has been looking for a religion
with a practical application. In the Bahá’i teaching she found that application of Spiritual Law for which she had so long sought. She
has a large following.
“Outside Valparaiso is a lovely suburb named Vina del Mar. In winter (which is our summer) the sea breaks constantly in immense
rollers along the beaches and sea walls, but in summer the water is calm and bathing good, so that people come here from all over
South America. It is a strategic point in which to establish a Bahá’I center, because people have leisure to think and to study, so that it
was extremely wise of our teacher to find a person here with whom she could place the fundamentals of the New World Order. Sitra
Margaret Rodier is organizing a class, which, I feel, will spread the teachings far and wide through this vast land.
“Mrs. Stewart then went to Santiago, Chile, which is only a short bus ride from

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

Valparaiso. She had no sooner arrived in this city than the great earthquake took place in and around Concepción. It
was she who spoke over the wires on that fateful night. To quote from the letter in which she described the disaster:
‘The air was cleared, a short wave hookup that could reach both the U. S. A. and Europe was made. I described for the
first time from Chile the tremendous catacylsm that had occurred, and I appealed for help. I think this has been the
greatest experience in my life. I had arrived only the day before, Tuesday night, a severe and long tremor shook the
earth—the Greatest Name was my spontaneous call, for the quake was of fearful force, and well I knew that not far off
something terrible had happened. Surely the vision ‘Abdu’l-Bahã had of coming cataclysms of which He said, ‘It is not
meet to tell,’ had come to pass in Chile. As I lived as a child in Concepción, I knew every road and building and the
churches. Many ancient Roman Catholic cathedrals are now piles of dust—even as the ancient Temples of Thebes on
the Nile! Surely God purposes some good to come out of such a great sacrifice.’ The sorrow and grief that is
widespread in this land will bind together human hearts.”
“Mrs. Stewart is at this writing still in Chile, and in all probability will return to her two study groups across the Andes.
She has rendered immortal service to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and should be remembered in our prayers, sustained in
her labors by our love, and greeted upon her return with expressions of heartfelt thanks.
“During the Bahá’i year, Mr. William de Forge, a member of our National Publishing Committee, made an important
voyage into the virgin territory of Porto Rico and the Dominion Republic. His success in these two countries was
phenominal. He interviewed the Librarians of the cities of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Trujillo, Dominican Republic,
and in both instances they said they would be happy to receive and put in circulation both Spanish and English Bahá’i
literature, as well as to have on their reading table the World Order Magazine. Sr. Luis O’Neil, who is director of the
Carnegie Library, is a highly cultured man,

and though a Catholic, told Mr. de Forge that these teachings were badly needed by his people and that he would do everything in his
power to spread the teachings and advise his people to read our books. Mr. de Forge had the great pleasure of meeting the President of
Puerto Rico, Sr. Jose Ramfrez Santefanez. He, in turn, was thrilled with the Message and asked to have the literature sent personally to
him. In one of the articles that appeared in the papers Mr. de Forge was hailed as an agent of peace. Among the key people of Latin
America is Sr. Enriqu Linares, editor of the largest and most important ,blication of Latin America, called Alma Latina, which
circulates and influences South America as well as Central America. He offered, if after study of the Divine Writing he approved, to
put an article in this periodical on the “New World Order.” Another remarkable contact was that of the Editor of “El Mundo” a
newspaper printed in San Juan, who received the Bahá’i Principles with marked enthusiasm. Mr. de Forge’s list of contacts was so
numerous that the Inter-America Committee was obliged to place them in its Bahá’i Bulletin, where it is hoped everyone of the
believers will read and note their names and occupations.
“This is one of the wonderful demonstrations of spiritual power that such a reception should have been accorded one of our teachers in
an unknown land, strongly Catholic, and entirely Latin in feeling, and from the President down, eagerness for teachings, and facilities
for spreading them, was accorded Mr. de Forge on every hand.
“At the Convention of 1938 Mr. Antonio Roca of 226 West Michigan Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin formulated a plan to visit Mexico
and to teach there. Accordingly having closed his business affairs, he set out upon his journey reaching Laredo, Texas on the 16th of
September. As he crossed the Rio Grande River into Mexico he found that the entire populace were celebrating Independence Day,
corresponding to our Fourth of July. He waited over a day at Monterrey in order to approach the editor of “El Porvenir,” the leading
paper of the town. In this he was successful, a fine

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article outlining the principles of Bahá’u’lláh appearing forthwith.
“Arriving in Mexico City Mr. Roca joined his forces with those of our Mexican Spiritual Assembly and remained in close contact with
them during his two and a half months visit. Finding great need of Spanish Bahá’i literature he printed and presented two pamphlets to
the Assembly:
What Is the Ba/s ci’i Faith and principles of Bahd’i Faith. He also contributed generously to the wont of translation being
undertaken by Pedro Espinosa and Madame Olia both of the Spiritual Assembly, thus accelerating this important work.
“He was able to gain publicity through two of the leading newspapers Le Prenan and El Excelsior. Before leaving Mexico he sent a
copy of Esslemont to the President through one of his aides, and on his return journey achieved splendid newspaper publicity all along
the line. He is an enthusiastic and generous believer and will in the future render valuable service to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
“The Chairman and Edward Mathews visited Yucatan this winter. In Meridá, once a handsome and prosperous city, now desperately
poor and shabby was found, on one hand, politicians not in the least interested in spiritual things, and on the other, men whose
fortunes were failing, eager for something to hold on to. The editor of the one Liberal paper, The Yucatan, received us with
enthusiasm. He told us that twice his office had been attacked, once burned, because of his liberal views. The Bahá’i Principles, he
thought, were too good to be true, but we assured him that under a definite administration, they were being practiced. He promised to
read the literature and publish extracts if we sent him Spanish editions, as he speaks no English. We gained an interview with the
chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, but his reiterated statement was that he was interestd in business affairs and not in religious
ideas. However, he promised to read the literature that we promised to send him. We found broadminded and sympathetic hearers at
the Mayaland Tours. Here English is spoken and they were eager to hear of the remedies for their sick and impoverished land. Two of
them accompanied

us into the jungle on 12th night to a Catholic celebration among the Mayan peasants. Outside heavy dew dripped like rain from the
trees, the Mayan women were passing to and fro, the men singing in the tiny court yard close to us, as we sat before an altar dressed in
tissue paper and small pictures of the Madonna. We had to whisper but when I spoke of a new Manifestation, they leaned forward and
asked, where? and when? and between long pauses, they pressed my hand murmuring ‘Yes, we understand and the Divine News will
never leave our hearts.’
“From Yucatan we traveled to Mexico City, the long trip from Vera Cruz of 12 hours elongated by four hours delay, so we arrived in a
state bordering on collapse, but on the platform waiting through the hours stood the whole group of Bahá’is about eighteen in number.
In their hands they carried flowers and they greeted us with the spirit of true fraternity. From then on we were as one body and it was
hard to believe that this was not only a Latin Assembly but a very new one. The subject nearest our hearts was the same, our work was
on the same plane of action, we had everything in common since we had come to talk of translations and publications—something our
Guardian is constantly occupied with. In every letter he has urged this Committee to take up this all important matter and work of
translating Bahá’i books into Spanish until it is accomplished. We discussed the subject for many hours and as the National Spiritual
Assembly has invited Pedro Espinosa, the chairman, to the Convention, we may feel that the way is clear to the accomplishment of the
Guardian’s wishes.
“In the Philippine Islands a class of eighty is being taught by correspondence. Efforts to bring the books to this island have so far been
ineffectual, but in accordance with Shoghi Effendi’s instructions we shall continue to send them for the Guardian writes:
‘The copy of Sr. Maddela’s communication was read with genuine satisfaction by our beloved Guardian. He is rejoiced to witness the
evidences of the steady penetration of the Cause of the Northern Islands of the Philippines, and will pray that in spite of the

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

Members of the newly formed Spiritual Assembly of
St. Lambert, Province of Quebec.

The Bahá’i exhibit held during the 1938 Canadian National Exhibition at
Toronto, Canada.

pict22.jpg

pict23.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD
vehement and insidious opposition of the Catholic Clergy, the Faith may continue to advance, and make such a
headway as to pave the ground for the formation of an Assembly in the near future. You should, he feels, renew your
efforts once more, and through every possible endeavor try to introduce the literature of the Cause into these Islands.’
“To facilitate an understanding of the work in Latin America the committee has compiled a bulletin that every
Assembly throughout the country, each teacher or prospective settler, should be able to find the areas that have already
been covered, the accomplishment therein and what is still needed, which states or countries are still to be visited for
the first time.”
INTER-AMERICA TEACHING
1939-1940
“The National Spiritual Assembly had invited the Chairman of our first Latin- America Assembly, Señor Pedro
Espinosa from Mexico City, to attend the Convention. He brought with him his mother, Señora Refugio Ochoa, who
was the first to accept the Faith, and Señora Maria Louisa Jurado, the able Secretary, also Señorita Zenaida Jurado, a
member of the Spiritual Assembly and the head of the Nursery Public School throughout Mexico. Their high
enthusiasm, their sweetness and charm permeated the occasion. Afterwards, they visited the New York and Washington
Communities.
“Upon their return to Mexico City, they incorporated their Assembly and opened commodious headquarters at 65 Calle
de Bucareli, Bajos 4. The Bahã’i World Community was delighted with their first Newsletter, in Spanish, the initial
copy distributed in November of 1939.
“At the suggestion of the N.S.A., the Assembly undertook to create interest in the Faith beyond the capital. Doctora
Luz Guinchard was given an appointment to a pioneer post at Guadalajara, Jalisco, where she is now working for the
Cause.
“Passing through Mexico during the current year were the following friends: Mr. Antonio Roca, en route to Honduras,
Mrs. Amelia Collins, member of the N.S.A., Clarence Iverson, en route to El Salvador, Mr.

Gerrard Sluter, going to Guatemala City, Dr. and Mrs. Martin G. Carter, and in December, Mrs. Ernest Meyer of the
Geyserville Community.
“Four volumes have been translated and are expected momentarily. They are: Some Answered Questions, Foundations
of World Unity, Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd, Bahá’I Procedure. Pedro’s admired translation of the Prayers is circulated
widely.”

Panama:

CENvRAL AMERICA

“Immediately after the Convention, Mathew Kaszab left for Panama, where he initiated the Bahá’i work which is being
carried on there. This first pioneer brought in the first resident believer, Joseph Mantuk, whose acceptance marks the
birth of the Cause in this country to which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has attributed paramount importance in the Divine Plan.
“A radio broadcast was given by Mathew over the Star and Herald Radio Theatre on the occasion of the Twenty-fifth
Anniversary of the opening of the Canal. The subject was Spiritual Changes for Panama. A second broadcast and
lectures followed. Also, his essay quoting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, written in the form of an open letter to the Editor, appeared in
one of the principal papers. The approach and style made a model bit of publicity. His lectures were before the
Theosophical Society and the Training School he attended.
“In October, just before Mathew went on to Nicaragua, Mrs. Louise Caswell and Mrs. Cora Hitt Oliver, the first
resident teachers and the second pioneers, arrived. John Eichenauer was present, and with Joseph, the first declared
Bahá’i, the five shared a historic moment.
“By taking courses at the University, Mrs. Caswell and Mrs. Oliver have met many persons of liberal outlook and
capacity to understand the New World Order. Some of those who are interested in the Teachings are professors at the
University, or teachers in the schools of the Canal Zone. A lecture on the Temple with illustrated slides was presented
at the University. Other lectures have been given before the Jamaican Women Life’s Problems Club, the Army and
Navy

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Y.M.C.A. Articles appeared in The Tribune, the Star and Herald, the Panama American. The President of the Republic
gave them a cordial interview and welcome. In every way the work in Panama is promising a great future.
El Salvador:
“John Eichenauer, Jr., is our youngest pioneer, chosen for the post of San Salvador, El Salvador,—and his appointment
was ratified by the Guardian. Coming from Phoenix, Arizona, by way of Panama, he gave the Teachings and leaflets to
other travelers, who inquired the purpose of his journey. At present he is at school in San Salvador with other boys of
his own age.
“John has been joined by his relative, Clarence Iverson, a young man also from Phoenix. This modern ‘troubadour of
God’ went on the economy plan with his own motor—strapped, at times, to the freight car
—while he played the accordion and accepted gratuities from the crowd.
“Both lads have been granted considerable pubhcity by the press, which seems to have found in the Cause a definite
news value. The earnest ones among the many who have heard the Message are forming a study group, which the boys
will carry on towards complete acceptance of the Faith.
“In the latter part of February, Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher and Mr. Gerrard Sluter visited San Salvador, and the former
sent a glowing account of the work and spirit of our youthful pioneers.
Honduras:
“The first pioneer teacher to this country is Mr. Antonio Roca from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He traveled by way of
Mexico, stopping at Bahã’i Headquarters there. Now this teacher is settled in the beautiful city of Tegucigalpa,
Honduras, where, through his untiring zeal eight believers have signed the Spanish registration cards. Without doubt,
an Assembly will be formed soon.
“Among those who are supporting his efforts is the distinguished poetess, Angela Ochoa Velasquez, who wrote a
telling article for the local press on the beauty and nobility of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. With the insight of the true
mystic, the poetess has

grasped the significance of the Message and made testimony as praise.
Guatemala:
“Guatemala City, reached through a panorama of wild beauty, is the seat of the Bahâ’i labors of Gerrard Sluter from Toronto, Canada.
He has had unprecedented obstacles to overcome both in the field of his teaching and in the barbed wire restrictions that surround
aliens searching for employment.
“Notwithstanding, Mr. Sluter has taught the requisite number of informed believers for an Assembly, and even wrested from the
Government a permit to take employment. In February and March, Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher spent some days there, lending her zeal to
the sustained endeavor of our pioneer.
“To the Theosophical Society we are indebted for the hospitality shown to Mr. Sluter in the use of their platform. The Theosophical
journal ‘Simiente’ has published articles on the Bahá’i Principles and Faith.
Nicaragua:
“Mathew Kaszab has been sent to Nicaragua, the most backward and unhealthy country in Central America. Yet cheerfully he left
Panama and arrived at Managua, which he described as a land of grinning monkeys, — the people are illiterate, unclothed and
unhealthy. Mathew made his way across the narrow isthmus to Bluefields, near his birthplace, only to wander over a field of stones
and mud; for an earthquake had destroyed the banana plantation, once belonging to his family.
“Amid this unhappy people, Mathew has found a scarce audience to listen to his continued recital of the principles of the great and
New World Order; but, at the least, the daily sacrifice which he is offering to Baha’u’llah will not be forgotten.
Costa Rica:
“Mrs. Amelia Ford of Berkeley, California, a lady born in Mexico, responded to the Guardian’s call for pioneers. She has the priceless
gift to offer of an intimate and profound knowledge of Spanish—her native tongue—and has proved already her usefulness with the
translations.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

“Capable Mrs. Gayle Woolson of St. Paul, Minnesota, has offered herself for life in foreign lands, and, with Mrs.
Amelia Ford is leaving for settlement in Costa Rica. At this moment they are en route for San Jose, where, together
they will fill the last required quota of the Guardian’s Central America campaign.
Jamaica, British West Indies:
“Although the English Colonies are closed to American citizens on account of the war, still we had the privilege of
entering Jamaica through the re-entry of Mr. and Mrs. John Shaw, who are natives of this island. They left their home
in San Francisco witb the love and admiration of the Community and the visiting Bahá’is, who had known them
actively during their years on the Pacific Coast.
“They write that the island is sadly in need of the Teachings, and that they are working daily to bring the truth to the
people of many races that are gathered in Kingston and its neighborhood. We hope for the increase of the small yet
earnest study group which they are holding at intervals.
Cu ha:
“Havana, so directly in the line of both Mexican and Central American steamers, has had many Bahá’i visitors from
time to time; however, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Marangella are the first resident pioneers. They are working towards the
realization of a study group; and we are watching the post for their recent news.
Republic of Domingo:
“Miss Margaret Lentz, who gave a long term of devoted service at the International Bahá’i Bureau in Geneva,
Switzerland, asked to go to one of the republics, where she could teach among both Negro and white folk. Accordingly,
she was given an appointment to San Domingo, where she is settled in Cuidad Trujillo.
“Margaret has entered into her new life with a true pioneer’s spirit, and has found among those to whom she has spoken
one who has made complete acceptance with an enthusiasm to match her own. Señora Maria Teresa Martin, the first
believer, is celebrating the Feast Days with Margaret,

and striving with her towards the future activities of Bahá’i teaching. Already these co-workers are planning a Bahá’i School to
instruct some of the many illiterate natives.
Puerto Rico:
“Mrs. Katharine Disdier has already taught school in Puerto Rico, and now, in order to take part in the present campaign, she has
applied for a post there during the coming season. Rouhieh Musette Jones has applied for a similar position. Together these staunch
believers will be in close contact with children and their parents, and have thereby, opportunity for spreading the Bahá’i Teachings in
a most unique way.
Trinidad:
“At Port of Spain we have a friend to remember, Miss Anne Murdock, who is in the office of the Pan-American Airways. She is
reading the Bahá’$ literature and has offered to work for the Faith in every possible way. Thus, even here, where we may not visit, tbe
Bahá’i Spirit is kept alive.
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
“For more than two years, Señor Felix Maddela, leader of a large group of people in a small island, has been corresponding with us.
Although their knowledge is slight, Spanish literature scarce and the distance great, yet their enthusiasm for the Cause parallels all
difficulties. They have evolved their slogan: “The Bahá’i Faith is renewing the life of a dead world.” Only a few pamphlets have
reached them, which they read and reread. And they wear an emblem on their coats!
“When the Spanish registration cards reached them, they were filled out to the number of seventeen, with members of the Spiritual
Assembly differentiated from the Community. Their plea for paper with letterheads for use in writing to interested students thoughout
the Islands has been answered by the Chairman.
“It is our earnest hope that opportunity will bring this group a teacher before long. These Islands so dominated by the Church, so
geographically remote, yet have evinced a spirit of search after truth, an eagerness to be united to the New World Order that should be
a lesson to every believer.

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

Urn gitay:

SOUTH AMERICA

“Late in the summer Wilf rid Barton set out for South America, and finding that Ivan Fillipac, a member of the New York
Community, is steward on the S. S. Arabic, he sailed on that ship. Upon their arrival at the port of Santos, Brazil, they were met by
Mr. and Mrs. Roy Worley of Rio de Janeiro, and Leonora Holsapple, the earliest of Bahá’i settlers. She had come from Bahia for this
celebration of the Nineteen Day Feast of ‘Ilm.
“Since then, Mr. Barton has been teaching in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Inasmuch as the former group is by far the most
advanced, he is settled in Montevideo, where Mr. Simon Rosenzweiz has valiantly championed the Cause.
Argentina:
“Throughout all reports on South America, the name and service of Mrs. Frances Benedict Stewart persists. The friends in South
America are overjoyed at the news that she will return to them. In Buenos Aires, the group she founded have continued their studies
unceasingly under the direction of Señor Salvador Tormo. An index of his thought and culture is the essay which was published in
World Order Magazine for March, 1940. Great expectations from the entire Bahá’i world attend the labors for the Cause put forth
in Argentine. On this third voyage which Mrs. Stewart will undertake, she will visit Central as well as South America, carrying
forward the mission which Shoghi Effendi has described as ‘the most outstanding teaching service.’
“To Chile, where Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Laws of Seattle, Washington, will go to make their home, a bounty was given: it was to
Chile that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent the only Tablet posted directly to South America. From this circumstance we ascribe the importance of
Chile in the Divine Plan.
“All of us are grateful to Señora Espinosa, who followed Mrs. Stewart to the Argentine to understand more of the Bahá’i Teachings,
then returned to Santiago, where she has kept alive the faith of the group taught by Mrs. Stewart.

Venezuela:
“Good news comes from the New York Assembly that Miss Priscilla Rhoads has accepted a two year position with a South American
family to look after their young child. This means we have an isolated believer in Miranda.
“With the arrival of the Salas, there will be a foundation for the Community of the future. In an exemplary manner, Mr. and Mrs.
Emeric Sala have been arranging their affairs in order to go out to Venezuela as settlers. Not in any way daunted by the refusal of the
authorities to enter Colombia and engage in business there, they have persisted in their determination to make their way in the pioneer
area, serving in both a material and spiritual way.
Ecuador:
“Mr. John Stearns is journeying, at present, towards Ecuador. He will take up his residence in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and the
oldest city of South America. His grasp of the Faith and treatment of Bahá’i responsibility in this country leads us to hopes of great
accomplishment.
Brazil:
“Miss Leonora Holsapple has been able to leave her home in Bahia, Brazil, to visit two cities, Maceio and Pern4mbuco, for a first
approach to the Cause. Her gift to the Cause is the revised translation and publication of the Portuguese Bahd’u’lldh and the New
Era, which she placed in seven book- shops, carrying them to Santos and Santa Paula besides.”
NORTH AMERICA TEACHING
193 8-1939
“The first two-year period of the Seven Year Plan now drawing to a close, marks the happy conclusion of the initial step of the
campaign to establish the Faith in each of the states of the United States, the provinces of Canada and the republics of Central and
South America. The new hope and goal now set for the American Bahá’i by the beloved Guardian is the Advent of Divine Justice
which can come only through the spiritualization of the believers themselves and the diffusion of the Divine Teachings throughout the
world.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The Bahá’i Exhibit at the Wisconsin State Fair of 1939 showing prominently displayed.

“The first year of this stupendous campaign was marked both by a general deepening in our consciousness of the great
responsibility devolving upon us, and the beginning of the movement of Bahá’i pioneers into new areas.
“The second year has been marked by a vigorous translation of this appreciation of increasing responsibility into
action—action on the part of each and every individual, action on the part of Bahã’i Groups, and action on the part of
all Assemblies. Under this wave of renewed activity, the Faith has surged forward on all fronts, and in no case was
there any recession. The doors of Guidance have opened wider than ever before and the confirmations from on High
have often been well nigh staggering. Every individual, every Group and every Assembly has testified to the manner in
which divine blessings have descended on every effort, no matter how small. No wonder the Guardian in a recent
message stated: ‘Let the doubter arise and himself verify the truth of such assertions.’
“This new surge of service, which was marked both by the gallant attack against the forces of darkness and a more
rounded- out presentation of Bahá’i standards, expressed itself in three directions:—.
“First, there was the consolidation of the

pioneer work started in the first year of the Seven Year Plan, and the extension of this work into the remaining virgin areas, new
Groups and Assemblies themselves assuming much of the responsibility of spreading the Message to other parts of their regions.
“Second, there was the intensification of extension work by the Assemblies. Almost every Assembly found that its efforts to introduce
the Faith into adjacent cities and even virgin areas met with unexpected success. It has been abundantly demonstrated that this field of
service is the means of the steady growth of the Assemblies themselves and causes them to become power houses of spiritual energy
in ever- enlarging spheres.
“Third, there was the recent dynamic call of the Guardian for prompt settlement of the remaining states and provinces of North
America. The immediate response of forty- four intrepid volunteers to fulfill the divine command indicates the manner in which the
friends are arising to the pioneer spirit of the Faith. Three of the areas were immediately settled; Alaska, Nevada and Vermont. At this
time the National Teaching Committee is in correspondence with all these selfless souls and it is expected that by Convention time,
arrangements will have been made for the settlement of every state in

I isi E
I
/ ti—

the Temple model
pict24.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

the United States and every province of Canada.
PIONEER TEACHING
“At this early stage in the unfoldment of Bahá’u’lláh’s all-encompassing World Order, the greatest need is for pioneer teachers.
Indeed, the whole spirit of the Faith today is a pioneer spirit, and its fields of opportunity are for the most part virgin ones. As Shoghi
Effendi has recently pointed out, the measures and plans devised ‘can never yield any satisfactory results unless a sufficient number of
pioneers have determined to make the necessary sacrifices, and to volunteer to carry these projects into effect.’
“During the last two years the attention of the American community has been increasingly focussed upon this requirement, but only in
the months just past have we come face to face with the overwhelming fact that not until the initial stage of the Seven Year Plan has
been accomplished, ‘involving as it does the formation of at least one nucleus in each of these virgin states and provinces in the North
American continent,’ shall we be prepared and released for the far more difficult stages of advance into Central and South America.
That we face in all earnestness a crisis in our affairs is the inescapable conclusion based on knowledge that these Southern regions
‘embrace no less than twenty independent nations, constituting approximately one-third of the entire number of the world’s sovereign
states. . .
“The National Teaching Committee would remind the friends that every one may share in the pioneering to which our lives must
henceforth be consecrated. In ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’ the Guardian explains that this privilege and responsibility may be
carried out in four ways:
“First, by settlement in new areas (and this teaching by settlement in indubitably the most fruitful course) ; second, by travel in
unsettled parts; third, deputies may be sent; and fourth, through contributions to the general fund after the example of our Guardian
who has placed ‘at the disposal of any pioneer willing to dedicate himself to the task of the present hour such modest resources as
would facilitate the discharge of so enviable a duty.’

“It will be remembered that the first of our seven years called forth forty-eight Bahã’i pioneers, twenty of whom chose
the settlement plan. This year, in addition to the many whose work has continued, there have been fifteen new settlers
and nineteen traveling pioneers.
“The state of Texas has again this year drawn more Bahá’i settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Ward Calhoon moved to Houston, and
with the aid of Mrs. Kathryn Frankland and Mr.
A. Kluss, are conducting a study class of nineteen students. Two members have already enrolled as believers and
intensive fireside meetings are preparing others for the important step.
“Miss Myriam Grabler has settled in El Paso, Texas, where she is carrying on without the aid of any other believer.
“Mrs. Lorrol 0. Jackson, of Seattle, who last year aided the isolated believers of Helena, Montana, has moved to
another city in that state and is diligently cooperating with the believers there in developing a study class in Butte.
“West Virginia became the home of Mr. Harold Hunt, of Washington, D. C., and of Mrs. Orcella Rexford and Dr.
Gayne V. Gregory for several months. Many new contacts were made for the Faith but unfortunately none of these
friends was able to remain in the state until these contacts could be developed into Bahá’i students.
“Nevada is now the home of Miss Helen Griffing whose arrival in Reno as a permanent resident followed closely upon
a ten- day teaching trip of Mrs. Mamie L. Seto to that city.
“Arkansas has been the scene of much Bahá’i activity during the past year. Miss Rezsi Sunshine has established herself
in business in Hot Springs and already one individual in that city considers herself a believer. Miss Sunshine pays
regular weekly visits to Little Rock and in both cities many are studying the Bahá’i literature.
“Pine Bluff, also in Arkansas, is now the home of Miss Lydia Martin who is carrying on intensive study classes for the
students attracted to the Teachings through the work of Mr. Louis G. Gregory. Approximately twelve members of the
group are about ready to enroll as believers.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

“Vermont has become the home of Miss Neysa Grace Bissell, one of the first to respond to the Guardian’s call for pioneers. Some
teaching work has been done in that state from time to time in the past and it is Miss Bissell’s objective to follow it through until the
‘state is teeming with Bahá’is.’
“The Khan family has settled temporarily in Newport, Rhode Island, where teaching opportunities are being constantly pursued.
“Mrs. Olga Mills has recently moved from Florida to Tryon, North Carolina, where she is cooperating with the other isolated Bahá’is
of the state in making new contacts for the Faith.
“Those who have carried forward pioneer teaching work by extended or repeated visits are as follows:
“Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Mrs. Ruth H.
Brandt, Mr. Louis G. Gregory, Miss Nayan
Hartfield, Miss Doris Lohse; Mrs. Loulie A.
Mathews, Miss Maude Mickle, Mrs. Ruth
Moffett, Mr. Harlan Ober, Mrs. Marguerite
Reimer Sears, Mr. Charles Mason Remey,
Mrs. Orcella Rexford, Mrs. Mamie L. Seto,
Mrs. Gertrude Struven, Miss Virginia Taylor,
Miss Louise Thompson, Miss Alta Wheeler,
Mrs. Gayle Woolson, Mrs. Sylvia Matteson
King.
“Mr. Gregory has again given unique service in the South. Two months were spent in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where his teaching
campaign was initiated by a ‘Religious Emphasis Week’ at the State College, the first time in the history of this country when such a
week has been under the direction of Bahá’is.
“Mrs. Ruth Moffett, in addition to her continuous work in the other central states, opened up the city of Independence, Iowa, where a
flourishing study class has been in progress since early summer.
“Mrs. Gayle Woolson assisted Mrs. Gertrude Struven in furthering the teaching work already started in Davenport, Iowa, and
subsequently spent several weeks in Cedar Rapids where many new people have begun to study the Teachings.
“Mrs. Sylvia Matteson King made two teaching trips to Winoipeg, Manitoba, where she found many receptive souls waiting for the
Message. Various clubs freely offered

their platforms and the newspapers gave generous space to publicity. Many are reading the Bahã’i books and several are already very
near the Cause.
“Miss Maude Mickle and Miss Alta Wheeler who spent the winter in South Carolina found many teaching opportunities among
individuals in Columbia and other cities, while Miss Louise Thompson followed up the interest which had been established by
previous travelers in Charleston. Mr. Charles Mason Remey, also, made a teaching trip through this state in February and March.
“Miss Nayan Hartfield has carried on active teaching work in the state of Mississippi where she was established in her business for
some months, and Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews gave unique assistance to Mrs. Marion Little in her work in Louisiana.
“Miss Virginia Taylor has carried forward the teaching work initiated by Mrs. Grace Ober last year in Louisville, Kentucky, and
further interest has been stimulated there by visits from Mrs. Dorothy Baker and Mr. Harlan Ober.
“Mrs. Ruth H. Brandt spent several weeks in Boise, Idaho, with the Bahá’i Group there, and Miss Doris Lohse devoted three weeks
last summer to teaching work in Wilmington, Delaware.
“Many other teachers have made short trips into new states both to make new contacts and to assist with the work already under way.
“While commending our pioneers, let us never minimize their task nor forget for a moment that their services are performed, as a rule,
in regions whose spiritual darkness is only equalled by a material backwardness surely rooted in this very deprivation from the Word.
‘The effort required is prodigious, the conditions under which these prehminary establishments are to be made are often unattractive
and unfavorable, the workers who are in a position to undertake such tasks limited, and the resources they can command meagre and
inadequate.’ Is it not plain, then, why every assistance at our command must be extended, why our prayers must continually center on
these fields, and our faith pour out unfailingly to cheer and support our beloved friends?

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

“Tbe year 1939 will ever be remembered in the record of pioneer teaching because of the Guardian’s cablegram of January 2 6th,
bearing the fateful pronouncement that the ‘initial stage (in the) inaugurated Teaching Campaign (is) still untraversed,’ and calhng for
‘nine holy souls who, independently or as deputies, will promptly, fearlessly volunteer (to) forsake (their) homes. . . .‘ ‘Within ten days,
projects for three of the nine areas were approved by the National Spiritual Assembly for three dauntless believers who, for some time,
had been consulting with the Teaching Committee to this end. At this writing Miss Helen Griffin is already settled in Nevada and Miss
Neysa Bissell in Vermont, while Miss Honor Kempton’s plans to enter Alaska wait only upon certain final arrangements. How
speedily the confirmations encircled them (and we may all share their feelings), when on February 22nd the Guardian cabled this
priceless reward:
‘Heart flooded joyous gratitude realization American believers rising magnificently challenge unutterably precious hour. Convey
Alaska, Nevada and Vermont pioneers immense appreciation (of) marvelous, instantaneous, exemplary response. Prayers continually
accompany them.’
“There have been forty-one other responses to Shoghi Effendi’s call, and negotiations are being pressed in the hope of a speedy climax
to this initial task. Yet in our enthusiasm let us be constantly reminded that the settlement of one Bahá’i in every state and province is
but the immediate goal. The real intention of the Seven Year Plan, enjoined alike upon isolated believers and Groups, is to establish
Spiritual Assemblies, that every region of the United States and Canada may share in the benefits of the Administrative Order and be
fully prepared, at the close of the first century, to push forward into vaster realms, as yet undisclosed, in the fulfillment of the Divine
Plan.
LOCAL SrssuTuAL ASSEMBLIES
“The responsibility for ceaseless teaching upon every front has devolved, during 1938- 39, upon the seventy-eight American
Assemblies with an urgency never before equalled. Charged by the Guardian to ‘stimulate the infusion of fresh blood’ into

each community, and by the National Spiritual Assembly ‘to extend their efforts to adjoining areas,’ they have attained heights of
endeavor and success which far surpass all previous accomplishments.
“On April 21st their ranks will be strengthened by the election of nine new Spiritual Assemblies. Five will be formed from the Groups
of Helena, Mont.; Scranton, Pa.; Jamestown, N. Y.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Eagle River, Wis. The remaining four have grown out of
existing Assemblies and include Huntington Park, Calif.; East Cleveland, Ohio; Wauwatosa, Wis., and Richmond Heights, Wash. The
facts, stated thus simply, fail to disclose the real heroism surrounding each such victory, nor can they impart the sentiments which stir
in every believer’s heart as he contemplates the steady progress of his beloved Faith.
“Now, as we face the prospect of the third year of this all-too-brief Seven Year Plan, are there not certain principles underlying the
Administrative framework, which, if re-estabhshed and re-inforced would give wings to our historic enterprise?
“The prime essential, the National Teaching Committee believes, is the integrity in strength and unity of each local Assembly, for it is
such integrity alone which guarantees a channel for the confirmations of Bahá’u’lllh. With unity as a base, ‘the administrative
institutions of the Faith, which are designed as vehicles for the proper dissemination of its ideals, its tenets, and its verities,’ are
equipped to throw their full weight behind the common Plan; without unity, they are powerless even to cooperate.
“The second principle, elaborated by the Guardian a year ago, will guarantee that constant expansion which is the clearest sign of
health. ‘Upon the local Assemblies, whose special function and high privilege is to facilitate the admission of new behevers into the
community,’ . . . rests the duty ‘to desist from insisting too rigidly on the minor observances and beliefs, which might prove a stumbling
block in the way of any sincere applicant, whose eager desire is to enlist under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh.’ In this connection it is
interesting to note that,

THE BAHA’I WORLD

among sixty-two Assemblies reporting, two hundred sixty-three new Bahá’is have been enrolled. The work of certain
Assemblies appears especially remarkable, i.e., Seattle with thirteen registrants, Los Angeles with forty-four, New
York with forty-three, Chicago with twenty-nine and Lima with twenty-one (to March 15, 1939).
“A third principle, and one which supplements the foregoing paragraph, is recognition of the fireside group as a
teaching method which should be recommended to every community member. For there is ample proof that the spirit
and compelling influence of the Faith is perhaps more effectively transmitted through this medium of an informal
group of friends, than in any other way. Moreover, it permits everyone to become a teacher and to fulfill, in relation to
those souls whom he has attracted, the continuing spiritual support to which the Guardian has but recently alluded. The
sixty-two Assemblies above reported a total of one hundred thirty-one fireside meetings and all are also conducting
study classes for new believers.
“The principle which truly distinguishes the achievements of this year from all past records is that of extension
teaching,—the choice by a local Assembly of nearby cities in which it is pledged to promulgate the Faith. This has been
one of the chief goals held out for all Assemblies by the National Spiritual Assembly, and we are therefore happy to
report that of the sixty-two Assemblies reporting, sixteen have opened fifty- nine new cities with regular study classes
established in thirty-two of them. Highest praise is due all participating communities, only a few of which can be
mentioned in this restricted space.
“Lima appointed an Extension Committee of thirteen, whose members consistently worked in six surrounding towns,
relying upon prayer and well-devised tactics, which resulted in three memberships and three study classes. Binghamton
lent most generous assistance to Scranton through frequent visits of teachers and large groups of the friends, and has
also developed contacts in three other cities. The Los Angeles Extension Committee built its work around a six-lecture
series which has been scheduled

in several nearby towns and in Bakersfield, one hundred and twenty-five miles distant. Eliot sponsored extension teaching in five
cities of New Hampshire and Maine, with a weekly study group in Portland formed by a member who moved there.
“Examples could be endlessly multiplied, but these are sufficient to demonstrate what an adventurous Assembly may accomplish in
pioneer role. One factor of vital importance must not be overlooked, namely, the need to formulate follow-up plans and to carry on
without interruption until the permanent establishment of the Cause.
“This review would be incomplete without mention of the use of radio by more and more communities. The recent meeting of the
National Spiritual Assembly in Los Angeles was preceded by seven related broadcasts. Lima has conducted a daily morning program
entitled ‘Bahá’i School of the Air,’ Vancouver, for the second time, organized a series of fireside groups in various homes with
discussions centered about a radio presentation of the Faith. A definite result of the Springfield radio work was the registration as a
Bahá’i of one whose first knowledge of Bahá’u’llah came through this channel. It would be impossible to estimate the accruing
benefits which wider use of radio must bring.
“One very important aspect of teaching work to which Assemblies must devote themselves more diligently is the development and
training of teachers. We are rapidly approaching the time prophesied by ‘Abdu’l-Baha when we will not have sufficient teachers to
meet the demands from the multitudes ‘who are dying to be led to unity.’ Classes should be instituted for teacher training and every
assistance and encouragement should be given to those new souls who are eager to develop their capacities along this line.
“The Summer Schools, carrying as they do, various courses to deepen the knowledge of the Faith and train the student in the proper
presentation of the Teachings, have become an important teacher training institution and in the words of the Guardian, ‘everyone
without exception is urged to take advantage of attending it (the Summer School).’

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

REGIONAL TEACHING COMMITTEES
“The twelve Regional Committees appointed this year have, under the instructions of the National Spiritual Assembly, directed their
particular attention to the stimulation and assistance of isolated believers, Bahá’i Groups, and study groups; while the extension of the
Faith into new cities has become a major responsibility of local Assemblies. Although the jurisdiction of these respective agencies is
thus clearly defined, a high degree of cooperation has, in certain areas, strengthened teaching programs and led to a greater efficiency
and enthusiasm.
“At the same time, the Regional Committees have functioned as valued agents of the National Teaching Committee, dealing with local
situations upon request, amplif ying the national viewpoint, sending in suggestions, and in general making possible an immediate
contact with the diverse teaching needs of this vast continent.
“That the work of the Regional Committees has been most efficient and constructive, no one who has followed the reports in BAHA’i
Nuws can doubt, and the National Teaching Committee feels both pride in and gratitude for their devoted services. Although limited
as to space, two or three of their most striking achievements warrant notice.
“The Committee of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia used its weekend meetings as opportunities to confer with the
believers and assist in pioneer teaching. Each such meeting was scheduled in a different locality, and included a regional conference
for Bahã’is and a public or fireside meeting in a nearby city which lacked an Assembly. This Committee undertook to coordinate,
route, and maintain up-to-date information on available teachers. It sent out bulletins to isolated believers. It cooperated with the
Vancouver Assembly in broadcasting for ten weeks on a station strong enough to reach regional fireside groups. As a result of its wide
and persistent interests, the scope of Bahá’i influence in the Northwest has been notably increased.
“The Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois Regional Committee successfully organized teaching circuits in Michigan and Illinois, based
upon the volunteer services of four

teachers who were available to all Groups and study classes. One of the year’s most outstanding projects was carried on
in this Region, when Mrs. Marziah Nabil Carpenter gave forty-three lectures in thirteen towns surrounding the
Louhelen Summer School, all to non-Bahá’i organizations upon Bahá’i subjects.
“The Committee for New England has experimented with radio, in cooperation with the Radio Committee, to bring aid
to small study classes in remote areas.
“Regional work this year has confirmed the opinion that there are endless opportunities for growth in those localities
where the Faith has been firmly rooted through the residence of one or a few believers. Even more ingenuity must be
used, however, in the future; more personal contact with isolated Bahá’is is urgently required; and the harvest of newlyestablished Assemblies may well be greatly increased by next April through sustained and well-planned aid to our
rapidly expanding Groups.
BAHA’I GROUPS
“Starting the year with twenty-seven groups, we have seen the organization of fourteen more in the following localities:
Tuskegee, Ala.; Atascadero, Calif.; Three Rivers, Mass.; Marysville, Mich.; Atlantic City, N. J.; Jamestown, N. Y.;
Scranton, Pa.; San Antonio, Texas; Knoxville, Tenn.; Hinsdale, N. H.; Arlington, Va.; Bexley and Circleville, Ohio;
and Eagle River, Wis. Of the total, six have attained their goal and will elect Spiritual Assemblies on April 2 1st.
“A remarkable vitality has been demonstrated by most of the Groups, together with a new understanding of their
responsibilities in the Administrative Order. Teaching activities, contributions to the National Fund, and Bahá’i
registrations have all alike been increased.
“Certain examples come to mind most forcibly. The Duluth friends, assisted by Miss Josephine Kruka, sponsored a
threeweeks’ campaign for Mr. Philip Marangella, including five public talks and several engagements with clubs. The
Group in Albuquerque arranged an exhibit of the Temple model at the New Mexico State Fair and another at a local
store, and in addition has

THE BAHA’f WORLD

held regular study and social meetings. The Marysville Group sponsored four radio broadcasts and three exhibits of the Temple model
in excellent business locations. Two radio talks were scheduled by the Madison believers, who have also been active in other fields of
teaching. The Knoxville Group was very active on the occasion of the meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly in that city,
gaining a remarkable impetus therefrom. It has observed all Feasts and Anniversaries, held several regular classes, presented various
outstanding Bahá’i speakers, and is now organizing an Assembly.
“We cannot, as American Bahá’is, enter the new year without real hopefulness at the thought of our thirty-two existing Groups, and a
keen desire to consolidate them speedily into thriving Spiritual Assemblies.
ISOLATED BELJEvERS
“Isolated believers, of whom there are three hundred and forty-three registered in two hundred and twenty-seven cities of forty-two
states and five provinces, are truly the frontiersmen of the Cause. They share, with those strong spirits who have chosen to pioneer, the
inestimable privilege of laying the foundations, and establishing a nucleus from which a thriving Group and, in due course, a local
Assembly may arise. Surely the bounties and confirmations, promised to all pioneers, go with them as support for every lonely or
discouraging hour. To each of them is specialized the opportunity to write, with his own hands, the unfolding history of this allconquering Faith, and to exhibit such qualities of steadfastness and spiritual fortitude as are well-nigh impossible to the believer in
more settled parts.
“Some of the year’s most valued work has developed through the efforts of isolated friends. Miss Lydia J. Martin, a teacher of the A.
M. and N. College of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was able to schedule Mr. Louis G. Gregory as speaker and advisor for that school’s
Religious Emphasis Week. Mrs. Horace Tillyer and Mr. Lloyd Byars of Bakersfield, California, completed a major share of the
arrangements for a Regional Conference, public meeting, and two radio talks, which were supported by eighty-eight Bahá’is from
sixteen communities. Mrs.

Marion Little of Covington, Louisiana, spon sored study groups during the visit of Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews, and was elected chairman
of the Fellowship House donated to the city by Mrs. Mathews, at a dedication attended by sixty leading citizens.
“There have been fifty-nine new registrations during the year, thus enormously strengthening the outposts of our Cause. Not one of
these, nor of the other isolated Bahá’is, can fail to contribute a unique and precious service to the Seven Year Plan, if each will but
labor with confidence and energy. In the words of Shoghi Effendi, ‘Let the doubter arise and himself verify the truth of such
assertions.’
ExHJE5TS OF TEMPLE MoDELs
“The Temple is the great silent teacher. In an early Tablet, the Master stated that some material things have spiritual significance and
that the Temple is one of these material objects having great spiritual effect. Symbolizing as it does the highest ideals of Bahá’i
devotion, as well as the social principles of the Faith, none but can be affected by this visible evidence of the rise of the Faith
throughout the land.
“Exhibits of the beautiful model of the Temple give the teaching work great impetus in any area. Being tangible, it is something that
can be easily grasped and discussed and it thus provides unending opportunity to present the Teachings through publicity and directly
to large groups.
“The results of these exhibits at fairs, conferences, and congresses cannot be measured or over-emphasized, and the Teaching
Committee would urge all Assemblies, teachers, and Regional Committees not to overlook any opportunity to arrange for a display of
a Temple model. The National Spiritual Assembly has made five models available to the Teaching Committee for this purpose and it
is important that they be kept in constant use.
“During the past year exhibits of the Temple model were arranged at Cornell University, at Vassar College, during the World Youth
Congress at Toronto during the Canadian National Exposition, at Albuquerque at the New Mexico State Fair, at Urbana on the
occasion of the meetings

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

of the National Spiritual Assembly in that city, at Port Huron, Flint, and Marysville in Michigan, at Santa Barbara, California,
Wichita, Kansas, at the Temple of Religion and in the Bahá’i booth at the World’s Fair in San Francisco.
“Various Assemblies throughout the country have purchased models and use them most effectively in local and extension teaching
activities.
“Stressing the great importance of these exhibits, the following is quoted from a recent letter from the Guardian to the National
Spiritual Assembly:
‘The Guardian is delighted at the steps which the N.S.A. has taken to arrange for a Bahá’i exhibit at the World’s Fair to be held in San
Francisco next spring, and also at the New York World’s Fair; on both of which occasions, he hopes, the Faith will be befittingly
represented and given effective and widespread publicity. He would urge your Assembly never to miss such opportunities of
presenting the Cause to the general public, and would in particular recommend that such Bahá’i exhibits should in future be frequently
and regularly held in various parts of the country, as they can be of far- reaching benefit to the teaching work in America.’
THE BAHA’i TEMPLE AIR MA5L CACHET
“The friends throughout the country received encouragement in their teaching work when they received through the air, shortly after
the Convention of 1938, an air mail letter dispatched from Wilmette, carrying as the cachet a picture of the Bahã’i Temple. Air-mailed
from that center, this message of love, bearing the testimony of the city of Wilmette, marked an interesting milepost in the progress of
the Faith. In the early days the people of Wilmette were apprehensive and some were even opposed to the construction of the Bahá’i
House of Worship. Now they not only refer to it as ‘our Temple’ but they use its replica to attract attention to their city. The
Postmaster, writing to the National Assembly concerning the use of the Temple for this air mail cachet, said:
‘We felt that in choosing this (Temple) for our design, we were taking the outstanding building, not only of Wilmette, but of the

world, seeing that there is no other to coin- pare with it in architecture.’

NORTH AMERICA TEACHING

193 9-1940

“The third year of the Seven Year Plan has witnessed, not only the settlement of ‘Holy Souls’ in every State and
Province, but a tremendous movement of pioneers into all parts of the country.
“The new spirit released by the Guardian, three years ago, in inaugurating the Seven Year Plan, has during this, the
third year of the Plan, brought such energy and enthusiastic service, that the entire Bahâ’i Community has arisen as one
unit to spread over the entire country, the ‘elixir that is life itself.’ This year has found isolated believers becoming
veritable Light Houses in the surrounding darkness; groups are growing in numbers, and assuming more and more
administrative activity; Assemblies have intensified the creative aspect of their functions by increasingly successful
teaching efforts and extension of their benign influence into surrounding cities; and above all, the spirit of zeal and
daring of our pioneers has been an unending example of Bahã’i fortitude and sacrificial service. Throughout the entire
country the spiritual victories which have been achieved, and the divine confirmations which have descended in such
torrents, have astonished even the participants themselves. Has the third year of the Divine Plan laid the foundation for
the rearing of the divine edifice in America, contemplated by the Master in the Divine Plan?
‘Now strive ye that the Collective Center of the sacred religions—for the inculcation of which all the Prophets were
manifested and which is no other than the spirit of the Divine Teachings—be spread in all parts of America, so that
each one of you may shine forth from the horizon of Reality like unto the morning star, divine illumination may
overcome the darkness of nature, and the world of humanity may become enlightened. This is the most great work!
Should you become confirmed therein, this world will become another world, the surface of the earth will become the
delectable Paradise, and eternal Institutions be founded.’
“The teaching work during the third year

a’

The Bahá’i booth in the Communications building of the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Behind the Temple model
is shown a detail of the design for the dome ornamentation.
pict25.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

of the Seven Year Plan developed in every direction and from every standpoint. Most outstanding of the fields of accomplishment,
were the collective efforts in the following types of service:
“First: The development of pioneer services in virgin areas. Not only early in the year were the nine remaining States and Provinces
settled with Bahá’i, but a total of 44 souls moved into virgin areas on the North American continent.
‘Second: The growth in numbers and activity of the groups. This year has witnessed groups taking on the responsibilities of
Community Life, including fireside teaching; extension teaching work, active support of the National Fund; and active local teaching.
The number of groups has increased to 63 at this writing, at least ten of which will become Assemblies April 2 1st.
“Third: The intensification of teaching by Assemblies. The creative or teaching aspect of our Assembly life has been greatly
augmented, resulting in more Fireside Gatherings than previously; more public teaching campaigns, more study classes, and more
extension work than ever before. The pioneer spirit has caught the imagination of the Friends and in Assembly life is manifesting itself
in the ‘Pioneer at Home’ movement. This bids fair to become one of the most important of our Assembly teaching activities.
“Fourth: The increasingly important services of our Regional Committees. So excellent have the activities of these teaching arms of
the Faith become, that the National Assembly has authorized a section of the BAHA’i NEWS to report their work, designated ‘Afield
with our Regionals.’ The Regional Committees are corresponding individually with the 363 Isolated Believers, encouraging and
assisting the 63 groups; and particularly serving the pioneers.
“Fifth: The exhibits of the models of the Temple, particularly at the ‘World’s Fairs in San Francisco and New York, and the
Canadian International Exposition at Toronto. The importance of these exhibits may be understood when we learn that at the two
World’s Fairs alone, some 300,000 pieces of literature were distributed.
“Sixth: The great spirit of loving and unified service which the Seven Year Plan is

developing. Perhaps for the first time the Administrative channels of the Faith, can successfully canalize the spirt and achievements of
the Friends, for the welfare of the Faith as a whole. The attitude of the ‘Good Shepherd,’ in dealing with all problems brings healing
and spiritual strength and carries the realization that all the Institutions of the Faith at this time are to intensify the teaching services of
the friends.
PIONEER TEACHING
“The spirit of pioneering, almost without our notice, has penetrated more and more the heart of each believer, and the activities of
every local and national administrative agency. Almost the entire emphasis of teaching work during the past twelve months has been
pioneer; the reports which have appeared in BAHA’I Nuws have been vitalized by the words and achievements of our fellow-workers
who have ventured into untouched territories, there to discover that the promises so long given by the Master are now literally
fulfilled; the deliberations of the National and Regional Teaching Committees have centered about the extension and consolidation of
work in these areas newly-claimed for the Cause; even in local communities, where circumstances have prevented many valiant souls
from hastening to answer the pioneer call, the friends have found means to turn their thoughts and plans to pioneering goals. The
whole American Community throbs with this new energy, propelled by the dynamic messages of the Guardian into the initial stage of
a World Mission, the harvest of which is ‘foreordained, incalculably rich, everlastingly glorious.’
“The conquest of North America moves through successive waves of effort and sacrifice. First, in every State and Province yet
unsettled, by Convention time of 1939 a preliminary line of defense had been established. After them throughout the year followed a
larger number of valiant soldiers to strengthen every outpost area. The attached summary indicates the positions held by these fortyfour settlers and the victories already won. In six of the ten original pioneer territories—Alaska, Delaware, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, Utah, and Manitoba—be-

THE BAHA’i WORLD

lievers have been enrolled and three Bahá’i groups are added. Twelve States and Provinces besides have become the centers of
function for Bahá’i settlers.
“The third aspect of this mighty motion is the ceaseless activity of traveling teachers, some twenty-five of whom have labored in these
areas without Assemblies.
“Perhaps the most phenomenal advance has been gained in the Southern States, Canada, and Alaska. In 1936 the South had not as yet
fulfilled the expectations of the Master as set forth in the Divine Plan. His words written in 1917 still, in large degree, described the
condition of the Cause in that region: . . . ‘no adequate and befitting motion has been realized and no great acclamation and acceleration
has been witnessed.’ In sixteen States there existed only eight Assemblies, two groups and forty-six isolated believers, while six of the
States possessed no Baha’is at all. In three years those statistics have been vastly altered, until today there are nine Assemblies, twelve
groups, ninety isolated friends, and no States without a believer. Last year new and intensive teaching was carried on in Miami, New
Orleans, Charleston, W. Va., Huntington, Louisville, and other cities. Twenty- five of the year’s pioneers have permanently settled in
the South, and thus ‘the fragrance of holiness (is) diffused with swiftness and rapidity.’
“The achievement in Canada has been equally notable. In 1936 there were Assemblies in Montreal and Vancouver alone, with no
groups listed and only four isolated believers. In 193 8 the Assemblies of Toronto, St. Lambert, and Moncton were organized. But in
the year just past the Faith swept like a fire across the Prairie Provinces, in public campaigns in such cities as Winnipeg, Regina,
Saskatoon, and Calgary; and in the settlement of three Vancouver Bahá’is in Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Meanwhile on the
Atlantic Coast, Nova Scotia was settled by three believers; in Toronto the numbers were rapidly increased, youth work prospered, and
the meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly brought wide recognition; while in Hamilton extension teaching from Toronto,
together with the concentrated efforts of such workers as

Mabel Ives and Doris McKay, raised this
Bahá’i group almost to Assembly status.
April, 1940, will find believers in every
Province, four Assemblies, two groups, and
nineteen isolated Bahá’is.
“A third dramatic episode was the winning of Alaska, conquered last April by Honor Kempton’s move to Anchorage. The work was
further strengthened by Betty Becker who followed in Juneau; by the enrollment of Janet Whiteneck, in Fairbanks, the first Alaskan
believer; and now by the residence of Joy Allen.
“It is not our purpose in this summary to recount the experiences of our pioneers, heroes everyone, possessing such ‘qualities of
renunciation, tenacity, dauntlessness and passionate fervor’ as to carry them through every testing and cheer them in every lonely
hour. Theirs has been the high privilege to ‘brave the dangers and sweep away the obstacles,’ that the Name of Bahá’u’lláh might be
established throughout these lands. They have won the first victories. Ours now to ‘insure the security and provide for the steady
expansion of the work initiated in those territories so recently set alight from the torch of an inextinguishable Faith.’
BAHA’I GROUPS
“Perhaps the scene of greatest teaching development this year has been among the Bahá’i groups. Whereas there were 32 groups a
year ago, there are at this date 63, of which ten have already been authorized to elect Local Spiritual Assemblies on April 2 1st.
Among the ten is Omaha which will become the first Bahá’i Community in the State of Nebraska.
“Of the 63 Bahá’i groups functioning at this time, twenty were organized for the first time this year, and it is worthy of note that of
this number nine are offsprings of established communities, having conformed with the principle that where there are two or more
Bahá’is representing more than one family in a given locality, they should form a group and work toward the establishment of an
Assembly in that locality. Of these nine, two Groups (Beverly Hills and Burbank, California) are becoming Local Spiritual
Assemblies this year. Five of the twenty are in cities where no Bahá’is were living

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

prior to this year; namely, ‘Wilmington, Delaware; Independence, Iowa; New Orleans, Louisiana; Providence, Rhode Island; and
Bristol, Wisconsin.
“Twenty-seven Bahá’i groups sent in annual reports and of this number fifteen indicated that fireside meetings constitute their most
successful teaching effort. A few are holding more or less regular meetings, the speakers being supplied through the Regional
Teaching Committee or near-by Assemblies. Very effective exhibitions of the Temple Models were arranged by eight Groups during
the year and several of them were productive of unusually fine publicity in the local newspapers and on the radio.
“In addition to their greatly accelerated teaching work this year, all Bahá’i groups have demonstrated a deep sense of responsibility for
the progress of the Faith as a whole. This has been reflected particularly in their increased support of the Bahâ’i Fund, their greater use
of the services of all national Bahá’i committees, and their whole-hearted cooperation with the National and Regional Teaching
Committees as well as their willingness to extend teaching assistance to neighboring groups and isolated Bahá’is.
LOCAL SPIRITUAL AssEMnLsEs
“The resistless appeal of Shoghi Effendi has again stirred our hearts and caused in our midst that restlessness and urgent desire which
are the propulsive forces of our Faith. Again we are to break the hmitations that bind us, achieve a new goal which shall be the
foundation of a yet more glorious stage. For the Guardian has called for one hundred Local Spiritual Assemblies by April 2 1st! At this
hour we can name but ten of the required ‘newly-fledged Assemblies’; yet we await the date with hopefulness, knowing well that the
capacity resides in the American community if this challenge but release it.
“When we contemplate that these ‘various Assemblies, local and national, constitute today the bedrock upon the strength of which the
Universal House is in future to be firmly established and raised,’ we can appreciate with clearer vision the absolute necessity of this
expansion, and must derive fresh hope from the quickening vitality which our

Assemblies have so strikingly exhibited this year. Both at home and afield, ‘through all the resources at their disposal they are
promoting the growth and consolidation of that pioneer movement for which the entire machinery of their Administrative Order has
been primarily designed and erected.’
“The concept of pioneering at home is a development of the past few months, a chan-. nd through which those unable to leave their
homes and responsibilities may yet share in the glorious World Mission. A definition of this form of pioneering was carried in BAHA’i
NEWS for October, 1939, based upon a plan originated by the Milwaukee Spiritual Assembly. We quote: ‘The suggestion is that each
Assembly, alive to its responsibility within its own city limits and in nearby communities, should survey these areas which so literally
depend upon its resourcefulness and conscientious administration of the teaching program for that news which is the priceless
introduction to God’s guidance and Word. Through the use of a map, mounted on cardboard and displayed for all to see, the soldiers
of the campaign could be charted, just as we chart the centers of Bahá’i life throughout the continent. Based on the position of each
believer, as well as upon those factors which determine normal regions of activity in any city, the Assembly could then outline its
pioneer plan. Contacts could be made, neighborhood newspapers utilized, firesides established, teaching circuits arranged; in fact, all
the techniques of our national and international work could be locally applied. Such a program, comprehensive in scope, effective in
method, aimed to cut down and eventually to obliterate the blank spaces of our Bahâ’i maps, could well rally and direct the energies of
every individual. Thus each Spiritual Assembly, at the head of its own “army of life,” might join the heroic campaign in which our
valiant brothers are already engaged.’
“We are advised that twenty-four Assemblies adapted the plan to their own communities and sixteen have reported fine results,
particularly in the growth of fireside groups in new sections of their cities.
“The ingenuity of the friends in discovering opportunities for pioneering is perhaps the most cheerful part of this program.

THE BAHA’l WORLD

Three exhibitions of the model of the Bahá’i Temple which is in its final stage of construction at Wil-. mette, Illinois.
Above: Exposed in a florist shop at Binghamton, N. Y. Below, left: Display at the New Mexico State Fair in
Albuquerque, N. M. Below, right: Exhibited in a florist shop window in
Port Huron, Mich.

pict26.jpg
pict27.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

SI

Berkeley wrote: “We tried to imagine what could happen if all of us who have worked here so long were removed and one fresh
pioneer Bahá’i arrived . . .‘ The result was a series of nineteen firesides in both Bahá’i and non-Bahá’i homes, with a total attendance of
393, of whom 225 were not believers. In Los Angeles the city was divided into nine sections with a plan for firesides in each,
conducted by ‘teachers of experience, preferably the newer ones, accompanied by a relatively inexperienced assistant,’ and stressing
‘hospitality and warmth.’ Thirty BahI’i registrations were the outcome, the highest number achieved by any Local Assembly. New
Haven based its efforts upon ‘The Advent of Divine Justice,’ with ‘a deliberate attempt . . . to attract the negro race in this city.’ It also
pioneered among the blind by placing Bahã’i Braille books with the State Board of Education for the Blind. Chicago experimented
with a group of 150 contacts, visitors to the Temple exhibits at Treasure Island and the Wisconsin State Fair, and through a series of
entertainments and meetings, gradually transmuted their curiosity into genuine interest and a desire to study. “We are greatly
encouraged with the result of this continuity of effort . . .‘ New York reached a wide audience of strangers by providing speakers for
churches, clubs, museums, and Latin American groups, as did twenty-nine other Assemblies. It also sponsored a teaching campaign
within the Polish population. That these and many other methods of pioneering at home attained success is evidenced by the fact that
sixty-five Assemblies enrolled 249 new members within the year.
“There is almost unanimous agreement that the fireside meeting is the heart of teaching vitality and the source of future growth.
Through these informal groups which any believer may start, with his own friends and contacts as nucleus, inquirers are imbued with
the desire for study classes. Such classes, as a rule, are conducted under the direction of the Local Assemblies; through consistent and
intensive lessons they provide the basis for Bahã’i membership and expand the knowledge of those who are already supporters of the
Faith. Sixty Assemblies sponsored such study classes, while more

than 175 individuals held regular fireside meetings in fifty-seven communities.
“Local Spiritual Assemblies have also exerted great influence through extension teaching work. Here again various methods have
been followed. Sixteen Assemblies have opened twenty-seven new cities to the Faith, with the help of over fifty Bahá’i teachers. In
addition, seventy-nine other individuals became isolated believers, and of these thirty-eight moved to cities without Bahá’is. There
were, moreover, another 161 believers representing forty-two Assemblies who made teaching trips.
“This motion of communities outward to other centers has in some cases involved real sacrifice. The loss of capable individuals to the
pioneer field has meant redoubled effort at home, and the necessity to train fresh workers to replace them. Vancouver and Miami are
examples of Assemblies which have contributed most remarkably to pioneer settlement. Through the establishment of Bahá’i Groups,
Assembly rolls have also been diminished, as in the case of Detroit with twelve members, five of whom withdrew to form a Group in
Grosse Pointe, five in Dearborn, and two in Lincoln Park. This ‘meant re-election to the Spiritual Assembly and reorganizing of
committees.’ Still another method was the removal of believers to a given center to create a Bahá’i Group where none had existed.
Thus the Los Angeles community, having some membership in Beverly Hills, sufficiently increased the numbers in that city to
organize a Local Assembly this year.
“Difficult as this process may be, the rewards of extension teaching are high, for through these very sacrifices the Faith is broadcast,
finds root, and firmly establishes itself in untouched regions; while at home latent capacity is aroused and a surpassing goal set and
achieved.
“At this time the Local Spiritual Assemblies face a tremendous challenge and opportunity. Their eighty-five Bahá’i communities
actually embrace 250 cities! When will the Faith be independently secured in each?
ISOLATED BELSETEK5
“With three hundred and sixty-three isolated Bahá’is in the United States and

THE BAHA’i WORLD
Canada, the outposts of the Faith are penetrating all regions. When we consider that the ‘pioneers,’ who have forsaken hpme ties and
Bahá’i associations, become active isolated believers in difficult areas, we can appreciate the value of the services of the isolated
believers, who have kept the Light of the Faith burning, in less difficult areas, for these many years. With the assistance of the
Regional Committees, these isolated believers can so enrich the Faith by their persistent teaching efforts, that the future is very bright
for the building up of new groups, and finally Spiritual Assemblies. Perhaps the isolated Bahá’is do not realize the great bounty that
can be theirs if they redouble their efforts, as without breaking ties of home and friends, they have the possibility of achieving the
same victories for the Faith, as the pioneer. In addition to this they can secure immediate assistance from nearby Assemblies or
groups, or the Regional Committee.
“The isolated Bahá’is during the past year have shown renewed devotion, and have achieved new goals, in their paths of service. The
pulsating life of ‘pioneering’ has reached them in full force, and has produced a deepening of understanding, and a greater
appreciation of responsibility, and the attending glorious opportunity it affords.
REGIONAL TEACHING COMMITTEES
“The National Teaching Committee feels particular pride in the vigorous functioning of the thirteen Regional Committees, to whose
consistent and able administration the National Assembly has entrusted the development of Bahá’i groups and isolated believers.
Mindful of the Guardian’s words, these Committees have truly felt ‘the vital and urgent necessity of insuring, within as short a time as
possible, the formation . . . of groups, however small and rudimentary, and of providing every facility within their power to enable these
newly-formed nuclei to evolve, swiftly and along sound lines, into properly functioning, self-sufficient, and recognized Assemblies.’
Not only have they, as responsible agents, relieved the National Committee of a vast burden of work, but through their own initiative
they have originated valued methods, undertaken wider in-

terests, trained and utilized a growing army of teachers, and helped to produce the Local Spiritual Assemblies for which the Guardian
has called.
“In an attempt to portray their manifold activities, a monthly column, ‘Afield with Our Regionals,’ was instituted in BAHA’i NEWS.
The present account can hope to mention only a few of the more striking accomplishments.
“The Committee for Cahfornia, Arizona, and Nevada succeeded this year in contacting personally almost every group and isolated
friend in California. This involved travel on the part of the Secretary from San Diego to Lakeport, a distance one way of eight hundred
miles. During this ambitious teaching journey, in which she was joined at various points by local Bahã’is, Mrs. Valeria Thornton
visited 10 groups, 50 isolated believers, and several additional towns where interested persons were reported; she spoke in firesides,
distributed literature, enlisted support for teaching plans, modernized the concepts of many Bahá’is who had been out of touch with
the main stream of the Cause for years, and was able to determine which areas would best respond to intensive work. The National
Committee followed her course with deep interest, for it has long been apparent that some such survey should be made in every part of
the United States and Canada.
“Another heroic journey was accomplished in the South last June by the Committee for Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi,
and Louisiana. Four dauntless teachers,—the Secretary, Miss Nellie Roche, Mrs. Georgia ‘Wiles, Mrs. Louise Caswell, and Mrs.
Terah Smith—organizing themselves as a Bahá’i Institute, carried the benefits of Summer School to the Bahá’i communities of
Knoxville, Atlanta, and Augusta. They traveled twelve hundred miles, finding everywhere ‘the greatest spirit of enthusiasm and
dedication to the Cause of Bahá’u’llah . .
“Able planning and execution has been the keynote of success of the Committee for Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. Each member
accepted responsibility for a section of the region and frequent meetings were scheduled in all of the responsive Groups. The teachers
were prepared with a series of

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

at least five talks, ‘to be given as intensive campaigns in these cities, attracting a few people who might be developed into study
groups.’ Special emphasis was given the work in ‘Waukegan, Madison, and Batavia, as well as in Ann Arbor, Marysville, and several
other groups. Concrete results were the preparation for Assemblies in Waukegan and Madison. Two exhibits of the Temple model
were arranged, with the help of Local Bahá’i Assemblies, at the Illinois and Wisconsin State Fairs.
“The Committee for Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island achieved a remarkable success
in several fields. The circuit of the Temple model for exhibits in Providence, West Haven, Rutland, Keene, Springfield, Boston,
Portsmouth, Dover, Portland, and (possibly) Bangor was unparalleled throughout the country. Its intercommunity conferences and
library placements of Bahá’i books; its spontaneous cooperation with the two Bahá’i pioneers of Vermont and Rhode Island; its
sustained assistance to groups through a series of four lectures, together with radio broadcasting; these and other activities gave high
distinction to the year’s work.
“Space will not permit the mention of all of our Committees. Yet the prospect of these diverse undertakings must redouble our faith in
‘the invincible army of Bahá’u’lláh which, however insignificantly small and poorly equipped materially it may appear, is endowed
nevertheless with such celestial strength as will undoubtedly enable it to break down one by one every barrier it may encounter in its
spiritual conquest for the redemption and guidance of human souls.’
TEMPLE MODEL ExHJEIT5
“The most outstanding methods of publicixing the Faith, and teaching both directly and indirectly, was the exhibit of the model of the
Temple. Indeed, we have found, that even before the completion of the Temple, the Master’s promises that ‘the Temple would become
the first and most important teacher’ has become fulfilled.
“At the World’s Fair in New York, a Bahá’i Booth was arranged displaying a model of the Temple and Bahá’i literature.

Attendants were present at all times, to explain the significance of the Temple, and the distinguishing features of the Faith, as well as
distribute teaching literature. Millions of people were attracted to the beauty of the Temple, and thousands inquired concerning the
Faith. Free teaching literature was distributed to the extent of some 200,- 000 pieces.
“At the World’s Fair in San Francisco, a Bahá’i Booth was arranged, uniquely displaying a model of the Temple. Attendants were
present at all times and unending opportunity permitted ‘conveying the message’ to thousands. Over 60,000 pieces of free literature
were distributed.
“A second exhibit of the Temple model was arranged in the World’s Fair in San Francisco, in the exhibit rooms of the Temple of
Religion and Tower of Peace. It was not possible to distribute literature at this exhibit; but inasmuch as the Temple occupied a very
conspicuous position, practically everyone who entered the exhibit rooms, viewed the Temple model. The Temple of Religion
Officers estimate over 600,000 people viewed the exhibits.
“The Bahá’i Booth at the Canadian International Exposition attracted thousands, giving the attendant opportunity to teach, and
resulting in many fine contacts. Over 15,000 pieces of free literature were distribtsted.
“Perhaps the outstanding exhibit of the Temple model at State Fairs, was the one arranged by the Milwaukee Assembly, at the
Wisconsin State Fair. Attendants were present at the Booth responding to the many teaching opportunities presented. There were some
18,000 visitors at the Booth, and about 2500 pieces of literature were distributed.
“Another outstanding exhibit, was that in Sacramento, Calif., at the annual flower show. This exhibit, prepared by the Junior Garden
Clubs of Sacramento, under Bahá’i direction, portrayed the Temple in a garden with flowers from all countries of the world. It was
especially mentioned by the Management, and won one of the first prizes.
“At Newark, New Jersey, the model was displayed at the ‘Fair-o-scope’—a model of the New York World’s Fair in miniature.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

There were about 4000 visitors daily. The
Management conceded that the Temple
Model display was the outstanding single
exhibit.
“Likewise requiring special mention, is the exhibit arranged in Butte, Montana, at the WPA Art Center. Groups were
brought in from all parts of the county to view it. One Photography Group made a special study of methods of
photographing it. Inquiry has been received as to whether we could permit this Model to be sent from Art center to Art
center, throughout the State.
“At all exhibits where a Bahá’i Booth was maintained, an attendant was present at all times. Those interested were
asked to register in guest books. These names and addresses were sent to the nearest Assembly, group, or Regional
Committee for active follow-up. The Chicago Assembly report that one of its outstanding teaching successes of the
year, was the follow-up contacts made at the various Fairs. One hundred fifty of these people responded to an invitation
to a musicale and reception, planned by the Assembly to establish a friendly contact, as a foundation for more direct
presentation of the Faith.
“The records of the Teaching Committee show that there were thirty-seven displays of the Temple model this year;
over 300,000 pieces of teaching literature were distributed, and the ‘Message’ given to thousands of people.
Undoubtedly, other exhibits were arranged by Assemblies owning Temple models, which were not reported to the
Committee. The Teaching Committee, with the 6 models assigned to it for teaching purposes, has not been able to meet
the demands, and it is hoped more models can be made available before the coming Fall.

STATISTICAL REVIEW OF TEACHING
ACCOMPLISHMENTs
“While statistics do not and cannot convey anything of the reality of service, yet they do indicate to a small extent, the effort put forth,
and the immediate tangible results. Thus the following summary will

prove of interest:

Assemblies
New Assemblies to be formed
BahO’i groups
New groups formed
Isolated Baha’is
Cities wbere Fsirb esrablisbed
Stares aud Provinces wirb no Groups or Assemblies

Stares aod Provinces

with no Bahá’is None 6 11
*Authorized ss of Match 15, 1940.
“The Bahá’i Faith now established in 576 cities in this country, is brought about by 85 Assemblies having a total of 250 cities
represented in their rolls, while the 63 groups have a total of 72 cities represented. The 363 isolated believers represent 244 cities.
“The number of pioneers entering virgin areas for settlement during the year was 42, as against 15 during the second year of the Plan,
and 20 during the first year.
“A total of 202 Fireside Gatherings are being held regularly throughout the country.
“During the year 27 new cities have been opened to the Faith.
“56 Assembhes report 425 adults and youth attended Summer Schools last year from their respective communities.”

MARCH MARCH
15, 15,
1940 1939

MARCH 15,
1937

10*

28 34

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

0 GRASP the scope and development of pioneer teaching in the first years of the Seven-Year Plan, it is needful to survey the evolution
of the Faith in America through a much longer period, gaining thereby a perspective by which events and accomplishments may be
related both causally and in just proportion. As one steps back for this long view, the first recognition is that for fifteen years an
instrument was being forged—the Administrative Order— its full use unguessed until, at the moment of climax, the Guardian directed
it to the fulfillment of America’s spiritual missiou. Thus the whole movement of the Cause in this continent, since the unfoldment of
the
COMPAKATSvE FsGuREs 193 5-1936
Bahâ’i Groups 22
New Groups formed 2
Total Isolated Bahf’is 268
Cities where Faith established. . . . 259
New Cities opened 33
No Groups or Assembhes in 24
No Groups or Assemblies in 7
No registered Bahá’is in 12
No registered Bahá’is in 3
“During the two and a half years of the Seven-Year Plan, there were twenty Assemblies organized and forty Groups, with 190 cities
newly opened to the Faith. And by the end of the second year, the initial phase had been traversed, with the settlement of pioneers in
every State and Province of North America, including Alaska.
“Despite the enthusiasm aroused, or such examples as that of the Entzminger family, who early in 1937 moved from California to
Oklahoma City to establish the Faith, no full realization of their responsibility to f or- sake home and attachments had come to the
body of the American Bahi’is. Again in August, 1937, a heartfelt appeal was voiced by the Guardian: ‘Who among its stalwart
defenders will arise, untrammelled (and) unafraid, to implant its banner in those

Divine Plan by ‘Abdu’l-Bahã, has been a mighty groundwork, a preparation for that day when the theme of pioneer endeavor, first
declared in the deeds of those who responded to His immediate call, might be repeated, but in a style immeasurably more powerful
and complex, in the Seven-Year Plan, this Plan itself a prelude only to the destined glorious, world-wide achievement of the American
Bahá’i Community.
“To appreciate the phenomenal advance of the American community, in response to this and the Guardian’s successive life-imparting
messages, it is well to compare the status of teaching work as of May 1, 1936, and November 15, 1939.

193 9-1940

347 (April, 1939)
63 (1938—39)
16 States
5 Provinces
0 States
0 Provinces

States, Provinces (and) Countries where its standard is still unhoisted?’
“From this period there seemed to enter into the Faith an unmistakable momentum which henceforth mounted steadily, appearing ever
more vigorously in the activities of pioneer settlers, travelling teachers, Regional Committees, Assemblies in their extension teaching,
Groups, and isolated believers. Through the medium of fireside and public meetings, teaching circuits, inter-community conferences,
exhibits of the Temple model, newspaper and radio publicity, and an infinite variety of contacts, the limits of the Faith were steadily
expanded. More and more all work tended to be pioneering, if not afield or in undeveloped areas, then at home among widening
groups of inquirers. Monthly the columns of BAHA’I NEWS re PIONEE

TEACHERS IN THE SEVEN YEAR PLAN
A statement prepared by Miss Marion Holley for the Teaching Committee describes clearly and graphically the part
played by the pioneer in the larger teaching plans of the current years. Excerpts from this statement follow:

States
Provinces
States
Provinces

THE AHA’i WORLD

Official post cards of the 1939 San Francisco World’s Fair and the 1939 New York World’s Fair showing the different
Bahá’i exhibits.

F
pict28.jpg
pict29.jpg

pict30.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

corded the story of cooperative achievement, proving by a wealth of detail beyond the capacity of this survey to recapture, the
indispensability of every individual and organized effort in the spiritual conquest of the continent.
“In sixteen States of the South there existed only eight Assemblies, two Groups, and forty-six isolated believers in 1936, while six of
the States possessed no Bahá’is at all. It was to one of these, Oklahoma, that the Entzminger family of four members moved in
January, 1937, settling in Oklahoma City. Although some work had been done there previously by Orcella Rexford and Edwinna
Powell, there were but few contacts left and none of these Bahá’is. Despite almost insurmountable odds of ill health, long
unemployment and rapidly-dwindling resources, Alice and Albert Entzminger so faithfully exemplified the life of the Cause that
within one year’s time a Spiritual Assembly had been gathered, holding its first election in April, 1938.
“Another remarkable example of consistent effort through settlement was that of Louise Caswell in Knoxville, Tennessee, who
established residence in the summer of 1937 and saw the fruit of her constancy in the organization of a Spiritual Assembly, April,
1939. This region was greatly assisted by the pioneering of the National Spiritual Assembly which met in Nashville in January, 1937,
and in Knoxville in February, 1939. Through first-hand experience the members were enabled to grasp the problems and opportunities
of the South as never before, and a teaching policy was developed which was the basis for all subsequent work.
“In Texas study groups were formed in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and Dallas through the labors of such teachers as Mrs.
Katherine Frankland, Mr. A. Kluss, Mr. and Mrs. Ward Calhoon, Mme. Gita Orlova, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Smith, and Mr. I-I. R.
Hurlbut. Other cities opened to the Faith by various believers included Corpns Christi, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Winterhaven, Den- ton,
and El Paso.
“Arkansas, which had been numbered among the States deprived of the influence of the Teachings, became the seat of great

activity in 193 8-39. Miss Rezsi Sunshine opened a business in Hot Springs, carrying on regular meetings in this city and in Little
Rock. In Pine Bluff Miss Lydia Martin became Dean of Women at the State Teachers College. She was able to arrange a month of
intensive teaching by Louis Gregory, who also conducted the school’s Religious Emphasis Week, and a study group has continued.
Marvin Newport spoke before service clubs and churches in Little Rock.
“Covington, Louisiana, received the gift of a Fellowship House from Mrs. Loulie Mathews which, under the direction of Mrs. Marion
Little, has become a community center. New Orleans was settled by three pioneers, Mrs. Dorothy Logelin and Frederick Babo, and
Miss Pearl Berk.
“West Virginia, another virgin area, became the home of Harold Hunt in Huntington and Mr. and Mrs. Hilbert Dahl in Charleston.
Other teaching was done by Marion Holley, who visited six cities, and by Orcella Rexford, Dr. Gregory, and Miss Eic Nicklin. A
Group was formed in Arlington, Virginia, while in Richmond Mrs. Ethel Murray and Mrs. Louise Boyle established residence for
some months. As the outcome of two months spent by Mrs. Grace Ober in Louisville, Kentucky, a study group was carried forward by
Miss Virginia Taylor. A large group resulted in Tuskegee, Alabama, from a four-months’ visit by Louis Gregory, who also taught in
Birmingham, Montgomery, and Normal. Walter Blakely pioneered in Birmingham in 1937-3 8 and in 1939 Miss Martha Fettig
continued the development of this area. Another project of Mr. Gregory’s brought several Bahá’i registrations in Memphis, Tennessee,
to which city* Mrs. Mabel Ives was later sent as a pioneer, together with Mr. Ives and Mrs. Mary Barton. Miss Nayan Hartfield
furthered the Cause for some time in Mississippi.
“North Carolina was visited for two months by Mrs. Terah Smith and Marguerite Reimer, while Mrs. Olga Mills moved to Tryon and
Mrs. Sarah Eason to Raleigh. In South Carolina extended teaching was carried on by Mrs. Emogene Hoagg, Mrs. Amelia Bodmer,
Miss Agnes O’Neill, and Miss Louise Thompson in Charleston; by Miss Maude Mickle and Miss Alta Wheeler

THE BAHA’I WORLD

in Columbia; by Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Bid- well at Chick Springs; while the Augusta, Georgia, Assembly reached its membership into
this State. Atlanta, Georgia, was settled by Dorris Ebbert, Olga Finke, and Terah Smith. Good work was also done in Bristol, Florida,
by Edward Young and many groups in Florida and Georgia were stimulated by visits of Alma and Fanny Knob- loch. Delaware was
opened to the Faith through the work of Orcella Rexford in Wilmington, her contacts being consolidated by the Regional Committee
and Doris Lohse. Mr. and Mrs. Allah Kalantar were later sent to the city as resident pioneers.
“Such a hasty review of a vast territory must of necessity neglect many projects and teachers. The extensive travels of Mrs. Ruth
Moffett, Mr. Mason Remey, Mrs. Terah Smith, and Orcella Rexford; the faithful service of the three Regional Committees; and the
endeavors of many unnamed believers—all contributed to one of the most remarkable chapters in the unfoldment of the Seven-Year
Plan. As of November, 1939, the Southern States could number ten Assemblies, seven organized Groups, eighty-six isolated
believers, no States without Bahá’is, and a network of contacts for that promised future when ‘the darkness of the world of nature may
become entirely dispelled and driven away . .
“However brilliant the achievements of the American Bahá’i Community during the first months of the Seven-Year Plan, they were by
no means adequate to the vision of the Guardian. Little did the believers guess the capacity latent within them! Determined to
accomplish the initial phase of the Teaching Campaign by the end of the second year, Shoghi Effendi cabled on January 26, 1939, a
message so compelling as to penetrate each heart with longing to respond. Within three months eighty-one volunteers had arisen to
‘forsake homes, cast away attachments (and) definitely settle these territories (to) lay firm anchorage (of the) Administrative Order . . .‘
No doubt was left as to the urgency of their task: ‘Establishment (of) one resident believer (in) each virgin territory (is the)
precondition (to the) full launching (of the) subsequent, eagerly-anticipated stage aiming (at

the) spiritual conquest (of the) Southern Half (of the) Western Hemisphere.’
“So it was that by Convention time arrangements had been consummated for the settlement of each State and Province
named in the cable, as follows:
ALASKA—Miss Honor Kempton, Anchorage; Miss Betty Becker, Jueneau.
DELAWARE—Mr. and Mrs. Allah K. Kalantar, Wilmington.
NEvADA—Miss Helen Grilling, Reno.
SOUTH CAROLINA—Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Bidwell, Chick Springs; Mrs. Emogene Hoagg, Charleston.
UTAH—Mrs. Marguerite Reimer Sears, Salt Lake City.
VERMONT—Miss Neysa Bissell, Rutland.
WEST V5RGINIA—Mr. and Mrs. Hilbert Dahl, Charleston; Mr. Harold Hunt, Huntington.
MANITOBA—Mr. Rowland Estall, Winnipeg. NOVA SCoTIA—Mrs. Beulah Proctor, Halifax.
“In addition, projects to strengthen undeveloped areas were planned for the following pioneer teachers, all of whom
were in residence before the end of 1939:
RHODE ISLAND—Mr. and Mrs. Don T. McNally, Providence.
ALBERTA—Miss Doris Skinner, Calgary.
SASKATCHEWAN—Mrs. Katherine Moscrop, Regina.
ALABAMA—Miss Martha Fettig, Birmingham.
MISSOURI—Miss Nayan Hartfield, St. Louis. NORTH DAKOTA—Mrs. Marguerite Breugger, Bismarck.
LOUISIANA—Mrs. Dorothy Logelin, Frederick Babo, and Miss Pearl Berk, New Orleans.
TENNESSEE—Mrs. Mabel Ives,, Mr. Howard Ives, Mrs. Mary Barton, Memphis.
TEXAS—Mrs. Katherine Frankland, San Antonio.
IOWA—Mrs. Ruth Moffett (travelling teacher).
“Although no specific mention has been made of Canada, the reader will perhaps have noted the spectacular growth of
the Faith throughout that country. Tn 1936 there were Assemblies in Montreal and Vancouver alone, with no Groups
listed and

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

only four isolated believers. Two years later, April, 1938, the Assemblies of Toronto, St. Lambert, and Moncton were
organized. The story of Mrs. Mabel Ives’ teaching journey to Moncton, N. B., in 1937, is one of the most illustrious
chapters of pioneer history. Later she moved to Toronto and, with the cooperation of many other believers, helped to
strengthen this new Assembly and to extend its work to Hamilton, where a Bahã’i Group was formed in 1939. In this
same year, the pioneers of the Seven-Year Plan swept across the Prairie Provinces. Three Vancouver Bahá’is, Rowland
Estall, Doris Skinner, and Katherine Moscrop moved to Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan respectively, and an
active public campaign was carried on in such cities as Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, and Alberta, through their efforts
and those of Mrs. Leonard King and Emeric Sala. Meantime on the Atlantic Coast, Halifax, Nova

Scotia, was settled by Mrs. Beulah Proctor and Mr. and Mrs. Grenville Wade.
“No one could for a moment suppose this to be a comprehensive survey of the teaching activities carried on in North
America during the initial stage of the Seven-Year Plan. Numberless servants of the Cause must go unmentioned,—
those on the one hand who, possessing ‘qualities of renunciation, tenacity, dauntlessness and passionate fervor’ which
the Guardian prescribed, did ‘brave the dangers and sweep away the obstacles’ to bring the news of Bahá’u’lláh to the
remotest corners of our land; and on the other, the many ‘wise, resourceful and judicious administrators’ whose patient
work, whether national, regional, or local, sustained each new advance.
“Upon the threshold of the third year, then, the American Bahá’is saw with grateful hearts the fulfillment of the first
phase of their mighty task. Yet even as they

The exhibit of the Bahá’i Temple model in the Homes and Gardens section of the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1939.
An identical model was exhibited at the same time
in the Temple of Religions.

pict31.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

reached out to vast fields still unconquered to the South, reinforced by the Guardian’s words to the Convention of 1939
that the ‘upsurge of Bahá’u’llih’s impelling Spirit cannot, will not he stemmed (nor) impeded,’ they were fully mindful
of their responsibilities at home. The goal of extension and consolidation, from isolated believMARTHA ROOT’S
TRAV
AND AUSTRALIA—HER
IRST of the Bahá’is to arise for service in response to the Master’s Tablets revealing America’s Spiritual Mission in
1916 and 1917, Martha L. Root in her very last days continued to consume the candle of her mortal life as teacher and
valiant herald of the Bahá’i Faith. Death overtook this great and renowned servant of Bahá’u’lláh at Honolulu on
September 28, 1939, extending her career into higher worlds. When the frail body could endure its burden no more,
death cut short her intention of returning to America in order to devote herself to assisting the Inter-America
Committee in its task of establishing the Faith in Latin American lands. It was in South America that Miss Root began
her international teaching mission in 1919. The example of her life and the influence of her self-sacrificing spirit have,
however, proved an invaluable influence and stimulant to all the workers in this field. Perhaps in death she can
accomplish even more than in life.
Previous volumes of THE BAHA’I WORLD have traced the steps of this unique Bahá’i career. In the present work we
close the noble record with an account of her teaching activities in India, Burma, Australia and New Zealand. First,
however, we should follow the broad outlines of her successive journeys as they were summarized in the memorial
tribute prepared by the American National Spiritual Assembly and published in BAHA’i NEWS of November, 1939,
following the national gathering held in her honor in the Foundation Hall of the Bahá’i House of Worship on October
29 of that year.
“It would be impossible for the Bahá’i world to trace in its full and rich detail her

ers and small groups into organized Bahá’i communities, demanded the continued exertion of their best powers. All
together they were resolved to ‘insure the security and provide for the steady expansion of the work initiated in those
territories so recently set alight from the torch of an inextinguishable Faith.’ (Shoghi Effendi, April 17, 1939) .“
ELS IN INDIA, BURMA DEATH IN HONOLULU
untiring services. In 1919, we find her visiting every important South American city. Possessing no Spanish or
Portuguese literature, and without speaking knowledge of these languages, she was, with the help of translators, heard
and read by thousands, and because of her, the first Bahá’i booklet in Portuguese was prepared by Brazilians for
publication.
“In Europe and Asia, thousands heard her message, from the humblest firesides, to the palaces of royalty. To Thomas
Masaryk, first president of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, Martha gave the Bahã’i Teachings; and to King Faisal of
‘Iraq; to Y. S. Tsao, president of the Tsing Hua University, who translated many Bahi’l writings into Chinese; to Prince
Paul and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia; to Nishuama, head of the Board of Religions of Japan; and to Queen Marie of
Rumania, of whose interview the Guardian himself wrote:
‘One of the visible and potent effects which this historic interview proved capable of achieving was the remarkable
appeal in the form of open letters which Her Majesty freely and spontaneously caused to be published to the world at
large, testifying in a language of exquisite beauty to the power and sublimity of the Message of Bahá’u’llah.’
“With what tenderness our hearts follow her on her journey of October, 1933, to Adrianople, where the Blessed
Perfection had ‘planted a seed under every stone.’ Through her we are welcomed by the Governor and Mayor. With her
we kneel reverently in the Muradiyyih Mosque and sense ‘how far Bahá’u’llah had come to meet our Western World!’
Through her eyes, many times tear-dimmed in that city, we see the gentle

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

Mu5çafã Big, who had been in the Presence of the Beloved and was able to tell us of His gardens, His house, His great generosity, and
of the reverent esteem of His fellow citizens. Between the lines of Martha’s gentle pen appears the persuasion of her own indelible
impression upon Adrianople.
“Martha even traveled to the outposts of civilization. In 1935, she journeyed to Iceland, where a radio station turned over its News
Hour to her dynamic message, and where newspapers printed for the first time Bahã’I utterances in Icelandic.
“A last touching tribute comes to us from the Bahá’is of India and Burma, who, unaware of her approaching departure from this life,
wrote in their Convention report the news of her spiritual victories in the present year. ‘The most outstanding feature in the year under
report has been the teaching activities of our beloved sister, Miss Martha L. Root. This star servant of Bahã’u’lláh toured from
Bombay to Mandalay, and from Srinagar to Colombo. Wherever she went, she delivered the message of Bahá’u’lláh in her own
convincing way, and published the divine Cause amongst almost all of the educated people of this great continent . . . In Sindh, she
visited Karachi and Hyderabad. In Karachi she attended the tenth Convention of the Bahá’is of India and Burma, and probably did the
greatest service of her life. She stayed in that town for three months and got the book TdhiriJ3 the Pure printed and mailed the
world over. It was here in this city that she met Sadaq Viswani and made a deep impression on the mind of that saintly man.
In Simla she graced the first Bahá’i Summer School of India and Burma with her presence and drew down the blessings of God on this
institution. In Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Lahore, Amritsar, Julltsndur, Ludhiama, Delhi, Patiala, Aligarh,
Lucknow, Allahabad, Benares, and Patna, she visited colleges and universities, and delivered the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to students,
professors, and intelligensia of the universities of India. . . . Miss Martha Root has opened the whole of India for us, and it now devolves
upon us to so utilize these openings as to produce the best of results.’
The National Spiritual Assembly of the

Bahá’is of India and Burma published extensive reports of Martha Root’s public activities in those countries. The
following excerpts will indicate the scope of the mission she undertook at an advanced age, and its results in promoting
the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
“Miss Martha Root arrived in India from Ceylon on October 15th. The believers of Bombay accorded her a right royal
reception. The National Spiritual Assembly had also fixed their half-yearly meeting to be held in Bombay in order to
meet the beloved sister. Miss Root stayed in Bombay for 5 days and these 5 days were gala days for the believers of the
place. While the Bombay friends held meetings and arranged for lectures, which were fully reported by the press, the
N. S. A. in consultation with Miss Root, chalked out a program for her.
“After attending the public meeting on the Birthday of the Báb, which was presided over by an ex-Mayor of the Town,
Miss Root left for Surat.
“SustAT—During her two days’ stay here Miss Root met lawyers, judges and other notables of the town at the home of
Mr. Vakil and delivered a public lecture in the Arya Samaj Hall. This was attended by 250 to 300 people—students,
lawyers and other notables. The press published elaborate articles and thus a good publicity was achieved for the
Divine Faith.
“PooNA—Owing to her brief stay here no pubhc lecture was arranged; but she met press representatives and the
believers of the place. She visited the Bahá’i School and the Bahá”i Cemetery. To the friends she delivered a talk on
teaching. Miss Root will visit Poona again when she returns from her tour in South India.
“RANGOON—Leaving Poona on October 26 she stayed one day at Bombay and then left for Burma where she arrived
on November 2. The believers of Rangoon had chalked out a busy and elaborate program for her. She spoke at the Y.
M. C. A. (Town Branch), Arya Samaj (Central), Theosophical Society, Brabmo Samaj, Malabar Club and Rotary Club.
Press publicity had preceded her arrival and when she arrived all the leading dailies of Rangoon published glowing
articles about her and about the

THE BAHA’t WORLD

Cause she had come to teach. Rangoon Times, widely circulated English daily, published an interview with her about Bahá’i work in
Shanghai. Rangoon Times has been devoting weekly two to three column space to Bahá’i articles for the last 11 months. Rangoon
Gazette, another English daily, had an equally fine interview of more than a column and in addition there was an editorial about the
history of the Bahá’i Faith. Her lectures attracted large numbers of hearers and were presided over by religiously inclined public men.
In fact, Miss Martha Root created a stir in the rehgious circles of that great city of 500 thousand souls comprised of almost all civilized
nations of the world.
“Miss Root had two meetings with the Bahá’is of Rangoon in the 1{aziratu’l-Quds (Bahá’i Hall). The meeting with the children was
very interesting. She started a children’s class and gave the first lesson to youngsters. This class, the Rangoon Spiritual Assembly is
determined to continue, in remembrance of the visit of our beloved sister.
“MANDALAY—Miss Root arrived in this ancient city of Upper Burma on November
10. She was received at the station by the believers led by our revered Bahá’i teacher Syyid Mustafá Roumie. She delivered a public
lecture in Mandalay Municipal Library. The attendance was the largest of any public Bahá’i lecture given up to this time in Mandalay.
The Headmaster of the Normal School U. Thet Swe, B.A., B.L. was the Chairman. Some of the hearers came later on to see Miss Root
and asked questions. Bahá’is who hve in towns near Mandalay came all the way to see their beloved guest.
“TouNooo—On leaving Mandalay Miss Root detrained at this town of about 23,000 inhabitants. No Bahá’i teacher has ever before
visited this place. It was through the efforts of Dr. M. A. Latiff, that the town was opened. He had gone to the place and had arranged
for a lecture in the Jubilee Library. Dr. BahI, Civil Surgeon of the district presided. He also gave a dinner in his home after the lecture
and four interested people came to meet the Bahá’i teacher. Miss Root took the train that same night and nine people who had attended
the lecture were on the station to see her off. It is a

great thing for our Faith that Toungoo is opened and we have our dear brother Dr. M. A. Latiff to thank for it.
“DAIDANAW (Kungyangoon) — Accompanied by Syyid ‘Abdu’l Ilussain Sherazi and Mr. Siyyid Ghulam Murtaza ‘Au, Miss Root
reached this Bahã’i village of 800 behevers on November 20. The behevers of the place had made elaborate preparations for reception
of their beloved guest. A special roadway was cut through the grass from the main road to the Assembly Hall, which was tastefully
decorated. The Assembly Compound was full of believers when Miss Root’s car arrived. Mrs. Kahn garlanded her amidst the
acclamations of Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá. She met these friends and they chanted holy songs and prayers. Miss Root writes: ‘What a royal
welcome we received! Never shall I forget their chanting and the reverence and love in their kind faces.’
“At 4 p. m. Miss Root drove to Kungyangoon, an important town of 6,000 people situated about 3 miles from the Baha’i Village. The
lecture was held in the National School under the. Chairmanship of Dr. Gurbaksh Singh. It was translated into Burmese by U. Sein,
the headmaster of the School. There were about 150 people present including the Township judge, the staffs of the National and Board
Girls’ High Schools. The lecture was well received. Dr. and Mrs. Gurbaksh Singh called on Miss Root that evening and had a long
talk with her.
“Next day the friends again met in the Assembly Hall. After the usual prayers; Mr.
M. I. Kahn read a beautiful address of welcome to which Miss Root replied in suitable words and the meeting closed in an atmosphere
of spiritual joy and happiness. Mr. Murtaza ‘All describes the scene of Daidanaw as follows:
‘The friends of Daidanaw gave a right royal reception to our sister Miss Martha Root. She was deeply moved.’”
The remaining reports were prepared by Miss Root herself for the National Assembly of India and Burma.
“CALCUTvA—A great scholar, Professor M. H. Hidayat Hosain of the Royal Asiatic Society Library of Calcutta, a leading
Orientalist of the world, has written about

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Qurratu’l-’Ayn. Perhaps he is one of the first great Indian scholars to write about the Faith. He said that he had met the fine Iranian
Bahá’i teacher, Ibn Asdaq, who came to India about 1902 or -03. ‘He was so charming, so spiritnal, so cultured’ said Professor
Hosain, ‘and we read the Iqan together in Persian!’
“The Bahá’i Cause has made remarkable strides in Calcutta since I visited that city in 1930. They have a good hall, fine meetings and
the membership seems to have increased five times its number in 1930.
“SHANTJNIKETAN, India, at the International University of Dr. Rabindra Nath Tagore.
“Mr. 1sf andiar Bakhtiari of Karachi, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma, and I visited Shantiniketan on
February 13, 14, 1938. ‘We were guests in the School Guest House. It was a great privilege to meet Dr. Tagore and to hear him talk
with deep love and appreciation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá whom he had met in Chicago in 1912. I am writing the interview for THE BAr-sA’f
WORLD, volume VII. Dr. Tagore said that the Bahá’l Faith is a great ideal to establish and that they in Shantiniketan welcome all the
great religious aims and will be most glad if a Bahá’i Chair of Religion can be arranged in their school.
“He and Mr. Bakhtiari spoke of Iran (Mr. Bakhtiari is an Iranian, he came from Yazd to India about twenty years ago), and of Dr.
Tagore’s trip to Iran. The Poet asked particularly about the progress of the Bahá’i Faith in the Land of Its Birth, and praised the
tolerance and fineness of the Bahá’is.
“Dr. Tagore’s School has a very excellent selection of Bahá’i books in the Library and they take great interest to have it as complete
and up-to-date as possible.
“A lecture was given in the hall before the whole student body and the professors. Questions were asked and answered. They brought
all the Bahá’i books for an exhibition in the hall, and near the close of the lecture I explained the books, one by one. Mr. Bakhtiari was
invited and chanted some Bahá’i prayers in Persian. (Many of the cultured people of India know Persian, and the Urud language,
which is used by several millions of people, is akin to Persian.)

“The Associated Press and the United Press used interviews and one professor whom I had known in Marburg University and who
knows the Cause well wrote an article about the lectures for the Associated Press of India.
“MADRAS—Mr. Bakhtiari and I worked in Madras, December 25-January 3, 1938. We met the few friends and talked about how to
promote the Faith, and had the Feast. We visited all the large libraries to see what Bahá’i books they have. The University of Madras
Library has an excellent collection and the Librarian, Mr. S. R. Ranganathan, is keenly interested to build up the department of Bahá’i
books. He is in corres pondence with American Bahá’is, the N. S. A., but up to this time he had never met a Bahá’i. His face is full of
light. He said the Bahã’i books are drawn out and much read. (We later found many who have been reading the books.)
“Adyar Theosophical Library, at Adyar, Madras, has also a good collection of Bahá”s books, and we found that many university
students living in that section have been reading these books. We visited editors of all the leading newspapers of Madras and all used
interviews followed by other articles about the Faith and resumés of our lectures later. Over two hundred articles about the BahI’i
Faith have appeared in the newspapers of Ceylon and India from September 13 to February 13, 1938.
“A large public lecture was given in Ranade Hall, a cultural center whose directors are connected with the university and some
newspapers. Dewan Bahadur K. S. Ramaswami Sastri, retired District Sessions Judge and one of the brilliant scholars of Madras
presided; the lecture was under the auspices of the South Indian Cultural Association. In introducing us he spoke concisely about the
Cause, quoted The Dawn- Breakers and Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—has since presided again and has written for me to use in the
West, two short articles, which were really his introductions; these are most interesting because they show the Bahá’i Faith in its
relation to Hinduism. He is a great Hindu Indian scholar who has arisen to write about the Faith. I lectured in the
Y. M. C. A. in Madras, Mr. Bakhtiari

THE BAHA’f WORLD

chanted and we both spoke before the Brahmo-Samaj Society of Madras. BrahmoSamaj is a very quickened spiritual
movement of India, a little hke our Unitarianism of the West, its members are always friendly and very sympathetic to
the Bahá’i Teachings. The Madras Brahmo-Samaj has since translated into Telegu language, What is the Bahd’I
Movement? booklet and one thousand copies are being distributed. This is the first booklet, I think, that has ever been
published in Telegu, and it is a fruit of the visit to Madras.
“Also, two thousand booklets, The Dawn of the New Day, translated into Tamil language are being published (were to
be finished by February 15), Mr. Ishaq Pahlavan, a devoted faithful Bahá’i in Madras helped with this. The Tamil
newspaper that published the booklet used the history and principles in a nearly three column article that has a
circulation of twenty thousand. We felt very happy about these booklets because Tamil is much used in Southern India,
Ceylon, Straits Settlements and a large colony in Durhan, South Africa.
“Mr. Bakhtiari, Mr. Pahlaván and I went out to Adyar to three sessions of the International Theosophical Convention
held December 26 to January 3, 1938; we met many friends. The Vice-President of the International Theosophical
Society, Mr. Datta, said to me that the Bahá’i Teachings are the highest essence of Hinduism. Mr. Bakhtiari who did
such great work returned to Karachi the evening of January 3rd.
“As Madras is such an important spiritual and cultural center in Southern India, Mrs. Shirin Fozdar and I came to
Madras when we were returning from Colombo and stayed for six days, January 18 to 23, met the press, lectured in
Pachaippa College of Madras University, also gave a public lecture in the P. 5. High School, Mylapore Section, to
several hundred students; lectured at an annual meeting of the Brahmo-Samaj ladies, and Shirin spoke at an evening
meeting of the Brahmo-Samaj and broadcast.
“Some of the young men who had been interested in the Cause when Shirin went to Madras in March of last year,
arranged a meeting in their school where we spoke and they said they would form a study class.
Mr. Pahlaván has a meeting sometimes for a little group of fine young men who before had been Muslims. A group had been formed
last year, may an Assembly soon be started.
“CoLoMuo, CEYLON—Dr. and Mrs. Fozdar and I went to Colombo, Ceylon, for ten days, January 5 to 16, 1938. It was my second
trip to Colombo since September 13. The press used many favorable and long articles about the Bahá’i Faith, the editors and
journalists were our true friends. A newspaper in Tamil language also published the history and principles translated into Tamil. I
spoke before the Rotary Club of Colombo and the speech was broadcast from the luncheon table. Shirin spoke over the radio about
Qurratu’l-’Ayn and sang one of the latter’s poems. A gramophone record was made of this song. Both broadcast speeches were
printed in full in the Colombo papers. One public lecture was given in Colombo University under the auspices of the University
College Economics Society, and another public lecture took place at the Ramakrishna Mission School. We spoke before the teachers
of a Buddhist school for girls, and Dr. and Mrs. Fozdar spoke at the Parsi Club. Some very fine Muslim people invited us to their
homes, so also did some Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. We invited a number of friends to our hotel. The Mayor of Colombo
called. Shirin spoke before the Women’s International Club. It was all a most worthwhile visit to Colombo. Dr. Fozdar after helping
us much, returned from Colombo to his hospital work at Ajmer.
“BANGALORE—Mrs. Fozdar and I came via Madras to Bangalore and Mysore where she had been ten months before. Three Bahá’i
lectures were scheduled for the three days of our stay, January 24, 25, 26, at the Mythic Society, a high Cultural Society in Bangalore,
in Daly Memorial Hall, a building given by the Maharaja of Mysore. The Secretary of the Mythic Society, a lawyer, Mr. S.
Srikantaya, ably presided at the three lectures; all were reported in the Ban galore Post. Questions were asked and answered and
each day the audience increased. Teachers from the Fort High School present invited us to come over to their school and speak to
seven hundred boys. The Dewan of Mysore, an Iranian, a Muslim, is so fine in

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

his character that Bahá’is could well say he is ‘Bahã’i’ in spirit, in the sense that he seems to have ‘all the human perfections in
activity.’ He received us and did everything to help us—he helps the Muslims, the Hindus, the Jews, the Christians. He invited us to a
great garden party where he was the guest of honor and introduced us to some friends as Bahá’is. The Vice-Chancellor of Mysore
University and his wife were in Bangalore and invited us to their home; he was most kind and helpful both times Mrs. Fozdar came.
One of the Magazines in Ban- galore promises to publish three articles about the Cause. One man in Bangalore said in fun: ‘The
people swarm like locusts to eat the Bahá’i Teachings!’ It was not quite like that, but certainly people were interested and you can see
from this account that we found friends everywhere who helped us to spread the Fragrances of the Teachings.
“MYsoRE City—The next days, January 27, 28, 29, were spent in Mysore City. Mrs. Fozdar and I each gave two lectures in the
University and she spoke to an Educational Association. One Professor who presided at my lecture said that he had read seven or eight
Bahá’i books carefully, and that when a distinguished Ramakrishna Swami spoke in that same University Hall on Modern Religions
and did not mention about the Bahá’i Faith, this Professor who was acting as Chairman said that one of the most important modern
religions had been left out and he gave the history of the Bahá’i Movement. I told the audience it was like that in our country; at the
World’s Parliament of Religions, in Chicago, Exposition, in 1893, a Professor, founder of Beirut University, has spoken about the
Bahá’i Faith and now we have thousands of Bahá’is in America.
“One Professor said: ‘What we professors and students need is a great quickening of religion in our inner life. If the Bahá’i Faith
brings that, we will study it.’
“We met one Professor who is a relative of Qurratu’l-’Ayn and he has made a deep study of the Bahá’i Teachings.
“The Mysore University Library in the past year has gathered quite a good selection of Bahâ’i books and these are being read by the
students. The librarian and the former librarian are most friendly to our

Cause. I believe that great scholars from Mysore will write about the Teachings.
“One Professor in the University is the Director of Broadcasting and Mrs. Fozdar and I both gave radio talks which were sent out to
six newspapers and magazines in India. A young private secretary from a neighboring state told us that when he visited the Hill Palace
of the Maharaja of Mysore in 1933, there was a book on the table, the hfe of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which he carefully studied. The Mysore
University Library will have pictures of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and a picture of the Bahá’i Temple at Wilmette to hang on the Library wall.
“Mrs. Fozdar, as I said, had been to Ban- galore and Mysore ten months earlier and made many friends and this helped us very much.
May she go again and many times to Southern India! She is not only a very fluent speaker but they called her the Bahá’i nightingale of
India when she sang the Qurratu’l-’Ayn songs!
“HYDERABAD, DEccAN—Then we came to Hyderabad, Deccan, where we were the guests of the State and stayed in the State Guest
House. We arrived at 5 p.m., and at 6:30 o’clock I broadcast. This radio talk was published in full in their newspapers.
“I broadcast again and Mrs. Fozdar gave a radio speech about Qurratu’l-’Ayn and sang. A gramophone record was made of her speech
and song and the talk was published. We gave a public lecture the second evening under the auspices of the Writers’ Association of
Hyderabad. We spoke before the Hyderabad Ladies’ Association to two hundred and fifty members and the wife of the second son of
the Nizam presided. This beautiful young Princess is a grand-niece of the late Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey. Lady Akbar Hydari,
wife of the Prime Minister, is President of this Association. I spoke in Osmania University and at the same hour Shirin spoke at the
Nizam’s College. Excellent articles appeared in the newspapers. The Secretary of the Prime Minister, a Cornell man, had attended a
Bahá’i Conference in Geneva, N. Y., where he had been the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Willard McKay. There he had met Miss Mary
Maxwell;’ he said he felt even then she had a very high destiny
“RuhiyyIh ánum.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

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Facsimile of part of a letter addressed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Professor Vambery.

and that she was the most radiant girl he had ever met. We were invited to the home of the Prime Minister and to the
home of Sir Amin Jung; the latter had received Mrs. Schopfiocher, later myself, then Keith and then Mr. Schopflocher.
He loves the Teachings and says they do not take away from any other Faiths. Says if he would be able, he would go to
the Bahá’i Convention in Karachi in April, but he is quite ill. The Bahá’is of Hyderabad met us at the train, helped us,
and came with us to the station when we left. They came to the public lectures and brought booklets for distribution.
Mrs. Fozdar spoke to a large group in a private home the last evening and I broadcast. We were in Hyderabad only
three days, evening of January 31 to early morning of February 4.
“PoowA—We left on an early train for Poona and arrived there in the night. Poona is a Bahá’i paradise and one of the
high spiritual lights in India. The first morning, February fifth, we had a beautiful program of welcome in the Bahá’i
Hall in the Na-

tional Hotel. The pupils from the Bahã’i school marched to the hall. All Bahá’is were present, and after the program tea
was served.
“The entire stay was so well arranged that even New York and Tihrán would say ‘Bravo!’ I think the plan could with
profit be carried out in other cities. At 7 p.m. that first day, the President of the Local Spiritual Assembly gave a tea in
the Bahã’i Hall for twenty-four journalists of India. I had prepared my speech (the resumé) to journalists very carefully
and made carbon copies. I spoke on Journalism and the Cause and then read to them my interview and distributed it to
them. Shirin spoke and there was a resumé of her talk. Questions were asked and some of the journalists came each day
afterwards and were very interested. (If it had been a big reception we could not have spoken intimately of journalism
and the Cause and what Bahá’u’lláh said about the press.)
“The next forenoon, Sunday, at ten o’clock, a great lecture was staged in the

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

cinema theatre, ‘Deccan Talkies’ to more than a thousand people, 99 per cent of whom were university and college students. Many
came who could not get into the hall. We had the loudspeaker. Mr. K. F. Nariman, one of the very popular men in India, was the
Chairman, and he was sympathetic to the Faith. Fourteen copies of the resumés of our speeches were given to the journalists whose
papers represented several different languages. A number of students and journalists came to the hotel afterwards to ask further.
“In the afternoon we visited the Bahã’i School to meet the pupils.
“The following morning, Monday, the Bahá’i school presented a Peace Play and Bahá’i Songs for us. In the afternoon a tea was given
in the Bahã’i Hall by the Local Spiritual Assembly President to the educators of Poona. I spoke to these professors about the Bahá’i
Faith in various universities of the world and what great scholars have said and written about it. At each tea there was a flue and
beautifully arranged exhibition of Bahá’i books and we explained the books for they were interested. Shirin spoke on Qurratu’l-’Ayn
and sang, and we both gave resumés to the reporters. The professors said they would gladly arrange lectures in their schools when we
come again.
“The third afternoon the tea by the President was for the lawyers of Poona. We had a talk and discussion followed; they, too, said they
would arrange lectures when we return, for most of them belong to clubs.
“One lawyer said in fun: ‘I belong to Brahmo-Samaj but we are a little lazy in working; but I say “it is all right, for the Bahá’is are
promoting all the ideals for which we stand!”
“That night the Bahá’is gave a farewell party for us. In the times in between lectures and interviews we had a number of heart to heart
talks about Haifa and about promoting the Cause.
“The Bahá’i School in Poona is a model and I believe great Bahá’i spiritual teachers for the Cause will come out from that school.
They are getting a marvelous training there.
“The Secret of the very wonderful Bahá’i work in Poona is mobilized Unity for
service! The Holy Spirit is with them, attracted by their unity. The Bahã’i world over the five continents has been gripped at times by
Poona’s work, and travelling over India three times as I have I have met a number of fine people who said they first heard of the
Teachings when staying for a few days in the National Hotel of Poona. I must give tribute to Poona because since 1915, when I first
met them, I feel they are ‘living the life’ up there.
“BOMBAY—Early the morning of February ninth we entrained down to Bombay. Bombay is the ‘Mother City’ of all the Bahâ’i
work in India. Many dear Bahá’i friends met us at the station with smiles and garlands of sweet jasmines and roses and fragrant
bouquets. Such a great program was planned, but alas, as all the chairmen and most of the journalists of Bombay were in Haripura for
two weeks at the fifty-first Congress of India, it was thought best by all of us that we postpone the intensive campaign in Bombay until
March twenty-first. However, in these three or four days there we had a glorious welcome reception in the Bahá’i Hall and they asked
us to tell about the tour. We lectured in C. L. High School, Dadar, Bombay, to more than five hundred students and met with the
Bahá’i friends who are arranging our program. We spoke Sunday in Bahá’i Hall to a large audience. We were so happy to see all the
friends. There are nearly eight hundred Bahá’is in Bombay.
“I came from Surat to Bombay March
15. Wrote a radio speech and broadcast it over The All-India Radio, March 17. Finished some writing for BAHA’i WORLD Volume
VII. Beginning March 21, Naw-Rfiz, the Bahá’is of Bombay had arranged a remarkable program. We had a Feast in Bahá’i Hall in the
forenoon and another Feast for several hundred in the evening. The youth gave a Bahá’i play and original poems to welcome me.
March 22, the former Mayor presided at a large gathering where I spoke under the auspices of the Social Workers’ Society of
Bombay.
“Mrs. Shirin Fozdar arrived in Bombay March 23, and we spoke together on every program in that city. March 23, the L. S. A. of
Bombay gave a reception in Bahá’i Hall
* 1938

THE BAHA’i WORLD

for two hundred guests—journalists, educators, statesmen and others. The Mayor of Bombay came and he acted as
Chairman for our short talks. The press took photographs and used good articles. Lectures were given before
Theosophical Societies, BrahmoSamaj, Buddhist Society, Arya Samaj, and an Oriental Institute, High Schools and a
number of public lectures were given in the large Bahá’i Hall, centrally located. The Bahá’i community in Bombay is
the ‘mother’ group, the largest, the oldest, and all the friends did glorious work.
“April 5, I came with Mrs. Shirin Fozdar to her home in Ajmer for one week’s visit. Dr. Fozdar had arranged
everything so well. They have interested many friends. We spoke at the Ajmer Women’s Club, and I lectured in
Government College, Ajmer. (Mrs. Fozdar had spoken there a short time before.) Every day friends came or we went to
their homes. In Ajmer I wrote my speech, What the Bahd’I Faith Can Do for Poverty, for the Indore Conference.
“April 14, I arrived in Indore to take part in the All-Faiths’ League Convention. The Poona friends had so kindly
mimeographed five hundred copies of my speech and f or- warded them to Indore. The United Press in Indore sent out
two hundred copies of my speech with advance interview to newspapers throughout India. It is still appearing in
newspapers; only yesterday I received The Rangoon Times, with the entire speech, four columns, printed in the July
1, edition. In the first two weeks it came out in newspapers aggregating 300,000 copies altogether. In Indore I also
published seven thousand copies for distribution, and Bombay gave us two thousand Dawn of the New Day for
distribution at the Conference. Mrs. Fozdar arrived in Indore April 17. She is Honorary Secretary of this League.
Interviews and her speech were sent out that day all over India.
“We both spoke at the opening of the Convention, April 18, more than fifteen hundred people were present. I read the
following cablegram from our beloved Guardian: ‘Martha Root, Care of Postmaster, Indore. Convey All-Faiths’
League Convention expression my best wishes for success deliberation. May divine Guidance enable assembled
representatives achieve their high pur pos

and extend range their meritorious activities.—Shoghi.’ Bahá’i literature was given out at every session during the four days. All
religions were represented in the audiences, delegates coming from all parts of India; the thinkers of India were there! 1,500 people
were present at every evening session and often more than 1,000 at the day session. There were 1,500 present when Shirin spoke and
when I spoke on April 20.
“The Dewan (like a Prime Minister) of Indore who opened the Convention, Sir S. M. Bapna, invited Shirin and me to his home to tea.
For twenty years he has tried to interest the people of Indore in establishing courses in the study of Comparative Religions in all the
schools of Indore. He has had a textbook written and published for the children and another is being written for the boys and girls, and
a third textbook on Comparative Religions for the College students. How we hope the Bahá’i Faith will be included in those
textbooks! If you have any Bahá’I books that you think would help him, please send them. Thanks. His address is just Indore, India.
He belongs to one of the foremost families of Rajputana and Central India. His ideals are most lofty and he has set his heart on having
these textbooks as perfect as possible—and representative of all the religions.
“Our Bahá’i Faith was criticised by one ultra-orthodox group at the Convention. I answered it, Shirin answered it another time, and
non-Bahá’is championed our Faith! Really the criticism did no harm!
“One man had a paper on the need of a great universal religion, and explained what it ought to inculcate. A great Hindu professor
arose and said: ‘The Bahá’i Faith we have been hearing so much about in this Convention is a universal religion and it inculcates all
your suggestions and more. The Bahá’i Faith is ready, why not accept it for a universal religion?’ The man who had prepared this
paper had not heard of the Bahá’i Teachings until he came to this Convention; he was very much impressed by the Message. It is
remarkable how many Religious Conventions are being held in different parts of India, and the N. S. A. of India and Burma are
invited to send, and do send, Bahá’i speakers to every one of them. The N. S. A.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

is very efficient and very, very spiritual; they work almost beyond human endurance and they are as united as one soul in nine bodies.
“From Indore, Shirin and I came to Karachi, arriving April 25. Here the N. S. A. of India and Burma held their annual Bahi”i
Convention during Ridván. There was a stir throughout Karachi that week, every one was talking about the Bahá’i Faith. Everything
was so well planned in advance both by the N. S. A. and the L. S. A. of Karachi. We had a tea for the journalists and our chairmen the
day after our arrival. The Convention opened the following day, April
27. A great meeting was held in the largest hall in Karachi, Khahkdina Hall, that same evening. The man who became Mayor of
Karachi a few days later was our Chairman. Mr. Abbas ‘All Butt of Simla, Prof. Pritam Singh of Lahore and I spoke. April 28, the
Mayor presided and Shirin Fozdar and I spoke at a public lecture in Theosophical Hall. Mr. H. Manji of Bombay also spoke. April 29,
the L. S. A. of Karachi gave a great garden party, inviting 350 guests to Bahá’i Hall Gardens. It was a beautiful event and almost all
religions were represented. Here, too, Abbas ‘All Butt and I spoke. April 30, another public lecture was held in Theosophical Hall. Mr.
Jamshed Mehta, Mayor, who had been my Chairman when I was in Karachi in 1930, acted as Chairman. Prof. Pritam Singh and I
were the speakers. Sunday, May 1, we spoke in a Jam Temple at 8.30 a.m. and in Sharda Mandir, a large school, at 6 p.m., and a great
public meeting was held in Bahá’i Hall in the evening when the speakers were Abbas ‘All Butt, Mrs. Hashmatullah of Delhi and
myself. May 2 we were invited to speak at a public lecture arranged by the Parsis and held at Katrak Hall. The Managing Editor of
The Daily Gazette presided. Mrs. Fozdar and I spoke. Some of the N. S. A. members and Mr. Manji spoke in a school at 6 p.m.
These were only some of the events. Mr. Momenzadih gave tea for the delegates to meet the Iranian Consul and his wife. The L. S. A.
rented a large bungalow next to Bahá’i Gardens as the home for all delegates during that week. The Bahá’is had breakfasts and teas
and dinners for the Bahá’i friends to

meet one another and several people of Karachi had dinners or teas where we spoke informally. During the eight days
the N. S. A. held their sessions.
“Then the N. S. A. members left, and I began the task of printing my book Tahirih the Pure, frey’s Greatest
Woman. Mr. 1sf andiar Bakhtiari helped me every day, always going with me to the printer. It was so difficult to get
the accent marks, etc., and it has taken three months, but patiently at last it is finished, three thousand copies. It is
announced in Appendix III that some of the copies have gold leaf letters—we couldn’t get the gold leaf, and I could not
delay my scheduled tour any longer, so they are printed in two styles only, red with gold- dust letters and in blue paper
covers. One thousand copies have just been mailed out.
“During the three months here in Karachi, besides the book, I have spoken several times each week, or met people in
small groups. In Bahá’i Hall there were two public meetings each week and one Youth Group meeting. I was invited to
speak again in several societies and to some new organizations. Some of the Bahá’is had groups in their homes, and I
invited people to my place. The Mayor came and he invited us to his home and to several events where he was the
guest of honor. He is a Muslim, a liberal Muslim, and he has read a number of our books. He asked me to speak in the
discussions at the meeting in Municipal Corporation Court Hall which he called to form a Universal Peace Brigade in
Karachi.”
On May 23, 1939, Martha Root drafted a report of her work in New Zealand which was later reprinted and distributed
throughout the Bahá’i world by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Haifa, Palestine. We cite the following
passages:
“I arrived in Auckland, April 26.
“The beloved Bahá’i friends met me at the pier; dear Mrs. Charlotte Moffitt of Sydney (I had known her in London)
came with me for two weeks, so it was hke a ‘group’ coming to Auckland. The friends were so happy to meet her, and
she is so radiant and happy, it was indeed ‘spiritual skylarking’ for us all during the heavenly days working together.
“I had been in New Zealand in September, 1924, and Margaret Stevenson, Ethel Blun

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Above: A display of the Bahá’I Temple model in a window in Philadelphia, Penna. The sign on the right reads: “Non Sectarian
Temple.” Below: The exhibit held
at the Sacramento Flower Show in California, 1939.
pict32.jpg

pict33.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

dell and Hugh Blundell and their mother had been with me in Haifa, in March, 1925; these three, with the other believers, gave us
such a sweet and glorious welcome! When you come to New Zealand you will be in love with every one of them!
“Just as on my first visit here the first meeting was in the home of the dear Stevenson sisters, so this time, too, our first gathering—the
Feast—was in the same house of dear Margaret and Lilias. Keith RansomKehler (she came here in 1931) her spiritual children were
present and their spiritual children, Keith’s spiritual grandchildren, all so illumined and capable, how proud she must be of them! And
the pioneer Bahá’is here, saints of God every one of them, have interested other new souls, so that the Bahâ’i Faith in Auckland has
developed in the sixteen years in a manner as thrilling as any romance, the greatest romance of all, because this is the romance of
religion.
“Such a program! Such an intensive spiritual drive during the past month! The next day, April 28, I spoke in the morning to the Travel
Club, which has a membership of 750 and 200 in the waiting list. I used the microphone. It was a great opportunity and people from
this lecture and from many others continued to come to other Bahá’i gatherings. That same afternoon I spoke before the Pen Women’s
Club, about 150 being present. Some of these friends later presided at other lectures. The Press had interviewed me at the ship, and
every public lecture was reported; Auckland was most generous and discerning in publicity. Most public lectures were followed by
questions and answers, and at nearly all, tea was served. New Zealand and Australia are most hospitable nations; their peoples are
altruistic and honestly work for the good of all; they are interested in Truth.
“It would take too long to tell you about the 25 public lectures—the Fabian Club; the People’s University; the Unitarian Church (and
this pastor first heard of the Bahá’i Faith at the great lecture of 600 people which I arranged for the Jenabe FazI in Rabbi Wise’s
Church in St. Louis, in 1920) ; the Esperantists’ Club; the Business Girls’ Luncheon (for 400) ; the Quest Club; the Optimists’ Club,
Y. M. C. A.; United

Women’s Peace Movement; Overseas Club; Sunday evening lecture in the Strand Theatre before the Rationalists and Sunday
Freedom League (more than 1,200 present—used microphone); Women’s Crusade for World Peace and Brotherhood; out-of-town
lecture in the Manurewa Town Hall; Crusade for Social Justice Society; public lecture in the Lewis Eady Hall; the New Women’s
Club; Theosophical Society; Better Health Society; lecture arranged by Mrs. Leighton in her home, for 60 friends; public lecture in
Chinese Church.
“Among the public lectures arranged in Bahá’i Hall was one on Bahá’I Scientific Proofs of Life After Death—perhaps I could
never give it hke that again, but it thrilled me. The Teachings, the proofs, are such a spiritual security; I think I love that lecture most
of all. The Bahâ’i Hall was crowded; many stood, some even standing in the outer hall, where they could hear but could not see. Many
of them had lost loved ones and they came to find truth and comfort. One evening at Bahá’i Hall was a ‘Social Contact Evening’ when
people from other organizations came to hear more and to ask questions. Another evening in Bahâ’i Hall, the Theosophical Youth
Group members were guests, and it too was a happy question and answer time. There is cordial friendship between the Bahâ’i Youth
Group and the Theosophical Youth Group. The Life of the Radiant Bdb is the subject of the public lecture tonight in Bahá’i Hall.
On May 28, I shall speak in the evening in the Chinese Church.
“Dr. and Mrs. Stanley Bolton arrived on the ‘Mariposa’ at 7.15 a.m., May 29. The Bahá’is will give a luncheon in their honor at 1
p.iu. in Bahá’i Hall. We shall meet the friends there all day, after the interviews with the Press on board ship. Our ship sails at 5 p.m.
that day.
“Miss Florence de Lisle and her mother, Mrs. de Lisle, gave a Saturday afternoon party just for the Bahâ’is, and I spoke on ‘How to
Teach the Bahâ’i Faith.’ Also on another Saturday afternoon I gave a little ‘at Home’ just for the Bahá’is, and we had questions and
answers. At other times I invited in a few friends in little groups, but I could not do as much as I wished, because

THE BAHA’i WORLD

the program was so full; and when one is going to give a lecture, it is important to study, concentrate, meditate. For
example, the day I was to speak in the big Theatre I kept with my subject all day; I read, I thought, and I sent my
‘mind’ once through a lecture of 45 minutes; at 5 p.m. I jotted down an outline of five points. When I spoke that night, I
did not look at the outline, and I did not say exactly what I had thought out in the day—we have to see our audience
kefore we know what we are going to say! I came out very strong for religion, and in the first five minutes the top
gallery shouted, ‘No! No!’ The main floor applauded, ‘Yes! Yes!’ (They do not have many religious lectures in that
Rationalist Society!) But they very soon settled down and listened, and everything ended most happily. (Some of those
people later came to the lectures.) Just as Colonel Lindbergh always prepared, we as Bahá’is should prepare and be
ready. Sometimes, I know, we cannot, because we are so interrupted, and then Bahá’u’llah helps us just the same; but
we should study and know well all the Teachings.
“One broadcast, Tdhirih, Ircin’s Greatest Woman, was given from the National Broadcasting Studio in Auckland. The
Tahirih book was presented to several Public Libraries in New Zealand. The World Order magazine is in the
Auckland Public Library and also in the University Library. The Bahá’is are giving out many hundreds of pamphlets at
the lectures.
“At the public lecture this evening, dedicated to the Life of the Báb, there will be a little after-meeting, when the
Bahá’is will hear the Voice of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and the voice of Keith on the phonograph.
“There has been a great quickening in all Auckland; new splendid souls are seeking, and there is new ardor in the
Bahá’i Study Class and in the Bahá’i Youth Group and surely in many of these fine organizations of which I have
spoken; other Bahá’is here can later go and give follow-up lectures. Two of the Bahá’i Spiritual Assembly members
say they will go to Wellington later on and give some lectures there. I have great hopes of two young people of very
great capacity who first heard of the Teaching’s with the deepest interest. I be-

lieve they will become confirmed believers. A visit of a Bahá’i teacher is only a beginning.”
Regarding her stay in New Zealand, the National Spiritual Assembly published the following comment: “When she arrived in Perth in
January it was only too evident she was in very poor health, which was increasingly obvious to the friends as her tour progressed. Her
labours were lightened as much as was humanly possible, but her indomitable spirit carried her through and she victoriously
accomplished the major part of the program of lectures arranged for her. She was very ill when she boarded the Manposa at Auckland
en route for Geyserville. By a merciful provision Stanley and Mariette Bolton of Sydney were travelling on the same ship to America,
so were able to minister to her needs as far as Honolulu, where she was taken to the home of Mrs. Kathrine Baldwin. It was here she
ended her earthly career to ‘assume her seat in the supreme concourse.’ The last ounce of her strength was given to Australia and New
Zealand. In a letter to the American believers written on the eve of her departure from Auckland she wrote: ‘Among the public
lectures in the Bahá’i Hall was one on Scientific Proofs of Life After Death—perhaps I could never give it like that again; but it
thrilled me. The Teachings, the proofs, are such a spiritual security. I think I love that lecture most of all. The hall was crowded, many
stood, some even standing in the outer hall where they could hear but could not see. Many of them had lost loved ones, and they came
to find truth and comfort.’ At the end of her letter she wrote, ‘And now that I am leaving, May 29th on the “Mariposa,” it will be very
difficult to say farewell, but, if not in New Zealand, we shall again do “spiritual skylarking” together in the Heavenly Realms.’ That
last sentence reveals something of the spiritual radiance that was Martha.”
A few months later, after weeks of loving care by the devoted Bahá’is of Honolulu, Martha Root reached the goal of her earthly
journey. Holding aloft the light of truth, this intrepid traveler entered palaces, universities, broadcasting stations, churches, halls and
synagogues in all parts of the world, like the apostles of old.
CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

In Honolulu is her last resting place. As this statement is being prepared, the Bahã’is of that city, acting for all the
American believers, are preparing a beautiful monument to be the Memorial of the “foremost Hand

which the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has raised up in the first Bahã’i century,” as the Guardian described Miss Root in his
message to the American Bahá’is immediately after her death.

THE BAHA’t FAITH IN IRAN

CsvsL PERsECUtION

IN the land consecrated by its association with the birth of the Revelation of Bahâ’u’lláh, the progress of the Bahâ’i
community has special significance. For there, as has been pointed out in previous issues of THE BAHA’I WORLD,
exists a most extreme contrast between Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings and the social environment in which those teachings are
to be applied. The medievalism of Iran, indeed, with its union of civil authoritarian-. ism and a social philosophy
ignoring the doctrine of individual right—the residue of a once vigorous faith in which self-sacrifice exalted and did
not suppress human personality——resembles the type of society always produced after the mainspring of ethics has
been broken in a people and they become victim to the great exploiters who arise among them like hats in the night.
Persecution is the path by which a new faith advances under such conditions, and persecution remains for the Persian
believers their heroic hold on the true spirit of religion.
During the current period, the impact of civil persecution has taken the form of the imposition of fines and punishments
for refusal to conform to regulations concerning the marriage service which would make it necessary for Bahá’is to
deny or betray their faith. A conflict arises between the Bahá’i law or principle and the arbitrary code maintained by the
state. A Bahã’i who does not marry according to Bahá’i procedure and under Bahâ’i auspices is deprived of his voting
status in the Bahá’i community. To regain it, in Iran, the believer annuls the non-Bahi’i marriage and remarries in
accordance with the Bahá’i law. Four different marriage bureaus are provided by the state, but the Bahá’is cannot use
them to obtain a license “since each of these,” as their National Spiritual Assembly states in its report, “is set

apart for one of the four officially recognized religions; recourse to them would thus be a denial of that truthfulness which is the basis
of the Bahã’i Faith.”
Fines and imprisonment have been imposed for infraction of these regulations even in the case of Bahá’is who married before the code
was adopted, which proves that the license bureaus are not simply for purposes of civil registration but for controlling belief.
The pictures presented by the Assembly are graphic:
“Up to some months ago, persons contracting Bahá’i marriage were only rarely interfered with by the Department of Justice, and such
marriages were tacitly permitted. Then, in Tihrán and the provinces as well, the severest penalties were suddenly imposed, and even
those Bahã’is who had married in previous years were summoned for trial; not only the men, but the women, too, were prosecuted,
and according to our present information, in Tihrán alone over three hundred and fifty cases are in process of being tried.
“The questions usually asked by the authorities are these: Who performed your marriage ceremony? Who read the marriage sermon?
What person drew up your marriage certificate? Why did you not appear at one of the four marriage license bureaus to contract your
marriage? The Friends answer: In Bahá’i marriage no one is appointed to perform the ceremony; the couple themselves perform the
marriage by repeating the two marriage verses. As for the marriage sermon, a chant is used to bless the occasion, but it is not a
requirement to marriage and no special person is appointed to chant it. Persons attending the marriage are witnesses and nothing
more—the presence of witnesses being a requirement. The Bahá’is cannot use the license bureaus since each of these is set apart for
one of the four offi

THE BAHA’T WORLD

Facsimile of two letters written by Professor E. G. Browne, of Cambridge University, concerning the Bahá’i Faith.

cially recognized religions; recourse to them would thus be a denial of that truthfulness which is the basis of the Bahá’j Faith. After
being questioned, the Friends are released on bail.
“The Bahá’is are summoned in an unusual way; they are almost always called in on Thursday; since Thursday afternoon and Friday
all offices are closed, they are thus imprisoned two days and two nights. From 200 to 400 tflmáns bail is required of each person
contracting marriage. Since other Bahá’is almost always furnish the bail and thus few persons are imprisoned for long, the authorities
now ask for cash bail. The Assembly has appointed a commission to take charge of all such cases, and these persons with great self
sacrifice stand ready to help at all times, personally attending court and smoothing every difficulty. The Assembly has likewise called
a second commission to supply the cash bail. Besides the sums pledged by this second commission, its mem her

have also offered funds for the aid of couples who have been imprisoned or dismissed from jobs as a result of the
marriage. The National Assembly has directed that all Assemblies throughout Iran reserve a special fund for this
purpose, so that imprisonment, and the suffering of families of contracting parties, will not result.
“On occasion some of the authorities are brutal, and some use obscene ezpressions in addressing Bahá’is, even the
women; but others admit that the Bahá’is are innocent and say they are taking action only because they are obliged to.
Some of the questioners and judges say they know the Bahá’is are trying to achieve official recognition by this means,
but will never succeed; the Bahá’is answer that they are not trying to break the laws, as proved by the fact that they
officially register and notify the authorities of all marriages, but that they cannot in conscience use the provided legal
channels.
“The Friends, and especially the women,

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CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

although they have never undergone such experiences before, have stood up wonderfully in the courts, demonstrating
their sincerity and their knowledge of the teachings. In some cases the officials have been remarkably moved, and
astonished that even peasants could respond as they have. Some of the Bahá’is have said they would be proud to go to
prison for the Cause, and others, fully realizing the severe penalties, have not hesitated to contract Bahá’i marriages.
Daily the authorities see that their persecutions, far from frightening the Bahá’is have increased the number of
marriages, and the Department of Justice is being filled with talk of Bahã’I principles because Bahá’i married couples
are constantly summoned for questioning.
“From eight days to six months’ imprisonment has been the penalty so far imposed; even women have been sentenced
to imprisonment for some days. The Friends usually appeal the case; a fine can be substituted for a sentence of two
months or less. Oddly, although the act is the same, the penalty always varies according to the degree of fanaticism of
the judge.
“Victims of this law constantly petition the Department of Justice, the Cabinet and His Majesty. Recently when one of
the Bahá’is presented a petition to the Royal Office, an order was sent (to Qazvin) saying that since the petitioner had
broken the law and had further had the effrontery to tell his crime to the Shah, he was to be severely punished.
“Typical individual cases follow: In Ká.shán, Hasan Násih, ‘Abbás Bayçlá’i, and Ahmad Yazdáni, were sentenced to
from three to four months’ imprisonment. In Najaf-Abád, ‘Abdu’l-IJusayn Jáni freely chose a month’s imprisonment
rather than pay the fine. In Yazd, Aqáy-i-Bayáni, in Tihrán Mu1addiqi Táliqáni, have been sentenced to four months in
prison. In Bandari-Jaz, for contracting Bahá’i marriage, Muhammad Sangi was sentenced to six months imprisonment.
Mashhad reports that among Bahá’is contracting marriage who have been persecuted recently is Aqáy-i-Yazdán-Parast,
who was questioned, sent to prison, and after some days released on 200 tfimáns bail. Brought to trial, he was sentenced
to two

months and five days in jail but has appealed the case. Thaná’u’lláh Furfld of Sabzivár, was likewise imprisoned, then released on 200
tflmáns bail, pending trial. Aqiy-i-áhiri was sentenced to seventy days in jail and has appealed the case. In Birj and, MuhammadRidá
Majidi wrote the Registry Office: ‘I have married Layli Khánum Majidi according to the procedure of my religion, “Bahá’i.” I request
that you designate the manner of registering this marriage.’ Following further correspondence he awaits trial.
“General reports show that whenever the Friends list their religion in a Government bureau as Bahá’i, the bureaus refuse to employ
them; those previously employed, when renewing their registration papers, are subjected to all sorts of difficulties if they describe
themselves as Bahá’is. If, however, they leave the religions column blank, the officials fill it in themselves with the word ‘Muslim’
and discharge anyone who protests.”
The more detailed report of persecution inflicted upon the Bahá’is by the government of Reza Shah Pahiavi follows this survey of
international Bahá’i activity.
PROGRESS OF TEACHING
The constructive teaching work of the Bahã’is of Iran, on the other hand, has intensified during this period. “A great wave of teaching
activity, resulting from the Guardian’s stirring and repeated messages to the Bahá’is of Iran,” we learn from the report already cited,
“is now sweeping over the country, the teaching work, carried on by women as well as by men, is winning new recruits of every type,
even from the ranks of the clergy, and the fire and consecration of the new believers recalls the earliest heroes of the Cause.
Meanwhile the consolidation of the Administrative Order continues in full force despite every obstacle . .
“Not a moment’s neglect is permissible. Slackness and carelessness would result in the retrogression of the community, and the
increased boldness and audacity of that heedless, tyrannical group.” This the Guardian pointed out to the Bahá’is of Iran in a message
sent after the election of their National Spiritual Assembly in 1938.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Only a few brief citations can be made from the extensive material available on this engrossing subject:
“There are twenty-two Bahá’i administrative districts in Iran. Each of these has an appointed center, known as the
District Spiritual Assembly, which serves to coordinate all Assemblies in its area with the National Spiritual Assembly.
These District Assemblies are numbered as follows, their districts being given in parentheses: 1. 1sf ahan (I1fáhán). 2.
Tabriz (Adhirbáyján). 3. Abadih (Abádih). 4. Bandar-i-Jaz (Bandar-i-Jaz). 5. Bábul (Bábul). 6. Mashhad (Khurásán). 7.
Ahvaz (KhiSzistán). 8. Záhidán (Záhidán). 9. Sangsar (Sangsar).
10. Sari (Sari). 11. Tihrán (Tihrán). 12. ‘Iraq (‘Iraq). 13. Shiraz (Fárs). 14. Birjand, (Qã’inát). 15. Quazvin (Quazvin
and Zanján). 16. Káshán (Káshán). 17. Kirmán (Kirmán). 18. Kirmánshah (Kirmán shihán). 19. Rasht (Gilán). 20.
Nayriz (Nayriz). 21. Hamadán (Hamadán).
22. Yazd (Yazd).
“During the year 95 the following were formally-appointed teachers in the given areas:
“Samandari, Hamadán, Kirmánsháhán; ‘Alavi, Isfáhán, Yazd; Adhár-Munir, Adhirbáyján; Ishráq-i-Khavari, G ilan;
Háshimi-Zádih, Mázindaran, (Bandar-i-Jaz, Sari, Bábul); Mutlaq, Tihran (because of illness) ; Nabil-Zádih, Khurásan;
Nushábádi, Fárs; Fádil-i-Yazdi, Kirmán; Adhari, Qazyin, Adhirbáyj an; Uskfl’i, Adhirbáyj an.
“Resident teachers were:
“Málmiri, Yazd; Fádil-i-Tihrani, Káshán; Thãbit-Sharqi, Isfáhan; Zá’ir, Yazd; Sa’idi-Radavi, Hamadán; Há’i, Káshán;
Baqá’i, Gilán; Nun, Isfáhán; Shaydán-Shaydi, Kirmán.
“Among those who instantly responded to the Guardian’s message was the distinguished poet and scholar, Jináb-i-
’Azizu’llah Misbáh, who, not content with his teaching services in Tihran, and although ill and almost blind, left the
capital with Aqáy-i-Nahavi, a young, newly-declared believer, and went on a teaching circuit to Káshán, Isfáhán,
NajafAbad, Abãdih and Shiráz. He spent five months on this journey, and besides teaching the Friends, he gave the
Cause to twenty- four seekers, of whom seven, including one

of the ‘ulamá of Káshán, have thus far accepted the Faith.
“Leaving Tihran for Khurasan, Aqãy-iNflr-i-Din Mumtázi spent three months visiting thirty-five Bahá’i centers, mostly
rural communities. He went some of the way by automobile, much of it on donkey- back, and many miles on foot, and
brought back to Tihran the spiritual refreshment of these meetings. ‘Abdu’llah Fádil-Zádih, son of the late, well-known
teacher, Fádil-iShirázi, made a nineteen-day journey to Qazvin and Hamadán and their environs; he discussed the Faith
with thirty inquirers and had many meetings with the Friends. Javadi-Mahbflbi, member of the Local Spiritual
Assembly of Hamadan, and Sa’id-i-Radavi went from Hamadán to every neighboring village in which there were
Baha’is, greatly stimulating the teaching work in this area.
“Obeying the Guardian’s message, Luçfu’lláh Mawhibat determined to serve as a pioneer; he and his wife therefore
transferred their residence to the historic city of Zanján, where, in the course of a few months, they have held meetings
and study- classes, entertained travelers, assisted the local Friends and brought five people into the Faith. Háshim-i-
Ashraf I traveled from
Tihran to Kashih, 1sf ahán, Najaf-Abád and Shiráz, meeting with numbers of Friends and inquirers. The entire Spiritual
Assembly of Isfahán together with several committee members went out to Burájin, Khfllinján, Shaydan, Shah-Rida,
Jaz and Mósiy-Abád, communities in their district, and conferred with the Friends as to new teaching activities.
As’adu’l-Hukamf went to Khurásin, and Jinab-i-’Ubudiyyat to south Iran on teaching trips.”
“The Tihran Teaching Committee has likewise provided for teachers to spread the Faith throughout this area. Aqáy-i-
Husayn Yiganih went to Karaj and established the Spiritual Assembly there; Aqayan Rahmaniyán and ‘Ubfldiyyat have
also taught in Karaj. Aqáy-i-Mumtázi, member of this Committee, took a three months’ trip through Khurasan. Aqáy-i-
Rahmániyán, appointed by the Spiritual Assembly as circuit teacher for Tihran, was sent out to aliqan, Fashandak and
other neighboring localities to teach and meet the Friends.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

“The following are at present conducting the teaching classes throughout Tihrán (others, not listed, are likewise
teaching in this city) : The men:
“Mahmfldi, Khádim-i-Mitháq, Mustawf 1, Fur&tan, Dr. Qásimi, Siná-Zádih, Avárigán, Vahid, Fidil-i-Mázindarâni,
Kayván, Darghám, Akhtar-i-Khávari, ‘Atá’u’llâh Bahji, Ishráq, ‘Abdu’lláh Fádil, Nor-i-Din Mumtázi, Shari’at-
Mudáryán.
“The women:
“Khushbin Sini-Zãdih, Mihr-A’in, Bahiyyih IzadI, BarafrUkhtih, Ishráqyyih Dhabih.”
“Some flavor of all this work comes to us in the following extracts from a few of the teachers’ reports. Tarazu’lláh
Samandari writes: ‘Leaving Tihrán I spent few days in Qazvin and gave the teachings to several inquirers—then came
to Hamadán, and was sent by the Local Assembly to neighboring towns, including Bahár, Amzájird, and Láhh-Jin,
meeting Bahá’is and seekers. In Sarqumish, the devoted believer, Jináb-iNfd-’Ali, invited five prominent men to his
home, where I addressed them for about six hours in the course of their day’s visit. The result was that they became
much attracted to the teachings, and were given the Book of fqán. In Amzájird I visited and spoke with one of the town
supervisors in his home. In Hamadán the Nineteen Day Feasts, teaching meetings and Character- Building classes are
regularly held, and the Friends continually bring new inquirers to be taught. In Qurvih on the way to Kurdistan i spent
nine days, meeting fifteen new persons, and having sowed the seed here I went on to Sanandaj. Here the Friends are
very active, and in twenty-seven days I taught thirty-six persons of every type: Jews, Christians, Muslims both Shi’ih
and Sflnni, even some of the Imám-Jum’ih ‘ulamá and the sons of mujtahids, and also a number of military people. The
believers were anxious that I should stay on, but since enemies had begun to make a disturbance, I left, promising to
return, and went to Kirmánsháh. Here in this spiritual city I found great receptivity, and through the efforts of the
Friends I met and instructed a great number of people. Again, to follow up the work in Kurdistán, I returned there,
remaining nineteen days. In Kirmánsháh once more, I fell

ill with influenza and the Local Assembly directed me to stay in the city and teach. In the course of a few months I
gave the teachings to about ninety persons of every class, till the beginning of the year 96.’
“Outstanding is the work of Mirzá NabilZádih and his wife, who spent eight months around Birjand and gave the
teachings to one hundred and seventy-six persons, forty of whom have thus far become believers. They then went on to
Gunábãd, center of the Ni’matu’lláhi is and home of their leader; here they found a new Spiritual Assembly and the
believers active. They left for Firdaws, called by Bahá’u’lláh Fárán (i.e. Párán) where there were, and are today, great
Bahâ’is, and from there by way of Khayru’l-Qurá, Bushrfl’iyyih, and Turbat, they came to Mashhad. Here with the
help of the Assembly they talked with forty inquirers, nineteen of whom accepted the Faith.”
“In his letter dated 28-7-18, Aqáy-iNflshábádi reports that in the course of twenty-eight meetings held in Shiráz, he iuet
sixty-two new persons, some of whom have already accepted the Faith and started teaching activity. A discussion
group and a study-class to further instruct the newcomers have been formed in addition to the teaching meetings, and
all are cooperating in the work.”
“During a four-months’ stay in Hindiján (in the beginning of 1817) Fáçlil-i-Yazdi met and instructed many inquirers,
afterward at the direction of the National Spiritual Assembly proceeding to Rafsinján and Kirmán; in the former place
he taught eight persons and in the latter also found the Cause flourishing, with three teaching meetings a week, in the
homes of Ibráhim Bárán, Mul?ammad Káim and Jalál Hakimiyán, son of the late Dr. Sádiq-i-akimi.
“Siyyid Uasan Háshimi-Zádih Mutavaj jib writes (6-9-17) : ‘Some time ago I returned to Gurgán. Since the Friends
here were all visitors from elsewhere, and had established meetings which ceased to function as soon as they would
leave town, I made an effort to interest local people, and at present some five or six of these, most of them with their
wives and families, have accepted the Faith.’

THE BAHA’i WORLD

“In 95 the National Youth Committee directed that Bahá’i Youth Day (February 24) be held all over Iran. An account of the Tihrán
youth activities on that day follows:
“The Bahá’i youth gathered in seventeen different meeting places and carried out the following program: opening chant; brief history
of International Bahá’i Youth Day and its importance as stated by the Guardian; duties of youth in this turbulent age, and their need of
unity to attract Divine confirmations; brief biographies of Bahá’i youth who died as martyrs to the Faith; music by the Youth
Orchestra; consultation on youth activities; taking of pictures and signatures of those present. Pictures, suggestions and related
documents were sent to the American Bahã’i Youth Committee.
“Bahá’i child training is going forward satisfactorily throughout the country despite current restrictions. In Tihrán every Friday
seventy-five children’s and youth classes in character building and other Bahã’i teachings, for boys and girls both in separate and
mixed groups, are held, 1,586 pupils attending. Throughout fran likewise several thousand Bahi’i children are receiving Bahá’i
teachings and character building lessons. Twelve Divisions report 2,500 students in 263 classes, and classes also meet in the remaining
Divisions. The children thus sacrifice their one free day to study the lessons in character building and other phases of the Cause, with
praiseworthy results.”
BAHA’i SUMMER SCHOOL
In 1939 the Bahá’is of Iran through their National Spiritual Assembly instituted a Bahá’i Summer School at the estate of a behever
near Tihran. The sessions conducted that year brought to the status of a formal school a series of annual teaching conferences and
discussions which had previously been held for and by the Bahá’i youth.
The News Letter issued by the East and West Committee following the sessions described this activity as follows:
“An item which we would like to dwell on at some length is the institution for the first time of a Bahá’i Summer School in Tihrán
which proved a remarkable success. The place chosen was the estate of a distin guishe

Tihrfn friend, not far from the city. The School consisted of three periods of ten days each beginning on July 6 and
ending on August 6. Those who registered their names for these periods in advance were termed regular members, and
of these there were 76 for the first period, 58 for the second period and 80 for the third. But apart from these members a
large number of friends visited the School during holidays and week-ends. The objects of the School were: to bring the
various friends together in an atmosphere of great fellowship, to discuss religious and scientific matters, and to consult
as to the progress of teaching activities. Mr. Azizullah Misbah, distinguished for his high learning and culture,
supervised the discussions and gave most valuable assistance. The daily program included prayers, conferences,
reading and entertainments. You may be interested in knowing of some of the subjects actually discussed and so we
give you the following summary: The importance of the Summer School; Bahã’i Organization; the essential purpose of
each separate Religion; the comparison of the Cause with other Religions; the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; accounts of
journeys made by certain friends to Europe and America to visit the Bahá’is in those parts; the history of the building
of the Temple at Ishqabád; as well as many other similar topics. At the end of the School a telegram was sent to the
Guardian, who replied, saying: ‘Deepest joy (at this) historic achievement. Urge perseverance. Supplicating richest
(and) continued blessings.’
As has been so frequently evidenced in these biennial records, the Bahá’i community is a living organism which,
developing from stage to stage under the guidance of Bahá’u’lláh, continually produces new facilities and institutions
required for the furtherance of a unified mankind.
SACRED BAHA’f HssToRsC Ssvns
In its capacity as heir and trustee of the sacred history of the Dispensation of the Bab, and the early years of the
Dispensation of Bahá’u’llah, the Assembly of Iran began some years ago, under the Guardian’s direction, to acquire,
restore and maintain properties associated with the Persons of the

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

Faith and its important historical events.
This subject receives due emphasis in the
Assembly’s report covering the present
period.
“Of especial interest is the steady acquisition by the Bahâ’is of places sacred in the history of the Cause. A letter from the Guardian
(dated 1927) defines these sacred areas as follows: ‘All places which were adorned by the footsteps of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The burial-places of companions and saints; the places where martyrs met their death; prisons and places of banishment
of the heroes of the Cause; fortresses which in the early days of the Manifestation were the refuge and center of the defense measures
of the companions; buildings and places which were the sanctuary of prisoners and exiles; and the homes and birth-places of the great
and the renowned of the companions in the dispensation of the Bayãn and the day of the Bahá’is.’
The sites acquired since the previous issue of THE BAHA’i WORLD appeared include:

Public bath in the Street of the SwordMaker, Shirãx.
Caravansary of the Maymandis in Bfishihr.
Nineteen burial places of martyrs at Manshád.
All Bahá’i historic properties at Kirmán.
Three of the gardens of Badasht.
House of the Beloved of Martyrs, I1fáhán.
House of IIáj Mirza Jáni, Káshán.
Burial place of 1-Iáji ‘Arab, ‘Iraq.
House of Mini Husayn-’Ali Nir, Tihrán.
House of E[áj Ahmad-i-Miláni, Milan.
House of the mayor of Tihrán.
Burial place of Quddfls, Bábul.
House in Najafábád.
House of Mullá Nasru’lláh, Shahmirzád.
“Exact restoration of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Tákur, as directed by the Guardian some years ago is, through the
devoted efforts of Siyyid Mulsin Asási, almost completed; the exterior and iuterior ornamentation is soon to be done.
Aqãy-i-Asási has also had a well-constructed dam built across the village water-course and the Hizãr River, to protect
the building against threatened floods.”

THE PASSING OF MAY MAXWELL

tV BDU’L-BAHA’S beloved handmaid, (the) distinguished disciple, May Maxwell, (is) gathered (into the) glory (of
the) Abha Kingdom” the Bahá’is learned in a cablegram received from Shoghi Effendi on March 3, 1940.
Mrs. Maxwell passed from this life while engaged in teaching in the great new field of Latin America. She died at
Buenos Aires. A monument commemorating this Bahá’i martyr is to be placed at the grave in that city. “Southern
outpost (of) Faith,” the cable continued, “(has been) greatly enriched through association (with) her historic resting
place, (which is) destined (to) remain (a) poignant reminder (of the) resistless march (of the) triumphant army (of)
Bahi’u’lláh.”
Bahâ’is throughout North and South America joined in memorial gatherings on Friday evening, April 26, the largest
meeting being held at Temple Foundation Hall, Wilmette, Illinois, during the Annual Convention of that year. The
believers of both

the Americas thus united for the first time in one action, the observance of gratitude and reverence for the sacrifice
consecrating their mutual effort to serve the Cause.
The events of her rich and varied career as a Bahá’i are set forth in the tribute paid her by Marion Holley elsewhere in
the present volume. Here we may recall certain events and accomplishments in her life which combined to make her
such a distinguished figure in the community.
Mrs. Maxwell accompanied the first party of pilgrims who traveled from North America to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akka
and learn of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. She was a pioneer believer and teacher of the Cause in Canada, in many cities of
the United States and in the city of Paris. She made pilgrimage to the Holy Land a few years after the Ascension of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá to visit the Guardian. Mrs. Maxwell served also in the capacity of member of the American National
Spiritual Assembly. Her daughter, neé Miss Mary Maxwell, is Ruhiyyih

The house of Siyyid Yahyã Dáráhi, surnamed Vahid, which has recently been acquired by the Bahá’is
of Iran as an historical site in the town of Nayriz.

-1 J

I

I

- - 4— & _&&& &

pict34.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Khánum, the Guardian’s wife. Despite illness and arising above the burden of advancing years, May Maxwell responded immediately
and whole-heartedly to the call for pioneer teachers resounded by Shoghi Effendi in launching the Seven Year Plan as climax to the
first Bahá’i Century.
In publishing the Guardian’s cablegram, the National Spiritual Assembly added a few words, some of which are cited here:
“There are events in a spiritual Cause which have the special characteristic that they seem luminous with the light of inner
significance. They shine through the twilight of our ignorance and incapacity. They are revealing of the vital importance of intention
as well as of truth.
“Such an event has now transpired in the Bahá’i community of America. Let us endeavor to rise above the inevitable human feeling of
grief and seek to apprehend it through the higher understanding that comes to us from the Manifestation and
from those whose mission was created by Him.
“Concerning those who leave their country to teach in foreign lands, Bahâ’u’llãh has said: ‘They that have forsaken their country for
the purpose of teaching Our Cause— these shall the Faithful Spirit strengthen through its power . . . How great the blessedness that
awaiteth him that hath attained the honor of serving the Almighty.’
“Again, we have these gemlike words from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: ‘If you plant a seed in the ground a tree will become manifest from that
seed. The seed sacrifices itself to the tree that will come from it.’ “
The culmination of her unusual gifts, capacities and blessings, martyrdom in the city which must constitute a strong pillar of the future
Bahi’i community of South America, has been the planting of the seed, and from this sacrifice the souls of the believers have been
inspired for more ardent service.

THE BAHA’i FAITH IN THE BRITISH ISLES

ErHE BRITISH Bahá’is in the period 193 8-1940, were the only Bahá’i community possessing administrative
institutions and permitted to function by the civil authorities which has endured the psychological and material damage
of war. Bahâ’is there were in other warring countries but lacking the institutions of the Bahá’i community or prevented
by the state from exercising the duties of their religion.
Their collective experience has thus been deeply significant of the power of the Bahá’i Faith to maintain confidence of
spirit and endow a community with social attitudes which open doors to a future be— yond the onslaught of any human
conqueror.
Four items appear to stand out as most important in the available records and reports.
First, the incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of the British Isles. This notable document is
reproduced elsewhere in the present volume. Concerning the nature of the legal status acquired, the British Assembly
itself writes as follows:

“The effect of this document will be to give the National Spiritual Assembly legal personality and rights. It may enter
contracts, receive bequests, hold property under certain restrictions, and exercise all the rights and privileges accorded
by law. In addition its constitution has been defined exactly according to Bahã’i Administration; the principles
governing its operation according to the explicit commands of Bahã’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have been written into the
memorandum; and its powers in relation to local Spiritual Assemblies and to the Faith in the British Isles have been
defined. The method of Bahá’i elections has been preserved and provision made for the annual Convention. The
enterprise is non-profit making and has no share capital. Liability is accepted by the individual members of the N. S. A.
in equal proportions, and provision has been made for the transferring of this liability when new members are elected.
“This is undoubtedly one of the most important steps in the history of the Faith in the British Isles, and in spite of the
primary disappointment, will, we know, delight the heart of our beloved Guardian, whose con-

THE BAHA’i WORLD

tinual encouragement has lightened the task.”
Second, the establishing of a Publishing Trust as a powerful organ of teaching. Its record of activity, as reported by the
British Assembly, has been impressive:
“The Publishing Trust is now established as the chief subsidiary of the N. S. A. and its right hand in teaching. It was
started with the sum of £234 Os. 8d. specially contributed for that purpose, and in addition has taken possession of all
books and literature previously held by the N. S. A. It acts as distributor for all Bahá’i literature, and publishes
whatever the N. S. A. requires. The chief publications this year have been a revised edition of Dr. Esslemont’s
pamphlet BahcI’u’lldh and His Message and a brief life of Bahá’u’lláh by H. M. Balyuzi. Both these publications have
been purchased abroad and have made a good impression. In addition a small calendar, showing the Bahá’i Feasts and
Anniversaries, has been printed.”
“The establishment of the Publishing Trust has proven to be a sound and invaluable undertaking. It must surely be
included in ‘the unassailable foundation’ of which the Guardian speaks. With the incorporation of the N. S. A., the
three original Trustees resigned their office, and the N. S. A. became Trustee. The chief work this year has been the
following publications:
“A new edition of Bahd’u’lljh and the New Era, Dr. Esslemont’s standard work on the Faith. With the permission of
Mrs. Esslemont a few alterations and some slight additions were made.
“The Heart of the Gospel. A brilliant and scholarly work by the author of The Promise of All Ages.
“A Bahd’i Prayer Book, published in a complete and abridged form. The abridged copy has been found very acceptable
by non-Bahá’is.
“The Ba/ba?! Faith. Five thousand more copies of the penny pamphlet, which every Bahá’i needs frequently.
“New World Order. A reproduction, with a few alterations, of the December number of the N. S. A.’s periodical New
World Order.
“In addition the publication of Lady

Blomfield’s book, The Chosen Highway, is well advanced and copies should be available by the end of June.”
TEACHING WORK
“First and foremost of our activities has been Teaching. At the last Convention it was recommended that we should concentrate on
five cities with a view to establishing communities there whenever possible. The National Spiritual Assembly adopted this plan but
only two of the cities mentioned by the delegates, Leeds and Bournemouth, were included in the list. Other places, Nottingham and
Brighton, presented better opportunities through the presence of resident believers, so these were included. One city, Newcastle, where
there are no Bahá’is at all, has been given special attention.
“In Leeds the Bradford Spiritual Assembly has continued teaching work throughout the year, and there is every prospect of success
here. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Wilkinson have made their home there, bringing the number of resident believers up to four. Meetings have
been held, and the Military Tribunal there granted the application of a Bahá’i for exemption from combatant service, which resulted in
some publicity.
“Th believers have moved to Bournemouth and the Group there now numbers ten. The Feasts and Anniversaries are observed and it is
hoped to have a Center as the chief aid to a teaching campaign.
“In Nottingham excellent work has been done through the efforts of the resident believer, Esther Richardson. She has arranged
meetings with the Esperantists and the Theosophists which have been addressed by visiting teachers, and has gathered together a
number of her friends and aroused their keen interest. It is expected that a few of them will come to Summer School.”
“New ground has been broken in Newcastle and much interest aroused. A teacher spent five weeks there before Christmas, and three
months after Christmas. Many clubs and societies were addressed, and a series of public lectures given from the platform of the
Theosophical Society. Contacts were made in the University, a number of study meetings were held, a good deal of literature

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

has been purchased by interested inquirers and it is hoped that some of them will come to Summer School.”
“At its first meeting the National Spiritual Assembly considered this matter and pledged itself to carry out the Guardian’s wish,
determining that all activities should be considered in the light of teaching. Bradford and Torquay were selected as the two most
promising places for the establishment of new Assemblies. The believers in those centers were consulted and plans of campaign
mapped out. We are happy to report that owing to the persistent efforts of the resident believers, to the work of visiting teachers, to the
sacrifices of all who have contributed to the Fund, and to the unfailing assistance of the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Assemblies were elected
in both places on April 21st. Both communities are represented by delegates at this Convention. We take this opportunity of
conveying, through them, our welcome and sincere congratulations.”
“The local communities have maintained fireside and other teaching meetings. A series of regular study meetings was held in
Altrincham during the summer by the Manchester Spiritual Assembly, and a successful meeting was arranged with the Rover Scout
Crew by Miss Ada Williams, when the interest of about twenty young men was aroused. The first extension work of the Torquay
Spiritual Assembly was in Exeter when Mrs. Stevens addressed the Psychology Club.”
“The Bahá’i Summer School is the most important institution in England for teaching the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. More ambitious in
every way than the three previous ones, the fourth Summer School brought correspondingly greater and more encouraging results.
More than a hundred people visited it, indicating its steadily increasing interest to both believers and enquirers. The spirit of real
friendship, sympathy, and understanding engendered amongst such a widely diverse group of individuals, was convincing proof of the
unifying power of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
“The School was opened by Lady Blomfield, who, as always, brought the spirit of the Master close to each one of us by her

vivid and beautiful descriptions of many of the precious incidents which occurred during His stay in her house in
London. A cable was then sent to our beloved Guardian, to which he sent an inspiring reply.
“The lectures were of high standard and though comprehensive, followed an orderly course, beginning with a survey of
the nature of the present world struggle, then tracing the growth and development of man as an individual and mankind
as a collective body, presenting the main problems confronting the world today and offering the solutions of
Bahâ’u’lláh, outlining the Bahá’i vision of a New World Order and culminating in the presentation of the Word of
Bahá’u’lláh as the focus of all power.
“Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have emphasised the importance of art in the life of man. Bahá’u’lláh tells us that the
sanctified and detached souls “constitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made
manifest,” and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us that the Sun of Truth, shining on the mind of the artist, is mirrored forth in great
works of art. Therefore an experiment was made this year in inviting a larger number of nonBahá’i speakers than
previously, to lecture on their own specialized branches of art— the dance, drama, music and the crafts. The result was
strikingly significant. At least four different lecturers came to the conclusion that in their particular field art had
reached a standstill owing to the poverty of human creativeness—a convincing proof that the artistic spirit needs the
new creative impulse of Bahá’u’lláh.
“The peak of Summer School was reached at bank holiday week-end, August 5-7, when the greatest attendance was
recorded and the radiance of the gathering was so apparent as to arouse comment. It was during this week-end that the
National Spiritual Assembly received its Incorporation Certificate. Archdeacon Townshend’s challenging book The
Heart of the Gospel appeared at this time and the author himself was present. Dr. All, a member of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and Burma, Mr. W. J. Grant, late editor of the Rangoon Times and a proven
friend

THE BAHA’i WORLD

of the Faith, Chief Jono Kenyatta of Kenya, the eminent anthropologist, were among the distinguished visitors. Mr. Kenneth Christian
and Miss Virginia Setz were welcome visitors from America. Mr. Christian gave an interesting description of the Summer Schools in
America.
“The setting of School was most delightful. Beautiful spacious grounds, with ample facilities for games, in the heart of a lovely
countryside; an ideal place for relaxation and for study.
“Most of those present must have been conscious of the nearness of the final stages of the world struggle. They must have had too,
intimations of the greatness of the privilege, and of the responsibility, of being identified with a nascent world faith in an age of doubt
and fear. Summer School is a growing, consolidating institution, becoming established in a rapidly crumbling world. It has provided
once again an incentive to activity and cooperation among the Bahá’i communities. We shall make efforts to maintain it.”
EXEMPTION FROM COMBAvANT SERVICE
“Increasing tension in world affairs made it necessary for the N. S. A. to define the attitude of Bahá’is to the various military measures
being undertaken by the country. The Guardian’s instruction was obtained and published in Bahã’i Journal. It was to the effect that
while we should do everything to obtain exemption from active combatant service, we should volunteer for all services of a
humanitarian nature, such as Red Cross, A. R. P., stretcher-bearing, etc. Within the last three days Conscription has been introduced
by the Government, and it is recommended that the incoming N. S. A. should consider the position of Bahá’i Youth in relation to
this.”
“Shortly after the outbreak of war, a young believer from Bradford, Philip Hams- worth, having registered in accordance with the N.
S. A.’s request, was summoned to appear before a tribunal in Leeds. The following is an account of the proceedings as accurately as 1
remember them; it was written down shortly after leaving the Court.
“Peter Wilkinson and Mr. Hurst were there and we heard the proceedings in about

a dozen cases. Hardly any of the applicants were clear or definite as to what their consciences demanded, and certainly had very little
conception of their relationship to society. When Philip was called the Judge asked me to step up, and who and what I was. I said
secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahi’is of the British Isles. A minute or two were spent in writing it down correctly
and spelling ‘Bahá’i.’ They had never heard of it.
“To me:
‘What is Bahã’i?
‘It’s a world religion sir.
‘Is it Christian?
‘We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
‘Then it is Christian?
‘We believe that all the revealed religions are the Word of God.
‘What do you think of Buddha?
‘His Revelation is the Word of God.
‘Confucius?
‘A very wise man.
‘Muhammad?
‘He is the Prophet of God.
‘It’s a sort of comprehensive omnibus. (slightly amused but kindly).
‘No sir. An independent world religion. Its central theme is the oneness of mankind.
‘When was it founded?
‘The original declaration was made in
1844.
‘Is this name Indian?
‘No sir; Persian.
‘Is it a Persian religion?
‘No sir, it’s a world religion for all mankind.
‘The Founder was Persian?
‘Yes sir.
“To Philip:
‘What do you object to?
‘I seek exemption from combatant military service, as it is inconsistent with the teaching of Bahá’u’lláh to kill my fellow men.
‘Do you recognize any duty to the State?
‘Yes, of course. We are commanded to obey our governments.
‘Well, this seems an opportunity of obeying by accepting military service.
‘I’m obeying the government by registering as a conscientious objector.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

‘Supposing you were in Germany?
‘There are Bahá’is in Germany. They are suppressed and some of rhem are in the army.
‘There you are then.
‘The Government allows me to apply for exemption.
“To me:
‘Have you a branch in Bradford? ‘Yes sir.
‘How many members?
‘Abont seventeen.
‘Your Faith recognizes civil authority? ‘Yes.

‘It asks you to obey the law?

‘Yes.

‘It does not ask you to refuse military service?
‘It asks us to uphold certain principles.
‘Naturally.
‘One of these is to refrain from killing our fellow men by seeking exemption from combatant military service. We are
ready to serve in any non-combatant capacity.
‘Suppose exemption is refused?
‘Then we are in the same position as anyone else.

‘Do you believe in transmigration?
‘No sir.
“To Philip:
‘Are your parents of the same religion as you?
‘Not yet.
‘You hope they will be.
‘Yes, they are very interested.
‘IH[ow long have you known about this?
‘Just over a year.
‘What have you done about it?
‘I investigated the teachings, declared myself a Bahá’i, and am trying to propagate the Faith. I was an absolute pacifist before.
‘You were absolute?’ (with some astonishment)
‘Yes. I had to give up many of my ideas to conform with Bahá’i teaching.’
“The tribunal were unanimous in granting exemption from combatant service, and made the applicant liable for non-combatant
service.
“The local newspapers contained various accounts, one having a large headline which read: Persian Religion Modifies Man’s
Padfism.”
—Report by DAvJD HOFMAN.

CONSOLIDATION OF THE FAITH IN EGYPT
OVER a number of years the Bahi’i
munity of Egypt has been the instrument through which the independent status of the Bahã’i Faith has been estabhshed in relation to
the prevailing and official religion of Islam. In previous volumes the origin and development of this remarkable historic process has
been described. Between 1938 and 1940 the irresistible power of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh has been further demonstrated.
Lands were purchased for the construction of a Haziratu’l-Quds, a national Bahá’i center for administrative activities and meeting
place for Bahá’i gatherings. In a number of countries during recent years the National and local Assemblies have taken steps to
provide such centers, which strengthen and coordinate the direction of activities and symbolize the existence of the Faith as
community and not merely as doctrine. “The N. S. A. has finally decided to buy a

plot of land in one of the most important quarters of Cairo quite near Maleka Nazli Street,” it was reported in the Egyptian Baha?l
News of March-April, 1940, after consideration had been given to the fact that on account of war conditions it might be preferable to
purchase a house rather than construct one. A fund was then instituted for the cost of construction, contributions to which have been
made by Bahá’i Assemblies in other countries.
After further difficulty with the Muslim clergy, the National Spiritual Assembly obtained authorization from the government to
establish a Bahá”i cemetery in Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said.
A Fatwa (a judgment made by a Mushm judge in a religious matter on the basis of doctrine or custom derived from the Qur’an) issued
by a Grand Mufti decreed that Bahá’is could no longer be permitted burial in a Muslim cemetery. After submit-

THE BAHA’J WORLD

ting full information to the government, the Bahã’i authorities were granted the necessary permission to proceed with
their own independent burial places and the observance of their own burial rites. Since cemeteries in Egypt are public
property not subject to sale or transfer, the government set aside a plot of land just outside Cairo for use as a Bahá’j
place of burial.
Such an episode has great significance in a Muslim country, where the lack of a civil code surrounds every religious
transaction with an official atmosphere and a ceremonial importance not felt in western lands since feudal days. Indeed,
public violence has been manifested against the Bahá’is in Egypt in connection with their effort to give proper Bahá’i
burial to their own dead. The publication of the government’s action in the public press made a powerful impression.
HE services rendered by the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq during this period are not to be measured by the information available in
the form of bulletins and reports. We know, however, that their achievement has been great from the fact that the
National Spiritual Assembly of the believers of that country was able to construct a large Haziratu’l-Quds, or
headquarters, in a modern suburb of Baghdad. Behind efforts of such scope stand a great many contributing factors,
unity and sacrifice for the Cause, coordination of effort, vigorous teaching work and administrative efficiency.
From reports on hand the following citations are of particular interest:
“The most vital activity of the ‘Iraq Bahá’is during these two years has been the construction of the new Haziratu’l-
Quds. Where the former center was located in the dark, winding alleys of old Baghdad, the new edifice stands in its
own beautiful gardens in a modern suburb. Total expenditures on the building alone have amounted to 3,500 pounds,
while the whole property, that is, the building and the site of land (40 m. x 60 m.), is now estimated at 6,000 pounds.”
“It is with great pleasure and overflowing joy that we report the completion of build-

A notable service to the entire Arabic- speaking world has been rendered by the Bahá’is of Egypt through their action
in translating The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahd’I Revelation into the Arabic
language. The translation was made by Judge Abdul Jalil Saad, and the printed work contains over six hundred pages,
with many illustrations.
The Assembly itself has made only modest references to the teaching work carried on in Egypt during the current
period, feeling that most of its energies have been expended in carrying out the important matters already mentioned. In
the Sudan, however, the progress of the teaching work has been very satisfactory, and this area has become an
important part of the Bahá’i community whose affairs are administered by the National Spiritual Assembly.
ing operations on the new Uniratu’l-Quds of Baghdad, which have been proceeding during the last thirteen months.
The meeting for the inauguration of this edifice took place on Saturday afternoon, September 23, 1939, and was
attended by believers representing almost every Bahá’i community in this country. Deeply impressed by the imposing
grandeur, and with hearts cherishing the fondest hopes for the future of our beloved Faith in this blessed land the
friends joyously offered thanks and praise to Bahá’u’llfh, Who has graciously confirmed and assisted them in the
discharge of their glorious task.
“The meeting opened with the chanting of a Tablet. Then Munir Wakil, chairman of the N. S. A., delivered the opening
speech in which he summarized the various stages and developments that accompanied the construction of the edifice,
and made a brief statement showing roughly the total expenditures, the debts incurred, and the contributions received to
date.
“At the close of the inaugural meeting, which ended with the chanting of another Tablet of Bahá’u’llIh, the N. S. A.
met and approved the sending immediately of the following telegram to the Beloved
Guardian:

BAHA’i ACTIVITIES TN ‘IRAQ

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

‘Bahã’is assembled now occasion inauguration k1airatu’l-Quds express deepest gratitude divine confirmation
completion building. Supplicate continuation prayers.’”
“Much as has already been done, there still remains as much to be achieved. The spacious assembly hall together with
the adjoining guest-house, which constitute no less essential parts of the plan already approved by the Guardian, now
await construction. In fact, the full beauty of this Bahá’i Center and the effective functioning of the various Bahá’i
administrative bodies cannot reach their climax and reveal their full beneficent effect until the two remaining
component parts are built and completed. The Guardian, lovingly assuring us of his ‘fervent, unceasing prayers,’ now
directs and urges us to make ‘sustained, united, unremitting efforts’ so that ‘this vitally-urgent, divinely-appointed task’
may be successfully carried forward to a glorious consummation.’
“It is worthy to note that this noble undertaking has not only been responsible for enhancing the dignity and the good
reputation of the Cause in ‘Iraq but has proved a powerful factor in reinforcing the spiritu a

ties and genuine love uniting the members of the Bahá’i community. In fact, this kla4ratu’l-Quds can rightly be
regarded as the sign of our unity and the center of our cooperation and sacrifice in our attempt to carry out the guiding
instructions of our beloved Guardian.”
“From Shoghi Effendi, through his secretary, the following message was received:
‘The region of ‘Iraq will be an arena where lights will shine, and the first connecting link between Iran, which is the
cradle of the Faith, and the Holy Land, the Point of Adoration of the people of Bahá. This momentous institution,
therefore, is to be regarded as the first of the great preliminaries and glorious institutions which will be established in
that blessed land, culminating in the recovery of the House of God, the hoisting of the Banner of His Faith, and the
proclamation of His Dispensation in that region. It is, therefore, incumbent upon you to double your perseverance,
steadfastness, vigor, tenacity, cooperation and mutual assistance, that thereby may become manifest what our Lord has,
both in secret and openly, promised us in His wondrous Book.’”

PERSECUTION AND DEPORTATION OF THE BAHA’IS OF CAUCASUS AND
TURKISTAN
HE construction of the first Bahã’i House of Worship in ‘Ishqábád, Southern Russia, nearly forty years ago, may be realized as the
first portentous symbol of the power of BahI’u’lláh’s Dispensation in Europe. Its spiritual meaning and implication could not but
present a challenge to the forces of darkness existing in that land. It was not until after 1930, however, that the flourishing Bahã’i
community centered around the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Ishqãbád felt the weight of official persecution.
In previous issues of THE BAHA’i WORLD successive chapters of this tragic but glorious story have been told. Now there remains to
recount the final chapter of dispersal, deportation and internment of the Bahá’is by the Soviet authorities, and their seizure of the holy
House of Worship as the extreme actions of a materialistic civiliza tio

approaching the hour of its own destined punishment.
The available information no longer comes to us from the BahI’i community of Southern Russia but from their fellow- believers of
Iran with whom the survivors of persecution found refuge. The full report will be found in the Report of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran published at the end of this international review. Excerpts from that Report follow:
“On the eve of February 5, 1938, all the members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of ‘Ishqabad, and a great number of the Friends
were arrested by order of the authorities and that same night the houses of the Friends were searched, and all Tablets, Bahã’i records
and other articles were confiscated. Some of the women, more active than the rest in

THE BAHA’j WORLD

Bahá’i administrative affairs, were also led away to prison.
“According to those who have been freed from prison and have emigrated to I ran, the officials treated the prisoners with extreme
harshness, and all Bahá’is were condemned by the Government on political grounds, it being openly said to them: ‘On Soviet land you
are, and have been, working to the advantage of foreigners.’ A written charge to this effect was made out for each prisoner and each
was ordered to sign it. When the Friends, innocent, denied the charge, they were subjected to every type of persecution. Some were
even obliged, more than once, to dig graves for themselves, it being told them that they were to be killed on the spot; then, hoping to
acquire the signed document, the authorities would defer their sentence.
“Wives and children of the captives lived meanwhile in the greatest wretchedness. A woman believer wrote to her sister from
‘Ishqábád: ‘Here many young men believers die in the prison. No one knows of what sickness they died, or what they asked for in
their last agony, or in what place their bodies are laid. One of the women believers, because of her grieving and anguish and the sight
of her orphaned children, set fire to herself and after sixteen days in the hospital she passed away.’
“At first over five hundred men believers were imprisoned but a great number of these have died. The wives and children of the
victims have gradually been exiled to fran, and dispatched by the Iranian Government to their various birth-places, but here, too, most
of them cannot find peace. The women grieve over their husbands and sons, the children sorrow for their fathers and brothers. Many
of the younger ones, well educated and trained, for lack of recommn. dations and other reasons, are refused work in Government
offices and elsewhere, and pass their days miserably in the little towns where they have been sent.
“This Assembly has, through the efforts of the Friends, given to these sufferers whatever financial aid was possible and up to now a
sum has been collected for their urgent daily needs. In response to the Guardian’s emphatic directions we have done all in our power
to succor these oppressed persons;

nevertheless, their lot has not improved, although they continue thankful, since they are suffering in the path of God. According to
recent information the prisoners have been freed and exiled in small groups to remote corners of Russia. Fortunately they are
permitted to write to their relatives and at times word comes from them. This Assembly has applied to the Imperial Government
seeking their return to fran, and God willing, the desired aim will be realized.
“From a recent communication as to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar of ‘Ishqábád: ‘From the day when the Mashriqu’l-Adbkar became part of
the Government properties, it was rented free to the Baha’i community for five year periods; every five years the lease was renewed,
and according to separate documents drawn up by the city, necessary repairs were specified to be made during the allotted period. The
Local Assembly would always carry out these repairs and improvements with dispatch, to give the authorities no pretext for
complaint, also regularly renewing the insurance and paying the taxes. In 1933, however, although the specified period had not run
out, certain repairs which were not urgent nor important, and which were very expensive—amounting to some 20,000 manát—were
imposed, and the Government broke the contract and forced the Assembly to renew it and make the repairs. A year had not elapsed
when the Government officials renewed their complaints and it became obvious that their purpose was to create difficulties and oblige
the Friends to relinquish the Temple and give it over to them. Fearing that the holy edifice would be lost, the Assembly communicated
the whole matter to the Guardian. Shortly thereafter, through the Iranian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Embassy in
Moscow, the Iranian Consulate-General in ‘Ishqábad made an inquiry as to the status and tenants of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar. This
investigation proved beneficial, and for some time the complaints and fault-finding of the authorities were modified. Then, in 193 6,
the Government stirred up further difficulties, and imposed heavy and unnecessary repairs, thinking the Baha’i community would be
utterly unable to comply with the requirements and a legal means would thus be

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

furnished to take the Temple away from the Bahá’is. The Assembly, however, asked for aid from the believers throughout Turkistân
and the Caucasus, and as a result of their self-sacrifice the repairs were made.’
“The authorities then tried another plan, as follows: Surrounding the Temple, the Friends had established schools for boys and girls, a
library, an office, and Haziratu’lQuds; and a long time since, the authorities had taken over the schools and the library building. Now,
with the excuse that the children had no playground, they sought to appropriate the main section of the Temple gardens, build a wall
around the Temple and leave to the Friends only the Temple building itself and the Haziratu’l-Quds; and they planned to close the
garden gate, which faces the main thoroughfare of the city and has always been opened to believer and non- believer alike, and oblige
all those desiring entry to the Temple to go around by a side street. The Local Assembly remonstrated with the authorities and after
considerable effort persuaded them to abandon their plan and continue on the same basis as before. Finally in 1936 after all sorts of
pretexts and complaints, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár was given over to the Friends for an unspecified period, on condition that they make
repairs as required by the city and pay the taxes and insurance. During the past six or seven years the Assembly has been constantly
negotiating with the authorities as to the Temple, and through Divine Confirmations has been able to protect it in every way. When the
Friends were imprisoned it became clear to what extent the authorities were displeased with us.”
“According to Soviet law, every religious community which numbers fifty members of both sexes over eighteen years of age, can
petition the authorities for recognition, that is, for the right to have a place of worship and administration. Now, if the number of
Bahá’is in ‘Ishqábád should fall below fifty, the Government can take over the Temple. At present only a few Bahá’is are left, women
and children and a few old men; and even if there are as many as fifty women left there and two or three old men, yet because of their
helplessness and ignorance of the law they will be unable to protect the Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr.”

“According to recently received information, the Soviet Government has taken over the Temple, has turned it into an art gallery, and is
keeping it in its original condition. For there are no longer any BahI’is in ‘Ishqábád.”
“As to the Caucasus, recent news is that throughout all that region Spiritual Assemblies and all administrative institutions have, as a
result of terrific pressure from the Government, been done away with, and the Haziratu’l-Quds has been taken over. Only in Báká is
there a Spiritual Assembly, and the Haziratu’l-Quds there is in the hands of the Friends. The membership of the BIkia Assembly has in
two years been elected three times, for this reason, that the first members were all arrested and exiled to Siberia, whereupon the
Friends elected nine more believers and these too were seized and exiled. The third group to be elected, now serving on the Assembly,
are mostly women. The Friends there are suffering terribly from lack of the means of livelihood and every sort of hardship, and they
assist one another like members of one household.
“The persecuted Bahá’is of ‘Ishqábád and elsewhere who at the Guardian’s direction and in spite of every affliction stood firm in
‘Ishqábád to protect the Bahá’i world’s first Temple, were before the first of the year 95, by the Soviet Government’s refusal to give
them residence permits, gradually exiled to Iran. In February, 1938, that government imprisoned at least five hundred Bahá’i men
throughout Turkistán, most of whom have been in prison over fifteen months in ‘Ishqábad, Mary, etc., under terrible conditions. Some
have died under torture, from starvation and other effects of prison life. No recent news has reached us and we do not know what
future awaits the survivors.
“Six hundred refugees—women, girls, children and a few old men—have successfully reached Iran. Most of these are now in Mashhad, while others have dispersed throughout the country. Those who had to travel were given their expenses and a letter of
introduction to the LocalAssembly at their destination.
“Their state is pitiful beyond description. All were substantial citizens in their own country. Then the men were taken prisoner and
they had to sell all they had—houses,

THE BAHA’I WORLD
rugs, furniture. Then, obliged to emigrate, they brought in their last trifling possessions and sold them here for bread,
and are now destitute.”

IN the lifetime of many still active Bahá’is the entire course of the development of the Cause in Europe, America
and Australia and New Zealand has unrolled. They have witnessed, and contributed to, its growth from the first pioneer
teacher or family through the stages of groups, local communities and finally that of the unified national community
with its National Spiritual Assembly. Those who first set forth carried in their souls the fiery conviction that the Báb
had come to this age as a Manifestation to summon the peoples for acceptance of the Promised One of all religions; that
Bahá’u’llah had come in that mighty Station to unify the races, the nations, the classes and the sects of mankind. Under
the guidance and protection of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá they achieved oneness in their devotion to Him as the Center of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant. Their kind Shepherd led them along the path of unity as rapidly as they could advance. His
Will and Testament, however, disclosed the whole path and its consummation in world institutions, the Guardian and
the House of Justice. Since 1922 the Bahá’js have achieved one of the greatest social adjustments in human history by
their cooperation in the establishment of the pattern of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. Nothing short of a miracle
could have raised up such strong foundations for this order in Australia and New Zealand as the result of the labors of
two Bahá’is, themselves Americans and therefore of the generation of those who had learned the Message far from its
Source. Wholly new social attitudes and a new quality of human relationships had to be established before a Bahá’i
community could come into being. Some background of understanding is necessary before one can perceive in every
report of Bahá’i activity a sustained victory for the spirit working through the lives of ordinary men and women.
The following excerpts will convey an

The American Bahá’is made a special contribution for the relief of these unfortunate believers. The friends of Persia,
however, assumed the real burden of relief.

outline at least of what has been accomplished in this great Western Continent geographically located in the East:
“The second convention which was held in Sydney, New South Wales, in April, 1937, marked the beginning of a new
stage of development in the history of the Cause in Australia and New Zealand; so illuminating and instructive were the
addresses given by the delegates and so powerful was the spirit of dedication animating those present, from that time a
deeper realization of the responsibility and mission of the Australian and New Zealand Bahá’i community as a
component part of the world wide Bahá’i community destined in the fullness of time to expand into a glorious new
civilization, the Bahá’i Commonwealth of nations, intensified the zeal and determination of the believers and lent an
impetus to their efforts which has produced gratifying results.
“The teaching field is steadily widening; in all the centers advertised lectures are given regularly; large fireside
meetings are held by the believers in their homes; opportunities to give the Bahá’i Message on other platforms are
courted and a wider circulation for our literature is being obtained.
“In all the centers, increased efforts are being made to gain the attention of the press, and in this we were greatly helped
by Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her teaching tour of Australia and New Zealand during the first half of 1939.
Miss Root obtained more press publicity for the Cause than we had had previously; indeed, she gave a much needed
stimulus to our efforts in this direction and we learned much from her methods.
“The famous Bahá’i teacher arrived in Perth, Western Australia, on January 1 0th, and was given a warm welcome by
the believers there. The Perth Spiritual Assembly had arranged a fine program and from the first the work went with a
swing; many new

THE BAHA’j FAITH IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

contacts were made and a great deal of interest was aroused; the Perth believers themselves being greatly stimulated
and uplifted by this soul refreshing season of activity and by Miss Root’s inspiring influence.
“From Perth, Miss Root went to Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney. In Adelaide, in addition to the radio
broadcasts and the lectures arranged for and widely advertised by the Spiritual Assembly, Miss Root spoke to the
Spiritual Mission Church, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the Radiant Health Club, the Theosophical
Society, at many informal gatherings and at a reception held at the Hotel Grosvenor.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne and Miss Hilda Brooks of Adelaide accompanied Miss Root to Tasmania and Melbourne,
and the little group of four traveling to promote the Bahá’i Faith, awakened considerable interest and gained publicity
and press notices for the Cause. Miss Gretta Lamprill, sole believer in Tasmania at that time, and Miss Eloise Jensen,
who became enrolled during the visit, were overjoyed to see them, as never before had there been such a number of
Bahá’is together in Tasmania. Miss Jensen was enrolled at a httle meeting of the Bahá’is held at the hotel where the
party was accommodated. The occasion was celebrated with prayers and joyous thanksgiving; this, it was felt, would be
the turning point of the Cause in Tasmania and the first of many enrollments. That hopes were justified was proved by
the enrollment some weeks later of Miss Kitty Crowder. Now these three capable workers have commenced teaching
activities which are gradually gathering momentum.
“Miss Lamprill had arranged for Miss Root to give several broadcasts and to speak at three High Schools, the
Spiritualistic Church, the Workers’ Education Association, the Lyceum Club, the Theosophical Society, the Esperantist
Association, the Rotary Club, the Bellerive, Sandford Country Women’s Association, and two public meetings in
Hobart and one in Launceston. Great interest was evinced by all who heard the addresses and the little group of
believers was

delighted with the result of the teaching campaign in Tasmania.
“In Melbourne, through the efforts of the indefatigable Secretary, Mrs. Wheeler, doors were magically opened and
warm invitations for Miss Root to address meetings were received. In addition to broadcasts and informal talks, Miss
Root lectured to the ‘Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the Australian Church, the Writers’
Cultural Club, Trinity Grammar School, Chinese Women’s Society, Esperanto Club, Women’s League of Health,
Journalists’ Luncheon, Kilvington Girls’ School and the Unitarian Church.
“The Sydney friends had been eagerly preparing for Miss Root’s visit and had arranged for broadcasts, receptions,
interviews and public meetings. In addition, Miss Root delivered addresses at the Millions Club, the United
Association, the English Speaking Union, the Board of Social Study and Training, the Women’s League of Health, the
Quota Club, Australian League of Nations, Esperanto Society, the Rotary Club, Journalists’ tea, the Newport W.E.A.
Summer School, the Feminist Club, the Y.M.C.A., the Women’s League of Health, and the Fellowship of Australian
Writers.
“In Adelaide, South Australia, a Bahá’i youth group has been formed and steady development maintained, the members
are enthusiastic and bring their friends to the meetings to hear the Bahá’i Message. Australian youth are excellent
material for Bahá’i teachers to work upon, for on the whole they are singularly unprejudiced in their outlook and the
Bahá’i teachings make instant appeal to them.
“The Summer School held at ‘Bolton Place,’ Yerrinbool, New South Wales, the summer residence of Mr. and Mrs.
Stanley Bolton of Sydney and lent and dedicated by them for the school sessions, is becoming a source of pride and joy
and high hopes are entertained for its future development and usefulness.
“Arrangements are under the direction of a committee and two successful sessions have already been held, the first in
January, 1938, the second in January, 1939.”

THE BAHA’I WORLD

BAHA’i ACTIVITIES IN INDIA AND BURMA

THE National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and Burma has adopted a Six-Year Teaching Plan in order
to intensify and direct the expansion of the Cause in those countries throughout the remainder of the first century of the
Bahá’i Era. Indeed, the whole Bahá’i world has become profoundly conscious of the need to enlarge the scope of its
teaching work and deepen its understanding of the importance of the mission entrusted to the followers of Bahá’u’lláh
if the believers are to fulfil their collective responsibility to God. The inspiration emanating from the Guardian, as
given instruments in such works as The Unfoldment of World Civilization and The Advent of Divine Justice, has
stimulated the Bahá’is and given them clearer realization of the significance of the year 1944 in the evolution of a
Dispensation that is to have effect through successive cycles of future Manifestations for more than four hundred
thousand years. Moreover, the Bahá’is have come to realize that there must be growth in all parts of the worldwide
community, since the future central institutions of the Faith are to rest upon the pillars of the National Spiritual
Assemblies of East and West.
The dear friends of India and Burma are associated with both the East and the West, and from this fact they seem
destined to play a great role in the drama of human unity and universal peace.
To cite some of the important passages in their bulletins and reports:
“It was one year after our American brothers and sisters have launched their Seven-Year Plan of Teaching that the N. S.
A. of India and Burma on a recommendation by the 10th Annual Convention, adopted a Six-Year Plan of Teaching. It
at first aimed at making each local Assembly responsible to establish another Assembly in a nearby town; but later our
beloved Guardian suggested that the chief aim of the Plan should be to find volunteer teachers for settlement in places
where the Divine Faith has not yet been established. These teachers will make these places either their permanent
places of business or they will stay so long as to form a local Spiritual Assembly or at

least a group of confirmed believers who will evolve themselves into an Assembly in due course. In the 11th Convention therefore the
two chief aims of the Plan were clearly defined and a Committee was formed to concentrate their whole energy towards the successful
prosecution of the Plan.
“Ever since the inauguration of the Six- Year Plan of Teaching the band of the Bahá’is of India and Burma concentrated their efforts
to carry out the wishes of their beloved Guardian expressed in almost all his epistles. They have been directing all their energy to the
successful accomphshment of this vital issue. Both the local Spiritual Assemblies and individual believers have been trying their
utmost, and we are sure that in a short time many of the faithful servants of Bahã’u’lláh will leave their homes and go to live in places
where the light of the Beloved Faith has not yet penetrated. The number of such souls no doubt is small but we have full belief in the
might of Bahá’u’lláh, and as the Divine Faith from its very inception has penetrated the world without any material aid, so will it now
give far greater results than the efforts of the friends would vouchsafe. We are giving below some of the efforts that the friends are
making in this connection.
“BoMuAv—An important public meeting was held in the Municipal Hall, Kalyan (an important town in the vicinity), when Mr.
Ganesh Krishna Phadke, B.A., Member Legislative Assembly, presided. The hall was overflowing, the audience including among
others Mr. M. P. Oka, President of the Kalyan Municipality, members of the Legislative Assembly, school teachers, professors and
notables of the town.
“After the opening prayers by Mr. Ilmi and Miss Penn Boman, Mr. H. M. Manji spoke on the New History. He was followed by
Prof. N. K. Bhagwant, M.A., who spoke on Essentials of a Universal Religion. Mr. M. H. Ilmi gave an explanation of Salvation
or Mu/sE or Nijat. Mrs. Shirin Fozdar spoke on The Need of the Present Day. She said that although many progressive
movements have sprung up, Bahá’u’lláh stands first to initiate the principles of life.

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

++

Recently purchased site of the prospective Haziratu’l-Quds to be erected in Cairo, Egypt. The X in the upper right side
indicates the actual site.

‘No progressive movement,’ she said, ‘had come into existence before the rise of the Bahi’i Faith in 1844 AlL’
“The Chairman thanked the speakers and summed up the proceedings, saying that the Bahá’i teachings were really beautiful and worth
practicing though very difficult to adopt.
“The meeting, on the whole, was successful and it is hoped that the town will be opeoed to the Faith in the near future.
“LAHoai—Prof. Pritam Singh was invited to be present at the Jubilee Celebra tion

of the head of the Qadian Movement, Moulvi ‘Abdu’lláh Vakil of Srinagar, who was also in Lahore, accompanied Prof.
Pritam Singh. Both of them were treated as the honored guests of the Khalif a and met many to whom they gave the
Bahá’i Message.
“M. ‘Abdu’lláh is engaged in teaching the Faith in Lahore. He may visit some Mofassil towns also.
“During January Prof. Pritam Singh visited Hoshiarpur at the invitation of one of the professors of that place.
Hoshiarpur is about four hours’ train journey from

jI :;L
++ +
pict35.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Lahore and has two colleges. To the students of one of the colleges he gave a talk in English on Religion of the Future. An
interesting discussion followed. A copy of Bahd’u’llcih and the New Era in Hindi was presented to the College Library.
“At the request of Principal Mul2ammad Ibrahim M. A., of the Multan Government College Prof. Pritam Singh addressed the College
on the subject of ‘Religion and Youth.’ A public lecture was also given at the Theosophical Lodge on February 29, with the
President of the Lodge in the Chair. About 200 persons were present. The subject of the talk was ‘Religion of the Future.’ The talk
theme developed by the Professor was that all the links in the long chain of Prophets—Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Moses, Jesus and
Mubammad—were equally important and no one could break the chain by presenting one of these Prophets to the exclusion of others.
This point of view was given to prepare every one to receive the Message of Bahá’u’lláh which was suited to the requirements of this
age and was therefore universal.
“Prof. Pritam Singh was invited by the Literary Circle of the Prince of Wales’s College, Jammu, to address a pubhc meeting, the
subject being ‘Religion of the Future.’ About 350 people attended.
“The Bahá’is of Lahore have been meeting regularly for the study of comparative religion. Mr. ‘Abdu’lláh of Kashmir enlightened the
group on the teachings of Islam in the light of the Bahá’i Faith. Many Hindu Friends have become interested.”
TRAVELS OF MARTHA L. RooT
“The teaching tour undertaken by our beloved sister Miss Martha L. Root from October, 1937, to December, 1938, has partly been
described in the BAHA’i WORLD Vol. VII, and her visit to Northern India universities and colleges is being reproduced elsewhere in
this volume. She traveled from Colombo in the South to Srinagar in the North, and from Peshawar, the outpost city of the British
Empire in the West, to Calcutta and Burma in the East. All the big towns in India were visited by her and in colleges and universities
and in conferences and societies such as the Theosophical Society, the Brahmo Samaj

and the Arya Samaj and before Muslim Institutes, the Message of Bahá’u’llih was proclaimed and illuminating lectures
on subjects like Culture and World Peace and What the Bahd’I Faith Can Do for Poverty were delivered. In Indian
States like Hyderabad (Deccan), Travancore, Jammu and Kashmir, Rampur, Patiala and Indore were visited and almost
every university center such as Lahore, Delhi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Benares, Algra, Patna, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay,
Mysore and Shantineketan (Tagore’s University) was visited and at some of the lectures Judges of the High Court,
distinguished publicists, Vice-Chancellors of universities, eminent professors, and heads of religious organizations
presided and thousands of students received the Teachings with a sense of joy and gratefulness. The whole of the
intelligentsia of this country heard the Teachings through these lectures and through pamphlet literature and through the
leading daily newspapers (English as well as vernacular) of India and Burma which reached millions of literate people
in our country. Thus a great publicity was given to the Cause during these two years all over India and Burma and well
written articles were contributed by able writers to the well-known Indian Magazines like the Flindustan Review, the
Aryan Path, the Tnveni, the Twentieth Century, the l7iswab- harati, the Rangoon Times, the Advance, the Bombay
Sainachar, the Karachi Daily News, etc., etc.
“Similar work was done by Mrs. Shirin K. Fozdar. She toured South India, that is, Madras, Hyderabad (Deccan) and
Mysore and then went to Burma where she did splendid work. In her second tour she was accompanied by her husband
Dr. K. M. Fozdar and they both joined Miss Martha Root at Madras and traveled with her to Ceylon and Travancore.
Dr. Fozdar returned after some time and the two sisters continued their splendid work in these parts of India as the
Guardian had wished that the N. S. A. of India and Burma should give their attention to the South where there is as yet
no Assembly.
“Prof. Pritam Singh made his usual tours of the university towns and delivered lectures and answered questions. He is a
well-

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

known figure in these circles and his lectures make good impression upon his hearers. He also toured to Kashmir to
follow up the work of another teacher who had preceded him to that State.
“For the first time in the history of the Cause in India, the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir was opened up at first by
Mr. 1sf andiar K. B. Bakhtiari of Karachi in 1937, followed by a visit by Miss Martha L. Root in 1938 and the followup work was done by Prof. Pritam Singh. This valley is visited every summer by thousands of people from all parts of
the world and some Bahá’i friends are going to settle there, in connection with the Six-Year Plan of Teaching, to
continue the teaching work. We have already a good group of firm believers here which we hope will evolve into an
Assembly in the near future.
“During her tour of more than one year, wherever Miss Martha Root went, she enlisted the aid of the Press. She met
everywhere the journalists and editors of newspapers who very willingly published long

and glowing articles about the Divine Teachings. In India, Burma, and Ceylon there was not a single paper of note that did not devote
some considerable space for the Bahá’i articles. It was the same with the tours of Mrs. Shirin Fozdar, Prof. Pritam Singh and Mr.
Isfandiar Bakhtiari.
“Miss Martha L. Root rendered a great service to the Cause by publishing that wonderful book in Karachi (India) namely, Tdhirih
the Pure, Irdu’s Greatest Wciman which was presented to all the libraries in India and Burma and also to some distinguished
personages whom she met in her teaching tours. This book has been very well received all over the country and read with the deepest
interest. It has made indelible impression on some minds as is evidenced from letters that are received from those who have read it.
BAHA’i SUMMER SCHOOL
“One of the forward steps that the believers of these parts took during the years under review was the starting of the Summer

Recently completed portion of the Uairatu’l-Quds of ‘Iraq, situated in Baghdad.
pict36.jpg

THE BAHA’t WORLD

School. As India is a vast country and it was not possible to have more than one such school, it was decided by the N. S. A. to hold it
yearly at different places. The first school was held at Simla during September, 1938. It was blessed with the presence of our beloved
sister Miss Martha L. Root. The school was a grand all-round success far beyond the expectations of its promoters. A full program of
study of the Holy Books was carried out. Evening lectures were held in public halls and a day was set apart for an outing. The
presence of beloved Miss Root inspired the youth who had joined the school and they were greatly benefited. A full report of the
school will be found elsewhere in this volume.
“The second Bahá’i summer school opened in Karachi during September, 1939, for ten days. Owing to disturbed international
situation the attendance from other Assemblies was very poor but the friends of Karachi, especially the youth of the place, evinced
great interest and were greatly benefited. They asked intelligent questions and the discussion that followed each lesson was greatly
illuminating. The Laws of the Aqdas, the Baha”I Administration and other Bahá’i literature was studied. A course of lectures on
comparative religion was also delivered. Public lectures were delivered in the Theosophical Hall and at Sarnagati Flail. The school
this year was decidedly an improvement on last year’s effort and it is

IN June, 1939, the American National Spiritual Assembly decided to establish a National Office, or Haziratu’l-
Quds, adjacent to the Bahá’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.
This action had been under consideration for one or two years, in response to the statement made by the Guardian in
The World Order of Bahd’u’lla’h that the administrative activities would be transferred to the site of the Mashriqu’l-
Adhkár, as well as under the pressure of a rapidly increasing schedule of work. The time had come for a National
Spiritual Assembly coordinating the affairs

hoped that the institution will in time become the Great School—the universal nucleus—which will send out trained Bahá’i teachers to
spread the Divine Faith of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the length and breadth of India, Burma and Ceylon.”
PUBLICATIONS
“In addition to the Bahci’I Magazine which is published from Bombay in Urdu and Persian every month we published the
translations of some books in the vernaculars of the country. Mandalay Assembly rendered the Obligatory Prayer with some other
prayers into Burmese. Hindi and Sindhi versions of Bahci’u’lldh and the New Era were published and extensively presented to the
libraries of the province to which the language belonged. The Urdu version of Some Answered Questions was published and was
presented to most of the libraries keeping Urdu hooks. The pamphlet The Dawn of the New Day was published in English, Urdu,
Hindi and Tamil and was freely distributed during the teaching tours of Miss Martha Root, Mrs. Shirin Fozdar and other teachers. The
pamphlet World Religion was republished in English and was freely distributed. Miss Martha Root published in pamphlet form
What the BahcI’I Faith Can Do for Poverty.”
There are now six different language editions of Dr. Esslemont’s Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era in print in India and Burma.
of more than ninety local communities, some thirty national committees and the programs of four schools, as well as the great House
of Worship itself, to consolidate its internal functions and symbolize its responsible character by maintaining a suitable headquarters.
Through the generous donation of the Wilhelm property in West Englewood the Assembly in recent years had been provided with
facilities for its own meetings, the work of its Treasurer and storage for its records. Other facilities were maintained elsewhere in
accordance with the residence of its officers.
The headquarters available at Wilmette

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BAHA’t COMMUNITY OF NORTH
AMERICA

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

consisted of the studio constructed by Mr. Louis Bourgeois, Temple architect, with the consent of the Assembly, on Temple land
where he would be most conveniently located for completing the working drawings and supervising the building operations. The
architect, however, died before the construction of the superstructure began in September, 1930, and under the terms of the agree,ment
the Temple Trustees had the option of purchasing the studio or requesting its removal from the grounds. The studio was purchased
from Mrs. Bourgeois, and for some years had been serving the Temple construction and maintenance.
On October 1, 1939, the office of the Secretary was transferred from New York to this site, and arrangements were made shortly
thereafter for the similar transfer of the Treasurer’s office to ‘Wilmette.
On January 20, 1940, was held the first meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly in its Haziratu’l-Quds, and its members, together
with Bahá’is attending a regional teaching conference in Foundation Hall, conducted a special gathering for the dedication of the
conjunction of the institutions of the Uaziratu’l-Quds and the Mashriqu’lAdhkár.
The intention, communicated to the Guardian when adopted in June, 1939, brought forth a most gratifying approval. On October 3,
1939, the Assembly received the following message by cablegram:
“Hail historic act signalizing auspicious conjunction (in) heart (of) North American continent (of the) institutions (of) Uairatu’l-Quds
(and) Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, (the) twin foci (of) steadily evolving American Bahá’i community life. (The) former henceforth regarded
(as) national Seat upon which all administrative channels (of) Bahá”s activity must increasingly converge. (The) latter permanently
recognized (as) ordained Source from which rays (of) spiritual guidance will radiate. Upon (the) vigorous, constant inter-action (of
the) dynamic forces which these complementary institutions embodying administrative machinery and incarnating (the) Soul (of the)
Bahá’i community can release (the) effectual prosecution (of the) Seven Year Plan as well as (the) success (of) ultimate ‘World Mis-

sion unquestionably depends. May (the) community responsible (for the) establishment (of) these nascent institutions progressively
contribute (to) acceleration (of) their growth and derive fullest benefit (from) their eventual fruition.”
Later, through his Secretary, in a letter dated February 27, 1940, the Guardian outlined the functions of the new central office:
“While the National Office in Wilmette, designated by the Guardian as Uaziratu’lQuds, is primarily an administrative center, its use
should by no means be confined to purely administrative work, but should include such activities of a social and intellectual character,
both local and national, as can best establish its character as the foremost teaching and administrative center of the Faith throughout
the States.
“In the conduct of any social activity at the National Office, however, great care should be taken to maintain strictly the dignity of the
place, particularly in view of its proximity to the House of Worship, which makes it doubly essential for all the believers to conform to
the standards of conduct, and of social intercourse set up in the Bahá’I Teachings.
“As a teaching center, where Bahá’i lectures, conferences and meetings, whether local, regional or national, could be held, the
Haziratu’l-Quds can also prove of invaluable help, and the N.S.A. should indeed see to it that the necessary facilities are provided in
the building for that purpose.
“By thus combining these three features, namely teaching, administrative and social, the Haziratu’l-Quds can best fulfil its mission, as
the visible symbol of the steadily- growing national Bahá’i Community in Northern America, and as the chief rallying center for all its
activities and plans throughout that Continent.”
THE BAHA’i ScHooLs
The enlarged scope and importance of the teaching work in both North and South America has been reflected in the extension of the
Bahá’i Schools maintained at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine; at Geyserville, California; and at Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan.

Moreover, through the munificent gift of

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Mrs. Loulie Mathews, the Bahá’i community received another Bahá’i School, at Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, Colorado, which Mrs.
Mathews dedicated to the special function of training Bahá’is for teaching in the international field, especially in Latin America at this
time.
From the annual reports submitted by the committees supervising the activities of these schools, we glean the following facts:
GREEN AcRE—1938 SEASON
“During the season there were 287 students attending the classes and courses. Very diligent study and interest was maintained
throughout the summer. We are greatly indebted to the speakers and teachers for their most scholarly presentations which showed
deep devotion to the Faith through long hours of research and preparation. The Youth Week was most successful; its courses very
impressive and well attended. The high quality of service rendered by them was a joy to all.
“An innovation in the presentation of Comparative Religion was introduced by Mr. and Mrs. Williard McKay, in which Islam
occupied the larger part, and was followed each evening with the direct Words from the different Holy Books. The clarity and
thoroughness of this Course was remarkable.
“Another new feature was given by Miss Lidia Zamenhof who conducted classes for the study of Esperanto every morning at 11 from
July 11 to 22. The study of the students during several hours each afternoon was closely supervised by Miss Zamenhof.
“The Tuesday Evening Recitals and Wednesday evening Lectures under the able sponsorship of our Dr. Shook were greatly enjoyed,
proven by large audiences sometimes filling the Auditorium in The Inn. Dr. Shook gave two recitals on the Color Organ, exceedingly
interesting; Mrs. Schopflocher gave her moving pictures taken around the world, and in Haifa. Mrs. Rex- ford showed the latest
moving pictures of the Temple and was rewarded by a fine audience in the Hall; another evening she presented the pictures of her
travels in Mexico and in The Shenandoah National Park. Later Dr. Shook gave a series of lectures on

The Scientific Outlook by popular request, covering the laws of attraction and motion, clarifying the position of Science
today, which was all new material for Green Acre. The high degree of musical talent he arranged this year was deeply
enjoyed by every one.
“Distinctive features added to the program were: Orcella Rexford met with the Regional Committee members during
her week and gave a series of talks on public speaking, and about 20 attended these afternoon classes. July 10th, Mrs.
Mildred Mottahedeh gave a lecture on A Utopia that Works; July 17th, Miss Zamenhof spoke on An International
Language; Aug. 7th, Louis Gregory spoke on Religion and the Modern Man; Aug. 2 1st, Fred Schopflocher spoke on
Communities.
“On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons, the Library of the Hall was opened by Mrs. Bowman, the Librarian,
for reference, study, or reading, but the privilege was enjoyed by a very small number. Mr. Holley brought the entire
World Unity Library of scholars’ works to add to the collection, which makes a valuable research library, including all
the Bahá’i Books. Also a large list of Bahá”i Books was kept here and $175.00 worth was sold after the lectures and
Classes. There was a reiterated call for a Loan Library, and it is hoped another year it may be arranged in some room at
The Inn for the use of guests, with a small charge for use, to make it possible to gather a larger library for the use of
all.”
July 2, 3, 4—The Future World Commonwealth, Horace Holley.
5—9—Round Tables; Discussion Groups; Social Activities Inaugurated.
11—16—Education for the New Humanity, Dr. Glenn A. Shook.
18—23—Art of Growing Up, Orcella Rexford.
24—3 1—Youth Week.
Youth Week
9:00 A. M.—Devotions.
9:15 A.M.—The Bahã’i Life, Dorothy Baker.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

10:00 A.M.—Talks by youth on Bahá’i books: Gleanings, Elizabeth Shook; Mysterious Forces of Civilization, Ida
Noyes; fqán, Joseph Noyes; Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Marvin Newport; The Dawn-Breakers, Mae Graves Dyer.
11:00 A.M.—Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Miss Caroline

Rogers.

Esperanto

From July 11 to 22, Miss Lidia Zamenhof, daughter of the founder of Esperanto, conducted advanced classes to prepare students for
qualification as Esperanto teachers. August 1—6—Spiritual Development and
Law, Dorothy Baker.
8—1 3—Comparative Religion, Doris and Willard McKay.
15-20—Prayer and Meditation, Lorol Schopflocher.
22—27—The Transformation of Human Society, Horace Holley.
29—Sept. 3—Study course conducted by Mamie L. Seto.
September 4—Peace Pageant, arranged by Nancy Bowditch.
5—(Labor Day) Peace Program:
Lidia Zamenhof, Horace
Holley, Mamie L. Seto, on
Bahd’I Principles — World
Peace.

GREEN AcRE—1939 SEASON

“Our first Laboratory Course was given this year under the direction of Mrs. Helen Bishop, Dr. Glenn Shook, and Mrs. Wendell
Bacon. This type of teaching work it is hoped will be continued. There is always discussion after the lectures, but in the laboratory
class with all participating, it is a very effective way of developing students, and we encourage the use of this method of teaching as
much as possible. The Bahd’I Administrative Order was the subject presented in this course, with Mrs. Wendell Bacon conducting
the work on publicity and radio in the afternoon. Publicity covering the week was written up for the local papers and contacts were
made in a nearby town as part of the work of this class.

“Mr. Allen McDaniel made a brief outline of each of the World Order Letters of the Guardian giving the highlights of each. The
laboratory idea was carried along in this course, the class being given questions to test their knowledge of important facts. A splendid
lecture with slides on the Temple was also given by Mr. McDaniel as an evening feature of his week. The study of Isldm was made
very interesting by Dr. Stanwood Cobb, and our knowledge of this subject was much extended and deepened. In his course on The
Meaning of Life Mr. George Spendlove developed study of: the station of man in this world and the nezt; the Divine wish and
intention for man’s hfe; the search for Reahty; the Manifestation of God; and, the world—what it is and what it is not. This course was
beautifully complemented by Miss Orcella Rexford’s course on Positive Living in which emphasis on practical application of the
teachings in a living of the life was stressed. Also several tests were given to help the students determine their ‘Psychological Age.’
“During Youth Week Mr. Norman Smith gave talks, based on the Compilation made by the National Youth Committee on Bahci’I
Life, and Mr. Horace Holley gave his course on The Transformation of Human Society. In the afternoon Dr. Glenn Shook
conducted a laboratory course on the Organization and the Systematic Teaching of the Bahci’I Faith. The Green Acre
Committee has endeavored to give the greatest possible freedom and authority to the youth for practice in the matter of personal
integrity and living the life, and in working out a program of constructive activity in accordance with Bahá”s principles. The session
attracts both the serious students and some who have not yet become aware of the opportunity latent in such a youth meeting. The
Committee realizes that it is essentially the problem of the real leaders of the youth groups to establish the spirit and the high standard
of conduct set by the Guardian in The Advent of Divine Justice—a spirit so strong that it will resist the disintegrating effect of
external influences. The problem facing the youth is essentially the problem facing the Spiritual Assemblies and communities.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

There are over nine of the Bahá’i Temple models either owned by Local Spiritual Assemblies or available from the
Teaching Committee for purposes of exhibition.
Above: Display at the Illinois State Fair, Springfield,
Ill. Below: Display in the Temple of Religions at the San Francisco World’s Fair, 1939.

pict37.jpg
pict38.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

“A resumé of The Dawn Breakers was given by Mr. Rinaldo Quigley; he began with the history of Persia covering that
period, giving the background; then the Fore-Runners of the Bdb; the Revelation of the Bdb; stories of the Dawn-
Breakers; the Martyrdom of the Bdb. His conclusion was:
‘We, their spiritual descendants, must contact that Divine Love which pervaded those Dawn-Breakers and carry on the
same banner and establish the vision of hope for which they died.’ These classes set a beautiful atmosphere for the
Prayer and Meditation class given by Doris and Willard McKay in which all experienced a deepening of consciousness
which left an indelible impression on the minds and hearts, and resulted in a greater appreciation and understanding of
the revealed prayers.
“A course on The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys by Bahá’u’lláh was given by Mirzá ‘All Kuli-Khán, who first
translated this book into English. Dr. Khán with his profound knowledge brought a wealth of information. The
simplicity and self-effacement of the presentation deeply moved his hearers. This course was followed by one on
learning how to spread the Teachings— Spreading the News Behind the News by Mrs. Dudley M. Blakely, and was
based on the Study Outline on Public Speaking prepared by the Outline Committee. Every morning the entire class had
practice in reading the Creative Word, and marked improvement in reading was shown each day. One student served as
chairman later at one of the meetings, quoting from the Writings entirely from memory with fine effect.
“Some Answered Questions was presented by Mr. Archie Tichenor and developed some fine discussion clearing up
many abstruse points of view on important questions. Mi’. Tichenor brought a splendid selection of records to Green
Acre with him and gave concerts in the afternoons. An evening concert interspersed with readings from the Sacred
Writings was another feature of this week. Dr. Glenn Shook in his course on History in the Making gave the historical
background and the steps leading to the final federation of the states in the United States as an example of the process
neces sar

for the future formation of the Federation of the World.
“Bahd’! Adininist ration was given by Horace Holley, and he touched on: an organic World Community; Civilization:
a Spiritual Achievement; the Principle of Consultation; and Justice: a New Creation—basing his course upon spiritual
principles and the integrity of the individual in relation to truth and to God, and then developing his relationship to
society. At the close of this course Mr. Harlan Ober gave the class a practical demonstration of a Bahá’i Convention.
“In Mrs. Lorol Schopfiocher’s course on Humanity’s Coming of Age she showed the development and unfoldment of a
World Civilization, marking the highest stage in man’s evolution from that of family, tribe, city, state and nation to the
unification of all mankind in a World Federation. A forty- page digest of Current Religious and Scientific Writings on
The Unfoldment of World Civilization, which she had compiled, was given each student of this course, making a very
tangible contribution to their fund of information.
“The last week of the season was given over to a course on Esperanto by Miss Roan Orloff, authorized instructor of the
Esperanto Association of North America; of the International Cseh Institute of Esperanto in Holland; and of the
Massachusetts University Extension. Miss Orloff uses the direct method of conversation which enables the student to
speak Esperanto from the first lesson. There was also a Laboratory Teaching course in which the following subjects
were discussed: Why a Summer School?—leader, Mrs. Harold M. Bowman; The Group as a Living Organism, by Mrs.
Lorol Schopflocher; Creating the Capacity to Serve, by Mr. Horace Holley; Technique of a Discussion Group, by Miss
Lorna Tasker; Teaching Practises, by Mrs. Harry Ford; and Pioneer Teaching, by Mr. and Mrs. Tom McNally and
Miss Neysa Bissell.”
GEvSERv5LLE ScHooL—1938 SEASON
“The opening session of the twelfth annual Bahá’i Summer School at Geyserville was held under the Douglas fir
landmark on the Bosch estate Sunday, July 3, 1938. Some

THE BAHA’t WORLD

two hundred Bahá’is were present to enjoy the Unity Feast and to hear messages from persons, representative of the
United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.
“This event, under the chairmanship of Mr. L. C. loas, initiated the extensive program of the Summer School at
Geyserville. Responses were given by Mr. Ray Brackett for the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is President. Mr.
John Bosch, speaking for himself and Mrs. Louise Bosch, expressed the great joy in welcoming the increasing number
who partake of the facilities for education each year, and stated that this summer school was rapidly becoming the
beacon- light of Bahá’i education in the western states. Mrs. Amelia Collins said, ‘the peace and calm prevailing at
Geyserville instils higher joy and happiness.’ She conveyed the message from the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, in which
he hoped that this school would typify the ideal Bahá’i community in all phases of its sessions and life. Mrs. Helen
Bishop, in her remarks, mentioned the establishment of summer schools in Germany, ‘Iraq, Egypt, England, and
Australia. Mr. Mark Tobey explained in detail the founding of the summer school in England. He was impressed with
how the program of this summer school was incorporating the practical and cultural phases of the Bahá’i teachings.
“Greetings were brought by Miss Agnes Alexander from Japan; Mrs. Lorrol Schopflocher from her world wide travels;
and representatives of Pacific Coast Assemblies and Denver. Former members of the Geyserville Assembly, Mr. and
Mrs. Albert Entzminger of Oklahoma City, telegraphed their wishes for the success of the 1938 sessions. Messages
were read from Shanaz Waite and Mrs. T. C. Smith, who were unable to attend.
“The schedule of Courses, given during the morning sessions during the two weeks, July 4-16 inclusively, was
developed by experienced speakers, chosen from wide fields of Bahá’i experience by the Program Committee of the
School. The two courses:
I. Unfoldment of World Civilization; and II. Rise and Expansion of Christianity, were presented during the first and
second hours each morning. The order of presentation of Course I, was,—The Meaning of Culture;

Rise and Fall of Civilization; Forms of
Civilization and Culture; The Maturity of
the Human Race; Religion as a Basis of
World Order; The Bahá’I Faith; The World
Order of Bahá’u’llah; Bahâ’i Procedure; The
World Commonwealth.
“Course II. entitled, The Rise and Expansion of Christianity was presented in the following sequence :—The Background;
Spheres of Influence at the Time of Christ; Establishment of the Church; Development of Theocracy; The Dark Ages; The Influence
of Islam; Divisions in the Church; Modern Isms; Mormonism; Christian Science; New Thought, Mystic, and Psychic Movements; The
Oxford Movement, etc.
“Other Summer School activities were:
the devotionals, at 9: 15 A.M., Teaching Seminars, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:00 P.M., Youth Round Tables, Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays at 2:00 P.M. with main theme of The Place of Religion in Modern Life. Three public meetings were
held at the Bahá’i Hall in Geyserville, and one at Scottish Rite Temple in Santa Rosa. One of these public meetings at Geyserville was
sponsored by the Youth Group, which presented the Faith with a dignity and intelligence, exemplary of well trained Bahá’is.
Introduction of a new feature, the Educational Evening, was well received on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8:00 P.M. A bit
of culture was given by a lecture on the Fundamentals of Art by Mr. Mark Tobey. Travelogues and personal experiences were the
subjects of other speakers during these evenings which were enjoyed by the entire school body and the townspeople.
“The response to the school program was evident from the larger number attending in excess of the 1937 sessions. The attendance
record follows: Devotionals, maximum 12 5, minimum 40; daily lectures, maximum 130, minimum 50; public meetings, 100
average; teaching seminars, maximum 70, minimum 40; 15 children, under the committee with Mrs. Rhoba Jones as Chairman, were
given instruction in the Bahá’i principles, and provided with facilities for handicraft and recreation on the Collison place.
“Increase in the Library facilities through gifts, and revenue from discounts of books purchased through Mrs. Emma Smith at the

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

sessions, has provided one or more copies of the principal Bahá’i books published in English and several non-Bahá’i books for
correlarv reading. The growth of this library service, which is housed in the Bahá’i Hall annex, has proved indispensable for the
reference of teachers and students.
“With the passing of each summer session into history, there has remained a sense of progress in the Faith through the agency af the
summer school. The method of approaching the problems of this world have been made more real because many individuals render
voluntary service on the numerous committees and act as the mouthpieces for the intellectual and spiritual development of the ideals
and principles of the Faith. To each is rendered the appreciation of this Committee for contributing their mite for the advancement of
the Summer School. To them as with us their joy comes with the satisfaction of the true fellowship of learning which the Summer
School has provided.”
GEvsmtvsLLE—1 939 SEASON
“Devotions Daily for the three weeks at 9 A.M. fifty different Bahá’is were leaders or readers in the presentation of the writings of
Bahá’u’lláh. Eighteen regular devotional periods were arranged, and two special observances were celebrated, one on the Anniversary
of the Martyrdom of the Báb, and one in commemoration of those who had departed to the Abhá Kingdom during the past year.
Particularly remembered at the later meeting were Shanaz ‘Waite and Joseph Bray, who were speakers for the school program and
frequently students.
“Each devotional period was in honor of an attribute of God, namely, Immortality, Steadfastness, Obedience, Unity, et cetera. Since
these meetings established the spiritual tone for the activities of the day, the participation of adults, youth, and children became a
common bond of communal unity.
“Pro gram of Study. For the remainder of each morning excepting Sundays, three programs were concurrently in session, one for
the adult classes, one for youth, and one for the children.
“The adult program consisted of two successive lecture-discussion periods of one hour

duration each. The first week of lectures was repeated during the third week. The major subject of the lectures was: The
Spiritual Unfoldment of Humanity which included by title the following topics: The Source of Civilization, Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, The Bahá’i Faith, A World Civilization, Culture and World Peace. Ten different speakers
participated in this program. The second course was entitled: Bridges of 1-luman Relationships, which outlined the
points of contact between social and welfare activities of the world and the Bahá’i Faith in the following series of
lectures: Physical Science, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Race Relations, and Comparative Religions.
Fourteen different speakers had prepared the agenda of these subjcts, which was enlarged upon in the discussion which
followed.
“A maximum number attending the adult sessions was 100 and a minimum of 30 during the entire session. During the
third week the average attendance was 38, which figure was comparable to the 72 average in attendance f or the first
two weeks.
“The Youth program was conducted in two sections daily excepting Sundays. The first session was presented under the
title:
The Young Bahci’I in the World Today, with eleven different adult leaders. Discussion of the Bahá’i attitudes towards
such collective problems as war, nationalism, race and class struggle, and such individual problems as marriage, family
relations, character, et cetera, was the means used. The second course every morning was a laboratory section with
practical projects in the afternoons such as field contacts, publicity, radio, public speaking, dramatics and the use of
Bahã’i literature in teaching. This discussion period by the youth was known as The Theory and Practice of Bahd’I
Teaching. This project included the responsibility of providing the program for the tn-weekly meetings in Bahá’i
Auditorium for the community. Notable was this contribution to the high standard of entertainment, as evident in the
topics presented in the following sequence:
Symphony Evening with musical interpretation; Depicting of the Episode of the Lb in a most impressive and solemn
stage presentation; Travelogues via moving pictures with

THE BAHA’I WORLD

accompaniment of experienced narrators; a social evening with dancing; History of Art; and one pubhc meeting.
“To Marion Holley, Virginia Orbison, and Charlotte Linfoot, who carried the responsibility for the Youth, is due the
deepest appreciation for pioneering this activity, which proved most effective in imbuing the 22 youth with an
intelligent desire to serve. The hope of the Youth Committee was expressed in their report that this experience was ‘but
a foretaste of the time when Geyserville will attract a host of young people, providing for them the opportunity to
mature and grow under the influence, and into the pattern, of true Bahá’i life.’
“The early dawn of that integrated life among all age groups in a Bahá’i community may be foreshadowed in the brief
report of the Children’s Committee, which is being added to the Adult and Youth reports. Eighteen children from the
age of 2 to 14 years were in attendance at the daily classes. Seven of this number completed one or more lessons in the
Outline A Bahd’I Life. Seven completed at least one handiwork project. During the afternoon and evenings the parents
assumed the responsibility of the children. Through the voluntary service of ten adults the lessons in their Bahá’i
studies and handicraft were completed. The coordination of the children’s training effort was under the supervision of
Mrs. Louise Groger, Mrs. Ethel MacAllaster, and Mrs. Rhoba Jones and their assistants to whom highest praise is due
for their excellent work.
rGeneral Activity. There were six public meetings in which 32 Bahá’is participated as speakers and artists. Five of
these meetings were held at Bahá’i Auditorium, in Geyserville, and one in Santa Rosa in conjunction with the display
of the Bahã’i Temple model. Attendance ranged from 45 to 100 and enabled an excellent group of Bahá’i teachers to
effectively inform these growing communities with specific Bahá’I teachings.
“Publicity which carried daily programs and personal notes totaling 360 column inches was printed at least once in
every major city in California, and in Phoenix, Arizona. Liberal space continued to carry weekly news in the
Geyserville, and Clover- dale papers.

“Through the fine support of the friends, 157 volumes of the principal Bahá’i literature in English are now found in the
Library, which is in constant demand during the sessions. These accessions have been catalogued and prepared for
reference readings by Mrs. Janet Ward.
LOUHELEN ScHooL—1938 SEASON
“During the summer of 1938 the Louhelen Summer School Committee held four sessions at Louhelen Ranch, Davison,
Michigan, with programs as follows:
First Youth Session, June 26-3 0
Morning Pro grain
1. Practice of Mediation and Prayer, Mrs. Mamie Seto.
2. a. The World Order of Bahâ’u’llah, Urbana Youth Committee.
b. Fundamentals of the Bahá’i Faith, Mr. Wm. Kenneth Christian.
3. Bahâ’i Character Building, Emeric and Rosemary Sala.

Afternoon and Evening

Recreation, Sports, Forum and Entertainment.

Second Youth Session, July 3-7
“The above classes were repeated, except that the course on Character Building was given by Professor Stanwood
Cobb instead of by Mr. and Mrs. Sala. In addition, for those who stayed over and had already attended the first session,
a class in The Dawn- Breakers was organized and one in an intensive study of some of The World Order Letters by
Shoghi Effendi.
“The Laboratory Session was something new, an experiment. Urged on by repeated suggestions from the Guardian that
we should deepen in the Teachings, that there should be real study and incentive to go home and study more deeply and
consistently, the committee planned a program which would be more hke a real school and which would include
definite practice in opening up new territory, getting publicity and giving radio talks. About 35 were present for five or
more days and others for shorter periods. There were five courses:
A Frame of Reference for Bahá’i Sacred Writings, conducted by Wm. Kenneth Christian.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

The Three ‘Worlds, an Intensive study of the basic Teachings of the Babá’i Faith, conducted by Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg.
Publicity Methods and Writings and Radio Speaking, conducted by Mrs. Alice Bacon.
How to make Contacts in New Places, conducted by Miss Marguerite Reimer.
Public Speaking, conducted by Mrs. Maude Beagle of the Flint Public Schools.
“The first named course included a classification of Bahá’i Sacred Writings based on their authoritativeness (i.e., whether we have the
original manuscript or not) and a brief survey of their contents, Also a comprehensive analysis and tabulation of all the types of
teachings included in the Bahá’i writings was made. Assignments were made for outside work which involved research in the different
Bahá’i books. The work done in this course is being compiled for future reference at the school.
“Of the Frame of Reference made and used in this course the Guardian has written through his
secretary, ‘He has read the general outline (Frame of Reference) and finds it very comprehensive and of indispensable value to every
student of the Teachings.’
“Mrs. Hoagg’s course was based on a condensation of her outline for study called The Three Worlds. She emphasized a more exact
use of Bahá’i terminology, exact references, real and deep understanding of all the sacred writings, the need of a more exact
presentation of the Bahá’i teachings.
“Miss Marguerite Reimer’s course was one of practical contact snethods. Always she emphasized prayer combined with action.
Members of the class went to nearby towns to make contacts with groups and individuals and to invite them to public lectures at
Louhelen auditorium. The result of this field work enabled the class to send Wm. Kenneth Christian to three Rotary clubs as speaker,
and to make engagements for teachers coming to the August session. Twelve towns were covered by members of the class in contact
work, and through this effort and publicity work two most successful public meetings were held at the Louhelen auditorium during the
laboratory session. Other visitors came from time to time to spend a day in the class room and some came from Flint daily to attend
the regular lectures.

“The class in publicity was conducted by Mrs. Bacon, former newspaper woman, and so had the advantage of her practical experience
from the newspaper point of view. She gave writing practice in hnking excerpts from the Teachings with
activities to make “live copy.” She also gave suggestions and experiences in radio broadcasting
and gave the class opportunity to write a radio broadcast that would be included in an actual broadcast in August.
“Mrs. Beagle’s course in public speaking included assignments to prepare each day and speechmaking for
class work. Individual criticism and instruction from Mrs. Beagle and from the class gave excellent training for future Bahá’i teachers
and speakers.
“In the General Session in August the following program was carried out. August
20-2 8:
Mo ruing Pro grain
Prayer and Meditation, Miss Pearle Easter- brook.
The Laws of Bahá’u’lláh, Mr. Allen McDaniel.
Divine Government, Mrs. Louise Caswell.
Afternoon Program
Notes and Experiences from Haifa, Mrs. Margery McCormick (4 days).
Studies of Muhammad and Islam, teacher not reported.
Edward B. Struven (3 days).
Studies in Biblical Prophecy, Miss Elizabeth Cheney (3 days).
Public talks, Mr. Harlan Ober (daily).

Evening Program

Public lecture or entertainment.

“There was great earnestness and seriousness in deepening in the Teachings, several confirmations. A valuable addition
at the end of the course in Administration was a comprehensive examination using the true- false
and other modern examination methods. A Bahá’i wedding when Joseph and Caroline Williams of
Kansas City received the blessing of the Bahá’i ceremony was one of the happy occasions of the week.
There were many new visitors at this session both during the class periods and at the public
meetings.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Temple Model Exhibited at Big Bear Lake, California.

Book Exhibit near the Bahá’i Temple Arranged During Convention.
pict39.jpg

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CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

“Noticeable gain was made last summer in extending the scope of the influence of the school and in gaining more sympathetic
understanding of its aims in nearby communities. This report is therefore not complete without including work done before and after
the real sessions of the school. The first of May Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg came to Louhelen Ranch and before the first session
conducted a study class two nights a week for the Flint community and also spoke before a number of groups in nearby towns.
“Following the Laboratory Session there was a demand for Bahf”i speakers so Mr. Carl Scheffier came a week before the opening of
the August Session and spoke before Rotary Clubs in Lapeer, Imlay City, and Port Huron, the Caravan Club of Saginaw, and to
groups in Flint, Clio and Marysville.
“Robert Gaines of Urbana also gave several informal talks in August to Youth groups.
“During the August session Mr. McDaniel and Mr. Ober each spoke before men’s clubs in a number of the towns previously contacted
and Mr. McDaniel spoke over the radio in Port Huron. During the summer through these many contacts some 850 or more people
heard of the Faith of Bahá’u’llab. The week following the August session Mrs. Caswell and Mr. Ober made contacts and did followup work in Saginaw, Pontiac, Port Huron and Fenton. Mr. Ober gave a talk over the radio in Port Huron.
“At the Flint Flower Show in September Louhelen Summer School displayed the Temple model surrounded by flowers. This attracted
much attention.”
LOUHELEN—1 939 SEASON
“The summer of 1939 there were 54 registered at the first youth session and 47 at the August one. These numbers do not include
many visitors who came for a day or shorter time nor adults who helped in teaching and other ways. In fact figures do not tell the
story, but we keep a record for our own help in follow-up work and in other ways. The following daily programs were carried out:
“First Youth Session, June 25-29, inclusive:

Morning Program
Devotions (before breakfast)
1. Character Building. . . Miss Flora Hottes (Bahá’i Standards of Conduct)
2. a. The Promise of All Ages
Mr. Wm. Kenneth Christian
(Bahá’i Principles and History)
b. The Prophet of Arabia
Mr. N. H. Firoozi
(Facts about Muhammad and His
teachings)
Afternoon Program
3. Laws of Bahã’u’lláh. . Mr. Clarence Niss
(The present day application of the
laws of Bahá’u’lláh and how they
lead to the New World Order)
(The above course continued through
four days. The fifth day was given
over to an all day forum conducted
by Mr. Niss on the subject Bahá’i
citizenship and Building Com munit Life)
4. Recreation, forum, conferences, enter tainment. “At the Second Youth Session, August 16- 20, inclusive, the plan and subjects were
the same as for the first session but the courses were conducted by Mrs. Virginia Camelon, Mr. Ralph Garner, Mrs. Helen Bishop, Mr.
Carl Seheffier, respectively. An additional feature was Mrs. Marzieh Gail’s class in the World Order Letters of Shoghi Effendi.
“It will be noted that the program aims at a balanced hfe so greatly emphasized in our teachings,—the spiritual, the intellectual, social,
physical and recreational. The aim is to have Bahá’i life and standards of conduct permeate all activities. Each year we feel we do
make progress toward attaining these high standards, but make no claims to perfection. The words of our Guardian urge us to
increased effort. In a letter written through his secretary, November, 1932, he expresses the hope that these Bahá’i schools ‘may
become powerful and well-established organizations that will train innumerable young men and women to go out into the world to
spread the message of Bahá’u’lláh.’ At another time he wrote, ‘Indeed it is very important for the Faith to extend the teachings of
Bahá’u’llah amongst the youth, as it is through their

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activities that the Cause of our beloved Master will in the future spread all over the American continent. They have upon their
shoulders the responsibilities for the progress of the Movement; it is our duty to
enlighten their hearts with the light of guidance which has been shed before us by the Master.’
“The young people take their share of responsibility in making these youth sessions vital and dynamic. A group from some one
community is chosen to be responsible for activities in entertainment, recreation, sports, and to help in creating a spirit of cooperation
in maintaining order together with freedom on the campus and in the dormitories. Last summer the North Shore young people
assumed this responsibility and carried out the plans most successfully. This group assigned, in turn, the various evening
entertainments to other groups. These youth sessions are truly cooperative enterprises.
“This was the second summer in which the committee has planned a special kind of session which we named the laboratory session
both because it has been experimental and because it has meant real work and study by those attending. It has aimed to do two things:
help those who wish to be guided into a deeper study and understanding of the Teachings and second to work out by practical
demonstration under experienced teachers some type of Bahã’i teaching or administrative problem. Last summer 35 ardent students
and workers from east, west, north and south threw themselves wholeheartedly into seeking a better understanding of the Bahá’i
Administrative Order and working out some definite probles-ns. The program follows:
Devotions (before breakfast)
1. Applied Administration
Mr. Harlan Ober
(Actual practice in electing a local Assembly, appointed committees which did publicity and contact work in neighboring towns, held
a Nineteen Day Feast, arranged a public meeting, etc.)
2. The Three Worlds of Divinity, Prophet- hood and Creation . Mrs. Mabel Paine
(A survey of Bahá’i Writings and research therein)

3. Public Speaking—Instruction and prac tic Mrs. Maude Stuart Beagle
4. Comprehensive survey of Shoghi Effendi’s World Order Letters
Mrs. Margaret Luberger
“Mr. Ober was most successful in guiding the elected Assemblies to Bahá’i solution of problems and to correct Bahá’i procedure.
Mrs. Paine helped many into a new understanding of some of the deeper aspects of our Faith. Mrs. Beagle made her class at the same
time, inspirational, practical and relaxing and Mrs. Luberger used great skill in giving us a survey of the World Order letters.
“At the August general session about 50 were present and a fine spirit prevailed. There were more strangers and inquirers than ever
before. The program follows:
General Session, August 6-13, inclusive:
Morning Pro gram
Devotions (before breakfast)
1. The Administrative Order of Bahâ’u’lláh Mr. Curtis Kelsey
2. The Culture of Islam. Mrs. Helen Bishop
3. The Art of Living. . . . Mrs. Alice Bacon (Bahi’i standards of conduct)
4. What is the Bahá’i Faith, a series of talks, and forums to introduce the Faith to new seekers, by Bahá’is present.
5. Talks on various phases of Bahá’i teachings, evening talks by Mrs. Marzieh Carpenter Gail.
“Mr. Kelsey’s series of lessons was particularly inspiring and helpful. In fact the whole Kelsey family brought that real Bahã”i spirit
of cooperation and understanding that radiated to all. Mrs. Kelsey’s help with music was great and the children formed the nucleus of
a children’s class that was conducted by Miss Frances Bacon.
“Mrs. Bishop opened new vistas for us in the understanding of the sources and forces of all culture and civilization as well as those of
Islam. Mrs. Bacon inspired us to make new efforts to rise to Bahã’i standards of conduct. Her use of some of the DawnBreaker stories
to illustrate certain characteristics brought the early days of the Cause to mind. The evening talks by Mrs. Marzieh Carpenter Gail
were conducted in-

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

formally. Her method was to draw the listeners unconsciously into the discussion. Her talk on Bahá’i marriage was especially
acceptable.
“As always those who came as learners were among the greatest helpers in planning and carrying out Bahá’i forums, panel
discussions, other teaching projects and helping with music and in innumerable ways.
“One great addition to the physical equipment of the school is the new library building, the gift of two friends augmented by smaller
gifts and the labor of Mr. Eggleston and his son Mr. George Eggleston. Many books have been contributed so that now there are some
765 in the library. These include standard secular books on various subjects, fiction, philosophy, science, sociology, history, etc., as
well as Bahá’i books. People from surrounding communities are invited to use the library and to draw books for home reading. Thus
the library becomes a community service and acquaints people with the school. It is hoped that it will be one means of eventually
attracting people to the Cause. The library is by no means complete and we invite people to continue to contribute books which are
suitable, both new and used, which are in good condition.
“An entirely new project of the Louhelen committee was the winter session held the week after Christmas, December 26, 1939-
January 1, 1940. The registration (12) was small since warm accommodations were limited, but all who came considered it entirely
worth while. The aim was especially to inform about Latin American conditions and culture as a basis for Bahâ’i work in those
countries. Mrs. Frances Benedict Stewart gave most valuable information and inspiration along these lines. Two public meetings were
held during the session at which Mrs. Stewart was the speaker. Some 71 different people from twelve towns and four states were
present during the week. Mrs. Stewart also remained by special invitation to address the Shrine club in Flint. Other lessons in methods
of teaching and study were given by Mrs. Ethel Furbush, Mr. Harry Jay and Mrs. Bertha Kirkpatrick. A letter from New Zealand
inquiring about the winter session at Louhelen makes us realize the world-wide interest in all Bahá’i activities.”

NEW INTERNATIONAL BAHA’i SCHOOL
On September 4, 1939 Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews executed an Indenture of Trust under which title to property at Pine
Valley, Colorado Springs, is to be vested in Trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly. Mrs. Mathews
retaining full use and control of the property during her life.
This munificent donation is an important contribution to the facilities of the American Bahã’i community for service to
the Faith, Mrs. Mathews having plans for developing at Pine Valley a School for the training of BahI’is for
international teaching.
This plan was welcomed by the Guardian in a letter addressed to Mrs. Mathews on December 14, 1938: “The Guardian
feels also deeply appreciative of your generous offering to the N.S.A. of your ranch in Colorado Springs. Your idea to
turn this property into a training school for Inter- America teaching work, he feels, is splendid.”
The first session was not held until after the period covered by the present summary. However, the program announced
in advance included two periods daily for prayer and meditation, followed by active discussion. Lectures on Latin
American music were to be given by Prof. James Sykes and Prof. Nicolas Slonimsky. Prof. C. W. T. Penland was also
announced in connection with an illustrated lecture.
Discussion on Inter-America teaching was planned to share the personal experiences of Mrs. Mathews herself,
Chairman of the Inter-America Committee for several years, and of Mrs. Louise Caswell, pioneer teacher settled in
Panama.
A program of public lectures was arranged in Half Way House, Colorado
Springs, with talks on the Cause by George
0. Latimer, Raphael Pumpelly, Mrs. Charles
Bishop, Marion Holley and Horace Holley.
PRoustEss OF TEMPLE ORNAMENTATION
Great progress was made in the external ornamentation of the BahI’i House of Worship at Wilmette between 1938 and
1940. The facts were presented by George 0. Latimer in his annual reports submitted on behalf of the Temple Trustees,
and the following excerpts are taken from his reports:— “On July 4, 1937, the Guardian sent an

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inspiring cable outlining live successive steps in Temple construction. At the beginning of the current year two of these steps had been
completed, and on June 6, 1938 Shoghi Effendi again cabled as follows: ‘Rejoiced thankful initiative resourcefulness newly elected
National Assembly prompting them signalize inauguration period stewardship by launching third stage in progressive unf oldment
seven year plan. Such far-sighted action evokes in me deepest longing that they will not alone accomplish placing final contract but
will have also ere expiry allotted year embarked on concluding stage by insuring uninterrupted prosecution of closing phase of an
enterprise which for no less than thirty years, has engaged attention and challenged resources of entire American Bahá’i community.’
“Since the receipt of this challenging cablegram the work of the ornamentation of the gallery section has been carried on slightly
ahead of schedule with the same excellent craftsmanship that has characterized the Dome ornamentation by the Earley Studio. When
work was discontinued on December 23, 1938, all of the contracted work had been completed except the upper sections of the nine
pylons. The remainder of the work of pouring the pylons will start about April 1, or when weather conditions are favorable, and
should be finished sometime in June, 1939. Mr. McDaniel has supervised the construction work on behalf of the Trustees and has
rendered monthly reports checking all items of expense. To date $111,785.40 has been expended on the contract for the gallery section
and there are sufficient funds on hand for the completion of the work, estimated at $125,000.00.
“The Trustees had been informed by the National Assembly that the Guardian had approved of placing the contract for the
ornamentation of the first story when one- half of the estimated cost of $150,000.00 for this work was at hand. In October it was
learned that savings in both time and cost could be effected if a contract were placed, before the completion of the gallery section, for
the execution of the hand-carved models for the first story, thus dividing the work in successive units. The Guardian approved the
placing of an immediate con-

tract for the models in a cable on November 29th, and on December 11, 1939, the Trustees signed an agreement with Mr. Earley for
making the models at a total estimated cost, including the contractor’s service fee, of $21,000.00.
“Mr. McDaniel informed the Trustees in October that a new source of supply of quartz needed in the external ornamentation had been
located nearer to the Earley Studio and that if Mr. Earley were authorized to purchase the quartz at this time, the cost would be about
$8.00 a ton, dehvered, thus effecting a saving of several dollars per ton in comparison with the original cost of the former quartz. It
was voted to authorize Mr. Earley to purchase SO tons of quartz a month, at $8.00 per ton, dehvered, until the amount needed for the
next contract is obtained. To date of this report 300 tons have been purchased and delivered at Rosslyn, Virginia, from the Annapolis
quarry.
“The Trustees were further notified of the most generous gift of the Guardian of One Thousand Pounds toward the Temple
construction fund and the linking of the memory of Bahiyyih Khánum with all future Temple construction. With this glorious start,
coupled with another munificent gift of $25,000.00 and payment of some substantial pledges by different Assemblies, the Trustees
entered into a second contract, dated February 4, 1940, with Mr. Earley for the making of the molds required for the exterior
ornamentation of the first story of the Temple. These two contracts for $21,000 and $29,000 respectively, plus an estimated $5,000 for
the necessary quartz, completes one-third of the required amount for the main story, leaving an estimated $95,000 still to be raised for
casting and applying the units to the first story. Thus, the fourth of the successive steps outlined by the Guardian has been taken, and
the Trustees feel assured that the fifth and final stage will be inaugurated by the friends well within the time allotted by the Seven Year
Plan.
“Mr. Earley completed his contract for the lower sections of the pylons of the main story of the Temple, and the Trustees have taken
steps to assure the continuation of the construction of the main story section

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

in the Spring of 1940 by asking for $50,- 000.00 by April 1st, in order to enter into the final contract for the ornamentation of the
Temple. This advance step makes it necessary to provide for the purchase of fill so that the plans for landscaping the grounds may be
completed. Arrangements have been made by the chairman of the maintenance committee, Mr. Scheffler, to secure the necessary fill
from excavations now being made at Northwestern University. Mr. Allen B. McDaniel has ably supervised the progress of the Temple
construction work of the Earley Studios and represented the Trustees in the contractural agreements.”
INCREASE IN NUMBER OF
LOCAL AssEMBLIEs
A total of twenty-four new Assemblies was established in North America between 1938 and 1940.
At the annual election held uniformly throughout the Bahá’i world on April 21,
1939, the new Assemblies formed were:
Knoxville, Tennessee; Jamestown, New York; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Helena,
Montana; Huntington Park, California; ‘Wauwatosa, ‘Wisconsin; Eagle River, ‘Wisconsin; East Cleveland, Ohio; Richmond
Highlands, Washington.
A year later the Assembly Roll included:
Alhambra, Burbank, Big Bear Lake, Beverly Hills and Santa Rosa, California; Hamilton, Ontario; West Haven, Connecticut; Atlanta,
Georgia; Oak Park and Waukegan, Ilhnois; Brookline, Massachusetts; Omaha, Nebraska; Salt Lake City, Utah; North Augusta, South
Carolina; and Madison, Wisconsin. By April 21, 1940, the American Bahá’i community contained one hundred and two local
Assemblies.
The same period also saw a large increase in the number of the incorporated Assemblies, the newly incorporated bodies being those of
Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, Phoenix, Portland, Lima, Columbus, Philadelphia, Jersey
City, Boston, Winnetka, ‘Wilmette, Peoria and Helena. By April 21, 1940, there were twenty-seven legally incorporated local Bahá’i
Assemblies in the United States and Canada.

recent change in the status of the local Bahá’i Assembly was the successful
application made by the Chicago Assembly for civil recognition of its right to conduct a legal marriage and file a marriage
certifièate. The Bahá’is have thus made a beginning in their fulfilment of the functions of an independent religion. Under the
controlling procedures explained by Shoghi Effendi, the Assembly Chairman or Secretary represents the Assembly in the conduct of
the marriage ceremony by the two contracting parties. Furthermore, before the Assembly can officially take part and issue the
certificate it must have in writing the consent of all four, or all surviving parents, to the proposed marriage.
BAHA’i EXHIBITS
The two great world’s fairs held during this period, at San Francisco and New York respectively, during two successive summer
seasons, afforded the American Bahá’is an extraordinary opportunity to present the teachings to the general public. In addition, the
local exhibits of the Temple model, Bahá’i books and other material greatly increased. As for the local and more informal type of
exhibit we have the following data reported by the Teaching Committee:— “Exhibits of the beautiful model of the
Temple give the teaching work great impetus in any area. Being tangible, it is something that can be easily grasped and discussed and
it thus provides unending opportunity to present the Teachings through publicity and directly to large groups.
“The results of these exhibits at fairs, conferences, and congresses cannot be measured or over-emphasized, and the Teaching
Committee would urge all Assemblies, teachers, and Regional Committees not to overlook any opportunity to arrange for a display of
a Temple model. The National Spiritual Assembly has made five models available to the Teaching Committee for this purpose and it
is important that they be kept in constant use.
“During the past year exhibits of the Temple model were arranged at Cornell University, at Vassar College during the World Youth
Congress, at Toronto during the Canadian National Exposition, at Albu

significant result of this comparatively

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querque at the New Mexico State Fair, at Urbana on the occasion of the meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly in that city, at
Port Huron, Flint, and Marysville in Michigan, at Santa Barbara, California, Wichita, Kansas, at the Temple of Religion and in the
Bahá’i booth at the World’s Fair in San Francisco.
“Various Assemblies throughout the country have purchased models and use them most effectively in local and extension teaching
activities.
“The Bahá’i Booth at the Canadian International Exposition attracted thousands, giving the attendant opportunity to teach, and
resulting in many fine contacts. Over 15,000 pieces of free literature were distributed.
“Perhaps the outstanding exhibit of the Temple model at State Fairs, was the one arranged by the Milwaukee Assembly, at the
Wisconsin State Fair. Attendants were present at the Booth responding to the many teaching opportunities presented. There were some
18,000 visitors at the Booth, and about 2500 pieces of literature were distributed.
“Another outstanding exhibit, was that in Sacramento, Cahf., at the annual flower show. This exhibit, prepared by the Junior Garden
Clubs of Sacramento, under Bahá’i direction, portrayed the Temple in a garden with flowers from all countries of the world. It was
especially mentioned by the Management, and won one of the first prixes.
“At Newark, New Jersey, the model was displayed at the ‘fair-o-scope’—a model of the New York World’s Fair in miniature. There
were about 4000 visitors daily. The management conceded that the Temple Model display was the outstanding single exhibit.
“Likewise requiring special mention, is the exhibit arranged in Butte, Montana, at the WPA Art Center. Groups were brought in from
all parts of the county to view it. One Photography Group made a special study of methods of photographing it. Inquiry has been
received as to whether we could permit this Model to be sent from Art center to Art center, throughout the State.
“At all exhibits where a Bahã’i Booth was maintained, an attendant was present at all times. Those interested were asked to reg iste

in guest books. These names and addresses were sent to the nearest Assembly, group, or Regional Committee for active follow-up.
The Chicago Assembly report that one of its outstanding teaching successes of the year, was the follow-up contacts made at the
various Fairs. One hundred fifty of these people responded to an invitation to a musicale and reception, planned by the Assembly to
establish a friendly contact, as a foundation for more direct presentation of the Faith.
“The records of the Teaching Committee show that there were thirty-seven displays of the Temple model this year; over 300,000
pieces of teaching literature were distributed, and the ‘Message’ given to thousands of people. Undoubtedly, other exhibits were
arranged by Assemblies owning Temple models, which were not reported to the Committee.”
Concerning the formal Bahá’i exhibits at the World’s Fairs we have special reports prepared by or for the Committees directly in
charge, for the 1939 season.
1. Nuw YORK WORLD’S FAIR
“From ten to ten, for over two months the Bahá’i Exhibit has been in operation at the World’s Fair. At the opening moment, April 30,
1939, it started work and since that time hundreds of thousands have passed by, some quickly, others stopping for varying periods. It is
truly a Visual Teaching, and it is a literal fulfilment of the old prophecy of ‘Writing on the Wall’ so that ‘He who runs may read.’ The
quotations in gold lettering are not only read but often copied, while the Temple model and the booklet furnish the other items of the
pictorial message.
“The mass of people has been representative of all types of men, women and children, constituting a cross section of humanity, not
alone in this country but from all parts of the world.
“The small Temple leaflet, with quotations, is given to all, the large one, by Genevieve Coy, to those showing real interest. The
illustrated postcard is given sometimes and in special cases additional literature, although our Exhibit is listed as a Book Exhibit and
not a Religious Propa

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

ganda effort. Also, as seems advisable, information is given regarding other centers and groups, books, magazines, summer schools,
youth meetings, lectures at the New York Center, and addresses in other cities and countries. Many repercussions should result from
this work.
“The response has been as varied as the people. Some are interested, others indifferent, a very few openly antagonistic, scornful or
derisive—a heartening number enthusiastic but often pessimistic about the accomplishment of so beautiful a plan. It seems fair to state
that there has been a gratifying response in both interest and sympathy. Hundreds of interviews of varying duration have taken place,
lasting from two minutes to two hours, or even longer. Groups have listened intently to descriptions of the Temple and Teachings.
Influence has been exerted in many interviews from the case where a man declared that he had decided because of the visit to the
Booth not to carry out his intention to destroy himself to those who simply say ‘I will take this home and look it over.’
“Our approach, naturally, is from many angles: The Temple; its meaning, structure and beauty; World peace; Unity, Oneness of
Mankind; Fulfilment of Prophecies; Comparative Religions; End of an Era; God’s plan for the World; World Order; Group Evolution,
etc. The most effective statement, possibly, is that this Movement stands for the elimination of all prejudice, national, racial, religious
and class, or that the coming struggle will not be between the different religions but between religion and no- religion.
“The volumes of the BAHA’i WORLD have been most useful, references to articles therein being of hourly occurrence, such as on
Esperanto Day, Czechoslovakian Day, etc. Also the translations of Dr. Esslemont’s book, and others, in the different languages arouse
interest.
“First in importance and size of the interested groups should, it would seem, be cited the immense number of people who know of or
live near the Temple, verifying ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement that it would be the Greatest Teacher. Even when the passers-by do not stop
one often hears:

‘I have seen that,’ ‘I live near that,’ ‘Isn’t it lovely?’ and such remarks from hour to hour. Many who know the building without being
aware of its purpose and meaning have promised to visit it.
“Then there are the many who have met Bahá’is and received the Message proving that work and effort are not wasted; vast numbers
of interested, keen and vital young people, especially young men, and the eager, bright-faced children who have listened in groups to
talks on the Temple promising to write essays about it in school and tell their teachers and parents of the experience.
“It seems just to say that fully as many men, especially young ones, as women, have shown sincere interest. Many of these have been
college students, some from Theological Seminaries. These have often said the Bahã’i Faith was taught in some of their courses and
an attempt was being made to have it included as the ninth great religion.
“Countless questions have been asked and answered to the best of the ability of the attendants. Only a small fraction can be referred to
here. These have included enquiries regarding healing, prayer, reincarnation, God and His Prophets, God’s reality and divinity, the
divinity of Bahá’u’llâh, if this is the Unity Movement, its relation to the Oxford Group, Christian Science, New Thought, if it is
Indian, Jewish, what God we worship, if we believe in Christ, the Bible and that Christ saved us from our sins through His blood, how
we pray, what our service is, if we are related to the Sufis, the Zoroastrians, how old the Movement is, how many Bahá’is there are,
how much the Temple has cost and will cost, when it wilh be finished, why religion has to come from the East, if this originated with
one of the ten sons of Abraham or one of his descendants, and many, many others, one of the most curious possibly being: ‘How much
Muliammedan Teaching will be included in your Laws and Precepts?’
“Over 70,000 booklets have been given out, to date, quite a number of people have signed the visitors’ book and will be followed up,
but this is not a thing the average person likes to do. Possibly they fear an annoying pursuit. A day-book is kept of a few of the
outstanding items of interest

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Bahá’i Exhibit, New York State Fair, Syracuse, 1939.

Temple Model on Display at a Florist’s Shop, San Francisco, California.
pict41.jpg

pict42.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

but this is very incomplete; the things happening too rapidly to allow of recording and there occur many duplications, of necessity.”
2. GOLDEN GATE INTERNATIONAL
EXPOSITION
“Two exhibits of the model of the Bahã’i Temple at the Golden Gate International Exposition held in San Francisco from February 18
to October 29, 1939, created widespread interest in the principles of the Bahá’i Faith, and secured far-reaching and excellent
publicity. One of the exhibits, in the Bahá’i Booth conltructed in the Homel and Gardens Building, was viewed by thousands upon
thousands of people; approximately 100,000 people stopping to ask questions and over 50,000 pieces of Bahá’i literature being
distributed. The other exhibit was in the Exhibit Rooms of the Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace. At this exhibit it was
permissible to exhibit the model only. The Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace officers estimate over 500,000 people viewed the
various exhibits of religious objects, ancient and modern, and of practically all living Faiths, presented in the four large exhibit rooms
of this unique structure.
Bahd’I Booth, Homes and Gardens Building
“The model in the Homes and Gardens Building, was displayed in a special booth constructed and maintained by the Bahá’is of the
San Francisco Bay Region. This building was open every day from ten o’clock in the morning until ten o’clock in the evening.
Members of the several Bahá’i communities acted as attendants at the booth to distribute literature and answer the questions of those
interested and desirous of learning more of the Bahã’i Faith. For the technically-minded there was conveniently at hand a piece of the
ornamental carving of the Temple itself, to show the actual building material and intricate detail of the exterior ornamentation of the
Bahá’i House of Worship.
“The Booth, designed by Phoebe H. Brown, a young architect of San Francisco, is 7’/ x 19 feet. The simplicity of Miss Brown’s plan,
so skilfully adapted to the space available, has stirred the admiration of
every advertising and display expert who has viewed the exhibit; and repeated visits have been made by artists, architects, and artisans
of many crafts. The curve of the background and the graceful rise of the sand colored ramp have given to the shallow footage an
impression of surprising depth. Enthusiastically a well-known showman pointed out to his companions: ‘See the perfect lines of that
ramp sweeping up to the temple! They make it look like a pinnacle upon a mountain top!’ This effect is intensified by a starlike
spotlight above the model, the luminous whiteness of which is further enhanced by the soft marine blue of the blackground whereon
are dimly indicated, in darker blue, the continents of the world.
“The oval curve of the highly polished black composition flooring cleverly accentuates the rhythm of the design.
“Identifying the exhibit, on the upper left hand edge of the wall, is the word BAHA’I, in raised letters cut out of wood. These letters
are a dull silver, as are also those comprising a quotation from the Tablet of Wisdom by Bahá’u’lláh:

‘This handful of dust, the world, is one home:

Let it be in unity.’

“A glossy-leafed Philodendron set in a corner adds to the whole a touch of living green.
“It is impossible to give any idea of the interest aroused by the Temple, nor of the thousands of questions concerning the Faith, and its
relation to existing religious movements. In every way was it demonstrated that the Temple is the ‘greatest teacher,’ as ‘Abdu’l-Bahã
promised it would be, many years ago.
“Though the majority of the visitors to the Exhibit were from local areas, a large proportion were travelers from all the States and
Canada and not a few from points around the world such as Alaska, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, India, England, Sweden,
Jamaica, Argentina. The international contacts included a young Colombian who had attended Bahá’i meetings in Milwaukee and was
soon to return to Colombia. He left his address and took some of the literature. A Chinese gentleman with

THE BAHA’I WORLD

his family from Shanghai who knew Martha Root and Roy Wilhelm admired the Exhibit and exchanged greetings. An Egyptian who
has visited ‘Akkf and Haifa was glad to have some of the Teachings explained and said he was greatly enlightened about the Bahá’is.
“Bahá’i public activities in connection with the Bahf’i Booth consisted of a series of lectures in a Lecture Hall in the Homes and
Gardens Building, immediately adjoining the Bahá’i Booth, on the general subject of ‘Temple Builders,’ with slides showing the
progress of the construction of the Bahá’i Temple. In this same Hall on the afternoon of October 15, a Regional Conference of the
Bahá’is of the Pacific Coast with the National Spiritual Assembly was held.
“The relations established with the officers and employes of the Golden Gate International Exposition were most cordial, and in every
contact relating to our contract for space, etc., increased friendliness for the Faith was shown. Due to one of the exhibitors building
into our original space (9 x 7’/2) it was necessary for us to see the Chairman of the Board of the entire Exposition, renewing a Bahá’i
contact previously made; resulting in the Exposition people adjusting our space to a new location, and increasing the size without
additional cost to 19 x 7’/s feet. The Committee in charge were greatly pleased to receive the following letter dated October 20th,
1939, from Director of the Exhibits Department of the Golden Gate International Exposition.
“The idea for the erection of an inter- religious structure to set the spiritual tone of the Exposition was the inspiration of Dr. W. Clyde
Smith, Executive Secretary of the San Francisco Presbytery. He first interested a small group which soon expanded into a Committee
of One Hundred designed to embrace followers of all faiths; later developing a corporation having direction of all official
religious activities of the Exposition. Through the aid of Governor Frank F. Merriam, Honorary President, an appropriation was
granted by the State of California, while public-spirited citizens and religious organizations—among them the San Francisco Bahá’i
Community—contributed the remainder necessary to insure the success of the project. One of the Bahã’is of San Fran-

cisco was invited to become one of the Directors of the Organization, while another was appointed on the Committee of
One Hundred. Rabbi Rudolph I. Coffee was elected President and Mr. William Unmack, Managing Director of the
organization. It is of more than passing interest to the Bahf’is, that when the San Francisco Friends in 1925 conceived
the idea of a World Unity Conference, the first to be held, Dr. Coffee cooperated in every way with this Bahá’i activity
and served as President of the Committee in Charge, while Mr. Unmack served the Conference by taking charge of
publicity, etc.
“The model rests upon a broad pedestal covered with dark blue velvet, the drape behind it being of the same material.
A nickel railing around three sides protects the exhibit from too close encroachment by the visiting public. Half a
million people passed through the Hall, which ‘houses the greatest collection of exhibits having historical and
educational religious significance ever assembled under one roof, and emphasizes contributions made by religions to
Human Welfare throughout the world.’
“Sunday, July 16, was assigned to the Bahá’is, that date having been designated as Bahd’I Day on the official
Exposition program. At 2:30 o’clock in the afternoon the Bahá’is of the San Francisco Bay Region sponsored a
Religious Unity Service, at which Mrs. Ella G. Cooper was Chairman, the speakers being Mr. Willard Hatch of Los
Angeles, and Mr. Anthony Y. Seto and Mr. Leroy loas of San Francisco. A number of the Friends at the Bahf’i
Summer School at Geyserville made the 75-mile trip to attend the meeting. Before returning to Geyserville in the
evening they had a hasty glimpse of the Exposition and its wonderful multicolored night lighting.
“Sunday, October 15, designated again by the Exposition Officers as Bahd’i Day, brought the Bahá’is together from all
Pacific Coast points, when the National Spiritual Assembly conducted the Vesper Services, and held a meeting in the
Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, dedicated to Religion and World Peace. Mrs. Ella G. Cooper served as
Chaiman of the Vesper Service, while Mr. Harlan Ober spoke on

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

The Need for a Spiritual Renaissance. Mrs.
Thomas H. Collins read appropriate excerpts
from the Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahd’u’lldh. For the Public evening meeting,
Mrs. Stuart W. French served as Chairman;
THIS subject has been developed more extensively in reports prepared on the various schools in America, England,
Iran, India and Burma, and Australia than could be done in the summarized references already included in this
international survey.
First we are indebted to Mrs. Helen Bishop for the following presentation of material on the three American Schools:
“The reprint of formal programs given at the three Bahá’i Summer Schools during the seasons of 1938 and 1939 are a
record of fact, but do not account for the full events which transformed attitudes. These are forever recorded in the
inner history of individuals who participated in such activities.
“Some day the trained observer will attend the sessions of these Summer Schools: by a rare combination of psychology
and insight, he will perceive the change of attitudes, which mark the true progress of the individual’s relation to the
group or the group’s reaction to an individual. Analyzing more deeply, the individual’s acceptance of the Word of God
has changed his relation to himself, and thereby brought about a tnse relation to others, in turn bringing forth from them
a recognition of his life in the life of the group.
“This new type of sociologist will perceive the evidences of a collective spirit that en- forms the activities of each
Summer School. A collective spirit, which is able to subdue the self-assertive or habitually aggressive person. The
spirit persuades the timid to forget themselves in the happy meeting with others. It is the spirit which discovers new
talent by making the unaware conscious of their ability to do old things in a new way, or more rarely, new things in a
new way. It is spirit that leads ever onwards, widening or deepening expression of the appeal made by travelling
teachers. The all-embracing spirit of Bahá’i Faith does not insure that the personal love between individuals be uni whil

the speakers were Mr. Louis G. Gregory, with the subject The Oneness of Religion, and Mr. Allen B. McDaniel,
speaking on the subject World Faith—The Basis for World Peace.
formly enjoyed, but it does demonstrate that conflicts between personalities can be resolved by mutual recognition of
the relationship that the other sustains, not to oneself, but to Bahá’u’lláh. If we but allow it, His Spirit can turn all types,
temperaments and mentalities to focus upon an impersonal work, which is more far-reaching in its victory than any one
of us could be in his success.
“Wanting the researches of this as yet unconvinced sociologist, the plain testimony of the friends argues that the
Summer School Communities have a growing sense of oneness in the Spirit, and are making increased application of
the Bahá’i Administrative principles in their form.
“As in the permanent Communities, the Administrative Procedure has enabled the Schools to reach a technique of
approach to the inevitable problems of group life. The Committees are able to ascertain the type of instruction needed
by newcomers and wanted by the Bahá’is for themselves; and, in Committee this is done more comprehensively than
any single member thereof could dictate or inspire on the basis of his non- academic calling or even of his academic
tradition.
“By this method a distinctive type of curriculum has been formulated, distinctive because the findings of history and
social science are being related to the Word of God in cycles past and present. Bahá’i epistomology is rooted in divine
Revelation: all human knowledge is derived from that original knowledge of God in the Manifestation of His qualities,
powers, and relations. The World of Emanation is made apparent as the Cause of the World of Creation to the end that
oneness and unity may be recognized and understood. Thus the old strife between Spirit and matter ceases in these
courses of study, where science and religion are reconciled.

BAHA’f SUMMER SCHOOLS

THE BAHA’I WORLD

“To balance the emphasis placed upon the exterior principles of Bahá’i Administrative Procedure, the friends have entered into further
communion with the Spirit of Bahá’i Faith. This they do through the morning devotions practised in all three schools before the
classwork; and by courses suggesting the values to be found in meditation and prayer. The recent stir in this direction can be traced to
the timely publication of The Prayers and Meditations of Bahá’u’lldh, translated by Shoghi Effendi, and put into the hands of
the friends for the Nineteen- Day Fast of March in 1938. Although individuals essayed to mount this slope of consecration, it was the
schools of that summer which gave an opportunity for a shared and communicative experience in the use of this cherished Gift. Ever
since, its meanings have become more accessible, while its companionship is an influence which cannot be confined, but must
penetrate and chasten the everyday life.
“As previous issues of THE BAHA’i WORLD have printed photographs of the three Summer Schools, showing the landscape,
properties, and friends in action, this issue carries forward the development in courses of study.
GREEN ACRE 1938 AND 1939
“Green Acre at Eliot, Maine, is favored with a landscape of quiet yet subtle beauty and is rich in historical associations. Its founder,
Miss Sarah Farmer, as early as 1894 gathered the fruits of New England’s transcendentalism and offered a large public the opportunity
to seek truth and certainty at this liberal ceuter of learning. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s presence there in 1912 verified its founder’s vision and
gave the vista looking towards the university of the future.
“Special features of the 1938 season were the advanced classes in Esperanto given by Miss Lidia Zamenhof, daughter of the founder
of this international language. Youth Week was an intensive conference from July
24-31. A Peace Pageant in the pines, and a Peace Program are rememberable events of the Labor Day festivities. Throughout the
season, a variety of subjects were presented at the evening meetings, whenever social activities, games, or a dance were not arranged.

“In July and August the following courses were presented:
The Future World Commonwealth, Mr.
Horace Holley.
Education for the New Humanity, Dr. Glenn A. Shook.
Internationalism, Path to Peace, Marion Holley.
Spiritual Development and Law, Mrs. Dorothy Baker.
Comparative Religion, Doris and Willard McKay.
Prayer and Meditation, Mme. Orlova and Mrs. Schopflocher.
The Bahá’i Teachings, Mrs. Mamie L. Seto.
“The Transformation of Human Society,
a course by Horace Holley, utilized the intellectual resources of the twentieth century, as anticipated by the outline:
Man in nature, man in civilization: The religion of primitive man. Nature repeats, society evolves. The culture of the
age of territorial isolation. Science displaces the ancient environment.
A World in Conflict: Nationahsm and the fallacy of isolation. Class interests disrupt the agricultural nation. The rise of
economic nationalism. The meaning of communism, fascism and naziism. The true basis of sociology.
Psychology the field of the conflict: The decay of spiritual awareness and the rise of scientific psychology.
Development of modern psychology. The existing schools of psychology. The Bahá’i doctrine of soul, mind and spirit.
Religion and civilization: The rhythm of human existence. Four stages in the life and death of faith. Secular
individualism the end of the age.
The World an Organism: Bahf’u’llâh establishes a true human status. The morality of world unity. The League of
Nations a human expedient: World Order a divine creation. The source of social transformation. A new stage of human
evolution.
“The first week in July of 1939, a Laboratory Course was given by Mrs. Wendell Bacon, Mrs. Charles Bishop and
Professor Shook. The latter’s outline presents the Faith in all its aspects and is available to students by request. Mr.
Allen McDaniel’s treatment

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

of the ‘World Order Letters was helpful; and Professor Stanwood Cobb narrated the history of Islam, then traced its influence,—in
lectures of much content and charm. The third week, spiritual values were set forth by Mr. F. St. George Spendlove in a course aptly
named The Meaning of Life; followed by Mrs. Orcella Rexford’s practical advices on Positive Living.
“From July 2 3-29, the Youth convened for their session, which is becoming ever more popular. Meanwhile, the special evening
meetings engaged the aid of many friends. Stories from The Dawn-Breakers were told by Mr. Louis Gregory.
“At the close of the season, classes in Esperanto were given by Miss Roan Orloff; also, a Laboratory Teaching Course, with
psychological method, by Dr. Genevieve Coy. From the end of July to September the program reads:
The Dawn-Breakers, Mr. Rinaldo Quigley. Prayer and Meditation, Mr. and Mrs. ‘Willard McKay.
The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys. Dr. ‘Ali-Kuli-Khan.
Spreading the News Behind the News, Mrs. Dudley M. Blakely.
History in the Making, Dr. Glenn A. Shook.
Administration, Mr. Horace Holley.
Humanity’s Coming of Age, Mrs. Schopflocher.
LOUHELEN 1938 AND 1939
“This fine ranch has been steadily improved by Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Eggleston in order to increase the facilities for the Summer School
guests. A Library Building is the new feature of 1939, for which is intended books on a universal art and science besides the complete
set of Bahá’i literature.
“During the General sessions of 1938 many teachers of national standing participated in the classwork, as well as in the public
meetings, which were an encouragement to inquirers from the neighboring countryside and the towns. Many of these had first heard of
the Bahá’i Faith when the Summer School activities were given favorable publicity in the press of nearby towns. Reporters visit the
School and share the common tables. In 1939, a notable piece of

publicity gave with the write-up a set of pictures showing the students in class, at active sports, and in the dining hall at table.
“The live-wire Publicity Committee, the Program Committee, and the Youth Committee have co-ordinated their effort to consolidate
this Bahã’i institution; and the friends throughout the Central States have made it the rallying center wherein their knowledge may
deepen and their efforts spread out for the growth of the Cause.
“The Laboratory Course conducted by Mr. Wm. Kenneth Christian for the Youth sessions of 1938 was a stride towards a more
thorough concentration, not without influence in the other Schools as well. Under his method, the students became familiar with the
Bahl’i bibliography, and learned how to pursue the wanted facts, then to assemble material for presentation in proper form.
“At these same sessions, Mrs. Mamie L. Seto gave the spiritual Teachings in a course which can be anticipated through its key verse
from Bahá’u’lláh: ‘. . . all that which ye potentially possess can, however, be manifested only as the result of your own volition.’
“In 1939, the first Youth Session was held June 25-29, with the following program announced:
Character Building, Miss Flora Hottes.
The Promise of All Ages, Mr. Wm. Kenneth Christian.
The Prophet of Arabia, Mr. N. H. Firoozi.
The laws of Bahá’u’llah, Mr. Clarence Niss.
“The Laboratory Session of July 2-11 enjoyed the applied Administration conducted by Mr. Harlan Ober, wherein actual practice was
given in electing a Local Assembly, appointed committees of which did publicity work in the nearby towns, and dealt with typical
administrative problems. Public speaking instruction was given by professional skill. A survey of Bahá’i Writings and research therein
was presented by Mrs. Mabel Paine.
“At the General Session of August 6-13, 1939, the program was:
The Administrative Order, Mr. Curtis Kelsey.
The Culture of Islam, Mrs. Charles Bishop.
The Art of Living, Mrs. Wendell Bacon.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

“And a series of sketches on assorted themes in the inimitable manner of Marzieh Nabil Carpenter (now Mrs. Harold Gail).
“At the Second Youth Session, August 16- 20, 1939, Mrs. Virginia Camelon gave exceedingly good talks on the Bahá’i standards of
conduct, Character Building. Mrs. Charles Bishop repeated the course on Islam, but with adaptations. The Laws of Bahã’u’llãh
were treated by Mr. Carl Scheffier; and the World Order Letters of Shoghi Effendi by Mrs. Carpenter.
GEv5ERvILLE 1938 AND 1939
“These sessions followed the indicated policy of presenting historical and religious topics in line with Bahá’i Faith. This practice
seems to bring a large attendance of folk from the valley, which is, in turn, one indication of the fairly widespread recognition given to
this center of study. As in the past, public meetings were held at the county seat of Santa Rosa, twenty-five miles away.
“The session of July 4-16, 1938, offered two courses, The Unfoldment of World Civilization and The Rise and Expansion of
Christianity. The first defines the New, and

the second entails an account of the old Dispensation.
“For the first course, the concepts of civilization and culture were analyzed in an ethnological sense, as well as in the
light of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s distinction between material and divine civilization. The forms of culture, its laws and
institutions were defined; and the evidences of cycles set forth. Our time as the period of maturity for the human race,
and the realization by man of mankind’s oneness was affirmed as the cardinal message of Bahá’i Faith and the spiritual
basis of the World Order of Bahã’u’lláh.
“The Rise and Expansion of Christianity began with the background of conflict between Judaism and its polytheistic
rivals, setting the stage for the divine Manifestation of the Christ. The early spirit of Christianity was accented; the
primitive Church was described; the development of theocracy was traced; and the significance of the period known as
‘The Dark Ages’ was told. At the close of this cycle, the trend is towards the secularization of thought, the rise of an
independent science, and the increasing division of Christendom into sectarianism and modernisms. The culmination is
the divorce between religion and daily life.

Exhibit in Public Library, Yonkers, N. Y.
pict43.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

“Friends from Los Angeles to Vancouver,
Canada, and from as far East as Maine collaborated on the teaching staff. Among
them were Mr. George Latimer, Mrs. Charles
Bishop, Miss Charlotte Linfoot, Miss May
McKenna, Professor Forsyth Ward, Mrs.
Rouan Carter, Mr. ‘Au Yazdi, Mr. Irvin
Somerhalder, Mr. and Mrs. Seto, Mr. and
Mrs. Schopfiocher, Miss Virginia Orbison,
Mrs. Joyce Lyon Dahl, Miss Marion Holley,
Mrs. Beulah Lewis.
“Miss Agnes Alexander of Honolulu shared her pilgrim’s visit with the friends. For years she has been serving the
Cause in Japan, and visited the School en route home
—the long way around. Another traveler was Mr. Mark Tobey, on leave of absence from Dartington Hall, Devonshire,
England. His courses on art appreciation stressed the relation of beauty to life—which is not new
—and of the artist to the community— which is new, necessitating as it does the use of concepts inherent in the
Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. The theme was continued by Mr. Tobey in his talks of the following summer.
“In 1939, the School gained a week, July
2-23. The first course, The Spiritual Unfoldment of Humanity, posited religion as the source of mankind’s creativeness.
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’i Faith were studied as progressive Revelations of one Religion from God,
established by His Prophets. To the Bahá’i Faith, the last in point of time, it is given to establish God’s Kingdom on
earth.
“The second course, Bridges of Human Relationship, treated the sciences as ways of approaching man and the world.
Physical science, political science, sociology, and psychology were searched for their contributions to human welfare,
and their points of contact with spiritualized man. Race relations and religion were recreated in the light of Bahá’i
Faith.
“An innovation at Geyserville in 1939 was the specialized activities for the youth, summarized as The Young Ba/nfl in
the World Today, and held in conjunction with the regular session. Under the direction of Marion Holley, with Virginia
Orbison and Marzieh Carpenter as colleagues, a group activity was maintained. Its constructive

value can be sounded by a letter of those summer days:
‘What I really learned is that the human animal responds to environment. We created one in which the young people could work
—and they did work! Besides two classes a day, there were afternoon projects daily, resulting in newspaper publicity three times,
contacts (about twenty-five), a pageant which was really effective, the best public meeting of all, a symphony night with comments,
decorations for the dance, entertainment and a meeting for six or seven visiting youth over one weekend, and many contributions to
the regular session by way of reading aloud and discussion. Also, the whole class came down to give the School a demonstration of
method, for my talk at the regular session. Yes, I learned about the human being—but I also learned that it is awfully strenuous. . .
The School maintained by the British Bahá’is in 1939 has been reported by the National Spiritual Assembly:
“The Bahá’i Summer School is the most important institution in England for teaching the Cause of Bahá’u’llIh. More ambitious in
every way than the three previous ones, the fourth Summer School brought correspondingly greater and more encouraging results.
More than a hundred people visited it, indicating its steadily increasing interest to both believers and enquirers. The spirit of real
friendship, sympathy, and understanding engendered amongst such a widely diverse group of individuals, was convincing proof of the
unifying power of the Teachings of BahI’u’lláh.
“The School was opened by Lady Blomfield, who, as always, brought the spirit of the Master close to each one of us by her vivid and
beautiful descriptions of many of the precious incidents which occurred during His stay in her house, in London. A cable was then
sent to our beloved Guardian, to which he sent an inspiring reply.
“The lectures were of high standard and though comprehensive, followed an orderly course, beginning with a survey of the nature of
the present world struggle, then tracing the growth and development of man as an individual and mankind as a collective body,
presenting the main problems con-

THE BAHA’I WORLD

fronting the world today and offering the solutions of Bahá’u’lláh, outlining the Bahá’i vision of a New World Order and culminating
in the presentation of the Word of Bahá’u’lláh as the focus of all power.
“Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Baha have emphasized the importance of art in the hfe of man. Bahá’u’lláh tells us that sanctified and
detached souls ‘constitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest,’ and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
tells us that the Sun of Truth, shining on the mind of the artist, is mirrored forth in great works of art. Therefore an experiment was
made this year in inviting a larger number of non-Bahá’i speakers than previously, to lecture on their own specialized branches of art —
the dance, drama, music and the crafts. The result was strikingly significant. At least four different lecturers came to the conclusion
that in their particular field art had reached a standstill owing to the poverty of human creativeness

—a convincing proof that the artistic spirit needs the new creative impulse of Bahi’u’llãh.
“The peak of Summer School was reached at bank holiday week-end, August 5-7, when the greatest attendance was
recorded and the radiance of the gathering was so apparent as to arouse comment. It was during this week-end that the
National Spiritual Assembly received its Incorporation Certificate. Archdeacon Townshend’s challenging book The
Heart of the Gospel appeared at this time and the author himself was present. Dr. ‘All, a member of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and Burma, Mr. W. J. Grant, late editor of the Rangoon Times and a proven
friend of the Faith, Chief Jono Kenyatta of Kenya, the eminent anthropologist, were among the distinguished visitors.
Mr. Wm. Kenneth Christian and Miss Virginia Setz were welcome visitors from America. Mr. Christian gave an
interesting description of the Summer Schools in America.

0” ?‘[ -:- S ‘

N

The Souvenir Feast of Unity of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá observed annually at Evergreen Cabin, West Englewood, New Jersey and celebrated
this year 1939 on Saturday, June 24.
pict44.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

“The setting of School was most delightful. Beautiful spacious grounds, with ample facilities for games, in the heart of a lovely
countryside; an ideal place for relaxation and for study.
“Most of those present must have been conscious of the nearness of the final stages of the world struggle. They must have had too,
intimations of the greatness of the privilege, and of the responsibility, of being identified with a nascent world faith in an age of doubt
and fear. Summer School is a growing, consolidating institution, becoming established in a rapidly crumbling world. It has provided
once again an incentive to activity and cooperation among the Bahâ’i communities. ‘We shall make efforts to maintain it.”
The second annual session of the School founded by Mr. and Mrs. Bolton at Yerrinbool, New South Wales, has been described by the
School Committee as follows:
“The second Bahá’i Summer School in Australia was held at ‘Bolton Place,’ Yerrinbool, N. S. W., from January 7th to January 15th,
1939. It was most gratifying to see the increased numbers over last year. Friends from distant cities commenced arriving at Yerrinbool
on January 7th and by 11 a. m. on Sunday, January 8th, all friends from afar and locally had congregated at ‘Bolton Place.’ At 11:30 a.
m. the Chairman, Stanley Bolton, called all to attention, asking Mr. 0. Whitaker to say the prayer, ‘For All Nations.’ Mrs. Mariette
Bolton extended a welcome to all present. The following cable was then joyously read from our Beloved Guardian:
‘Assure attendants Summer School special prayers success urge intensely study teachings deepen spirit Bahá’i fellowship extend
scope activities.’—SHoGHs.
“Letters of greetings were then read from the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand, the local Spiritual Assembly
of Sydney, Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn, the Australian pioneers, Miss Margaret Stevenson, Miss E. Blundell, and Miss D. Burns and
Miss F. Dc Lisle of Auckland, New Zealand, Mrs. A. Miller of Perth, Western Australia, Miss Greta Lamprill and Miss Jensen of
Hobart, Tasmania, Mrs. M. Dixon and Mrs. Wheeler of Melbourne, Miss Effie

Baker of Victoria and Mrs. Maysie Almond of Adelaide, South Australia.
“The Chairman then called upon Mrs. Dewing of Auckland, New Zealand, Miss Dorothy Dugdale and Miss Ethel Dawe of Adelaide.
These three ladies extended personal love and greetings from their respective communities. The meeting of welcome then closed with
a prayer for unity after which all gathered together for a community luncheon.
“Sunday afternoon, January 8th, at 2:30 p. m., all the friends with the residents of the local community assembled at the Yerrinbool
Public Hall to listen to a lecture given by Mrs. 0. Routh, the subject being The Bahd’I Message to Man/rind. Although a very hot
day everyone was most attentive to the Message. The Chairman for the afternoon, Mr. 0. Whitaker, then extended to everyone present
a welcome to attend the Summer School sessions. After the lecture Bahá’i literature was distributed, after which all assembled outside
the hall for a photograph.
“Commencing on Monday morning, January 9th, and continuous until January 15th, the program arranged by the Yerrinbool Bahá’i
Summer School Committee, was followed. A number of the friends from all over Australia and New Zealand who were unable to
attend the school most generously contributed by sending in papers to be read which were enjoyed to the fullest extent. Those sending
in papers were Mr. Miller, Mr. David Miller, Miss Gretta Lamprell, Miss E. Blundell, Mr. 0. Whitaker, Miss M. Rowling, Miss Dc
Lisle, Mrs. M. Almond, Mrs. M. Dixon, Miss Burns.
“The sessions opened each morning at 9:30 a. m. with 15 minutes for devotions followed by the subjects for 2 hours.
“On Monday evening, January 9th, the friends visited the home of one of the local community at which time all details of program
were discussed followed by prayer. On Tuesday afternoon, January 10th, at the invitation of an investigator, the friends journeyed to
Mittagong, 7 miles from Yerrinbool, where they had been invited to attend a conference of the Student Christian Movement held at
Frensham College, one of the State’s leading Oolleges for ladies. There

THE BAHA’ WORLD

were three hundred in attendance and the Bahá’is were invited to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dams of Bowral where they had invited a
number of friends, 20 in number, among them being a noted clergy and a representative of the local newspaper. Questions and
answers were the topics of the evening’s discussion.
“On Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p. m. all the friends gathered at the home of one of the local community to hsten to a radio
broadcast by Miss Ethel Dawe, one of our attendants at the Summer School. In the evening a round table discussion took place
followed by prayers. On Friday evening,

January 13th, the local community held a social function in their Hall to which all the Bahá’is were invited. All had a most enjoyable
evening in spite of excessively hot weather. On Sunday morning at 10 a. m. the local children were all invited to ‘Bolton Place’
regular Rose Garden Sunday School. The visiting Bahá’is spoke to the children. On Sunday afternoon a community picnic was held at
which 63 were present. A real Bahã’i community spirit was demonstrated and all enjoyed themselves with peace, love and harmony.
This concluded the Bahá’i Summer School for 1939 which in every way showed an increase on our previous year.”

THE INTERNATIONAL BAHA’t BUREAU

HE maintenance of this Bahâ’i center has been a signal spiritual victory for the Faith, one achieved by Mrs. Anne
Lynch who under apparently insuperable difficulty has continued to discharge its functions with heroic courage.
One by one its normal areas of contact and correspondence have been cut off by the international difficulties, but the
Bureau has concentrated the important task of printing translations of Bahá’i books and pamphlets and at the same time
has served not only visitors from other lands who came to the Bureau but also those who were still able to
communicate by letter. Furthermore, during the year ending April, 1940, it produced the first Bahá’i publication in the
Swiss language.
In 1939 the Bureau brought out a German translation of Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era by J. E. Esslemont, making
available the latest revised text which had been in process of publication in another country of Europe until Bahá’i
activities were batned. Copies of this important work were distributed far and wide, and those obtained by the
American Publishing Committee have made possible a number of valuable teaching opportunities both in North and
South America.
In 1940 the Bureau issued the Polish trans latio

made by Lidia Zamenhof of the same work, after solving innumerable problems in a miraculous way. Among the 17,000 young men
of Polish nationality interned in Switzerland copies of this translation were given wide circulation through the forty-eight Camp
Libraries maintained for these internees. Two copies of the book were presented to each of these Libraries.
The Swiss translation of a pamphlet entitled Dens Neuen Zeitalter Enigegen, made possible by the donation given by a Bahá’i of
Zurich, Leo Bernhard, brings one more of the world’s language groups into the orbit of the sun of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. The
pamphlet, prepared after correspondence with the Guardian, consists of a compilation on the history and teachings of the Faith,
preceded by an introductory statement written by Mr. Semle.
A large number of inquiries were received after the first publicity on this pamphlet appeared in a paper of Zurich.
The Bureau in 1940 also mimeographed and distributed widely a number of Tablets and passages from Bahá”i writings translated into
French, German and Russian. A monthly teaching bulletin for German-reading Swiss has been maintained.

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

DONATION OF LAND IN SOUTHERN PALESTINE

A DONATION of property made by Natib Halabi has been transferred to the Palestine Branch of the American
National Spiritual Assembly. Mr. Halabi, at the time Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Damascus,
wished to present a tract of approximately 10,000 sq. metres to the Cause, and at the Guardian’s request had the
property recorded for ownership by the Palestine Branch.

In previous volumes of this biennial record the origin and development of the Palestine Branch of the American
Assembly has been described. It holds title to a number of tracts in the vicinity of the Shrines on Mount Carmel
purchased by individual American believers for the protection of the Faith and transferred to this Bahá’i religious
society administered by the Guardian as its recorded agent and representative.

THE WORLDWIDE BAHA’i COMMUNITY

STUDENTS of spiritual reality at this time of world destruction and world renewal may well ponder the fact that
followers of Bahá’u’lláh by 1940 were to be found in more than sixty countries of East and West. Swiftly the universal
character of this Faith is being demonstrated by the universality of its membership. In many of these countries the
Bahá’i community is small and weak in numbers, in others it has attained a certain degree of power and experience for
unified effort.
The testimony afforded by the spread of Bahá’i literature is most impressive. By 1940 Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era
by J. E. Esslemont had been translated into thirty- five languages. Furthermore it has been transcribed into Braille texts
for the blind in English, Esperanto and Japanese.
Incorporated or legally recognized National Spiritual Assemblies exist in North America, Egypt, the British Isles, India
and Burma. Incorporated local Spiritual Assemblies existed by April, 1940, in twenty- seven cities of North America,
and in Sydney, Auckland, Adelaide, Poona, Bombay, Daidanav, Mandalay, Rangoon, Calcutta, Delhi and Karachi.
Plans for the incorporation of at least eight other local Assemblies were also under way in the United States and Canada
which can be reported in the next biennial record. Most of the Central and South American countries now have Bahá’is.
A true world commonwealth is coming into being. No one can survey the vast number of signs and evidences of its
gathering power and its unified spirit without a

feeling of reverence and elation that such a Cause actually exists on the earth. Though the evidences, examined one by
one, appear trivial in comparison to activities and undertakings of the old order, nevertheless their combined weight is
the very essence of proof to the sincere that Bahi’u’lláh has revivified mankind and given the human soul new life and
larger capacity.
As Shoghi Effendi wrote in The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lldh:
“Let no one, while this System is in its infancy, misconstrue its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its
purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God’s immutable Purpose for mankind in this
day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than Bahá’u’lláh Himself. Its shield and defender
are the embattled hosts of the Abhá Kingdom. Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have
offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve is the authentic
provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’lBahâ. Its guiding principles are the truths which He Who is the
unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West.
The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitáb-i-
Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the
Mashriqu’l— Adhkár and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its

THE BAHA’T WORLD

in Window of Red Bank Red Bank, N. J., 1939.

Register, the Local Paper of

Temple Model Displayed by Louhelen Summer School at the Flint, Michigan,
Flower Show.

Temple Model on Exhibition in a store in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Temple Model Displayed
pict45.jpg

pict46.jpg

pict47.jpg

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CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which
animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Bahá’u’lláh. The methods it employs, the standard it
inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile,
ANNU
AS
Bahã’i year now drawing to a close has witnessed the stage of definite crisis in human affairs, the vanishing of hopes to avert
catastrophe by human power, a great progress in the achievement of the Seven Year Plan, the Guardian’s inspiring action in
associating the revered name of the Greatest Holy Leaf with Temple construction, his renewed and stirring call for pioneers in the
teaching field, and his spiritual gift and blessing to all American Bahá’is through the general letter dated December 25, 1938. Such
events and conditions, more sharply contrasting the old order with the new, make us realize that North America has become the
theatre in which is being enacted a scene of transcendent importance in the majestic unfoldment of God’s Faith upon earth.
To attain a full inward realization of that truth, to fit ourselves, individually and collectively, for service to the Divine Will at the
turning point in human history, taking our stand entirely within the spirit and activity of the Faith and leaving behind the false hopes
and doomed desires of the worldly life—this, indeed, constitutes the essence of the significance of the year that ends; and the
historical record of that period has real value only as it may contribute to our capacity for deeper experience, purer vision and more
vahant action. History, to the Bahá’i, is not a tie with past human limitations but an increasing possibility to attain a future conforming
to the Will of God.
This Bahá’i year was born in the response made by the believers assembled at the last Convention to the Guardian’s words, “draw
nigh unto Bahá’u’lláh that He may draw

neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the ‘Most Great
Peace’; its consummation the advent of that golden millenium—the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the
Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Bahã’u’lláh.”
ITUAL HE
nigh unto them,” to Shoghi Effendi’s presentation of locks of Bahá’u’lláh, to the cablegram reporting the ascension of the Holy
Mother, Munirih Khánum, and to the sudden and unexpected death of Mrs. Grace Ober while reporting her teaching activities.
The National Spiritual Assembly as its fundamental action and policy for the year reported a general plan based upon the Guardian’s
cablegram of July 4, 1937, outlining the five successive steps necessary for completion of the Temple work, and including a Teaching
budget and plan appealing for that “more burning enthusiasm” . . . and “higher sense of solidarity” which the Guardian had evoked.
For continuance of Temple construction the Assembly established a budget item of $75,000.00, one-half the estimated cost of the
exterior decoration of the first story.
For Teaching activities in North and South America, an item of $30,000 was included in the budget. Setting forth the teaching policy
as adopted in consultation with the Teaching Committee, the Assembly published in BAHA’i NEWS for July, 1938, a statement
emphasizing settlement by pioneers, the development of definite projects, concentration by Regional Teaching Committees on isolated
believers, groups and study classes, the extension of local Assembly teaching, and a call for individual initiative under administrative
supervision.
The Inter-America Committee was extended, its functions more clearly defined, and necessary funds allotted for Mrs. Frances
Stewart’s journey to South America, the re A

REPORT—NATIONAL SPIR
SEMBLY OF THE BAHA’tS OF T
UNITED STATES AND CANADA 193 8-1939

THE BAHA’I WORLD

suits of which have been so fruitful to the Cause.
A schedule of meetings was adopted which included one new city, Knoxville, Tennessee, and two established Bahá’i
Centers never previously visited, Urbana, Illinois, and Los Angeles, with plans for public meetings and regional
conferences in each.
Some of the more important incidents of the year are briefly presented as follows:— Evidences of Progress
The Assembly Roll for the year as published in BAHA’f NEWS reported the recognition of eight new Assemblies and
the re-establishment of two former ones. The new Assemblies are: Glendale, Arizona; Sacramento, California;
Moncton, New Brunswick; Toronto, Ontario; Maywood, Illinois; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
and St. Lambert, Quebec. Rochester, New York, and Topeka, Kansas, regained their Assembly status.
Even more significant in the Divine Plan was the formation of a Spiritual Assembly at Mexico City by a community of
believers, all natives of that country, the first signal victory won by the Inter-America Commit-

tee. Mr. Pedro Espinosa has been invited to attend the 1939 Convention as the guest of the National Spiritual Assembly, thus creating
a closer bond with our co-workers in Mexico.
To contribute to the deepening of our spiritual life, two departments have been conducted in BAHA’i NEWS this year, “The Charter
of the New World Order,” prepared by Mrs. Dorothy Baker, and “Draw Nigh Unto Bahá’u’liáh,” compiled by Mrs. Della Quinlan.
The moving picture film of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taken in Brooklyn during 1912, carefully preserved ever since by Mr. Roy Wilhelm, has
been placed in the custody of the Archives Committee.
A translation of the French footnotes in The Dawn-Breakers, made by Dr. and Mrs. Perigord of Los Angeles, with the approval of
the Guardian, is being printed as a supplement to that volume, the cost having been met by a generous special donation.
The Guardian, who approved the reprinting of Bahd’I Scriptures some years ago, has recently advised certain revisions before a
new edition appears.
The fund of $1,000 set aside for the

Some of the Bahá’is attending the annual convention of the Bahá’is of the British Isles, London, 1939.
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CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Memorial to Keith Ransom-Kehler in Isphahan has been transmitted to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran through Shoghi
Effendi, as conditions in Iran now appear to make it possible to proceed with the construction. The design, made by the late Myron
Potter of Cleveland, was illustrated some years ago in BAHA’f NEws and also in one volume of THE BAHA’i WORLD.
The lamentable destruction by the civil authorities of the types of the German edition of the revised Esslemont book has been
mitigated by the printing of the work in Switzerland, from a fortunately-preserved copy of the manuscript, under the auspices of the
International Bahá’i Bureau. The American Bahá’i community were privileged to contribute to the expense, with the Guardian’s
permission, through the National Fund. Copies are expected in April or May, and some will be set aside for the Inter-America
Committee to use among the German colonies in South America, while other copies can be used here. Mr. Karl Neumann’s translation
of Promise of All Ages has become available in manuscript form, and its use has been referred to the Guardian.
Miss Lidia Zamenhof, who arrived as the guest of the American believers in September, 1937, left for Poland in November, 1938,
being unable to extend her permit and thus foregoing a number of special teaching opportunities which had arisen. Her activities are
reported by the Committee on International Auxiliary Language, but a word should be added to point out that her capacity as a teacher
of Esperanto, her fame as a daughter of the founder of the language, and her firmness as a Bahã’i produced a new atmosphere of
cordial unity between the Esperanto groups and the Bahã’i community which constitutes a distinct teaching opportunity.
With the Guardian’s approval, a duplicate unit of one of the beautiful details of the Temple exterior decoration is being produced for
shipment to Haifa as gift to Shoghi Effendi. A Temple model has been presented to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, through
Shoghi Effendi, at his request.
A statement prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt, based upon the

laws and ordinances of Bahá’u’lláh in matters of personal status such as marriage and inheritance, has been under consideration for
more than a year, and recently the Guardian’s permission was asked to send a duplicate copy to each local Spiritual Assembly for
study by the community. It is interesting to note that the statement was originally prepared as the result of the decision by the Egyptian
courts that the Bahá’i Faith is an independent religion. Since in Egypt and other Islamic countries, except Turkey, there is no civil law
to control matters of personal status, these matters being subject to the authority of the Qur’án, it became necessary for the National
Spiritual Assembly in that country to prepare and file the Bahá’i laws and ordinances to be applied, under its own recognized
authority, to the members of the Egyptian Bahá’i community. The legal parallel does not exist in America or other western nations,
where the civil constitution centuries ago assumed direct control over areas of human activity and relationship previously regulated by
the church. The unique situation which arose in Egypt, however, served to bring into operation a number of the laws of the Aqdas
which the American believers cannot yet apply in place of the civil code. But the restricted circulation of this intensely interesting
Bahá’i document might well serve to prepare the American Bahá’is for the future application of the laws and ordinances of
Bahá’u’lláh; and the Guardian’s view of the proposal is awaited with great interest.
Concerning the activities of American believers in other lands, reference is made to the fact that such activities, throughout Mexico,
Central America, the Islands of the Caribbean, and South America, are now reported annually in detail by the Inter-America
Committee. In other areas, grateful mention is made of Miss Martha L. Root’s teaching work in India and her recent journey to
Australia for another intensive campaign; the continued devoted services of Miss Marion Jack in Sofia, Bulgaria; the activities of Mrs.
and Miss Sharp in Tihrán; Mrs. Joel Stebbins in Europe; Miss Beatrice Irwin in England; Miss Annaken Krogh in Denmark; Mr. and
Mrs. Max Greeven in Holland; Miss Matthisen in Europe; Miss A. Josephine Kruka in Finland;

THE BAHA’i WORLD

The shop which was used by the Báb during his days in
Büshihr. It has recently been purchased by the Bahá’is of
I ran to be preserved as a sacred site.

and Mrs. Lorol Schopilocher who in February departed for teaching work in the Scandinavian countries. Mr. Mark Tobey returned
after many years in England and is now active in the Bahá’i community of Seattle.
The successive volumes of THE BAHA’I WORLD represent the one directly international Bahi’i activity which the Guardian has
centered in America during this formative period of the Faith. The gathering of the contents from the entire Bahi’i world, and the
manufacture of successive works costing each in excess of $5,000, is at once a mighty task and a correspondingly great privilege.
Volume VII is now on the press. The believers are urged to realize that each volume adds to the growing solidarity of the new spiritual
commonwealth of Bahá’u’lláh, and affords ample evidence of its universal character and wide range of thought and activity. Such a
work at present cannot be made to repay its cost, and therefore it is viewed by the National Assembly as a con-

tribution to the general field of teaching. Whatever the Committees, Assemblies and individual believers can do toward extending its
distribution will be a distinctive service to the Faith. It is the one place where we can, as it were, meet face to face our fellowBahá’is
of other country, race, class and inherited creed. It should be noted that the publication of the new volume has been greatly assisted by
a special donation of
$2,500.
The local influence of the House of Worship has been strikingly revealed this year in two ways: the selection by the Wilmette
postmaster of the Temple design for “Air Mail Week,” which meant that the design was carried on letters to many parts of the world;
and the action of the president of the Village board in writing the Illinois State Commission to recommend that the Temple model be
exhibited in the Illinois State Building at the New York World’s Fair.
While the important details concerning

j
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CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Bahá’i properties are reported separately by the Trustees, it should be noted that the Green Acre Trustees have received the gift of a
cemetery lot in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews.
Through the initiative and thoughtfulness of Mr. Charles Mason Remey, the American Bahá’i community was represented by a floral
tribute at the memorial meeting conducted for the late Queen Marie of Rumania, the first member of royalty to be confirmed in the
Faith of Bahi’u’lláh, at the National Cathedral at Washington, D. C., on July 25, 1938.
A new instrumentality for teaching has been developed by the Temple model made by the John J. Earley Studios. Not only is the
model on exhibit continuously at a number of local Bahá’i Centers, but has been featured in such public gatherings as the Canadian
National Exposition, Cornell University; the Art Gallery, Binghamton, New York; the International Youth Congress, Vassar College,
Flint, Michigan; Flower Show, American Furniture Company store, Albuquerque, New Mexico; the New Mexico State Fair; florist
shops at Lima, Ohio, and Port Huron, Michigan; and in the Biltmore Hotel and Hotel Arcady, Los Angeles. A model is now part of the
permanent exhibit of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.
A national committee has been requested to report a definite plan for exhibiting the model at State Fairs throughout the country.
The Book Exhibit held at Santa Paula, Cahfornia, as illustrated in BAHA’I NEWS for October, 1938, represents still another
possibility for a new form of public teaching which will undoubtedly be developed by local Assemblies and groups.
Most impressive of undertakings in public teaching at present are the plans adopted for the World’s Fairs to be held during 1939 at
San Francisco and New York. At San Francisco, space has been taken for a display of the Temple model and Bahã’i literature, and a
beautiful design for the background and for the pedestal of the model has been developed. In addition, the model has been accepted by
the Temple of Religions for exhibit in a building devoted to a historical religious exhibit, and Bahá’i meetings will be held in the
Temple of Religions. Photo-

graphs and further important details will be available before the Convention opens.
Conditions at the New York World’s Fair were found to be definitely less liberal. The Temple of Religion, under construction from
funds specially donated, is under the supervision of a committee representing Protestants, Cathohcs and Jews. Its meetings are to be
restricted to the exposition of religious themes which will in no way deviate from a conception of tolerance based upon the theory that
the rights of every existing church are to be preserved. It is a tolerance limited to the acceptance of the estabhshed ecclesiastical bodies
and their creeds, and apparently not open to the declaration of universal principles capable of uniting humanity in “one Order and one
Faith.” No religious exhibits are permitted in the Temple of Religion. Moreover, a ruhng was adopted two years ago excluding any
directly religious exhibit in the Educational Building or other buildings controlled by the Fair. The separate structure raised by the
Christian Science Church was apparently arranged before that ruling was adopted.
It appears possible, however, for the Bahâ’is to secure space in the Communications Building for an exhibit laying chief emphasis
upon publications, with a display of the Temple model a subsidiary feature. The details, at this writing, are awaiting approval by the
National Spiritual Assembly.
The Bahf’is, on the other hand, have made apphcation to the Temple of Religion for the use of Bahá’i speakers in its public meetings,
have offered a Temple model to the Illinois State Commission for its State Building, and have made a similar offer to the United
States Steel Corporation, whose interest in the Temple as an outstanding example of the new possibilities of cement construction was
indicated by the use of the Temple as front cover illustration of US Steel News in March, 1937.
The attitude of the New York World’s Fair has been reported because it seems typical of a policy which the BahI’is are likely to find
confronting them more and more in North America as the lines are drawn between the old order and the new. Such a conception of
tolerance surely represents a final effort at defence raised by those who

THE BAHA’i WORLD

identify the church with religion and overlook the true interests of mankind. Bahá’i teachers may well consider these facts and prepare
themselves to deal with situations arising from them in future years.
It is, on the other hand, exceedingly gratifying to reahze that the American Bahá’i community has become able to undertake such large
tasks as are represented by these two World’s Fairs. Both will bring together millions of visitors, many of whom will be prepared to
recognize the evidences and proofs of a World Faith. The experience acquired in handling affairs of this magnitude will be a valuable
asset for the future.
The National Assembly has this year appealed to the local Assemblies to lay great emphasis upon their observance of the Anniversary
of the Birth of Bahá’u’llah on November 12, and upon the subject of the Oneness of Mankind in their public gatherings during the
month of January, 1939. The response in both cases has been profoundly gratifying.
Indeed, as we pay attention to the Guardian’s consummate wisdom in evoking the latent powers of the Bahá’i community, we realize
the important role played by social symbolism in the formation of a new spiritual community. The successive Anniversaries and
Nineteen Day Feasts, organic parts of the Bahá’i hfe, are themsleves examples of the need for special occasions devoted to a release of
the forces of ardor and consecration. Further experience may justify some plan under which the programs of the local Assembhes are
occasionally coordinated by the National Assembly to concentrate effort upon some particular aspect of the Teachings or some special
condition in the civilization of which we are a part. It would be impressive, for example, to set aside some date each year for meetings
in which special welcome would be extended to groups of the foreign-born. America has many of these groups. They are grievously
affected by the increasing international disturbances, and as yet we have no systematized method or technic for directing their
attention to Bahá’u’lláh’s Plan of world accord and the reconcilliation of national, racial and religious traditions in one all-embracing
Cause.
The three Summer Schools have continued

their rapid progress in the establishment of facilities for Bahá’i education and the training of Bahl’i educators. Their combined effect
has already produced a remarkable improvement in the public teaching activities maintained throughout North America. Both
functions have been necessary, and both are closely interrelated, yet as the local communities evolve the education of believers in the
Teachings will no doubt fall primarily upon the local Assemblies, while the training of educators—the function of the normal school
in the civil community—will become specialized in the Summer Schools. The privilege of attendance is very real, and it is hoped that
isolated believers and members of local groups will make particular effort to enroll at one of the Schools.
As the date of the annual local elections approaches, it is gratifying to record that the following groups have qualified to form a new
Spiritual Assembly on April 21: Knoxville, Tennessee; Jamestown, New York; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Helena, Montana; Huntington
Park, California; Eagle River, Wisconsin; Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; East Cleveland, Ohio, and Richmond Highlands, Washington. The
number of local bodies in North America identified with the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh will thus become eighty-seven after April 21,
1939.
The local incorporations as approved by the Local Committee during the past year include: Cincinnati, San Francisco, Vancouver,
Phoenix, Columbus, Philadelphia, Lima, Portland, and Jersey City.
Through the generous spirit of Miss Martha L. Root we have received a donation of many copies of her new book, Tdhirih the Pure,
published in Karachi, India, under the auspices of the National Assembly of India and Burma. In this book we have a new and more
complete record of that great Bahá’i soul whose martyrdom has been acclaimed by liberals throughout Europe. Gratitude is expressed
for Miss Root’s achievement and her thoughtful donation to the American Fund.
These and many other actions, such as are recorded by the national committee in their individual Annual Reports, indicate something
of the power with which the American Bahá’i community is advancing toward its goal.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

A Bahá’i year, however, is to be understood not so much by any series of definite actions as by the fundamental possibilities and
implications revealed for us and established for us by the Guardian of the Faith. We must learn how to parallel our capacity of
response with the power of progress, both inward and outward, released through the Guardian’s messages, and employ each definite
achievement only as a measure of the greater thing to be accomplished.
Messages from the Guardian
In order to enable the friends to realize more clearly the accumulative force of Shoghi Effendi’s instructions, advices and appeals
directed to America in this era of the Faith, the National Spiritual Assembly presented those received from January 10, 1936 to
September 24, 1938 in a compilation enclosed with BAHA’i NEWS for November last.
“While we have all read and meditated on these messages singly,” it was pointed out in announcing this compilation, “their meaning
and power as a whole are overwhelming. In letter after letter, cablegram after cablegram, Shoghi Effendi has developed the theme of
devotion, sacrifice, understanding and mighty action for this very period of the severest danger humanity has ever suffered. The
existence of the Bahá”i Community itself, and its destined capacity to become the instrument for the release of God’s blessing of
world order and peace, depend entirely upon our individual and collective response to these directions, warnings and supreme appeals
“Therefore the National Spiritual Assembly, conscious of the gravity of the hour, implores the local Assemblies, communities, and
groups to grasp and incorporate in their very souls the vital import of the Guardian’s words. Shoghi Effendi has created a new and
higher reality for the American Bahá’is . .
To the 1938 Convention he cabled:
let them, delegates, visitors alike, draw nigh unto Bahá’u’lláh, that He may draw nigh unto them.”
To the National Assembly he cabled on June 6: “Rejoice, thankful, initiative, resourcefulness (of) newly-elected National Assembly
prompting them signalize inauguration period (of their) stewardship by

launching third stage in progressive unfoldment (of the) Seven Year Plan.”
On July 5 he wrote: “The Pen of Bahá’u’lláh, the voice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have time and again, insistently, and in terms unmistakable,
warned an unheeding humanity of impending disaster. The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump,
the chosen remnants that must survive the rolling up of the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one
in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute. The American believers, standard- bearers of this worldwide
community and torch-bearers of an as-yet unborn civilization, have girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the
arena of service. Their Plan has been formulated. Their forces are mobilized. They are steadfastly marching towards their goal.”
On September 10: “I feel truly exhilarated as I witness the ever-recurrent manifestations of unbroken solidarity and unquenchable
enthusiasm that distinguish every stage in the progressive development of the nation-wide enterprise which is being so unflinchingly
pursued by the whole American Bahã’i community. The marked deterioration in world affairs, the steadily deepening gloom that
envelops the storm-tossed peoples and nations of the Old World, invest the Seven Year Plan, now operating in both the northern and
southern American Continents, with a significance and urgency that cannot be overestimated.”
The cablegram received September 24 conveyed tremendous significance: “Loyalty (to) World Order (of) Bahá’u’lláh, security (of) its
basic institutions, both imperatively demand all its avowed supporters, particularly its champion builders (in the) American continent,
in these days when sinister, uncontrollable forces are deepening (the) cleavage sundering peoples, nations, creeds, classes, resolve
despite pressure (of) fast— crystallizing public opinion, abstain individually, collectively, in word, action, informally as well as in all
official publications, from assigning blame, taking sides, however indirectly, in (the) recurring political crises now agitating,
ultimately engulfing, human society. Grave apprehension lest cumulative

THE BAHA’I WORLD
effect (of) such compromises disintegrate (the) fabric, clog (the) channel (of the) Grace that sustains God’s essentially supranational,
supernatural Order so laboriously evolved, so recently established.”
In reply to a question received concerning the application of this instruction, the National Assembly informed the inquirer that
believers should take part in no pobtical or economic measures aimed at international situations except such as are commanded by
their civil government.
On November 29 the Guardian cabled:
“(The) virtual termination (within the) appointed time (of the) gallery section (of the) Mashriqu’l-Adhkar triumphantly ushers in (the)
final phase (of the) major task courageously shouldered (by the) champions (of the) Seven Year Plan . . . (The) poignant memory (of
the) ever-loved Greatest Holy Leaf, inseparably linked to (the) American believers’ Temple exertions, impels me (to) offer, (at) this
decisive hour, one thousand pounds in her name and as token (of) her debt of gratitude for their response (to) her last appeal addressed
to them (in the) evening of her life. (I am) confident (that the) Temple Construction Fund, which from now on will ever bear her name
and be consecrated (to) her memory, will, following this offering, swell (to) such proportions as will carry forward (the) stupendous
undertaking (to a) glorious consummation.”
In a letter dated at the same time, he wrote: “The initial contract, proclaiming the opening of the final phase of a work that embodies
the finest contribution ever made by the West to the Cause of Bahá’u’llah, is now ready for your signature. The fourth of the
successive steps outlined in my previous message1 is punctually being taken. The fond hopes cherished on the assumption of your
exalted office are being amply fulfilled. The heroism displayed by the members of the American Bahá’i Community in the face of
these recurring, constantly widening opportunities is growing more apparent every day.”
The Guardian’s letter of November 27 contained an important instruction concerning the Bahá’i calendar which was published in the
January, 1939 issue of
BAHA’i NEWS.

Then came those messages calling for the extension of the teaching work to all unoccupied areas and laying greater emphasis on
establishing the Faith in other countries of the Americas. The cablegram received January 26, 1939, stated, in part: “Recent swift
progress (of) Temple ornamentation prompts me entreat American Community (to) focus immediate attention (and) center energies
(upon) corresponding acceleration (in the) Teaching enterprise (in) Seven Year Plan . . . End of First Century rapidly approaching.
Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Manitoba (and) Nova Scotia still unsettled. Universal,
prolonged intensification (in) pioneer activity (is the) crying need (of this) fateful hour. (The) establishment (of) one resident believer
(in) each virgin territory (is the) precondition (to the) full launching (of the) subsequent, eagerly-anticipated stage aiming (at the)
spiritual conquest (of the) southern half (of the) Western Hemisphere. (The) Concourse on high expectantly await, ready (to) assist
(and) acclaim (the) nine holy souls who, independently or as deputies, will promptly, fearlessly volunteer (to) forsake (their) homes,
cast away (their) attachments (and) definitely settle (in) these territories (to) lay firm anchorage (of the) Administrative Order (of this)
undefeatable Faith. (I am) irresistibly urged (and) proud (of the) privilege (to) pledge nine hundred pounds (to) facilitate (the)
permanent settlement (of) pioneers (in) these States and Provinces whose acts (and) heroic self-abnegation will mark (the) Conclusion
(of this) Shining Epoch (in) American Bahá’i History.”
Two days later, Shoghi Effendi wrote:
“The twofold aim you are now pursuing should at no time become obscured, nor should either one of the dual responsibilities you
have assumed be allowed to preponderate over the other. The urgency of the task connected with the ornamentation of the Mashriqu’l-
Adhkár has been rightly recognized, and its immediate needs have been generously and promptly met. A similar, nay a mightier effort
should now be deliberately and persistently exerted in the field of pioneer teach1 The cablegram of July 4, 1937, previoosly referred to ill
thi, report.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

ing, in both the United States and Canada.
“Very soon we shall be entering the second half of the last decade of this, the first century of the Bahá’i Era. The five remaining years
should essentially be consecrated to the imperative, the spiritual needs of the remaining Republics of both Central and South America,
for whose entry into the fellowship of Bahá’u’lláh the Plan was primarily formulated.
“The period ahead is short, strenuous, fraught with mortal perils for human society, yet pregnant with possibilities of unsurpassed
triumphs for the power of Bahá’u’lláh’s redemptive Cause. The occasion is propitious for a display, by the American Bahi’i
Community, in its corporate capacity, of an effort which in its magnitude, character, and purpose, must outshine its past endeavors.
“Dearly-beloved friends! “What better field than the vast virgin territories, so near at hand, and waiting to receive, at this very hour,
their full share of the onrushing tide of Bahá’u’llâh’s redeeming grace?”
At this date of writing, the latest communication from the Guardian is the following cablegram received March 24, 1939:— “Fresh,
ominous rumblings demonstrate (the) inevitability (and) foreshadow (the) approach (of the) final eruption involving (the) dissolution
(of a) lamentably defective international order. (The) privileged community (of) American believers forewarned, undismayed,
spiritually equipped. Notwithstanding (the) gravity (of the) times, (they) will pursue unswervingly (the) divinely-chartered course their
attention
distracted, (their) objective unobscured, (their) resolve unimpaired, (their) support undiminished, (their) loyalty unsullied. (The)
immediate obligation (is to) complete settlement (of) Delaware, Utah, Manitoba, (and) Nova Scotia before termination (of) Bahá’i
administrative year. Responsibility solemn, pressing, unavoidable.”
Progress of Seven Year Plan
It is in the light of all the foregoing messages, and fully conscious of the import of that general communication published as The
Advent of Divine Justice, that the salient features of the development of the
twofold activities of the Seven Year Plan must be traced.
Turning first to Temple construction.
When the year opened, the gallery contract was in full force, with the necessary funds on hand. By April 30, 1939, work will have
been resumed on the exterior decoration of the few units uncompleted in December, 1938. The responsibility defined for the current
year was the accumulation of funds amounting to one-half the estimated cost of the exterior decoration of the first story. By March 15,
1939, the National Spiritual Assembly had found it possible to authorize the Temple Trustees to contract for the production of the
models and molds, and to purchase the supply of quartz. These two new contracts were approved and welcomed by Shoghi Effendi.
Of the $75,000 incorporated in the annual Budget as the goal, approximately $60,000 has been contributed so far.
The March, 1939 issue of BAHA’i NEWS reported that the balance needed for the molds contract was $6,862.64, and that the
estimated cost of casting and applying the units to the first story is $95,000. As the models and molds will be finished before the end
of the summer, the matter of accumulating funds for the next contract is already imminent, and will be a responsibility to be assumed
by the incoming National Assembly.
In the teaching field, the great accomplishment has been the settlement of the nine areas for which the Guardian made supreme appeal
in his cablegram received January 26, 1939.
This subject engaged the deep attention of the Teaching Committee, and consultation and correspondence with that committee has
made it possible to inform Shoghi Effendi that his wishes and instructions have been met.
The response of the believers has been truly inspiring, and the full story can not even yet be recorded, as fresh offers are being
received. The settlement of the nine areas, however, has been effected through plans under which the following Bahá’is have already,
or soon will, proceed to the field:— Miss Honor Kempton, Alaska; Miss N.
Grace Bissell, Vermont; Miss Helen Griffing, Nevada; Mr. and Mrs. Hilbert DahI, West

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Virginia; Mr. Harold Hunt, West Virginia; Mrs. Marguerite Reimer Sears, Utah; Mr. and Mrs. Allah K. Kalantar, Delaware; Mr.
Rowland Estall, Winnipeg; Miss Doris Skinner, Calgary; Mrs. Beulah S. Proctor, Nova Scotia; Miss Evelyn Cliff, Nova Scotia; Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas McNally, Rhode Island; Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg, South Carolina.
A significant spiritual victory has been achieved, for now the prerequisite condition laid down by the Guardian for concentrated effort
in the other American countries has been fulfilled, and the blessings from the spiritual Kingdom will surely pour forth in greater
abundance upon every Bahã’i activity we undertake from now on.
The record of success in South America and in the West Indies reported by the Inter- America Committee is also impressive. The
Bahá’i community of Mexico City is vibrant with enthusiasm, and will take an increased part in the Inter-America teaching work, not
only through participation in the required Spanish translations but also no doubt through traveling teachers.
In a letter dated February 8, 1939, the Guardian graciously acknowledged the progressive steps taken under the Seven Year

Plan in the following words: “The illustrious community of the American believers, contemptuous of risk or peril, is driving ahead,
relentlessly and with its whole vigor, toward the dual goal which the Seven Year Plan has set before it. The virtual completion of the
contract for the gallery section of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the inauguration of the First Story Construction Fund, the signature of the
contract for the models of the Main Story, the prompt response to the Fund newly associated with the memory of the Greatest Holy
Leaf, the consequent placing of a further contract for the construction of the molds, the acceleration of pioneer teaching and the
resultant penetration of the Faith into practically every State and Province in the United States and Canada—all these have, in the
course of the second year of the Seven Year Plan, followed in amazingly swift succession. With dramatic swiftness, with unyielding
resolve, with uncompromising fidelity and superb courage, the community responsible for such a unique demonstration of Bahá’i
initiative and enterprise is overcoming the barriers, whether material or moral, that threaten to interfere with the execution of its
declared purpose.”

The bath of Urflmiyyih where the Báb bathed during His visit to that town. It has been recently purchased by the
Bahá’is of Iran as an historic site.
pict51.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

The Nature of Maturity
In The Unfoldment of World Civilization Shoghi Effendi identified the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh with the maturity of the human
race, an assurance, yet also a challenge, that has special significance for the members of the Bahá’i Community.
These larger and more responsible tasks which the American behevers have since assumed are essentially characteristic of maturity in
contrast to childhood and youth. They call for a true inward poise and assurance, a capacity for true consultation, and a degree of
trustworthiness which we have never before attained. The bounty of the task brings the worthiness to achieve it, if we be completely
loyal to its implications for both the community and the individual soul.
In consultation, whether local or national, Bahá’is meet in consciousness consecrated to the achievement of unified understanding and
action. Bahá’i consultation produces communication and cooperation among types and personalities which in the world are separated
by abysms of ignorance, antagonism and military force. Our victory over the tendency to exclude other views, other values and other
forms of capacity from the final outcome of consultation is our contact with the higher powers which alone can enable us to attain the
goal. Bahá’i unity is not the result of self-suppression any more than of suppression by others, but a balance between initiative and
sacrifice to the suajority decision which stands as one of the new attributes of life in this Dispensation.
As we perceive the differences in the rate of growth and maturity among the local communities, we can realize that confirmation does
not depend upon numbers nor upon rhe size of the city nor upon its geographical location, but upon its degree of unity and its power
for consultation. The forces of confirmation, we are told, lie everywhere about us, awaiting the conditions under which they can enter
into the operation of community hfe. May we not make a higher resolve, as individuals, to permit no further continuance of any latent
tendency to feel aloof from any fellow-believer, and as communities hasten to remove any condition of disunity which may have been
perpetuated from former

times. The conscious soul lives in the eternal present, and the present need not be a repetition of the past but a spiritual conquest
unique and ever-renewed.
The time has come for unexampled effort. To meet the tests imposed by Bahá’u’lláh Himself we must turn resolutely from those
artificial tests which sometimes we have imposed upon other behevers or resented their imposition upon ourselves. An entire Bahá’i
community can be made radiant by a changed attitude on the part of two or three believers.
In that same letter of February 8, the Guardian declared: “Though much has thus far been achieved, yet the processes now set in
motion through the evolution of the Plan are still too rudimentary to permit even a faint glimpse of the brilliancy of the epoch in which
‘Ablu’l-Bahá’s own Plan must come to fruition. . . . Ours is the solemn, the inescapable duty to labor faithfully and unremittingly to
insure that no opportunity is being missed, that no avenues are left unexplored, that might, however indirectly, contribute to the
furtherance of those tasks that claim so insistently our immediate attentson.”
The Advent of Divine Justice
The communication addressed to the American believers by Shoghi Effendi under date of December 25, 1938, and published with the
title The Advent of Divine Justice, brought to us the supreme blessing of the current Bahá’i year. In its clear unfoldment of the
future, its directions for concentration of effort upon specific tasks for a long period of time, its exposition of the prerequisites for the
success of our collective action, and its unification of the inner and outer aspects of Bahá’i life at this crucial hour, this message
conveys to us that spiritual food our souls and minds and hearts so poignantly require.
Its assimilation into the very depths of our being will prepare us for victory over the tasks and trials that must signalize the
establishment of the World Order of Bahá’u’llah upon earth.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL AssEMBLy
By: HORACE HOLLEv, Secretary.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

THE month covered by this supplementary report has been notable in the swift development of events, signifying a great
acceleration in the field of Bahã’i action.
Communications from the Guardian received in this period include, first, the following cablegram dated April 1: “Assure each pioneer
immeasurable gratitude. Such vigorous response, in such perilous times, to so vital a call, opens brilliant epoch in the formative age of
the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Impelled congratulate Assembly for its wise, efficient stewardship.”—And second, a letter dated March 17,
which informs us that the roll of pioneers has been augmented by the names of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Bidwell, who had informed Shoghi
Effendi that they have established residence in Greenville, South Carolina, in order to raise up a Bahá’i community in that State.
To the number of local groups qualified to form new Assemblies, the groups at Albuquerque can now he added.
From Miss Martha Root has come a bundle of newspaper clippings describing her activities in Australia, with a schedule indicating
some thirty public meetings during the first few weeks after her arrival from India.
The far country of Lapland has been illumined with the light of the Faith by the indomitable energy of Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher, who
has been traveling in that land and spreading the Message in recent months.
The reprint of the Master’s address at the Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at Chicago
in 1912, already mentioned, has now been made, and copies are available to delegates and friends. In a few words, ‘Abdu’lBahá gave
the American people so many years ago the reality of human oneness, and now it is our privilege to ponder His message on race amity
with deeper understanding, and share it with the leaders of opinion throughout the country. Similar reprints of

striking Bahi’i texts are to follow as rapidly as conditions justify, thus adding to our teaching literature a series of expositions that
cannot fail to command the attention of awakened souls.
The present Convention is privileged to receive visits from co-workers from other lands. Mr. and Mrs. Sabet are here from Tihran, on
a visit that will take them to a few of the larger cities and perhaps also include both World’s Fairs.
Moreover, we have as honored guests not one, as had been anticipated, but four members of the new Spiritual Assembly of Mexico
City: Pedro Espinosa, Mrs. Refugio Ochoa, Miss Zenay da Jurado, and Mrs. Maria Luisa Jurado, radiant in their enthusiasm and
ardent in their service to the Faith. This visit is a great historic event, for it marks the true beginning of that new inter-continental
teaching task which the Guardian has expounded for us in The Advent of Divine Justice. We join hands and hearts with these coworkers from Bahá’u’lláh’s own native land, and with the co-workers from the newest country blessed with the institution of a
Spiritual Assembly. The Master, surely, beholds with joy from on high a gathering so blessed and so pregnant with promise of future
achievement.
Our foundation has been firmly laid in nearly ninety local Spiritual Assemblies, in the House of Worship rapidly nearing completion,
in three Summer Schools, and in a Bahi’i community which has acquired a great diversity of experience and manifests a rich variety
of gifts. Each successive general communication from the Guardian has clarified our vision, deepened our aims and extended our
horizon of consciousness. And now, as the world trembles on its collapsing basis, the American Bahá’i community numbering some
thirty-five hundred souls, is bidden to exemplify the coming of the Kingdom to mankind. In reverence and in true humility we can but
turn to the words of
Bahá’u’lláh:

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
BAHA’iS OF THE UNITED STATES
AND CANADA—1938-1939

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

tQ people of Bahá! Ye are the breezes of spring that are wafted over the world. Through you We have adorned the world of being
with the ornament of the knowledge of the Most Merciful. Through you the countenance of the world hath been wreathed in smiles,
and the brightness of His light shone forth. Cling ye to the cord of steadfastness, in such wise that all vain imaginings may utterly
vanish. Speed ye forth from the horizon of power, in the name of your Lord, the Unconstrained, and announce unto His

servants, with wisdom and eloquence, the tidings of this Cause, whose splendor hath been shed upon the world of
being.”
“This is the day in which to speak. It is incumbent upon the people of Bahá to strive, with the utmost patience and
forbearance, to guide the peoples of the World to the Most Great Horizon. Every body calleth aloud for a soul.
Heavenly souls must needs quicken, with the breadth of the Word of God, the dead bodies with a fresh spirit.”
HORACE HOLLEv, Secretary.

ANNUAL REPORT—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’TS OF THE
UNITED STATES AND CANADA
1939-1940

F OR three successive years the American Bahá’i community has responded with all its force to the requirements of
the world mission which ‘Abdu’l-Bahi defined and the Guardian has made a matter of spiritual and administrative
action. Only during the current year have we realized the vital importance of that mission and its role in making
possible the advent of Divine Justice. The Guardian’s letter on Divine Justice, pubhshed shortly before the 1939
Convention, has raised our spirits to the exalted plane on which alone so consecrated a task can be undertaken.
Significant it is that in growing more conscious of the scope and arena of the Faith of Bahá’u’llah, we have begun to be
somewhat aware of what is meant by the endeavor to be a Bahá’i.
Above and beyond the realm of outer achievement, therefore, the year now ending has brought us face to face with the
spiritual privilege of becoming mature in our faith, firm in our understanding, reverent in our attitude, humble in our
feeling, consciously active in our daily lives.
Immersed in the depths of the Guardian’s call for consecration to be instruments for the establishment of true justice on
earth, active in response to the definite plans adopted for the third year of the seven year plan, we came this year to that
hour of fatahty for man, the beginning of the final phase of the titanic struggle between the nations, the outbreak of
savagery in human life, the dread

encounter with Destiny, the Armageddon wherein the perverted will of man is at last to be overthrown. Thus a quality
of responsibility has been quickened during the current year which betokens a more mature stage in the life of the
Bahã’i community.
The significance of this period was anticipated and defined for us by the Guardian’s reply to the message cabled to him
by the Thirty-first Annual Convention: “Momentous deliberations of Thirty-first Convention opening sterner, more
glorious chapter in corporate life of ever-advancing, steadily-expanding American Bahá’i community.” For the greater
difficulties to be met, a greater power and capacity has been assured.
“Sterner More Glorious Chapter”
The year has brought forth a number of great events and conditions to bear witness to the swift working of a
superhuman Power.
The outbreak of armed hostilities has already been mentioned. We know that nothing can stay this world conflagration
except the universal principles of human relations created by Bahá’u’llah. Day by day the people come nearer to a
conscious understanding of the dire need in which they stand. The work of Bahâ’i teaching deepens and augments day
by day to meet this desperate need. The inner peace and assurance of a Bahá’i is a candle burning in the dark. People
will turn to the light when they real-

THE BAHA’t WORLD

ize that the sun of their worldly hopes has set forever.
But the condition of international disturbance has its grave effects upon the Bahá’i community itself. Here in North America, for
example, our community forms part of two distinct political systems, one of them part of an international commonwealth, the other
localized to one continent. To maintain perfect spiritual communication, active cooperation and identity of common purpose
throughout this Bahá’i community, we must rise more and more above the pressure of public opinion and stand upon the sacred and
inviolable ground of faith in His Message and in the World Order He has ordained.
But of far more gravity is the implication conveyed to us by Shoghi Effendi in his cablegram of August 30, 1939: “Shades (of) night
descending (upon) imperilled humanity inexorably deepening. American believers, heirs (of) Baha’u’lláh’s Covenant, prosecutors (of)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Plan, (are) confronted (by) supreme opportunity (to) vindicate indestructibility (of their) Faith, inflexibility (of their)
resolution, incorruptibility (of their) sanctity (for the) appointed task. Anxiously, passionately entreat them, whatever obstacles (the)
march (of) tragic events may create, however distressing (the) barriers (which the) predicted calamities raise between them and (their)
sister communities, and possibly (their) Faith’s World Center, unwaveringly hold aloft (the) Torch whose infant Light heralds the birth
(of the) effulgent World Order destined (to) supplant disrupting civihzation.”
Must we repeat in our hves that tragic separation from the creative Center of the Faith which was the tragic result of the European War
in cutting off the beloved Master from the American Bahá’is? Are we to vindicate our more matured faith and the power of our
administrative order by proving that interruption of outer, physical intercourse can not produce any deterioration in the quality of our
understanding nor in the character of our collective effort? Will not the Guardian be with us always in the principles he has clarified,
the institutions he has fostered, the unity he has built and the inspiration he has released? Whatever betide, he has given to the Bahá’is
all that they need

to press forward to the goals he pointed out in The Advent of Divine Justice, that source of inexhaustible guidance for the Bahá’is
of the West.
The passing of Martha L. Root, first to respond to Abdu’l-Bahã’s unveiling of the Divine Plan, has placed its indelible mark upon the
current Bahá’i year. Of this soul Shoghi Effendi declared in his cablegram of October 3: “Martha’s unnumbered admirers throughout
Bahá’i world lament with me (the) earthly extinction (of) her heroic life. Concourse on high acclaim her elevation (to) rightful
position (in) galaxy (of) BahI’i immortals. Posterity will estabhsh her as foremost Hand which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s will has raised up (in)
first Bahá’i century. Present generation (of) her fellow-believers recognize her (to be the) first, finest fruit (which the) Formative Age
(of the) Faith (of) Bahá’u’lláh has as yet produced. Advise hold befitting memorial gathering (in) Temple (to) honor one whose acts
shed imperishable lustre (on) American Bahá’i community. Impelled share with National Assembly expenses (of) erection (of)
monument (in) symbolic spot, (the) meeting- place of East (and) West, to both of which she unsparingly dedicated (the) full force (of
her) mighty energies.”
Indeed, through the travels and unstinted teaching of Martha Root the American Bahá’i community attained the honor of serving the
Faith throughout the world. In her a basis was laid for Bahá’i teachings in South America. In her the nations of Europe, Africa, the
Near East, the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and the isles of the sea even to Iceland made contact with the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.
But only the Guardian’s words can pay to such a spirit the tribute its accomplishments in this world have earned. It is for us to realize
what faith can do when it comes to dominate a human personality and open doors to the entrance of higher than human aims and
powers. Once again is a memorial to be built for the grave of an America Bahã’i who died on the very field of spiritual battle, whose
services had made her a Hand of the Cause. To the reverence we have paid to the passing of Keith Ransom-Kehler in Isphahan we add
now a deeper reverence as Martha Root’s frail

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

remains go back to earth in Honolulu, meeting-place of East and West.
The decision to take legal action for the protection of the sacred rights of the Bahá’i community represents a culmination of one aspect
of the evolution of the Faith in recent years which the newer believers have had little occasion to consider or understand. To the older
Bahl’is, however, the preservation of the basis of the unity and integrity of the community is a matter vital to faith and inseparable
from the experience of loyalty and service to the Cause. For they have witnessed actual efforts to deny the validity of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s
mission and question the authority of His station. They have realized vividly and poignantly how the very existence of the Faith
depends on loyalty to whosoever has received appointment from the Manifestation. They have experienced the necessity of gathering
their forces in order to assert the truth and preserve the community from destruction. Such an experience is forever unforgettable, for it
means that conscious choice has been made between light and darkness in the spiritual world.
In one form or another, no doubt, no generation of true believers can be spared the necessity of that supreme decision, the recurrence
of which seems so essential if the deeper elements of the spiritual life—the struggle and the victory—are to be preserved on earth.
Thus has the privilege come for the newer Bahã’is to realize that the universe is founded on reward and punishment, and not on a
superficial idea of divine benevolence, and that the spirit of faith in choosing the good rejects the evil, and that understanding of the
Faith must include knowledge of the working of its deniers.
The occasion for the legal action is definite and clear: the claim on the part of nonBahá’is that there are no qualifications of faith in
this Cause, but any one is a Bahá’i who asserts that he is; and that there is no criterion by which to distinguish between authentic
Bahá’i literature and literature which some one assumes is Bahá’i; and that there is no basis nor foundation in the Revelation of
Baha’u’llah for the Bahá’i community, with its institutions, its functions and its collective powers and responsibilities grounded in
authentic Books and Tablets.

In brief, the situation which has arisen is that persons who formerly were believers but who withdrew from the Cause have denied the
authority of the Master’s Will and Testament. On no other grounds than denial of that mighty Testament can their actions be
understood. No compromise is possible. The Bahl’i community will assert the truth, and the issue can be left to God. The Will and
Testament itself is a victory over those who violated the Covenant in the Master’s lifetime, and the Will and Testament invokes divine
wrath upon all who seek to destroy what He sacrificed His entire life and being to build.
It would be well if local Assemblies could arrange meetings for the study of the Tablets which interpret the meaning of the Covenant.
Those Tablets are a vital part of the teachings which in recent years have been neglected through our need to concentrate upon
immediate tasks.
Another expression of the character of this Bahf’i year has been the action of the National Spiritual Assembly in transferring its
headquarters to the Temple area, an action conforming to statements in the Master’s Tablets known as America’s Spiritual Mission
and to passages in the Guardian’s general communications. Thus, in The World Order of Bahá’u’lldh, pages 156-157, we find
this passage: “The seat round which its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and its
Dependencies.” The project was adopted subject to the Guardian’s specific as well as general approval, and this arrived in a cablegram
received June 22, 1939: “Delighted welcome transference (to) Temple area. Loving appreciation.”
Something of the inner significance of the move appears in a passage which Shoghi Effendi wrote as long ago as October 25, 1929,
when teaching us the importance of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár as a Bahá’i institution:
“Divorced from the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the
Mashriqu’lAdhkár, Bahá’i worship, however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve
beyond the meagre and often transitory results produced by the contemplations of the ascetic or the

THE BAHA’I WORLD

communion of the passive worshiper. It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshiper himself, much less to humanity
in general, unless and until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is
the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár to facilitate and promote. Nor will the exertions, no matter how
distinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár will be engaged in administering the affairs
of the future Bahá’i Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual
agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. . . . For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of
the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahi’u’llãh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the
intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must
ultimately depend.”
A fundamental principle has thus been given a new application in the development of the Bahá’i community—a principle established
by Bahá’u’lláh, and not found in any prior age.
On October 3 the Guardian thus characterized the Assembly’s action in a cabled message: “Hail historic act signahzing auspicious
conjunction (in) heart (of) North American continent (of the) institutions (of) Uairatu’l-Quds (and) Mashriqu’lAdhkár, (the) twin foci
(of) steadily evolving American Bahi’i community life. (The) former henceforth regarded as national Seat upon which all
administrative channels (of) Bahá’i activity must increasingly converge. (The) latter permanently recognized (as) ordained Source
from which rays (of) spiritual guidance will radiate. Upon (the) vigorous, constant inter-action (of the) dynamic forces which these
complementary institutions embodying administrative machinery and incarnating (the) Soul (of the) Bahá’i community can release
(the) effectual prosecution (of the) Seven Year Plan as well as (the) success (of) ultimate World Mission unquestionably depends. May
(the)

community responsible (for the) establishment (of) these nascent institutions progressively contribute (to) acceleration (of) their
growth and derive fullest benefit (from) their eventual fruition.”
“Events of such capital institutional significance,” the Guardian informed the Bahá’is of the West in his general communication dated
December 21, 1939, “as only future happenings, steadily and mysteriously unfolding at the world center of our Faith, can adequately
demonstrate,” were constituted by the transfer of the “sacred remains of the brother and mother of our Lord and Master ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
to Mount Carmel and their final interment within the hallowed precincts of the Shrine of the Mb.”
That communication, published under title of The Spiritual Potencies of That Consecrated Spot, has been one of the blessings
and portents of the Bahá’i year. By that dramatic contrast which is one of the essential characteristics of the Cause of God in all
epochs, we were able to perceive the hallowed and miraculous element of spiritual life in the sacrificial devotion rendered to
Bahá’u’lláh by the Purest Branch and the Most Exalted Leaf, in such complete opposition to the element represented by those who,
having once believed, turn back in denial and betrayal of their trust. Moreover, the Guardian parted for us the veils of mystery
sufficient to enable us to realize that the institutions of the Faith unfold only to the degree that they are nourished by the blood of those
who both know and adore their Author. A divine civilization draws nigh to men as men draw nigh to God.
How mysterious to the materialist is this statement which the Guardian included in the letter: “. . . The conjunction of the resting-place of
the Greatest Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual potencies of that consecrated Spot . . .“
Or these words: “. . .At this troubled stage in world history the association of these three incomparably precious souls who, next to the
three Central Figures of our Faith, tower in rank above the vast multitude of the heroes, Letters, martyrs, hands, teachers and
administrators of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, in such a potentially powerful spiritual and administrative Center

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

is in itself an event which will release forces that are bound to hasten the emergence in a land which, geographically, spiritually and
administratively, constitutes the heart of the entire planet, of some of the brightest gems of that World Order now shaping in the womb
of this travaihng age.”
It is good for us, dear friends, to pause frequently and realize that the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is a mystery, an ocean of significance and a
sea of creative power, not a creed, not a church, not a civilization alone. Through our capacity to revere the followers who stand high
above ourselves we may, let us hope, draw nearer to that supreme mystery than we can by employing our reason alone.
Finally, the Bahá’i year now drawing to a close has been made significant through the martyrdom of May Maxwell while engaged in
serving the cause of Inter-America teaching at Rio de Janeiro. This event was interpreted by the Guardian in his cablegram of March
3, 1940:
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s beloved handmaid, distinguished disciple May Maxwell (is) gathered (into the) glory (of the) Abhá Kingdom. Her
earthly hfe, so rich, eventful, incomparably blessed, (is) worthily ended. To (the) sacred tie her signal services had forged, (the)
priceless honor (of a) martyr’s death (is) now added. (A) double crown deservedly won. (The) Seven Year Plan, particularly (the)
South American campaign, derives fresh impetus (from the) example (of) her glorious sacrifice. Southern outpost (of) Faith greatly
enriched through association (with) her historic resting place destined remain (a) poignant reminder (of the) resistless march (of the)
triumphant army (of) Bahá’u’llah. Advise believers (of) both Americas (to) hold befitting memorial gathering.”
The next day came this cablegram from Ruhiyyih Khánum with its incomparable fragrance of heroic sacrifice and faith:
“Humbly grateful beloved mother answered Guardian’s call, turned southward (and) sacrificed (her) life (for the) Holy Faith. Beg
prayers (her) dacghter may follow her footsteps.”
In the presence of so many and so glorious evidences, testimonies and portents, can we

not glimpse something of the Guardian’s intent as he cabled these words received January 16, 1940: “The fateful forties, pregnant
(for) weal (and) woe (are) ushered in. (The) American believers enter them firmly rooted (in the) fertile soil (of the) administrative
order (and) bountifully nourished (by the) vital sap (of the) animation (of) its institutions, spreading its sheltering shadow (to the)
farthest corners (of the) Western Hemisphere. Centenary (of the) Birth (of the) Faith (is) approaching. Victories unsuspected (are)
within reach (of) community. (The) sooner (they are) achieved, (the) sharper (the) contrast offered (with) distracting miseries
afflicting (a) generation (which) Faith alone can (and) must eventually redeem.”
The Third Year of the Seven Year Plan
The newly-elected National Spiritual Assembly, meeting directly after the Convention, had before it the Guardian’s cabled advice
received April 28, 1939: Settlement (of the) Central American republics (is) next step (in) progressive, systematic penetration (of)
Latin America. Upsurge (of) Bahá’u’lláh’s impelling Spirit can not, will not, be stemmed (nor) impeded. Methodical advance along
(the) line traced (by) pen (of) ‘Abdu’l-Baha irresistible. Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba,
Dominica (and) Haiti immediate objectives. Though politically unsettled, religiously intolerant, socially backward (and) climatically
inhospitable, these unexplored territories hold forth inestimable prizes (for) audacious adventures (in the) path (of) Bahá’i service.
Dearly-beloved Martha’s unrivalled experience, indomitable faith (and) indefatigable labors will soon reinforce (the) powers released
(for) contemplated campaign. Task admittedly laborious, hour laden with fate, privilege incomparable, precious divinely-promised aid
unfailing, reward predestined immeasurable. Appeal all believers, white and Negro alike, (to) arise (and) assume rightful
responsibilities. Urge prolongation (of) sessions (of) Convention (to) enable delegates (to) exercise (their) inalienable right (to)
dehberate (and) formulate recommendations designed (to) aid incoming National Assem

THE BAHA’L WORLD

bly resolutely (to) prosecute (this) momentous enterprise. Fervor (of) prayers inten sified.

SHOGH5.

In the light of this message, and the opportunities afforded by the remarkable progress in Temple construction during the two previous
years, the Assembly prepared and reported the following plan of action for the third year of the Seven Year Plan:— Now the National
Spiritual Assembly,
after studying the recommendations of the delegates and the reports of committees, presents to the American Bahá’i community the
schedule of tasks deemed vitally important for the third year of the Seven Year Plan, the 96th year of the Bahá’i Era.
I. The Annual Budget laid before the believers is $150,000.00. Of this, $35,000 is required for International and Administrative
Activities, including property maintenance and committee budgets other than teaching; to be devoted to teaching in North and South
America, $40,000; and for continuance of Temple construction through the Bahiyyih Khánum Fund, the amount necessary to maintain
the schedule is $75,000.
II. Inter-America Teaching. These activities include the following items: Training of teachers; Spanish correspondence; bulletins in
English and Spanish; a Reference Library; translation and publication of Bahã’i literature in Spanish; projects for settlement of new
countries; publicity for Latin-American press.

III. Teaching in North America. Under this general title the American believers are responsible for the maintenance of a large
number of facilities and activities. These must be properly coordinated and made to function vigorously in concentration of effort
upon the common aim. Among the items to be noted are:
A. The development of administrative communities in the areas which still lack a Spiritual Assembly.
B. World’s Fair Exhibits. These are in active operation, and are producing lists of interested persons.
C. State Fair Exhibits. A traveling exhibit is in preparation, and schedule of Fairs is being developed to the extent of our financial
capacity.
D. Teaching literature—a field which can be greatly developed. It includes special bulletins, study outlines, the series of teaching
literature pamphlets, the use of THE BAs-tA’I WORLD, Vol. VII, etc.
E. Establishment of Latin-American activities in the United States and Canada. The Latin-American communities in many of our
cities offer a remarkable teaching opportunity, and a beginning is to be made during the current year.
F. Special projects by the National Teaching Committee.
G. Development of groups and isolated believers by the Regional Teaching Committees.
H. Radio. Publicity.
J. Local Assembly extension teaching.

Recently purchased historical site where the four Bahã’i martyrs of ‘Iraq, Iran, lie buried.
pict52.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

K. Summer Schools.
L. Bahi’i amity. The function of the race amity activities of former years is to be enlarged in order to fulfill the
Guardian’s instructions concerning all minorities.
M. Youth activities. Child training.
IV. Temple Construction. The annual budget contemplates the completion of the exterior decoration by 1942, and the
success of this schedule of operations represents a vital aspect of the Seven Year Plan. For the coming years, the
following task is assigned:
A. Completion of gallery contract.
B. Completion of first story models contract.
C. Completion of first story molds contract.
D. Completion of purchase of quartz needed for first story.
E. Begin casting and application of external decoration to first story. This item has paramount importance, for delay in
beginning this part of the work would interfere with the schedule adopted for the Seven Year Plan.
Progress of Temple Work
By August, 1939, had been completed the first great achievement in Temple construction under the Seven Year Plan—
the exterior decoration of the gallery section. This is one of the most beautiful units of the entire scheme, and its
completion has enhanced the appearance of the House of Worship incomparably.
Without waiting for the accumulation of all the funds required for the first story level, the Assembly provided sufficient
funds to the Temple Trustees in August to make possible a contract calling for the exterior decoration of the nine first
story pylons to one-third their height. This work was finished well before the date of December 31, 1939, which the
contract called for.
The current year has seen likewise the completion of the contracts for models and molds required for exterior
decoration of the first story, the purchase of the quartz needed for casting the first story units, and the purchase of steel
and wire also required.
This means that all the preliminary work has been done leading up to the casting and application of the units on the first
story, the final stage in this part of the Temple construction; the other work to be accom plishe

being the construction of the external stairs which are to rest upon the sloping deck of the foundation; some metal
work, the nine entrance doors and grill work on certain windows; and such treatment of grounds and the interior of the
edifice as may be decided on conclusion of the Seven Year Plan.
The National Spiritual Assembly laid before the Bahi’i community in February, 1940, a plan, approved and endorsed
by Shoghi Elfendi, calling for the funds needed to place the contract for the casting and application of the first story
units, $95,000, plus $30,000 the estimated cost of the stairs, less the sums already expended amounting to $19,183.22,
or a total of $105,816.78. Of this amount the Assembly reported that $50,000 would be required by April, 1940, the
balance being payable during 1941. The essential purpose of this plan was to make possible the completion of all the
work called for under the Seven Year Plan by 1942, two years ahead of schedule.
The Guardian’s approval, and his participation in the plan, was reported in a letter dated December 27, 1939:
“The Plan which your Assembly has suggested to raise the sum of fifty thousand dollars by next April, which will
enable you to place the necessary contracts for the final completion of the entire First Story ‘of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,
meets with my unqualified approval. It was specially in order to initiate and encourage the progress of such a plan that I
felt impelled to pledge the sum of one thousand pounds in the memory of these two glorious souls who, apart from the
Founders of the Faith and its Exemplar, tower, together with the Greatest Holy Leaf, above the rank and file of the
faithful.
“The interval separating us from that date is admittedly short. The explosive forces which lie dormant in the
international field may, ere the expiry of these fleeting months, break out in an eruption that may prove the most fateful
that mankind has experienced. It is within the power of the organized body of the American believers to further
demonstrate the imperturbability of their faith, the serenity of their confidence and the unyielding tenacity of their
resolve.”

THE BAHA’i WORLD

At the time of this writing about one-half the $50,000 has been made available, and the continuance of the construction work is
abundantly assured.
The Penetration of Latin America
Nothing in the history of the Faith in America compares with the response which has been made to the Guardian’s appeal for
settlement of pioneer teachers in Latin- American countries.
By March, 1940, it is possible to record the following impressive list of American teachers either settled in or on their way to various
countries in Central and South America. In addition, Spanish translations of a number of Bahá’i texts are either completed in
manuscript or on the press for publication; and plans for additional settlements as well as the return of Mrs. Frances Benedict Stewart
to South America for a prolonged stay are nearly completed.
Mathew Kaszab, Nicaragua.
Mrs. Louise Caswell, Mrs. Cora Hitt Oliver, Panama.
Gerrard Sluter, Guatemala.
Mrs. Amelia Ford, Mrs. Gayle Woolson, Costa Rica.
John Eichenauer, Jr., Clarence Iverson, San Salvador.
Antonio Roca, Honduras.
Mr. and Mrs. John Shaw, Jamaica.
Mr. and Mrs. Philip Marangella, Cuba.
Margaret Lentz, Dominican Republic.
Lenora Holsapple, Brazil.
Wilf rid Barton, Uruguay.
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Laws, Chile.
Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala, Priscilla Rhodes, Venezuela.
John Stearns, Ecuador.
Thus a vast and far-reaching project has been firmly established, its aim the realization of the Guardian’s plea for Bahá’i groups in all
countries of Central and South America by the end of the first century of the Bahá’i Era. Mrs. Stewart’s second journey to South
America had great results in forming permanent groups in Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and in Chile. The Spiritual Assembly of
Mexico City is taking an active part in the important work of Spanish translation as well as in extending the Cause in Mexico. The
visit made by Mrs. Thomas

Collins to Mexico City during the past year forged firmer bonds of unity and cooperation between the Bahá’is of that
city and their co-workers in North America. Finally, the element of spiritual sacrifice and martyrdom has been brought
into the mighty task in the passing of Mrs. May Maxwell.
Consolidation of Teaching Work
in North America
A most powerful impetus has also been given to the teaching activities maintained during the year by the National and
Regional Teaching Committees, the local Spiritual Assemblies and individuals who have served as pioneers or
traveling teachers.
The record of pioneer settlements arranged during the past two years reveals the fact that all parts of the United States
and Canada now reflect the light of the new Revelation.
Honor Kempton, Betty Becker, Mrs. Joy Allen, Alaska.
Mr. and Mrs. A. K. Kalantar, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Delaware.
Helen Grilling, Nevada.
Mr. and Mrs. D. T. McNally, Rhode Island.
Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Bidwell, Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg, Miss Maud Mickle, Miss Wheeler, South Carolina.
Mrs. Marguerite Reimer Sears, Lloyd Byars, Utah.
Neysa Grace Bissell, C. Grant, Vermont.
Mr. and Mrs. 1-lilbert Dahl, Harold Hunt, Mr. Brandon, West Virginia.
Mr. and Mrs. Moore, Virginia.
Martha Fettig, Alabama.
Rezi Sunshine, Arkansas.
Marvin Newport, Iowa.
Mrs. Olivia Kelsey, Kentucky.
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Babo, Mrs. Dorothy Logelin, Pearl Berk, Louisiana.
Mrs. Marguerite Bruegger, North Dakota.
Mrs. Dwight Edson, Mrs. Kathryn Frank- land, Fred Kluss, Mr. Brandon, Texas.
Nayan Hartfield, Missouri, Mrs. Lorol Jackson, Montana.
Mrs. Beulah Proctor, Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade, Nova Scotia.
Rowland Estall, Manitoba.
Doris Skinner, Alberta.
Mrs. Kathryn Moscrop, Saskatchewan.

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

The activities of these consecrated teachers, the development of study groups, and the preparation of new groups for the formation of a
Spiritual Assembly, are reported in detail in the accompanying annual report of the National Teaching and the Regional Teaching
Committees. What emerges is the vital fact that the entire Bahã’i community has become penetrated with a new quahty of vigor and a
new determination to lay strong foundations for the new order ere the old crashes to the ground.
The many activities which, under various Committees, make up the teaching work in its entirety, can only be grasped if we follow the
Reports from all Committees. A word might be added here about the Bahá’i Exhibits maintained at the Expositions conducted at San
Francisco, New York and Toronto. In the beauty of the exhibits, the vast amount of hterature taken by visitors, the duration of the
effort and the contribution made by the many believers who gave their time to be in attendance day by day, these World Fairs, and the
Canadian National Exposition, mark a new and higher standard of participation in teaching activity in connection with public
enterprises. The experience gained by the Bahá’is themselves is perhaps no less important for the future than the interest aroused by
the several hundred thousand printed summaries of the Faith given to inquirers.
By March 1, 1940, authorization for formation of a local Spiritual Assembly on April 21 had been voted by the National Assemby to
groups in the following cities:
Waukegan and Madison, Wisconsin; Santa Rosa, Big Bear Lake, Beverly Hills and Burbank, California; West Haven, Connecticut;
Omaha, Nebraska; and Atlanta, Georgia. Apphcations had been received, not yet acted on, from Santa Barbara, California, and
Brookline, Massachusetts. These eleven new Assemblies will increase the number of local Assemblies in North America to 96.
Eighty- eight Assemblies were elected on April 21, 1939, since when the removal of members to other cities and other reasons have
dissolved the Assemblies of Moncton, New Brunswick, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Toledo, Ohio. From early in April, 1939 to March
10, 1940, a total of three hundred

and sixty-eight enrollments were reported by the local Assemblies, some of these representing transfers of membership from one
community to another. The report from Los Angeles was 56, from New York 36, from Chicago 22 and from Toronto 19. These
figures do not list those who enrolled as isolated believers or members of groups.
Coinmunicatioiis from the Guardian
The guidance and strength which the American Bahá’is have received from Shoghi Effendi have enabled them to understand the true
character of these passing days, anticipate the trend of world affairs, and concentrate upon the most important spiritual task.
Space permits the recording of only some of the passages which during the year have been published in BAHA’i NEWS in their
entirety for the believers.
“The initial phase of the teaching work operating under the Seven Year Plan has at long last been concluded. They who pushed it
forward have withstood the test gloriously. By their acts, whether as teachers or administrators, they have written a glorious page in
the struggle for the laying of a continent- wide foundation for the administrative Order of their Faith. At this advanced stage in the
fulfillment of the purpose to which they have set their hand there can be no turning back, no halting, no respite. To launch the bark of
the Faith, to implant its banner, is not enough. Support, ample, organixed and unremitting, should be lent, designed to direct the course
of that work and to lay an unassailable foundation for the fort destined to stand guard over that banner.
“The National Spiritual Assembly, the National Teaching Committee, the Regional and local teaching committees, no less than the
itinerant teachers, should utilize every possible means calculated to fan the zeal, enrich the resources and insure the solidity and
permanency of the work, of those who, actuated by so laudable and shining a spirit of self-sacrifice, have arisen to face the hazards
and perils of so holy and historic an adventure. Indeed every believer, however humble and inexperiencd, should sense the obligation
to play his or her part in a mission that involves so very deeply the des-

THE BAHA’I WORLD

tinies not oniy of the American Bahá’i community but of the nation itself.
“Whether through the frequency of their visits, the warmth of their correspondence, the liberality of their support, the wisdom of their
counsels, the choice of the literature placed at the disposal of the pioneers, the members of the community should, at this hour when
the sands of a moribund civilization are inexorably running out, and at a time when they are preparing themselves to launch yet
another stage in their teaching activities, insure the security and provide for the steady expansion, of the work initiated in those
territories so recently set alight from the torch of an inextinguishable Faith.
“This is my plea, my supreme entreaty.”
April 17, 1939.
“Inexpressibly moved, grateful (for) stirring, unique message. Momentous deliberations (of) Thirty-first Convention opening sterner,
more glorious chapter in corporate life (of) ever-advancing, steadily-expanding American Bahá’i community. Admiration heightened,
confidence immensely fortified (by) fresh revelations (of) community’s latest strength hastening inevitable hour signalizing spiritual
conquest (of) entire Western Hemisphere.”
May 1, 1939.
“Progress reflected (in) recently published National Reports inspiring, significant. Convey (to) responsible Committees abundant
gratitude, heartfelt congratulations. Advise mail one copy (to) each Community (of) Bahá’i World as example worthy emulation, as
source (of) abiding comfort, as stimulus (of) greater exertions, nobler perseverance.”
May 9, 1939.
“Th concerted activities of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the North American continent assume, as they multiply and develop, a dual
aspect, and may be said to fall into two distinct categories, both equally vital and complementary to each other. The one aims at the
safeguarding and consolidation of the work already achieved; the other is designed to enlarge the range of its operation. The former
depends chiefly for its

success upon the capacity, the experience and loyalty of wise, resourceful and judicious administrators, who, impelled by the very
nature of their task, will be increasingly called upon to exercise the utmost care and vigilance in protecting the interests of the Faith, in
resolving its problems, in regulating its life, in enriching its resources, and in preserving the pristine purity of its precepts. The latter is
essentially pioneer in nature, demanding first and foremost those qualities of renunciation, tenacity, dauntlessness and passionate
fervor that can alone brave the dangers and sweep away the obstacles with which an infant Faith, struggling against vested interests
and face to face with the entrenched forces of prejudice, of ignorance and fanaticism, must needs contend. In both of these spheres of
Bahf’i activity the community of the American believers, it is becoming increasingly evident, is evincing those characteristics which
must be regarded as the essential foundation for the success of their dual task.
“As to those whose function is essentially of an administrative character it can hardly be doubted that they are steadily and
indefatigably perfecting the structural machinery of their Faith, are multiplying its administrative agencies; and are legalizing the
status of the newly established institutions. Slowly and patiently they are canalizing the spirit that at once directs, energizes and
safeguards its operation. They are exploiting its potentialities, broadcasting its message, publicizing its literature, fostering the
aspirations of its youth, devising ways and means for the training of its children, guarding the integrity of its teachings, and paving the
way for the ultimate codification of its laws. Through all the resources at their disposal, they are promoting the growth and
consolidation of that pioneer movement for which the entire machinery of their Administrative Order has been primarily designed and
erected. They are visibly and progressively contributing to the enrichment of their unique community life, and are insuring, with
magnificent courage and characteristic promptitude, the completion of their consecrated Edifice — the embodiment of their hopes and
the supreme symbol of their ideals.
“As to those into whose valiant and

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

trusted hands — and no believer, however humble is to think himself debarred from joining their ranks—the standards of a f or- ward
marching Faith have been entrusted, they too with no less zest and thoroughness are pushing farther and farther its frontiers, breaking
new soil, establishing fresh outposts, winning more recruits, and contributing to the greater diversification and more harmonious
blending of the elements comprised in the world-wide society of its followers.
“The Edifice of this New World Order, which the Mb has heralded, which the mind of Bahá’u’lláh has envisioned, and whose features
‘Abdu’l-Baha, its Architect, has delineated, we, whatever our capacities, opportunities, or position, are now, at so precarious a period
in the world’s history, summoned to found and erect. The community of the Most Great Name in the Western Hemisphere is, through
the nature of its corporate hfe and the scope of its exertions, assuming, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a preponderating share in the
laying of such a foundation and the erection of such a structure. The eyes of its sister communities are fixed upon it. Their prayers
ascend on its behalf. Their hands are outstretched to lend whatever aid lies within their power. I, for my part, am determined to
reinforce the impulse that impels its members forward to meet their destiny. The Founders of their Faith survey from the Kingdom on
high the range of their achievements, acclaim their progress, and are ever ready to speed their eventual triumph.”
May 22, 1939.
“Newly-launched Central American campaign marks official inauguration (of) long- deferred World Mission constituting
‘Abdu’lBahá’s distinctive legacy (to the) Bahá’i Community (of) North America. Chosen Community broadening its basis, gaining
(in) stature, deepening (in) consecration. Its vanguard now entering arena monopolized (by) entrenched forces (of) Christendom’s
mightiest ecclesiastical institutions. Laboring amidst race foreign in language, custom, temperament embracing vast proportion (of)
New World’s ethnic elements. American believers’ isolated oversea teaching

enterprises hitherto tentative, intermittent, now at end. New epoch opening, demanding exertions incomparably more strenuous,
unflinchingly sustained, centrally directed, systematically organized, efficiently conducted. Upon alacrity, tenacity, fearlessness (of)
piesent prosecutors (of the) unfolding mission depend speedy (and) fullest revelation, in the First (and) Second Centuries (of the)
potentialities (of the) birthright conferred (upon) American believers. Convey (to) pioneers (in) North, Middle (and) South America
my eagerness (to) maintain with each direct, personal contact. Assure Teaching (and) Inter-America Committees (my) delight (at)
successive testimonies (of) believers’ glowing spirit reflected (in) Minutes, letters (and) reports recently received. Entreat every
section (of) community (to) labor unremittingly until every nation (in) Western Hemisphere (is) illumined (by) rays (and) woven (into)
fabric (of) Bahá’u’lláh triumphant Administrative Order.”
May 28, 1939.
“The readiness of your Assembly, as expressed in your recently cabled message, to transfer the National BahI’i Secretariat to the
vicinity of the Temple in Wilmette has evoked within me the deepest feelings of thankfulness and joy. Your historic decision, so wise
and timely, so surprising in its suddenness, so far-reaching in its consequences, is one that I cannot but heartily and unreservedly
applaud. To each one of your brethren in the Faith, throughout the United States and Canada, who are witnessing, from day to day and
at an ever-hastening speed, the approaching completion of their National House of Worship, the great Mother Temple of the West,
your resolution to establish within its hallowed precincts and in the heart of the North American continent the Administrative Seat of
their beloved Faith cannot but denote henceforward a closer association, a more constant communion, and a higher degree of coordination between the two primary agencies providentially ordained for the enrichment of their spiritual life and for the conduct and
regulation of their administrative affairs. To the far-flung Bahá’i communities of East and

THE BAHA’I WORLD

West, most of which are being increasingly proscribed and ill-treated, and none of which can claim to have had a share of the dual
blessings which a specially designed and constructed House of Worship and a fully and efficiently functioning Administrative Order
invariably confer, the concentration in a single locality of what will come to be regarded as the fountain-head of the community’s
spiritual life and what is already recognized as the mainspring of the administrative activities, signalizes the launching of yet another
phase in the slow and imperceptible emergence, in these declining times, of the model Bahá’i community—a community divinely
ordained, organically united, clear- visioned, vibrant with life, and whose very purpose is regulated by the twin directing principles of
the worship of God and of service to one’s fellow-men.
“The decision you have arrived at is an act that befittingly marks the commencement of your allotted term of stewardship in service to
the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Moreover, it significantly coincides with the inauguration of that world mission of which the settlement of
Bahá’i pioneers in the virgin territories of the North American continent has been but a prelude. That such a decision may speedily
and without the slightest hitch be carried into effect is the deepest longing of my heart. That those who have boldly carried so weighty
a resolution may without pause or respite continue to labor and build up, as circumstance permit, around this administrative nucleus
such accessories as the machinery of a fast evolving administrative order, functioning under the shadow of, and in such close
proximity to, the Mashriqu’l-Adhhãr, must demand, is the object of my incessant and fervent prayer. That such a step, momentous as
it is, may prove the starting point for acts of still greater renown and richer possibilities that will leave their distinct mark on the third
year of the Seven Year Plan is a hope which I, together with all those who are eagerly following its progress, fondly and confidently
cherish.”
July 4, 1939.
“A triple call, clear-voiced, insistent and inescapable, summons to the challenge all

members of the American Bahá’i community, at this, the most fateful hour in their history. The first is the voice, distant
and piteous, of those sister communities which now, alas, are fettered by the falling chains of religious orthodoxy and
isolated through the cruel barriers set up by a rampant nationalism. The second is the plea, no less vehement and
equally urgent, of those peoples and nations of the New World, whose vast and unexplored territories await to be
warmed by the light and swept into the orbit of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. The third, more universal and stirring than
either of the others, is the call of humanity itself crying out for deliverance at a time when the tide of mounting evils
has destroyed its equilibrium and is now strangling its very life.
“These imperative calls of Bahá’i duty the American believers can immediately if only partially answer. Their present
status, their circumscribed resources, debar them, however great their eagerness, from responding completely and
decisively to the full implications of this threefold obligation. They can neither, individually nor through their
concerted efforts, impose directly their will upon those into whose hands the immediate destinies of their persecuted
brethren are placed. Nor are they as yet capable of launching a campaign of such magnitude as could capture the
imagination and arouse the conscience of mankind, and thereby insure the immediate and full redress of those
grievances from which their helpless co-religionists in both the East and West are suffering. They cannot moreover
hope to wield at the present time in the councils of nations an influence commensurate with the stupendous claims
advanced, or adequate to the greatness of the Cause proclaimed, by the Author of their Faith. Nor can they assume a
position or exercise such responsibilities as would enable them by their acts and decisions to reverse the process which
is urging so tragically the decline of human society and its institutions.
“And yet, though their influence be at the present hour indecisive and their divinelyconferred authority unrecognized,
the role they can play in both alleviating the hardships that afflict their brethren and in at-

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

tenuating the ills that torment mankind is none the less considerable and far-reaching. By the range and liberality of their contributions
to mitigate the distress of the bereaved, the exiled and the imprisoned; by the persistent, the wise and judicious intervention of their
elected representatives through the authorities concerned; by a clear and convincing exposition, whenever circumstances are
propitious, of the issues involved; by a vigorous defence of the rights and liberties denied; by an accurate and dignified presentation of
the events that have transpired; by every manner of encouragement which their sympathies may suggest, or their means permit, or
their consciences dictate, to succor the outcast and the impoverished; and above all by their tenacious adherence to, and wide
proclamation of, those principles, laws, ideals, and institutions which their disabled fellow-believers are unable to affirm or publicly
espouse; and lastly, by the energetic prosecution of those tasks which their oppressed fellow-workers are forbidden to initiate or
conduct, the privileged community of the American Bahá’i can play a conspicuous part in the great drama involving so large a
company of their unemancipated brethren in the Asiatic, the European and African continents.
“Their duties towards mankind in general are no less distinct and vital. Their impotence to stem the tide of onrushing calamities, their
seeming helplessness in face of those cataclysmic forces that are to convulse human society, do not in the least detract from the
urgency of their unique mission, nor exonerate them from those weighty responsibilities which they alone can and must assume.
Humanity, heedless and impenitent, is admittedly hovering on the edge of an awful abyss, ready to precipitate itself into that titanic
struggle, that crucible whose chastening fires alone can and will weld its antagonistic elements of race, class, religion and nation into
one coherent system, one world commonwealth. “The hour is approaching” is Bahá’u’lláh’s own testimony, “when the most
great convulsion will have appeared . . . I swear by God! The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will
have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying:

‘Taste ye, what your hands have wrought.’” Not ours to question the almighty wisdom or fathom the inscrutable ways
of Him in whose hands the ultimate destiny of an unregenerate yet potentially glorious race must lie. Ours rather is the
duty to believe that the world-wide community of the Most Great Name, and in particular at the present time its
vanguard in North America, however buffeted by the powerful currents of these troublous times, and however keen
their awareness of the inevitability of the final eruption, can, if they will, rise to the level of their calling and discharge
their functions, both in the period which is witnessing the confusion and breakdown of human institutions, and in the
ensuing epoch during which the shattered basis of a dismembered society is to be recast, and its forces reshaped,
redirected and unified. ‘With the age that is still unborn, with its herculean tasks and unsuspected glories, we need not
concern ourselves at present. It is to the fierce struggle, the imperious duties, the distinctive contributions which the
present generation of Bahá’is are summoned to undertake and render that I feel we should, at this hour, direct our
immediate and anxious attention. Though powerless to avert the impending contest the followers of Bahá’u’llãh can, by
the spirit they evince and the efforts they exert help to circumscribe its range, shorten its duration, allay its hardships,
proclaim its salutary consequences, and demonstrate its necessary and vital role in the shaping of human destiny. Theirs
is the duty to hold, aloft and undimmed, the torch of Divine Guidance, as the shades of night descend upon, and
ultimately envelop the entire human race. Theirs is the function, amidst its tumults, perils and agonies, to witness to the
vision, and proclaim the approach, of that re-created society, that Christ-promised Kingdom, that World Order whose
generative impulse is the spirit of none other than Bahá’u’lláh Himself, whose dominion is the entire planet, whose
watchword is unity, whose animating power is the force of Justice, whose directive purpose is the reign of
righteousness and truth, and whose suppreme glory is the complete, the undisturbed, and everlasting felicity of the
whole of human kind. By the sublimity and serenity of

THE BAHA’I WORLD

their faith, by the steadiness and clarity of their vision, the incorruptibility of their character, the rigor of their discipline, the sanctity
of their morals, and the unique example of their community life, they can and indeed must in a world polluted with its incurable
corruptions, paralyzed by its haunting fears, torn by its devastating hatreds, and languishing under the weight of its appalling miseries
demonstrate the validity of their claim to be regarded as the sole repository of that grace upon whose operation must depend the
complete deliverance, the fundamental reorganization and the supreme felicity of all mankind.”
July 28, 1939.
“Shades (of) night descending (upon) imperilled humanity inexorably deepening. American believers, heirs (of) Bahá’u’llih’s
Covenant, prosecutors (of) ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Plan, (are) confronted (by) supreme opportunity (to) vindicate indestructibility (of) their
Faith, inflexibility (of their) resolution, incorruptibility, sanctity (for the) appointed task. Anxiously, passionately entreat them,
whatever obstacles (the) march (of) tragic events may create, however distressing (the) barriers (which) (the) predicted calamities raise
between them and (their) sister communities, and possibly (their) Faith’s World Center, unwaveringly hold aloft (the) Torch whose
infant Light heralds (the) birth (of the) effulgent World Order destined (to) supplant disrupting civilization.”
August 30, 1939.
“Blessed remains (of) Purest Branch and Master’s Mother safely transferred (to) hallowed precincts (of the) Shrines (on) Mount
Carmel. Long inflicted humiliation wiped away. Machinations (of the) Covenant-Breakers (to) frustrate plan defeated. Cherished wish
(of) Greatest Holy Leaf fulfilled. Sister, Brother, Mother (and) Wife (of) ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reunited (at the) one spot designed (to)
constitute focal center (of) Bahá’i Administrative Institutions at Faith’s World Center. Share joyful news (with) entire body (of)
American believers.”

December 5, 1939.
“Christmas eve, (the) beloved remains (of) Purest Branch and Master’s Mother laid in state (in) Báb’s Holy Tomb. Christmas day,
entrusted (to) Carmel’s sacred soil. (The) ceremony (in) presence (of) representatives (of) Near Eastern believers profoundly moving.
Impelled associate America’s momentous Seven Year enterprise (with) imperishable memory (of) these two holy souls who, next (to)
Twin Founders (of) Faith and (its) Perfect Exemplar, tower, together with Greatest Holy Leaf, above (the) entire concourse (of the)
faithful. Rejoice privilege (to) pledge thousand pounds my contribution (to) Bahiyyih Khánum Fund designed (for) inauguration (of)
final drive (to) insure placing contract next April (for) last remaining stage (in) construction (of) Mashriqu’l-Adhkir. Time (is)
pressing, opportunity priceless, potent aid providentially promised unfailing.
December 26, 1939.
“The association of the First Mashriqu’lAdhkár of the West with the hallowed memories of the Purest Branch and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã’s
mother, recently re-interred under the shadow of the Mb’s holy Shrine, inaugurates a new, and at long last the final phase of an
enterprise which, thirty years ago, was providentially launched on the very day the remains of the Forerunner of our Faith were laid to
rest by our beloved Master in the sepulchre specifically erected for that purpose on Mt. Carmel. The birth of this holy enterprise,
pregnant with such rich, such infinite possibilities, synchronized with, and was consecrated through, this historic event which, as
‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself has affirmed, constitutes the most signal act of the triple mission He had been prompted to perform. The site of
the Temple itself was honored by the presence of Him Who, ever since this enterprise was initiated, had, through His messages and
Tablets, bestowed upon it His special attention and care, and surrounded it with the marks of His unfailing solicitude. Its foundationstone was laid by His own loving hands, on an occasion so moving that it has come to be regarded as one of the most stirring episodes
of His his-

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

toric visit to the North American continent. Its superstructure was raised as a direct consequence of the pent-up energies which surged
from the breasts of ‘Abdu’lBahá’s lovers at a time when His sudden removal from their midst had plunged them into consternation,
bewilderment and sorrow. Its external ornamentation was initiated and accelerated through the energizing influences which the rising
and continually consolidating institutions of a divinely established Administrative Order had released in the midst of a community that
had identified its vital interests with that Temple’s destiny. The measures devised to hasten its completion were incorporated in a Plan
which derives its inspiration from those destiny-shaping Tablets wherein, in bold relief, stands outlined the world mission entrusted by
their Author to the American Bahá’i community. And finally, the Fund, designed to receive and dispose of the resources amassed for
its prosecution, was linked with the memory and bore the name of her whose ebbing life was brightened and cheered by those tidings
that unmistakably revealed to her the depth of devotion and the tenacity of purpose which animate the American believers in the cause
of their beloved Temple. And now, while the Bahá’i world vibrates with emotion at the news of the transfer of the precious remains of
both the Purest Branch and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã’s mother to a spot which, watched over by the Twin holy shripes and in the close
neighborhood of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, is to become the focus of the administrative institutions of the Faith at its
world center, the mere act of linking the destiny of so far-reaching an undertaking with so significant an event in the Formative Period
of our Faith will assuredly set the seal of complete triumph upon, and enhance the spiritual potentialities of, a work so significantly
started and so magnificently executed by the followers of Bahá’u’llãh in the North American continent.”
December 30, 1939.
“Delighted (at) ceremony celebrating (the) union (of the) twin institutions. Praying victory similar (to the) one recently won (over)
Covenant-breakers (in)

Holy Land be achieved by American believers over insidious adversaries (in) City of (the) Covenant.”

January 23, 1940.

“A Spiritual Renaissance”

A meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly at Toronto coincided with the beginning of the new phase in the international struggle.
To that meeting came the Guardian’s cablegram of August 30. Realizing the vital necessity of maintaining the unity of the Bahá’i
community throughout the troubled times to come, and the importance of sharing conscious awareness of the fundamental teachings
pertaining to the behevers in time of war, the National Spiritual Assembly immediately issued a special number of BiusA’I NEWS in
September, 1939.
A few excerpts from that message are reprinted in this report.
That fateful period has come upon us which to the world appears as the dire climax of all that is destructive in mankind. It is
characterized by Shoghi Effendi as the supreme opportunity confronting the American Bahd’I community. In order to realize
that opportunity the Bahá”i must hold to certain fixed truths and instruments of action given us under unquestioned spiritual authority,
and constituting that basis of Bahi’i unity which can never be sundered, impaired, or perverted by human power. As we turn gratefully
to the Guidance vouchsafed for the Bahá’is through Shoghi Effendi since the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã, the older friends, who in
1914 saw the night of war descend upon the world, can appreciate what blessings have been received, and what a vital difference there
is between a BahI’i community in the station of infancy, and the same community grown to active and conscious youth.
The purpose of this special issue of BAHA’I Nuws is to contribute to the knowledge, the steadfast calm, the sacred unity and the
capacity of the American Bahã’is during this fateful period that will terminate forever the institution of war in human society and
reveal the Order which has been created by the Manifestation for the oneness of mankind.

THE BAHA’f WORLD
The house of Háji Mirzá Jáni in Káshin which the
Bahá’is of Iran have recently purchased to he preserved
as an historical site.

The cablegram from Shoghi Effendi quoted above has many profound implications. First let us recall that other cablegram received
September 24, 1938, in which the Guardian established the true attitude of Bahá’is in time of war.
“Loyalty (to) World Order (of) Baha’u’llah, security (of) its basic institutions, both imperatively demand (that) all its avowed
supporters, particularly its champion builders (in the) American continent, in these days when sinister, uncontrollable forces are
deepening (the) cleavage sundering peoples, nations, creeds (and) classes, resolve, despite (the) pressure (of) fast crystallizing public
opinion, abstain individually,

collectively, in word, action, informally as well as in all official utterances (and) publications from assigning blame, taking sides,
however indirectly, in recurring political crises now agitating, ultimately engulfing, human society. Grave apprehension lest
cumulative effect (of) such compromises disintegrate (the) fabric (and) clog (the) channel (of) Grace that sustains (the) system (of)
God’s essentially supranational, supernatural Order so laboriously evolved, so recently established.”
SHOGEIT.
May be both individually and as members of local communities or groups pray for such purity of vision that we may be wholly

Ir?

pict53.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

obedient to the Guardian’s appeal, which means nothing else than protecting the light of faith from the storms and tempests of the
world!
The Bahã’i law under which believers must obey their civil government involves the important question of the performance of
military service by Bahã’is when conscripted during time of war.
We find, among others, three passages bearing directly upon this question: “Bahã’is and War,” Bahd’I Procedure, Section One,
Sheet 11; “Collective Action By League of Nations,” Bahd’i Procedure, Section One, Sheet 12; and the Guardian’s letter to an
individual believer explaining the Bahá”i view of absolute pacifists and conscientious objectors, pubhshed in BAHA’I NEWS,
January, 1938.
A review of these passages and agreement as to their meaning is most desirable by members of local communities. Nothing save
understanding of true justice—the balance characterizing divine truth—will save the Bahá’i communities from danger of disruption
under the impact of personalities taking extreme views which result in controversy and dissension.
“The Bahá’i conception of social life is essentially based on the subordination of the individual will to that of society. It neither
suppresses the individual nor does it exalt him to the point of making him an antisocial creature
“The Guardian instructs us that the obligation to render military duty placed by governments upon their citizens is a form of loyalty to
one’s government which the Bahá’i must accept, but that the behevers can, through their National Assembly, seek exemption from
active army (combatant) duty provided their government recognizes the right of members of religious bodies making peace a matter of
conscience to serve in some non-combatant service rather than as part of the armed force.”
“The hour is approaching when the most great convulsion will have appeared.”
—BAHA’u’LLAH.
As to the details of coming events, these are not made known to us in the Teachings, save for the large outlines which mark the death
of the old era and the birth of the

new. But we know that profound changes will take place, and human emotion and thought subjected to every conceivable influence.
The Bahá’is can and must anticipate tests in the form of pressure exerted through pubhc opinion, tests in the form of psychic
experience claiming to be spiritual guidance, and tests which would sway us emotionally away from the continuity of plan and effort
provided by the Guardian.
“For no less than six consecutive years (from April, 1938) this twofold and stupendous enterprise, which has been set in operation,
must, if the American behevers are to prove themselves worthy of their high calling, be wisely conducted, continually reinforced and
energetically prosecuted to its very end. Severe and unprecedented as may be the internal tests and ordeals which the members of this
Community may yet experience, however tragic and momentous the external happenings which might well disrupt the fabric of the
society in which they live, they must not throughout these six remaining years, allow themselves to be deflected from the course they
are now steadily pursuing. Nay, rather, as the impelling forces which have set in motion this mighty undertaking acquire added
momentum and its potentialities are more fully manifested, they who are responsible for its success must as time goes on evince a
more burning enthusiasm, demonstrate a higher sense of sohdarity, reveal greater depths of consecration to their task, and display a
more unyielding determination to achieve its purpose.” (April
14, 1938.)
The Assembly also acted to publish in pamphlet form the text of the letter which had been submitted to the civil authorities both in the
United States and Canada in order to establish the status of Bahá’is as noncombatants in time of war. The title of the pamphlet is The
Bahd’I Teachings on Universal Peace.
A Brief Summary
Among the activities of the Assembly during the year there might be mentioned briefly the following:
On two occasions the Assembly cabled the Guardian an expression of the hope of

THE BAHA’j WORLD

the Baha’is that he might bless America with his presence.
Action was taken to increase by one-third the amount which the Assembly, for the American Bahá’is, contributes regularly to the
International Bahá’i Fund administered by Shoghi Effendi.
The first meeting of the Assembly in its HazIratu’l-Quds was held on January 20, 21 and 22, 1940. The occasion was signalized by a
special dedicatory gathering held at 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, and then in the Auditorium of the House of Worship, at which the
nine members participated in reading passages from Writings of Bahá’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and from the words of Shoghi
Effendi.
An action taken in connection with the establishment of this Office was to amend Article V of the Declaration of Trust to read as
follows: The central office of this Trust shall be located in the Village of Wilmette, State of Illinois, U. S. A., the site of the Bahá’i
House of Worship.
The Assembly conducted public meetings this year in Toronto, San Francisco, New York and Chicago, and held regional conferences
with Baha’is in those four areas.
The report submitted by the Properties Representative deals with the subject of the Bahá’i properties held by Trustees for the benefit
of the National Spiritual Assembly, and supplements the present statement in recording the activities touching the national Bahá’i
institutions. From that report is taken for emphasis the fact that the Baha’i community has this year received three valuable property
gifts: the Mathews property at Colorado Springs, to be used as an International Bahá’i School, property from Mr. and Mrs. John Bosch
and Mrs. Thomas Collins which will augment the School property already held in that city; and the donation of her house in Berkeley,
California, by Mrs. Katherine Frankland in memory of the late Mr. Frankland. A valuable part of this donation is represented by Miss
Julia Culver’s cancellation of mortgage she had held. The legal steps are being taken for the transfer of this property to the Spiritual
Assembly of Berkeley.
The first American local Assembly to own its meeting place and Bahá’i Center is Cm-

cinnati, which holds title to a house transferred to the corporate body by a local Bahá’i.
Action has been taken to make possible the purchase of reproductions of the moving picture film showing ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Brooklyn
during His American visit of 1912, and reproductions of the Master’s voice record are also being prepared.
Matters of Bahá’i procedure published in BAHA’i NEWS this year have been on the following subjects: the review of manuscripts;
truth and rumor; teaching in the Southern States; credentials for traveling believers; credentials of believers from the Orient; the listing
of Baha’i publications; brief outline of procedure on appeals; committee reports; the status of pilgrim’s notes; the determination of
membership; explanation of transfer of membership; and formation of new Assemblies.
No final selection has yet been made of design for the memorial to be erected at the grave of Martha L. Root in Honolulu, but an
appropriation has been made and the most suitable material will be chosen as soon as possible.
A special contribution has been made this year for the relief of Bahá’is in Turkistan and Caucasus, become tragically destitute due to
the shattering of their lives under the compulsion of a war era. The American Bahá’is likewise have felt a special and deep anxiety
over the unknown fate of Miss Lidia Zamenhof, whose visit in America during 1937 and 1938 won her the respect and admiration of a
host of Baha’j friends.
The appointment of a Properties Representative makes possible an improvement in the records and maintenance of the various Bahá’i
properties.
Aside from the Guardian’s general letters and his communications to the National Assembly on subjects concerning general policy,
there are communications written through his secretary which bring answers to specific questions. Such answers are, whenever
possible, published in BAHA’i NEWS. Subjects covered in this way during the current year have been: the right of any believer to
volunteer for pioneer work; request that newly-incorporated Assemblies send a photograph to transmit to the Guar

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

THE
dian; importance of the Race Unity Corn- Their reports are to be considered as extenrnittee (in letter of July 4, 1939) ; request sions of
the record which the National As- that associate members are not to be ap- sembly places in the hands of the Bahá’is. pointed in
future; approval of effort by in- NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
corporated Assemblies to exercise the legal ALLEN B. MCDANIEL, Chairman
right to conduct Bahá’i marriage service; the DOROTHY BAKER, Vice-Chairman
fact that the consent of parents is a binding HORACE HOLLEY, Secretary
condition; explanation of time for holding Louis G. GREGORY, Recording
Nineteen Day Feasts (letter of December Secretary
24, 1939). Roy C. WILHELM, Treasurer
Gratitude in full measure is due all those SIEGFRSED SCHOPFLOCHER,
members of the active National Committees Assistant Treasurer
whose energy and devotion are such vital AMELIA E. COLLINS
factors in the total accomplishment of the LEROY I0AS
American Bahá’i community year by year. HARLAN OBER
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF
BAHA’iS OF THE UNITED STATES
AND CANADA—1939-1940
Beloved Friends: sult of these investigations, not determined A few days before the opening of the at the date of this writing, can be
reported
Thirty-second Annual Convention, work orally to the delegates and later issued to was resumed on the exterior decoration of the entire
Bahá’i community.
the House of Worship. The nine pylons The important matter at this time is to will be completed during the next few realize the
present status of the amount of months under a contract made possible by Temple construction work definitely allothe balance in the
Bahiyyih Khánum Fund. cated to the seven years ending 1944. FinanThose attending the Convention, moreover, cially, the work to be
undertaken amounted have noted that the grounds have been filled to $350,000 in June, 1937. The work to be in and a new level
attained corresponding to completed henceforth amounts to $ 79,- the level of the exterior stairs, almost around 680.50, plus an
estimated $50,000 for metal the edifice. The approach to Foundation doors, grilles and landscaping. Within three Hall from Linden
Avenue is being left un- years of a period covering seven years the graded for a time, as it will be necessary to American Bahâ’is, with
those munificent do- provide a tunnel from the street to the en- nations made by the Guardian himself, have trance into what will then
be the under- thus accomplished Temple construction ground basement of the Temple. The Tem- work amounting to about
$220,000.00. plc Maintenance Committee has been able to Through contracts amounting to less than obtain all this fill at a cost of
only one-third $40,000 a year for the next two years, the the quotation obtained a year ago. exterior of the House of Worship can be
In the April bulletin the friends were completed two years before the termination informed of the Guardian’s cablegram re- of the
Seven Year Plan. This, truly, is a ceived March 31: “Suggest if feasible place notable achievement to contemplate, and a immediate
contracts for completion (of) high standard to set for future generations pylons and ornamentation (of) one whole of believers.
face. Praying early success.” Investigations Another current accomplishment comhave been made to determine how best to parable in
importance is the addition to the carry out this wish, and how to proceed with number of local Spiritual Assemblies made the balance
of construction as funds are at the time of the annual election on April made available from time to time. The re- 21. While all reports
are not yet received,

THE BAHA’i WORLD

the National Assembly can state that since mentioning the eleven applications on hand by the middle of March, groups in Oak Park,
Illinois, North Augusta, South Carolina, Hamilton, Ontario, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Alhambra, California, have developed to the
point of electoral capacity, the group at La Crescenta, California, may have likewise qualified, while Knoxville, Tennessee, has
resumed Assembly status and Scranton, Pennsylvania, has emerged from the difficulties caused by the loss of two active believers
who moved to another city. These conditions mean that the American Bahá’is have in all probabihty met the Guardian’s expressed
hope that one hundred Assemblies exist after April 21, 1940.
In a previous section of the report, reference was made to the new properties donated to the Faith this year. This information can now
be amplified by the news that Mr. and Mrs. Schopfiocher are prepared to execute an Indenture transferring to the Green Acre Trustees
title to their property in Eliot, Maine, with the provision that they retain full use and control during their hf etime, the same provision
written into the gift of properties at Geyserville and at Colorado Springs. The Eliot property includes the cottage known as “Ole Bull”
and the famous “Nine Gables” house, studios and farm.
The Assemblies of Boston, Honolulu, Peoria, Binghamton and Helena have recently incorporated, and By-Laws have been approved
for the Newark Assembly.
Beginning with the April number, World Order Magazine has worked out a more directly Bahá’i function and is prepared to
provide material for study as well as articles based on the Teachings or on personal experience of avowed Bahá’is. This change was
made under authority given by the National Assembly, with the twofold aim of serving the believers and of making the magazine selfsupporting. The essential point to note in the change is that experience has proved the only effective way to reach non-Bahá’is is
through Bahá’is.
The two World’s Fair Baha’i exhibits, at New York and San Francisco, will be conducted again this year. New exhibit material has
been prepared by the Baha’i Exhibit Committee and is to be seen at the Conven tion

The element of visual education is being rapidly developed for Bahá’i teaching, and no doubt the number of regional and local
exhibits will greatly increase during the coming year.
Material on Bahá’i marriage certificates, with request for advice and instruction, has been sent to the Guardian. The National
Assembly hopes that it will soon be able to provide a proper form for use by those Assemblies which have satisfied the legal
requirements laid down by their state codes. The Guardian is also being consulted concerning any changes in the local By-Laws
necessary to define this new authority of local Assembhes. A standard By-Law will be added to the approved local By-Laws when the
Guardian’s instructions have been received.
The Assembly is pleased to report that through its Chairman, Bahá’i Teachings on peace have been conveyed to the President through
his Secretary, and assurance received that the material was placed in the President’s hands.
New publications under way since the publication of the Annual Reports include:
Spanish edition of Esslemont’s Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era; Spanish edition of excerpts from the Master’s Will and
Testament; Study Outline and Aids for the Guardian’s World Order Letters, prepared by the Study Outline Committee; a
Corn prehensive Study Course for children, prepared by the Child Education Committee; and three Bahd’I Reprints which make
it possible to hand out important excerpts from the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and words of Shoghi Effendi in attractive and convenient
form.
Actions taken at the meeting of the National Assembly held immediately prior to the Convention include authorizations for
continuance of Temple work, decision to transfer the Treasurer’s Office to the National headquarters at Wilmette, and approval of the
brief prepared by the attorney in connection with the legal suit against the parties misusing the name “Bahã’i.”
The friends are urged to give their careful attention to the passages in which the Guardian refers to the nature of attacks against the
Master and His Will and Testa

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

ment, appearing on pages 89 and 90 of Tide World Order of Bahd’u’lláb. Here we find the clearest statement in the
writings for discussion of the New History publication dated April, 1940, with new believers and with those attracted to
the Faith who have not yet gained the background of understanding and experience to discern the hollowness of any
argument and claim based upon failure to accept the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The matter will soon come
to trial, and the friends can rest assured that the true nature of the Bahã’i Faith and of its Administrative Order will be
estabhshed in accordance with the power and scope of the written and authentic Teachings.
Let us realize now the significance of the first collective spiritual gathering of the Bahá’is of all the Americas as
meetings are held in all Bahâ’i Centers on April 26 to commemorate the martyrdom of Mrs. May Maxwell. It is indeed
a historic occasion, a point of renewal and fresh beginning in the Inter-America teaching work. We recall Bahâ’u’lláh’s
mighty Tablet to the Presidents of these Republics, the Master’s call sounded in the Tablets of America’s Spiritual
Mission, and the Guardian’s vision of the f uture expounded in The Advent of Divine Justice. The Bahá’is of America
stand at the converging center of the most tremendous power ever to stream into the hearts of mankind. This is the
power ordained to remove mountains of prejudice and cross all the seas of ignorance and division. Ours but

to make ourselves instruments to serve those ends and be used by that power! While the world is engaged in pohtical
debate and struggle, may the friends of God drink the cup of unity which contains the mysterious ingredient of all
success.
In conclusion, the recent messages from the Guardian are recorded.
Cablegram received February 27: “Congratulate alike (the) National Representatives, (the) newly fledged Assemblies,
(the) recently despatched pioneers (and the) freshly enrolled believers all concurring (in) common mission (to) energize
processes propelling Plan along destined course. Appeal once again (to) every participant, notwithstanding (the)
threatening tempest, (to) steadily maintain high aim, dare greatly, toil unremittingly, sacrifice worthily, endure
radiantly, unflinchingly till very end. Harvest to be reaped (is) fore-ordained, incalculably rich, everlasting glorious,
visibly approaching.
In a letter sent to the Treasurer on January 3, but delayed in transmission, Shoghi Effendi, through his secretary,
emphasized again the Memorial to be raised in honor of Martha L. Root: “With regard to the Memorial which the N. S.
A. is proposing to erect in honor of our beloved Martha, the Guardian is hopeful that the fund which is now being
raised for that purpose will receive the full support of the believers, and that the donations which will be sent in will be
sufficient to enable your Assembly to erect a befitting monument in memory of our de w

The well used by the Bábis in the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mázindarán, Iran.

pict54.jpg

THE BAHA’j WORLD

parted sister. The friends should be impressed with the importance and significance of this undertaking, and should seize this
opportunity of paying their last tribute to so outstanding and indeed matchless a pioneer and servant of the Cause in the West.”
A letter dated February 23 made it clear that the Teaching and Inter-America Committees have different jurisdictions and distinct
fields of work.
Excerpts from a number of letters written by the Guardian to individual believers were published with his consent in the March issue
of BAHA’f Nuws. These explanations cover a wide field of Bahá’i interest, and add to our understanding of the Faith.
The most recent communication at this date (April 23) is the cablegram received
HE annual Convention last year marked a new departure in the work of the Bahi’i community of the British Isles. It was
recommended at that time that we should function as a teaching organism for the ensuing year with the objective of establishing new
Spiritual Assemblies. This suggestion was communicated to the Guardian who replied by cable: “Delighted urge incoming National
Assembly perseverance subordinate all activities teaching objective.”
Thus, our course for the year was outlined at its very beginning.
At its first meeting the National Spiritual Assembly considered this matter and pledged itself to carry out the Guardian’s wish,
determining that all activities should be considered in the light of teaching. Bradford and Torquay were selected as the two most
promising places for the estabhshment of new Assemblies. The believers in those centres were consulted and plans of campaign
mapped out. We are happy to report that owing to the persistent efforts of the resident believers, to the work of visiting teachers, to the
sacrifices of all who have contributed to the Fund, and to the unfailing assistance of the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Assemblies were

April 11: “Delighted immediate action (on) pylons. Prompted urge, if not too uneconomical, (to) proceed (with the) completion (of)
one face. Complete (the) remainder (in) manner most advisable. Welcome contemplated memorial gathering. Moved (to) invite
national representatives (and) community join me contribute (to) construction (of) grave being designed (by) Mr. Maxwell at such (a)
significant spot for so outstanding (a) pioneer during such momentous stage (in the) dynamic expansion (of the) Faith (of)
Baha’u’lláh.”
It is in the spirit of such words that the Bahá’is convene at their Annual Convention and prepare themselves to enter the fourth year of
the Guardian’s Plan.
Faithfully yours,
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL AssEMnLv.
elected in both places on April 2 1st. Both communities are represented by delegates at this Convention. We take this opportunity of
conveying, through them, our welcome and sincere congratulations.
The experience gained through teaching in these two cities has been, and will be, invaluable. Each place presented a different problem.
One is in the industrial north, the other in the residential south; climatic, occupational, and temperamental differences are clearly
marked. And yet, such is the all embracing power of Bahá’u’lláh, both communities have grown and become self governing units in
the national community, and therefore in the Baha’i world. Some measure of this success must be attributed to the fact that in each
case the ground was surveyed before the final plan was made. We receord this procedure for future guidance.
As a reinforcement to the teaching campaign the N. S. A. welcomed the suggestion of a regular publication, which should be made
attractive to the public and serve as a means of interesting people in the Faith. New World Order was launched as a monthly
magazine and has received favourable comment from the Guardian; it has

ANNUAL REPORT—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’IS OF
THE
BRITISH ISLES—19381939

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

been welcomed by Bahá’is in other countries. The English believers have supported it fairly well and its circulation is steadily
increasing, but a large expansion is required to make it self-supporting. It maintains a high standard and is capable of becoming a very
powerful teaching medium.
The N. S. A. which went out of office at Rizwan, 1938, that is at the last Convention, had established three annual rallying points for
the believers throughout the country. They were Convention, Summer School, and mid-winter Teaching Conference. Convention had
already provided the soil for the new teaching campaign, and it was decided to make the other two occasions of especial service.
Summer School
Summer School was a notable success, both from the point of view of attendance and of the standard of the lectures and discussions.
This was its third year and the attendance was about ninety, nearly three times as many as the first year.
The great value of this institution lies in its unifying atmosphere and in the fact that it provides the only Bahá’i community hfe at
present obtainable in England. Local Bahá’i communities have a community life, it is true, but at Summer School, everyone lives,
works and plays together; Summer School gives physical shape to the Bahá’i community.
In addition to the morning lectures excellent talks were given in the evening by Miss Ninette de Valois on The Ballet, by Captain
Basil Hall on Peace Duties of the Navy and by Captain St. Barbe Baker on The Soul of Africa.
Plans for this year are complete and have been published. A much larger place has been taken and the N. S. A. has guaranteed an
attendance of fifty during the bank holiday week-end.
Teaching Conference
This was a true Bahá’i occasion, marked by earnest discussion, unity of purpose, and true happiness. As a conclusion to the Feast of
Sharaf (Honour) the twenty-first birth-

when he declared himself a Bahá’i. At the same time the friends heard of the birth of a son to Mrs. Weeks. Believers from Bradford,
London, Manchester and Torquay were present, and one isolated believer, Mrs. Cooper of Blackburn.
The Conference made the following suggestions to the National Spiritual Assembly.
1. “That the N. S. A. should communicate more frequently with the local Assemblies, in the form of a more personal letter than the
Journal.” This was agreed to and the chairman of the N. S. A., Miss Challis, undertook to write to each community in the intervals of
issues of the Journal. Her letters have been greatly welcomed by the friends.
2. “That the Administration should be clarified in the Journal, especially with regard to the relationship of local Spiritual Assemblies
to the N. S. A. A copy of Bahá’i procedure should be sent to all Assemblies and Groups.” Both these suggestions were accepted and
acted upon.
3. “That a five year plan should be adopted, with the aim of having at least one believer in every county of England by Rizwan 1944.”
This suggestion was held over for discussion by the Convention.
Our function as a teaching organism has been further marked by the appearance of a pioneer spirit. A Bahá’i family, Mr. and Mrs. Lee
with their two children, have moved from Manchester to Brighton. They advised the N. S. A. of their willingness to go to some other
district, and moved to Brighton at the N. S. A.’s recommendation. Mr. Lee is making efforts to establish himself in business there, and
hopes to be the means of promoting the Faith. The N. S. A. has extended practical help and is confident that Bahã’u’lláh will bless this
family and fulfil its hopes.
Incorfroration
Parallel with the teaching campaign has been a persistent effort to achieve legal status and recognition of the Faith. The Guardian has
continually urged the prosecution of this task, both by letter and cable. We were fortunate in securing the services of a lawyer who is
particularly interested in

day of Hosein Mukhless was celebrated,

this type of work, and who has shown a

THE BAHA’I WORLD

sympathetic understanding of the position of the Faith. We wish to record our gratitude to the thorough work and
interest of Mr. Drury, of the law firm of J. Hampson Fogg.
Our first attempt was a direct application to the Board of Trade for incorporation by Royal Charter. The attempt failed,
but produced good results. The secretary was, interviewed by officers of the Board and was able to remove many false
impressions about’ the Faith, and a complete and authentic statement of its aims, history, and teachings, now rests in
the Board’s files. The chief reason for the failure of this attempt was the smallness of our number and the absence of
any substantial increase during the past few years. Here is a challenge to every believer.
Upon receipt of the Board’s refusal, Mr. Drury immediately advised us to incorporate as an unlimited company. The
work of drawing up the articles and memorandum of association was begun at once and we are able to report that the
document is now here, complete. It will have to be checked for technical corrections and can then be signed and
presented to the Court.
The effect of this document will be to give the National Spiritual Assembly legal personality and rights. It may enter
contracts, receive bequests, hold property under certain restrictions, and exercise all the rights and privileges accorded
by law. In addition its constitution has been defined exactly according to Bahá’i Administration; the principles
governing its operation according to the explicit commands of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahã have been written into the
memorandum; and its powers in relation to local Spiritual Assemblies and to the Faith in the British Isles have been
defined. The method of Bahá’i elections has been preserved and provision made for the annual Convention. The
enterprise is non-profit making and has no share capital. Liability is accepted by the individual members of the N. S. A.
in equal proportions, and provision has been made for the transferring of this liability when new members are elected.
This is undoubtedly one of the most important steps in the history of the Faith in the British Isles, and in spite of the
primary disappointment, will, we know, delight the

heart of our beloved Guardian, whose continual encouragement has lightened the task.
The Bahd’I Publishing Trust
The Publishing Trust is now established as the chief subsidiary of the N. S. A. and its right hand in teaching. It was
started with the sum of £234 Os. 8d. specially contributed for that purpose, and in addition has taken possession of all
books and literature previously held by the N. S. A. It acts as distributor for all Bahf’i literature, and publishes whatever
the N. S. A. requires. The chief publications this year have been a revised edition of Dr. Esslemont’s pamphlet
Bahd’u’llcih and His Message and a brief life of Bahá’u’llih by H. M. Balyuzi. Both these pubhcations have been
purchased abroad and have made a good impression. In addition a small calendar, showing the Bahá’i Feasts and
Anniversaries has been printed.
A new prayer book will shortly be available. The manuscript is now with the Guardian. It is hoped to be able to sell it at
a shilling. A new book by Mr. Townshend will soon be out, called at present, The Heart of the Gospel. It is a startling
exposition of the Bible in the hght of the Kitáb-ilqán, and is of vital importance not only to Bahá’is but to the whole of
Christendom.
We hope to publish soon Lady Blomfield’s book, excerpts of which the friends have been privileged to hear on one or
two occasions. It is a compilation from Lady Blomfield’s own notes, given to her by the Greatest Holy Leaf and other
ladies of the Holy Family, referring to the Báb, Bahá’u’llah, and the Master. Shoghi Effendi has approved it.
A sister volume to Mr. Balyuzi’s life of Bahã’u’lláh is expected very soon; a life of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. And after that a life
of the Báb.
During the ensuing year the literature of the Faith should be considerably enriched.
Publicity
The International Esperanto Congress took place in London during the summer, and a Bahi’i session was held on
August 1st. A number of the visitors were entertained at the London Centre and many individual contacts were made.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Attempts were made to arrange publicity in the form of a stand, an exhibition, or simply of literature, at the Glasgow
Exhibition, but were unsuccessful.
An exhibition was held at Notting Hill Gate, London, in connection with the new magazine. It was kept open for a
month, and although the cost was fairly high it was undoubtedly a wise and fruitful expenditure. The premises were
made available through the generosity of Miss Nockold. The window was made very attractive and a large number of
people came in to enquire. Many took literature, some came to the Centre, some attended fireside meetings. The
properties used in this exhibition are still available and the N. S. A. recommends this form of publicity.
Archives
The National Archives have been properly organised, with each object tabulated and described. The Archives have
been moved to a place outside London for safety in case of air raids.
A robe worn by the Blessed Beauty, several original Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and various other objects of historical
importance have been preserved.
The American N. S. A. has kindly agreed to retain in its archives original Tablets which were sent there by English
believers, until such time as it seems advisable to have them sent over here.
The N. S. A. once again stresses the importance of entrusting articles of value to it, for proper preservation. Directly the
N. S. A. is incorporated it can make legal claim to the Archives and thus ensure them for posterity. Not only original
Tablets, but all articles associated with the Founders of the Faith, or with its early history, should be preserved.
Finance
At the beginning of the year the N. S. A. made a budget of estimated expenditure and published it in the Journal, with
an appeal to the friends to supply the required amount. This amount was not subscribed, but fortunately expenses were
kept well within the amount budgeted. Early in the year a donation of £500 was received and put to capi ta

fund. It has been necessary to draw on this fund for publicity expenses. During the year the National Fund has received
from subscriptions £114, 19s. od. which is £63 6s. Sd. less than the amount received last year. Last year the
Publishing Trust made special demands, but the Teaching campaign requires an even greater effort, and if it is to
continue there must be a larger income.
National Service
Increasing tension in world affairs made it necessary for the N. S. A. to define the attitude of Bahá’is to the various
snilitary measures being undertaken by the country. The Guardian’s instruction was obtained and published in Bahcl’I
Journal. It was to the effect that while we should do everything to obtain exemption from active combatant service, we
should volunteer for all services of a humanitarian nature, such as Red Cross,
A. R. P., stretcher-bearing, etc. Within the last three days Conscription has been introduced by the Government, and it
is recommended that the incoming N. S. A. should consider the position of Bahá’i Youth in relation to this.
Two of the original behevers in this country have departed to the realms of their beloved Master during the year. Mrs.
Thorn- burgh-Cropper and Mrs. Scaramucci. May they continue to serve Him in their new life.
A word should now be said about the internal relationships of the community, as reflected in the activities already
described. There has undoubtedly been a continuance of that sense of unity to the awakening of which we have called
attention in previous years. The Nineteen Day Feasts have become more significant, and there is, especially among the
youth, a growing sense of the significance of the Cause in the world today. The actual work of the administration still
falls too heavily on a few people, although here the N. S. A. must express its thanks to those members of the London
Youth Group who have helped in typing, addressing and mailing.
An examination of the reports of local Spiritual Assemblies indicates that there is

THE BAHA’i WORLD

very often a lack of support for measures initiated by them. Some of this is due to the fact that a few of these measures
have not impressed the believers as either important or useful to the Faith, and a few have not been understood. We feel
that there is room for development in the relationship between the community and its Spiritual Assembly. The
community is too often inclined to carry over into the Bahá’i world the traditions and sanctions of its previous
background. On the other hand the Spiritual Assembly has the duty of educating, encouraging and explaining, in all
matters relating to Bahá’i procedure. It should initiate new plans, and make departures from accepted methods within
the framework of the Administration, but these plans should be fully explained to the community in order to enlist its
full support. The Nineteen Day Feast is the proper occasion for this. The community is called to exert every effort to
assist the Spiritual Assembly in its work, by frank discussion of difficulties, by endeavouring to understand the
mysterious processes by which a Bahá’i community functions, and by a willingness to adopt the new kind of life which
the Spiritual Assemblies attempt to foster.
The obligation, in the end, rests with each individual. To the extent to which each one penetrates the mystery of the
Faith, under-

stands its place in the history of our time, becomes impelled by love of Bahá’u’lláh to greater and greater devotion in
its service, to this extent shall we become significant and be able to affect the destiny of our country and of all
mankind. Prayer and meditation, study of the Writings, constant association with all the activities of the Faith, are the
food and drink for every soul who would become an active member of this teaching organism.
Our record for the year, and our outlook for the future are summarised in these words of the Guardian:
“A splendid beginning has been made. A firm foundation has been established. Perseverance is now required to bring
these devoted, painstaking and concerted efforts to full and speedy fruition. The path you are treading is beset with
formidable obstacles, but the invincible power of the Faith will, if you remain faithful and steadfast, enable you to
surmount them. My prayers will continue to be offered on your behalf. May Bahá’u’llah fulfill every hope you cherish
in the service of this Faith. Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi.”

Faithfully,

In His Service,

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL AssnvtnLv DAVID HOFMAN, Secretary.

CURRENT BAHA’t ACTIVITIES

BAHA’IS
rTHE year through which we have just
passed must stand as a permanent witness to the mysterious working of the almighty power of the Manifestation of God
in His Day. His Creative Word, consciously recognised by a numerically insignificant community, instils into it a
vigour and unity which enables it to forge ahead in the midst of chaos, to consolidate its painfully wrought institutions
and extend the range of its major activities in the heart of a society which has been engulfed in the most destructive war
of history. Such a catastrophe, overwhelming mankind, and now directly affecting our own nation, cannot but have an
effect on the individual and collective life of the Bahá’i community. But it is this very impact of distintegration in the
world around us which discloses the source of our strength. For while the circumstances of our life have been
disrupted, the Cause which we serve and the vision which we hold has become stronger in our hearts and has evoked an
expression of community effort greater than any we have made previously.
The preparation, encouragement, and guidance which the Guardian has bestowed upon us, both in his general letters
and in messages to the National Spiritual Assembly, becomes more significant as the forces of the age move swiftly to
a climax. In The Unfoldment of World Civilisation he drew attention to the two processes of disintegration and
construction operating side by side throughout the world. The constructive process, he showed to be directly associated
with the rise and consolidation of the Faith of Bahá’u’llâh. In the light of this analysis of the Age of Transition it is not
insignificant that the Incorporation Certificate of the National Spiritual Assembly was received one month before the
outbreak of war. For two years prior to this we had, as our Annual Reports mention, been striving to achieve an organic
life in the national community which would enable us to go f or- ward as one body in our great task of Teach-

ing. That this has, in some measure, been achieved is proved by the spirit of the Summer School and Teaching Conference, as well as
by the extension of teaching work to new centres. It is only on the basis of such spiritual achievements that we can ever think to play a
part in the reshaping of human society, or try to comprehend the generous praise and thrilling promises which the Guardian has
recently showered upon us. “I wish to re-affirm my deep sense of gratitude and admiration for the splendid manner in which the
English believers are discharging their duties and responsibilities in these days of increasing peril, anxiety and stress. Their tenacity,
courage, faith and noble exertions will as a magnet attract the undoubted and promised blessings of Bahá’u’lláh. They have, at a time
when the basis of ordered society itself is rocking and trembling, laid an unassailable foundation for the Administrative Order of their
Faith. Upon this basis the rising generation will erect a noble structure that will excite the admiration of their fellow-countrymen. My
prayers for them will continually be offered at the holy Shrines.” Such a message is the greatest challenge and bounty to us, for no one
dare accept it unless it be true in intention, but when it is accepted its promise will be assured.
Let us not, however, present a picture which would exaggerate the size of our achievements or our effectiveness. We can as yet make
no claim to influence consciously, the spiritual or moral life of our nation. Far from it. We are a small community just beginning to
achieve the necessary unity for effective action; we are still in a state of preparation and purification for our greater task. We have yet
to win to our cause people of capacity and influence, and the Name of Bahá’u’lláh is as yet unproclaimed to our fellow-countrymen.
Certain weaknesses in ourselves must be overcome before we can successfully accomplish this task. Chief among these weaknesses is
an

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE

OF THE BRITISH ISLES
1939-1940

THE BAHA’I WORLD

insufficient support of the Bahi’i Fund, an inadequate knowledge and understanding of the administrative processes of the Faith, and
and a too casual response to measures initiated by the National Spiritual Assembly.
First and foremost of our activities has been Teaching. At the last Convention it was recommended that we should concentrate on five
cities with a view to establishing communities there whenever possible. The National Spiritual Assembly adopted this plan but only
two of the cities mentioned by the delegates, Leeds and Bournemouth, were included in the list. Other places, Nottingham and
Brighton, presented better opportunities through the presence of resident believers, so these were included. One city, Newcastle, where
there are no Bahã’is at all, has been given special attention.
In Leeds the Bradford Spiritual Assembly has continued teaching work throughout the year, and there is every prospect of success
here. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Wilkinson have made their home there, bringing the number of resident believers up to four. Meetings have
been held, and the Military Tribunal there granted the application of a Bahá’i for exemption from combatant service, which resulted in
some publicity.
Three believers have moved to Bournemouth and the Group there now numbers ten. The Feasts and anniversaries are observed and it
is hoped to have a Centre as the chief aid to a teaching campaign.
In Nottingham excellent work has been done through the efforts of the resident believer, Esther Richardson. She has arranged
meetings with the Esperantists and the Theosophists which have been addressed by visiting teachers, and has gathered together a
number of her friends and aroused their keen interest. It is expected that a few of them will come to Summer School.
Work in Brighton is hampered by the small amount of time at the disposal of the resident believers, Mr. and Mrs. Lee. A member of
the London community lived there for a few weeks, but a planned and sustained campaign is needed.
New ground has been broken in Newcastle and much interest aroused. A teacher spent five weeks there before Christmas, and

three months after Christmas. Many clubs and societies were addressed, and a series of public lectures given from the
platform of the Theosophical Society. Contacts were made in the University, a number of study meetings were held, a
good deal of literature has been purchased by interested inquirers and it is hoped that some of them will come to
Summer School. The last report of the work there states: “The situation now requires steady and continual work. About
two hundred people have heard of the Faith directly, and a regular study meeting is required.”
The local communities have maintained fireside and other teaching meetings. A series of regular study meetings was
held in Altrincham during the summer by the Manchester Spiritual Assembly, and a successful meeting was arranged
with the Rover Scout Crew by Miss Ada Williams, when the interest of about twenty young men was aroused. The first
extension work of the Torquay Spiritual Assembly was in Exeter when Mrs. Stevens addressed the Psychology Club.
We have begun to teach as a community, co-ordinating local effort and using national resources, but there is great
scope for more individual effort. Two years ago the Guardian cabled us to “subordinate all activities (to) teaching
objective.” In our community effort we have attempted to do this, but this command, voiced by Bahá’u’llih, the Master,
and now by the Guardian, surely apphes to our personal lives as well.
Minute 47 of the National Spiritual Assembly’s meeting on December 3 0th reads as follows: “The whole teaching
campaign was reviewed. It was suggested that the plan adopted at the Convention of concentrating on five centres,
tended to make the growth of a Bahã’i community artificial and hasty. It was suggested that a longer plan— such as
achieving 19 Spiritual Assemblies by 1944, would not only increase the scope of the National campaign, but prevent
undue pressure from being exerted on new communities, which would develop far more strongly and healthily by a
slower and more natural process of unfoldment. The meeting expressed agreement with this plan, but decided to refer it
to Convention for general discussion.”

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Incorporation
This task was nearly complete at last Convention, and it only remains to record that our Certificate was obtained on August 5th. Legal
records are maintained at the London centre, and our first annual return has been made to the Registrar of Companies, and to the
Income Tax authorities.
The National Spiritual Assembly, by virtue of its Loan Account, was chief cteditor of a business owned by one of the Bahá’is. It was
able to use its influence to prevent the business being forced into bankruptcy, and to make an arrangement which it is hoped will
eventually benefit both the debtor and the creditors.
The Bradford Spiritual Assembly, upon presentation of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, was granted exemption from
the payment of rates on its Centre. This same document has been of use to the Publishing Trust when entering business contracts, for
which guarantees would otherwise have been required.
Military Service
Following the Guardian’s instructions and upholding the principles of the Faith, Bahá”s young men who have been conscripted have
applied for exemption from combatant service, at the same time stating their unqualified readiness to serve in any non-combatant
capacity which the Government may indicate. In order to make this application, it is necessary to register as a conscientious objector,
a term which does not accurately describe the Bahã’i attitude. So far one young man has appeared before a tribunal. His apphcation
was granted and the local newspapers printed accounts of a new Faith.
Three Bahã’is are already serving in the forces, a number are awaiting their tribunals, and a few are in reserved occupations. A great
many members of the community are serving the country in one or other form of National Service such as A.R.P., ambulance driving,
etc.
Publicity
The chief effect of the ‘War has been, so far, to bring to a stop our plans for publicity. At the last Convention it was recommended that
the N. S. A. should examine the

possibilities of wide publicity, such as buying time on the wireless. Plans had been made for a Bahá’i stand at the
Sunday Times Book Fair last autumn, and negotiations were in progress for obtaining a model of the Temple from the
American National Spiritual Assembly. The latter was not available and the Book Fair was cancelled because of the
war. At the same time the commercial broadcasting stations closed down, so that no publicity was possible in that
direction.
The Torqnay Spiritual Assembly paid for a brief notice about the Faith in a local paper, and report that their regular
meetings are advertised. Meetings have also been advertised in Bradford and Newcastle with good results.
The Faith was represented at the South- port Convention of Religions, when a good deal of interest was aroused.
Several of those present have subsequently come to meetings in othet parts of the country.
A number of books have been sent to the agency for distributing books among the services.
Mr. Townshend’s book, The Heart of the Gospel, was very favourably reviewed in the Irish papers, and has had a good
reception there.
Bahd’I Publishing Trust
The establishment of the Publishing Trust has proven to be a sound and invaluable undertaking. It must surely be
included in “the unassailable foundation” of which the Guardian speaks. With the incorporation of the N. S. A., the
three original Trustees resigned their office, and the N. S. A. became Trustee. The chief work this year has been the
following publications:
A new edition of Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, Dr. Esslemont’s standard work on the Faith. With the permission of
Mrs. Esslemont a few alterations and some slight additions were made. It is now available at half a crown.
The Heart of the Gospel. A brilliant and scholarly work by the author of “The Promise of All Ages.”
A Bahd’i Prayer Book, published in a complete and abridged form. The abridged copy has been found very acceptable
by nonBahá’is.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The Bahci’I Faith. Five thousand more copies of the penny pamphlet, which every Bahã’i needs frequently.
New World Order. A reproduction with
a few alterations, of the December number
of the N. S. A.’s periodical New World
Order. Three thousand copies, for sale at
a penny.
In addition the publication of Lady Blomfield’s book, Tire Chosen Highway, is well advanced and copies should be
available by the end of June. Advanced notices have been printed and circulated.
The war presented a grave problem to the Publishing Trust, for restrictions were imposed on the sending of money
abroad for non-essential supplies, and in America goods could not be shipped to belligerent countries without cash
payment. The standard works of Bahá’u’llah and the Guardian are printed in America and we are unable to obtain
them. Lady Blomfield, even after her passing, was the means of solving this problem. The American friends ordered a
thousand copies of her book, thereby establishing a credit for us, so we have been able to place a large order with the
American Publishing Committee, sufficient to meet our needs for some time to come. The friends should realize that
the Publishing Trust, to continue its service, will need more money than receipts from books. In order to make literature
available at a price within everybody’s reach, large stocks have to be carried, and this inevitably ties up liquid capital.
Generous donations have been made during the year, but larger sums are needed if we are to have the standard works of
the Faith available to the believers and the pubhc. At present it would be possible to publish the Kitáb-ifqán at a sale
price of five shillings if the necessary capital, £75, were subscribed.
The capital fund of the Publishing Trust has increased by cash donations already mentioned, and by the gift of a large
stock of Paris Talks from Lady Blomfield, and of The Drama of the Kingdom, by Mrs. Basil Hall. In addition the Trust
has been given all rights in The Chosen Highway and copyright in the Paris Talks. Mts. Basil Hall has provided for full
rights in Paris Talks to revert to the Publishing Trust after her death.

The National Spiritual Assembly wishes to thank Miss Clayton and Mr. Louis Rosen- field for their capable and devoted service in the
dispatching and accounting work.
In order to distribute the stock of the Trust to a certain extent, local Spiritual Assemblies have been sent large supplies of standard
literature such as Dr. Esslemont’s book, penny pamphlets, etc. An insurance policy in the amount of £500 has been taken out on a
large part of the stock.
Summer School
This has now become an established feature of our national activity. Continuing the progress of the first three years, the fourth
Summer School was more ambitious, better attended, and marked by an even greater vitality than the earlier ones. For the first time
the National Spiritual Assembly took the risk of guaranteeing a minimum attendance during the bank holiday week-end. Its
confidence in the support of the friends was justified by an attendance greatly in excess of the number guaranteed. The radiance and
unity pervading the Summer School were in direct contrast to the turmoil and darkness of the outside world, which at that time was
within four weeks of war. The morning lectures presented the Bahá’i reading of history, surveyed modern problems and explained
Bahá’u’lláh’s solutions. In the evening, experts in various arts, the dance, drama, music, pottery, spoke on their own subjects and all
declared the need for a new creative impulse which must somehow be linked with social conditions.
Arrangements are complete for the fifth Summer School which will be held at Cawston House, Rugby, in the very centre of England.
It remains to be seen what effect the war will have on this basic institution of Bahá’i life.
Teaching Conference
Pursuing the plan of previous years, to maintain three annual rallying points for the national community, the midwinter Teaching
Conference was held in Manchester. (The other points are Summer School and Convention.) There was a slight dechne in attendance,
but all local communities were represented and two isolated believers from

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Birmingham were especially welcome. The report of the Conference reads: “It was generally felt that the Conference itself was better
than in previous years. There seemed to be more weight in the discussions, and a more real sense of something actually being
accomplished. Specific matters were discussed and there was no time for generalities.” Two speakers examined the teaching resources
of the community, one from the point of view of individual effort and one from the viewpoint of collective action. One session was
devoted to the Bahá’i Fund, and one to discussion between the National Spiritual Assembly and the community.
Recent messages from the Guardian were read, calling for “still greater tenacity, fidelity, vigour and devotion.” A cable was sent to
him saying, “Teaching Conference resolves achieve high standard devotion teaching campaign called for your recent messages.
Deepest love English friends.” His reply was, “Welcome noble resolve prosecute energetically teaching campaign praying ardently
signal success.”
“New World Order”
The outbreak of war and the consequent rising price of paper made it necessary to change the National Spiritual Assembly’s

periodical from an eight page magazine to a four page leaflet. With this change came a change in price and pohcy. The price was
reduced to a penny and the paper was made into a definite teaching organ, using a great deal of quotation from the Writings and
setting forth directly the Bahá’i principles. This change was welcomed on all sides, and especially from Bahá’is, who now have new
teaching material every month.
New World Order is an expense to the National Spiritual Assembly, and would be so even if every copy were sold, but it is felt that
the expenditure is justified by the value of the paper to the teaching work. Local Spiritual Assemblies have been allotted a specific
number, which they are asked to buy every month, and this helps to reimburse the National Fund. It is felt that much greater use could
be made of the paper by individual Bahá’is; if everyone would buy two or three copies a month and give them away to nonBahá’i
friends or strangers, the teachings would be spread more effectively.
A few complete sets of volume 1 have been preserved and may be purchased.
In Mew oriam
Lady Blomfield passed away on December 31st, the Feast of Honour. In the first shock

The interior of the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mázindarán. The X marks the spot where Mullá 1Iusayn is buried.
pict55.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

of her parting, we could only think of the actual fact. Now we begin to realise something of the tremendous loss which we have
sustained. Summer School, the Rizwan Feast, the Presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in England, were all associated in our minds with her. She
it was who told us of the Master, who showed us what it meant to follow the True Exemplar. A bulwark in need, a friend in trouble, a
companion in happiness, may her spirit be ever with us and assist us to manifest those qualities of kindliness, consideration, and
graciousness of which she was the embodiment.
The news of her passing reached the friends during the Teaching Conference, and was sent on to the Guardian in the cable already
mentioned. His reply was:
“Profoundly grieve passing dearly beloved outstanding co-worker Sitarih Khánum. Memory her glorious services imperishable.
Advise English community hold befitting memorial gathering. Assure relatives my heartfelt sympathy and loving fervent prayers.”
Accordingly memorial meetings were held in all communities. The funeral took place in Hampstead, and out of consideration to some
of Sitarih Khánum’s relatives the service was Church of England. Two members of the National Spiritual Assembly read from the
Prayers and Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, and a number of the friends gathered round the grave afterwards.
Archives
The National Archives, which had been properly arranged and classified, were greatly augmented by a number of original Tablets and
other objects which were left by Lady Blomfield. There are two copies of the Paris Talks signed by the Master, a samovar which He
had given to Lady Blomfield, some signed photographs, and a few other things. The National Spiritual Assembly has placed all these
precious objects in a lined box, and they are now in the vault of a bank in the west of England.
Bahd’I World
The Guardian has appointed Mr. David Hofman to the editorial staff of Bahci’I World, as representative for the British Isles.

Registration
At the beginning of the year the National Spiritual Assembly commenced to register all declared believers. The friends have been very
slow in responding to this plan, which is of importance to the welfare of the community. Believers are asked to send a photograph and
details of name and address, which are then entered on a special card printed for the purpose. One copy, stamped with the seal of the
N. S. A. is retursied to the believer, and a duplicate is retained in the National files. Believers travelling abroad, one to iran and one to
America, have found this invaluable as a Bahá’i passport. Lately two communities have been imposed upon by a person claiming to
be a Bahá’i, a thing which would not happen if all believers were registered. But the most important reason for registration, as
explained in the Journal, is to protect the Faith against
authorised representation, and to enable the National Spiritual Assembly to accept responsibility for the community.
Finance
The treasurer’s report will give detailed accounts, but the outstanding feature is the large excess of expenditure over income. During
the twelve months this has amounted to about £115. Some £70 has been needed for Incorporation but the balance has been used for
current expense. This matter must receive the immediate attention of the believers if the teaching work is to continue.
Our own progress is inevitably bound up with the world body of the Faith, and although we do not, as yet, play any great part in the
international activities, we are an organ of that body and receive from it as well as give to it.
An event of “capital institutional significance,” described by the Guardian in a general letter which has been circulated among the
friends, calls for our deep attention and an earnest effort to understand its significance. This event is none other than the permanent
interment of the remains of the Purest Branch, ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s younger brother, and of Asiyih Khánum, His Mother, on Mount
Carmel in the neighbourhood of
CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

the shrine of the Greatest Holy Leaf. The news was received by cable from the Guardian: “Remains Purest Branch and ‘Abdu’lBahá’s
Mother permanently laid (to) rest (in) close neighbourhood (of the) shrine (of the) Greatest Holy Leaf. Hearts rejoicing. Shoghi
Rabbani.”
In his letter he writes: “For it must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently emphasised, that the conjunction of the resting
place of the Greatest Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual potencies of that consecrated
Spot which, under the wings of the Báb’s overshadowing speulchre, and in the vicinity of the future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár which will be
reared on its flank, is destined to evolve into the focal centre of those world-shaking, world-embracing, world-directing administrative
institutions, ordained by Bahá’u’lláh and anticipated by ‘Abdu’lBahá, and which are to function in consonance with the principles that
govern the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.”
This letter was mimeographed under the title The Heart of the Entire Planet and a copy sent to each believer. An effort to
understand this letter thoroughly, will increase everyone’s understanding of the Faith itself.
An attack made on the Cause in America had repercussions in this country and a statement from the National Spiritual Assembly was
circulated to each community for the information of the friends.
A word should now be said about the conditions in our own community. One of the most hopeful and encouraging signs is the renewal
of vigour in London. The Spiritual Assembly had given much thought and prayer to the enervated condition which undoubtedly
existed for some time. The outbreak of war brought immediate problems and disclosed still further the lack of unified action. Many
believers were evacuated and the community was forced to take some action to maintain itself. It is in the solution of this problem that
the unfailing, creative, “society building power of the Faith” has been again demonstrated. For the London Spiritual Assembly realised
that the problem was a spiritual one, and would not be re solve

by administrative action. It therefore called upon the community for a re-examination of its spiritual life, for concentration upon the
primary virtues and for a prayerful attitude in daily life. The result is the appearance of a new life in the community, a more serious
and purposeful spirit, and a truly encouraging activity among the youth.
The new communities of Bradford and Torquay have each developed in their own way. They have both settled into the administrative
pattern of Bahá’u’lláh’s Administrative Order, and both have extended the range of their teaching activities. It is interesting to note
that both communities have advertised in the local press.
The Summer School and Teaching Conference gave undoubted evidence of a still growing unity, a process which is fostered by the
single purpose of teaching. Concentration on this purpose, with all its implications of spiritual effort, rehance on God, purity of life
and radiant faith, will take us far on that course which the Guardian has mapped out for us, and will ensure the ultimate victory. His
most recent message contains, for the first time, a statement to the effect that this community has a definite part to play in the reshaping of human society through the establishment of the Faith of God in the West. “May the Almighty bless, sustain and protect the
English believers, who in these days of unprecedented turmoil, stress and danger are holding aloft so courageously the banner of the
Faith, and who will, in the days to come, contribute, through His grace and power, a notable share to its establishment and recognition
in the west. Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi.”
Humanity has now entered that final Armageddon, “which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake.” Let us turn to Bahá’u’lláh, and
with unshakeable faith in His all-embracing sovereignty pray to be the instruments through which “shall the Divine Standard be
unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.”
Faithfully in His Service,
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL AssEMnLY,

DAVID HOFMAN, Secretary.

THE BAHA’t WORLD

A GREAT wave of teaching activity, resulting from the Guardian’s stirring and repeated messages to the Bahá’is
of Iran, is now sweeping over the country; the teaching work, carried on by women as well as men, is winning new
recruits of every type, even from the ranks of the clergy, and the fire and consecration of the new believers recalls the
earliest heroes of the Cause. Meanwhile the consolidation of the Administrative Order continues in full force despite
every obstacle, and—to the joy of all believers—places sacred in Iranian Bahá’i history are one by one becoming the
property of the Faith. Such in résumé is Iran’s activity for the year 95, details of which follow.
“Arise oh Friends of God, as one soul”— the Guardian has written us, “to champion this exalted, mighty and most
powerful, this most holy and wondrous Cause. Use up your energies, devote your time, give up your rest, your ease,
spend your possessions, forsake your homes, pass by whatsoever you bave, to serve His Cause, and fulfill His desires,
and strengthen His institutions, and establish the dominion of His Word, and to prove His triumphant and luminous,
His authoritative, exalted and single Faith. I swear by the true God, this is what is worthy of you and your place and
station, and of all who hear and respond to your summons, in this land that God has singled out for His bounty and
whose rank He has raised up— this land that He has made the birthplace of His own Self, and the cradle of His Cause,
and the treasure-house of His mysteries, and the throne of His might, and the fortress of His Faith, and the descendingpoint of His lights and the source of the joy of all mankind. The pledge is yours, 0 Beloved of the Lord, and its
fulfillment is your God’s, the Beneficent, and Your Master’s, the Beholder, the Protector, the Assister, the Great.”
And elsewhere: “The first requirement of the newly-elected National Spiritual Assembly is to further the all-important
work of

teaching, to increase the number of seekers and the inter-relationships of Bahá’i centers and to prepare sure and effective means for
establishing new Spiritual Assemblies within Iran as well as its neighboring countries. Let them continually encourage and stimulate
the Friends and cause the Bahá’is of that land to be ever mindful of this holy Utterance: ‘Expend every effort in teaching the Cause of
God. Whoso is worthy of so high a calling, let him arise and promote it. Whoso is unable, it is his duty to appoint him who will, in his
stead, proclaim this Revelation. . . .‘ In this year the knights of the Lord must with amazing power spur on their chargers in the field of
teaching and bear away the prize from their spiritual brothers and sisters in western lands. This is what befits them and their place and
station in this radiant, exalted and wondrous age.”
The Friends were still under the impact of these words when another message came:
“Teaching the Cause of God, spreading the sweet savors of God, observing the law of God, promoting the religion of God,
establishing the ordinances of the Book of God— these in this day are the most excellent, most honored of deeds. Not a moment’s
neglect is permissible. Slackness and carelessness would result in the retrogression of the community, and the increased boldness and
audacity of that heedless, tyrannical group. Forsaking their homes, traveling to every city and village, confining their thoughts to
strengthening the body of the believers, expounding and proving the verities of the Cause, discovering the divine mysteries,
demonstrating the urgent need of the laws of the Faith and promoting the divine ordinances are—despite the tumultuous times, the
varied difficulties, the plots of inimical people, the constant and violent threats—the first requirement of the followers of the Cause of
God, whether men or women, in every Bahá’i center, whether in cities or villages, throughout that illustrious land. . .

ANNUAL REPORT—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’iS OF
IRAN—1938-1939

As a result of such words, every one has

CURRENT BAHA’! ACTIVITIES

arisen to teach to the best of his ability. Much of the work accomplished has never been reported, the Friends having, as
a matter of conscience, refrained from describing their activity, and we give here only a synopsis of reports from Local
Assemblies, various Committees and formally-appointed teachers.
There are twenty-two Bahá’i administrative districts in Iran. Each of these has an appointed center, known as the
District Spiritual Assembly, which serves to coordinate all Assemblies in its area with the National Spiritual Assembly.
These District Assemblies are numbered as follows, their districts being given in parentheses: 1. 15f a— han
(Isfáhân). 2. Tabriz (Adhirbáyján). 3. Abadih (Abádih). 4. Bandar-i-Jaz (Bandar-i-Jaz). 5. Bábul (Bábul). 6. Mashhad
(Khurásán). 7. Ahváz (Khfizistân). 8. Záhidán (Zihidán). 9. Sangsar (Sangsar). 10. Sari (Sari). 11. Tihrán (Tihrán). 12.
‘Iraq (‘Iraq). 13. Shirfz (Fárs). 14. Birjand, (Qá’inát). 15. Qazvin (Quazvin and Zanján). 16. Kishán (Kishán). 17.
Kirmán (Kirmán). 18. Kirmánsháh (Kitmánsháhán). 19. Rasht (Gilán). 20. Nayriz (Nayriz). 21. Hamadán (Hamadán).
22. Yazd (Yazd).
During the year 95 the following were formally-appointed teachers in the given areas:
Samandari, Hamadán, Kirmánsháhfn; ‘Alavi, 1sf áhán, Yazd; Adhár-Munir, Adhirbáyján; Ishraq-i-Khãvari, G ilán;
Háshimi-Zádih, Mázindarán, (Bandar-i-Jaz, Sari, Bábul); Mutlaq, Tihrãn (because of illness) ; Nabil-Zádih, Khurásán;
Nushabadi, Fárs; Fadil-i-Yazdi, Kirmán; Adhari, Qazyin, Adhirbáyj an; Uskfi’i, Adhirbáyj an.
Resident teachers were:
Malmiri, Yazd; Fadil-i-Tihráni, Káshãn; Thabit--Sharqi, Isfahan; Za’ir, Yazd; Sa’idi-Radavi, Hamadán; Há’i, Kashan;
Baqa’i, Gilan; Nfiri, Isfahan; Shaydan-Shaydi, Kirman.
Among those who instantly responded to the Guardian’s message was the distinguished poet and scholar, Jinab-i-
’Azizu’llah Mi5bah, who, not content with his teaching services in Tihran, and although ill and almost blind, left the
capital with Aqay-i-Nal3avi, a young, newly-declared believer, and went on

a teaching circuit to Kashan, Isfahan, NajafAbad, Abadih and Shiráz. He spent five months on this journey, and besides
teaching the Friends, he gave the Cause to twentyf our seekers, of whom seven, including one of the ‘ulama of Kashan,
have thus far accepted the Faith.
Leaving Tihran for Khurasan, Aqay-iNflr-i-Din Mumtazi spent three months visiting thirty-five Bahã’i centers, mostly
rural communities. He went some of the way by automobile, much of it on donkey- back, and many miles on foot, and
brought back to Tihran the spiritual refreshment of these meetings. ‘Abdu’llah Falil-Zadih, son of the late, well-known
teacher, Faclil-iShirázi, made a nineteen-day journey to Qazvin and Hamadãn and their environs; he discussed the Faith
with thirty inquirers and had many meetings with the Friends. Javad-i-Mahbflbi, member of the Local Spiritual
Assembly of Hamadan, and Sa’id-iRaclavi went from Hamadan to every neighboring village in which there were
Bahá’is, greatly stimulating the teaching work in this area.
Obeying the Guardian’s message, Luçfu’llah Mawhibat determined to serve as a pioneer; he and his wife therefore
transferred their residence to the historic city of Zanjan, where, in the course of a few months, they have held meetings
and study- classes, entertained travelers, assisted the local Friends and brought five people into the Faith. Hashim-i-
Ashrafi traveled from
Tihran to Kashih, 1sf ahan, Najaf-Abad and Shiraz, meeting with numbers of Friends and inquirers. The entire Spiritual
Assembly of Isfahan together with several committee members went out to Burfij in, Khálinj an, Shaydan, Shah-Riçla,
Jaz and Mfisiy-Abad, communities in their district, and conferred with the Friends as to new teaching activities.
As’adu’l-Hukama went to Khurasan, and Jinab-i-’Ubfldiyyat to south Iran on teaching trips.
Ever since the Guardian’s command to arise and teach, even non-believers have seemed much more eager to study the
Faith; calls for more teachers are being received from almost every center, and all those who have arisen to teach have
been successful. Moreover the new believers show that

THE BAHA’t WORLD

same fire which characterized those of the earliest days. For this very reason they have had in most cases to bear the opposition of
father, mother, wife and kindred— but the more they have been persecuted the stroDger they have grown. Typical is the young man in
Gurgán, who, when he began to investigate the Faith, was mocked and tormented by his wife and the rest of his family. Although they
are doing everything to keep him from the Cause, he has shown them only kindness. He writes verses in the Turkish language, one of
which says, “0 my dear kindred, let me be, for I shall not, whatever your cruelty, loose my hold from the robe of the Báb, and
Bahá’u’llah, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.” Another youth, the cultivated Murád-i-Dawdini of Ahváv, studied the Faith and soon began to teach
it himself, holding meetings and attracting a number of people to the Cause; his wife, as well, is doing everything to prevent his
Bahá’i activities, but without effect.
The handling of such large groups of believers as those of present-day Iran results in interesting administrative developments. In
Tihrin, for example, fifty-five teaching meetings are held every week throughout the city. The nineteen members of the Tihrán
Teaching Committee meet at least once a week, and young men representatives of the teaching classes report to them once a month.
The Committee likewise meets for consultation with the teachers, as well as with the hosts and hostesses entertaining the various study
groups. Four classes for teachers are also given as follows: two courses delivered weekly by Jinib-i-Fadil-i-Mázindaráni in Bahá’i
history, the Book of Aqdas and various tablets, for young men and women respectively; a weekly course in the Book of Aqdas, Some
Answered Questions and other subjects, for women and girls, by Aqáy-iFur&an, and a weekly course in Some Answered Questions by
Aqáy-i-Yazdáni. About nine hundred non-Bahã’is have received instruction in the Tihrán study-classes this year: Of these about one
hundred have thus far become believers, have been registered and invited to attend the advanced study groups. According to the
procedure, new believers whose names are submitted to the Tihrán Teaching Committee by the various

teachers, are introduced to the Fellowship and Feast Committees so that they may associate with the body of the behevers.
The Tihrin Teaching Committee has likewise provided for teachers to spread the Faith throughout this area. Aqáy-i-Husayn Yiginih
went to Karaj and established the Spiritual Assembly there; Aqáyin Rahmániyin and ‘Ubfldiyyat have also taught in Karaj. Aqiy-i-
Mumtizi, member of this Committee, took a three months’ trip through Khurisin. Aqiy-i-Rahminiyin, appointed by the Spiritual
Assembly as circuit teacher for Tihrin, was sent out to
Tiliqin, Fashandak and other neighboring locahties to teach and meet the Friends.
Circular letters quoting from the Guardian’s teaching messages have been distributed at the Feasts, where Teaching Committee
members have likewise addressed the Friends on the urgency of these messages. Other Committee activities have included
presentation of certificates to young women who successfully passed examinations in their year’s study course with Aqiy-i-Furfltan;
interviewing believers who are ready to go out as traveling teachers, and submitting their names to the District Teaching Committee
and the Spiritual Assembly; and establishing a commission made up of teachers in and some residents of the Bigh-i-Firdaws quarter,
which meets every fortnight to consult on the teaching work—a plan which, if successful, will be used in other quarters as well.
Next year it is planned to hold one meeting weekly in each quarter of the city, which will be attended by not more than nineteen
people, these including especially attracted students from the teaching classes in that quarter and one or two teachers. The purpose will
be to fully confirm the newcomers in each quarter, so that they may be given a Bahi’i registration card and enter the Bahi’i
community. Each member of the Teaching Committee is to attend at least three of the various weekly teaching classes, so that the
Committee’s weekly conference will be fully informed of current problems.
The following are at present conducting the teaching classes throughout Tihrin (others, not listed, are likewise teaching in this city)
The men:

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

Mahmidi, Khádim-i-Mitháq, Mustawf 1, FurCitan, Dr. Qásimi, Siná-Zádih, Avárigin, Vahid, Fádil-i-Mázindarini,
Kayván, Darghâm, Akhtar-i-Khávari, ‘Atá’u’llih Bahji, Ishriq, ‘Abdu’lláh Fádil, Nfir-i-Din Mumtizi, Shari’at-
Mucláryãn.
The women:
Khushbin, Siná-Zádih, Mihr-A’in, Bahiyyih fzadi, Barafrflkhtih, Ishrâqiyyih Dhabih.
As for teaching activities throughout [rn, the following extracts from various District Assembly reports furnish some
details:
TalnIz: Three teaching classes for Bahá’i youth are being held by Aqiyãn Záhidi and Adhar-Munir. The Teaching
Committee has sent out a circular letter, enclosing the circular letter of the National Spiritual Assembly, to each one of
the Tabriz Bahá’is, with reference to the new teaching program. A separate record is being made of the services
undertaken by each individual believer in this field. The Teaching Committee is exerting itself to the utmost in carrying
out the wishes of the Guardian, and is bringing seekers to the homes of the Bahá’i teachers Aqáyán Sani’i and Adhar-
Munir, and to other newly-established teaching classes.
San gsar: The Teaching Committee meets twice weekly. It has arranged one hundred and eight teaching meetings for
beginners and taught a large number of people. A class has likewise been established to fully instruct the newcomers,
about twenty of whom have so far attended; night and day the Friends, both men and women, are doing their utmost to
attract new seekers.
Kdshdn: In addition to the Teaching Committee a teaching council meets weekly to which well-informed believers are
invited for consultation on the teaching work. Some twelve persons have recently accepted the Faith in Yazdil, a village
in the Káshân district. In the city of K4shán and its neighborhood, about five hundred people have recently received
Bahâ’i instruction and some of these have already accepted the Faith.
Kirmdnshdh: In seven months, Aqáy-iSamandari has had individual conversations with more than ninety persons; some
twenty of these have become believers and the rest are now greatly attracted to the Cause.

Every week three fixed teaching meetings are held for men and one for women, in addition to other rotating classes.
Eighty-five persons have so far been instructed. Teachers for the men are Aqiyán Samandari and Sargard-i-Khácli’, Dr.
Habibu’lláh Mu’ayyad and Abu’l-Qisim Tundar. Khinum-i-Tundar is instructing the women. Of the eighty- five,
nineteen are about to become confirmed, and these are attending a weekly fellowship meeting with the Friends. Two
study classes for men and two for women are likewise being held. These are now managed by the newly-established
Youth Committee.
NayrIz: Four teaching meetings, one of these for women, are held weekly. Forty persons have received instruction and
a number of these have thus far accepted the Faith.
Ahva’z: This was a good teaching year for Ahváz. Although we had no official teacher, the Friends themselves,
especially Muhammad Partuvi, gave instruction to seventy persons, a number of whom have already received Bahá’i
registration cards. Especially to be noted among the newcomers is Third Lieutenant Murád-i-Dawdáni, who had been
passionately seeking the truth when he was brought into contact with the believers here. Since he knows Arabic and is
familiar with the hadith and other branches of religious learning, and had, even prior to becoming a believer, written a
commentary on the point of the “B” in Bismi’lláh—which had been accepted by the Ministry of Education for
publication—he at once began to spread the Faith, and with others, has brought in some ten persons, most of whom are
now committee members, while he himself is on the Spiritual Assembly. Aqây-iDawdini has made a thorough study of
Bahá’i principles and the laws of the Book of Aqdas, as he wishes to devote all his time to teaching. He has been a
great joy to the Friends of Ahváz, consoling them for the hardships of the year 94, and it is felt that a brilliant future is
in store for him. Four teaching meetings for inquirers are held here in private homes every week.
Mas/ohad: The Local Assembly devotes one session a month exclusively to the teaching work. Assembly members
have agreed that on every journey they will give part of

THE BAHA’I WORLD

their time to emphasizing the Guardian’s teaching messages amongst the Friends. Mu’ayyad-i-Ghiyáthi, Assembly
member, spent his vacation visiting neighboring towns such as Bushrfl’iyyih, Khayru’l-Qurá, Firdaws and others,
meeting the Friends in each place and discussing these messages. Nor-i- Din Mumtázi, one of the devoted Tihrán
believers who volunteered to come to Mash- had as a teacher, also visited Bahá’i communities throughout Khurásán,
confirming a number of seekers, and greatly pleased the Mashhad Bahá’is with his reports of this trip. One of the
Bahã’is from the days of Bahá’u’llah, Aqáy-i-As’adu’l-Hukamá, in spite of his age and busy life, left Qazvin to visit
Khurásán; he spent twenty days in Mashhad, and met all the Friends, who felt this to be a great spiritualizing
experience. The traveling teacher appointed by the National Teaching Committee for Khurásân, Munir Nabil-Zadih,
was so successful during the past year that, although he had planned to teach in Mázindarán, this Assembly requested
the National Assembly to leave him in Khurásán for another year, especially to confirm the many beginners in the
Cause.
Kashi: The Teaching Committee has established six weekly meetings for men, these being conducted by Aqáy-i-
Ishráq-Khávari, and in his absence, by Ardashir Hizári and ‘Atá’u’lláh Samandari. In one year ninety- five people have
received instruction, five of these having thus far been registered as believers. Two weekly meetings are held for
women, under the direction of FirOzih Khánum-i-Hizfri and Munavvar Khánum-iSamandari. ‘Atá’u’lláh Samandari
also conducts a teacher’s class which has just completed a course in the Book of Aqdas. A group of young men have
likewise enrolled in a lecture and discussion group under Aqáy-i-Ishráq-Khávari, who in addition took a three months’
trip through Gilán; he also sent out members of this Teaching Committee to Bandar-Pahlavi, Láhiján, Langarfld,
Siyáhkul and Sangsar to visit the Friends in those localities, and arranged for speakers here to emphasize the teaching
work at the Nineteen Day Feasts.
Some flavor of all this work comes to us in the following extracts from a few of the teachers’ reports. Tarázu’lláh
Samandari

writes: “Leaving Tihran I spent few days in Qazvin and gave the teachings to several inquirers—then came to Hamadán, and was sent
by the Local Assembly to neighboring towns, including Bahár, Amzájird, and Láhh-Jin, meeting Bahã’is and seekers. In Sarqumish,
the devoted believer, Jináb-iNád-’Ali, invited five prominent men to his home, where I addressed them for about six hours in the
course of their day’s visit. The result was that they became much attracted to the teachings, and were given the Book of Iqán. In
Amzájird I visited and spoke with one of the town supervisors in his home. In Hamadán the Nineteen Day Feasts, teaching meetings
and Character- Building classes are regularly held, and the Friends continually bring new inquirers to be taught. In Qurvih on the way
to Kurdistin I spent nine days, meeting fifteen new persons, and having sowed the seed here I went on to Sanandaj. Here the Friends
are very active, and in twenty-seven days I taught thirty-six persons of every type: Jews, Christians, Muslims both Shi’ih and SOnni,
even some of the Imám-Jum’ih ‘ulama and the sons of mujtahids, and also a number of military people. The believers were anxious
that I should stay on, but since enemies had begun to make a disturbance, I left, promising to return, and went to Kirmánsháh. Here in
this spiritual city I found great receptivity, and through the efforts of the Friends I met and instructed a great number of people. Again,
to follow up the work in Kurdistán, I returned there, remaining nineteen days. In Kirmánsháh once more, I fell ill with influenza and
the Local Assembly directed me to stay in the city and teach. In the course of a few months I gave the teachings to about ninety
persons of every class, till the beginning of the year 96. During the past month about one quarter of these have come every night for
deeper study of Bahá’i history and principles. Some of these kept the fast, some are saying the obligatory prayers, some are making a
thorough study of our books. I then left Kirmánsháh (he says in his letter of 17-2-18) spending eleven days with the Friends. On
Friday the 1st of Rilván many fine gatherings were held. I went on to Malfyir and then to Ahváz. where I met the Friends including

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

The weapon used by Mullá Husayn in the fortress
of Shaykh Tabarsi. The Persian inscription reads:
“The sword of his honour the Bábu’l-Báb.”

a number of devoted new believers, whose questions I answered to the best of my ability, and urged them to stand firm
and to teach. I also met some new inquirers here. The extreme heat and my own ill health prevented my going on to
Khurram-Shahr and Abádán. I have now been with the Friends in Khurram-Abád for two days, and shall go on to
Burfljird, Hamadán, and Qaxvin, before returning to Tihrán.”
The reports of Adhar-Munir state that (in spite of his age and failing eyesight) he has made many teaching trips during
95, meeting the Friends and instructing seekers in Ridá’iyyih, Al-i-Hashimiyyih, Khalkhál and Shams-Abád. Resulting
from this, a prominent Siyyid in Riçlá’iyyih, manager of the Registry Office, has become a believer, as well as three
persons in other localities. Traveling south, to Káshán, 1sf áhán, and Sh’iráz, this teacher likewise instructed many new
people, among them four who accepted the Faith in Káshán, one of these being a member of a clerical family.
Outstanding is the work of Mirzã NabilZádih and his wife, who spent eight months around Birjand and gave the
teachings to one hundred and seventy-six persons, forty of whom have thus far become believers. They then went on to
Gunábád, center of the Ni’matu’lláhi Sflf is and home of their leader; here they found a new Spiritual Assembly and
the believers active. They left for Firdaws, called by Bahá’u’lláh Fárãn (i.e. Pirán) where there were, and are today,

great Bahá’is, and from there by way of Khayru’l-Qurá, Bushrfl’iyyih, and Turbat, they came to Mashhad. Here with
the help of the Assembly they talked with forty inquirers, nineteen of whom accepted the Faith. After a short stay here
they traveled to Qfichán, Bujnflrd and Shirván, then returned to Mashhad, where they taught one hundred and sixtyfour new seekers, some of whom have already accepted the Faith. At the beginning of the year they went by way of
Tihran, Qaxvin and Zanján to Tabriz where they are continuing their devoted services.
In his letter dated 28-7-18, Aqáy-iNflshábádi reports that in the course of twenty-eight meetings held in Shiráz, he met
sixty-two new persons, some of whom have already accepted the Faith and started teaching activity. A discussion
group and a study-class to further instruct the newcomers have been formed in addition to the teaching meetings, and
all are cooperating in the work. His letters of 24-9-17 and 11-12-17 state: “After visiting the Friends of Abádih, I
returned to Shiráz, where the teaching is going strong. Here I had a number of sessions with eleven persons, the
majority of whom have become confirmed. These meetings are attended by all the Bahá’I young men who thus deepen
their knowledge of the teachings.”
During a four-months’ stay in Hindij an (in the beginning of 1817) Fáçlil-i-Yazdi met and instructed many inquirers,
after—

pict56.jpg

THE BAHA’i WORLD

ward at the direction of the National Spiritual Assembly proceeding to Rafsinján and KirmIn; in the former place he
taught eight persons and in the latter also found the Cause flourishing, with three teaching meetings a week, in the
homes of Ibráhim Bárán, Muhammad Kázim and Jalál Hakimiyán, son of the late Dr. Sádiq-i-Hakimi.
Siyyid Hasan Háshimi-Zádih Mutavajjih writes (6-9-17) : “Some time ago I returned to GurgIn. Since the Friends here
were all visitors from elsewhere, and had estabhshed meetings which ceased to function as soon as they would leave
town, I made an effort to interest local people, and at present some five or six of these, most of them with their wives
and families, have accepted the Faith. (Their names have been recorded separately.) Each of these has arisen to serve,
and there is also a group of new inquirers who are studying the teachings. On Daymáh 6 I went to Bandar-i-Sháh and
stayed seven days as the Assembly requested, visiting the Friends and giving instruction to three inquirers. Then I went
to Bandar-i-Gaz, and also spent a week, holding meetings every night, returning by way of Bandar-i-Sháh, where I
spent a day with Friends and inquirers, to Gurgán, and once more began to meet new people, most of whom would
come every night to study the history and principles of the Faith—and having accepted the Teachings, would in their
turn bring new seekers to the study classes. Two of them have caused a great stir in GurgIn, with their teaching of the
Faith; a third, who is well informed of conditions hereabouts, spreads the Faith among people of capacity wherever he
goes; in particular he recently gave the teachings to an individual of considerable note, who, residing outside of town,
came in with him for further investigation. On Bahman 17 I went to Gunbad-iQábiis and spent day and night seeing the
Friends and teaching newcomers; at their insistence I remained two weeks, and then returned to Gurgán, continuing the
teaching activities as before. Being directed to go to Mlzindarán, I made another trip to Gunbadi-Qábfls, returned to
Gurgán, and left for Sari. Since a long stay would have been requisite in this city, I went on with the approval of the
Spiritual Assembly to Bãbul,

where I have now spent eleven days instructing newcomers, both men and women.”
Miscellaneous activities of the National Spiritual Assembly this year have included the following: The means were
provided for making multiple copies of the Guardian’s instructions, Bahâ’i news and other material, hitherto the
Friends’ lack of information as to current Bahá’i developments having been a handicap to them. A circular letter
containing the Guardian’s urgent teaching messages, and another stressing the National Fund, especially to provide for
traveling teachers—also the necessary instructions as to the allocation and travels of the teachers
—were sent out to every part of Iran. The Guardian’s recent urgent instruction that individual believers should appoint
teaching deputies was spread throughout Iran. The Iran Bahã’i News, including the Guardian’s teaching messages,, is
being distributed free, one for each District Assembly and for every Bahã’i family in the capital. Certain persons are
being selected by the National Spiritual Assembly to travel throughout the country and further emphasize the teaching
messages of the Guardian and the measures that have been planned.
Of especial interest is the steady acquisition by the Bahá’is of places sacred in the history of the Cause. A letter from
the Guardian (dated 1927) defines these sacred areas as follows: “All places which were adorned by the footsteps of the
BIb, Bahi’u’lllh and ‘Abdu’l-BahI. The burial-places of companions and saints; the places where martyrs met their
death; prisons and places of banishment of the heroes of the Cause; fortresses which in the early days of the
Manifestation were the refuge and center of the defense measures of the companions; buildings and places which were
the sanctuary of prisoners and exiles; and the homes and birth-places of the great and the renowned of the companions
in the dispensation of the BayIn and the day of the BahI’is.”
It is obvious from these words of the Guardian how extensive are the sacred and historic shrine-areas in IrIn, and how
much means and devotion will be required to complete this urgent work. Because IrIn, cradle of the Faith and stained
with the blood of

CURRENT BAHA’T ACTIVITIES

thousands of martyrs, is the site of almost countless historic Bahã’i episodes. I-Iowever, although the task is staggering, the National
Spiritual Assembly and the believers, encouraged by the Guardian’s constant emphasis of this important point, have done their utmost
to purchase each year a few more of these shrine-areas, so far as available funds and local circumstances have permitted. The
following sacred areas were acquired in the year 95:
1. The pubhc bath in the Street of the Sword-Makers in Shiráz, often frequented by the Báb. The Local Spiritual Assembly pf Shiráz
reports that this building has been presei Qec in its original form and the houses adjacent to it have likewise been purchased.
2. The caravansary of the Maymandis, called Saráy-i-Shaykh, in Bfishihr. The shop of the Báb was located in this building. Shops and
other buildings adjacent to this were hkewise purchased, and exact restoration of the shops, particularly that of the Báb, has been
undertaken. Significantly, this verse from the Qur’án (LXVIII: 51-52) has stood over the gate of the Saráy-i-Shaykh from early times:
“Almost would the infidels strike Thee down with their very looks when they hear the warning . . . And they say, ‘He is certainly
possessed.’ Yet is it nothing less than a warning for all creatures.”
3. According to a letter from a Yazd Local Assembly member, nineteen holy sites in Manshád, burial-places of martyrs, have been
given to the Cause by their Bahá’i owners.
4. Kirmán reports that all Bahã’i holy sites in its area have been purchased, except the burial-place of Mirzá Báqir-i-Shirázi, the
martyr, which is to be acquired on settlement of difficulties between its Bahá’i owner and the civil authorities.
5. Three of the historic gardens of Badasht.
6. The house of the Beloved of Martyrs in 1sf áhán.
7. The house of the famed companion and early martyr, Háj Mirzá Jáni, in Káshân.
8. The burial-place in ‘Iraq of Háji ‘Arab the martyr.
9. The house of Mirzá Iusayn-’Ali Nsir

in Tihrán where the sacred body of the Báb was hidden for some time.
10. The house of IIáj Ahmad-i-Miláni in Mil&n (Adhirbáyján), a historic Bahâ’i dwelling given to the Cause by the heirs.
Other activities along this line include repairing of the tomb of Shaykh-’Ali Akbari-Qflcháni, the martyr, in Mashhad; also repairing
of the holy site in Kirmánsháh where Jinâb-i-Muttahidih, the early martyr of Jewish origin, is buried.
Since it was unwise and indeed impossible for a Convention to be held this year (95), ballots were sent in by a safe means and the
following were elected to the National Spiritual Assembly: ‘Ali-Akbar Furfltan, Secretary; Valiyu’llIh Varqâ; Shu’á’ ‘Alá’i,
Treasurer; Dr. Yflnis Afrfikhtih, Vice-C hairman; Jináb-i-Fádil-i-Mázindaráni, Chairman; Amin-Amin; ‘Inayatu’llah
Al3madpflr; Ahmad Yazdáni; Mahmfld Badi’i.
HARDSHI]?5 OF THE FRIENDS 5N ‘I5HQABAD AND THE CAUCASUS
(Continued from last year’s report)
On the eve of February 5, 1938, all the members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of ‘Ishqábád, and a great number of the Friends
were arrested by order of the authorities and that same night the houses of the Friends were searched, and all Tablets, Bahá’i records
and other articles were confiscated. Some of the women, more active than the rest in Bahá’i administrative affairs, were also led
away to prison.
According to those who have been freed from prison and have emigrated to Iran, the officials treated the prisoners with extreme
harshness, and all Bahá’is were condemned by the Government on political grounds, it being openly said to them: “On Soviet land
you are, and have been, working to the advantage of foreigners.” A written charge to this effect was made out for each prisoner and
each was ordered to sign it. When the Friends, innocent, denied the charge, they were subjected to every type of persecution. Some
were even obliged, more than once, to dig graves for themselves, it being told them that they were to be killed on the spot; then,
hoping to acquire the signed document, the authorities would defer their sentence.
Wives and children of the captives lived

THE BAHA’I WORLD

meanwhile in the greatest wretchedness. A woman believer wrote to her sister from ‘Ishqábád: “Here many young men believers die
in the prison. No one knows of what sickness they died, or what they asked for in their last agony, or in what place their bodies are
laid. One of the women believers, because of her grieving and anguish and the sight of her orphaned children, set fire to herself and
after sixteen days in the hospital she passed away.”
At first over five hundred men believers were imprisoned but a great number of these have died. The wives and children of the victims
have gradually been exiled to Iran, and dispatched by the Iranian Government to their various birth-places, but here, too, most of them
cannot find peace. The women grieve over their husbands and sons, the children sorrow for their fathers and brothers. Many of the
younger ones, well educated and trained, for lack of recommendations and other reasons, are refused work in Government offices and
elsewhere, and pass their days miserably in the little towns where they have been sent.
This Assembly has, through the efforts of the Friends, given to these sufferers whatever financial aid was possible and up to now a
sum has been collected for their urgent daily needs. In response to the Guardian’s emphatic directions we have done all in our power
to succor these oppressed persons; nevertheless, their lot has not improved, although they continue thankful, since they are suffering in
the path of God. According to recent information the prisoners have been freed and exiled in small groups to remote corners of Russia.
Fortunately they are permitted to write to their relatives and at times word comes from them. This Assembly has applied to the
Imperial Government seeking their return to Iran, and God wilhng the desired aim will be realized.
From a recent communication as to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar of ‘Ishqábád: “From the day when the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar became part of
the Government properties, it was rented free to the Bahá’i community for five year periods; every five years the lease was renewed,
and according to separate documents drawn up by the city, necessary repairs were specified to be made during the

allotted period. The Local Assembly would always carry out these repairs and improvements with dispatch, to give the authorities no
pretext for complaint, also regularly renewing the insurance and paying the taxes. Tn 1933, however, although the specified period
had not run out, certain repairs which were not urgent nor important, and which were very expensive—amounting to some 20,000
manát—were imposed, and the Government broke the contract and forced the Assembly to renew it and make the repairs. A year had
not elapsed when the Government officials renewed their complaints and it became obvious that their purpose was to create
difficulties and oblige the Friends to relinquish the Temple and give it over to them. Fearing that the holy edifice would be lost, the
Assembly communicated the whole matter to the Guardian. Shortly thereafter, through the Iranian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the
Iranian Embassy in Moscow, the Iranian Consulate-General in ‘Ishqábad made an inquiry as to the status and tenants of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. This investigation proved beneficial, and for some time the complaints and fault-finding of the authorities were
modified. Then, in 1936, the Government stirred up further difficulties, and imposed heavy and unnecessary repairs, thinking the
Bahá’i community would be utterly unable to comply with the requirements and a legal means would thus be furnished to take the
Temple away from the Bahá’is. The Assembly, however, asked for aid from the believers throughout Turkistmn and the Caucasus,
and as a result of their self-sacrifice the repairs were made.
The authorities then tried another plan, as follows: Surrounding the Temple, the Friends had established schools for boys and girls, a
hbrary, an office, and Haziratu’lQuds; and a long time since, the authorities had taken over the schools and the library building. Now,
with the excuse that the children had no playground, they sought to appropriate the main section of the Temple gardens, build a wall
around the Temple and leave to the Friends only the Temple building itself and the Haziratu’l-Quds; and they planned to close the
garden gate, which faces the main thoroughfare of the city and has always been opened to believer and non-

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

believer alike, and oblige all those desiring entry to the Temple to go around by a side street. The Local Assembly
remonstrated with the authorities and after considerable effort persuaded them to abandon their plan and continue on
the same basis as before. Finally in 1936 after all sorts of pretexts and complaints, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár was given
over to the Friends for an unspecified period, on condition that they make repairs as required by the city and pay the
taxes and insurance. During the past six or seven years the Assembly has been constantly negotiating with the
authorities as to the Temple, and through Divine Confirmations has been able to protect it in every way. When the
Friends were imprisoned it became clear to what extent the authorities were displeased with us.
“Taxes on the Temple amounted to some 7,500 manát, and insurance to 500, a total of 8,000 manát which was paid
yearly in two instalments in March and April. This was paid regularly, and in 1938, although the Assembly members
and many of the community were in prison, the few who were left got the money together and paid
it. If the taxes are in arrears, a heavy sum is added for every day’s delay, which may soon amount to more than the
taxes themselves. In addition to taxes and insurance, 2,000 manãt were due for other expenses, such as electric hghts
and maintenance of the grounds. Obviously it is not only on account of the taxes that the authorities would take over
the Temple, since they do not need that sum and could seize the Temple on any pretext were it not contrary to their
pohcy. According to Soviet law, every religious community which numbers fifty members of both sexes over eighteen
years of age, can petition the authorities for recognition, that is, for the right to have a place of worship and
administration. Now, if the number of Bahá’is in ‘Ishqábád should fall below fifty, the Government can take over the
Temple. At present only a few Bahá’is are left, women and children and a few old men; and even if there are as many
as fifty women left there and two or three old men, yet because of their helplessness and ignorance of the law they will
be unable to protect the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.”
According to recently received informa tion

the Soviet Government has taken over the Temple, has turned it into an art gallery, and is keeping it in its original
condition. For there are no longer any Bahá’is in ‘Ishqábád.
As to the Caucasus, recent news is that throughout all that region Spiritual Assemblies and all administrative
institutions have, as a result of terrific pressure from the Government, been done away with, and the Uv4ratu’l-Quds
have been taken over. Only in Bákfl is there a Spiritual Assembly, and the Haziratu’l-Quds there is in the hands of the
Friends. The membership of the Bãkü Assembly has in two years been elected three times, for this reason, that the first
members were all arrested and exiled to Siberia, whereupon the Friends elected nine more believers and these too were
seized and exiled. The third group to be elected, now serving on the Assembly, are mostly women. The Friends there
are suffering terribly from lack of the means of livelihood and every sort of hardship, and they assist one another like
members of one household.
Dispatch of a Believer to Afgfqa’nistdn
In accord with the wishes of the Guardian, the sending of a suitable Bahá’i teacher to Afg}ánistán has been the constant
aim of this Assembly. When, therefore, it became possible for ‘All-Muhammad Nabili—who is a spiritual young man,
well-informed, and who acquired his education in India in the English language—to go to Afghánistán for purposes of
commerce, this Assembly was delighted and has extended to him all possible aid. Although up to now the Cause has
not penetrated Afghánistán, and there was no way of spreading the Faith there, we now hope and pray that this young
man will guide many and establish there the oneness of mankind.
Aid to Turkish Sufferers
Upon learning of the severe earthquake in Turkey, this Assembly wrote to the Turkish ambassador in Tihran, enclosing
10,000 riyáls as aid to the Turkish sufferers. The correspondence, signed respectively by the National Assembly
Secretary and the Ambassador, follows;

THE BAHA’I WORLD

“The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran is deeply grieved over the severe calamity of the earthquake in Turkey and
the great loss of lives and property, which has pained the hearts of all who wish for the happiness of humankind. It desires to express
the sympathy and fellow-feeling of all the Bahá’is of Iran in this great affliction, and begs God in His bounty to heal the wounds of the
honored people of Turkey
and console the survivors.
“The sum of 10,000 riyáls is enclosed from the Assembly fund by way of sharing in the aid to the sufferers, and it is requested that in
spite of the small amount you will be so good as to accept and forward it.”
“To the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran: Your esteemed letter of 13-10-18 . . . enclosing 10,000 riyáls as aid to the
victims of the calamitous occurrence in Turkey has been duly received.
“In the name of my people and my Government, and in my own, I send you heartfelt thanks for the sympathy you have expressed on
behalf of all the Bahá’is of Iran
and the aid you have extended to the earthquake victims . . . and I ask God to grant, in increasing measure, His confirmation to that
sanctified Assembly and esteemed community in their service to humankind and their binding of the wounds of the afflicted.”
TN MEMORIAM
Háj Muhammad-Ibráhim Vá’iz-i-Quazvini passed away on the eve of 26-6-18 at Qazvin. He had suffered long hardships for the Cause
and although he was blind spent all his time in Bahá’i activity. A memorial for him was held in Tihran.
Mirzá Asliaq-i-Tlaqiqi, one of the early Bahá’is, who in recent times was caretaker of the land of the Tihran Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
(Uadiqih and Ihtisábiyyih), passed away on Mashiyyat 5, 96. The Guardian wrote of his many virtues and important services, and of
the reward awaiting him, and sent words of consolation to his widow.
Uáj Mirzá ‘Ali-Akbar-i-Milani, son of the well-known Iláj Ahmad-i-Miláni, passed in Milan, Adhirbáyján, in Mihr 1318.
Rabmat ‘Alá’i passed away on the eve of Qawl 11, 96 (11-9-18) in Tihran. The

Guardian telegraphed: “My heart grieves over the passing of beloved ‘Ala’i, faithful, worthy champion of the great Cause. I pray
earnestly in his memory. His services are imperishable. Assure his family of my heartfelt sympathy.”
He was laid to rest in the new Baha’i cemetery, a great number of Bahá’is and leading non-Baha’is being present, and a fitting
memorial was held.1
Háj Qulfm-Ridá Amin-Amin passed away on the eve of Masi’il 12, 96 (Daymah 1, 1318). An almost countless multitude of people
followed his cortege to the Bahá’i cemetery. No such funeral had been seen in Tibran before; observers were astonished at the great
crowds, the dignity and spirituahty of the occasion. A memorial was then held at the home of the departed, visitors coming and going
from early morning till late at night.
The Guardian telegraphed: “Hearts are grieving for loss of the emblem of firmness, the upright man, the strong pillar of the
community of Bahá, and its servant and trusted one and the keeper of its state and the upholder of its flag, whom God has raised to a
station which the hearts of the pure do vehemently yearn for, in the Abha paradise. May God inspire his relatives and helpers and
lovers in that glorious land with seemly patience, and assist them to follow in his footsteps and walk in his way. I truly join you in
their grief and beg for the departed one every good in every world of God’s worlds.
SHOGHI RABEANt.”
Memorials were held for this departed one throughout Iran. Regarding his successor as custodian of the uqflq, the Guardian sent two
telegrams to Iran, respectively in Arabic and Enghsh, appointing Valiy’ullah KLan Varqã (son of Varqá the martyr) to this office. The
second telegram reads: “Inform Valiy’ullah Varqa as follows: I have chosen you deservedly for the greatly-honored func‘Ralimat
‘Alá’i is the believer who, with his wife
Najmiyyih Khinum, rendered so suany loving setvices ro Keith Ransom-Kehler and later ro Dr. Howard Carpenter. They entertained
both Keith and Howard Carpenter in their home for long periods; nursed both through severe illnesses; were at Keith’s bedside when
she died; and accompanied Howard Carpenter on the difficult journey which he made, invalided, from TibrIn to Haifa. Translator’s
note.

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

tion of custodian of the Iuqflq. Shoghi Rabhani.”
The Bahá’i teacher and poet, AdharMunir, who had been in the presence of the Master and taught the Cause all his life long, passed on
Masá’il 12, 96 (1-10-18) in Tabriz.
From Bandar-i-Jaz comes this account of the death of Muhammad Sangi, Assembly member. In the night of 26-10-18 (18- 16-96) fIre
hroke out in the warehouse of the Rice Company, close to bazars and private homes. As soon as the alarm sounded, Mul3ammad
Sangi left his bed, and wearing only his sleeping garments, hurried to the scene. Aware of the danger to the entire neighborhood
should the flames spread, he started to tear down an adjacent structure. The crowd, including shopkeepers and householders, fled,
calling to him to come away; he ran out, saw that the fire was spreading afresh, re-entered the flames and smoke and managed to
demolish a further part of the building and stop the fire, but in doing so he was crushed to death. The next day four hundred of the
townspeople out of gratitude for his action, followed his bier and were present at the Bahâ’i burial.
One of the early Bahã’is, Abu’l-Qásim Mufti-Báshi known as Fakhriy-i-Yazdi, passed away on 1sf and 11, 1318 and was buried in the
Tihrán Bahá’i cemetery, a large crowd of believers and others attending. A Tablet from the Master to this departed friend, sent by the
heirs to Haifa, was placed by the Guardian in the International Archives.
Ijlusayn Shaydá, one of the prisoners of Yazd, whose case is reported in section 5 of this record, died of typhoid fever in the prison at
Tihrán, in the night of Sunday, Bahá 11, 1318. His body, which had been sent from the prison to the town burial- ground, was
transferred to the Bahá’i cemetery and buried with due honor in the presence of a number of Friends. Two memorials were held for
him by the Tihran Feast Committee. The Guardian telegraphed:
“Hearts infinitely saddened at Shaydá’s honored passing. Assure relatives special prayers. Shoghi Rabbani.” The Guardian likewise
wrote: “Although that upright personage, self-sacrificing in the Cause of the mighty

Lord, was afflicted during his latter days, and died in prison, and his blessed body to outward seeming was taken from the prison with
the greatest indignity, yet he is now amongst the Supreme Concourse, throned in everlasting glory, consorting with the near to God
and the holy. . . .“ Prophesying that the Yazd afflictions will one day be changed to happiness, the Guardian adds, “Varqá has been
directed to send the sum of 200 tumáns to the relatives of that victimized one in Yazd.”
Memorials for Bahá’Is of Other Lands
Regarding the passing of Martha Root, a telegram dated October 18, 1939 was received from the Guardian as follows: “The pure leaf
and renowned teacher, sign of severance torch of love and tenderness, standard of courage and faithfulness, consolation of the eyes of
the people of Bahé, Martha Root, has ascended to the highest summits of paradise. The people of the Supreme Concourse came forth
to meet her with the shout, ‘Welcome to thee, 0 pride of men and women teachers! Well done, well done, thou who hast spent thy
whole being in devotion to the Kingdom of the Lord of signs and utterances! Blessed, a thousandfold blessed art thou within this
shining, proud and lofty station!’ Inform all the Friends of the necessity of calling special meetings in all the provinces for two full
weeks to honor her exalted station. Shoghi Rabbani.”
This Assembly at once communicated its great sorrow to all centers throughout Iran, and directed the holding of fitting memorials in
all locahties for a period of two weeks, for this believer who was the joy and pride of all believers, who had been welcomed with such
extraordinary love and enthusiasm on her journey to Iran, and who is known even to children throughout the Bahi’i world.
Through a letter from London to Dr. Lutfu’lllh Hakim, it was learned that the renowned Lady Blomfield (Sitárih Khánum) had passed
away in that city. A brief biography of the departed was printed in the Iran Bahá’i News and a memorial was held for her in Tihran.
The following telegram was received from the Guardian on the grievous occasion of the

THE BAHA’! WORLD

passing of Mrs. May Maxwell: “The severed teacher, brand from the fire of the love of God, and spreader of the
fragrances of God, Mrs. Maxwell, forsook her native land and hastened to the most distant countries out of love for her
Master and yearning to sound the call to the Cause of her Lord and her Inspiration; until she ascended to the highest
summit, attaining the rank of martyrdom in the capital of Argentine, the furthermost boundary. The countenances of
paradise invoke blessings upon her in the glorious apex, saying ‘May she enjoy with healthy relish the cup that is full
and brimming over with the wine of the love of God.’ ‘For the like of this should the travailers travail!’ Inform all the
Friends of the announcement of this mighty victory. Shoghi Rabbani.”
This message was sent out to all Bahá’i centers and everywhere fitting memorials were held, and the great services and
well- loved qualities of her who was a flame of the love of God were brought to mind.
In recent years great numbers of Bahã’is have been forced by the Soviet Government to leave that country and come to
fran. At the Guardian’s direction this National Assembly has taken steps for them, has met the Iranian Minister for
Foreign Affairs and consulted at length as to the release of innocent Bahf’is from Russian prisons. Every legal means
has been used to lift the restrictions on these people, but unfortunately no tangible change has taken place for them in
the year 95, during which all male Bahá’is have, as previously, been kept in the Russian government prisons, and the
women and children exiled to Iran. Except for a few former members of the Iranian consulate in ‘Ishqábád not a single
male Bahi’i is out of prison, nor have any returned to Iran.
This National Assembly with the cooperation of the Local Assemblies has so far as lies in its power given financial aid
to the refugees, and funds have also been supplied to them by the Guardian. The Local Assemblies have done
everything they could to comfort them, prepared homes for them and given them living expenses. In some Assemblies
Bahá’i Refugee Committees have been appointed to take care of them.
Although these persecuted people get some rest and release from worry when they enter

Iran, nevertheless it is very hard to find employment for them, or settled places to live. However in spite of everything they are firm in
their faith and resigned to God’s will, and the Guardian has directed us to make every effort on their behalf.
Mashhad, Tabriz, Rasht, Qazvin, are among the towns to which financial aid has been sent for these refugees; since most of them go
first to Mashhad, that Assembly’s report is given herewith:
The persecuted Bahf’is of ‘Ishqábfd and elsewhere who at the Guardian’s direction and in spite of every affliction stood firm in
‘Ishábád to protect the Bahá’i world’s first Temple, were before the first of the year 95, by the Soviet Government’s refusal to give
them residence permits, gradually exiled to Iran. In February, 1938, that government imprisoned at least five hundred Bahf’i men
throughout Turkistán, most of whom have been in prison over fifteen months in ‘Ishqábad, Mary, etc., under terrible conditions. Some
have died under torture, from starvation and other effects of prison life. No recent news has reached us and we do not know what
future awaits the survivors.
Six hundred refugees—women, girls, children and a few old men—have successfully reached fran. Most of these are now in Mashhad, while others have dispersed throughout the country.2 Those who had to travel were given their expenses and a letter of
introduction to the Local Assembly at their destination.
Their state is pitiful beyond description. All were substantial citizens in their own country. Then the men were taken prisoner and they
had to sell all they had—houses, rugs, furniture. Then, obliged to emigrate, they brought in their last trifling possessions and sold them
here for bread, and are now destitute.
Although the Mashhad Assembly has continued its endeavors to find work for the refugees, little result has been obtained, because the
majority are old or burdened with children, and all are distraught as to the condition of their men, and most of them have no trade by
which they might live. Some of the girls could undoubtedly obtain office
2 To: Busljrá’iyyih, Tabas, Tisrbat, Ktsbih, Sabzivár, Tihrán, Adbirbãyján.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

work, except that they are unable to procure papers as to their previous status. A very few have found work and are thus able to pay
about half their own daily expenses. Their anguish over the fate of the men, from whom no word comes—their poverty and enforced
idleness are heartbreaking to witness. They have written and telegraphed in detail to H. M. the Shah, explaining what has befallen
them and it is hoped that through his efforts the men will be freed and come to fran. It is clear that the Shah has read their petitions and
taken steps on their behalf but the Soviet authorities have apparently failed to respond. Their only hope is in the unseen hand of God.
Up to now Mashhad has received 68,000 riyals from the National Assembly and collected locally 9,636 riyáls for these refugees.
They—who once led all the Friends in their bounteous giving, and of whom the Master said, “The Friends of ‘Ishqábád are the pride
of the world in giving alms”—take this money with shame and weeping eyes, and bless the Assemblies for this aid.
The important question of Bahá’i marriage continues unsolved. The Government sanctions only such marriages as are registered at the
license bureaus of the four recognized religions, Muslim, Jewish, Zoroastrian and Christian. The Department of Justice states that the
marriage must be performed according to the rules of the given religion at that religion’s license bureau and by its head; and further
that no matters contrary to the practices of that religion are to be included in the license. An amendment to the marriage law since
1317, states that any person contracting marriage or securing divorce in any place other than the official bureaus or without an official
license will be subject to from one to six months in prison.
Since no bureau is provided for Baha’is the friends perform the Baha’i marriage, register it according to the Guardian’s direction on
the official registration blanks of the three recognized non-Muslim religions, enclose with this a written statement of the marriage and
send the whole by registered mail to the required departments, requesting also official directions for Baha’i marriage registration.

The Guardian directs that where both parties are Baha’is the marriage must take place according to Baha’i procedure; where one is a
non-Baha’i, both the Baha’i and the non-Baha’i marriage procedure must be used. Occasionally, Baha’is in outlying districts have
from ignorance of this teaching failed to contract Baha’i marriage, and have thus according to the Guardian’s direction been deprived
of their voting right. To regain this, they have deliberately cancelled the non-Baha’i marriage and re-married according to Baha’i law.
This adherence of Baha’is to their Faith has greatly astonished nonBaha’is and won their admiration.
Up to some months ago, persons contracting Baha’i marriage were only rarely interfered with by the Department of Justice, and such
marriages were tacitly permitted. Then, in Tihran and the provinces as well, the severest penalties were suddenly imposed, and even
those Baha’is who had married in previous years were summoned for trial; not only the men, but the women, too, were prosecuted,
and according to our present information, in Tihran alone over three hundred and fifty cases are in process of being tried.
The questions usually asked by the authorities are these: Who performed your marriage ceremony? Who read the marriage sermon?
What person drew up your marriage certificate? Why did you not appear at one of the four marriage hcense bureaus to contract your
marriage? The Friends answer: In Baha’i marriage no one is appointed to perform the ceremony; the couple themselves perform the
marriage by repeating the two marriage verses. As for the marriage sermon, a chant is used to bless the occasion, but it is not a
requirement to marriage and no special person is appointed to chant it. Persons attending the marriage are witnesses and nothing
more—the presence of witnesses being a requirement. The Baha’is cannot use the hcense bureaus since each of these is set apart for
one of the four officially recognized religions; recourse to them would thus be a denial of that truthfulness which is the basis of the
Baha’i Faith. After being questioned, the Friends are released on bail.
The Baha’is are summoned in an unusual way; they are almost always called in on

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Thursday; since Thursday afternoon and Friday all offices are closed, they are thus imprisoned two days and two nights. From 200 to
400 tumâns bail is required of each person contracting marriage. Since other Bahá’is almost always furnish the bail and thus few
persons are imprisoned for long, the authorities now ask for cash bail. The Assembly has appointed a commission to take charge of all
such cases, and these persons with great self sacrifice stand ready to help at all times, personally attending court and smoothing every
difficulty. The Assembly has likewise called a second commission to supply the cash bail. Besides the sums pledged by this second
commission, its members have also offered funds for the aid of couples who have been imprisoned or dismissed from jobs as a result
of the marriage. The National Assembly has directed that all Assemblies throughout Iran reserve a special fund for this purpose, so
that imprisonment, and the suffering of families of contracting parties, will not result.
On occasion some of the authorities are brutal, and some use obscene expressions in addressing Bahá’is, even the women; but others
admit that the Bahi’is are innocent and say they are taking action only because they are obliged to. Some of the questioners and judges
say they know the Bahá’is are trying to achieve official recognition by this means, but will never succeed; the Bahã’is answer that
they are not trying to break the laws, as proved by the fact that they officially register and notify the authorities of all marriages, but
that they cannot in conscience use the provided legal channels.
The Friends, and especially the women, although they have never undergone such experiences before, have stood up wonderfully in
the courts, demonstrating their sincerity and their knowledge of the teachings. In some cases the officials have been remarkably
moved, and astonished that even peasants could respond as they have. Some of the Bahá’is have said they would be proud to go to
prison for the Cause, and others, fully realizing the severe penalties, have not hesitated to contract Bahá’i marriages. Daily the
authorities see that their persecutions, far from frightening the BahA’is have increased the number of marriages, and the

Department of Justice is being filled with talk of Bahá’i principles because Bahá’i married couples are constantly summoned for
questioning.
From eight days to six months’ imprisonment has been the penalty so far imposed; even women have been sentenced to imprisonment
for some days. The Friends usually appeal the case; a fine can be substituted for a sentence of two months or less. Oddly, although the
act is the same, the penalty always varies according to the degree of fanaticism of the judge.
This Assembly has left the Friends free either to pay the fine or accept the prison sentence; in either case, this sentence, entered on the
individual’s identity card, deprives him of civil rights for a number of years, varying with the penalty, and means his dismissal from
any government position; it also means that for years no one else will employ him. In addition, certain laws that have been passed
regarding penalties for Bahá’i marriage require that following imprisonment the BahI’i must remarry according to the laws of the
country, at one of the four license bureaus. In other words the penalties might be imposed indefinitely.
Victims of this law constantly petition the Department of Justice, the Cabinet and His Majesty. Recently when one of the Bahá’is
presented a petition to the Royal Office, an order was sent (to Qazvin) saying that since the petitioner had broken the law and had
further had the effrontery to tell his crime to the Shah, he was to be severely punished.
Typical individual cases follow: In Káshán, Uasan Násih, ‘Abbás Baydá’i, and Ahmad Yazdani, were sentenced to from three to four
months’ imprisonment. In Najafábid, ‘Abdu’l-usayn Jáni freely chose a month’s imprisonment rather than pay the fine. In Yazd,
Aqay-i-Bayani, in
Tihran Muaddiqi Taliqáni, have been sentenced to four months in prison. In Bandari-Jaz, for contracting BahI’i marriage, Mul ammad
Sangi was sentenced to six months imprisonment.a Mashhad reports that among Bahá’is contracting marriage who have been
Transiatofs note: This must be the Muhammad Sangi who died a hero’s death in a recent fire. See BAHA’i NEWS, January, 1941.

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

persecuted recently is Aqáy-i-Yazdán-Parast, who was questioned, sent to prison, and after some days released on 200 tumáns bail.
Brought to trial, he was sentenced to two months and five days in jail but has appealed the case. Thaná’u’lláh Furdd of Sabzivár, was
likewise imprisoned, then released on 200 tumáns bail, pending trial. Aqáy-i-áhiri was sentenced to seventy days in jail and has
appealed the case. In Birj and, MubammadRidá Majidi wrote the Registry Office: “I have married Layli Khánum Majidi according to
the procedure of my religion, ‘Bahâ’i.’ I request that you designate the manner of registering this marriage.” Following further
correspondence he awaits trial.
Following is a summary of the documents in a typical marriage case in Tihrán: Mflsá Thábit-i-Isfáháni, a twenty-five year old
translator, married, father of a child, Iranian citizen, religion Bahá’i; and his wife Khánum Aghá, eighteen, Iranian citizen, religion
Bahá’ i. The defendants transgressed the marriage law, in marrying according to the regulations of the Bahâ’i religion and in not
appearing at one of the official hcense bureaus or informing the Registry Office of their marriage. They admit their act and say in
extenuation that since they cannot tell falsehoods and the bureaus would not register their marriage because they are Bahá’is, they
married elsewhere . . . Khánum Aghá is sentenced to one month in prison or payment of 6 riyáls a day, and Mflsâ to three and onehalf months in addition to one and one-half months
The above and further charges included in this document, were answered by ‘Abdu’l‘Ali ‘Alá’i, member of the commission for aid to
Bahá’is contracting marriage, as follows: Although another calendar and money standard were used in the marriage certificate of the
defendants, nevertheless the Iranian equivalent was also stated. . . . In other countries marriage has two aspects, civil and religious, the
latter being optional; in Iran no civil marriage exists. . . . Other religions besides Islam flourish in Iran, having their own temples,
Parliamentary representatives and other rights, and no disorder results. . . . The present marriage law refers only to members of the four
recognized religions, and therefore does not apply to mem ber
of any other religion; for example, it obviously would not apply to Brahmins or Buddhists resident in Iran. . . . Each of the four license
bureaus is authorized to marry only members of the specific religion which it serves, and cannot marry non-members.
Although the law refuses to recognize the religions practiced by half the population of the globe, that does not prove that those
religions are non-existent, nor that Iranian citizens should be obliged to commit themselves to falsehood at the official government
offices. . . . The defendants truthfully stated that their religion is Baha’i, and the learned judge in passing sentence testified to this, when
he described their religion as Bahá’i; now whether the law recognizes the Bahá’i rehgion along with the other four, or refuses to
recognize it along with the remaining religions of the world—in any case the law applies only to members of the four religions
specified, and therefore does not apply to Baha’is.
As a result of the foregoing, the authorities agreed that Mflsá had shown proof of his informing the Registry Office by mail of his
marriage. They added in substance that use in the certificate of a calendar and money standard other than Iran’s was not justified; that
the license bureaus are really civil institutions intended merely to regulate marriage in an orderly way; and that, supposing an
individual does have a special religion or even an imaginary one he can still contract marriage according to the law. Even if that legal
marriage has a religious aspect and he thinks that religion to be false, it is better for him to obey the law than commit a crime, and then
he can privately perform all the rites of his own religion. Mflsa’s sentence was then reduced to two months in jail or payment of 20
riyals daily.
A second appeal was made by the Baha’i Commission in answer to the above, showing that the license bureaus are anything but civil,
since each is dedicated to the practices of a given rehgion and the head of each, who according to law must perform the marriage, is
chosen on a religious basis; and adding that the compromise which the authorities obviously wish the Baha’is to make would be
dishonest and intolerable. The authorities, however, did not withdraw the last-men-

THE BAHA’t WORLD

tioned sentence, on the grounds that “whatever Mósá’s religion may be, and with due regard to personal convictions, there is no reason
why he should not obey the law.”
Meanwhile the Friends, men and women, bravely confront all obstacles; they will obey all the laws of their country except those
which are tantamount to a recantation of their Faith. It is hoped that the misunderstandings caused by fanatics will be dissipated and
the Government will come to realize that the Bahá’is are true lovers of their homeland—blessed in Bahá’i history—and that the free
exercise of their religion can bring to Iran only progress.
During the year 95, as ever, the Friends have been subjected to other difficulties as well. Where matters of conscience are concerned,
they are generally persecuted by the authorities; as a rule, and particularly in the provinces, local officials take advantage of their
position to vent their personal spleen on the Friends—who, inspired by the Guardian, endure their trials patiently. This Assembly is in
constant communication with government officials, urgently requesting the removal of these difficulties, examples of which follow.
In Ardistán (1sf áhãn Division) Local Assembly representative Rafi’i sent a letter to the school superintendent to excuse all Bahâ’i
children, about eighty boys and girls, from school attendance on the day of the Martyrdom of the Mb. When the children returned to
school after their absence, the principal expelled them all, saying he had been so directed from Jsfáhán. Rafi’i was imprisoned for
some time, but released following vigorous action, and the children were readmitted to school. Another reason for the persecution of
Rafi’i was that when the Ardistán Friends were building the wall of their cemetery a local official had unfavorably reported this
activity.
General reports show that whenever the Friends list their religion in a Government bureau as Bahá’i, the bureaus refuse to employ
them; those previously employed, when renewing their registration papers, are subjected to all sorts of difficulties if they describe
themselves as Bahá’is. If, however, they leave the religions column blank, the officials fill it in themselves with the word

“Mushm” and discharge anyone who protests.
When As’adu’l-Hukama reached Mashhad he stopped at the Milli Hotel in the center of town. Fearing it would be
unwise if crowds of Bahá’is flocked to see him there, the Assembly transferred him to the kIairatu’l-Quds, where every
night a reception was held for him. On Fridays he would stay at the home of an Assembly member and the crowds
would be diverted to that place. In spite of these precautions, after a member of the Police Department, Aqã Náji, the
son of a Bahá’i, had called socially at the k{a4- ratu’l-Quds and found some Bahá’i visitors in a room that had once
been the hbrary and still had Bahá’i pictures on the walls— officials appeared and confiscated the pictures, one a large
framed portrait of the Guardian done by a Bahã’i youth. The authorities then summoned Kázimi, Assembly member,
charged that a meeting had been held and inquired who owned the 1Iairat’ul- Quds. He replied that there had been no
meeting but a social gathering for the visitor, and that the property was in the name of Amin-Amin, whose
representative was Mu’ayyad-i-Ghiyathi. They then summoned Ghiyáthi, and the head of the municipality fiercely
upbraided him, finally ordering him to rent the building at once. A second official further directed that none but a
Mushm tenant be accepted. The Assembly, however, decided to rent the building to MihrA’in, Assembly member, for
his kindergarten, and this was done. The pictures have not yet been returned.
Restriction by the Chief of Police of even small meetings was so severe in Záhidan that the Assembly was forced to
discontinue social gatherings and classes for adults.
Sangsar reports that when during a memorial for a Bahá’i woman Tablets were being chanted, some municipal officers
came out of hiding and began to insult and abuse those present. They listed the names of all attending and prepared to
carry off the women to the Municipality. Siyyid Báqir, brother of the deceased, was beaten and imprisoned. He was
later freed, but the affair is not yet settled.
The Sangsar Friends having closed their shops on the day of the Martyrdom of the
CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

Báb, six of them were arrested and imprisoned for a day and night. A number of others were summoned for
questioning. Following this the authorities drew up a list of certain Bahá’is and ordered their banishment from Sangsar.
Early in 95 the Municipality of Kirmánshah stopped all Bahá’i gatherings, and immediately summoned for questioning
those who gathered in even the smallest groups and forbade them to meet one another. The Municipality head
personally forbade certain Assembly members to attend Assembly sessions and for a time these could not be held.
Building of the local Hairatu’l-Quds of Khurramlbád was delayed for some time but permission for its construction was
finally obtained.
Burfijird authorities confiscated the Assembly seal, Bahá’i papers, census papers and the like.
The Rasht Chief of Police entered a Bahá’i reception in Bandar-i-Pahlavi, confiscated all Bahã’i papers and forced the
host to pledge that no more meetings would be held in that house.
In Taft, a village near Yazd, a social gathering of Bahã’is was going forward when the Police Chief entered the house,
confiscated several books and the Assembly records, and broke up the meeting.
Jináb-i-Nüshábádi, who had gone to Kirmán to teach, was summoned by the police and forced to leave the town.
In Qazvin, when the Friends were holding their election at the Hairatu’l-Quds, municipal authorities entered,
confiscated the ballot box and arrested a number of persons, who are gradually being released.
On their return from Haifa, Aqâyán Khâdim and Niinü went to visit the Friends in Nayriz. They took photographs of
Bahá’i sacred areas in Nayriz and were chanting the visitation prayer in the Fort of Khájih, when suddenly they were
surrounded by a group of leading Nayriz officials with about twelve of their staff members. The upshot was that
Khádim and his party were taken in custody and forced to stay a day and night in Nayna. Finally through efforts of the
Shiráz Assembly they were permitted to return to
Tihrán but severe restrictions continued to be imposed on the Nayriz Friends.

The above are typical of many other cases, not reported here for lack of space.
Bahá’i Youth Committees were the following: the Central Bahá’i Youth Committee appointed by the N. S. A. This important
committee has national powers in youth work. Local Youth Committees were: Public Speaking (for boys and girls, meeting
separately) ; Sports (for boys) ; Teaching (boys and girls separately).
In 95 the National Youth Committee directed that Bahá’i Youth Day (February 24) be held all over Iran. An account of the Tihrán
youth activities on that day follows:
The Bahâ’i youth gathered in seventeen different meeting places and carried out the following program: opening chant; brief history
of International Bahá’i Youth Day and its importance as stated by the Guardian; duties of youth in this turbulent age, and their need of
unity to attract Divine confirmations; brief biographies of Bahá’i youth who died as martyrs to the Faith; music by the Youth
Orchestra; consultation of youth activities; taking of pictures and signatures of those present. Pictures, suggestions and related
documents were sent to the American Bahã’i Youth.
Bahã’i child training is going forward satisfactorily throughout the country despite current restrictions. In Tihrán every Friday
seventy-five children’s and youth classes in character building and other Bahá’i teachings, for boy and girls both in separate and
mixed groups, are held, 1,586 pupils attending. Throughout Iran likewise several thousand Bahá’i children are receiving Bahá’i
teachings and character building lessons. Twelve Divisions report 2,500 students in 263 classes, and classes also meet in the remaining
Divisions. The children thus sacrifice their one free day to study the lessons in character building and other phases of the Cause, with
praiseworthy results.
Exact restoration of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Tákur, as directed by the Guardian some years ago is, through the devoted efforts of
Siyyid Mubsin Asási, almost completed; the exterior and interior ornamentation is soon to be done. Aqáy-i-Asási has also had a wellconstructed dam built across the village water-course and the Hizár

THE BAHA’t WORLD

River, to protect the building against threatened floods.
The following list of Committees for the year 95 gives a summary of Bahá’i activities in fran: Central Committees: Teaching; Youth;
Teaching Instruction; Unity of East and West; Iran Mashriqu’l-Adhkar; Shrine Areas; Census; Bahá’i Real Estate; Bahá’i World;
Children’s Trust; National Fund; Bahá’i Pubhcations.
Tihran Local Committees, most of which are duplicated in the provinces, are: Welfare (to supply the needs of Bahi’i poor); Reception
(to entertain travelers) ; 19 Day Feast; Teaching; Census; Ilagiratu’l-Quds; Teaching Instruction; Claims Committee (to settle financial
claims between believers) ; Appeals Committee (to retry cases appealed from Claims Committee) ; Service (to put on memorial
meetings, find jobs for Bahá’is out of work, etc.); Library; Bahá’i Cemetery; Tablets Committee; Bahá’ I Funds; Training Committee
(to instruct the Friends as to Bahá’i moral teachings and see that Bahá’i laws are observed) ; Youth Committees as described above;
Fellowship (to contact and bring into the group believers who have been out of touch with activities); Confirmation Committee (to
instruct those about to become Bahi’is); Bahá’i Refugee Committee.
A recent traveler visiting us was Dr. Mubammad- Iusayn Luqmáni of India, who returned home from Haifa by way of Tihran and
BCsshihr, and made the pilgrimage to the House of the Mb in Shiráz. He brought the good news of the official recognition of the
Cause in Austraha and New Zealand. The Guardian, having given him a photograph of the Australian Government’s document of
recognition, had directed him to spread this news among the Friends.
A second traveler was Salim Jflri, member of the ‘Iraq National and the Baghdad Local Assemblies, who came to Iran with the
Guardian’s approval to visit the Shrines and tell the Friends of his pilgrimage to Haifa. He stayed some time in Tihran, traveled to see
the Friends in many centers, and returned home by way of Hamadán.
Of miscellaneous interest are the following: the Bahá’i Youth of Shiráz have opened

a library near the House of the Bab, calling it “The Library of the Holy House.” The Egyptian N. S. A.’s Balrci’I Laws of Personal
Statits has been translated into Persian under the supervision of our National Assembly. The book Bahd’I Administration has been
translated into Persian by Abu’l-Qasim Faydi. A compilation of all the Guardian’s instructions to Iran relative to such matters as:
teaching, refraining from concealment of one’s Faith; marriage; Baha’i elections—has been issued. In Tihran, the foundation of a
Baha’i archives has been laid. Steps have been taken regarding such matters as: making Baha’i wills; completing the census;
establishing hospices for travelers; assisting the Children’s Trust; spreading the Guardian’s instructions relative to Baha’i workless
days, and the blessed prophecies as to Iran’s bright future. We corresponded during 95 with the following National Assemblies: U. S.
and Canada; British Isles; ‘Iraq; India and Bursua; Egypt; and the Local Assemblies of Haifa, Paris, and ‘Adasiyyih.
The following telegram was received from the Guardian on Riclván 12: “Hearts of Friends in East and West grieving over ascension
of the Master’s consort to the Abba Kingdom. Joys of Ridvan darkened. Festive gatherings of Sovereign Feast changed to memorial
meetings in all centers. Shoghi.” The expression of Iran’s heartfelt sorrow was at once telegraphed to Haifa, and the day devoted to
befitting memorials in Tihran while the provinces were likewise notified.
Memorial gatherings for Queen Marie of Rumania were held in Tihran and the provinces, and a letter of condolence in both Iranian
and English was sent to the King of Rumania and the Royal Family.
Among the Baha’is who passed away in Iran were: Mahmfld Badi’i, National and
Tihran Local Spiritual Assembly member, on 29 Mihr 1317; a large gathering attended his burial at the Baha’i cemetery. The wellknown Baha’i teacher ‘Abdu’llah Muçlaq passed away on 1 Sultan 95, and the veteran teacher Siyyid Abu’l-Qâsim Mumtâzi Anari
passed in Abádih.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL AsSEMBLy o IRAN

By: ‘ALI-ARBAR FURfiTAN, Secretary

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

iRAN—i 939-1940

SINCE it was impossible to hold a Convention, the National Spiritual Assembly for 97 was elected by letter. The same members
were elected as in the previous year, and officers continued as before.
During 97 the following areas sacred in Bahá’i history were acquired: the house of the mayor of Tihrán, where Táhirih was
imprisoned; the burial place of Quddfls in Bábul (formerly Bárfurfish); the house in Najaf-Abád (near Ifáhán) where the body of the
Báb was placed for a time; the house of Mullá Nasru’lláh the martyr, in Shahmirzád, the place of his death.
Other activities of the Shrine Areas Committee include: dispatch of a commission to report on the Fort of Kinár-Gird and the village
of Galin, where the Mb spent some time; preparations for purchase of the Fort of Afchih, blessed by the presence of Bahá’u’lláh;
dispatch of a commission to report on Murgh-Mahallih, the summer home of Bahá’u’lláh; investigations to determine the home of
Sulaymán Khán, the martyr, the homes of Mirzá Ridá-Quli and Ja’far-Quli Khán, where Bahá’u’lláh stayed for some time, and the
home of Háj MuhammadIIusayn, husband of the sister of Aqá Muhammad-Karim-i-’Attár, where the body of the Báb rested;
preparations for purchase of the house of the late Muhammad-Karim-i‘Aççár where the body of the Mb rested; of the burial place of
Badi’in Galandflk; and of the remaining blessed lands of Badasht, etc.
Teaching work has continued in full force during this period, an analysis of this activity being given herewith:
The following twenty teachers worked in the localities specified during 96, exclusive of the teaching activity in Tihrán: Tarázu’lláh
Samandari — Kirmánsháh, Hamadán, Isfáhán, ‘Iraq, Yazd, Rafsinján, Kirmán; ‘Abbás ‘Alavi, Yazd, Khurasán; AdharMunir—Tabriz;
Ishráq-i-Khávari—Qazvin, Kurdistán, Kirmánsháh, Isfáhán; SiyyidIjusayn Hashimi-Zádih — Mázindarán; Munir Nabll-Zádih—
Adhirbáyjan; Fáçlil-i Yazdi—Kirmá

and Káshán; ‘All Adhari— Khurásán, Yazd; Háj-Aqá Rahmãniyán— Mázindarán; Fáclil - i - Tihrani — Káshán, Shiráz; Thabit-i-Sharqi
— 1sf áhán; IIájMulsammad Zá’ir — Yazd; Haydar-’Ali Uskfl’i — Adhirbáyján; Sa’id-i-Radavi — Hamadán; Nsiru’llah Akhtar-i-Khávari

— Tabriz, Yazd; Mawhibatu’lláh Há’i—NajafAbád; Khudá-Bakhsh ‘Attár—Mázindarán— ‘Iraq; Husayn Muhtadi—’IrIq; Birjand and

Záhidán. áj-Muhammad Tahir-i-Málmiri and Micra Hasan-i-Nfishábádi have both been imprisoned.
Volunteers who made teaching trips:
‘Azizu’lláh Misbáh, member of the Central Teaching Committee, (and Mrs. Misbá5) went by invitation of the Qazvin Assembly to
that city, and is now teaching there. Fadlu’lláh Nfsri went to Shah-Ridá, Abádils and Sh’sráz on a three months’ teaching trip. Riçlá
Sa’ádati, who went to Tabriz last year, this year went to Shiraz, Jahmm and Káshán, for teaching purposes. Abu’l-Qásim Faydi and
Mrs. Faydi made a teaching trip to ‘Iraq. Jihãng’ir Aqdasi traveled and taught in the environs of Káshán, till severe illness necessitated
his return to Tihran. Dr. Arjumand and Muhammad Ishráqi went on behalf of this Committee to Qazvin with notable results. Tuba
Khánum Shamsi of that city donated to the N. S. A. six months’ expenses for a teacher to locate isi Qazvin and environs. Mihdi
Samandari, son of Tarazu’llah, took a three months’ trip with his father to Qazvin, Hamadán and Kirmánshah, especially to meet and
work with Bahá’i youth. Isma’il ‘Ubfldiyyat went to southern Iran.
Extracts from Re parts of the Teachers
Early in 96 Adhar-Munir was invited to Zanján and Qazvin, from Tabriz; then he came on to Tihran and despite his advanced age and
failing sight begged to continue teaching; he therefore went on with this work in the Tabriz region, but toward the end of the year he
fell ill and passed away.
Háshimi-Zádih Mutivajjih spent 96 in

ANNUAL REPORT—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL

ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’iS OF

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The house of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, the famous Bahá’i brothers of I1fáhán, which has
recently been purchased by the
Bahá’is of fran to be preserved as an historical site in that city.

Mázindarán and Gurgán, following up his previous work there. In 95-6, 31 of the many taught, became believers. In 96,
a Spiritual Assembly was established in Bihshahr. He made repeated journeys through that region.
The young Nfiru’llâh Akhtar-i-Khávari volunteered to teach in Nayriz, where he established character building classes,
regular 19 Day Feasts, and also photographed and listed the Bahá’i sacred areas in that locality; later he went to Yazd
where he is teaching the youth.
Ishráq-i-Khávari went from Rasht to Kurdistán, seeing the Friends everywhere en route. He is now teaching in Ifáhán
where the Cause flourishes, largely due to the efforts of Mul3ammad Thábit-i-Sharqi, who now teaches in the
surrounding areas.
Fádil-i-’Alavi went from Yazd to Khurásan, meeting many seekers and renewing his acquaintance with prominent
people and leaders of thought in that region.
Tarazu’llah Samandari’s many journeys took him also to Yazd, land of many historic martyrdoms for the Faith, where
he comforted the believers for recent trials that have beset them.

Mun’sr Nabil-Zádih is now actively spreading the Faith in Tabriz and environs, where he has greatly furthered the
teaching work.
Shaykh-Husayn Muhtadi, a learned divine of Qá’inát, known to all in that region for his erudition and holy hfe, became
a believer some years ago. Recently, as a result of the Guardian’s letters and the action of the Spiritual Assemblies of
Birj and and Záhidán, he left his teaching position and has arisen to serve the Faith. Great confirmations are awaited
from his efforts.
The Bahá’i teachers Aqáyán Tahir-iMálmiri and Nfishábádi have spent the entire year 96 in a Tihrán prison. They are
grateful for this suffering in the service of the Cause, and their only regret is that they are cut off from all teaching
activity. The Friends are allowed to visit them.
This year in Tihrán 758 people received instruction in 56 BahI’i classes, 90 of those attending being women. Seventytwo persons have thus far accepted the Faith as a result, eight of them women.
Since no one may attend the 19 Day Feast without a Bahá’i identification card, and since new believers do not have
such a card,
pict57.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

the Tihrin Teaching Committee has arranged weekly gatherings where new and old believers can meet and the new be
thus prepared for reception of the required card from the Census Committee.
A women’s Commission has also been appointed to cooperate with the Teaching Committee regarding confirmation of
nonBahã’i wives of Bahá’i husbands, and the giving of Bahá’i instruction to their children. Its members are: Mahbflbih
Na’imi; Bahiyyih Rawshan-Damir; Furfiqiyyih Munádi; Khánum-i-Faclil; Bahiyyih fzadi;
Tal’at Iqrári; Rflangiz Akhtar-Khávari; Gawhar Khushbin; Riihangiz Valsid; Ruhangiz Khusrawi; Mu’allimih Sinâ-
Zádih; Ahá Muvaddat; Najmiyyih ‘Alá’i; Siránash ‘Uyfldiyán; Mihrangiz Vahid; Khánum Yigánih.
In addition to classes for Bahá’i teachers held by: Jináb-i-Fádil-i-Mázindaráni; Abmad-i-Yazdáni; Furfltan; Dr.
Afrflkhtih— a new class for women is conducted by Val3id-i-Kashaf i and another for highly educated men students by
Jináb-i-Fádil-iMázindaráni and Mihdi Arjumand.
Supplying four months’ expenses, the Tihrán Teaching Committee sent Ijlusayn-i‘Askari to Fashandak and áliqán,
where he especially taught Bahá’i and nonBahá’i children; another teacher is now planned for this rural district, to do
follow-up work.

Seven men and women were dispatched to villages around Tihrán on short weekly trips; they were: Khánum-i-Yigánih;
Khádim-iMitháq; ‘Abbás Mal3mfldi; Ijusayn Yigánih; ‘Tnáyatu’lláh FI’iz; Mflsá Amãnat; Firaydfln Khushnfldiyãn.
The last-named volunteered for a year’s trip to wheresoever the Teaching Committee desired. Although he had felt it
imperative to return every month to superintend his business in Tihrán, he has foregone this necessity and is being
greatly confirmed in his teaching work.
This Committee’s delegates to each teaching meeting turn in written reports every week. In addition they hold a
monthly consultation period with Committee members. From time to time a Committee member attends each class in
an advisory capacity. A frequent problem is the presence of too many Bahá’is or inquirers at a given class.
Thirty teachers conduct these various classes. Their names follow: The men:
Taráz; Siná-Zádih; ‘Atã’u’lláh Bahji; Mustawfi; Vahid-i-Kashf 1; Ishráq; Nflr-i-Din Mumtázi; Ahmad-i-Yazdani;
‘Abbás Mahmfldi; Fádil-i-Mázindaráni; Kayván; Khusraw Muqbil; ‘Abdu’lláh Fálil; Darghám; Mihr-A’in; Akhtar-i-
Khávari; ‘Ali-Akbar Furfltan; Dr. Rásikhi; Sulaymán Shakibá; Avárigán; Shari’at-Mudaryán; Khushnudiyán; Shahidi.
The women: Mariyam Barafrakhtih; Khushbin; Na’imi; Manshádi; Imam; Samandari; RiThá ‘Atifi.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

ANNUAL REPORT—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’iS OF
‘IRAQ—1938 -1940
THE Bahá’is of ‘Iraq were severely tested recently when authorities in Mosul, northern ‘Iraq, acting on reports that Bahã’is are
communists, arrested accused believers and detained them pending their trial by court- martial.
The friends were held under intolerable prison conditions in the intense summer heat for almost two weeks. Nevertheless, assured of
the help of Bahâ’u’lláh, they remained unperturbed, and were even able to spread the teachings among their fellow-prisoners. After
close investigation, the authorities were convinced that the accused were Bahá’is, not communists, and that the Faith is non-political,
non-subversive, and in no way connected with communism. The National Spiritual Assembly closely followed the proceedings, and,
as had been expected, the arrested believers were declared innocent and promptly released, their faith greatly reinforced by this
tribulation. A letter to the National Spiritual Assembly from Mubammad Tahir Najm, member of the Bahá’i group of Mosul, is in part
as follows:
“. . . the police authorities yesterday evening (June 22, 1939) suddenly called at the homes of Mullá Ahmad H. Malláh, Sharif ‘Azix, and

Háshim Muhammad and conducted a careful inspection there. Then, taking whatever Bahá’i books and letters they could find, they
arrested these believers pending their trial by the court-martial, which would also investigate about the Faith. As regards the rest of the
friends, it is rumoured that we, too, shall be arrested today or tomorrow. . . . Our attitude toward these events, which we regard as a
propaganda for our dear Cause, is that of perfect joy and happiness. We are fully prepared to sacrifice our lives and precious
possessions for the sake of upholding the Word of God in this land. Would to God we are made a sacrifice for His most great Cause
The most vital activity of the ‘Iraq Bahã’is during these two years has been the construction of the new Haziratu’l-Quds. Where the
former center was located in the

dark, winding alleys of old Baghdad, the new edifice stands in its own beautiful gardens in a modern suburb. Total expenditures on the
building alone have amounted to 3,500 pounds, while the whole property, that is, the building and the site of land (40 m.
60 m.), is now estimated at 6,000 pounds. Owing to financial difficulties, construction work on the new center had been suspended at
the close of its first stage in the summer of 1937. Early in April 1938, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly returned from
Haifa bearing emphatic instructions from the Guardian relative to the speedy completion of the work—an undertaking described as
“momentous.” With his message the Guardian graciously enclosed 50 pounds as a contribution toward the enterprise. The National
Spiritual Assembly immediately called a number of consultation meetings in which delegates and friends were invited to join; these
resulted in an urgent appeal to the entire Bahã’i community. The response was most encouraging, as a relatively small number of
contributors during the Ridván Feast of 1938 added 500 pounds to the Guardian’s original donation.
Contributions during Riçlvfn 1939 totalled 380 pounds, and it is expected that sums raised this year will at least equal those of 1938.
Construction work was resumed August 23, 1938, and the new Hall, a befitting center for Bahá’i spiritual and administrative purposes,
is expected to be inaugurated in September, 1939. In its Annual Report of 1939 the National Spiritual Assembly stated that this
undertaking had not only enhanced the dignity and good name of the Cause, but had also done much to unify the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq,
necessitating as it did their common effort in carrying out the Guardian’s instructions. A recent letter from the Guardian enclosed a
further donation to the work of 50 pounds. Replying to Naw-Rflz, 1939 greetings of the National Spiritual Assembly, the Guardian
wired, “Loving appreciation. Praying unprecedented victories.”

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

On the tragic occasion of the death in a motor accident of King Gházi, April 4, 1939, the National Spiritual Assembly, sympathizing
with the Royal Family in their deep sorrow, sent the following telegram to H.R.H. Prince ‘Abdu’lláh, just declared Regent: “The
painful tragedy that has so suddenly broken upon this dear Kingdom through the death of its beloved Ruler, His Majesty King Gházi
the First, has caused the hearts of the Bahá’is in ‘Iraq to bleed, who approach your Highness and the Royal Family with their sincere
expression of heartfelt condolence, supplicating the Lord, exalted be He, to inspire all with patience and peace, and to keep his
guarded son, His Majesty King Fayal the Second, the center of the hopes of the afflicted people. (Sgd.)
THE BAnAl SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF ‘IRAQ.”
The National Spiritual Assembly continues to publish quarterly the BAHA’i NEWS LETTER, which was started in its new form in
December 1937, and is issued in both English and Arabic. Responding to the appeal of the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt,
requesting cooperation in the sale and distribution of the Arabic translation of the Dawn-Breakers (now still at press), the National
Spiritual Assembly has thus far transmitted some 60 pounds as advance orders for this important work, which will greatly enrich
Bahã’l literature in Arabic.
A generous donation of ten copies of the

BAHA’i WORLD Vol. Vii, was gratefully received in September, 1939, from. Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher of Montreal, who requested
presentation of these to sympathetic inquirers. The National Spiritual Assembly likewise ordered ten copies of this volume. Our
beloved sister, Miss Martha L. Root, last year presented to Local Assemblies and Groups several copies of her splendid work, Tdhirih
the Pure—Irdn’s Greatest Woman. The late Muhammad ‘All Banná Yazdi, a believer who died in Haifa some time ago, willed
one-fourth of his bequest to the General Fund of the ‘Iraq National Spiritual Assembly. This sum, just under 220 pounds, was recently
received through the kindness of the Spiritual Assembly of Haifa.
The Annual Bahá’i Youth World Symposiums are regularly held and enthusiastically celebrated in Baghdad. Young believers and
their non-Bahã’i friends attend these to study various phases of the Cause, and the vital duties that devolve upon youth in the face of
modern world trends.
To sum up, dominant events of the present two-year period have been: the imprisonment of Mosul Bahâ’is on the charge of
communism, and their acquittal; the construction of the new and beautiful Hanratu’l-Quds; the continued expansion and consolidation
of all Bahá’i activities throughout ‘Iraq.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE BAHA’I S OF ‘IRAQ
By: JAMIL I. BAGHDADI

THE BAHA’! WORLD

A5 THE years roll by the potency of the Divine Faith of Bahá’u’llãh shows itself in penetrating and spreading
rapidly in different parts of the world. “Truth,” says an old saw, “is one which does not require any aid for its
dissemination.” The Qur’án in one of its arguments says, “Do whatever you like you will have to obey my
commandments whether willingly or unwillingly.” This is exactly the case with the Faith of Bahá’u’llah. Feeble as our
resources are both financially and in trained teachers, we find that our humble efforts are blessed by results which we
never expected nor was there any inkling of achieving them. Surely Bahá’u’lláh beholds those who arise to serve His
Cause from His Realms of glory and aids them with the hosts of the Concourse on high and a company of His favored
angels.
The years under review have been years of significant achievements in India and Burma. The Faith has made an all
round progress and firm foundations for solid achievements in future have been laid down. The local Spiritual
Assemblies have shown growing alertness in the discharge of their duties.
The teaching tour undertaken by our beloved sister Miss Martha L. Root from October, 1937, to December, 1938, has
partly been described in the BAHA’i WORLD Vol. VII, and her visit to Northern India universities and colleges is
being reproduced elsewhere in this volume. She travelled from Colombo in the South to Srinagar in the North, and
from Peshawar, the outpost city of the British Empire in the West, to Calcutta and Burma in the East. All the big towns
in India were visited by her and in colleges and universities and in conferences and societies such as the Theosophical
Society, the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj and before Muslim Institutes, the Message of Bahá’u’llah was
proclaimed and illuminating lectures on subjects like Culture and World Peace and What the Bahd’I Faith Can Do for
Poverty were delivered. In Indian States like Hyderabad (Deccan), Travancore, Jammu and Kashmir,

Rampur, Patiala and Indore were visited and almost every university centre such as Lahore, Delhi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Benares,
Algra, Patna, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Mysore and Shantineketan (Tagore’s University) was visited and at some of the lectures
Judges of the High Court, distinguished publicists, Vice-Chancellors of universities, eminent professors, and heads of religious
organizations presided and thousands of students received the Teachings with a sense of joy and gratefulness. The whole of the
intelligentsia of this country heard the Teachings through these lectures and through pamphlet literature and through the leading daily
newspapers (English as well as vernacular) of India and Burma which reached millions of literate people in our country. Thus a great
publicity was given to the Cause during these two years all over India and Burma and well written articles were contributed by able
writers to the well-known Indian Magazines like the Hindustan Review, the Aryan Path, the Triveni, the Twentieth Century,
the l7iswabharati, the Rangoon Times, the Advance, the Bombay Sama char, the Karachi Daily News, etc., etc.
Miss Martha L. Root rendered a great service to the Cause by publishing that wonderful book in Karachi, (India) namely, Tdhirih the
Pure, Irdn’s Greatest Woman, which was presented to all the libraries in India and Burma and also to some distinguished
personages whom she met in her teaching tours. This book has been very well received all over the country and read with the deepest
interset. It has made indelible impression on some minds as is evidenced from letters that are received from those who have read it.
Among the believers she left an abiding consciousness of duties towards the Great Faith. We need not dilate on her unique and
immensely valuable services as she has most unostentatiously described them in her “Letters Home.” We will, however be failing in
our duty if we do not pay our humble and

ANNUAL REPORT—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’IS OF
INDIA AND BURMA—19381940

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

heartfelt thanks to our most beloved sister for the great and glorious work that she has done among us and for the
splendid holy example that she set before us.
Ba/ni’! Teaching
Here again our beloved sister Miss Martha Root’s work stands out as a marvelous example of fortitude and sustained
work. She delivered speeches in all the big halls of the country and her audiences consisted of men from all walks of
life. In some places some individuals tried to put to her some intriguing questions but she always rose to the situation
and mastered it in a manner that resulted in the satisfaction of all concerned. From Srinagar in the North to Colombo
and Kandy in the South she left no town of importance and no individual of prominence where and to whom she did
not convey the Message of Bahã’u’lláh.
Similar work was done by Mrs. Shirin K. Fozdar. She toured South India, that is, Madras, Hyderabad (Deccan) and
Mysore and then went to Burma where she did splendid work. In her second tour she was accompanied by her husband
Dr. K. M. Fozdar and they both joined Miss Martha Root at Madras and travelled with her to Ceylon and Travancore.
Dr. Fozdar returned after some time and the two sisters continued their splendid work in these parts of India as the
Guardian had wished that the N. S. A. of India and Burma should give their attention to the South where there is as yet
no Assembly.
Prof. Pritam Singh made his usual tours of the university towns and delivered lectures and answered questions. He is a
well- known figure in these circles and his lectures make good impression upon his hearers. He also toured to Kashmir
to follow up the work of another teacher who had preceded him to that State.
For the first time in the history of the Cause in India, the Indian State of Janimu and Kashmir was opened up at first by
Mr. Isfandiar K. B. Bakhtiari of Karachi in 1937, followed by a visit by Miss Martha L. Root in 1938 and the follow-up
work was done by Prof. Pritam Singh. This valley is visited every summer by thousands of people from all parts of the
world and some Bahá’i

friends are going to settle there, in connection with the Six-Year Plan of Teaching, to continue the teaching work. We
have already a good group of firm believers here which we hope will evolve into an Assembly in the near future.
The local Spiritual Assemblies as usual held public meetings, delivered speeches in public halls and left nothing
undone within their means to spread the Cause of God.
Karachi held public lectures and at the time of each festive Bahá’i anniversary invited the gentry and the notables of the
town to grand tea-parties in the garden of the Haziratu’l-Quds and delivered the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to the guests.
They extend their teaching activities to the neighbouring towns of Hyderabad (Sind) and Shikarpur. It is due to the
efforts of this Assembly that the Divine Faith is known to the people of Sind from the highest to the lowest. A traveller
will find the likeness of the beloved Master hung upon the walls of religious institutions. Sadhu Viswani, whom our
beloved Miss Root describes as “the great writer, the saint, the seer, the sage, the messenger of the New Age” was so
impressed by Miss Martha Root’s direct message that he delivered speeches which may be aptly called the best Bahá’i
speeches. There are many other public men, such as Mr. Jamshed Nusserwanjee Mehta, Mr. Hatim Alvi, Mr. Durga
Dass Advani, all ex-mayors of Karachi, and a host of other notables who never refuse to render any help in the interest
of the Cause that may be asked of them.
Bombay Assembly, in addition to its usual programme, started weekly public meetings in the suburbs of Bombay at the
house of one of the believers of the place visited. This new feaure is evolving into a regular campaign and has not only
added to the number of the Community but has also encouraged and roused the believers to try more and more. The
public activities of the Assembly have brought the Divine Faith to the notice of all public bodies in the town. All the
notables and statesmen of the Province are well aware of the aims and objects of the Divine Faith. Public men such as
Mr. Jamna Dass Mehta, M.L.A., Principal Kashmira Singh, Mr. K. Natranjan, Prof. P. A. Wadia,

THE BAHA’I WORLD

n’,:
aa

An early picture of the body of a Bahá’i martyr of I ran.

Prof. N. K. Pohagwat, Prof. Rou, Mr. K. F. Nariman, Seth Manjibhoy Govindji, Dr. Mulbagala and Mr. Gyani who presided over the
public meetings called by the Assembly at various occasions gave expression to their glowing appreciation of the Divine Teachings.
The Assembly availed itself of all public functions and turns them into occasions for the propagation of the Divine Faith.
Poona Spiritual Assembly continued in her efforts to serve the Cause in the most efficient way. Public lectures were arranged and the
Bahi’i Holy Days were made occasions for propagating the Divine Faith.
Delhi, Calcutta, Rangoon, Mandalay and Deedanaw Assemblies did their utmost to discharge the duties enjoined upon them by the
Author of their Faith. At Simla a local Spiritual Assembly was formed in 1938 but in 1939 it could not be formed owing to its four
members having left the place. A group now meets there. The Lahore group is holding weekly study classes and is gathering strength.
Publicity
During her tour of more than one year, wherever Miss Martha Root went, she enlisted the aid of the Press. She met everywhere the
journalists and editors of news-

papers who very willingly published long and glowing articles about the Divine Teachings. In India, Burma, and
Ceylon there was not a single paper of note that did not devote some considerable space for the Bahã’i articles. It was
the same with the tours of Mrs. Shirin Fozdar, Prof. Pritam Singh and Mr. Isfandiar Bakhtiari.
Pamphlets such as the “Dawn of the New Day,” rBahdI Peace Programme,” ‘World Religion,” eWhat the Bahd’I
Faith Can Do for Poverty” and others were printed in English and many Indian languages and given away gratis at
public lectures of the touring teachers and at local meetings.
The eeworld Order” magazine of America is subscribed to by many in India and arrangements have been made to
place a copy in the libraries of Universities all over India, Burma, and Ceylon. Mr. A. C. Harris of Switzerland presents
this magazine to some of the Universities of these countries. Thus all the university libraries of these three countries
receive this publication of the Divine Faith. Fifty copies of the BAHA’i WORLD, Vol. VII, presented to India and Burma
by Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher, are being placed in the university libraries and in other well-known libraries of these
countries. Our own Urdu and Persian monthly, the Bahd’I Magazine, has done very good

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pict58.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’I ACTIVITIES

work among the Urdu- and Persian-knowing Indians and has been instrumental in spreading the Cause far and wide. The Bahi’i
Friends of Burma have also been active in those regions and have done good deal of teaching work in co-operation with Miss Martha
Root and Mrs. Shirin Fozdar assisted by Dr. S. H. ‘Ali of Rangoon.
The Hindi and Sindhi versions of Dr. Esslemont’s fCBahjulla’h and the New Era” were freely distributed in North India and in
Sind and the Urdu version of “Some Answered Questions” was also published and put on sale. The Sindhi version of
“Bahá’u’lldh and the New Era” was approved by the Education Department of the Government and was ordered to be placed in
the hbraries of all the public and private schools of that Province.
Bahd’I Summer School
One of the forward steps that the believers of these parts took during the years under review was the starting of the Summer School.
As India is a vast country and it was not possible to have more than one such school, it was decided by the N. S. A. to hold it yearly at
different places. The first school was held at Simla during September, 1938. It was blessed with the presence of our beloved sister
Miss Martha L. Root. The school was a grand all-round success far beyond the expectations of its promoters. A full programme of
study of the Holy Books was carried out. Evening lectures were held in public halls and a day was set apart for an outing. The
presence of beloved Miss Root inspired the youth who had joined the school and they were greatly benefited. A full report of the
school will be found elsewhere in this volume.
The second Bahá”i summer school opened in Karachi during September, 1939, for ten days. Owing to disturbed international situation
the attendance from other Assemblies was very poor but the friends of Karachi, especially the youth of the place evinced great interest
and were greatly benefited. They asked intelligent questions and the discussion that followed each lesson was greatly illuminating.
The Laws of the Aqdas, the Bahá’i Administration and other Bahi’i literature was studied. A course of

lectures on comparative religion was also delivered. Public lectures were delivered in the Theosophical Hall and at Sarnagati Hall. The
school this year was decidedly an improvement on last year’s effort and it is hoped that the institution will in time become the Great
School—the universal nucleus—which will send out trained Bahá’i teachers to spread the Divine Faith of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the
length and breadth of India, Burma and Ceyon.
Youth Activities
This was another effort which was crowned with success. Youth groups existed in many centres but there was no organized effort to
co-ordinate their activities. The American BahI’i Youth Movement invited the youth of this country to join them in holding a
Symposium on a certain appointed day in February. This proved an incentive and the youth groups under the guidance of the N. S. A.
organized themselves, held the annual Symposium and drew up plans for a course of study for the whole year. In 1939 the N. S. A.
appointed a sub-committee to consolidate the movement still further. The Committee is now doing its work. The study classes at all
centres are more or less regularly held and public meetings to which the youths and gentry of the towns were invited have been held.
Bahd’I Children’s Education
There are at present two schools, one at Deedanaw (Burma) and the other at Poona (India). The former is a government recognized
institution and imparts education in Burmese and English up to the primary standard; while the latter is a private school and is
conducted under the aegis of the local Spiritual Assembly. It too, imparts education in English, Guj rati and Persian up to the primary
standard. The N. S. A. has a scheme in hand planning a central boarding school for all the Bahá’i children to be established in one of
the centres. Owing to financial difficulties the progress in this connection is very slow; but we hope that ere long the scheme will grow
and fructify and we shall have the most up-to-date boarding school conducted on the lines of the British public schools.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Six-Year Plan of Teaching
It was one year after our American brothers and sisters have launched their Seven-Year Plan of Teaching that the N. S.
A. of India and Burma on a recommendation by the 10th Annual Convention, adopted a Six-Year Plan of Teaching. It
at first aimed at making each local Assembly responsible to establish another Assembly in a nearby town; but later our
beloved Guardian suggested that the chief aim of the Plan should be to find volunteer teachers for settlement in places
where the Divine Faith has not yet been established. These teachers will make these places either their permanent
places of business or they will stay so long as to form a local Spiritual Assembly or at least a group of confirmed
believers who will evolve themselves into an Assembly in due course. In the 11th Convention therefore the two chief
aims of the Plan were clearly defined and a Committee was formed to concentrate their whole energy towards the
successful prosecution of the Plan. It is a matter for joy and gratification that the Plan is progressing and is drawing
confirmations and assistance from the Supreme Concourse. Some of the friends have offered themselves for settlement
in places which the Committee has selected for settlement this year. The Committee is now recommending to the N. S.
A. to provide funds for the prosecution of the Plan. When the funds are obtained the rest will be easy. The way in
which Bahá’u’llah helps us in the achievement of our aims is really miraculous. He has shown this to us several times
and the conviction is now deeply rooted in us that we will succeed in our aims and intentions provided we make but a
move towards accomplishing them. We are fully convinced that by the end of 1944 A.D. we shall have

attained the objectives for which we have started the campaign.
Publications
In addition to the Baha”I Magazine which is published from Bombay in Urdu and Persian every month we published the
translations of some books in the vernaculars of the country. Mandalay Assembly rendered the Obligatory Prayer with some other
prayers into Burmese. Hindi and Sindhi versions of Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era were published and extensively presented to the
libraries of the province to which the language belonged. ‘The Urdu version of Some Answered Questions was published and was
presented to most of the libraries keeping Urdu books. The pamphlet The Dawn of the New Day was published in English, Urdu,
Hindi and Tamil and was freely distributed during the teaching tours of Miss Martha Root, Mrs. Shirin Fozdar and other teachers. The
pamphlet World Religion was republished in English and was freely distributed. Miss Martha Root published in pamphlet form
What the Ba/dci’I Faith Can Do for Poverty.
Annual Bahd’I Convention
The 10th Annual Convention of the Bahá’is of India and Burma was held in Karachi during the Ridván of 1938, when public lectures
were arranged and the Message was given to the Theosophists, the Jams and the Indian Parsees. The 11th AllIndia and Burma Bahá’I
Convention was held in Calcutta during the Ridván of 1939 and great publicity was done on the platform and from the press.
(Sgd.) ABBA5 Au Burr
Editor, Indian Section
New Delhi, October, 1939.

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

ANNUAL REPORT—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’i S OF
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
193 8-1940

THE CAUSE in Australia and New Zealand during the two fateful years in the history of mankind, 1938 and 1939,
has made really heartening progress. New names have been added to the membership rolls in each center, the
development of Bahã’i institutions has proceeded steadily and naturally, a Bahá’i Summer School has been established
and two successful sessions held, teaching activity has been extended and become more zealous and the growing
strength and vitality of the Bahá’i community is becoming increasingly apparent.
As the world situation deteriorates and the masses of the people are torn by doubt, conflicting ideologies, fear, and
uncertainty, the believers in their calmness and unshakable faith in the world-redeeming power of the Cause, are
attracting more and more attention. Hearts grim with foreboding are drawn and eyes dulled with apprehension are
turning to the light of faith, hope, and certainty which shines so brightly in the Bahá’i community.
The second convention which was held in Sydney, New South Wales, in April, 1937, marked the beginning of a new
stage of development in the history of the Cause in Australia and New Zealand; so illuminating and instructive were the
addresses given by the delegates and so powerful was the spirit of dedication animating those present, from that time a
deeper realisation of the responsibility and mission of the Australian and New Zealand Bahá’i community as a
component part of the world wide Bahá’i community destined in the fullness of time to cxpand into a glorious new
civilization, the Bahâ’i Commonwealth of nations, intensified the zeal and determination of the believers and lent an
impetus to their efforts which has produced gratifying results.
The teaching field is steadily widening; in all the centres advertised lectures are given regularly; large fireside meetings
are held by the believers in their homes; opportunities to give the Bahá’i Message on other

platforms are courted and a wider circulation for our literature is being obtained.
In all the centres, increased efforts are being made to gain the attention of the press and in this we were greatly helped
by Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her teaching tour of Australia and New Zealand during the first half of 1939.
Miss Root obtained more press publicity for the Cause than we had had previously; indeed, she gave a much needed
stimulus to our efforts in this direction and we learned much from her methods.
The receipt of the news that Miss Root was coming was the signal for intensive planning and preparation for a vigorous
teaching campaign in all the centres. Everything possible was done in the way of advance publicity and arrangements
were made for her to make broadcasts and to speak on the platforms of numerous societies and in schools and churches.
The famous Bahá’i teacher arrived in Perth, Western Australia, on January 10th, and was given a warm welcome by the
believers there. The Perth Spiritual Assembly had arranged a fine programme and from the first the work went with a
swing; many new contacts were made and a great deal of interest was aroused; the Perth believers themselves being
greatly stimulated and uplifted by this soul refreshing season of activity and by Miss Root’s inspiring influence.
From Perth, Miss Root went to Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney. In Adelaide, in addition to the radio
broadcasts and thc lectures arranged for and widely advertised by the Spiritual Assembly, Miss Root spoke to the
Spiritual Mission Church, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the Radiant Health Club, the Theosophical
Society, at many informal gatherings and at a reception held at the Hotel Grosvenor.
Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne and Miss Hilda Brooks of Adelaide, accompanied Miss Root to Tasmania and Melbourne and
the little group of four travelling to promote the

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Bahá’i Faith, awakened considerable interest and gained publicity and press notices for the Cause. Miss Gretta Lamprill, sole be-.
liever in Tasmania at that time, and Miss Eloise Jensen, who became enrolled during the visit, were overjoyed to see them, as never
before had there been such a number of Bahá’is together in Tasmania. Miss Jensen was enrolled at a little meeting of the Bahá’is held
at the Hotel where the party was accommodated. The occasion was celebrated with prayers and joyous thanksgiving; this, it was felt,
would be the turning point of the Cause in Tasmania and the first of many enrolments. That hopes were justified was proved by the
enrolment some weeks later of Miss Kitty Crowder. Now these three capable workers have commenced teaching activities which are
gradually gathering momentum.
Miss Lamprill had arranged for Miss Root to give several broadcasts and to speak at three High Schools, the Spiritualistic Church, the
Workers’ Education Association, the Lyceum Club, the Theosophical Society, the Esperantist Association, the Rotary Club, the
Bellerive, Sandford Country Women’s Association, and two public meetings in Hobart and one in Launceston. Great interest was
evinced by all who heard the addresses and the little group of believers was delighted

with the result of the teaching campaign in Tasmania.
In Melbourne, through the efforts of the indefatigable Secretary, Mrs. Wheeler, doors were magically opened and warm
invitations for Miss Root to address meetings were received. In addition to broadcasts and informal talks, Miss Root
lectured to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the Australian Church, the Writer’s Cultural
Club, Trinuity Grammar School, Chinese Women’s Society, Esperanto Club, Women’s League of Health, Journalists’
Luncheon, Kilvington Girls’ School and the Unitarian Church.
The Sydney friends had been eagerly preparing for Miss Root’s visit and had arranged for broadcasts, receptions,
interviews and public meetings. In addition, Miss Root delivered addresses at the Millions Club, the United
Association, the English Speaking Union, the Board of Social Study and Training, the Women’s League of Health, the
Quota Club, Australian League of Nations, Esperanto Society, the Rotary Club, Journalists’ tea, the Newport W.E.A.
Summer, School, the Feminist Club, the Y.M.C.A., the Women’s League of Health, and the Fellowship of Australian
Writers.
Everywhere this dear and selfless servant of the Cause won all hearts by her gracious-

Study Class, Baghdad, for training of children.

pict59.jpg

CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES

ness, her loving kindness and her eagerness to serve humanity. Everywhere she diffused the fragrance of her beautiful
radiant spirit and will ever be remembered by the believers of Australia and New Zealand with loving grateful
appreciation.
Youth
In Adelaide, South Australia, a Bahá’i youth group has been formed and steady development maintained, the members
are enthusiastic and bring their friends to the meetings to hear the Bahá’i Message. Australian youth are excellent
material for Bahi’i teachers to work upon for on the whole they are singularly unprejudiced in their outlook and the
Bahã’i teachings make instant appeal to them.
The youth meetings are made interesting and attractive; lectures are given by the convener; papers they have prepared
are read by the young people; all present are encouraged to take part in the discussions on Bahá’i subjects and a lesson
in Esperanto is conducted by Miss Dorothy Dugdale. The youth readily appreciate the value of an international
language as a medium by which understanding and liking among the different races may be promoted and are pleased
to have this opportunity of learning Esperanto.
Members of the youth group have been very active in spreading the Message among fellow students in schools, the
university and young members of religious societies and we feel that in these young people we have a potent teaching
ally.
The Cause is gradually spreading into the country districts, the number of isolated believers is increasing, the largest
country group being that of the family of Mr. David Brooks, “Rockwood,” Booleroo Centre, South Australia.
Summer School
The Summer School held at “Bolton Place,” Yerrinbool, New South Wales, the summer residence of Mr. and Mrs.
Stanley Bolton of Sydney and lent and dedicated by them for the school sessions, is becoming a source of pride and joy
and high hopes are entertained for its future development and usefulness.

Arrangements are under the direction of
a committee and two successful sessions have
already been held, the first in January, 1938,
the second in January, 1939.
The proceedings commence with a public lecture given in the Yerrinbool district hall. During the week, morning and afternoon classes
for the study of the Teachings are held at the school; enquirers sometimes attend these. Picnics and social evenings have been the
means of providing relaxation and entertainment for the attendants at thc school and of contacting people of the neighbourhood. Plans
are now being made for the third session to be held in January, 1940.
National Spiritual Assembly
In view of the fact that owing to the great distances which separate them, the members are able to meet only once each year, the
National Spiritual Assembly functions with surprising efficiency and effectiveness. This body, by its devotion to duty and its
adherence to the principles of the administration, has attaine,d administrative capacity and efficiency which have won for it the
spontaneous love and confidence of the believers. It has been greatly heartened by the Guardian’s assurance that the foundation laid is
“broad, solid and unassailable.”
Except for the meetings lasting a week, sometimes longer, held annually, consultations have to be conducted by correspondence; this
is a disability, but one which is not allowed to prevent the proper functioning of the N. S. A.
Teaching Committee
In 1939, a National Teaching Committee was appointed; the aim of this committee is to help the smaller groups which are hampered
by scarcity of numbers and teachers, by providing literature for circulation and by sending them public speakers from time to time to
give impetus to their teaching efforts. A magnificent gift of thirty-five copies of the BAHA’I WORLD, Vol. VII, presented to the N. S.
A. by Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher of Montreal, Canada, will greatly assist this Committee.
erHnald of the South”

The enterprising and progressive editorial

THE BAHA’f WORLD

staff, having raised the standard of our publication Herald of the South, this magazine is gaining popularity with both believers and
enquirers.
Bahd’I Quarterly
The N. S. A. keeps the believers informed of affairs and happenings through the medium of a news letter published every three
months and called BahcI’I Quarterly. The national news letters from other countries are a source of guidance and inspiration and
are greatly appreciated.
National Fund
The flow of contributions to the National Fund has been steady—all the Assemblies and groups contributing spontaneously and in
proportion to their resources.
Convention
Owing to the great distances which separate the centres, it has only been possible to have a Convention every three years; the first was
held in 1934, the second in 1937 and the third, we trust, will be in 1940. The election of the N. S. A., in the intervening years, has been
conducted by correspondence.
The symbol of the “Greatest Name” and the word “Bahá’i,” have been registered as a Trade Mark. This, according to the law, will
remain in force for a period of fourteen years.
No record of this period is complete without mention of the love of the believers for Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’i
Cause, and their gratitude for his ever present guiding hand to which they cling with

all their might. He has directed our efforts, led us forward, encouraged our N. S. A., protected us from error and inspired us all with an
entrancing vision of the New Day. Our love for him, although few of us have seen him, is so great that his name is constantly on our
lips, our prayers that we may assist him in his work are fervent, and our trust in him complete. For the Precious Relic, the lock of
Bahá’u’lláh’s hair which he sent us in 1938, we are deeply grateful. To the believers of Australia and New Zealand living in this
period nearly a half a century after Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension and so far from the scenes amid which his life was spent, this precious gift
has brought a sense of nearness and contact with his personality. Gazing upon it, the immortal words of Professor Edward G. Browne,
describing his impression of Bahá’u’llah, whom he was privileged to see once, came to mind, “The face of him on whom I gazed I can
never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample
brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet black hair and beard flowing down in
indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before
one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.”
NAvIONAL SPIRITUAL AssEMBLy
OF vHE BAHA’fs OF AUSTRALIA
AND NEW ZEALAND.
By: HILDA M. BRooxs, Secretary

III
EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’I SACRED WRITINGS
WORDS OF THE BAB
SELECTIONS FROM
LE LIVRE DES SEPT PREUVES *
DE LA
MISSION DU BAB

Nom de Dieu, le Seul Unique, Ic Scul Unique. Louanges a Dieu, car ii n’y a pas d’autrc Dieu que Lui, le Scul Unique,
le Seul Unique. Toute splendeur vient de Dicu, sur le mhz yo-uzher-Oullah et sur ses apôtrcs jusque dans l’eternite des
éternités.
Et ensuite:
Nous avons examine Ia lettre qui nous a été écrite: si l’on desire une explication detaillee des preuves etablissant la
vérité de cette Manifestation, celle-ci serait trop longue et les tablettes du monde de l’existence et des possibilités n’y
pourraient suffire Mais, l’essence de ce discours et la perle de ce but sont qu’il n’y a jamais eu et qu’il n’y a pas de
doute que Dieu Eternel a touj ours été stable dans la Hauteur de sa Divinité, dans la sublimite de ses Purs Attributs, et
qu’il restera toujours dans Ia Splendeur et l’immutabilité de Son Infinie Grandeur. Rien ne l’a connu comme Ii doit être
connu et les louanges que l’on en a faites sont restées audessous de Lui.
Ii est Pur de tous noms, Libre de tous gemblables. Tout Lui est connu et Sa Grandeur reside en ccci qu’Il reste inconnu
a tout. Sa Creation n’a j amais eu de commencement et n’aura jamais de fin car il y aurait eu alors ou il y aurait un
arrét necessaire a Ses bienfaits. Toutes les fois qu’il s’est trouve utile dans ce monde de Possibilites, Ii a envoye des
Prophétes et fait descendre du Ciel des Livres de la Loi: Ii le fera encore quand le besoin s’en fera sentir.

Si tu voyages dans l’Ocean des Noms, sache que tout est connu de Dieu. Lui est trop eleve pour être connu de Sa creation ou pour être
decrit par Ses creatures. Tout cc que tu vois a ete cree par Sa volonte. Et quelle preuve te faut-il donc de son Unite? Son existence
en est la preuve la plus complete, et l’existence méme des choses extérieures est la preuve la plus formelle qu’elles ont eté creees par
Lui. C’est là la preuve philosophique pour celui qui voyage stir la mer
de Ia Vérité.
Si tu vogues sur l’Ocean de Ia Creation, sache que Ic premier Ziltr, qui emane de la Primitive Volonte, est semblable au soleil que
Dieu trés Haut a cree suivant sa Puissance, des Ic commencement pour lequel ii n’y a pas de commencement, et, dans chaque
manifestation, c’est cc Zilzr qu’il a montre suivant sa propre decision. Sache donc que cc Zikr eat comparable au Soleil que Dieu trés
Haut a cree suivant son pouvoir des lc commencement pour lequel il n’y a pas de commencement: dans chaque Manifestation, c’cst
cc Premier Zikr qu’il a montre suivant sa propre decision. Sache donc, qu’en cc sens, il est commc Ic Soleil. En effet, cet astrc, s’il se
leve jusqu’à la fin qui n’aura jamais de fin, ne sera ainsi qu’il l’a ete dans le passe, qu’un scul et méme soleil. Or, c’cst egalement
Lui qui a ete manifeste dans tous les prophetes
*Translated from the original Persian by A. L. M. Nicolas. Published in Paris—1902. J. Maisonneuve, Edireur.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

et c’est Lui qui pane dans tous leurs livres.
Ii n’a pas eu de commencement parce que le commencement remonte a Lui qui est Ic Commencement, et ii n’y aura
pas de fin pour Lui parce que la fin se résout en Lui qui est Ia Fin. C’est Lui qui, dans cette nouvelle revolution du
monde vieux de 13000 ans, est connu sous le nom de Nouqtè-i-Be’ydn. A la premiere evolution ii était connu sous Ic
nom d’Adam, puis sous celui de Noë a l’epoque de ce prophete; ii fiat Abraham en son temps,
puis Jesus, puis Muhammad Recoul Allah. Enfin il est Celui que Dieu doit manifester après celui que Dieu doit
manifester a son époque. Voilà l’explication du secret contenu dans Ia parole du Prophéte de Dieu: ((Les Prophetes,
c’est moix. Oui, dans tous ne brillait et ne brille qu’un seul et meme soleil. C’est encore là l’explication du Hadis relatif
a l’Imâm Mèhdi et dans lequel Imâm Dja’afèr ous-Sadeq a dit: O Creature, si In veux voir Adam et Chit (regarde
moi) moi je ntis

Detail of the monument marking the resting place of Bahiyyih Khánum on Mt. Carmel, Haifa.

pict60.jpg

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’I SACRED WRITINGS 207

Adam ci Chit; situ veux voir Noé ci son fits Sam, moi je mis Noé ci son fits Sam; si in veux voir Abraham ci Ismaet, moi
je snis Abraham ci Ismael; si in veux voir Moise ci Joseph, moi je suis MoIsc ci Joseph; si in veux voir Jesus ci
Chemhoun, moi je ntis Jesus ci Chemhoun; si in vcnx voir Muhammad ci l’Emir des Croyanis, moi je suis Muipammad
ci l’Emir des Croyanis; si in veux voir Hassan ci Houssemn, moi je suis Hassan ci Houssein; si in veux voir In douze
im&ms de ía descendance de Houssein, moi je ntis in douze imdms de la descendance de Housscm, sur mi wit ic
satui! Répondcz a ma quesiion! Ei en vériiJ, je ‘cons ai donné unc non vetie qui ne ‘cons avaii jamais éié donnée
jusqn’d préseni . . . , et ainsi jusqu’à la fin du Hadis. Or, ii ne dit pas: aJe suis semblable a cux))—(il dit, je suis euxmmes)—car tout ce qui était en eux était en lui, et tout cc qui est dans leurs livres est de lui.
L’essence de cc discours est ceci que Dieu, dans Sa sublime sagesse, a donné le Qur’án comme preuve de Ia Mission
de Mubammad. C’était là un cadeau tel qu’iI n’en avait jamais été fait de pareil a aucune nation avant Muhammad, tel,
qu’un seul de ses versets est une preuve suffisante pour tous ceux qui sont sur Ia terre. L’impossibilité oh tous se
trouvent d’en faire descendre un seul du Ciel est une preuve de Ia Puissance de Dieu.
Depuis le jour de Ia descente du Qur’án jusqu’à celui de la manifestation du Non qiei-Baydn il s’est écoulé 1270
ans pendant lesquels les creatures ont été instruites dans cette même preuve et cc, afin qu’elles soient portées, des qu’Il
se manifesterait de nouveau, a se tourner vers le Soleil de la Vérité. Suivant leurs croyances a eux, le Livre surpasse
tout ce qui pourrait être dit en dehors de cette preuve: or, ce qui surpasse suffit, en dehors de ce qui lui est inférieur.
Répéter ce qui reste au dessous de cc fruit est sans aucunc utilitC pour Ic savant perspicace. Je ne te parle ainsi que
dans le cas oh je t’abandonnerai a cc que tu as appris d’autre part et oh je dissimulerai avec toi dans I’argumentation:
dans le cas contraire, tout cc que je te dis étant evident, c’est a toi a faire la preuve du contraire; mais tu ne peux
penser un seul instant que Ic verset ne soit pas un miracle supérieur a ceux de tous les

Prophetes: non, par Dieu, il les a surpasses et les surpassera toujours.
Dans cc Livre je te fais connaitre sept preuves irréfutables dont chacune serait suffisante, par elle méme, comme
argument definitif aux yeux de tout homme equitable.
Avec Ia religion que tu professes, tu ne peux trouver aucune echappatoire. En effet, suivant cc qui est écrit dans Ic
Qur’án, tu dis:
e Sauf Dicu, personne ne peut faire (descendre du ciel) des versets (tels) qu’on puisse dire qu’ils viennent de Dieu o. Si
une créature en avait pu produire, elle en aurait certainement produit durant cette periode de mille deux cent soixante et
dix années. L’incapacité des creatures te parait donc, des maintenant, bien evidentc. Alors, remarque combien est
parfaite Ia bonté dc Dieu pour tous ceux qui acceptent Ic Qur’án, car il a fermé, pour eux, les portes du doute. En effet,
au moment meme oh us voient des versets (us les doivent accepter), car il ne peut Icur venir a l’esprit qu’ils viennent
d’un autre que Dieu. Dc plus, il est dit dans Ic Qur’Cn que personne ne peut créer mêmc no hadis. Donc, un homme
sincèrement pieux et croyant ne peut laisser entrer dans son ccrur Ia penséc que 1cm verscts dc mon Baya’n viennent
d’un autre quc Dieu. Peut-être, la plume refuserait-elle son service a une telle ccuvre, car cohn, dIe est impossible a
realiscr pour un musulman, combien plus encore, et je demande pardon a Dicu de cettc supposition, pour un homme
qui repousse l’islamisme.
Avec toi je ne discute qu’en m’appuyant sur Ic témoignage de la raison.
Si quelqu’un veut aujourd’hui embrasser Ia religion musulmane, Ic témoignage divin est-il complet pour Iui, oui ou
non? Si tu dis non, alors, aprês la mort, comment Dieu pourra-t-il châtier cc quelqu’un? pendant sa vie, comment
pourra-t-on lui reprocher de n’étre pas musulman? si tu dis oui, pourquoi oui? Si c’est simplcment parce quc tu
l’affirmes qu’iI te croit, cc n’cst vraiment pas là un argument; mais si tu dis: e oui, par Ic Qur’án alors tu as raison et tu
donnes un argument solide et irrefutable.
Veuillc maintenant jeter un coup d’ceil sur la manifestation du Baydn. Si l’un de ceux

THE BAHA’I WORLD

qui croient au Qur’án voulait argumenter en sa faveur comme ii Ic fait vis a vis de celui qui est contraire a la religion
islamique, personne ne resterait dans l’opposition et tous trouveraient le salut au jour du jugement dernier. En elfet, si
tsn chrétien dit: ((Moi je ne comprends rien au Qur’an, comment peut-il être pour moi un témoignage? x c’est là un
raisonnement qui ne mérite pas un moment d’attention. Eh bien, c’est là le cas des adorateurs du Qur’án qui disent:
nous ne comprenons pas l’éloquence des versets du Baycmn, qui ne peuvent donc être un témoignage pour nous. A
l’homme qui parle ainsi il n’y a qu’à répondre: O ignorant, comment se fait-il que tu sois devenu un musulman? Tu
n’as pas vu le Prophete, tu n’as pas vu les miracles: si c’est sans comprendre que tu l’es devenu, pourquoi l’es-tu
devenu? L’es-tu devenu sur l’aveu que les maitres de la science et de la connaissance t’ont fait de leur impuissance (a
produire des versets) ou bien es-tu humble et soumis a cause des dispositions innées déposées en toi et qui t’ont fait
entendre Ia parole de Dieu—ce qui est un des signes de l’amour de la science
Suivant la croyance universelle, Dieu savait, sait, pouvait et peut tout. Aussi lorsque quelqu’un se présente disant venir
de Sa part et en apporte un témoignage évident, si Dieu ne manifeste personne pour mettre a néant ses affirmations,
c’est une preuve qu’il vient réellement de Lui et qu’il en est aimé. Par cela méme que Dieu est consentant et que malgré
Sa Toute Puissance Ii n’a suscité aucun adversaire, II démontre que Ic Prophete a été envoyé par Lui et qu’il Lui est
agréable.
Voici ce que je te recommande en ce qui regarde le Bcrydn. Pour chaque manifestation, vcuille bien rester, en ce qui la
concerne, sur Ic terrain mme des arguments de cette manifestation. Ne t’égare pas en dehors des routes des
convenances et de Ia sincérité.
Par exemple, dans le cas de Muhammad, Dieu a voulu prouver la véracité de sa mission par les versets. Si tu es un
homme loyal, discute sur Ic terrain même qui sert d’appui a cette mission et non sur des questions qui te feraient entrer
sur un autre terrain et que d’ailleurs Muhammad ne t’a pas proposées:
tu ne peux done les discuter. Toutes ces odes

que les arabes ont faites au debut de la mission du Prophete, ont-elles porte des fruits? Leurs auteurs voulaient
s’opposer par elles au Prophéte! mais c’était a eux a produire non pas des odes, mais des versets semblables aux
siens. Remarque que dans aucune manifestation ii n’y a eu et il n’y aura d’autre moyen pour les hommes doues de
science et d’intelligence, et cela d’ailleurs, en dernière analyse donne lieu aux remords, car le Témoignage de la
manifestation demeure et tout cc qui lui est oppose passe, comme émanant de la creature et par suite frappé
d’impuissance. Le Témoignage subsiste, et il ne reste rien de l’opposition.
Penses-tu que Ia prison prévale contre le Témoignage? Parmi les Prophètes, Joseph a été emprisonné, et parmi les
successeurs, Mouça ibn Dja’afèr. Tous deux n’étaient-ils pas envoyés de Dieu? Rien de cc qui semble tendre a détruire
Ic Témoignage ne peut être invoqué comme preuve (contre lui). Tu connais l’histoire et tu sais cc qui est arrivé a
Zacharie et au Seyyèd des Seyyèds. Tous les deux n’étaient-ils pas prophétes. Je ne te dis d’ailleurs tout cela pour te
faire bien réfléchir.
Quand tu dis: (cEn conscience je ne suis pas convaincu, sinon je serais devenu croyant)) sache, qu’en conscience, cc
que tu en dis est une pure erreur, car tu n’as aucune preuve sur la matière. Examine Ic peuple de David. Ce peuple fut
élevé durant cinq cents années avec les règles des Psaumes, tant qu’enuin, ii arriva a Ia perfection dans cette religion.
Alors Jesus se manifesta. Quand il parut, quelquesuns des sectateurs du Psalmiste crurent en lui, les autres le
repoussèrent. Eh, bien les deux camps croyaient en conscience avoir chacun raison et certes, ni l’un ni l’autre n’était
poussé par l’intention de blasphemer le Seigneur. C’est exactement cc qui se passe pour toi. Tu n’as pas non plus Ic
desir de t’elever contre Dieu, peut-étre au contraire ne recherches-tu Ia certitude que pour acquérir Ia Foi. Imagine toi
pour un instant que tu es du peuple de David: s’il avait pensé que Jesus fut reellement le Prophete prédit par les
Psaumes, tous, sans exception, eussent cru a la vérité de sa mission et pas un seul ne fut resté dissident.
Prête-moi encore ton attention sur cc point: depuis le jour de la Manifestation de David jusqu’au debut de celle
d’aujourd’hui,

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’f SACRED WRITINGS 209

ii s’est écoulé deux mule deux cent soixante et dix années. Or, ii existe encore a notre époque, des gens dont la
religion se base sur les Psaumes et qui s’imaginent être dans les voies de Dieu. Cette prétention de leur part n’a aucune
valeur aux yeux des Chrétiens. Que peut-elle valoir aux regards de Dieu!
Si nous examinons le peuple de Molse, nous constaterons Ic même phénomène. Pendant mille ans, ce peuple fut élevé
dans la religion MosaIque et y parvint enfin a Ia perfection. Alors eut lieu tout ce que Moise leur avait promis au sujet
de Ia manifestation de Jesus après David. Un petit nombre d’entre eux crut au Fils de Marie. Le reste, malgré ses efforts
pour suivre les voies de Dicu et croire aux paroles de Moise, ne put atteindre Ia certitude et il resta ainsi stationnaire,
attendant encore le Messie. Queue valeur cette facon d’agir a-t-elle aux yeux des Chrétiens? et combien moms encore
en a-t-elle aux regards de Dieu!
II y a ici un secret que je te vais apprendre, car tu n’en as jamais entendu parler.
Examine les peuples de tous les Prophètes. L’origine de leurs ceuvres est dans les paroles mémes de leur Prophéte; il
s’en suit que ces ceuvres sont faites pour lui. Or, comme le Prophéte est Ic Miroir de Dieu, on n’y peut voir autre chose
que Dieu; des lors ces ceuvres sont toutes pour Dieu et uniquement pour Lui.
Or, de méme que l’origine et les ceuvres de toute nation tirent leur cause premiere de son Prophete, de méme
convergent-elles vers le Prophéte suivant. Ainsi, au jour de Ia manifestation de Muhammad le monde était uniquement
préoccupé de lui, mais tous ne comprirent pas qu’il était apparu, car sans cela ils ne se fussent pas séparés de leur ami.
Sache que Dieu n’a pas rempli sa promesse tant que e Ia terre n’a pas été remplie d’injustices et d’iniquitési
Tu l’as lu toi-même:
La terre sera pleine de justice et d’dquité apre’s avoir e’te’ pleine de violences et d’iniquite’s.
Ii est encore écrit dans le hadis de Ibn ‘Abbás, dans le livre Alivan: Le Prophete a dit:

((Le Me’hdi sera de ma descendance et remplira Ia surface de (a terre de justice et d’équité comme elle avait été pleine
de violences et d’iniquités.
Parmi les hadis qui peuvent rassurer Ic cceur sont les paroles que l’Emir des Croyants
—‘All— (le salut soit sur lui) prononce dans la khotbê tutundjiyêh.
Demande alors ii voir aparaItre Celui qul, du buisson ardent du SinaI, arlait avec Moise, et cet interlocuteur arautra.
Or ii faut se souvenir que rien n’a été dit (par moi) que ceci: ((En vérité c’est moi qui suis Dieu, il n’y a pas d’autre
Dieu que moi xc
Dans cette même Photbe’, dans un autre passage, il est dit:
En vérite’, aris cc temps, ii viendra pour vous une voix et cette voix vous apprendra quelques unes des questions: alors
toutes ces preuves deviendront claires ii vos yeux.
Ii est encore dit:
Alors a cette e’poque on conviera tous les hommes du globe vers cc qui est abrogé. Hélas! hélas! vous desirer, vous,
la venue d’un grand bonheur et que Ia felicite tombe sur vous comme une pluie.
Dans Ia Jthotbê yooum qdde’r ii est dit:
Bientdt Dieu enverra son aide co-ntre ses ennemis afin qu’ils soient terrific’s! Dicu est ur et savant.
Dans un autre passage de cette khotbC yooum qdde’r il est dit:
Hétex-vous vers la misericorde de Votre Seigneur avant que l’on sonne Ia trompette. Hdtez-vous vers la porte dont
l’apparence est (a peine et le tourment, dont I’intéri cur est (a Bienveillance ci (a grdce.
La plupart des confesseurs de Ia foi, dans cette manifestation, ont été des maitres de l’intelligence et de l’entendement;
de mIle sorte que leur acte de foi est une preuve pour ceux qui n’ont pas cru. Ii eut dfl en être ainsi dans chaque
manifestation, et Ia conversion d’hommes tels qu’eux cut dfi &tre une preuve pour ceux qul sont restés incrédules. Tu
sais, toi, quel est le premier confesseur de cette foi: tu sais quo la majeure partie des docteurs che’Ikhi, sêyye’diye’h et
d’autres sectes admiraient sa science et son talent. Quand il entra a Esfahân, les gamins de la ville crièrent sur son
passage: ((Ah! ah!

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un étudiant dépenaillé vient d’arriver! Eh bien, cet homme, par ses preuves et ses arguments, convainqnit un se’yyêd
d’une science éprouvée: Mul2ammad Bâgher! En vérité c’est là une des preuves de cette manifestation car, après la
mort du se’yye’d, ce personnage alla voir la plupart des docteurs de l’islam et ne rencontra la vérité qu’auprès du maitre
de ía vérité; ce fut alors qn’il parvint au destin qui lui avait été fixé. En vérité! les creatures du debut et de la fin de
cette manifestation l’envient et l’envieront jnsqu’au jour du jugement. Et qui donc peut accuser ce maitre de
l’intelligence de faiblesse mentale et de légèreté?
Vois encore le nombre du nom de Dieu. Cet homme vivait tranquille et pur an point que personne, ami ou ennemi ne
nie ses talents et sa sainteté; tous admirèrent sa grandeur dans les sciences et la hauteur a laquelle ii s’était élevé dans
Ia philosophie. Reporte-toi au commentaire de la sourat êíKoouse ’r (Qur’án: S. 108) et aux autres traités qui ont été
écrits pour lui et qui pronvent l’élévation du rang qu’il occupe près de Dieu!
Vois les autres, tons les antres dont ii est inutile qne je mentionne les noms dans cet écrit: ceux que j’ai nommés, c’est
pour tranquilliser ton cceur, car enfin, comment donner comme preuve de la vérité d’une manifestation Ia foi de ceux
qui y ont cru? ce serait vouloir démontrer l’existence du soleil par sa réflexion dans un miroir.
En vérité! si je produis tant de preuves c’est que, voulant le salut de tons, j’espère qn’nn an moms comprendra.
J’en jure par les purs attribnts de Dieu! ii m’est pénible que qnelqu’un me connaisse. Or, connaitre Ia Vérité—le Báb—
c’est connaitre Dicu; l’aimer, c’est aimer Dien. Or, connaissant les homes qni limitent Ia créature, j’avais cache mon
nom. Ce sont ces mémes creatures qui ont dit de Mul?ammad, qui n’a jamais en et n’aura jamais son pareil:
e C’est nn f on! x prétendent-ils, nons ne sommes pas de cenx qni ont ainsi pane)) qne leurs actes démontrent le
mensonge de leurs paroles. Ce qne Dien dit, c’est ce qne dit son témoignage, et quand bien mnéme l’nniversauté des
étres dirait une chose et le témoignage nne autre, Dien est garant que c’est lui qni dit vrai: sans cela ancnne chose ne

pourrait exister, et s’il en existait une, elle retournerait a mi comme a son lieu d’origine.
Vois donc comme ces gens là sont vraiment pieux! Deux témoins honorables leur snflisent pour prouver une chose
qnelconque, et voila que malgré tons ces confesseurs de la foi, us hésitent a croire a cette manifestation! Si tu veux
comprendre le sens de ce verset:
((Le témoignage de Dieu sujjlto
déponille-toi des biens extérienrs et pénétre dans l’intimité de ton étre: des lors contentetoi de ce que dit celni que Dien
doit manifester, car ce qu’il dit, c’est lni qui le dit. Ne crois pas que ce soit là une preuve futile, car c’est cette prenve
méme qni est apportée par le Qur’án, c’est cette prenve qne Dien a manifestée pour Ia secte de Jesus, c’est toujonrs die
qne Mn5ammad a manifestée dans le Livre de Die’u. Et voilà qne les hommes n’acceptent pas le témoignage de Dien et
n’agissent que snivant le témoignage de lent propre inspiration!
Ces preuves, je te les donne pour éclairer ta vue, car ceux dont les yenx sont clairvoyants et attaches a Ia philosophie
divine, qn’ont-ils besoin de preuves?
Comme c’est aujourd’hni le jour du jugement dernier, ii fant que se manifeste cette parole:
Tout périra, excepté ía face de Dieu.
La face de Dien, c’est le Baydn, car a son ombre les confesseurs de Ia vénité reposent paisiblement, et personne ne le
comprend. Reporte-toi aux réponses que Shaykh Ahmad et Siyyid Kázim donnaient a ceux qni les interrogeaient, tu te
convaincras alors qne la manifestation de celni qui a été promis est celle méme de cette vérité. En effet, dans le hadis
de Komèil, ii est dit:
Dens ía premiere année, ouvrir sans signaí íes rideaux de ía grandeur; dans ía deuxie’me, effacer íes futiíités de
í’imagination et prouver ce qui est evident; dans ía troisilme, divuíguer íes secrets et íes impíanter victori eusement
(dans ie crur des hoinmes); dans ía quatrilme, étre extasié en Dieu pour en prouver l’unité. Dans ía cinquie’me, c’est
íe íeves de ía íumiêre de í’aurore de í’éternité )).
Tn la verras cette lnmière si tn ne fuis pas on si tn n’es pas trouble.
Examine les Do’a-i Sahar dans lesquelles S. A. Bâgher a dit:

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’I SACRED WRITINGS 211

O mon Dieu! jo to demamlo ía lumiêro do la plus luminouse do tes lumiêros, qui es t rosplondissanto. 0 mon Dieu! jo
to domando ta lumiCre, ía lumio’re complete.
Ccci I ait allusion, en premier lieu, au prophéte de Dieu, en second lieu, a ‘Au l’Emir des Croyants, et ainsi de suite
jus-qu’au cinquième degrC oil il est parlé de la lumière et cette lumière est le seigneur des seigneurs, car la lumière est
un degre. De même que le luminaire qui se brüle lui-même pour eclairer los autres est dépourvu d’égolsme, de méme tu
verras, ii tu vis et si Dieu le permet, les lumières de cette manifestation et tu les trouveras depouvues d’égoisme: ellcs se
sacrifont elles-mêmes pour montrer l’unité de Dieu et faire executer ses conseils et ses ordres.
Vois ce verset du Qur’án:
((Los infido’los o-nt-ils ponsé qu’ils pourront prendro pour patrons crux qui no sont quo nos sorvit curs. Nous leur
avons pro’ pare la géhonno pour domouro x’.
Ce verset est descendu pour ceux qui prenaient les prétres chretiens comme guides contre lo Prophète de Dieu, et ce
châtiment mme était leur enfer durant leur vie, car il n’y a pas en et il n’y a pas de plus grande recompense pour celui
qui fait des ceuvres pies en ce monde que l’approbation de Dieu, et il n’y a pas de feu plus violent que d’être loin de
Dieu en co bas-mondo.
Sache que cette menace de l’enfer est faite a ceux qui adorent d’autres que Dieu: adorer veut dire ici obéir. On n’obéit
a Dieu en cc bas-monde qu’en obéissant a celui en qui l’on peut voir Dieu dans chaque manifestation. Comprends
bien cela afin de ne pas avoir obéi a d’autres qu’a Dieu. Le jour oü paraItra celni que Dieu doit manifester, tu auras agi
contre lui et par consequent contre Dieu si tu continues a obéir a un des docteurs du Baydn. Si au contraire tu obéis a
cclui quo Dieu doit manifester, tu auras adore Diou.
Diou dit dans le Qur’án:
((En quo! autro Livro croiront -its on- suite? ))
Le vrai sens de co versot, dans sa signification intime est:
((A quoi croircint-ils apro’s to Pro phêto do Diou ot co qui ost doscendu pour lui.x

Sacho bien que l’adoration d’un autre que Diou no pout suffirc en non, tandis que connaitre Dieu suffit, a l’exception
de toutes choses, et cela a la condition quo l’homme suive avec piété la grande route dans laquelle il est entré jusqu’au
moment oü un autre ordre so manifestera venant do Dieu.
Quant a cc quo tu demandes an sujet des I ondoments de la religion et do ses dogmos, sache quo la base do la religion
ost Ia connaissanco do Dieu: Ia connaissance parfaite et la connaissance do son unite. La parfaito connaissanco do
l’unité c’est do rojeter tons los attributs du terrain do sa Saintoté, do 1’Elé- vation do sa gloiro et do sa Sublimité.
Sache que connaitre Diou n’ost possible en cc mondo que par la connaissance de colui en qui l’on contemple Diou.
Sache egalement qu’à la base de chaque manifestation se iron- vent ces paroles:
all n’y a pas d’autro Diou quo Diou.a
C’ost après cone affirmation qu’apparait la mention du nom du maitro do la manifostation; il en a été ainsi pour Noé
a l’époquo do Noé, pour Ibráhim en son tomps, pour Molse et pour Jesus, cbacun a son époquo. Il on a été ainsi pour
Mubammad an moment oil il apparut ot il en sera ainsi onsuite jusqu’à la fin qui n’aura jamais do fin.
Sache aussi quo toutes los nations, dans leur langue roligieuso, omploient ces termos memos, mais restent cependant
toutes a l’ombre de Ia Negation. La signification du mot Assontimont an moment ot parut Ic prophCte do Diou était: It
Wy a pas d’autro Diou quo Diou ot Mubammad ost son propho ’to. Dans chaquo manifestation do chaquo onvoyé
céleste il on est ainsi, ot copondant combien do fois n’as-tu pas répété cos paroles qui restaiont obscures pour toi: Il n’y
a pas d’autro Thou quo Diou!
Tn as ontondu diro quo Dieu, an jour du jugoment dornior etablira d’un mot lo compto dos creatures: cc mot, c’ost
colui lit memo. Do sorto quo quand Dion envoio un prophèto, qui-conquo l’agreo rontro sons l’ombro do
l’assontimont, des lors son compto est etabli, il ira aux cioux; colni qui no lui aura pas donné sa foi verra son compte
s’etablir it l’ombro do la negation ot il ira aux onfors. Domando a tout instant refuge a Diou, car lo croyant ost encore
plus rare quo lo soufro rouge do la

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pierre philosophale. Tous reconnaissent l’unite de celui qu’ils ignorent cependant! Par exemple, les sectateurs du Christ
admettent l’unite de Dieu, alors que leur adoration de Ia divinite retourne en ce monde a celui qui s’est manifeste et
qui est Dieu car ii n’y a pas d’autre Dieu que le prophete de Dieu; en sorte que leur piété reste pour eux sterile. Donne
donc ta plus scrupuleuse attention a Ia connaissance de l’unite, car c’est là le Sirdth dont tu as entendu parler, ce pont
plus fin qu’un cheveu, plus tranchant qu’un rasoir.
N’ajoute pas foi a ceux qui disent avoir compris le Livre de Dieu, car j ‘ai eu beau les examiner je n’ai trouvé chez
eux que des mots on des trames doctrinales, sauf chez deux personnages. Ceux-ci ont paru jadis et ont élevé leurs
paroles au milieu de l’islam de facon a cc que leurs actes dans la Ia connaissauce de Dieu fussent d’accord avec dies.
Chez les docteurs du Baya’n on ne s’en tient pas aux mots.
Les docteurs chrétiens se sont vantés d’avoir compris les Evangiles. Or, le premier mot de ce livre a trait a Ia creation
de Muhammad. Ii y a 1270 ans que cc Proph&e s’est manifesté et Dieu sait combien ces docteurs out fait
d’interprétations de leur texte sacré, sans parvenir mme de loin au sens vrai qui est Muhammad: s’ils avaient compris,
ne fut-ce qu’un seul mot du Nouveau Testament, ils auraient cru au Prophéte de Dieu. Tu vois bien qu’ils n’ont pas
compris une syllabe de l’Evangile et qu’ils n’en ont cxpliqué les termes qu’inconsiderement et sans inspiration.
Reporte-toi a l’islamisme sunnite, tu verras qu’il en est de méme pour lui. Que de commentaires n’ont-ils pas écrits du
Qur’án sans comprendre que l’essence mème de Ia creation du Qur’in est Ia descendance du Prophete.

Il en est ainsi encore pour les Shiites et leurs commentaires. S’ils avaicnt compris, us n’eussent pas ignore que des le
premier point du Qur’án le Livre mere’ n’a pour but que l’attente de Ia manifestation du témoignage. Tu vois bien
qu’ils n’ont compris rien autre chose que des mots vides de sens et d’inspiration.
Eh bien, alors, comprends donc, et ne sois pas comme eux en face de cette manifestation du Baya’n. Tranche toute
amitié avec d’autres qu’avec Dieu et suffis-toi en lui en dehors d’autres que Iui. Répète souvent cc verset du Baycmn:
e Dis: Dieu suffit a toistes ehoses en toutes ehoses, rien ne pre’vaut sur Dieu; rien, ni dans les eieux, ni sur la terre, ni
dans cc qui est entre eux. Par son ordre, ii eréera cc qu’il voudra. C’est liii Ic Savant, le Tout- Puissant.))
Ne pense pas que cette parole: cDieu suffit a toutes choses x suit une imagination. Sadie que dans chaque
manifestation, ta foi dans le Maitre de cette manifestation te suffit pour et sur toutes choses de la terre, alors que rien de
cc qui est en cc bas monde n’est supérieur a ta foi. Si tu ne crois pas, Ic Men Yazhêr-hou Oullah te comptera parmi
ceux de la c negation , si tu crois, ta foi te suppléera toutes choses de la terre, même si tu ne possèdes rien. C’est là le
sens de cc verset en cc qui concerne le Prophéte, dans Ia manifestation précédente, puis pour la manifestation suivante,
enfin pour celle du Men Yazhèr-hou Oullah, et ainsi de suite jusqu’à Ia fin qui n’aura pas de fin, depuis le
commencement qui n’a pas en de commencement. Sois attentif et dis:
((Gloire ci Dieu, Maître des deux inondes, que notre Seigneur nous pardonne ci tout instant, avant l’instant et are’s
l’instant! x

WORDS OF BAHA’U’LLAH
1. CITED IN THE ADVENT OF DIVINE JUSTICE
‘C
FRIENDS! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny.
Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon which

must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon His sacred scroll.” “0 people of Babe. Ye are the
breezes of spring that are wafted over the world. Through you We have adorned the world of being with the ornament
of the knowledge
EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’i SACRED WRITINGS 213

of the Most Merciful. Through you the countenance of the world hath been wreathed in smiles, and the brightness of His light shone
forth. Cling ye to the Cord of steadfastness, in such wise that all vain imaginings may utterly vanish. Speed ye forth from the horizon
of power, in the name of your Lord, the Unconstrained, and announce unto His servants, with wisdom and eloquence, the tidings of
this Cause, whose splendor hath been shed upon the world of being. Beware lest anything withhold you from observing the things
prescribed unto you by the Pen of Glory, as it moved over His Tablet with sovereign majesty and might. Great is the blessedness of
him that hath hearkened to its shrill voice, as it was raised, through the power of truth, before all who are in heaven and all who are on
earth. . . . 0 people of Bahá! The river that is Life indeed bath flowed for your sakes. Quaff ye in My name, despite them that have
disbelieved in God, the Lord of Revelation. We have made you to be the hands of Our Cause. Render ye victorious this Wronged One,
Who bath been sore-tried in the hands of the workers of iniquity. He, verily, will aid every one that aideth Him, and will remember
every one that remembereth Him. To this beareth witness this Tablet that bath shed the splendor of the loving-kindness of your Lord,
the All-Glorious, the All-Compelling.” “Blessed are the people of Bahá! God beareth Me witness! They are the solace of the eye of
creation. Through them the universes have been adorned, and the Preserved Tablet embellished. They are the ones who have sailed on
the ark of complete independence, with their faces set towards the Day-Spring of Beauty. How great is their blessedness that they have
attained unto what their Lord, the Omniscient, the All-Wise, bath willed. Through their light the heavens have been adorned, and the
faces of those that have drawn nigh unto Him made to shine.” “By the sorrows which afflict the beauty of the All-Glorious! Such is
the station ordained for the true believer that if to an extent smaller than a needle’s eye the glory of that station were to be unveiled to
mankind, every beholder would be consumed away in his longing to attain it. For this reason it bath been decreed that in this earthly
life

the full measure of the glory of his own station should remain concealed from the eyes of such a believer.” “If the veil
be lifted, and the full glory of the station of those who have turned wholly towards God, and in their love for Him
renounced the world, be made manifest, the entire creation would be dumbfounded.”
“Verily I say! No one bath apprehended the root of this Cause. It is incumbent upon every one, in this day, to perceive
with the eye of God, and to hearken with His ear. Whoso beholdeth Me with an eye besides Mine own will never be
able to know Me. None among the Manifestations of old, except to a prescribed degree, bath ever completely
apprehended the nature of this Revelation.” “I testify before God to the greatness, the inconceivable greatness of this
Revelation. Again and again have We, in most of Our Tablets, borne witness to this truth, that mankind may be roused
from its heedlessness.” “How great is the Cause, how staggering the weight of its Message!” “In this most mighty
Revelation all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation.” “That which bath
been made manifest in this preeminent, this most exalted Revelation, stands unparalleled in the annals of the past, nor
will future ages witness its like.” “The purpose underlying all creation is the revelation of this most sublime, this most
holy Day, the Day known as the Day of God, in His Books and Scriptures—the Day which all the Prophets, and the
Chosen Ones, and the holy ones, have wished to witness.” “The highest essence and most perfect expression of
whatsoever the peoples of old have either said or written bath, through this most potent Revelation, been sent down
from the heaven of the Will of the All-Possessing, the Ever-Abiding God.” “This is the Day in which God’s most
excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace bath been infused into all
created things.” “This is the Day whereon the Ocean of God’s mercy bath been manifested into men, the Day in which
the Day Star of His loving-kindness bath shed its radiance upon them, the Day in which the clouds of His bountiful
favor have overshadowed the whole of mankind.” “By the righteousness of Mine

THE BAHA’I WORLD

own Self! Great, immeasurably great is this Cause! Mighty, inconceivably mighty is this Day!” “Every Prophet hath announced the
coming of this Day, and every Messenger hath groaned in His yearning for this Revelation—a revelation which, no sooner had it been
revealed than all created things cried out saying, ‘The earth is God’s, the Most Exalted, the Most Great!’ “ “The Day of the Promise is
come, and He Who is the Promised One loudly proclaimeth before all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, ‘Verily there is
none other God but He, the Help in Peril, the Self -Subsisting!’ I swear by God! That which had been enshrined from eternity in the
knowledge of God, the Knower of the seen and unseen, is revealed. Happy is the eye that seeth, and the face that turneth towards, the
Countenance of God, the Lord of all being.” “Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day
of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the
divers kindreds of the earth have, hkewise, yearned to attain it.” “This Day a door is opened wider than both heaven and earth. The
eye of the mercy of Him Who is the Desire of the worlds is turned towards all men. An act, however infinitesimal, is, when viewed in
the mirror of the knowledge of God, mightier than a mountain. Every drop proffered in His path is as the sea in that mirror. For this is
the Day which the one true God, glorified be He, hath announced in all His Books unto His Prophets and His Messengers.” “This is a
Revelation, under which, if a man shed for its sake one drop of blood, myriads of oceans will be his recompense.” “A fleeting
moment, in this Day, excelleth centuries of a bygone age. . . . Neither sun nor moon bath witnessed a day such as this Day.” “This is the
Day whereon the unseen world crieth out, ‘Great is thy blessedness, 0 earth, for thou has been made the footstool of thy God, and been
chosen as the seat of His mighty throne.’” “The world of being shineth, in this Day, with the resplendency of this Divine Revelation.
All created things extol its saving grace, and sing its praises. The universe is wrapt in an ecstasy of joy and gladness. The Scriptures of past Dispensations celebrate the great Jubilee that must needs greet this most great Day of God. Well is it with
him that hath lived to see this Day, and hath recognized its station.” “This Day a different Sun hath arisen, and a different Heaven hath
been adorned with its stars and its planets. The world is another world, and the Cause another Cause.” “This is the Day which past
ages and centuries can never rival. Know this, and be not of the ignorant.” “This is the Day whereon human ears have been privileged
to hear what He Who conversed with God (Moses) heard upon Sinai, what He Who is the Friend of God (Muhammad) heard when
lifted up towards Him, what He Who is the Spirit of God (Jesus) heard as He ascended unto Him, the Help in Peril, the Self-
Subsisting.” “This Day is God’s Day, and this Cause His Cause. Happy is he who hath renounced this world, and clung to Him Who is
the Day-Spring of God’s Revelation.” “This is the King of Days, the Day that bath seen the coming of the Best Beloved, He Who
through all eternity bath been acclaimed the Desire of the World.” “This is the Chief of all days and the King thereof. Great is the
blessedness of him who hath attained, through the sweet savor of these days, unto everlasting life, and who, with the most great
steadfastness, bath arisen to aid the Cause of Him Who is the King of Names. Such a man is as the eye to the body of mankind.”
“Peerless is this Day, for it is as the eye to past ages and centuries, and as a light unto the darkness of the times.” “This Day is
different from other days, and this Cause different from other causes. Entreat ye the one true God that He may deprive not the eyes of
men from beholding His signs, nor their ears from hearkening unto the shrill voice of the Pen of Glory.” “These days are God’s days,
a moment of which ages and centuries can never rival. An atom, in these days, is as the sun, a drop as the ocean. One single breath
exhaled in the love of God and for His service is written down by the Pen of Glory as a princely deed. Were the virtues of this Day to
be recounted, all would be thunderstruck, except those whom thy Lord bath exempted.” “By the righteousness of God! These are the
days in which God bath proved

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’i SACRED WRITINGS 215

the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets, and beyond them those that stand guard over His sacred and
inviolable Sanctuary, the inmates of the celestial Pavilion and dwellers of the Tabernacle of Glory.” “Should the greatness of this Day
be revealed in its fullness, every man would forsake a myriad lives in his longing to partake, though it be for one moment, of its great
glory—how much more this world and its corruptible treasures!” “God the true One is My Witness! This is the Day whereon it is
incumbent upon every one that seeth to behold, and every ear that hearkeneth to hear, and every heart that understandeth to perceive,
and every tongue that speaketh to proclaim unto all who are in heaven and on earth, this holy, this exalted, and all-highest Name.”
“Say, 0 men! This is a matchless Day. Matchless, must, likewise, be the tongue that celebrateth the praise of the Desire of all nations,
and matchless the deed that aspireth to be acceptable in His sight. The whole human race hath longed for this Day, that perchance it
may fulfill that which well beseemeth its station and is worthy of its destiny.”
“Through the movement of Our Pen of Glory We have, at the bidding of the Omnipotent Ordainer breathed a new life into every
human frame, and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things proclaim the evidences of this world-wide
regeneration.” “0 people! I swear by the one true God! This is the Ocean out of which all Seas have proceeded, and with which every
one of them will ultimately be united. From Him all the Suns have been generated, and unto Him they will all return. Through His
potency the Trees of Divine Revelation have yielded their fruits, every one of which bath been sent down in the form of a Prophet,
bearing a Message to God’s creatures in each of the worlds whose number God, alone, in His all-encompassing knowledge, can
reckon. This He bath accomplished through the agency of but one Letter of His Word, revealed by His Pen— a Pen moved by His
directing Finger—His Finger itself sustained by the power of God’s Truth.” “By the righteousness of the one true God! If one speck of
a jewel be lost and buried beneath a mountain of stones, and

lie hidden beyond the seven seas, the Hand of Omnipotence would assuredly reveal it in this Day, pure and cleansed from dross.”
“Every single letter proceeding from Our mouth is endowed with such regenerative power as to enable it to bring into existence a new
creation—a creation the magnitude of which is inscrutable to all save God. He verily bath knowledge of all things.” “It is in Our
power, should We wish it, to enable a speck of floating dust to generate, in less than the twinkling of an eye, suns of infinite, of
unimaginable splendor, to cause a dewdrop to develop into vast and numberless oceans, to infuse into every letter such a force as to
empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages.” “We are possessed of such power as, if brought to hght, will
transmute the most deadly of poisons into a panacea of unfailing efficacy.”
“The days are approaching their end, and yet the peoples of the earth are seen sunk in grievous heedlessness, and lost in manifest
error.” “Great, great is the Cause! The hour is approaching when the most great convulsion will have appeared. I swear by Him ‘Who
is the Truth! It shall cause separation to afflict every one, even those who circle around Me.” “Say; 0 concourse of the heedless! I
swear by God! The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet,
saying: ‘Taste ye what your hands have wrought!’ “ “The time for the destruction of the world and its people hath arrived. He Who is
the Pre-Existent is come, that He may bestow everlasting hfe, and grant eternal preservation, and confer that which is conducive to
true living.” “The day is approaching when its (civilization’s) flame will devour the cities, when the Tongue of Grandeur will
proclaim: ‘The Kingdom is God’s, the Ahuighty, the All-Praised!’ “ “0 ye that are bereft of understanding! A severe trial pursueth you,
and will suddenly overtake you. Bestir yourselves, that haply it may pass and inflict no harm upon you.” “0 ye peoples of the world!
Know, verily, that an unforeseen calamity is following you, and that grievous retribution awaiteth you. Think not the deeds ye have
committed have been blotted from My sight.” “0 heedless ones! Though the wonders of My mercy

THE BAHA’f WORLD

have encompassed all created things, both visible and invisible, and though the revelations of My grace and bounty have permeated
every atom of the universe, yet the rod with which I can chastise the wicked is grievous, and the fierceness of Mine anger against them
terrible.” “Grieve thou not over those that have busied themselves with the things of this world, and have forgotten the remembrance
of God, the Most Great. By Him Who is the Eternal Truth! The day is approaching when the wrathful anger of the Almighty will have
taken hold of them. He, verily, is the Omnipotent, the All-Subduing, the Most Powerful. He shall cleanse the earth from the defilement
of their corruption, and shall give it for an heritage unto such of His servants as are nigh unto Him.” “Soon will the cry, ‘Yea, yea,
here am I, here am I’ be heard from every land. For there hath never been, nor can there ever be, any other refuge to fly to for any
one.” “And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then,
and only then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.”
“In the beginning of every Revelation adversities have prevailed, which later on have been turned into great prosperity.” “Say: 0
people of God! Beware lest the powers of the earth alarm you, or the might of the nations weaken you, or the tumult of the people of
discord deter you, or the exponents of earthly glory sadden you. Be ye as a mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-
Glorious, the Unconstrained.” “Say: Beware, 0 people of Bahá, lest the strong ones of the earth rob you of your strength, or they who
rule the world fill you with fear. Put your trust in God, and commit your affairs to His keeping. He, verily, will, through the power of
truth, render you victorious, and He, verily, is powerful to do what He willeth, and in His grasp are the reins of omnipotent might.” “I
swear by My hfe! Nothing save that which profiteth them can befall My loved ones. To this testifieth the Pen of God, the Most
Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Best Beloved.” “Let not the happenings of the world sadden you. I swear by God! The sea

of joy yearneth to attain your presence, for every good thing hath been created for you, and will, according to the needs of the times,
be revealed unto you.” “0 my servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been
ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and
spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to
share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain.”
“This is the day in which to speak. It is incumbent upon the people of Bahá to strive, with the utmost patience and forbearance, to
guide the peoples of the world to the Most Great Horizon. Every body calleth aloud for a sonl. Heavenly souls must needs quicken,
with the breath of the Word of God, the dead bodies with a fresh spirit. Within every word a new spirit is hidden. Happy is the man
that attaineth thereunto, and hath arisen to teach the Cause of Him Who is the King of Eternity.” “Say: 0 servants! The triumph of this
Cause hath depended, and will continue to depend, upon the appearance of holy souls, upon the showing forth of goodly deeds, and
the revelation of words of consummate wisdom.” “Center your energies in the propagation of the Faith of God. Whoso is worthy of so
high a calling, let him arise and promote it. Whoso is unable, it is his duty to appoint him who will, in his stead, proclaim this
Revelation, whose power hath caused the foundations of the mightiest structures to quake, every mountain to be crushed into dust, and
every soul to be dumbfounded.” “Let your principal concern be to rescue the fallen from the slough of impending extinction, and to
help him embrace the ancient Faith of God. Your behavior towards your neighbor should be such as to manifest clearly the signs of
the one true God, for ye are the first among men to be recreated by His Spirit, the first to adore and bow the knee before Him, the first
to circle round His throne of glory.” “0 ye beloved of God! Repose not yourselves on your couches, nay, bestir yourselves as soon as
ye

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recognize your Lord, the Creator, and hear of the things which have befallen Him, and hasten to His assistance. Unloose your tongues,
and proclaim unceasingly His Cause. This shall be better for you than all the treasures of the past and of the future, if ye be of them
that comprehend this truth.” “I swear by Him Who is the Truth! Erelong will God adorn the beginning of the Book of Existence with
the mention of His loved ones who have suffered tribulation in His path, and journeyed through the countries in His name and for His
praise. Whoso hath attained their presence will glory in their meeting, and all that dwell in every land will be illumined by their
memory.” “Vie ye with each other in the service of God and of His Cause. This is indeed what profiteth you in this world, and in that
which is to come. Your Lord, the God of Mercy, is the All- Informed, the All-Knowing. Grieve not at the things ye witness in this day.
The day shall come whereon the tongues of the nations will proclaim: ‘The earth is God’s, the Almighty, the Single, the Incomparable,
the All-Knowing!’ “ “Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge,
and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His
praise glorified.” “The movement itself from place to place, when undertaken for the sake of God, hath always exerted, and can now
exert, its influence in the world. In the Books of old the station of them that have voyaged far and near in order to guide the servants of
God hath been set forth and written down.” “I swear by God! So great are the things ordained for the steadfast that were they, so much
as the eye of a needle, to be disclosed, all who are in heaven and on earth would be dumbfounded, except such as God, the Lord of all
worlds, hath willed to exempt.” “I swear by God! That which hath been destined for him who aideth My Cause excelleth the treasures
of the earth.” “Whoso openeth his lips in this day, and maketh mention of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration shall
descend upon him from the heaven of My name, the All- Knowing, the All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high,
each bearing

aloft a chalice of pure light. Thus bath it been fore-ordained in the realm of God’s Revelation, by the behest of Him Who is the All-
Glorious, the Most Powerful.” “By the righteousness of Him Who, in this day, crieth within the inmost heart of all created things,
‘God, there is none other God besides Me!’ If any man were to arise to defend, in his writings, the Cause of God against its assailants,
such a man, however inconsiderable his share, shall be so honored in the world to come that the Concourse on high would envy his
glory. No pen can depict the loftiness of his station, neither can any tongue describe its splendor.” “Please God ye may all be
strengthened to carry out that which is the Will of God, and may be graciously assisted to appreciate the rank conferred upon such of
His loved ones as have arisen to serve Him and magnify His name. Upon them be the glory of God, the glory of all that is in the
heavens and all that is on earth, and the glory of the inmates of the most exalted Paradise, the heaven of heavens.” “0 people of Bahâ!
That there is none to rival you is a sign of mercy. Quaff ye of the Cup of Bounty the wine of immortality, despite them that have
repudiated God, the Lord of names and Maker of the heavens.”
“I swear by the one true God! This is the day of those who have detached themselves from all but Him, the day of those who have
recognized His unity, the day whereon God createth, with the hands of His power, divine beings and imperishable essences, every one
of whom will cast the world and all that is therein behind him, and will wax so steadfast in the Cause of God that every wise and
understanding heart will marvel.” “There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the service of God, a company of His
chosen ones who shall be manifested unto men, who shall aid His Cause, who shall be afraid of no one, though the entire human race
rise up and war against them. These are the ones who, before the gaze of the dwellers on earth and the denizens of heaven, shall arise
and, shouting aloud, acclaim the name of the Almighty, and summon the children of men to the path of God, the All-Glorious, the All-
Praised.” “The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will,

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raised up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save God, the All-Powerful, the Self-Subsisting.” “He
will, ere long, out of the Bosom of Power, draw forth the Hands of Ascendancy and Might—Hands who will arise to
win victory for this Youth, and who will purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the ungodly. These

Hands will gird up their loins to champion the Faith of God, and will, in My name, the self-subsistent, the mighty,
subdue the peoples and kindreds of the earth. They will enter the cities, and will inspire with fear the hearts of all their
inhabitants. Such are the evidences of the might of God; how fearful, how vehement is His might!”

2. PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS

O God, my God! I beg of Thee by the ocean of Thy healing, and by the splendors of the Day-Star of Thy grace, and by
Thy Name through which Thou didst subdue Thy servants, and by the pervasive power of Thy most exalted Word and
the potency of Thy most august Pen, and by Thy mercy that bath preceded the creation of all who are in heaven and on
earth, to purge me with the waters of Thy bounty from every affliction and disorder, and from all weakness and
feebleness.
Thou seest, 0 my Lord, Thy suppliant waiting at the door of Thy bounty, and him who bath set his hopes on Thee
clinging to the cord of Thy generosity. Deny him not, I beseech Thee, the things he seeketh from the ocean of Thy
grace and the Day-Star of Thy loving-kindness.
Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. There is none other God save Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most
Generous.
Praised be Thou, 0 Lord my God! I implore Thee, by Thy Most Great Name through Which Thou didst stir up Thy
servants and build up Thy cities, and by Thy most excellent titles, and Thy most august attributes, to assist Thy people
to turn in the direction of Thy manifold bounties, and set their faces towards the Tabernacle of Thy wisdom. Heal Thou
the sicknesses that have assailed the souls on every side, and have deterred them from directing their gaze towards the
Paradise that lieth in the shelter of Thy shadowing Name, which Thou didst ordain to be the King of all names unto all
who are in heaven and all who are on earth. Potent art Thou to do as pleaseth Thee. In Thy hands is the empire of all
names. There is none other God but Thee, the Mighty, the Wise.

I am but a poor creature, 0 my Lord; I have clung to the hem of Thy riches. I am sore sick; I have held fast the cord of
Thy healing. Deliver me from the ills that have encircled me, and wash me thoroughly with the waters of Thy
graciousness and mercy, and attire me with the raiment of wholesomeness, through Thy forgiveness and bounty. Fix,
then, mine eyes upon Thee, and rid me of all attachment to aught else except Thyself. Aid me to do what Thou desirest,
and to fulfill what Thou pleasest.
Thou art truly the Lord of this life and of the next. Thou art, in truth, the Ever- Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Praised be Thou, 0 Lord my God! I am Thy servant and the son of Thy servant. I have set my face towards Thy Cause,
believing in Thy oneness, acknowledging Thy unity, recognizing Thy sovereignty and the power of Thy might, and
confessing the greatness of Thy majesty and glory. I ask Thee, by Thy name through which the heaven was cleft
asunder, and the earth was rent in twain, and the mountains were crushed, not to withhold from me the breezes of Thy
mercy which have been wafted in Thy days, nor to suffer me to be far removed from the shores of Thy nearness and
bounty.
I am he who is sore athirst, 0 my Lord! Give me to drink of the living waters of Thy grace. I am but a poor creature;
reveal unto me the tokens of Thy riches. Doth it beseem Thee to cast out of the door of Thy grace and bounty such as
have set their hopes on Thee, and can it befit Thy sovereignty to hinder them that yearn after Thee from attaining the
adored sanctuary of Thy presence and from beholding Thy face? By Thy glory! Such is not my belief in Thee, for I

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’T SACRED WRITINGS 219

am persuaded that Thou art the God of bounteousness, Whose grace hath encompassed all things.
I beseech Thee, 0 my Lord, by Thy mercy that hath surpassed the entire creation, and Thy generosity that hath
embraced all created things, to cause me to turn my face wholly towards Thee, and to seek Thy shelter, and to be
steadfast in my love for Thee. Write down, then, for me what Thou didst ordain for them who love Thee. Powerful art
Thou to do what Thou pleasest. No God is there beside Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bountiful.
Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds!
Praise be unto Thee, 0 my God! Thou art He Who by a word of His mouth hath revolutionized thc entire creation, and
by a stroke of His pen hath divided Thy servants one from another. I bear witness, 0 my God, that through a word
spoken by Thee in this Revelation all created things were made to expire, and through yet another word all such as
Thou didst wish were, by Thy grace and bounty, endued with new life.
I render Thee thanks, therefore, and extol Thee, in the name of all them that are dear to Thee, for that Thou hast caused
them to be born again, by reason of the living waters which have flowed down out of the mouth of Thy will. Since
Thou didst quicken them by Thy bounteousness, 0 my God, make them steadfastly inclined, through Thy graciousness,
towards Thy will; and since Thou didst suffer them to enter into the Tabernacle of Thy Cause, grant by Thy grace that
they may not be kept back from Thee.
Unlock, then, to their hearts, 0 my God, the portals of Thy knowledge, that they may recognize Thee as One Who is far
above the reach and ken of the understanding of Thy creatures, and immeasurably exalted above the strivings of Thy
people to hint at Thy nature, and may not follow every clamorous imposter that presumeth to speak in Thy name.
Enable them, moreover, 0 my Lord, to cleave so tenaciously to Thy Cause that they may remain unmoved by the
perplexing suggestions of them who, prompted by their desires, utter what hath been f or- bidden unto them in Thy
Tablets and Thy Scriptures.

Thou art well aware, 0 my Lord, that I hear the howling of the wolves which appear in Thy servants’ clothing. Keep
safe, therefore, Thy loved ones from their mischief, and enable them to cling steadfastly to whatsoever hath been
manifested by Thee in this Revelation, which no other Revelation within Thy knowledge hath excelled.
Do Thou destine for them, 0 my Lord, that which will profit them. Illumine, then, their eyes with the light of Thy
knowledge, that they may see Thee visibly supreme over all things, and resplendent amidst Thy creatures, and
victorious over all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth. Powerful art Thou to do Thy pleasure. No God
is there but Thee, the All-Glorious, Whose help is implored by all men.
Praised be Thou, Who art the Lord of all creation.
Lauded be Thy name, 0 my God and the God of all things, my Glory and the Glory of all things, my Desire and the
Desire of all things, my Strength and the Strength of all things, my King and the King of all things, my Possessor and
the Possessor of all things, my Aim and the Aim of all things, my Mover and the Mover of all things! Suffer me not, I
implore Thee, to be kept back from the ocean of Thy tender mercies, nor to be far removed from the shores of nearness
to Thee.
Aught else except Thee, 0 my Lord, profiteth me not, and near access to any one save Thyself availeth me nothing. I
entreat Thee by the plenteousness of Thy riches, whereby Thou didst dispense with all else except Thyself, to number
me with such as have set their faces towards Thee, and arisen to serve Thee.
Forgive, then, 0 my Lord, Thy servants and Thy handmaidens. Thou, truly, art the Ever-Forgiving, the Most
Compassionate.
My God, my Well-Beloved! No place is there for any one to flee to when once Thy laws have been sent down, and no
refuge can be found by any soul after the revelation of Thy commandments. Thou hast inspired the Pen with the
mysteries of Thine eternity, and bidden it teach man that which he knoweth not, and caused him to partake of

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the living waters of truth from the cup of Thy Revelation and Thine inspiration.
No sooner, however, had the Pen traced upon the tablet one single letter of Thy hidden wisdom, than the voice of the
lamentation of Thine ardent lovers was lifted up from all directions. Thereupon, there befell the just what hath caused
the inmates of the tabernacle of Thy glory to weep and the dwellers of the cities of Thy revelation to groan.
Thou dost consider, 0 my God, how He Who is the Manifestation of Thy names is in these days threatened by the
swords of Thine adversaries. In such a state He crieth out and summoneth all the inhabitants of Thine earth and the
denizens of Thy heaven unto Thee.
Purify, 0 my God, the hearts of Thy creatures with the power of Thy sovereignty and might, that Thy words may sink
deep into them. I know not what is in their hearts, 0 my God, nor can tell the thoughts they think of Thee. Methinks that
they imagine that Thy purpose in calling them to Thine all-highest horizon is to heighten the glory of Thy majesty and
power. For had they been satisfied that Thou summonest them to that which will recreate their hearts and immortalize
their souls, they would never have fled from thy governance, nor deserted çhe shadow of the tree of Thy oneness. Clear
away, then, the sight of Thy creatures, 0 my God, that they may recognize Him Who showeth forth the Godhead as One
Who is sanctified from all that pertaineth unto them, and Who, wholly for Thy sake, is summoning them to the horizon
of Thy unity, at a time when every moment of His life is beset with peril. Had His aim been the preservation of His
own Self, He would never have left it at the mercy of Thy foes.
I swear by Thy glory! I have accepted to be tried by manifold adversities for no purpose except to regenerate all that are
in Thy heaven and on Thy earth. Whoso hath loved Thee, can never feel attached to his own self, except for the
purpose of furthering Thy Cause; and whoso hath recognized Thee can recognize naught else except Thee, and can turn
to no one save Thee.
Enable Thy servants, 0 my God, to dis cove

the things Thou didst desire for them in Thy Kingdom. Acquaint them, moreover, with what He Who is the Origin of
Thy most excellent titles hath, in His love for Thee, been willing to bear for the sake of the regeneration of their souls,
that they may haste to attain the River that is Life indeed, and turn their faces in the direction of Thy Name, the Most
Merciful. Abandon them not to themselves, 0 my God! Draw them, by Thy bountiful favor, to the heaven of Thine
inspiration. They are but paupers, and Thou art the All-Possessing, the ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
Magnified be Thy name, 0 my God, for that Thou hast manifested the Day which is the King of Days, the Day which
Thou didst announce unto Thy chosen Ones and Thy Prophets in Thy most excellent Tablets, the Day whereon Thou
didst shed the splendor of the glory of all Thy names upon all created things. Great is his blessedness whosoever hath
set himself towards Thee, and entered Thy presence, and caught the accents of Thy voice.
I beseech Thee, 0 my Lord, by the name of Him round whom cireleth in adoration the kingdom of Thy names, that
Thou wilt graciously assist them that are dear to Thee to glorify Thy word among Thy servants, and to shed abroad Thy
praise amidst Thy creatures, so that the ecstasies of Thy revelation may fill the souls of all the dwellers of Thine earth.
Since Thou hast guided them, 0 my Lord, unto the living waters of Thy grace, grant, by Thy bounty, that they may not
be kept back from Thee; and since Thou hast summoned them to the habitation of Thy throne, drive them not out from
Thy presence, through Thy loving-kindness. Send down upon them what shall wholly detach them from aught else
except Thee, and make them able to soar in the atmosphere of Thy nearness, in such wise that neither the ascendancy of
the oppressor nor the suggestions of them that have disbelieved in Thy most august and most mighty Self shall be
capable of keeping them back from Thee.
Glorified art Thou, 0 Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Name, the Restrainer,

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’t SACRED WRITINGS

to withhold from us the maleficence of Thine adversaries who have disbelieved in Thy testimony, and caviled at Thy
beauty. Overpower by Thy Name, the All-Subduing, such as have wronged Thy previous Manifestation Who hath now
appeared invested with Thy title, the All-Glorious. Lay hold, by Thy name, the Chastiser, on them that have treated Thy
Cause with scorn, have jested at Thy most mighty utterances, and were hindered from attaining this most exalted
station. Enable Thy loved ones, by Thy Name, the Victorious, to prevail against Thine enemies and the infidels among
Thy creatures. Rend asunder, by Thy Name, the Cleaver, the veil that hideth the doings of them that have besmirched
Thine honor and undermined Thy Faith among Thy people. Bind, by Thy Name, the Restorer, the broken hearts of
them that love Thee, and graciously bless them in their affairs. Teach them, by Thy Name, the All-Knowing, the
wonders of Thy wisdom, that they may cleave steadfastly to Thy Faith and walk in the ways of Thy pleasure. Keep
them safe, by Thy Name, the Withholder, from the tyranny of the oppressor and the wickedness of the evildoers and the
malice of the stirrers of mischief. Shield them, by Thy Name, the Preserver, within the stronghold of Thy might and
power, that haply they may be protected from the darts of doubt that are hurled by such as have rebelled against Thee.
Sanctify for Thy servants, by Thy Name which Thou hast blessed above all other names, which Thou hast singled out
for Thy favor, and by which Thou didst reveal Thy beauty, these days of which the Pen of Thy decree hath distinctly
written, and which, according to Thy will and wisdom, have been preordained in Thine irrevocable Tablet. Subject to
Thy rule, by Thy Name, the Conqueror, the people of Thy realm, that all may turn towards Thy face and forsake their
all for love of Thee and for the sake of Thy pleasure.
Abase Thou, 0 my Lord, Thine enemies, and lay hold on them with Thy power and might, and let them be stricken by
the blast of Thy wrath. Make them taste, 0 my God, of Thine awful majesty and vengeance, for they have repudiated
the truth of the One in Whom they had believed, Who came unto them with Thy signs and Thy clear tokens

and the evidences of Thy power and the manifold revelations of Thy might. Gather, then, together Thy loved ones
beneath the shadow of the Tree of Thy oneness, and of the Manifestation of the effulgent light of Thy unity.
Thou art, verily, the One Whose power is immense, Whose vengeance is terrible. No God is there beside Thee, the
Almighty, the Most Powerful.
Magnified be Thy name, 0 Lord my God, inasmuch as Thou hast inclined mine ear to Thy voice, and called me to
Thyself, and opened mine eyes to gaze on Thy beauty, and illumined my heart with Thy knowledge, and sanctified my
breast from the doubts of the infidels in Thy days. I am the one, 0 my God, who lay fast asleep on his couch, when lo,
the messengers of Thy manifold mercies were sent down upon me by Thee, and the gentle winds of Thy lovingkindness blew over me, and roused me up, and caused me to set my face towards the sanctuary of Thy knowledge, and
to fix mine eyes upon the splendors of the light of Thy face.
I am but a poor creature, 0 my Lord! Behold me clinging to the hem of Thy riches. I have fled from darkness and from
waywardness unto the brightness of the light of Thy countenance. Were I—and to this Thy glory beareth me witness—
to render thanksgiving unto Thee, through the whole continuance of Thy kingdom and the duration of the heaven of
Thine omnipotence, I would still have failed to repay Thy manifold bestowals.
I implore Thee, 0 my Lord, by Thy name, the Ever-Abiding, and by Thy name which Thou didst ordain to be the most
great Instrument binding Thee to Thy servants, to grant that I may flee for shelter to Thy door, and speak forth Thy
praise. Write down, then, for me, in every world of Thine, that which will enable me to enter beneath Thy shadow and
within the borders of Thy court.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Bountiful, the Most Exalted, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous.
All-praise be to Thee, 0 Lord, my God! I know not how to sing Thy praise, how to describe Thy glory, how to call upon
Thy

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Name. If I call upon Thee by Thy Name, the All-Possessing, I am compelled to recognize that He Who holdeth in His
hand the immediate destinies of all created things is but a vassal dependent upon Thee, and is the creation of but a word
proceeding from Thy mouth. And if I proclaim Thee by the name of Him Who is the All-Compelling, I readily discover
that He is but a suppliant fallen upon the dust, awe-stricken by Thy dreadful might, Thy sovereignty and power. And if
I attempt to describe Thee by glorifying the oneness of Thy Being, I soon realize that such a conception is but a notion
which mine own fancy hath woven, and that Thou hast ever been immeasurably exalted above the vain imaginations
which the hearts of men have devised.
The glory of Thy might beareth me witness! Whoso claimeth to have known Thee hath, by virtue of such a claim,
testified to his own ignorance; and whoso believeth himself to have attained unto Thee, all the atoms of the earth would
attest his powerlessness and proclaim his failure. Thou hast, however, by virtue of Thy mercy that hath surpassed the
kingdoms of earth and heaven, deigned to accept from Thy servants the laud and honor they pay to Thine own exalted
Self, and hast bidden them celebrate Thy glory,

that the ensigns of Thy guidance may be unfurled in Thy cities and the tokens of Thy mercy be spread abroad among
Thy nations, and that each and all may be enabled to attain unto that which Thou hast destined for them by Thy decree,
and ordained unto them through Thine irrevocable will and purpose.
Having testified, therefore, unto mine own impotence and the impotence of Thy servants, I beseech Thee, by the
brightness of the light of Thy beauty, not to refuse Thy creatures attainment to the shores of Thy most holy ocean.
Draw them, then, 0 my God, through the Divine sweetness of Thy melodies, towards the throne of Thy glory and the
seat of Thine eternal holiness. Thou art, verily, the Most Powerful, the Supreme Ruler, the Great Giver, the Most
Exalted, the Ever-Desired.
Grant, then, 0 my God, that Thy servant who hath turned towards Thee, hath fixed his gaze upon Thee, and clung to the
cord of Thy mercifulness and favor, may be enabled to partake of the living waters of Thy mercy and grace. Cause him,
then, to ascend unto the heights to which he aspireth, and withhold him not from that which Thou dost possess. Thou
art, verily, the Ever- Forgiving, the Most Bountiful.

3. EXCERPTS FROM GLEANINGS FROM THE WRITINGS OF BAHA’U’LLAH
The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its
plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come,
there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then, will the Divine Standard be
unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.
Recall thou to mind My sorrows, My cares and anxieties, My woes and trials, the state of My captivity, the tears that I have shed, the
bitterness of Mine anguish, and now My imprisonment in this far-off land. God, 0 Mustafã, beareth Me witness. Couldst thou be told
what hath befallen the

Ancient Beauty, thou wouldst flee into the wilderness and weep with a great weeping. In thy grief, thou wouldst smite thyself on the
head, and cry out as one stung by the sting of the adder. Be thou grateful to God, that We have refused to divulge unto thee the secrets
of those unsearchable decrees that have been sent down unto Us from the heaven of the Will of thy Lord, the Most Powerful, the
Almighty.
By the righteousness of God! Every morning I arose from My bed, I discovered the hosts of countless afflictions massed behind My
door; and every night when I lay down, lo! My heart was torn with agony at what it had suffered from the fiendish cruelty of its foes.
With every piece of bread the Ancient Beauty breaketh is coupled the assault of a fresh affliction, and with every
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drop He drinketh is mixed the bitterness of the most woeful of trials. He is preceded in every step He taketh by an army
of unforeseen calamities, while in His rear follow legions of agonizing sorrows.
Such is My plight, wert thou to ponder it in thine heart. Let not, however, thy soul grieve over that which God hath
rained down upon Us. Merge thy will in His pleasure, for We have, at no time, desired anything whatsoever except His
Will, and have welcomed each one of His irrevocable decrees. Let thine heart be patient, and be thou not dismayed.
Follow not in the way of them that are sorely agitated.
O thou whose face is turned towards Me! As soon as thine eyes behold from afar My native city (Tihrán), stand thou
and say:
“I am come to thee out of the Prison, 0 Land of Ta, with tidings from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. I
announce unto thee, 0 mother of the world and fountain of light unto all its peoples, the tender mercies of thy Lord, and
greet thee in the name of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, the Knower of things unseen. I testify that within thee He Who
is the Hidden Name was revealed, and the Unseen Treasure uncovered. Through thee the secret of all things, be they of
the past or of the future, hath been unfolded.
O Land of Ta! He Who is the Lord of Names remembereth thee in His glorious station. Thou wert the Day Spring of
the Cause of God, the fountain of His Revelation, the manifestation of His Most Great Name—a Name that hath caused
the hearts and souls of men to tremble. How vast the number of those men and women, those victims of tyranny, that
have, within thy walls, laid down their hves in the path of God, and been buried beneath thy dust with such cruelty as to
cause every honored servant of God to bemoan their plight.
It is Our wish to remember the Abode of supreme blissfulness (Tihrán), the holy and shining city—the city wherein the
fragrance of the Well-Beloved hath been shed, wherein His signs have been diffused, wherein the evidences of His
glory have been revealed, wherein His standards have been

raised, wherein His tabernacle hath been pitched, wherein each of His wise decrees hath been unfolded.
It is the city in which the sweet savors of reunion have breathed, and which have caused the sincere lovers of God to draw nigh unto
Him, and to gain access to the Habitation of holiness and beauty. Happy is the wayfarer that directeth his steps towards this city, that
gaineth admittance into it, and quaffeth the wine of reunion, through the outpouring grace of his Lord, the Gracious, the All-Praised.
I am come to thee, 0 land of the heart’s desire, with tidings from God, and announce to thee His gracious favor and mercy, and greet
and magnify thee in His name. He, in truth, is of immense bounteousness and goodness. Blessed be the man that turneth his face
towards thee, that perceiveth from thee the fragrance of God’s Presence, the Lord of all worlds. His glory be on thee, and the
brightness of His light envelop thee, inasmuch as God hath made thee a paradise unto His servants, and proclaimed thee to be the blest
and sacred land of which He, Himself, hath made mention in the Books which His Prophets and Messengers have revealed.
Through thee, 0 land of resplendent glory, the ensign, “There is none other God but Him” hath been unfurled, and the standard,
“Verily I am the Truth, the Knower of things unseen,” been hoisted. It behoveth every one that visiteth thee to glory in thee and in
them that inhabit thee, that have branched from My Tree, who are the leaves thereof, who are the signs of My glory, who follow Me
and are My lovers, and who, with the most mighty determination, have turned their faces in the direction of My glorious station.
Call Thou to remembrance Thine arrival in the City (Constantinople), how the Ministers of the SulØn thought Thee to be
unacquainted with their laws and regulations, and believed Thee to be one of the ignorant. Say: Yes, by My Lord! I am ignorant of all
things except what God bath, through His bountiful favor, been pleased to teach Me. To this We assuredly testify, and unhesitatingly
confess it.

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Say: If the laws and regulations to which ye cleave be of your own making, We will, in no wise, follow them. Thus have I been
instructed by Him Who is the All-Wise, the All-Informed. Such hath been My way in the past, and such will it remain in the future,
through the power of God and His might. This, indeed, is the true and right way. If they be ordained by God, bring forth, then, your
proofs, if ye be of them that speak the truth. Say: We have written down in a Book which leaveth not unrecorded the work of any man,
however insignificant, all that they have imputed to Thee, and all that they have done unto Thee.
Say: It behoveth you, 0 Ministers of State, to keep the precepts of God, and to forsake your own laws and regulations, and to be of
them who are guided aright. Better is this for you than all ye possess, did ye but know it. If ye transgress the commandment of God,
not one jot or one tittle of all your works shall be acceptable in His sight. Ye shall, erelong, discover the consequences of that which
ye shall have done in this vain life, and shall be repaid for them. This, verily, is the truth, the undoubted truth.
How great the number of those who, in bygone ages, have committed the things ye have committed, and who, though superior to you
in rank, have, in the end, returned unto dust, and been consigned to their inevitable doom! Would that ye might ponder the Cause of
God in your hearts! Ye shall follow in their wake, and shall be made to enter a habitation wherein none shall be found to befriend or
help you. Ye shall, of a truth, be asked of your doings, shall be called to account for your failure in duty with regard to the Cause of
God, and for having disdainfully rejected His loved ones who, with manifest sincerity, have come unto you.
It is ye who have taken counsel together regarding them, ye that have preferred to follow the promptings of your own desires, and
forsaken the commandment of God, the Help in Peril, the Almighty.
Say: What! Cleave ye to your own devices, and cast behind your backs the precepts of God? Ye, indeed, have wronged your own
selves and others. Would that ye could per-

ceive it! Say: If your rules and principles be founded on justice, why is it, then, that ye follow those which accord with your corrupt
inclinations and reject such as conflict with your desires? By what right claim ye, then, to judge fairly between men? Are your rules
and principles such as to justify your persecution of Him Who, at your bidding, hath presented Himself before you, your rejection of
Him, and your infliction on Him every day of grievous injury? Hath He ever, though it be for one short moment, disobeyed you? All
the inhabitants of ‘Iraq, and beyond them every discerning observer, will bear witness to the truth of My words.
Be fair in your judgment, 0 ye Ministers of State! What is it that We have committed that could justify Our banishment? What is the
offense that hath warranted Our expulsion? It is We Who have sought you, and yet, behold how ye refused to receive Us! By God!
This is a sore injustice that ye have perpetrated—an injustice with which no earthly injustice can measure. To this the Almighty is
Himself a witness. .
Know ye that the world and its vanities and its embellishments shall pass away. Nothing will endure except God’s Kingdom which
pertaineth to none but Him, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious, the Almighty. The days of your life shall roll
away, and all the things with which ye are occupied and of which ye boast yourselves shall perish, and ye shall, most certainly, be
summoned by a company of His angels to appear at the spot where the limbs of the entire creation shall be made to tremble, and the
flesh of every oppressor to creep. Ye shall be asked of the things your hands have wrought in this, your vain life, and shall be repaid
for your doings. This is the day that shall inevitably come upon you, the hour that none can put back. To this the Tongue of Him that
speaketh the truth and is the knower of all things bath testified.
Fear God, ye inhabitants of the City (Constantinople), and sow not the seeds of dissension amongst men. Walk •not in the paths of the
Evil One. Walk ye, during the few remaining days of your life, in the ways of the one true God. Your days shall pass away as have the
days of them who

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SACRED WRITINGS 225

were before you. To dust shall ye return, even as your fathers of old did return.
Know ye that I am afraid of none except God. In none but Him have I placed My trust; to none will I cleave but Him, and wish for
naught except the thing He hath wished for Me. This, indeed, is My heart’s desire, did ye but know it. I have offered up My soul and
My body as a sacrifice for God, the Lord of all worlds. Whoso hath known God shall know none but Him, and he that feareth God
shall be afraid of no one except Him, though the powers of the whole earth rise up and be arrayed against him. I speak naught except
at His bidding, and follow not, through the power of God and His might, except His truth. He, verily, shall recompense the truthful.
Narrate, 0 Servant, the things Thou didst behold at the time of Thine arrival in the City, that Thy testimony may endure amongst men,
and serve as a warning unto them that believe. We found, upon Our arrival in the City, its governors and elders as children gathered
about and disporting themselves with clay. We perceived no one sufficiently mature to acquire from Us the truths which God hath
taught Us, nor ripe for Our wondrous words of wisdom. Our inner eye wept sore over them, and over their transgressions and their
total disregard of the thing for which they were created. This is what We observed in that City, and which We have chosen to note
down in Our Book, that it may serve as a warning unto them, and unto the rest of mankind.
Say: If ye be seekers after this life and the vanities thereof, ye should have sought them while ye were still enclosed in your mothers’
wombs, for at that time ye were continually approaching them, could ye but perceive it. Ye have, on the other hand, ever since ye were
born and attained maturity, been all the while receding from the world and drawing closer to dust. Why, then, exhibit such greed in
amassing the treasures of the earth, when your days are numbered and your chance is well-nigh lost? Will ye not, then, 0 heedless
ones, shake off your slumber?
Incline your ears to the counsels which this Servant giveth you for the sake of God. He, verily, asketh no recompense from you

and is resigned to what God hath ordained for Him, and is entirely submissive to God’s Will.
The days of your life are far spent, 0 people, and your end is fast approaching. Put away, therefore, the things ye have devised and to
which ye cleave, and take firm hold on the precepts of God, that haply ye may attain that which He bath purposed for you, and be of
them that pursue a right course. Delight not yourselves in the things of the world and its vain ornaments, neither set your hopes on
them. Let your reliance be on the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. He will, erelong, bring to naught all the
things ye possess. Let Him be your fear, and forget not His covenant with you, and be not of them that are shut out as by a veil from
Him.
Beware that ye swell not with pride before God, and disdainfully reject His loved ones. Defer ye humbly to the faithful, they that have
believed in God and in His signs, whose hearts witness to His unity, whose tongues proclaim His oneness, and who speak not except
by His leave. Thus do We exhort you with justice, and warn you with truth, lest perchance ye may be awakened.
Lay not on any soul a load which ye would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for any one the things ye would not desire for
yourselves. This is My best counsel unto you, did ye but observe it.
Respect ye the divines and learned amongst you, they whose conduct accord with their professions, who transgress not the bounds
which God bath fixed, whose judgments are in conformity with His be- bests as revealed in His Book. Know ye that they are the
lamps of guidance unto them that are in the heavens and on the earth. They who disregard and neglect the divines and learned that live
amongst them—these have truly changed the favor with which God bath favored them.
Say: Await ye till God will have changed His favor unto you. Nothing whatsoever escapeth Him. He knoweth the secrets both of the
heavens and of the earth. His knowledge embraceth all things. Rejoice not in what ye have done, or will do in the future, nor delight in
the tribulation with which ye have afflicted Us, for ye are unable by such

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means as these to exalt your stations, were ye to examine your works with acute discernment. Neither will ye be capable of detracting
from the loftiness of Our state. Nay, God will add unto the recompense with which He shall reward Us, for having sustained with
persevering patience the tribulations We have suffered. He, verily, shall increase the reward of them that endure with patience.
Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God and His beloved, and such of
His servants as are detached from all else but Him, they whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of the
Almighty, they that speak not till He hath spoken, and act according to His commandment. Such is God’s method carried into effect of
old, and such will it remain in the future. Blessed are the steadfastly enduring, they that are patient under ills and hardships, who
lament not over anything that befalleth them, and who tread the path of resignation.
The day is approaching when God will have raised up a people who will call to remembrance Our days, who will tell the tale of Our
trials, who will demand the restitution of Our rights from them that, without a tittle of evidence, have treated Us with manifest
injustice. God, assuredly, dominateth the lives of them that wrong Us, and is well aware of their doings. He will, most certainly, lay
hold on them for their sins. He, verily, is the fiercest of avengers.
Thus have We recounted unto you the tales of the one true God, and sent down unto you the things He had preordained, that haply ye
may ask forgiveness of Him, may return unto Him, may truly repent, may realize your misdeeds, may shake off your slumber, may be
roused from your heedlessness, may atone for the things that have escaped you, and be of them that do good. Let him who will,
acknowledge the truth of My words; and as to him that willeth not, let him turn aside. My sole duty is to remind you of your failure in
duty towards the Cause of God, if perchance ye may be of them that heed My warning. Wherefore, hearken ye unto My speech, and
return ye to God and repent, that He, through His grace,

may have mercy upon you, may wash away your sins, and forgive your trespasses. The greatness of His Mercy surpasseth the fury of
His wrath, and His grace encompasseth all who have been called into being and been clothed with the robe of life, be they of the past
or of the future.
There hath appeared in this Revelation what hath never appeared before. As to the infidels that have witnessed what hath been
manifested, they murmur and say: “Verily, this is a sorcerer who hath devised a lie against God.” They are indeed an outcast people.
Tell out to the nations, 0 Pen of the Ancient of Days, the things that have happened in ‘Iraq. Tell them of the messenger whom the
congregation of the divines of that land had delegated to meet Us, who, when attaining Our presence, questioned Us concerning
certain sciences, and whom We answered by virtue of the knowledge We inherently possess. Thy Lord is, verily, the Knower of things
unseen. “We testify,” said he, “that the knowledge Thou dost possess is such as none can rival. Such a knowledge, however, is
insufficient to vindicate the exalted station which the people ascribe to Thee, Produce, if Thou speakest the truth, what the combined
forces of the peoples of the earth are powerless to produce.” Thus was it irrevocably decreed in the court of the presence of thy Lord,
the All-Glorious, the Loving.
“Witness! What is it thou seest?” He was dumbfounded. And when he came to himself, he said: “I truly believe in God, the All-
Glorious, the All-Praised.” “Go thou to the people, and tell them: ‘Ask whatsoever ye please. Powerful is He to do what He willeth.
Nothing whatsoever, be it of the past or of the future, can frustrate His Will.’ Say: ‘0 ye congregation of the divines! Choose any
matter ye desire, and ask your Lord, the God of Mercy, to reveal it unto you. If He fulfil your wish, by virtue of His sovereignty,
believe ye then in Him, and be not of those that reject His truth.’ “ “The dawn of understanding hath now broken,” said he, “and the
testimony of the All-Merciful is fulfilled.” He arose and returned unto them that sent him, at the bidding of God, the All-Glorious, the
WellBeloved.

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Days passed and he failed to come back to Us. Eventually, there came another messenger who informed Us that the people had given
up what they originally had purposed. They are indeed a contemptible people. This is what happened in ‘Iraq, and to what I reveal I
Myself am witness. This happening was noised abroad, yet none was found to comprehend its meaning. Thus did We ordain it. Would
that ye knew this!
By My Self! Whoso hath in bygone ages asked Us to produce the signs of God, hath, no sooner We revealed them to him, repudiated
God’s truth. The people, however, have, for the most part, remained heedless. They whose eyes are illumined with the light of
understanding will perceive the sweet savors of the All-Merciful, and will embrace His truth. These are they who are truly sincere.
O thou who are the fruit of My Tree and the leaf thereof! On thee be My glory and My mercy. Let not thine heart grieve over what
bath befallen thee. Wert thou to scan the pages of the Book of Life, thou wouldst, most certainly, discover that which would dissipate
thy sorrows and dissolve thine anguish.
Know thou, 0 fruit of My Tree, that the decrees of the Sovereign Ordainer, as related to fate and predestination, are of two kinds. Both
are to be obeyed and accepted. The one is irrevocable, the other is as termed by men, impending. To the former all must unreservedly
submit, inasmuch as it is fixed and settled. God, however, is able to alter or repeal it. As the harm that must result from such a change
will be greater than if the decree had remained unaltered, all therefore, should willingly acquiesce in what God hath willed and
confidently abide by the same.
The decree that is impending, however, is such that prayer and entreaty can succeed in averting it.
God grant that thou who art the fruit of My Tree, and they that are associated with thee, may be shielded from its evil consequences.
Say: 0 God, my God! Thou hast committed into mine hands a trust from Thee, and hast now according to the good-pleasure of Thy
Will called it back to Thyself. It is not for me, who am a handmaid of Thine,
to say, whence is this to me or wherefore hath it happened, inasmuch as Thou art glorified in all Thine acts, and art to be obeyed in
Thy decree. Thine handmaid, 0 my Lord, bath set her hopes on Thy grace and bounty. Grant that she may obtain that which will draw
her nigh unto Thee, and will profit her in every world of Thine. Thou art the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful. There is none other God but
Thee, the Ordainer, the Ancient of Days.
Vouchsafe Thy blessings, 0 Lord, my God, unto them that have quaffed the wine of Thy love before the face of men, and, in spite of
Thine enemies, have acknowledged Thy unity, testified to Thy oneness, and confessed their belief in that which hath made the limbs
of the oppressors among Thy creatures to quake, and the flesh of the proud ones of the earth to tremble. I bear witness that Thy
Sovereignty can never perish, nor Thy Will be altered. Ordain for them that have set their faces towards Thee, and for Thine
handmaids that have held fast by Thy Cord, that which beseemeth the Ocean of Thy bounty rnd the Heaven of Thy grace.
Thou art He, 0 God, Who hath proclaimed Himself as the Lord of Wealth, and characterized all that serve Him as poor and needy.
Even as Thou hast written: “0 ye that believe! Ye are but paupers in need of God; but God is the All-Possessing, the All- Praised.”
Having acknowledged my poverty, and recognized Thy wealth, suffer me not to be deprived of the glory of Thy riches. Thou art,
verily, the Supreme Protector, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered
life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System—the like of which mortal eyes have never
witnessed.
Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its
depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to embrace the truth of this Cause—a Cause through which the
potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and His sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten

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ye unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him
that ha th refused to seek it—verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of His creatures.
Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is holding, in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth
are weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them that believe and recognize this truth. Say: Through it the poor have been
enriched, the learned enlightened, and the seekers enabled to ascend unto the presence of God. Beware, lest ye make it a cause of
dissension amongst you. Be ye as firmly settled as the immovable mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving.
Be not dismayed, 0 peoples of the world, when the day star of My beauty is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from
your eyes. Arise to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men. We are with you at all times, and shall strengthen you
through the power of truth. We are truly almighty. Whoso hath recognized Me, will arise and serve Me with such determination that
the powers of earth and heaven shall be unable to defeat his purpose.
The peoples of the world are fast asleep. Were they to wake from their slumber, they would hasten with eagerness unto God, the All-
Knowing, the All-Wise. They would cast away everything they possess, be it all the treasures of the earth, that their Lord may
remember them to the extent of addressing to them but one word. Such is the instruction given you by Him Who holdeth the
knowledge of things hidden, in a Tablet which the eye of creation hath not seen, and which is revealed to none except His own Self,
the omnipotent protector of all worlds. So bewildered are they in the drunkenness of their evil desires, that they are powerless to
recognize the Lord of all being, Whose voice calleth aloud from every direction: “There is none other God but Me, the Mighty, the
All-Wise.”
Say: Rejoice not in the things ye possess; tonight they are yours, tomorrow others will possess them. Thus warneth you He Who is the
All-Knowing, the All-Informed. Say:

Can ye claim that what ye own is lasting or secure? Nay! By Myself, the All-Merciful. The days of your life flee away as a breath of
wind, and all your pomp and glory shall be folded up as were the pomp and glory of those gone before you. Reflect, 0 people! What
bath become of your bygone days, your lost centuries? Happy the days that have been consecrated to the remembrance of God, and
blessed the hours which have been spent in praise of Him Who is the All- Wise. By My life! Neither the pomp of the mighty, nor the
wealth of the rich, nor even the ascendancy of the ungodly will endure. All will perish, at a word from Him. He, verily, is the All-
Powerful, the All-Compelling, the Almighty. What advantage is there in the earthly things which men possess? That which shall profit
them, they have utterly neglected. Erelong, they will awake from their slumber, and find themselves unable to obtain that which bath
escaped them in the days of their Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Did they but know it, they would renounce their all, that their
names may be mentioned before His throne. They, verily, are accounted among the dead.
Let not your hearts be perturbed, 0 people, when the glory of My Presence is withdrawn, and the ocean of My utterance is stilled. In
My presence amongst you there is a wisdom, and in My absence there is yet another, inscrutable to all but God, the Incomparable, the
All-Knowing. Verily, We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid whosoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with
the hosts of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favored angels.
O peoples of the earth! God, the Eternal Truth, is My witness that streams of fresh and soft-flowing waters have gushed from the
rocks, through the sweetness of the words uttered by your Lord, the Unconstrained; and still ye slumber. Cast away that which ye
possess, and, on the wings of detachment, soar beyond all created things. Thus biddeth you the Lord of creation, the movement of
Whose Pen bath revolutionized the soul of mankind.
Know ye from what heights your Lord,

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the All-Glorious is calling? Think ye that ye have recognized the Pen wherewith your Lord, the Lord of all names, commandeth you?
Nay, by My life! Did ye but know it, ye would renounce the world, and would hasten with your whole hearts to the presence of the
Well-Beloved. Your spirits would be so transported by His Word as to throw into commotion the Greater World—how much more
this small and petty one! Thus have the showers of My bounty been poured down from the heaven of My loving-kindness, as a token
of My grace; that ye may be of the thankful.
Beware lest the desires of the flesh and of a corrupt inclination provoke divisions among you. Be ye as the fingers of one hand, the
members of one body. Thus counselleth you the Pen of Revelation, if ye be of them that believe.
Consider the mercy of God and His gifts. He enjoineth upon you that which shall profit you, though He Himself can well dispense
with all creatures. Your evil doings can never harm Us, neither can your good works profit Us. We summon you wholly for the sake
of God. To this every man of understanding and insight will testify.
It is clear and evident that when the veils that conceal the realities of the manifestations of the Names and Attributes of God, nay of all
created things visible or invisible, have been rent asunder, nothing except the Sign of God will remain—a sign which He, Himself,
bath placed within these realities. This sign will endure as long as is the wish of the Lord thy God, the Lord of the heavens and of the
earth. If such be the blessings conferred on all created things, how superior must be the destiny of the true believer, whose existence
and life are to be regarded as the originating purpose of all creation. Just as the conception of faith hath existed from the beginning
that bath no beginning, and will endure till the end that bath no end, in like manner will the true believer eternally live and endure. His
spirit will everlastingly circle round the Will of God. He will last as long as God, Himself, will last. He is revealed through the
Revelation of God, and is hidden at His bidding. It is evident that the loftiest mansions in the Realm of Im

mortality have been ordained as the habitation of them that have truly believed in God and in His signs. Death can never invade that
holy seat. Thus have We entrusted thee with the signs of Thy Lord, that thou mayest persevere in thy love for Him, and be of them
that comprehend this truth.
Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame, if
ye be of them that comprehend this truth. All the wondrous works ye behold in this world have been manifested through the operation
of His supreme and most exalted Will, His wondrous and inflexible Purpose. Through the mere revelation of the word “Fashioner,”
issuing forth from His lips and proclaiming His attribute to mankind, such power is released as can generate, through successive ages,
all the manifold arts which the hands of man can produce. This, verily, is a certain truth. No sooner is this resplendent word uttered,
than its animating energies, stirring within all created things, give birth to the means and instruments whereby such arts can be
produced and perfected. All the wondrous achievements ye now witness are the direct consequences of the Revelation of this Name.
In the days to come, ye will, verily, behold things of which ye have never heard before. Thus bath it been decreed in the Tablets of
God, and none can comprehend it except they whose sight is sharp. In like manner, the moment the word expressing My attribute
“The Omniscient” issueth forth from My mouth, every created thing will, according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with
the power to unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and will be empowered to manifest them in the course of time at
the bidding of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Know thou of a certainty that the Revelation of every other Name is
accompanied by a similar manifestation of Divine power. Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed a mother
letter, and every word uttered by Him Who is the Well Spring of Divine Revelation is a mother word, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet.
Well is it with them that apprehend this truth.

WORDS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHA
1. THE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD
THE Manifestations of universal Prophet- hood who appeared independently are, for example, Abraham, Moses,
Christ, Muhammad, the Mb, and Bahá’u’lláh. But the others who are followers and promoters are like Solomon, David,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. For the independent Prophets are founders; they establish a new religion and make new
creatures of men; they change the general morals, promote new customs and rules, renew the cycle and the Law. Their
appearance is like the season of spring, which arrays all earthly beings in a new garment, and gives them a new life.
With regard to the second sort of Prophets who are followers, these also promote the Law of God, make known the
Religion of God, and proclaim His word, Of themselves they have no power and might, except what they receive from
the independent Prophets.
Question.—To which category do Buddha and Confucius belong?
Answer,—Buddha also established a new religion, and Confucius renewed morals and ancient virtues, but their
institutions have been entirely destroyed. The belief s and rites of the Buddhists and Confucianists have not continued
in accordance with their fundamental teachings. The founder of Buddhism was a wonderful soul. He established the
Oneness of God, but later the original principles of his doctrines gradually disappeared, and ignorant customs and
ceremonials arose and increased, until they finally ended in the worship of statues and images.
Now, consider: Christ frequently repeated that the ten commandments in the Pentateuch were to be followed, and He
insisted that they should be maintained. Among the ten commandments is one which says: ‘Do not worship any picture
or image.’ At present in some of the Christian churches many pictures and images exist. It is therefore clear and evident
that the Religion of God does not maintain its original principles among the people, but that it has gradually changed
and altered until it has been entirely

destroyed and annihilated. Because of this the manifestation is renewed, and a new religion established. But if religions did not change
and alter, there would be no need of renewal.
In the beginning the tree was in all its beauty, and full of blossoms and fruits, but at last it became old and entirely fruitless, and it
withered and decayed. This is why the True Gardener plants again an incomparable young tree of the same kind and species, which
grows and develops day by day, and spreads a wide shadow in the divine garden, and yields admirable fruit. So it is with religions;
through the passing of time they change from their original foundation, the truth of the Religion of God entirely departs, and the spirit
of it does not stay; heresies appear, and it becomes a body without a soul. That is why it is renewed.
The meaning is that the Buddhists and Confucianists now worship images and statues. They are entirely heedless of the Oneness of
God, and believe in imaginary gods like the ancient Greeks. But in the beginning it was not so; there were different principles and
other ordinances.
Again, consider how much the principles of the religion of Christ have been forgotten, and how many heresies have appeared. For
example, Christ forbade revenge and transgression; furthermore, He commanded benevolence and mercy in return for injury and evil.
Now reflect: among the Christian nations themselves how many sanguinary wars have taken place, and how much oppression, cruelty,
rapacity, and bloodthirstiness have occurred! Many of these wars were carried on by command of the Popes. It is then clear and
evident that in the passage of time religions become entirely changed and altered. Therefore they are renewed.
2. EXPLANATION OF THE REBUKES ADDRESSED BY GOD TO THE
PROPHETS
Question.—In the Holy Books there are

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some addresses of reproach and rebuke directed to the Prophets. Who is addressed, and for whom is the rebuke?
Answer.—All the divine discourses containing reproof, though apparently addressed to the Prophets, in reality are
directed to the people, through a wisdom which is absolute mercy, in order that the people may not be discouraged and
disheartened. They therefore appear to be addressed to the Prophets; but though outwardly for the Prophets, they are in
truth for the people and not for the Prophets.
Moreover, the powerful and independent king represents his country: that which he says is the word of all, and every
agreement that he makes, is the agreement of all, for the wishes and desires of all his subjects are included in his wishes
and desires. In the same way, every Prophet is the expression of the whole of the people. So the promise and speech of
God addressed to him is addressed to all. Generally the speech of reproach and rebuke is rather too severe for the
people, and would be heart-breaking to them. So the Perfect Wisdom makes use of this form of address, as is clearly
shown in the Bible itself, as, for example, when the children of Israel rebelled and said to Moses:
‘We cannot fight with the Amalekites, for they are powerful, mighty, and courageous.’ God then rebuked Moses and
Aaron, though Moses was in complete obedience and not in rebellion. Surely such a great man, who is the mediator of
the Divine Bounty and the deliverer of the Law, must necessarily obey the commands of God. These Holy Souls are
like the leaves of a tree, which are put in motion by the blowing of the wind, and not by their own desire; for they are
attracted by the breeze of the love of God, and their will is absolutely submissive. Their word is the word of God, their
commandment is the commandment of God, their prohibition is the prohibition of God. They are like the glass globe
which receives light from the lamp. Although the light appears to emanate from the glass, in reality it is shining from
the lamp: in the same way for the Prophets of God, the centres of manifestation, their movement and repose come from
divine inspiration, not from human passions. If it were not so, how could the Prophet be

worthy of trust, and how could he be the Messenger of God, delivering the commands and the prohibitions of God? All the defects
that are mentioned in the Holy Books with reference to the Manifestations, refer to questions of this kind.
Praise be to God that you have come here, and have met the servants of God! Have you perceived in them anything except the
fragrance of the pleasure of God? Indeed, no. You have seen with your own eyes that day and night they endeavour and strive, and
that they have no aim except the exaltation of the word of God, the education of men, the improvement of the masses, spiritual
progress, the promulgation of universal peace, goodwill to all mankind, and kindness towards all nations. Sacrificing themselves for
the good of humanity, they are detached from material advantages, and labour to give virtues to mankind.
But let us return to our subject. For example, in the Old Testament it is said in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 48, verse 12: ‘Hearken unto
Me, 0 Jacob and Israel, My called, I am He; I am the first, I also am the last.’ It is evident that it does not mean Jacob who was Israel,
but the people of Israel. Also in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 43, verse 1, it is said: ‘But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, 0
Jacob, and He that formed thee, 0 Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.’
Furthermore, in Numbers, chapter 20, verse 23: ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the coast of the land of
Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of
Israel, because ye rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah’; and in verse 13: ‘This is the water of Meribah; because the
children of Israel strove with the Lord, and He was sanctified in them.’
Observe: the people of Israel rebelled, but apparently the reproach was for Moses and Aaron. As it is said in the Book of
Deuteronomy, chapter 3, verse 26: ‘But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto
me, Let it suffice thee, speak no more unto Me of this matter.’

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Now this discourse and reproach really refer to the children of Israel, who, for having rebelled against the command of God, were held
captive a long time in the arid desert, on the other side of Jordan, until the time of Joshua—upon him be salutations. This address and
reproach appeared to be for Moses and Aaron, but in reality they were for the people of Israel.
In the same way in the Qur’án it is said to Muhammad: ‘We have granted thee a manifest victory, so that God may forgive thee thy
preceding and subsequent sin.’1 This address, although apparently directed to Muhammad, was in reality for all the people. This mode
of address, as before said, was used by the perfect wisdom of God, so that the hearts of the people might not be troubled, anxious, and
tormented.
How often the Prophets of God and His universal Manifestations in their prayers confess their sins and faults! This is only to teach
other men, to encourage and incite them to humility and meekness, and to induce them to confess their sins and faults. For these Holy
Souls are pure from every sin, and sanctified from faults. In the Gospel it is said that a man came to Christ and called him ‘Good
Master.’ Christ answered: ‘Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God.’ This did not mean—God forbid!—that
Christ was a sinner; but the intention was to teach submission, humility, meekness, and modesty to the man to whom he spoke. These
Holy Beings are hghts, and light does not unite itself with darkness. They are life, and life and death are not confounded; they are for
guidance, and guidance and error cannot be together, they are the essence of obedience, and obedience cannot exist with rebellion.
To conclude, the addresses in the form of reproach which are in the Holy Books, though apparently directed to the Prophets, that is to
say to the Manifestations of God, in reality are intended for the people. This will become evident and clear to you when you have
diligently examined the Holy Books.
Salutations be upon you.

3. EXPLANATION OF THE VERSE OF
THE Kitáb-i-Aqclas, ‘THERE IS
No ASSOCIATE FOR THE DAWNING - PLACE OF COMMAND IN
THE SUPREME SINLESSNESS’
It is said in the holy verse: ‘There is no associate for the Dawning-place of Command 2 in the Supreme Sinlessness. In truth he is the
Manifestor of “He does what He wishes” in the kingdom of creation. Verily God has reserved this station for Himself, and has not left
to any one a share of this inviolable condition.’a
Know that sinlessness is of two kinds:
essential sinlessness and acquired sinlessness. In like manner there is essential knowledge and acquired knowledge; and so it is with
other names and attributes. Essential sinlessness is peculiar to the universal Manifestation, for it is his essential requirement, and an
essential requirement cannot be separated from the thing itself. The rays are the essential necessity of the sun, and are inseparable
from it. Knowledge is an essential necessity of God, and is inseparable from Him. Power is an essential necessity of God, and is
inseparable from Him. If it could be separated from Him, He would not be God. If the rays could be separated from the sun, it would
not be the sun. Therefore if one imagines separation of the Supreme Sinlessness from the universal Manifestation, he would not be the
universal Manifestation, and he would lack the essential perfections.
But acquired sinlessness is not a natural necessity; on the contrary, it is a ray of the bounty of Sinlessness which shines from the Sun
of Reality upon hearts, and grants a share and portion of itself to souls. Although these souls have not essential sinlessness, still they
are under the protection of God: that is to say, God preserves them from sin. Thus many of the holy beings who were not dawningpoints of the Supreme Sinlessness, were yet kept and preserved from sin under the shadow of the protection and guardianship of God;
for they were the mediators of grace
The Manifestation of God.
Kitdb-i-Aqdas: i.e. The Most Holy Book. The principal work of Bahl’o’lllh, which contains the greater part of the commandments. It is
the basis of the principles of Baht’iism.

1 Qsar’án, Sura 41.

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’I SACRED WRITINGS 233

between God and men. If God did not protect them from error, their error would cause believing souls to fall into error, and thus the
foundation of the Religion of God would be overturned, which would not be fitting nor worthy of God.
To epitomise: essential sinlessness belongs especially to the universal Manifestations, and the acquired sinlessness is granted to every
holy soul. For instance, the General House of Justice, 1 if it be established under the necessary conditions—with members elected
from all the people—that House of Justice will be under the protection and the guardianship of God. If that House of Justice shall
decide unanimously, or by a majority, upon any question not mentioned in the Book,2 that decision and command will be guarded
from mistake. Now the members of the House of Justice have not, individually, essential sinlessness; but the body of the House of
Justice is under the protection of God: this is called conferred infallibility.
Briefly, it is said that the ‘Rising-place of Command’ is the manifestation of these words, ‘He does what He wishes’; this condition is
peculiar to that Holy Being, and others have no share of this essential perfection. That is to say, that as the universal Manifestations
certainly possess essential sinlessness, therefore whatever emanates from them is identical with the truth, and comformable to the
reality. They are not under the shadow of the former laws. Whatever they say is the word of God, and whatever they perform is an
upright action. No behever has any right to criticise; his condition must be one of absolute submission, for the Manifestation arises
with perfect wisdom.
So that whatever the universal Manifestation says and does is absolute wisdom, and is in accordance with the reality. If some people
do not understand the hidden secret of one of his commands and actions, they ought not to oppose it, for the universal Manifestation
does what he wishes. How often it has occurred, when an act has been performed by a wise, perfect, intelligent man, that others
incapable of comprehending its wisdom have objected to it, and been amazed that this wise man could say or do such a thing. This
opposition comes from their ignorance, and the wisdom of the sage is pure
and exempt from sin. In the same way, the skilled doctor in treating the patient ‘does what he wishes,’ and the patient has no right to
object; whatever the doctor says and does is right; all ought to consider him the manifestation of these words, ‘He does what he
wishes, and commands whatever he desires.’ It is certain that the doctor will use some medicine contrary to the ideas of other people;
now opposition is not permitted to those who have not the advantage of science and the medical art. No, in the name of God! on the
contrary, all ought to be submissive and to perform whatever the skilled doctor says. Therefore the clever doctor ‘does what he
wishes,’ and the patients have no share in this right. The skill of the doctor must be first ascertained; but when the skill of the doctor is
once established, ‘he does what he wishes.’
So also, when the head of the army is unrivalled in the art of war, in what he says and commands ‘he does what he wishes.’ When the
captain of a ship is proficient in the art of navigation, in whatever he says and commands, ‘he does what he wishes’; and as the real
educator is the Perfect Man, in whatever he says and commands, ‘he does what he wishes.’
In short, the meaning of ‘He does what He wishes’ is that if the Manifestation says something, or gives a command, or performs an
action, and believers do not understand its wisdom, they still ought not to oppose it by a single thought, seeking to know why he spoke
so, or why he did such a thing. The other souls who are under the shadow of the universal Manifestations, are submissive to the
commandments of the Law of God, and are not to deviate as much as a hairsbreadth from it; they must conform their acts and words to
the Law of God. If they do deviate from it, they will be held responsible and reproved in the presence of God. It is certain that they
have no share in the permission ‘He does what He wishes,’ for this condition is peculiar to the universal Manifestations.
Baytss’l—’Ad’l, i.e. the House of Justice, is au institution designed by Bahá’u’Iláh for the administration of the future rity. The General
House of Justice will determine the laws of the nation, and the International House of Justice will act as a tribunal of arbitration.
a Kitdb-i-Aqdas.

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So Christ—may my spirit be sacrificed to him!—was the manifestation of these words, ‘He does what He wishes,’ but the disciples
were not partakers of this condition; for as they were under the shadow of Christ, they could not deviate from his command and will.
4. PERFECTIONS ARE WITHOUT
LIMIT
Know that the conditions of existence are limited to the conditions of servitude, of prophethood, and of Deity, but the divine and the
contingent perfections are unlimited. When you reflect deeply, you discover that also outwardly the perfections of existence are also
unlimited, for you cannot find a being so perfect that you cannot imagine a superior one. For example, you cannot see a ruby in the
mineral kingdom, a rose in the vegetable kingdom, or a nightingale in the animal kingdom, without imagining that there might be
better specimens. As the divine bounties are endless, so human perfections are endless. If it were possible to reach a limit of
perfection, then one of the realities of the beings might reach the condition of being independent of God, and the contingent might
attain to the condition of the absolute. But for every being there is a point which it cannot overpass; that is to say, he who is in the
condition of servitude, however far he may progress in gaining limitless perfections, will never reach the condition of Deity. It is the
same with the other beings: a mineral, however far it may progress in the mineral kingdom, cannot gain the vegetable power; also in a
flower, however far it may progress in the vegetable kingdom, no power of the senses will appear. So this silver mineral cannot gain
hearing or sight; it can only improve in its own condition, and become a perfect mineral, but it cannot acquire the power of growth, or
the power of sensation, or attain to life; it can only progress in its own condition.
For example, Peter cannot become Christ. All that he can do is, in the condition of servitude, to attain endless perfections; for every
existing reality is capable of making progress. As the spirit of man after putting off this material form has an everlasting life,

certainly any existing being is capable of making progress; therefore it is permitted to ask for advancement, forgiveness, mercy,
beneficence, and blessings for a man after his death, because existence is capable of progression. That is why in the prayers of
Bahá’u’lláh forgiveness and remission of sins are asked for those who have died. Moreover, as people in this world are in need of
God, they will also need Him in the other world. The creatures are always in need, and God is absolutely independent, whether in this
or in the world to come.
The wealth of the other world is nearness to God. Consequently it is certain that those who are near the Divine Court are allowed to
intercede, and this intercession is approved by God. But intercession in the other world is not like intercession in this world: it is
another thing, another reality, which cannot be expressed in words.
If a wealthy man at the time of his death bequeaths a gift to the poor and miserable, and gives a part of his wealth to be spent for them,
perhaps this action may be the cause of his pardon and forgiveness, and of his progress in the Divine Kingdom.
Also a father and mother endure the greatest troubles and hardships for their children; and often when the children have reached the
age of maturity, the parents pass on to the other world. Rarely does it happen that a father and mother in this world see the reward of
the care and trouble they have undergone for their children. Therefore children, in return for this care and trouble, must show forth
charity and beneficence, and must implore pardon and forgiveness for their parents. So you ought, in return for the love and kindness
shown you by your father, to give to the poor for his sake, with greatest submission and humility implore pardon and remission of
sins, and ask for the supreme mercy.
It is even possible that the condition of those who have died in sin and unbelief may become changed; that is to say, they may become
the object of pardon through the bounty of God, not through His justice; for bounty is giving without desert, and justice is giving what
is deserved. As we have power to pray for these souls here, so likewise we shall possess the same power in the

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’i SACRED WRITINGS

other world, which is the Kingdom of God. Are not all the people in that world the creatures of God? Therefore in that
world also they can make progress. As here they can receive light by their supplications, there also they can plead for
forgiveness, and receive light through entreaties and supphcations. Thus as souls in this world, through the help of the
supplications, the entreaties, and the prayers of the holy ones, can acquire development, so is it the same after death.
Through their own prayers and supplications they can also progress; more especially when they are the object of the
intercession of the Holy Manifestations.
5. THE EVOLUTION OF MAN IN THE OTHER WORLD
Know that nothing which exists remains in a state of repose, that is to say, all things are in motion. Everything is either
growing or declining, all things are either coming from non-existence into being or, going from existence into nonexistence. So this flower, this hyacinth, during a certain period of time was coming from the world of nonexistence into
being, and now it is going from being into non-existence. This state of motion is said to be essential—that is, natural; it
cannot be separated from beings because it is their essential requirement, as it is the essential requirement of fire to
burn.
Thus it is established that this movement is necessary to existence, which is either growing or declining. Now, as the
spirit continues to exist after death, it necessarily progresses or declines; and in the other world, to cease to progress is
the same as to decline; but it never leaves its own condition, in which it continues to develop. For example, the reality
of the spirit of Peter, however far it may progress, will not reach to the condition of the Reality of Christ; it progresses
only in its own environment.
Look at this mineral: however far it may evolve, it only evolves in its own condition; you cannot bring the crystal to a
state where it can attain to sight: this is impossible. So the moon which is in the heavens, however far it might evolve,
could never become a luminous sun; but in its own condition it

has apogee and perigee. However far the disciples might progress, they could never become Christ. It is true that coal
could become a diamond, but both are in the mineral condition and their component elements are the same.
6. THE STATE OF MAN AND His PROGRESS AFTER DEATH
When we consider beings with the seeing eye, we observe that they are limited to three sorts: that is to say, as a whole,
they are either mineral, vegetable, or animal; each of these three classes containing species. Man is the highest species
because he is the possessor of the perfections of all the classes; that is, he has a body which grows and which feels. As
well as having the perfections of the mineral, of the vegetable, and of the animal, he also possesses an especial
excellence which the other beings are without; that is, the intellectual perfections. Therefore man is the most noble of
beings.
Man is in the highest degree of materiality, and at the beginning of spirituality; that is to say, he is the end of
imperfection and the beginning of perfection. He is at the last degree of darkness, and at the beginning of light; that is
why it has been said that the condition of man is the end of the night and the beginning of day, meaning that he is the
sum of all the degrees of imperfection, and that he possesses the degrees of perfection. He has the animal side as well
as the angehc side; and the aim of an educator is to so train human souls, that their angelic aspect may overcome their
animal side. Then, if the divine power in man which is his essential perfection, overcomes the satanic power, which is
absolute imperfection, he becomes the most excellent among the creatures; but if the satanic power overcomes the
divine power, he becomes the lowest of the creatures. That is why he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of
perfection. Not in any other of the species in the world of existence is there such a difference, contrast, contradiction,
and opposition, as in the species of man. Thus the reflection of the Divine Light was in man, as in Christ, and see how
loved and

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honoured he is! At the same time we see man worshiping a stone, a clod of earth, or a tree: how vile he is, in that his
object of worship should be the lowest existence— that is a stone, or clay, without spirit; a mountain, a forest, or a tree.
What shame is greater for man than to worship the lowest existences? In the same way, knowledge is a quality of man,
and so is ignorance; truthfulness is a quality of man, so is falsehood; trustworthiness and treachery, justice and
injustice, are qualities of man, and so forth. Briefly, all the perfections and virtues, and a11 the vices, are qualities of
man.
Consider equally the differences between individual men. The Christ was in the form of man, and Caiaphas was in the
form of man; Moses and Pharaoh, Abel and Cain, Bahá’u’llah and Yahyá,t were men.
Man is said to be the greatest representative of God, and he is the Book of Creation because all the mysteries of beings
exist in him. If he comes under the shadow of the True Educator and is rightly trained, he becomes the essence of
essences, the light of lights, the spirit of spirits; he becomes the centre of the divine appearances, the source of spiritual
qualities, the rising-place of heavenly lights, and the receptacle of divine inspirations. If he is deprived of this education
he becomes the manifestation of satanic qualities, the sum of animal vices, and the source of all dark conditions.
The reason of the mission of the Prophets is to educate men; so that this piece of coal may become a diamond, and this
fruitless tree may be engrafted, and yield the sweetest, most delicious fruits. When man reaches the noblest state in the
world of humanity, then he can make further progress in the conditions of perfection, but not in state; for such states are
limited, but the divine perfections are endless.
Both before and after putting off this material form, there is progress in perfection, but not in state. So beings are
consummated in perfect man. There is no other being higher than a perfect man. But man when he has reached this
state can still make progress in perfections but not in state, because there is no state higher than that of a perfect man to
which he can transfer himself. He

only progresses in the state of humanity, for the human perfections are infinite. Thus, however learned a man may be, we can imagine
one more learned.
Hence, as the perfections of humanity are endless, man can also make progress in perfections after leaving this world.
7. EXPLANATION OF A VERSE IN THE
Kita’b-i-Aqdas
Question.—It is said in the Kitdb-i-Aqdas ‘He is of the people of error, though he shows forth all good actions.’ What is the
meaning of this verse?
Answer.—This blessed verse means that the foundation of success and salvation is the knowledge of God, and the the results of the
knowledge of God are the good actions which are the fruits of faith.
If man has not this knowledge, he will be separated from God, and when this separation exists, good actions have not complete effect.
This verse does not mean that the souls separated from God are equal, whether they perform good or bad actions. It signifies only that
the foundation is to know God, and the good actions result from this knowledge. Nevertheless, it is certain that between the good, the
sinners and the wicked who are veiled from God, there is a difference. For the veiled one who has good principles and character,
deserves the pardon of God; whilst he who is a sinner, and has bad qualities and character, is deprived of the bounties and blessings of
God: herein lies the difference.
Therefore the blessed verse means that good actions alone, without the knowledge of God, cannot be the cause of eternal salvation,
everlasting success, and prosperity, and entrance into the Kingdom of God.
8. THE EXISTENCE OF THE RATIONAL SOUL AFTER THE DEATH OF THE BODY
Qucstion.—After the body is put aside and the spirit has obtained freedom, in what way will the rational soul exist? Let us suppose
that the souls who are assisted by the
‘Mirzk Yalsyi Subhi Azal, half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh, and his irreconcilable enemy.

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’I SACRED WRITINGS 237

bounty of the Holy Spirit attain to true existence and eternal life: but what becomes of the rational souls, that is to say, the veiled
spirits? 1
Answer.—Some think that the body is the substance and exists by itself, and that the spirit is accidental, and depends upon the
substance of the body, although, on the contrary, the rational soul is the substance, and the body depends upon it. If the accident, that
is to say the body, be destroyed, the substance, the spirit remains.
Secondly, the rational soul, meaning the human spirit, does not descend into the body; that is to say, it does not enter it, for descent
and entrance are characteristics of bodies, and the rational soul is exempt from this. The spirit never entered this body, so in quitting it,
it will not be in need of an abiding- place: no, the spirit is connected with the body, as this light is with this mirror. When the mirror is
clear and perfect, the light of the lamp will be apparent in it, and when the mirror becomes covered with dust or breaks the light will
disappear.
The rational soul, that is to say the human spirit, has neither entered this body nor existed through it; so after the disintegration of the
composition of the body, how should it be in need of a substance through which it may exist? On the contrary, the rational soul is the
substance through which the body exists. The personality of the rational soul is from its beginning; it is not due to the instrumentality
of the body, but the state and the personahty of the rational soul may be strengthened in this world; it will make progress, and will
attain to the degrees of perfection, or it will remain in the lowest abyss of ignorance, veiled and deprived from beholding the signs of
God.
Question.—Through what means will the spirit of man, that is to say the rational soul, after departing from this mortal world, make
progress?
Answer.—The progress of man’s spirit in the divine world, after the severance of its connection with the body of dust, is through the
bounty and grace of the Lord alone, or through the intercession and the sincere prayers of other human souls, or through the charities
and important good works which are performed in its name.

THE IMMORTALITY OF CHILDREN
Question.—What is the condition of children who die before attaining the age of discretion, or before the appointed time of birth?
Answer.—These infants are under the shadow of the favour of God; and as they have not committed any sin, and are not soiled with
the impurities of the world of nature, they are the centers of the manifestation of bounty, and the Eye of Compassion will be turned
upon them.
9. ETERNAL LIFE AND ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD
You question about eternal life, and the entrance into the Kingdom. The outer expression used for the Kingdom, is heaven: but this is a
comparison and similitude, not a reality or fact, for the Kingdom is not a material place, it is sanctified from time and place. It is a
spiritual world, a divine world, and the center of the Sovereignty of God; it is freed from body and that which is corporeal, and it is
purified and sanctified from the imaginations of the human world. To be limited to place is a property of bodies and not of spirits.
Place and time surround the body, not the mind and spirit. Observe that the body of man is confined to a small place: it covers only
two spans of earth, but the spirit and mind of man travel to all countries and regions—even through the limitless space of the
heavens—surround all that exists, and make discoveries in the exalted spheres and infinite distances. This is because the spirit has no
place, it is placeless; and for the spirit, the earth and the heaven are as one, since it makes discoveries in both. But the body is limited
to a place, and does not know that which is beyond it.
For life is of two kinds: that of the body, and that of the spirit. The life of the body is material life, but the life of the spirit, expresses
the existence of the Kingdom, which consists in receiving the Spirit of God, and becoming vivified by the breath of the Holy Spirit.
Although the material life has existence, it is pure non-existence and absolute
‘‘Veiled spirits’ here signify rational sotsis, souls not
possessing the spirit of faith. Cf. ‘Soul, Spirit, and
Mind,’ page 243.

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death for the holy saints. So man exists, and this stone also exists, but what a difference between the existence of man and that of the
stone! Though the stone exists, in relation to the existence of man it is non-existent.
The meaning of eternal life is the gift of the Holy Spirit, as the flower receives the gift of the season, the air, and the breezes of spring.
Consider: this flower had life in the beginning like the life of the mineral; but by the coming of the season of spring, of the bounty of
the clouds of the springtime, and of the heat of the glowing sun, it attained to another life of the utmost freshness, delicacy, and
fragrance. The first life of the flower, in comparison to the second life, is death.
The meaning is that the life of the Kingdom is the life of the spirit, the eternal life, and that it is purified from place, like the spirit of
man which has no place. For if you examine the human body, you will not find a special spot or locality for the spirit, for it has never
had a place; it is immaterial. It has a connection with the body, like that of the sun with this mirror. The sun is not within the mirror,
but it has a connection with the mirror.
In the same way the world of the Kingdom is sanctified from everything that can be perceived by the eye or by the other senses—
hearing, smell, taste, or touch. The mind which is in man, the existence of which is recognised—where is it in him? If you examine
the body with the eye, the ear, or the other senses, you will not find it; nevertheless it exists. Therefore the mind has no place, but it is
connected with the brain. The Kingdom is also like this. In the same way love has no place, but it is connected with the heart; so the
Kingdom has no place, but is connected with man.
Entrance into the Kingdom is through the love of God, through detachment, through holiness and chastity, through truthfulness,
purity, steadfastness, faithfulness, and the sacrifice of life.
These explanations show that man is immortal and lives eternally. For those who believe in God, who have love of God, and faith, life
is excellent—that is, it is eternal; but to those souls who are veiled from God,

although they have life, it is dark, and in comparison with the life of believers it is non-existent.
For example, the eye and the nail are living; but the life of the nail in relation to the life of the eye is non-existent. This stone and this
man both exist; but the stone in relation to the existence of man is non-existent, it has no being; for when man dies, and his body is
destroyed and annihilated, it becomes like stone and earth. Therefore it is clear that although the mineral exists, in relation to man it is
non-existent.
In the same way, the souls who are veiled from God, although they exist in this world and in the world after death, are in comparison
with the holy existence of the children of the Kingdom of God, non-existing and separated from God.
10. INDUsTRIAL JUSTICE
You have questioned me about strikes. This question is and will be for a long time the subject of great difficulties.
Strikes are due to two causes. One is the extreme sharpness and rapacity of the capitalists and manufacturers; the other, the excesses,
the avidity and ill-will of the workmen and artisans.
But the principal cause of these difficulties lies in the laws of the present civilization; for they lead to a small number of individuals
accumulating incomparable f or- tunes, beyond their needs, whilst the greater number remains destitute, stripped and in the greatest
misery. This is contrary to justice, to humanity, to equity; it is the height of iniquity, the opposite to what causes Divine satisfaction.
This contrast is peculiar to the world of man: with other creatures, that is to say with nearly all animals, there is a kind of justice and
equality. Thus in a shepherd’s flock of sheep, in a troop of deer in the country, among the birds of the prairie, of the plain, of the hill
or of the orchard, almost every animal receives a just share based on equality. With them such a difference in the means of existence is
not to be found: so they live in the most complete peace and joy.
It is quite otherwise with the human species, which persists in the greatest error,

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’I SACRED WRITINGS 239

and in absolute iniquity. Consider an individual who has amassed treasures by colonizing a country for his profit: he
has obtained an incomparable fortune, and has secured profits and incomes which flow like a river, whilst a hundred
thousand unfortunate people, weak and powerless, are in need of a mouthful of bread. There is neither equality nor
brotherhood. So you see that general peace and joy are destroyed, the welfare of humanity is partially annihilated, and
that collective life is fruitless. Indeed, fortune, honors, commerce, industry are in the hands of some industrials, whilst
other people are submitted to quite a series of difficulties and to limitless troubles: they have neither advantage nor
profits, nor comforts, nor peace.
Then rules and laws should be established to regulate the excessive fortunes of certain private individuals, and limit the
misery of millions of the poor masses; thus a certain moderation would be obtained. However, absolute equality is just
as impossible, for absolute equality in fortunes, honors, commerce, agriculture, industry would end in a want of
comfort, in discouragement, in disorganization of the means of existence, and in universal disappointment: the order of
the community would be quite destroyed. Thus, there is a great wisdom in the fact that equality is not imposed by law:
it is, therefore, preferable for moderation to do its work. The main point is, by means of laws and regulations to hinder
the constitution of the excessive fortunes of certain individuals, and to protect the essential needs of the masses. For
instance, the manufacturers and the industrials heap up a treasure each day, and the poor artisans do not gain their daily
sustenance: that is the height of iniquity, and no just man can accept it. Therefore, laws and regulations should be
established which would permit the workmen to receive from the factory owner their wages and a share in the fourth or
fifth part of the profits, according to the wants of the factory; or in some other way the body of workmen and the
manufacturers should share equitably the profits and advantages. Indeed, the direction and administration of affairs
come from the owner of the factory, and the work and labor, from the body of the workmen. In other words, the
workmen

should receive wages which assure them an adequate support, and when they cease work, becoming feeble or helpless,
they should receive from the owner of the factory a sufficient pension. The wages should be high enough to satisfy the
workmen with the amount they receive, so that they may be able to put a little aside for days of want and helplessness.
When matters will be thus fixed, the owner of the factory will no longer put aside daily a treasure which he has
absolutely no need of (without taking into consideration that if the fortune is disproportionate, the capitalist succumbs
under a formidable burden, and gets into the greatest difficulties and troubles; the administration of an excessive
fortune is very difficult, and exhausts man’s natural strength). And, the workmen and artisans will no longer be in the
greatest misery and want, they will no longer be submitted to the worst privations at the end of their life.
It is, then, clear and evident that the repartition of excessive fortunes amongst a small number of individuals, while the
masses are in misery, is an iniquity and an injustice. In the same way, absolute equality would be an obstacle to life, to
welfare, to order and to the peace of humanity. In such a question a just medium is preferable. It lies in the capitalists
being moderate in the acquisition of their profits, and in their having a consideration for the welfare of the poor and
needy; that is to say, that the workmen and artisans receive a fixed and estabhshed daily wage, and have a share in the
general profits of the factory.
It would be well, with regard to the social rights of manufacturers, workmen and artisans, that laws be established,
giving moderate profits to manufacturers, and to workmen the necessary means of existence and security for the future.
Thus, when they become feeble and cease working, get old and helpless, and die leaving children under age, these
children will not be annihilated by excess of poverty. And it is from the income of the factory itself, to which they have
a right, that they will derive a little of the means of existence.
In the same way, the workmen should no longer rebel and revolt, nor demand beyond

THE BAHA’I WORLD

their rights; they should no longer go out on strike, they should be obedient and submissive, and not ask for impudent wages. But the
mutual rights of both associated parties will be fixed and established according to custom by just and impartial laws. In case one of the
two parties should transgress, the courts of justice would have to give judgment, and by an efficacious fine put an end to the
transgression; thus order will be re-established, and the difficulties settled. The interference of courts of justice and of the Government
in difficulties pending between manufacturers and workmen is legal, for the reason that current affairs between workmen and
manufacturers cannot be compared with ordinary affairs between private persons, which do not concern the public, and with which the
government should not occupy itself. In reality, although they appear to be matters between private persons, these difficulties between
patrons and workmen produce a general detriment; for commerce, industry, agriculture and the general affairs of the country are all
intimately linked together. If one of these suffers an abuse, the detriment affects the mass. Thus the difficulties between workmen and
manufacturers become a cause of general detriment.
The court of justice and the Government have therefore the right of interference. When a difficulty occurs between two individuals
with reference to private rights, it is necessary for a third to settle the question; this is the part of the Government: then the question of
strikes—which cause troubles in the country and are often connected with the excessive vexations of the workmen, as well as with the
rapacity of the manufacturers—how could it remain neglected?
Good God! Is it possible that, seeing one of his fellow-creatures starving, destitute of everything, a man can rest and live comfortably
in his luxurious mansion? He who meets another in the greatest misery, can he enjoy his fortune? That is why, in the Religion of God,
it is prescribed and established that wealthy men each year give over a certain part of their fortune for the maintenance of the poor and
unfortunate. That is the foundation of the Religion of God, and the most essential of the commandments.

As now man is not forced nor obliged by the Government, if by the natural tendency of his good heart, with the greatest spirituality, he
goes to this expense for the poor, this will be a thing very much praised, approved and pleasing.
Such is the meaning of the good works in the Divine Books and Tablets.
11. THE UNITY OF RELIGION
The greatest bestowal of God in the world of humanity is religion; for assuredly the divine teachings of religion are above all other
sources of instruction and development of man. Religion confers upon man eternal life and guides his footsteps in the world of
morality. It opens the doors of unending happiness and bestows everlasting honor upon the human kingdom. It has been the basis of
all civilization and progress in the history of mankind.
We will therefore investigate religion, seeking from an unprejudiced standpoint to discover whether it is the source of illumination,
the cause of development and the animating impulse of all human advancement.
How shall we determine whether religion has been the cause of human advancement or retrogression?
We will first consider the founders of the religions—the prophets—review the story of their lives, compare the conditions preceding
their appearance with those subsequent to their departure, following historical records and irrefutable facts instead of relying upon
traditionary statements which are open to both acceptance and denial.
Among the great prophets was His Holiness Abraham who, being an iconoclast and a herald of the oneness of God, was banished from
His native land. He founded a family upon which the blessing of God descended; and it was owing to this religious basis and
ordination that the Abrahamic house progressed and advanced. Through the divine benediction, noteworthy and luminous prophets
issued from the lineage of His Holiness. There appeared Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon.

There is another and more significant

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’I SACRED WRITINGS 241

aspect to this religious impulse and impetus. The children of Israel were in bondage and captivity in the land of Egypt four hundred
years. They were in an extreme state of degradation and slavery under the tyranny and oppression of the Egyptians. While they were
in the condition of abject poverty, in the lowest degree of abasement, ignorance and servility, His Holiness Moses suddenly appeared
among them. Although He was but a shepherd, such majesty, grandeur and efficiency became manifest in Him through the power of
religion, that His influence continues to this day. His prophethood was established throughout the land and the law of His Word
became the foundation of the laws of the nations. This unique personage, single and alone, rescued the children of Israel from bondage
through the power of religious training and discipline. He led them to the Holy Land and founded there a great civilization which has
become permanent and renowned and under which these people attained the highest degree of honor and glory. He freed them from
bondage and captivity. He imbued them with qualities of progressiveness and capability. They proved to be a civilizing people with
instincts toward education and scholastic attainment. Their philosophy became renowned; their industries were celebrated throughout
the nations. In all lines of advancement which characterize a progressive people they achieved distinction. In the splendor of the reign
of Solomon their sciences and arts advanced to such a degree that even the Greek philosophers journeyed to Jerusalem to sit at the feet
of the Hebrew sages and acquire the basis of Israelitish law. .
When a movement fundamentally religious makes a weak nation strong, changes a nondescript tribal people into a mighty and
powerful civilization, rescues them from captivity and elevates them to sovereignty, transforms their ignorance into knowledge and
endows them with an impetus of advancement in all degrees of development (this is not theory, but historical fact) it becomes evident
that religion is the cause of man’s attainment to honor and sublimity.
But when we speak of religion we mean the essential foundation or reality of religion, not the dogmas and blind imitations which

have gradually encrusted it and which are the cause of the decline and effacement of a nation. These are inevitably destructive and a
menace and hindrance to a nation’s life, even as it is recorded in the Torah and confirmed in history that when the Jews became
fettered by empty forms and imitations the wrath of God became manifest. .
What then is the mission of the divine prophets? Their mission is the education and advancement of the world of humanity. They are
the real teachers and educators, the universal instructors of mankind. If we wish to discover whether any one of these great souls or
messengers was in reality a prophet of God we must investigate the facts surrounding His life and history; and the first point of our
investigation will be the education He bestowed upon mankind. If He has been an educator, if He has really trained a nation or people,
causing it to rise from the lowest depths of ignorance to the highest station of knowledge, then we are sure that He was a prophet. .
Furthermore we will establish the point that the foundations of the religions of God are one foundation. This foundation is not multiple
for it is reahty itself. Reality does not admit of multiplicity although each of the divine religions is separable into two divisions. One
concerns the world of morality and the ethical training of human nature. It is directed to the advancement of the world of humanity in
general; it reveals and inculcates the knowledge of God and makes possible the discovery of the verities of life. This is ideal and
spiritual teaching, the essential quality of divine religion and subject to change or transformation. It is the one foundation of all the
religions of God. Therefore the religions are essentially one and the same.
The second classification or division comprises social laws and regulations applicable to human conduct. This is not the essential
spiritual quality of religion. It is subject to change and transformation according to the exigencies and requirements of time and place. .
.

Time changes conditions, and laws change to suit conditions. We must remember that these changing laws are not the essentials; they
are the accidentals of religion. The

THE BAHA’i WORLD

essential ordinances established by a Manifestation of God are spiritual; they concern moralities, the ethical development of man and
faith in God. They are ideal and necessarily permanent; expressions of the one foundation and not amenable to change or
transformation. Therefore the fundamental basis of the revealed religion of God is immutable, unchanging throughout the centuries,
not subject to the varying conditions of the human world.
Christ ratified and proclaimed the foundation of the law of Moses. Muhammad and all the prophets have revoiced that same
foundation of reality. Therefore the purposes and accomplishments of the divine messengers have been one and the same.
At the time when the Israelites had been dispersed by the power of the Roman empire and the national life of the Hebrew people had
been effaced by their conquerors—when the law of God had seemingly passed from them and the foundation of the religion of God
was apparently destroyed—Jesus Christ appeared. When His Holiness arose among the Jews, the first thing He did was to proclaim
the validity of the Manifestation of Moses. He declared that the Torah, the Old Testament was the Book of God and that all the
prophets of Israel were valid and true. He extolled the mission of Moses and through His proclamation the name of Moses was spread
throughout the world. Through Christianity the greatness of Moses became known among all nations. It is a fact that before the
appearance of Christ, the name of Moses had not been heard in Persia. In India they had no knowledge of Judaism and it was only
through the Christianizing of Europe that the teachings of the Old Testament became spread in that region. Throughout Europe there
was not a copy of the Old Testament; but consider this carefully and judge it aright;—through the instrumentality of Christ, through
the translation of the New Testament, the little volume of the gospel, the Old Testament, the Torah has been translated into six
hundred languages and spread everywhere in the world. The names of the Hebrew prophets became household words among the
nations, who believed that the children of Israel were verily the chosen people of God, a holy nation under

the especial blessing and protection of God, and that therefore the prophets who had arisen in Israel were the day-springs of revelation
and brilliant stars in the heaven of the will of God.
Therefore His Holiness Christ really promulgated Judaism for He was a Jew and not opposed to the Jews. He did not deny the
prophethood of Moses; on the contrary He proclaimed and ratified it. He did not invalidate the Torah; He spread its teachings. That
portion of the ordinances of Moses which concerned transactions and unimportant conditions underwent transformation but the
essential teachings of Moses were revoiced and confirmed by Christ without change. He left nothing unfinished or incomplete.
Likewise through the supreme efficacy and power of the Word of God He united most of the nations of the east and the west. .
From another horizon we see Muhammad the prophet of Arabia appearing. You may not know that the first address of Muhammad to
His tribe was the statement “Verily Moses was a prophet of God and the Torah is a book of God. Verily, 0 ye people, ye must believe
in the Torah, in Moses and the prophets. Ye must accept all the prophets of Israel as valid.” En the Qur’fn, the Muhammadan Bible,
there are seven statements or repetitions of the Mosaic narrative, and in all the historic accounts Moses is praised.
Today the Christians are believers in Moses, accept Him as a prophet of God and praise Him most highly. The Muhammadans are
likewise believers in Moses, accept the validity of His prophethood, at the same time believing in Christ. Could it be said that the
acceptance of Moses by the Christians and Muhammadans has been harmful and detrimental to those people? On the contrary it has
been beneficial to them, proving that they have been fair-minded and just. What harm could result to the Jewish people, then, if they in
return should accept His Holiness Christ and acknowledge the validity of the prophethood of His Holiness Muhammad? By this
acceptance and praiseworthy attitude the enmity and hatred which have afflicted mankind so many centuries would be dispelled,
fanaticism and bloodshed pass

EXCERPTS FROM BAHA’i SACRED WRITINGS 243

away and the world he blessed by unity and agreement. Christians and Mubammadans believe and admit that Moses was the
Interlocutor of God. Why do you not say that Christ was the Word of God? Why do you not speak these few words that will do away
with all this difficulty? Then there will be no hatred and fanaticism, no more warfare and bloodshed in the Land of Promise. Then
there will be peace among you forever.
Praise be to God! the medieval ages of darkness have passed away and this century of radiance has dawned,—this century wherein the
reality of things is becoming evident,—wherein science is penetrating the mysteries of the universe, the oneness of the world of
humanity is being established and service to mankind is the paramount motive of all existence. Shall we remain steeped in our
fanaticisms and cling to our prejudices? Is it fitting that we should still be bound and restricted by ancient fables and superstitions of
the past; be handicapped by superannuated beliefs and the ignorances of dark ages, waging religious wars, fighting and shedding
blood, shunning and anathematizing each other? Is this becoming? Is it not better for us to be loving and considerate toward each
other? Is it not preferable to enjoy fellowship and unity; join in anthems of praise to the most high God and extol all His prophets in
the spirit of acceptance and true vision: Then indeed this world will become a paradise and the promised Day of God will dawn.
The age has dawned when human fellowship will be come a reality.
The century has come when all religions shall be unified.
The dispensation is at hand when all nations shall enjoy the blessings of International peace.
The cycle has arrived when racial prejudice will be abandoned by tribes and peoples of the world. .
12. THE IMAGE OF GOD
According to the words of the Old Testament, God has said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” This indicates that
man is of the image and likeness of God; that is to say, the perfections of God,

the divine virtues are reflected or revealed in the human reality. Just as the light and effulgence of the sun when cast upon a polished
mirror are reflected fully, gloriously, so likewise the qualities and attributes of divinity are radiated from the depths of a pure human
heart. This is an evidence that man is the most noble of God’s creatures.
Each kingdom of creation is endowed with its necessary complement of attributes and powers. The mineral possesses inherent virtues
of its own kingdom in the scale of existence. The vegetable possesses the quahties of the mineral plus a virtue augmentative or power
of growth. The animal is endowed with the virtues of both the mineral and vegetable plane plus the power of the senses. The human
kingdom is replete with the perfections of all the kingdoms below it, with the addition of powers pecuhar to man alone. Man is
therefore superior to all the creatures below him, the loftiest and most glorious being of creation. Man is the microcosm, and the
infinite universe the macrocosm. The mysteries of the greater world or macrocosm are expressed or revealed in the lesser world, the
microcosm. The tree, so to speak, is the greater world, and the seed in its relation to the tree is the lesser world. But the whole of the
great tree is potentially latent and hidden in the little seed. When this seed is planted and cultivated, the tree is revealed. Likewise the
greater world, the macrocosm, is latent and miniatured in the lesser world or microcosm of man. This constitutes the universality or
perfection of virtues potential in mankind. Therefore it is said that man has been created in the image and likeness of God.
Let us now discover more specifically how he is the image and likeness of God and what is the standard or criterion by which he can
be measured and estimated. This standard can be no other than the divine virtues which are revealed in him. Therefore every man
imbued with divine qualities, who reflects heavenly morahties and perfections, who is the expression of ideal and praiseworthy
attributes, is verily in the image and hkeness of God. If a man possesses wealth can we call him an image and hkeness of God? Or is
human honor and notoriety the criterion of divine nearness?

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Can we apply the test of racial color and say that man of a certain hue—white, black, brown, yellow, red—is the true image of his
creator? We must conclude that color is not the standard and estimate of judgment and that it is of no importance, for color is
accidental in nature. The spirit and intelligence of man is the essential; and that is the manifestation of divine virtues, the merciful
bestowals of God, the life eternal and baptism through the Holy Spirit. Therefore be it known that color or race is of no importance.
He who is the image and hkeness of God, who is the manifestation of the bestowals of God, is acceptable at the threshold of God
whether his color be white, black or brown, it matters not. Man is not

man simply because of bodily attributes. The standard of divine measure and judgment is his intelligence and spirit.
Therefore let this be the only criterion and estimate; for this is the image and likeness of God. A man’s heart may be
pure and white though his outer skin be black; or his heart be dark and sinful though his racial color is white. The
character and purity of the heart is of all importance. The heart illumined by the light of God is nearest and dearest to
God; and in as much as God has endowed man with such favor that he is called the image of God, this is truly a
supreme perfection of attainment, a divine station which is not to be sacrificed by the mere accident of color.

Iv
TRANSFER OF THE REMAINS OF THE BROTHER
AND MOTHER OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHA TO MT.
CARMEL
THE SPIRITUAL POTENCIES
OF THAT CONSECRATED SPOT
By SHOGHI EFFENDI

B LESSED remains (of) Purest Branch and Master’s Mother safely transferred (to) hallowed precincts (of the)
Shrines (on) Mount Carmel. Long inflicted humiliation wiped away. Machinations (of the) Covenant-breakers (to)
frustrate plan defeated. Cherished wish (of) Greatest Holy Leaf fulfilled. Sister, Brother, Mother (and) Wife (of)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá reunited (at the) one spot designed (to) constitute focal center (of) Bahá’i Administrative Institutions at
Faith’s World Center. Share joyful news (with) entire body (of) American believers.
—Ss-soGHs RABBANL
Cablegram received December 5, 1939.
Christmas eve, (the) beloved remains (of) Purest Branch and Master’s Mother laid in state (in) Báb’s Holy Tomb.
Christmas day, entrusted (to) Carmel’s sacred soil. (The) ceremony (in) presence (of) representatives (of) Near Eastern
behevers profoundly moving. Impelled associate America’s momentous Seven Year enterprise (with) imperishable
memory (of) these two holy souls who, next (to) Twin Founders (of) Faith and (its) Perfect Exemplar, tower, together
with Greatest Holy Leaf, above (the) entire concourse (of the) faithful. Rejoice privilege (to) pledge thousand pounds
my contribution (to) Bahiyyih Khánum Fund designed (for) inauguration

(of) final drive (to) insure placing contract next April (for) last remaining stage (in) construction (of) Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Time (is)
pressing, opportunity priceless, potent aid providentially promised unfailing.
—SHOGHI RABBANI.
Cablegram received December 26, 1939.
To the beloved of God and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the West.
Dearly beloved friends:
The transfer of the secred remains of the brother and mother of our Lord and Master ‘Abdul’-Bahá to Mount Carmel and their final
interment within the hallowed precincts of the Shrine of the Báb, and in the immediate neighborhood of the resting place of the
Greatest Holy Leaf, constitute, apart from their historic associations and the tender sentiments they arouse, events of such capital
institutional significance as only future happenings, steadily and mysteriously unfolding at the world center of our Faith, can
adequately demonstrate.
The circumstances attending the consummation of this long, this profoundly cherished hope were no less significant. The
* These two cablegrams received by the National Spiritual Assembly on the dates mentioned preceded the following epistle which

proclaims in detail the c:Spirtual Potencies of that Consecrated Spot” on Mt. Carmel, the Mountain of God.

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TRANSFER OF SACRED REMAINS

swiftness and suddenness with which so delicate and weighty an undertaking was conducted; the surmounting of
various obstacles which the outbreak of war and its inevitable repercussions necessarily engendered; the success of the
long-drawn-out negotiations which the solution of certain preliminary problems imposed; the execution of the plan in
the face of the continued instability and persistent dangers following the fierce riots that so long and so violently rocked
the Holy Land, and despite the smoldering fire of animosity kindled in the breasts of ecclesiastics and Covenantbreakers alike—all combined to demonstrate, afresh and with compelling power, the invincible might of the Cause of
Bahi’u’llah.
The Purest Branch, the snartyred son, the companion, and amanuensis of Bahá’u’llah, that pious and holy youth, who
in the darkest days of Bahá’u’lláh’s incarceration in the barracks of ‘Akká entreated, on his deathbed, his Father to
accept him as a ransom for those of His loved ones who yearned for, but were unable to attain, His presence, and the
saintly mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, surnamed Navváb by Bahá’u’lláh, and the first recipient of the honored and familiar
title of “the Most Exalted Leaf,” separated in death above half a century, and forced to suffer the humiliation of an alien
burial- ground, are now at long last reunited with the Greatest Holy Leaf with whom they had so abundantly shared the
tribulations of one of the most distressing episodes of the Heroic Age of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Avenged, eternally
safeguarded, befittingly glorified, they repose embosomed in the heart of Car- mel, hidden beneath its sacred soil,
interred in one single spot, lying beneath the shadow of the twin holy Tombs, and facing across the bay, on an
eminence of unequalled loveliness and beauty, the silver-city of ‘Akká, the Point of Adoration of the entire Baha’i
world, and the Door of Hope for all mankind. “Haste thee, 0 Carmel!” thus proclaims the pen of Bahá’u’lláh, “for to,
the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted
upon thee.” “Rejoice, for God hath in this Day established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of
His signs

and the days pring of the evidences of His Revelation.”
The machinations of Badi’ulláh—_the brother and lieutenant of the Focal Center of sedition and Archbreaker of the
Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, the deceased Muhammad-’Ali
—who with uncommon temerity and exceptional vigor addressed his written protest to the civil authorities, claiming
the right to oppose the projected transfer of the remains of the mother and brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have been utterly
frustrated. So foolish a claim, advanced by one who in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha has been denounced as
an “4ert and active worker of mischief,” and whose life has been marked by so many instances of extravagance, of
betrayal and folly, has been summarily rejected by the fairness and justice of the civil authorities, in whose custody the
notorious Sádhij, the daughter of that same Badi’ulláh, is still retained, as a direct result of her ceaseless instigations to
rebellion and terrorism, and whose acts constitute a clear and double violation of the civil law of the land and of the
spiritual ordinances of Bahá’u’lláh, in Whose Faith she professes to believe.
Unabashed by his appalling mistakes and blunders; undeterred by the galling failure of his persistent efforts, in
conjunction with his brother, to establish, in the days following the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, their alleged right to the
custody of the Most Holy Tomb; unrestrained by the memory of the abortive attempt of Muhammad-’Ali to retain the
Mansion of Bahã’u’lláh as a private residence for himself and his family; unchastened by the spiritual and material
misery into which he and his kindred have sunk; and impotent to perceive the contrast between that misery and the
consolidating strength and ever-enhancing prestige of the institutions heralding the birth of the World Order of
Bahá’u’llah at its international center, he has, with characteristic insolence, dared to raise once again his voice against
the resistless march of events that are steadily accelerating the expansion and establishment of the Faith in the Holy
Land.
For it must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the conjunction of the resting-place of the
Greatest

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Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch for/h the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords,
and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the
Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed:
neither be thou con founded; for thou shalt not be put to shame. . . . For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is
His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called. . . . For a small
moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I ga/her thee. . . . For the mountains shall depart, and the hills
be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the
Lord that ha/h mercy on thee. 0 thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with
fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of
carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be
the peace of thy children . . whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.”
Persian script with translation.

TRANSFER OF SACRED REMAINS

Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reenforces the spiritual potencies of that consecrated Spot
which, under the wings of the Báb’s overshadowing Sepulchre, and in the vicinity of the future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,
which will be reared on its flank, is destined to evolve into the focal center of those world-shaking, world- embracing,
world-directing administrative institutions, ordained by Bahá’u’lláh and anticipated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and which are to
function in consonance with the principles that govern the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal
House of Justice. Then, and then only, will this momentous prophecy which illuminates the concluding passages of the
Tablet of Carmel be fulfilled: “Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee (Carmel), and will manifest the people of Babe
who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.”
To attempt to visualize, even in its barest outline, the glory that must envelop these institutions, to essay even a
tentative and partial description of their character or the manner of their operation, or to trace however inadequately the
course of events leading to their rise and eventual establishment is far beyond my own capacity and power. Suffice it to
say that at this troubled stage in world history the association of these three incomparably precious souls who, next to
the three Central Figures of our Faith, tower in rank above the vast multitude of the heroes, letters, martyrs, hands,
teachers and administrators of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, in such a potentially powerful spiritual and administrative
Center is in itself an event which will release forces that are bound to hasten the emergence in a land which,
geographically, spiritually and administratively, constitutes the heart of the entire planet, of some of the brightest gems
of that World Order now shaping in the womb of this travailing age.
For such as might undertake, in the days to come, the meritorious and highly enviable pilgrimage to these blessed
shrines, as well as for the benefit of the less privileged who, aware of the greatness of their virtue and the pre-eminence
of their lineage, desire to commune with their spirits, and to strive to acquire an added insight into the

glory of their position, and to follow in their footsteps, let these testimonies written by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
be their inspiration and guidance in their noble quest:
“At this very moment,” Bahá’u’lláh testifies, “My son is being washed before My face, after Our having sacrificed him in the Most
Great Prison. Thereat have the dwellers of the Abbé Tabernacle wept with a great weeping, such as have suffered imprisonment with
this Youth in the path of God, the Lord of the promised Day, lamented. Under such conditions My Pen hath not been prevented from
remembering its Lord, the Lord of all nations. It summoneth the people unto God, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful. This is the day
whereon he that was created of the light of Babe has suffered martyrdom, at a time when he lay imprisoned at the hands of his
enemies.”
“Upon thee, 0 Branch of God!” He solemnly and most touchingly, in the same Tablet, bestows upon him His benediction,
“be the remembrance of God and His praise, and the praise of all that dwell in the Realm of Immortality, and of all the denizens of the
Kingdom of Names. Happy art thou in that thou has been faithful to the Covenant of God and His Testament, until Thou didst sacrifice
thyself before the face of thy Lord, the Almighty, the Unconst rained. Thou, in trnth, hast been wronged, and to this testifieth the
Beauty of Him, the Self- Subsisting. Thou didst, in the first days of thy life, bear that which bath caused all things to groan, and made
every pillar to tremble. Happy is the one that remembereth thee, and draweth nigh, through thee, unto God, the Creator of the Morn.”
“Glorified art Thou, 0 Lord, my God!” He, in a prayer, astoundingly proclaims, “Thou seest me in the bands of Mine enemies,
and My son blood-stained before Thy face, 0 Thou in Whose hands is the kin gdomn of all names. I have, 0 my Lord, offered up that
which Thou has given Me, that Thy servants may be quickened and all that dwell on earth be united.”
“Blessed art thou,” He, in another Tablet affirms, “and blessed he that turneth unto thee, and visiteth thy grave, and draweth
nigh, through thee, unto God, the Lord of all that was and shall be. . . . I testify that

A glimpse, between the trees of the garden, of the shrines of the Mother and Brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Mt. Carmel,
Haifa.

V

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4?

I
*

C

V1
St
pict63.jpg

TRANSFER OF SACRED REMAINS

thou didst return in meekness unto thine abode. Great is thy blessedness and the blessedness of them that hold fast unto the hem of thy
outspread robe. . . . Thou art, verily, the trust of God and His treasure in this land. Erelong will God reveal through thee that which He
hath desired. He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. When thou wast laid to rest in the earth, the earth itself trembled in
its longing to meet thee. Thus hath it been decreed, and yet the people perceive not. . Were We to recount the mysteries of thine
ascension, they that are asleep would waken, and all beings would be set ablaze with the fire of the remembrance of My Name, the
Mighty, the Loving.”
Concerning the Most Exalted Leaf, the mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã, Bahâ’u’lláh has written: “The first Spirit through which
all spirits were revealed, and the first Light by which all lights shone forth, rest upon thee, 0 Most Exalted Leaf, thou who hast been
mentioned in the Crimson Book! Thou art the one whom God created to arise and serve His own Self, and the Manifestation of His
Cause, and the Dayspring of His Revelation, and the Dawning-Place of His signs, and the Source of His commandments; and Who so
aided thee that thou didst turn with thy whole being unto Him, at a time when His servants and handmaidens had turned away from
His Face. . . . Happy art thou, 0 My handmaiden, and My Leaf, and the one mentioned in My Book, and inscribed by My Pen of Glory in
My Scrolls and Tablets. . . Rejoice thou, at this moment, in the most exalted Station and the All-highest Paradise, and the Abhd
Horizon, inasmuch as He Who is the Lord of Names hath rein em bereth thee. We bear witness that thou didst attain unto all good,
and that God hath so exalted thee, that all honor and glory circled around thee.”
“0 Navva’b!” He thus, in another Tablet, addresses her, “0 Leaf that bath sprung from My Tree, and been My corn panion! My
glory be upon thee, and My loving-kindness, and My mercy that hath surpassed all beings. We announce unto thee that which will
gladden thine eye, and assure thy soul, and rejoice thine heart. Verily, thy Lord is the Corn passionate, the All-Bountiful. God

hath been and will be pleased with thee, and hath singled thee out for His own Self, and to serve Him, and hath made
thee the companion of His Person in the day-time and in the night-season.”
“Hear thou Me once again,” He reassures her, “God is well-pleased with thee, as a token of His grace and a sign of
His mercy. He bath made thee to be His companion in every one of His worlds, and bath nourished thee with His
meeting and presence, so long as His Name, and His Remembrance, and His Kingdom, and His Empire shall endure.
Happy is the handmaid that bath ‘mentioned thee, and sought thy good-pleasure, and humbled herself before thee, and
held fast unto the cord of thy love. Woe betide him that denieth thy exalted station, and the things ordained for thee
from God, the Lord of all names, and him that bath turned away from thee, and rejected thy station before God, the
Lord of the mighty throne.”
“0 faithful ones!” Bahã’u’lláh specifically enjoins, “Should ye ‘visit the restingplace of the Most Exalted Leaf, who
bath ascended unto the Glorious Coin panion, stand ye and say: ‘Salutation and blessing and glory upon thee, 0 Holy
Leaf that bath sprung from the Divine Lote-Tree! I bear witness that thou has believed in God and His signs, and
answered His Call, and turned unto Him, and held fast unto His cord, and clung to the hem of His grace, and fled thy
home in His path, and chosen to live as a stranger, out of love for His presence and in thy longing to serve Him. May
God have mercy upon him that draweth nigh unto thee, and remembereth thee through the things which My Pen bath
voiced in this, the most great station. We pray God that He may forgive us, and forgive them that have turned unto thee,
and grant their desires, and bestow upon them, through His wondrous grace, whatever be their wish. He, verily, is the
Bountiful, the Generous. Praise be to God, He Who is the Desire of all worlds; and the Beloved of all who recognize
Him.”
And finally, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself in one of His remarkably significant Tablets, has borne witness not only to the
exalted station of one whose “seed shall inherit the Gentiles,” whose Husband is the Lord of

The newly made graves of the Mother and Brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
showing the flowers still in place before work on the erection
of their monuments was begun.

Detail of one of the twin monuments marking the graves of the Mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and of His Brother, on Mt.
Carmel, Haifa.

pict64.jpg
pict65.jpg

TRANSFER OF SACRED REMAINS

Hosts, but also to the sufferings endured by her who was His beloved mother. “As to thy question concerning the 54th
chapter of Isaiah,” He writes, “This chapter refers to the Most Exalted Leaf, the mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahci. As a proof of this it is
said: ‘For more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife.’ Reflect upon this statement, and then
upon the following: ‘And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.’ And truly the
humiliation and reproach which she suffered in the path of God is a fact which no one can refute. For the calamities and afflictions
mentioned in

the whole chapter are such afflictions which she suffered in the path of God, all of which she endured with patience and
thanked God theref or and praised Him, because He had enabled her to endure afflictions for the sake of Bahd. During
all this time, the men and women (Covenant-breakers) persecuted her in an incomparable manner, while she was
patient, God-fearing, calm, humble and contented through the favor of her Lord and by the bounty of her Creator.”
Your true brother,

THE garden is dark. Twilight has fallen on Mount Carmel and the veils of dusk have deepened over the bay of
‘Akká. A group of men stand waiting by the gate, beneath the steps. Suddenly there is a stir, the gardener runs to
illumine the entrance and amidst the white shafts of light a procession appears. A man clothed in black rests the weight
of a coffin on his shoulder. It is the Guardian of the Cause and he bears the mortal remains of the Purest Branch,
Bahá’u’lláh’s beloved son. Slowly he and his fellow bearers mount the narrow path and in silence approach the house
adjacent to the resting place of the Greatest Holy Leaf. A devoted servant speeds ahead with rug and candelabra from
the Holy Shrines and swiftly prepares the room. The gentle, strong face of the Guardian appears as he enters the door,
that precious weight always on his shoulder, and the coffin is laid temporarily to rest in an humble room, facing Bahji,
the Qiblih of the Faith. Again those devoted servants, led by their Guardian, return to the gate and again remount the
path with another sacred burden, this time the body of the wife of Bahâ’u’lláh, the mother of the Master.1
What a wave of joy seems to come onward with those simple processions! A joy

Haifa, Palestine December 21, 1939

SHOGHI

indefinable, touched with deep tenderness and pathos. Like a great white pearl the marble temple marking the grave of Bahiyyih
Khánum glows in the light of its reflectors, seeming afire on the dark mountain side, lighting up and watching over those two
approaching the scene of their last resting place.
When we enter to pay our respects to those beloved, revered and long since departed ones, their presence seems to fill the room. At
last, after seventy years, that saintly mother lies reunited beside her son of whom Bahá’u’lláh wrote: “He was created of the light of
Bahâ.” Side by side, facing ‘Akká, the sweet fumes of attar of rose with which they have been anointed by the Guardian filling the
room, they lie: And above them, lit by the flickering lights of the sentinel candles, the picture of The Greatest Holy Leaf hangs, her
beautiful eyes, so full of love and that purity which is goodness itself, looking out over her mother and brother. What cause for joy and
gratitude!
That tender youth, born to affliction, reared in exile, died in prison, buried in
‘By Navvãb, His first wife, Bahã’u’lláh had thtee children, ‘Abdn’l-Bahá, His Successor, Bahiyyih Ebnum and Mihdi, the Purest
Branch.

THE BURIAL OF THE PUREST BRANCH AND THE MOTHER OF
‘ABDU1-BAHA
‘ ‘:
i ;, “N
- . 4- .
- - -,

I
—
-----

The burial-ground on Mount Carmel in which are laid to rest the immediate family of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã. On the right is the shrine of
Bahiyyih Khánum, His sister. On the left the twin monuments marking the resting-places of His mother and brother.
Below them can be seen the dome of the monument of his wife, Munirih Khánum.

II ,

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pict66.jpg

TRANSFER OF SACRED REMAINS

solitary haste! Here he lies, raised up from the earth by the hands of the Guardian of his Father’s Faith, removed from the lonely
isolation of the Arab cemetery where he had been interred so long ago and placed beside his illustrious sister and holy mother, that
mother who was affectionately known as “Bflyflk Khánum” or “Great Lady.” Slender, stately, lovely to look on with white skin and
blue eyes and dark hair; she who, when Bahá’u’lláh was thrown into the dungeon of Tihrán, was abandoned by friend and foe alike
and who purchased food for her children by selling the gold buttons of her robes; she who was forced to leave this same son, then a
delicate child of four, behind her when she followed Bahá’u’lláh into exile; she whose tender hands, unaccustomed to work, bled as
she washed the clothes of her family; who remained patient, devout, serene and selfless to the end of her life, and who was laid to rest
near ‘Akká in a cemetery away from her son, now lies beside him, so to remain forever more.
As we meditate beside those two eloquent coffins, covered with woven cloths, strewn with jasmine from the Threshold of the Báb’s
Tomb, so all pervading is the presence of their spirits—or maybe it is their memory, as perfume lingers when the flower is withered—
that the very room they rest in for so short awhile becomes itself filled with the sweet peace of a shrine.
Not only has the Guardian raised them to rest in their rightful graves, put them where the whole world may see their honor and their
glory, but in some mysterious way he has given them back to us. So long ago they passed away, so quietly, in days of such turmoil and
oppression, were they laid to rest, that their places, at least to us of the ‘West, were on written pages of the history of our Faith. But
now their places are in our hearts. The veil of time and obscurity separating us has been rent asunder, and we find, to our joy and
astonishment, two glowing and holy figures drawing nigh to us, entering into our lives, and ready to help us on that path which leads
to their Lord and ours, Bahá’u’lláh.
How warm and living his personality suddenly seems, no longer a name, albeit a revered one, Mihdi, the Purest Branch, but

a sweet and selfless youth filled with love and devotion for Him who was not only his earthly but heavenly Father as well. Slight of
frame, small of stature, black of hair, scarce twenty years of age, when at the time of his death he acted as the amanuensis of
Bahá’u’lláh and the character of his script has remained to us as a tender reminder that he stood only on the threshold of manhood.
Bahá’u’lláh Himself in numerous Tablets has mentioned this beloved son of His, recounting His long separation from him when he
was left behind in Iran and was deprived of his family; how later he suffered the exiles and imprisonments of his Father until that
fateful day when, as Bahá’u’lláh wrote: “He has suffered martyrdom at a time when he lay imprisoned at the hands of his enemies.”
The cruelty of exile and banishment became the rigor of complete incarceration during Mihdi’s short life time. Upon entering the
prison city of ‘Akká they were confined in the barracks itself, and it was during this strict period of Bahá’u’lláh’s imprisonment, when
they suffered the greatest privations and were the victims of terrible epidemics, that the Purest Branch passed away. No one of the
devout and faithful, who, some on foot, some on mule back, made the long and arduous journey to see the face of their Lord, was
admitted to His presence. They were forced to content themselves with a brief glimpse of Him as He stood in a window facing the
little hill beyond the walls and moat where they were wont to await His appearance.
It was under such circumstances that one night, whilst walking on the roof of the fortress, the Purest Branch fell through the opening
leading below and was fatally injured. It was the custom of those prisoners to get what air and exercise they could in this manner, and
no doubt that youth, lost to all but his thoughts and meditations, stepped unawares through the unguarded sky hght. Although the
ceilings of oriental rooms are very high, it was not a fall which necessarily would cause the death of a person. But the Purest Branch
was terribly injured. He bled profusely from the mouth, and his thigh was so battered and bleeding that his garment could not be
removed but was torn from him—that pitiful relic which

THE BAHA’i WORLD

the Greatest Holy Leaf preserved for posterity and which to this day may be seen with the stains of his life’s blood upon it. He
survived for about thirty hours after the fall. The doctors, hastily called in, were powerless to help him, but we cannot but believe that
it lay within the power of his Father to spare his life, if He had so willed it.
Bahá’u’lláh asked of His dying son if he desired to live, but he replied that his sole desire was that the gates of the prison should be
opened so that the believers might visit their Lord. Bahá’u’lláh granted that youth’s earnest wish and sat beside His youngest son as
they made him ready for the grave, and it was in those tragic circumstances that He revealed the following: “At this very moment My
son is being washed before My face after Our having sacrificed him in the Most Great Prison . . .“ “Glorified art Thou, 0 Lord, My God!
Thou seest Me in the hands of Mine enemies, and My son blood-stained before My face!” Such sentences as these were wrung from
the heart of the Blessed Beauty as He gazed upon His child. But then thundering forth came these marvelous words: “I have, 0 My
Lord, offered up that which Thou hast given Me, that Thy servants may be quickened and all that dwell on earth be united.” The
tremendous significance of these words is inescapable; Bahá’u’lláh designates to His own child the role of blood offering in order that
the unity of all men which He has proclaimed may come about. The sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham is accomplished.
After, in secrecy, poverty, and haste, the Purest Branch had been interred, his gentle mother, the victim of so many sorrows and
deprivations, saddened and wept unceasingly. Bahá’u’lláh on learning of her plight came to her and assured her she had no cause for
grief for God had accepted this precious son as His Ransom to draw not only the believers nigh unto their Lord but to unify all the
sons of men. After hearing these words that saintly soul was greatly comforted and ceased to mourn her heavy loss.
And who was such a mother? Not merely a holy and faithful woman, willing in the path of God to sacrifice her all, but she of whom
Isaiah,. in his 54th chapter, says:t “For thy Maker is thy husband; the LORD

of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.” “For the mountains
shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the LORD that bath mercy on thee.” And she to whom Bahá’u’lláh revealed the following: “Hear thou Me once again, God is
well pleased with thee
He bath made thee to be His companion in every one of His worlds and hath nourished thee with His meeting and presence so long as
His name and His remembrance and His kingdom and His empire shall endure.”
How fleeting and priceless the days that this mother and son lie side by side in that small room! To be privileged to draw close
—in that strange and pitiful closeness one feels to a coffin in which all that remains of dear ones after the soul has flown rests, a token
and reminder of our common mortality and immortality—is something never to be forgotten. Thousands will read these Prayers and
Tablets of Bahã’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá forever immortalizing them. They will supplicate those radiant spirits to intercede on their
behalf. They will seek humbly to follow in their noble footsteps. But it will never, so it seems to me, be as sweet and touching as to
see them lying there together under the watchful eyes of Bahiyyih Khánum.
Whilst their tombs were still in process of excavation from the solid rock of the mountain, the Guardian had learned that the
Covenant-Breakers were protesting against the right of the Bahá’is to remove the Mother and brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to new graves,
actually having the temerity to represent to the government their so called claim as relatives of the deceased. As soon, however, as the
civil authorities had the true state of facts made clear to them—that these same relatives had been the arch-enemies of the Master and
His family, had left the true Cause of Bahá’u’llãh to follow their own devices, and had been denounced by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will
and TestaThe authority for this statement is the words of
‘Ahdu’l-Bahá Himself in “Tablets of ‘Abdo’l-Bahã,” vol. I., page 107.

TRANSFER OF SACRED REMAINS

ment—they approved the plan of the Guardian and immediately issued the necessary papers for the exhumation of the bodies. Without
risking further delay Shoghi Effendi, two days later, himself removed the Purest Branch and his mother to Mount Carmel where,
watched over by the loving devotion of the believers, and safeguarder from any danger of insult or injury, they could await, close to
Bahiyyih Khánum’s shrine, their reinterment.
The last stone is laid in the two vaults, the floors are paved in marble, the name plates fixed to mark their heads, the earth smoothed
out, the path that leads to their last resting place built, but storm and rain sweep unceasingly over the crest of the mountain postponing
the final arrangements until the day before Christmas dawns, bright and clear, as if a sign that this is the appointed time. At sunset we
all gather in that humble, twice blessed house. We hear the voice of one of the oldest and most devoted believers of the Near East
rassed, at the command of his Guardian, in prayer. Tremulous, faint, yet filled with a poignant faith and love hard to describe but
never to be forgotten, he prays. As voice follows voice, one of them that of the Guardian himself, it seems as if one could almost hear
the refrain of those prayers sung in triumphant joy by an invisible concourse on high.
And now, again on the shoulder of the Guardian, they are borne forth to lie in state in the Holy Tomb of the Mb. Side by side, far
greater than the great of this world, they lie by that sacred threshold, facing Bahji, with candles burning at their heads and flowers
before their feet. It is the eve of the birth of Christ. She who was foretold of Isaiah, he who was the son of Him of Whom Jesus said:
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth,” rest quietly here their last night before the earth hides
them forever more from the eyes of men.
The following sunset we gather once again in that Holy Shrine. The Guardian chants the Tablet of Visitation, first in the Tomb of the
Mb, then in the Tomb of the Master. The privileged friends who have been able to make the pilgrimage to Haifa for this sacred
occasion enter with the Guardian a

second time the Báb’s Shrine. Slowly, held aloft on the hands of the faithful, led by Shoghi Effendi, who never relinquishes his
precious burden, first the mother of ‘Abdu’lBahá and then the Purest Branch are ushered from that Holy Spot. Once they
circumambulate the Shrines, the coffin of beloved Mihdi, supported by the Guardian, followed by that of the Master’s mother, passes
us slowly by. Around the Shrine, onward through the lighted garden, down the white path, out onto the moonlit road, that solemn
procession passes. High, seeming to move of themselves, above the heads of those following, the coffins wend their way. They mount
the steps and once again enter that gate leading to Bahiyyih Khánum’s resting place. They pass before us, outlined against the night
sky, across whose face fitful clouds make sport of the full moon. They approach, the face of the Guardian close to that priceless
burden he bears. They pass on toward the waiting vaults.
Now they lay the Purest Branch to rest. Shoghi Effendi himself enters the carpeted vault and gently eases the coffin to its preordained
place. He himself strews it with flowers, his hands the last to caress it. The mother of the Master is then placed in the same manner by
the Guardian in the neighboring vault. Not six feet apart they rest. The silent faces of the believers in the brilliant light of the lamps,
form a waiting circle. Masons are called to seal the tombs. Respectfully and deftly they fulfil their task. Flowers are heaped upon the
vaults and the Guardian sprinkles a vial of attar of rose upon them. The pungent scent is caught up on the breeze and bathes our faces.
And now the voice of Shoghi Effendi is raised as he chants those tablets revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and destined by Him to be read at
their graves.
Surely this is a dream? It cannot be I that stand here gazing at these new-made graves, laid in the breast of ancient Carmel! Beneath
me stretches an endless vista. ‘Akkã gleams white across the bay, that onetime prison city where these two were so long captives, near
which they were once buried. The reaches of the sea and plain lie before me, opening out to where the moon silvers the rims of the
mountains of the Holy

THE BAHA’T WORLD

Land, the Land of the Prophets, the Land of the loved ones of God, the Land chosen to be the Seat of the Ark of God in
this most glorious Day. Forever and increasingly about the resting place of this mother, sister, brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã,
the life-giving activities of their Faith will gather. Close to them, focused on their shrines, great in-

stitutions will rise to strengthen the soul and body of mankind. And forever interwoven with those institutions will be the memory and
example of these three holy persons. Their way has become our way and they lead us on before, heading the ranks of Bahá’u’lláh’s
followers.
ROHfvvsH

V
THE PASSING OF
MUNIRIH
KHANUM, THE HOLY MOTHER
EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF MUNtRIH KHANUM
Quotations from an Autobiography
C’
ROM the beginning of my life, and during the period of my childhood, there have come into my life wonders—each one of which is a
miracle, causing great astonishment. Were I to explain every incident fully, and to give thanks with my tongue for every blessing
vouchsafed, I should be unable to go on with this account, and it would lead to prolixity.
“The name of my father was Mirzá Muhammad ‘All Nahri, the son of Háj I Siyyid Muhammad Hendi (Indian). Háj I Siyyid
Mul?ammad was born and lived in the village of Zavareh, a suburb of 1sf áhán. Having reached the age of maturity, he travelled to
India, and insamuch as he belonged to the family of Muhammad, the Prophet, and all the descendants of Mubammad are highly
honored and respected all over the East, in time he married one of the Princesses of the ruling Indian family. The Indian Prince, in
order to be related to a member of the sacred family of Mul?ammad, and thus receive spiritual blessing and benediction, gave his own
daughter into marriage with Háj I Siyyid Mubammad. Thus it came to pass that Háj I Siyyid Mukiammad sojourned in India, and for
this reason he became known by the title of ‘Indian.’ This family connection became conducive to much fame, wealth, and honor, and
he lived in the style of a nobleman, a prince, with all the retinue of royalty.
“After some time, he became the happy father of two sons; the first-born was named Háji Siyyid Mehdi, who, later on, became the
sole inheritor of all the wealth and pos session

of his father. This eldest son traveled from India to Najaf (one of the Holy Cities in Karbilá, Mesopotamia) and
domiciled there. In the course of his life, he came into possession of much wealth and real estate, farms, houses,
caravansaries, public baths and stores. These properties were in the cities of Karbilã and Naj af. After a while he spent
one-third of his money constructing an aqueduct to carry water into the city, and for this reason he became known by
the title ‘Nahri’ from the Iranian word ‘Nahr’—a stream of water. This title Nahri was handed down through the
family, and to this day his descendants are thus known.
“Háji Siyyid Mubammad Nahri had several children, male and female. Amongst them was my father, whose name was
Mirzã Muhammad-’Ali Nahri, and my uncle, Mirzã Hâji, who in time became the father of the wife of the King of the
Martyrs.”
“When the Call of the Báb arose from Shiráz, my father and uncle, as soon as they heard of it, without returning to their
homes, or saying farewell to their families, started for Shiráz, and with the greatest haste traveled toward the Mount of
the Beloved.”
“Let me, likewise, detail a few words regarding my grandmother—that is, the mother of my father. She was a holy,
believing soul, may the spirit of the Lord be with her at all times! One night, in the world of dreams, she beheld two
orbs rising out of the well in her home and entering

2S9

THE BAHA’j WORLD

The Holy Mother, Munirih Khánum, wife of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
Holy Mother Munirih Khánum ascended Abhá Kingdom stop With sorrowful hearts Baha’is world over recall divers phases her rich
eventful life marked by unique services which by virtue her exalted position she rendered during darkest days ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s life stop
All Ridván festivities suspended stop Advise Convention delegates devote special session her memory hold befitting gathering
Auditorium Mashriq’ul-Adhkar.— (Signed) SHOGHI. (Cablegram received April 30, 1938.)

her heart. She was so excited and exhilarated over this dream that she awoke from sleep, remained awake all night, and
before sunrise, with the greatest happiness, went to the house of Hãji Siyyid Muhammad Bagher. This latter was a very
important theologian and learned man whose word was obeyed throughout all Iran. He was peerless and without equal
in his days. When my grandmother related her dream to him and requested an interpretation, he answered: ‘Be thou of
good cheer and happy for God will grant thee two children who, like unto two

luminous suns, will enlighten and illumine all your family and relatives.’
(In the course of time) “my father, Mirzá Muhammad-’Ali was born and a year and three months later, my uncle, Mirzá
Háji, was born.”
“When my father graduated from the college (‘Kaseh-Garan’), he started on a trip to visit the sacred cities, and in
Karbilá enrolled himself as a student in the classes of Háji Siyyid Kázim Rashdi. He became a firm and enthusiastic
follower of the

‘F
pict67.jpg

THE PASSING OF MUNIRIH KHANUM

teachings of this master and Shaykh Akimad. These two brilliant orbs shine today in the world of existence, and were
unequalled in fame and knowledge. After living for some time in that sacred city, he took unto himself a wife.
“When they were attending the classes of Háji Siyyid Káim, they repeatedly had met His Holiness the Mb, and had
observed many wonderful traces and spiritual signs appearing from His Holy Temple.”
“Now concerning my father: On arriving at 1sf Than, as his wife was living in Karbilá, he took a room in the college of
‘KasehGaran.’ About this time His Holiness Bábu’l-Báb received a command from the Báb to leave Shiráz for I1fáhân.
Having arrived in that city, he engaged in the promotion of the Cause, and guided many souls to this wonderful
Movement. Among those who accepted the Message was my father. He was led to the path of knowledge and faith.
After a while misfortune overtook him, as he received the news that his wife had ascended to the Kingdom.
“While he was thus deprived of the comforts of a home, he met and associated with Háji Aga Muhammad, a well
known merchant of Isfihân and one of the new believers. He was very devoted to my father. One day he said to suy
father: ‘Inasmuch as your wife has passed away without issue, would it not be better for you to forsake your room in
the college and come to live with us in our home; I have a sister, and if agreeable to you, I will be more than happy to
arrange a marriage between you, so the bond of love and affection may thus be strengthened between you and our
family.’ My father readily consented to this wise suggestion, and Háj I Aga Muhammad, after consulting with his
mother, found that she not only had no objections, but was most eager to bring about the union. His mother said: ‘Last
night I saw, in the world of dreams, a nobleman (Siyyid) with luminous face visit our home. He carried in his hands
two lamps. Now that Siyyid must be this personage, and unquestionably you must hasten the consummation of this
marriage.’
“Then Haji Aga Mul?ammad invited

many friends to a betrothal feast, and his sister, who is my mother, was affianced to my father. It was well known that my father had
no children from his first wife. Two years passed after his marriage with my mother, but no child was born. Then His Holiness the
Báb, traveling from Shiráz, arrived in 1sf Than, and took up his abode in the home of Imám-Jum’ih. My uncle, Mirzá Ibráhim, the
father of the King of the Martyrs and the Beloved of the Martyrs, was appointed by Imám-Jum’ih as host to His Holiness the Mb, to
be ready at all times to serve Him under all circumstances. One night he invited to dinner His Holiness the Mb, who graciously
accepted this invitation. . . . Those present at that glorious feast received the bounties and favors of the Mb, and hstened to His Words
until supper was served. Then they all sat down to a spiritual and material feast. While partaking of the supper, His Holiness the Bâb
turned to one of those present and made inquiries about the children of my father. That person answered that, although he had been
twice married, no children were born to him. His Holiness the Mb then offered my father a spoonful of sweets. He ate, and at that
moment it occurred to his mind that the blessed will of the Lord had at last destined the birth of a child for him. When the feast was
over and he had returned to his home, he mentioned this fact to my mother. Having kept a little of the sweets, he gave it to her. After
eight months and nine days I was born into the world.”
“In compliance with the command of the Blessed Perfection (Bahã’u’lláh) Siyyid Mihdi Dhaji arrived in Persia, and later passed
through Ifãhán to promulgate the Cause of God. A great feast was prepared for him, and all the believers clustered around inquiring
eagerly the news of the Holy Land, and all the details concerning the Blessed Family and an account of the imprisonment of the
believers in the barracks of ‘Akká. Among the inquirers was Shms os Zoha, the wife of my uncle, and a member of the household of
the King of the Martyrs. She asked of Siyyid Mihdi:
‘While you were in the Presence of Bahá’u’lláh, did you ever hear whether any girl

THE BAHA’i WORLD

had been spoken of or selected for the Master ‘Abdu’l-Bahá?’ He answered, ‘No, but one day the Blessed Perfection was walking in
the men’s apartment and speaking. Then He turned His face to me and said, ‘Aga Siyyid Mihdi! I had a remarkable dream last night. I
dreamt that the face of the beautiful girl who is living in Tihrán, whose hand in marriage we asked from Mirzá Hasan for the Greatest
Branch, became dark and obscure. At the same moment, the face of another girl appeared on the scene whose countenance was
luminous and whose heart enlightened. We have selected her to become the wife of the Greatest Branch.’ Except for the above talk
from the lips of the Blessed Perfection, I have heard nothing.
“When my aunt returned to the house and saw me, she declared by the One God that the very moment when Siyyid Mihdi was relating
to us the dream of Bahá’u’lláh, it had occurred to her mind that, without question, I was that girl, and ere long we would realize that
she was right. I wept and answered: ‘Far be it, for I am not worthy of such a bounty. I beg of thee never let another word concerning
the matter issue from thy lips; do not speak about it.’
Munirih Khánum continues the story of how she traveled to the Holy Land through successive instructions from Bahá’u’lláh to her
relatives. En route to their destination they met many friends who tried to prevent them from going to the Holy Land, saying that in
these days no one is permitted to go to ‘Akkã because some sad and unfortunate events had caused anew the incarceration of the
friends, and the authorities did not permit any Bahã’i to enter the city of ‘Akká. “This news disturbed us a great deal, and we
wondered what we should do, but Shaykh Salman assured us that these conditions did not apply to us, and made us feel confident that
we should enter the Holy Land with the utmost ease and tranquillity, even if all the believers were thrown into prison and under
chains.” After many trials and difficulties on the way, they finally arrived in ‘Akká.
“. . . members of the Blessed Family came to visit and welcome us. I returned with them, and for the first time stood in the Presence of

the Blessed Perfection. The

state of ecstasy and rapture that possessed me was beyond description. The first words of Bahá’u’llah were these: ‘We have brought
you into the Prison at such a time when the door of meeting is closed to all the believers. This is for no other reason than to prove to
everyone the Power and Might of God.’ I continued to live in the house of Kalim for nearly five months. I visited Bahá’u’llãh many
times and then returned to my abode. Whenever Kalim returned from his visit to the Blessed Perfection he would tell me of His
infinite bounties, and bring a material gift from Him for me. One day he arrived with a great happiness in his face. He said:
‘I have brought a most wonderful gift for you. It is this—a new name has been given you and that name is Munirih (illumined).’
“Then the night of union . . . drew nigh. I was dressed in a white robe which had been prepared for me by the fingers of the Greatest
Holy Leaf, and which was more precious than the silks and velvets of Paradise. About nine o’clock. . . I was permitted to stand in the
Presence of Bahá’u’llah. Attended by the Greatest Holy Leaf, I listened to the words of the Blessed Perfection. .
He said: ‘You are welcome! You are welcome! 0 thou My blessed leaf and maidservant. We have chosen thee and accepted thee to be
the companion of the Greatest Branch and to serve Him. This is from My Bounty, to which there is no equal; the treasures of the earth
and heaven cannot be compared with it. . . . Thou must be very thankful, for thou hast attained to this most great favor and bestowal. . . .
May you always be under the protection of God!’
“If I were to write the details of the fifty years of my association with the Beloved of the world, of His love, His mercy and bounty, I
would need fifty years more of time and opportunity in order to write it; yet, if the seas of the world were turned into ink and the
leaves of the forest into paper, I would not render adequate justice to the subject.”
During the Convention of the Balui’is of the United States and Canada held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-eight in the
Foundation Hall of the Mashriqu’l

THE PASSING OF MUNIRIH KHANUM

Adhkár in Wilmette, a cable from Shoghi Effendi was read announcing the death of Munirih Khánum, better known to most of us as
the Holy Mother, the beloved wife of ‘Abdu’l-Babá.
The gathering was unprepared for the shock the reading of the cable produced. Many of us knew that Munirih Khánum had looked
forward with eagerness to the time when she would rejoin her beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahã and we were aware she had reached a venerable
age; but this knowledge did not mitigate the deep sense of loss experienced by the departure of this noble and inspiring woman. We
realized one of the great souls of the Heroic Age of the Cause had passed on. The atmosphere of the gathering became instantly altered
and in the influx of the spirit that enveloped us, our hearts and our sympathetic thoughts became focused in Haifa with the Guardian
and the Holy Family. -
During the springtime of nineteen hundred and thirty-seven when our family had the honor of being the guests of Shoghi Effendi in
the Pilgrim House in Haifa, I took several informal snapshots of members of the Holy Family. These were shown to Munirih Khánum
and apparently interested her. Later on word was conveyed to me that she would be pleased to have me take her photograph.
On a subsequent afternoon I was asked to go to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s home, across the street from the Pilgrim House. There I had the honor
of being received by Zia Khánum

and of being presented to the Holy Mother and to the other ladies present who were gathered in the reception room in
the rear of the home. There during certain afternoons it is the custom of Zia Khánum and other ladies of the Holy
Family to receive Bahá’i ladies of Haifa and visiting pilgrims. On this occasion, as is usual at these gatherings, tea was
served, and the conversation related to Bahá’i matters.
For the photographs taken that afternoon a small camera lent by Ruhiyyih Khánum was mostly used and they are, in
reality, snapshot group pictures from which enlargements of Munirih Khánum were made.
The photographs have a historic value due to their being the only ones taken during the later years of her life. It was
almost unbelievable that at the time they were made Munirih Khánum had reached the venerable age of ninety-five.
On occasions during the meeting the Holy Mother spoke treasured words and chanted for us in a clear voice of great
beauty; it was indeed a great soul to whom we had the honor of listening. The rigors of a life in which great sufferings
and hardships had been experienced side by side with her beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, had failed to dim the sweetness of
character and sympathetic personality of this noble woman, the surviving member in the immediate article of the Holy
Family, of that great period in which the “Faith” had its inception.

October 1st, 1939.

W. S. MAXWELL

IN MEMORY OF MUNIRIH KHANUM A Tribute B CORINNE TRUE, Wilmette, Illinois

IT WAS in Februa7 of 1907 that I made my first trip to Palestine to visit ‘Abdu’lBahá while He was still confined in
the “Most Great Prison” at ‘Akká.
Our steamer arrived in the Bay of Haifa and we were taken to the quay in big boats propelled by Arab oarsmen. After
passing through the Turkish Customs we went by carriage to the Carmel House, a very old hotel kept by German
Adventists.
At Port Said on our way to Haifa, Ahmad

Effendi Yazdi came aboard our ship bringing with him an English lady, a Bahá’i, then living in Brittany, Madam
Scaramucci, who was also on her way to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. She and my daughter (Ama) and I finished the journey
together. We became the dearest of friends and were associated together in all the precious experiences of this
memorable pilgrimage.
Shortly after our first meal in the German Hospice in Haifa in the early evening, a

IS

4,
Monument erected on the site of the grave of Munirih Khánum, the wife of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, on Mt. Carmel, and beneath
the shadow of the resting place of Bahiyyih Khánum,
The Greatest Holy Leaf.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Fa
pict68.jpg

THE PASSING OF MUNIRIH KHANUM

note was delivered to us by a messenger from Cook’s Travel Bureau in Haifa. This note requested that we three stroll up the avenue a
few blocks where we were to be met by two Bahá’i brothers who would accompany us to the Master’s Haifa home, some six blocks
up the mountain from our hotel.
Such a night as this was; it was full moonlight, the weather was as balmy as May with flowers blooming everywhere! We met our two
Bahá’i escorts and they quietly guided us to ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s residence where first, as was the Oriental custom, we met a number of
Bahã’i men. They questioned us concerning the progress of the Cause in America and of our visit with the Egyptian Bahá’is whom we
had seen in Alexandria. In a short while these gentlemen excused themselves in order that we might meet the Ladies of the Holy
Household of ‘Abdu’lBahá. At this time one of the daughters of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Ruha Khánum, was living in the Master’s Haifa house
because the enemies had stirred up fresh trouble for ‘Abdu’lBahá in Constantinople, causing Him to be re-confined within the old
Penal Colony of ‘Akká for a period of four years. This was done by order of the Turkish government.
How thoughtful of our beloved Master to send His wife, the revered Munirih Khánum and the little grandson, Shoghi Effendi, together
with some other members of His Household, from ‘Akká to Haifa to welcome us! Those Bahá’is of today who may have known the
Master as a free man, can scarcely comprehend the emotions of the early pilgrims going to Palestine to visit the World’s Greatest
Prisoner, who for forty years had been confined in that terrible Penal Colony of ‘Akká, drawing not one breath of freedom! Had the
local authorities known who we were, our safety might have been in jeopardy. But God mercifully protected us from any harm, and
bestowed upon us the boundless favors of His shelter. We were permitted to have six days of indescribable joy associating with the
members of ‘Abdu’lBahá’s Household, with His wife and with His family. Words fail to depict to those who read what I write, the
emotions of our hearts! Scarcely had our feet walked upon the soil of the sacred Mount of God when we found ourselves the recipients
of ‘Abdu’l Bahá’

fatherly love and tenderness and were made the associates of His Holy Household. His wife had driven all the way from ‘Akká to
Haifa to greet us and to extend to us her most cordial welcome. It was the beloved Holy Mother, Munirih Khánum, who gave us our
first welcome.
The day after our arrival in Haifa we visited the Shrine of the Mb on the slope of Mt. Carmel, accompanied by the holy women, and
afterward we dined with them in the Master’s house.
Early on the second morning after our arrival a Bahá’i messenger came to the door of our room in the hotel and said: “The Master has
sent word from ‘Akkã that the three pilgrims are to hire a carraige and drive around the bay to His prison home in ‘Akká.” For six
days we were guests in this home and daily saw the Holy Mother and the Master’s Sister, the Greatest Holy Leaf, and with them the
Master’s daughters. Very early in the mornings we were permitted to meet in the large reception room where the beloved ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá and His Family would gather together for an hour of communion. The Master would ask different members of the family to
chant the Holy Utterances of Bahá’u’lláh and always the motherly presence of Munirih Rhanum filled the atmosphere of that room
with the benediction of her great mother heart. She seemed the personification of Universal Motherhood—indeed the “Holy Mother.”
When I was standing beside her one morning the dear Master came and placed my hand in hers, and looking into my face said in
English: “She is your Mother.”
When the hour for leaving this sacred prison home of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã came and we had to return to America, it seemed as if our hearts
would break to have to say “good-bye” to these divinely precious members of the Holy Family! We wept, and they wept with us —
because of this parting. Through this sacred visit we had found a Heavenly Father in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and a Heavenly Mother in His
wife, Munirih Khanum.
In November 1919, after a period of seven years, I was again permitted to make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land; this time under very
different circumstances. The

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Turkish government had now passed from the hands of the Sultan, having been wrested therefrom by the Young Turk
Party of Progress. One of the first acts of this new government was to give ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ His freedom, which meant
also the liberation of His entire family.
The British forces commanded by General Allenby had but lately delivered Palestine from the hands of the Turks and
the Holy Family had all moved to Haifa, where life was fairly comfortable after the terrific rigors of imprisonment for
so many years.
During this second Pilgrimage we were permitted more intimate association with the Greatest Holy Leaf and the Holy
Mother, Munirih Khánum. Almost daily we were received by them in the Master’s garden where questions were asked
and instructions given to us, clearing up many things that had puzzled the American friends. Here we saw this beloved
wife of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã as a most wonderful teacher, and through her we grew in the knowledge of the Cause. In the
early days one of the greatest privileges of the visiting women pilgrims was this intimate association with these two
divine maid- servants of Bahá’u’lláh, Bahiyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf, and Munirih Khánum, the Holy
Mother. We seldom saw one without the other.
These holy women had sacrificed everything to be the companions of Bahá’u’lláh

and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Their imprisonment. Could we have found in all the world a greater privilege than this: to sit at
the feet of these holy women; to hear from them, first hand, the thrilhng recital of their prison lives, of how God had
sustained them when deprived of the very necessities of life; and to learn that they regarded this prison life with the
Blessed Perfection and ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ as infinitely more valuable to them than all the comforts and luxuries of life!
These women are God’s great heroines and we were indeed conscious of the great privileges that were granted us in
their presence. The seeds of conviction that were born in our souls by this association planted roots of faith that assisted
everyone to return to the outside world and lift the Banner of the Greatest Name before the eyes of all.
On our second visit we saw Munirih Khánum not only as a Universal Mother loving every child of God, but as a great
teacher and expounder of the principles of Bahã’u’lláh. She was a teacher who lived these principles before our eyes.
Religious history has never known greater examples than these of devotion and sacrifice to God’s Holy Messengers!
Should we praise God throughout the coming centuries, we could not render praise sufficient for the priceless spiritual
heritage bequeathed to us by these holy women. They are the archetypes for the Bahá’i womanhood of the world.

A LOVING TRIBUTE FROM AUSTRALIA
lYE UNIRIH KHANUM! How well beloved a name throughout the Bahá’i world! The unique circumstances of
her birth seemed to foretell she was destined to hold an honored position in the history of the Bahã’i Faith. This
prophecy was fulfilled when she was chosen to be the loved and honored wife of our Beloved Master, ‘Abdu’lBahá.
With radiant acquiescence she shared with Him the vicissitudes, trials and tribulations that were His lot during the long
surveillance under the strict ttTurkish Regime” in the “walled City of ‘Akká.” How her heart must have rejoiced when,
through the overthrowing of the Ottoman Government, it was made possible for friends

to come from different lands to freely visit and converse with her.
Pilgrims from East and West, during their sojourn in Haifa, will always remember those happy hours spent in her
company. They will ever picture in their mind their first meeting with her in the Master’s drawing- room. They will see
her seated beside her beloved sister-in-law Bahiyyih Khãnum (the Greatest Holy Leaf) in company with members of
her family and the women and children of the Bahá’i Community; they will recall her sweet eager face as they entered
her presence, and they will hear her melodious voice welcoming and bidding them be seated near her.

THE PASSING OF MUNIRIH KHANUM

Always assuring herself first regarding their physical health and bodily comfort, she would then revert to the theme
uppermost in her mind, and eagerly inquire about the progress of the Bahá’i Faith in the land from whence they came,
and as they related the various activities and spread of the Teachings there, her spiritually illumined face would become
radiant with joy.
She loved to gather the women and children around her, and in her sweet voice chant with them the Holy Words and
the poems written in praise of her Beloved One.
She was a true exemplar of a faithful follower of Bahá’u’lláh, so firm and steadfast was she in His Covenant and
Testament. Her radiant spirit was ever ready for the call of death, and gladly winged its flight to the “Realms of the
Supreme Concourse” to join her loved ones there. The members of her family, those who were so intimately connected
with her, and the many pilgrims whose privilege it was to meet her, found in her passing a very difficult experience to
face. It was as though they were asked to play a chord in the “Great Symphony of

Life” which was too difficult for them. The rhythm seemed suddenly broken, the theme abruptly ended, but in that pause, listening
ears heard the “Great Conductor’s” voice say, “Play on! ‘tis part of the harmony. I have made death a messenger of joy to thee.
Wherefore dost thou grieve?” So once again we take up the theme, and with vibrant strings play sweet harmonious chords, singing in
unison, “There is no death! There is no death!”
On the slopes of Carmel (God’s Holy Mount) the mortal remains of Munirih Khánum were lovingly laid to rest near the tomb of her
loved and revered sister-in-law Bahiyyih Khãnum (the Greatest Holy Leaf), and not far distant from the Holy Tomb where lie the
sacred remains of the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ.
Down through the ages thousands of pilgrims will visit her resting place, and standing with bowed heads, reverently and fervently will
pray: “0 God! 0 God! Assist us with the Hosts of the Supreme Concourse, and make us firm and steadfast in the Covenant and
Testament.”
—EFFIE E. BAKER

Her Late Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania.
The inscription reads: “To Shoghi Effendi with a message of love and faith. Marie.”

R
I

a

I
tO
pict69.jpg

A WOMAN brought me the other day
a Book. I spell it with a capital letter because it is a glorious Book of love and goodness, strength and beauty.
She gave it to me because she had learned I was in grief and sadness and wanted to help. . . She put it into my hands saying:
“You seem to live up to His teachings.” And when I opened the Book I saw it was the word of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, prophet of love and
kindness, and of His Father the great teacher of international good-will and understanding—of a religion which links all creeds.
Their writings are a great cry toward peace, reaching beyond all limits of frontiers, above all dissension about rites and dogmas. It is a
religion based upon the inner spirit of God, upon that great, not-to-be- overcome verity that God is love, meaning just that. It teaches
that all hatreds, intrigues, suspicions, evil words, all aggressive patriotism even, are outside the one essential law of God, and that
special beliefs are but surface things whereas the heart that beats with divine love knows no tribe nor race.
It is a wondrous Message that Bahá’u’llah and His Son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have given us! They have not set it up aggressively, know-

ing that the germ of eternal truth which lies at its core cannot but take root and spread.
There is only one great verity in it: Love, the mainspring of every energy, tolerance towards each other, desire of understanding each
other, knowing each other, helping each other, forgiving each other.
It is Christ’s Message taken up anew, in the same words almost, but adapted to the thousand years and more difference that lies
between the year one and today. No man could fail to be better because of this Book.
I commend it to you all. If ever the name of Baha u llah or Abdu l-Baha comes to your attention, do not put Their writings from you.
Search out Their Books, and let Their glorious, peace-bringing, love-creating words and lessons sink into your hearts as they have into
mine.
One’s busy day may seem too full for religion. Or one may have a religion that satisfies. But the teachings of these gentle, wise and
kindly men are compatible with all religion, and with no religion.
Seek them, and be the happier.”
(From the Toronto Daily Star, May 4,

1926.)

2.

Of course, if you take the stand that creation has no aim, it is easy to dismiss life
VI
THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE
OF RUMANIA
WORDS OF BAHA’U’LLAH
t’We cherish the hope that one of the kings of the earth will, for the sake of God, arise for the triumph of
this wronged, this oppressed people. Such a king will be eternally extolled and glorified. . . .“
TRIBUTES PAID BY QUEEN MARIE OF RUMANIA TO THE BAHAI
FAITH

THE BAHA’! WORLD

and death with a shrug and a “that ends it all; nothing comes after.”
But how difficult it is so to dismiss the universe, our world, the animal and vegetable world, and man. How clearly one sees a plan in
everything. How unthinkable it is that the miraculous development that has brought man’s body, brain and spirit to what it is, should
cease. Why should it cease? Why is it not logical that it goes on? Not the body, which is only an instrument, but the invisible spark or
fire within the body which makes man one with the wider plan of creation.
My words are lame, and why should I grope for meanings when I can quote from One who has said it so much more plainly, ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá, Who I know would sanction the use of His words:
“The whole physical creation is perishable. Material bodies are composed of atoms. When these atoms begin to separate,
decomposition sets in. Then comes what we call death.
“This composition of atoms which constitutes the body or mortal element of any created being, is temporary. When the power of
attraction which holds these atoms together is withdrawn, the body as such ceases to exist.
“With the soul it is different. The soul is not a combination of elements, is not composed of many atoms, is of one indivisible
substance and therefore eternal.
“It is entirely out of the order of physical creation; it is immortal! The soul, being an invisible, indivisible substance, can suffer neither
disintegration nor destruction. Therefore there is no reason for its coming to an end.
“Consider the aim of creation: Is it possible that all is created to evolve and develop though countless ages with merely this small goal
in view—a few years 0f man’s life on earth? Is it not unthinkable that this should be the final aim of existence? Does a man cease to
exist when he leaves his body? If his life comes to an end, then all previous evolution is useless. All has been for nothing. All those
eons of evolution for nothing! Can we imagine that creation had no greater aim than this?
“The very existence of man’s intelligence

proves his immortality. His intelligence is the intermediary between his body and his spirit. When man allows his spirit,
through his soul, to enlighten his understanding, then does he contain all creation; because man being the culmination
of all that went before, and thus superior to all previous evolutions, contains all the lower already- evolved world
within himself. Illumined by the spirit through the instrumentality of the soul, man’s radiant intelligence makes him the
crowning-point of creation!”
Thus does ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explain to us the soul—the most convincing elucidation I know.
(From the Toronto Daily Star, September 28, 1926.)
3.
At first we all conceive of God as something or somebody apart from ourselves. We think He is something or
somebody definite, outside of us, whose quality, meaning and so-to-say “personality” we can grasp with our human,
finite minds, and express in mere words.
This is not so. We cannot, with our earthly faculties, entirely grasp His meaning
—any more than we can really understand the meaning of Eternity.
God is certainly not the old Fatherly gentleman with the long beard that in our childhood we saw pictured sitting
amongst clouds on the throne of judgment, holding the lightning of vengeance in His hand.
God is something simpler, happier, and yet infinitely more tremendous. God is All, Everything. He is the Power behind
all beings. He is the inexhaustible source of supply, of love, of good, of progress, of achievement. God is therefore
Happiness.
His is the voice within us that shows us good and evil.
But mostly we ignore or misunderstand this voice. Therefore did He choose his Elect to come down amongst us upon
earth to make clear His word, His real meaning. Therefore the Prophets; therefore Christ, Muhammad, Bahá’u’llãh, for
man needs from time to time a voice upon earth to bring God to him, to sharpen the realization of the existence of the
true God. Those voices sent to us had to become flesh, so that

THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE

with our earthly ears we should be able to hear and understand.
Those who read their Bible with “peeled” eyes will find in almost every line some revelation. But it takes long life,
suffering or some sudden event to tear all at once the veil from our eyes, so that we can truly see.
Sorrow and suffering are the surest and also the most common instructors, the straightest channel to God—that is to
say, to that inner something within each of us which is God.
Happiness beyond all understanding comes with this revelation that God is within us, if we will but hsten to His voice.
We need not seek Him in the clouds. He is the All- Father whence we came and to Whom we shall return when, having
done with this earthly body, we pass onward.
If I have repeated myself forgive me. There are so many ways of saying things, but what is important is the Truth
which lies in all the many ways of expressing it.
(From the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Monday, September 27, 1926.)
4.
“Lately a great hope has come to me from one, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. I have found in His and His Father, Bahá’u’lláh’s
Message of Faith all my yearning for real religion satisfied. If you ever hear of Bahá’is or of the Bahá’i Movement
which is known in America, you will know what that is. What I mean: these Books have strengthened me beyond belief
and I am now ready to die any day full of hope. But I pray God not to take me away

yet for I still have a lot of work to do.”
5.
“The Bahá’i teaching brings peace and understanding.
“It is hke a wide embrace gathering together all those who have long searched for words of hope.
“It accepts all great prophets gone before, it destroys no other creeds and leaves all doors open.
“Saddened by the continual strife amongst believers of many confessions and wearied of their intolerence towards each
other, I discovered in the ]3ahã’i teaching the real spirit of Christ so often denied and misunderstood.
“Unity instead of strife, hope instead of condemnation, love instead of hate, and a great reassurance for all men.”
6.
“The Bahá’i teaching brings peace to the soul and hope to the heart.
“To those in search of assurance the words of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering.” 1934.
7.
“More than ever today when the world is facing such a crisis of bewilderment and unrest, must we stand firm in Faith
seeking that which binds together instead of tearing asunder.
“To those searching for light, the Bahá’i Teachings offer a star which will lead them to deeper understanding, to
assurance, peace and good will with all men.” 1936.
about giving it expression. She was at the time in bitter need, in profound, overwhelming sorrow. The sweetness, the
tenderness, the depth of sympathy and helpfulness which she found at once in boundless measure in the Divine
Message made an instantaneous appeal and opened her heart to seek and welcome the knowledge of its mani 3

QUEEN MARIE OF RUMANIA AND THE BAHJVf FAITH
1\.MONG the Bahá’i treasures in the International Bahá’i Archives at Haifa there lies an exquisite and precious brooch,
preserved as a memorial of the first of the queens of the world who recognized and acknowledged the Revelation of
Bahá’u’lláh.
Queen Marie of Rumania did not hesitate about this recognition nor was she diffident

THE BAHA’I WORLD

fold beauty and truth. She felt the precious, warm loving-kindness of the Heavenly Teachers, the perfection of their understanding.
Her soul was satisfied. Here at last was that for which she had hungered. Here was peace, the reality of peace: a breath upon a fevered
world from that guarded inner shrine where peace has its inviolate home.
She was in bitter need. Those who were near and dear to her surrounded her with love and sympathy and consolations; for they too
knew grief and pain and felt with one who suffered so acutely as she. But anguish of spirit had awakened in her a desire for something
other than the sincerest human condolence. She faced the mystery of death and love. No word, no touch, however gentle, that came
only from a knowledge of this fleeting human life could suffice her now. Loneliness had broken the hold of earth on her. She longed,
as she had never longed before, for God.
And God came.
Jesus Christ divided those to whom the Divine Message is communicated into four classes: those who are too self-absorbed to receive
any impression, those who are able to receive only a shallow impression, and those who are deeply impressed by the truth but are also
impressed by things not true, and finally those who are single-minded in the love and service of truth. It was the unique distinction of
Queen Marie that, living in a special sphere where the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are at their maximum, she
accepted and held fast to the New Revelation. She was the first to walk in that narrow path in which, when it is made broader, all the
kings and queens and rulers of the earth will follow her.
The time of an Advent is and ever has been an epoch of the severest test for humanity. “Who may abide the day of His coming?” cried
the ancient prophet; “and who shall stand when He appeareth?” For none is the test so hard as for the great and rich. “Know ye in
truth,” said Bahá’u’llãh, “that wealth is a mighty barrier between the seeker and his desire, the lover and his beloved. The rich, but for
a few, shall in no wise attain the court of His presence nor enter the city of content and resignation.” For none among the great and
rich is the

test so hard as for royalty. Alone among those of royal blood, alone among her sister- queens, Marie of Rumania
recognized the dawning of the Day of Days and acclaimed in Bahá’u’llah the glory of the Father. Theref ore this signal
privilege has been accorded her; and the ornament which she presented as a sign of gratitude to the Bahá’i teacher who
brought her the Divine message is honored with a place among the holy relics of the early heroes of the Cause who first
upheld among man the Banner of the Manifest King of Kings.
Marie, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, was born in the purple; but she had this special distinction that in
her veins ran the blood of the only two royalties to whom Bahá’u’llah, when He announced His Advent to the world’s
rulers, addressed words of commendation. She was on her mother’s side the granddaughter of Czar Alexander II, who
abolished serfdom, and on her father’s side of Queen Victoria; both of whom Bahá’u’llah addressed in words different
from the stern or minatory terms used by Him towards the King of Prussia, the Emperors of Austria and France, and the
Sultan of Turkey and the Shah of Persia.
She was herself an outstanding and radiant personality, vigorous and daring, devoted to idealistic and humanitarian
projects. A traveler who in 1909, before her accession to the throne, visited her summer home in Sinaia, Rumania, at a
time when it was unoccupied by her, wrote afterwards in The Baha”I Magazine:
“We were deeply impressed with the spiritual atmosphere of her living apartment furnished largely with her own
handiwork, the carving of the furniture, the paintings, the beautiful altar, all made by herself and all indicative of a
deeply spiritual nature. Her books, her thoughts, as one gleaned in a hasty passage through her home, were such as to
indicate the kind and spiritual ruler she has become.”
After her death, an old friend who had known her since they played as girls together in Malta in 1888 wrote of her as
follows:
“No one who ever had the privilege of personal or intimate acquaintance with Queen Marie could fail to be impressed
by the greatness of her mind and spirit. Her

THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE

own life story reveals so well her ardent and joyous nature, the depth of feeling that accompanied every thought and action.
The world is the poorer for the passing of such a noble lady, and a blank, impossible to fill, is left in the lives of those who knew her
personally. She had passed through and suffered so much, even her wonderful health was too sorely tried and we must be thankful in
spite of the great loss to us all that she is at rest and spared any further suffering. Her spirit is surely near us still and we must try to
follow her noble example of great endurance and courage to face whatever may await us in these troublous times.”
LSL5AN MCNEJLL, World Order IV. 10.
The first tidings of the Bahã’i Teaching were brought to her in the early days of 1926 when her Majesty was in Bucharest and owing
to personal sorrow was living in retirement. Martha Root, the best known of the pioneers of the Faith of Bahã’u’lláh, sent her a short
note with a copy of Dr. Esslemont’s Baha”u’lla’h and the New Era. The Queen accepted the book and was at once so keenly
interested by its message that she sat up over it into the small hours, and the next morning she sent an invitation to Martha to visit her
in the Palace on the following day at twelve o’clock.
So quick and strong was the impression made through that interview that the Queen gave it utterance that same year in many ways
public as well as private. She found a ready response to her enthusiasm in her young daughter Ileana, afterwards Archduchess Anton,
to whom she taught these truths. She wrote to an American friend of hers in Paris, “I have found all my yearnings for real religion
satisfied. . . . I am now ready to die any day full of hope; but I pray God not to take me away yet for I still have a lot of work to do.”
(BAHA’I WORLD VI. 580)
In May and in September 1926 The Toronto Daily Star published from her pen two glowing tributes to the Bahá’i Faith. “It is a
wondrous Message,” she wrote, “that Bahã’u’lláh and His son ‘Abdu’l-Bahã have given us. They have not set it up aggressively,
knowing that the germ of eternal
truth which lies at its core cannot but take root and spread. . . . I commend it to you all. If ever the name of Bahá’u’llâh or ‘Abdu’l-Bahã
comes to your attention, do not put Their writings from you. Search out Their books and let Their glorious peace- bringing, lovecreating words and lessons sink into your hearts as they have into mine.”
To the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin in September the same year she contributed an article on the Faith in the course of which
she testified expressly to her acceptance of the truth of a succession of Revelations, a succession of Prophets—”Christ, Muhammad,
Bahá’u’lláh,” she wrote; continuing, “those voices [of God) sent to us had to become flesh so that with our earthly ears we should be
able to hear and understand.
These three articles being syndicated were printed in nearly two hundred American newspapers, and afterwards appeared in several
newspapers in the East.
The Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause gratefully acknowledged these spontaneous appreciations. “Moved by an irresistible impulse,” he
wrote in the Bahá”i World for 1926-8, “I addressed her Majesty in the name of the Bahá’is of both East and West a written expression
of our joyous admiration and gratitude for the queenly tribute which her Majesty has paid to the beauty and nobility of the Bahá’i
Teachings. . . .“
The following is the letter which he received in reply:
Bran, August 27th, 1926.
Dear Sir,
I was deeply moved on reception of your letter.
Indeed a great light came to me with the message of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. It came as all great messages come at an hour of
dire grief and inner conflict and distress, so the seed sank deeply.
My youngest daughter finds also great strength and comfort in the teachings of the beloved masters.
We pass on the message from mouth to mouth and all those we give it to see a light

THE BAHA’I WORLD

suddenly lighting before them and much that was obscure and perplexing becomes simple, luminous and full of hope as never before.
That my open letter was balm to those suffering for the Cause is indeed a great happiness to me, and I take it as a sign that God
accepted my humble tribute.
The occasion given me to be able to express myself publicly was also His work. For indeed it was a chain of circumstances of which
each link led me unwittingly one step further, till suddenly all was clear before my eyes and I understood why it had been.
Thus does He lead us finally to our ultimate destiny.
Some of those of my cast wonder at and disapprove my courage to step forward pronouncing words not habitual for crowned Heads to
pronounce, but I advance by an inner urge I cannot resist.
With bowed head I recognize that I too am but an instrument in greater Hands, and rejoice in the knowledge.
Little by little the veil is lifting, grief tore it in two. And grief was also a step leading me ever nearer truth, therefore do I not cry out
against grief!
May you and those beneath your guidance be blessed and upheld by the sacred strength of those gone before you. MARIE.
ELetter addressed to the Guardian by H.M. Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania.]
Martha Root also wrote to her Majesty, and in the reply which she received were these words: “. . . The beautiful truth of Bahá’u’lláh is
with me always, a help and an inspiration. What I wrote was because my heart overflowed with gratitude for the revelation you
brought me. I am happy if you think I helped. I thought it might bring truth nearer because my words are read by so many. . . .“
In the following year (1927) her Majesty gave another audience to Martha Root; a third audience in 1928 when with her daughter the
Princess Ileana she was the guest of the Queen of Yugoslavia in Belgrade; and a fourth in 1929 in the Summer Palace at Balci6. She
contributed an encomium of the Cause, charged with warm

feeling and beautifully expressed, to the fourth volume of the Bahá’i World; and another more brief but not less significant to the fifth
volume. “The Bahi’i Teaching,” she wrote, “brings peace to the soul and hope to the heart. To those in search of assurance the words
of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering.
It had been for some time her Majesty’s wish and aspiration to visit in person the sacred shrines upon Mount Carmel and to meet in
person Shoghi Effendi. In the year 1931 the opportunity, as it seemed, arrived. Accompanied by her youngest daughter her Majesty
travelled to the Holy Land and arrived at Haifa with the intention of fulfilling her cherished desire. But fate had ruled otherwise.
Unfriendly influences intervened. She did not reach her goal. In a sad letter to Martha Root dated June 2 8th, 1931, she told of her
frustration and of the unwelcome pressure to which she had been subjected.
“Both Ileana and I,” she wrote, “were cruelly disappointed at having been prevented going to the holy Shrines and meeting Shoghi
Effendi; but at that time we were going through a cruel crisis and every movement I made was being turned against me and being
politically exploited in an unkind way. It caused me a good deal of suffering and curtailed my liberty most unkindly. .
But the beauty of truth remains and I cling to it through all the vicissitudes of a life become rather sad.”
Early in 1934 her Majesty again received Martha Root in audience in the Controceni Palace in Bucharest and expressed her delight
that the Rumanian translation of Baha”n’lldh and the New Era had just been published in Bucharest and that her people were
to have the blessing of reading this precious Teaching. In the course of the interview the Queen told of an incident which had
happened in Hamburg some months earlier when she was en route to Iceland. As she was driving down the street a girl tossed into the
car a little note, and when her Majesty opened it she read the message, “I am so glad to see you in Hamburg because you are a
Bahá’i.”
Martha Root’s sixth and final interview

THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE

took place in February 1936 in the same Palace, and was in some respects the most touching and significant of all. Her Majesty spoke
of various Bahã’i books, for she used to purchase them as they came off the press. She spoke of the depth of the fqãn, and of the
wonderful radiant force of Gleanings frcnn the Writings of Bahd’u’lldh. “Even doubters,” she said, “would find a powerful
strength in it if they could read it alone and would give their souls time to expand.” She told how in London she had met a Bahá’i,
Lady Blomfield, who had shown her the message that Bahá’u’lláh had sent to her Grandmother, Queen Victoria. She told, too, of a
dear friend of her girlhood who lived in ‘Akká, Palestine, and knew Shoghi Effendi and had sent from there pictures of ‘Akká and
Haifa. This friend (Mrs. McNeill) published afterwards a letter which the Queen wrote to her at this time:
“Dear ‘little’ Lilian,” it began, “it was indeed nice to hear from you and to think that you are of all things living near Haifa and are, as
I am, a follower of the Bahá’i Teachings. It interests me that you are living in that special house; the Teachers so loved flowers, and
being English, I can imagine what a lovely garden you have made in that Eastern climate. I was so intensely interested and studied
each photo intently. It must be a lovely place and those southeastern landscapes and gardens attract me with a sort of homesickness
ever since our Malta days. And the house you live in, so incredibly attractive and made precious by its associations with the Man we
all venerate. . .
Four days after this, the Queen sent for THE BAHA’i WORLD, her last public tribute to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. It was in due
course reproduced in facsimile as a frontispiece to Volume VI, 1936-38, and runs as follows:
“More than ever today when the world is facing such a crisis of bewilderment and unrest, must we stand firm in Faith seeking that
which binds together instead of tearing asunder. To those searching for light, the Bahá’i Teachings offer a star which will lead them to
deeper understanding, to assurance, peace and goodwill with all men.
MARIE, 1936.”

The end was drawing near. Her health undermined by her many troubles began to fail. After some months of illness, in
July, 1938 she passed away, and leaving this world where for all her royal rank she had known so much of grief and
tears she entered that Great Beyond of which she had thought so often and so deeply.
Her death and obsequies were attended with all the ceremonial that befits the passing of a Queen. But who can tell what
was the greeting that awaited her on the other side where she learned in an instant how true had been her intuitions of
the manifestation of God and where she saw unobscured now by any mortal veil the white eternal splendour of the
Truth that she, alone among the earth’s queens, had risen to acclaim.
The Guardian of the Cause and the Bahá’is generally recognized the distinction of her spiritual station and the greatness
of her service to the Cause. In July, 193 8 the Guardian on behalf of all the Bahá’is sent a message of condolence to her
daughter the Queen of Yougoslavia to which her Majesty replied expressing “sincere thanks to all Bahá’i followers.”
To the Memorial Service held in the Cathedral of Washington, D. C., U. S. A. the Bahá’is of the United States and
Canada sent a tribute of flowers. The following sentences are from an account of that ceremony:
“On July 25th, 1938, the first anniversary of the death of Queen Marie of Rumania, an impressive memorial service
was held in her honor at the Cathedral of Washington in the national capital of the United States. In Bethlehem Chapel
on this mid-summer afternoon national dignitaries and humble citizens paid loving tribute to a royal personage whose
name stands out with an especial lustre in the history of her time. The spiritual beauty of the service expressed the
character of this noble Queen—the first member of royalty to embrace the Faith of Bahã’u’lláh.
“Arranged by the Rumanian Minister Radu Irimescu, the service was conducted by the Reverend Doctor Anson Phelps
Stokes, canon of the Cathedral and former Secretary of Yale University. Among the diplomatists present were the
British, French

THE BAHA’I WORLD

and Italian Ambassadors and representatives of other European embassies and legations. The Secretary of State,
Honorable Cordell Hull, headed the American delegation which included government officials and representatives of
the Army and Navy.
“Directly opposite the altar in this intimate chapel stood the imposing floral tribute ‘from the Bahá’i Friends of
America’—a cross ten feet in height with a nine- pointed star at its centre. This emblem was designed by Charles
Mason Remey and presented in consultation with the National Spiritual Assembly. It was beside the Bahá’i tribute that
the Rumanian Minister stood at the conclusion of the service to greet the audience as they passed out, according to the
continental custom on such occasions.
“Not only did Queen Marie as the Dowager Queen of Rumania attest her faith in the Divine Cause through private
letters; she claimed the spiritual bounty of calling the Teachings to the attention of others.”
In these dark and troublous times, this Day (or is it not rather this Night?) of Judgment, when there is no open vision
and when the gift of spirituality is not esteemed, the connection of Queen Marie with the Bahá’i Faith may seem to be
but a small matter, the least episode among the multifarious activities of a crowded and brilliant life. But when this
sleep in which the world’s soul is shrouded ends at last; when
men’s spirits awakening behold the glories and the bounties and the opportunities that have lain about them, unwelcome and
unregarded, all these many years, then they will look back upon the past with a new and horrified understanding. They will gaze with
amazement and indignation and pity upon the incorrigible blindness of the mighty ones of Europe who despite the manifold warnings
of God led their people through misery upon misery and flung them at last into the ultimate abyss of war. But amidst that universal
darkness of failure and misrule that fills the palaces and chancelleries of the world men will see one solitary light shining in lone
splendor and will acknowledge the true majesty of that one redeeming soul whose high faith caught and reflected far the glory of the
breaking Dawn of God.
In later times, when the prophecies of the Bible are fulfilled openly before the eyes of all, when the New Jerusalem established in the
top of the mountains and “the nations of them that are saved walk in its light and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into
it”; then men will see treasured among the sacred relics of the first champions of the Bahá’i Faith one royal ornament, a brooch of
silver and diamond, the memorial of the first Queen who recognized and acclaimed the Glory of Bahá’u’lláh; and the name and the
deed of Queen Marie of Rumania will be on the lips of men forever. GEORGE TOwN5HEND

TREASURED MEMORIES
B LILIAN MCNEILL

IN AN article written by Martha L. Root in World Order, June, 1936, giving an account of various visits to Her (late) Majesty
Queen Marie of Rumania, I found the following passage: “What a memorable visit it was! She told me she has a friend in ‘Akká,
Palestine, who knows Shoghi Elfendi, and this friend has recently sent her Bahá’i pictures of ‘Akká and Haifa. The two were
playfellows when they were children and met in Malta.”
I have the great happiness of being that

friend and I would like Bahá’is all over the world to share with me some treasured memories.
In the winter of 1888-89, five happy little girls played together in the lovely, sunlit orange gardens of the palace of San Antonio,
Malta. They were the four daughters of H. R. H. the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, afterwards Duke of Saxe-
Coburg-Gotha, who was at that time the Commander in Chief of the British fleet in the Mediterranean; and my-

THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE

self, daughter of Major Harry Barron, Royal Artillery, in later years Major General Sir Harry Barron, Governor of
Malta for a short period, and then successively Governor of Tasmania and of Western Australia.
Our ages ranged from thirteen years to five. I was youngest but one, and being rather delicate, on account of a fall from
a pony, could not indulge in the wildest of the games and was taken great care of by the elder sisters, and always called
“little” Lilian, a name used ever afterward by Queen Marie.
When in due course we all left Malta, our games were renewed in the gardens of Buckingham Palace and at Clarendon
House, their home in London. But we all always treasured those Malta days in our memories as a dream of happiness
unforgettable. Those times are fully described in Queen Marie’s book, Story of My Life. We all married very young
and our ways lay apart for many years, though we kept in touch.
Queen Marie and I were reunited in close affection through the Bahã’i teachings, with which we both became
acquainted about the same time, she in Rumania, I in Palestine.
Nearly ten years ago, making a voyage of discovery in this neighborhood, across country where then only the roughest
of tracks existed, I came upon an old house, neglected, sosue parts almost ruinous. Two gigantic cypress trees, said to
be hundreds of years old, stand sentinel beside it. An inside courtyard was surrounded by a thick, high wall. Outside
was a little paved terrace through which flows the aqueduct which supplies the orange gardens and the town of ‘Akká,
and steps leading down to further terraces of gardens. There was a Bedouin family living in a tent in the garden, and the
olive pickers from a village near Carmel had been allowed to live in the lower floor of the house three winters running
during the olive harvest, so the state of the place can be imagined!
Nevertheless I saw the possibilities and the poor old house with its vaulted lower rooms had an intense and almost
weird fascination for me.
This is how I found the house which in Dr. Esslemont’s book, Baha”u’lla’h and the New Era, is described as the
“palace of

Mazra’ih.” There Bahá’u’llãh and the whole family lived for about two years after leaving the town of ‘Akká before the Mansion of
Bahji became their residence. (In a somewhat similar manner and at much the same time, Queen Marie discovered her castle in
Transylvania that she called “Brana the Beloved.”)
It was in May, 1931 when my husband retired from Government service that we took a lease of this house and it was our great
privilege to be able to restore it, and make a garden — a proper setting for a dwelling with such sacred associations. Although we found
it a good deal altered on the second floor from its condition at the time when Bahã’u’llih lived there, the main features are unchanged,
the vaulted rooms on the ground floor particularly.
There is a rough cement floor in the room downstairs which was BahI’u’-lláh’s own special room. This I left as I found it, in the belief
that His feet may have trodden it.
Queen Marie was greatly interested in all we had done to the house, and we always hoped it would be possible for her to come here.
This is our “jubilee” year, fifty years this autumn (1938) since we first met, and we had hoped somehow for a reunion. But her serious
illness and the unsettled state of this country (Palestine) made it impossible to plan, and now .
No one who ever had the privilege of personal or intimate acquaintance with Queen Marie could fail to be impressed by the greatness
of her mind and spirit. Her own life story reveals so well her ardent and joyous nature, the depth of feeling that accompanied every
thought and action. Professor Seton-Watson in his History of the Roumanians has paid eloquent tribute to her heroism, devotion
and courage in the Great War. Nobody is perfect and there are always critics, but I generally notice that the latter are almost invariably
people who had never come into personal contact with her or perhaps never even seen her at a distance. What she did for Rumania is
now history and can be best glimpsed in the touching last message to her people. The world is the poorer for the passing of such a
noble lady, and a blank, impossible to

THE BAHA’I WORLD

fill, is left in the lives of those who knew her personally. She had passed through and suffered so much, even her
wonderful health was too sorely tried and we must be thankful in spite of the great loss to us all that she is at rest and
spared any further suffering. Her spirit is surely near us still and we must try to follow her noble example of great
endurance and courage to face whatever may await us in these troublous

times.

The following extracts are taken from various letters to myself in recent years, and through these her own words we
surely can feel that Queen Marie speaks to every one of us.
“Dear ‘little’ Lilian, it was indeed nice to hear from you and to think that you are of all things living near Haifa and are,
like me, a follower of the Bahi’i teachings. It interests me that you are living in that special house; the Teachers so
loved flowers, and being English, I can imagine what a lovely garden you have made in that Eastern climate. I was so
intensely interested and studied each photo intently. It must be a lovely place and those south-eastern landscapes and
gardens attract me with a sort of homesickness ever since our Malta days. And the house you live in, so incredibly
attractive and made precious by its associations with the Man we all venerate. Cer 5

tainly the times we live in are not easy to understand for those who were brought up as we were. So much has been overthrown, so
many conceptions been changed. The methods used today are different from those in our times, and I refrain from criticism though I
cannot always admire. Everything seems to have become so much more vulgar somehow, so mercenary, so wanting in a fine ideal.
Also money has changed hands, the rich of today are another class. Life has been hard on royalty ever since the war, and yet countries
do not seem to have become more prosperous without them. Times are troubled, alas, and this unfortunate
war (Ethiopian) has made all things so inflammable and events seem so out of control that one cannot help being anxious.
“And yet who wants war? . . . Who could stand a war today materially or even morally? I really hope that I shall die before there is
another war!
“I lead a very quiet life, my household has become small, but I have the feeling of being well loved in the country. My people and I
are old associates, we have shared good and bad through forty-three years, and that counts!
ttj wonder if I shall ever travel your way again? For the present I have no plans, I sit still and watch the black clouds, and pray for
peace. With love and blessing, MARIE.”

QUEEN MARIE OF RUMANIA
B MARTHA L. ROOT

“How great the blessedness that awaits the king who will arise to aid My Cause in My Kingdom, who will detach
himself from all else but Me! Such a king is numbered with the companions of the Crimson Ark—the Ark which God
has prepared for the people of Ba/n!. All must glorify his name, must reverence his station, and aid him to unlock the
cities with the keys of My Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the visible and invisible kingdoms. Such a
king is the very eye of mankind, the luminous ornament on

the brow of creation, the fountain-head of blessings unto the whole world. Offer up, 0 people of Baha’, your substance,
nay, your very lives, for his assistance.”
HE first Queen of the world to study and to promote Bahá’u’lláh’s great Teachings has been Her Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania,
one of the queens of this twentieth century who stands highest in intellect, in vision, in clear understanding of the
‘Gleanings from the Writhigs of Bahâ’u’llâh, p. 212.
THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE

new universal epoch now opening. Her Majesty received the book Bahá’u’lla’h and the New Era by Dr. J. E.
Esslemont and a note from the writer of this article who first visited Bucharest, Rumania, in January, 1926. The
Rumanian Queen, grand-daughter of the renowned Queen Victoria of the British Empire and of Czar Alexander II of
Russia, both of whom received Tablets from Bahá’u’llãh in their day, read this volume until three o’clock in the
morning and two days later, on January 30, 1926, received me in audience in Controceni Palace, in Bucharest. Her first
words after the greeting were, “I believe these Teachings are the solution for the world’s problems today!” The account
of that historic morning appeared in The Bahd’I Magazine in Washington, in June, 1926, but very illuminating letters
written by Her Majesty that same year show how deep was her confirmation. Here is one written to her loved friend
Loie Fuller, an American then residing in Paris, which after these ten years can be published for the first time:
“Lately great hope has come to me from one, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, a personal follower of Christ. Reading, I have found in His
and His Father Bahá’u’llih’s Message of Faith all my yearnings for real religion satisfied. If ybu ever hear of Bahã’is or
of the Bahà’i Movement which is known in America you will know what that is! What I mean, these books have
strengthened me beyond belief and I am now ready to die any day full of hope; but I pray God not to take me away yet,
for I still have a lot of work to do.”
Other letters record that first of all she was teaching her young daughter Ileana about these beautiful truths. For ten
years Her Majesty and her daughter, H.R.H. Princess Ileana (now Archduches Anton), have read with interest each new
book about the Bahá’i Movement as soon as it came from the press.
As we know she wrote three marvelous articles about these Bahá’i peace Teachings in 1926, and as they were
syndicated each article appeared in nearly two hundred newspapers in the United States and Canada. Many millions of
people were thrilled to read that a Queen had arisen to promote

Bahã’u’llãh’s plan for universal peace. Quickly these articles were translated and published in Europe, China, Japan, Australasia and
in the Islands of the seas.
Received in audience by Her Majesty in Pelisor Palace, Sinaia, in 1927, after the passing of His Majesty King Ferdinand, her husband,
she graciously gave me an interview, speaking of the Bahá’i Teachings about immortality. She had on her table and on the divan a
number of Bahã’i books, for she had just been reading in each of them the Teachings about Life after death. She asked the writer to
give her greeting to Shoghi Effendi, to the friends in Iran and to the many American Bahã’is who she said had been so remarkably
kind to her during her trip through the United States the year before. Also, she graciously gave the writer an appreciation of these
Bahã’i Teachings in her own hand-writing, for Volume IV. of the BAHA’i WORLD.
Meeting the Queen again on January 19, 1928, in the Royal Palace in Belgrade, where she and H. R. H. Princess Ileana were guests of
the Queen of Jugoslavia—and they had brought some of their Bahã’i books with them—the words I shall remember longest of all that
Her dear Majesty said were these:
“The ultimate dream which we shall realize is that the Bahá’i channel of thought has such strength, it will serve little by little to
become a light to all those searching for the real expression of Truth.”
Another happy audience was in Her Majesty’s lovely summer palace “TehnaYuva,” at Balciê, on the Black Sea, in October, 1929.
Again in the home of Archduchess Anton at Mödling near Vienna she and her mother received me on August 8, 1932, and in
February, 1933, and Her Majesty made this great statement which was used as the frontispiece to BAi-JA’I WORLD, Volume IV.:
“The BahI’i Teaching brings peace and understanding. It is like a wide embrace gathering together all those who have long searched
for words of hope. It accepts all great prophets gone before, it destroys no other creeds and leaves all doors open. Saddened by the
continual strife amongst believers of many confessions and wearied of their intolerance towards each other, I discovered in the Bahá’i
Teaching

THE BAHA’I WORLD

the real spirit of Christ so often denied and misunderstood. Unity instead of strife, Hope instead of condemnation, Love
instead of hate, and a great reassurance for all men.”
Then in the audience in Controceni Palace on February 16, 1934, when Her Majesty was told that the Rumanian
translation of Baha”u’lla’h and the New Era had just been published in Bucharest, she said she was so happy that her
people were to have the blessing of reading this precious Teaching.
How beautiful she looked that afternoon
—as always—for her loving eyes mirror her mighty spirit; a most unusual Queen is she, a consummate artist, a lover of
beauty and wherever she is there is glory. Perhaps too, a Queen is a symbol, people hke to have their Queen beautiful
and certainly Queen Marie of Rumania is one of the most lovely in this world today. Her clothes, designed by herself,
are always a “tout ensemble” creation so harmonious in colors they seem to dress her soul. She received me in her
private library where a cheerful fire glowed in the quaint, built-in fireplace; tea was served on a low table, the gold
service set being wrought in flowers. There were flowers everywhere, and when she invited me into her bedroom where
she went to get the photograph which I hke so much, as I saw the noble, majestic proportions of this great chamber with
its arched ceiling in Gothic design, I exclaimed in joy, “Your room is truly a temple, a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár!” There
were low mounds of hyacinths, flowers which Bahá’u’llah loved and mentioned often in His ‘Writings; there was a
bowl of yellow tulips upon a silken tapestry in yellow gold, a tall deep urn of fragrant white lilacs, and an immense
bowl of red roses. Controceni Palace is the most beautiful palace I have seen in any country in the blending of its colors
and in its artistic arrangements.
Her Majesty is a writer as well as an artist, and Her Memoirs entitled “The Story of My Life” were just then being
published in The Saturday Evening Post. She told me she writes two hours every morning unless her time is invaded by
queenly duties, charity duties, family duties. She was

pleased with the sincere letters that were pouring in from all continents giving appreciations of her story. She told me
the American people are so open-hearted and that from the United States children, professors, farmers’ wives and the
smart people had written to her, the tone in all their letters revealing Her Majesty’s entire sincerity and the deep
humanity of her character. One teacher wrote Her Majesty that in her childhood each one lived through his own
childhood: another said, “All who read your story have their own lives stirred!” The Queen remarked, “And this is a
very satisfactory criticism for an author.”
A most pleasing letter had just arrived from Japan from a girl there who thanked God Who had allowed her to live in a
period in which such a wonderful book had been written! “This,” said the Queen, “is one of the nicest appreciations I
have ever heard.”
Then the conversation turned again to the Bahã’i Teachings and she gave a greeting to be sent to Shoghi Effendi in
Haifa. Later she mentioned an incident in Hamburg when she was en route to Iceland in the summer of 1933. As she
passed through the street, a charming girl tossed a little note to her into the motor car. It was: “I am so happy to see you
in Hamburg, because you are a Bahá’i.” Her Majesty remarked that they recognized a Bahá’i and this shows a spirit of
unity in the Bahã’i Movement.
Her Majesty said to me, “In my heart I am entirely Bahá’i,” and she sent me this wonderful appreciation: “The Bahã’i
Teaching brings peace to the soul and hope to the heart. To those in search of assurance the Words of the Father are as
a fountain in the desert after long wandering.”
And now today, February 4, 1936, I have just had another audience with Her Majesty in Controceni Palace, in
Bucharest. As I was starting to walk up the wide ivory toned stairs carpeted with blue Iranian rugs to the third floor
suites, at that very moment over a radio came the rich strains of the Wedding March from “Lohengrin,” played by an
orchestra. It seemed.a symbol:
the union of spiritual forces of the East and Europe! Again Queen Marie of Rumania received me cordially in her softly
lighted library, for the hour was six o’clock. She

THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE

was gowned in black velvet and wore her great strands of marvelous pearls. The fire in the grate beamed a welcome with its yellowglowing fragrant pine boughs and large bowls of yellow tulips adorned the apartment.
‘What a memorable visit it was! She told me she has a friend in ‘Akká, Palestine, who knows Shoghi Effendi and this friend recently
has sent her pictures of ‘Akká and Haifa; the two were playfellows when they were children and met in Malta. She also told me that
when she was in London she had met a Bahã’i, Lady Blomfield, who had shown her the original Message that Bahá’u’lláh had sent to
her Grandmother Queen Victoria in London. She asked the writer about the progress of the Bahã’i Movement especially in the Balkan
countries.
“Since we met two years ago,” said Her Majesty, “so many sad events have happened! I look on with a great deal of sorrow at the way
the different peoples seem to misunderstand one another; especially now that I have become very lonely in my home, I have all the
more time to think over these problems, and I’m sometimes very sad that I can do so little. However, I know that the right spirit and
the right thoughts go a long way towards that unity of hearts which I haven’t given up the hope to see before I pass on.”
She spoke, too, of several Bahá’i books, the depths of fqa’n and especially of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lldh
which she said was a wonderful book! To quote her own words: “Even doubters would find a powerful strength in it, if they would
read it alone and would give their souls time to expand.”
Her Majesty kindly promised to write for BAHA’i WORLD, Volume VI, a special appreciation and to send it after four days.
I asked her if I could perhaps speak of the brooch which historically is precious to Bahã’is, and she replied, “Yes, you may.” Once,
and it was in 1928, Her dear Majesty had given the writer a gift, a lovely and rare brooch which had been a gift to the Queen from Her
Royal Relatives in Russia some years ago. It was two little wings of wrought gold and silver, set with tiny diamond chips and joined
together with one

A Floral Tribute to Her Majesty the Late Queen Marie of Roumania.
Offered by the Bahã’is of the United States and Canada on the occasion of the service held in Washington, D. C., July 25, 1938, to
commemorate the first anniversary of her death.
large pearl. “Always you are giving gifts to others, and I am going to give you a gift from me,”
said the Queen smiling, and she herself clasped it onto my dress. The wings and the pearl made it seem “Lightbearing,” Bahá’i! It was sent the same week to Chicago as a gift to the Bahá’i Temple, the Mashriqu’l-A4hkár, and at the National
BahI’i Convention which was in session that spring, a demur was made—should a gift from the Queen be sold? Should it not be kept
as a souvenir of the first Queen who arose to promote the Faith of Bahá’u’ll4h?
—However, it was sold immediately and the money given to the Temple, for all Bahã’is were giving to the utmost to forward this
mighty structure, the first of its kind in the United States. Mr. Willard Hatch, a Bahã’i of Los Angeles, California, who bought the
exquisite brooch, took it to Haifa, Palestine, in 1931 and placed it in the archives on Mt. Carmel where down the ages it will rest with
the B1shá” treasures.
Inadequate as is any one article to portray

pict70.jpg

Her Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania’s splendid spiritual attitude, still these few glimpses do show that she stands strong for the
highest Truth, and as an historical record they will present a little of what the first Queen did for the Faith of Baha’u’ll ah.
Washington, 0. C.
July 23, 1938
To His Excellency The Rumanian Minister Washington, 0. C.
Your Excellency:
On behalf of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada, flowers in memory of Her late Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania will be
sent to Washington Cathedral for the memorial service to be held there next Monday afternoon.

Her Majesty’s acceptance of the principles of the Teachings of Bahá’u’llah and her public statements regarding His Cause have
endeared her for all time to the followers of the Bahá’i Movement the world around. It is with heartfelt sorrow and profound regret
that the Baha’is have heard of Her Majesty’s death.
(For) THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY op BAHA’IS op UNITED STATES AND CANADA
Evergreen Cabin
West Englewood,
New Jersey
(By) CHARLES MASON REMET
2440 Massachusetts Avenue
Washington, 0. C.

282 THE BAHA’I WORLD

PART TWO
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I
THE WORLD ORDER OF
BAHA’U’LLAH
1.

PRESENT-DAY ADMINISTRATION OF THE
BAHA’i FAITH
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
B HORACE HOLLEY

IT HAS been the general characteristic of religion that organization marks the interruption of the true spiritual
influence and serves to prevent the original impulse from being carried into the world. The organization has invariably
become a substitute for religion rather than a method or an instrument used to give the religion effect. The separation of
peoples into different traditions unbridged by any peaceful or constructive intercourse has made this inevitable. Up to
the present time, in fact, no Founder of a revealed religion has explicitly laid down the principles that should guide the
administra— tive machinery of the Faith He has established.
In the Bahá’i Cause, the principles of world administration were expressed by Bahá’u’lláh, and these principles were
developed in the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, more especially in His ‘Will and Testament.
The purpose of this organization is to make possible a true and lasting unity among peoples of different races, classes,
interests, characters, and inherited creeds. A close and sympathetic study of this aspect of the Bahã’i Cause will show
that the purpose and method of Bahá’i administration is so perfectly adapted to the fundamental spirit of the Revelation
that it bears to it the same relationship as body to soul. In character, the principles of Bahá’i administration represent
the science of cooperation; in application, they provide for a new and higher type of morality world-wide in scope. In
the

clash and confusion of sectarian prejudice, the Bahã’i religion is impartial and sympathetic, offering a foundation upon
which reconciliation can be firmly based. Amid the complex interrelations of governments, the rehgion stands
absolutely neutral as to political purposes and entirely obedient to all recognized authority. It will not be overlooked by
the student that Bahá’u’llih is the only religious teacher making obedience to just governments and rulers a definite
spiritual command.
In this brief analysis of the several features of the Bahá’i system of administration the purpose is rather to place in the
hands of the believers themselves a convenient summary of the available instructions than to clarify this aspect of the
teachings to the non-Bahã’i. Until one has made contact with the spirit of the Bahá’i teachings and desires to cooperate
whole-heartedly with their purpose, the administrative phase of the Faith can have httle real meaning or appeal.
At the time of the passing of ‘Abdu’lBahá, the organization was fully defined but not yet established among His
followers. The responsibility for carrying out the instructions was placed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá upon His grandson, Shoghi
Effendi, to whom was assigned the function of “Guardian of the Cause.” Obedience to the authority of the Guardian
was definitely enjoined upon all Bahá’is by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but this authority carries with it nothing of an arbitrary or
personal character, being limited as to pur 285

THE BAHA’i WORLD

pose and method by the writings of Bahk’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The Guardian unifies the efforts to bring into complete application
those principles of world administration already clearly defined.
To assist the Guardian in his manifold responsibilities and duties and particularly in the promotion of the teaching work, ‘Abdu’lBahá
provided for the appointment of a group of co-workers to be known as “The Hands of the Cause of God.” The appointment of this
body is a function of the Guardian, and these from their own number are to elect nine persons who will be closely associated with the
Guardian in the discharge of his duties. It is the function of the Guardian also to appoint his own successor, this appointment to be
ratified by the nine Hands of the Cause.
It is the genius of the Bahã’i Faith that the principle underlying the administration of its affairs aims to improve the life and upbuild
the character of the individual believer in his own local community, wherever it may be, and not to enhance the prestige of those
relatively few who, by election or appointment, hold positions of higher authority. Bahã’i authority is measured by self-sacrifice and
not by arbitrary power. This fundamental aim can be seen clearly on studying the significant emphasis which ‘Abdu’l-Bahã placed
upon the local Bahá’i community. The local group, involving as it does men and women in all the normal activities and relations of
life, is the foundation upon which rests the entire evolution of the Cause. The local Bahá’i community is given official recognition
only after its number of adult declared believers has become nine or more. Up to this point, the community exists as a voluntary group
of workers and students of the Cause.
In this connection, the word “community” is not used in the sense of any locality, exclusively Bahá’i in membership, nor of any
manner of living differing outwardly from the general environment, such as has been attempted by religionists and also members of
philosophic and economic movements in the past. A Bahá’i community is a unity of minds and hearts, an association of people
entirely voluntary in character, established upon a common experience of devotion to

the universal aims of Bahá’u’lláh and agreement as to the methods by which these aims can be advanced.
A Bahá’i community differs from other voluntary gatherings in that its foundation is so deeply laid and broadly extended that it can
include any sincere soul. Whereas other associations are exclusive, in effect if not in intention, and from method if not from ideal,
Bahi’i association is inclusive, shutting the gates of fellowship to no sincere soul. In every gathering there is latent or developed some
basis of selection. In religion this basis is a creed limited by the historical nature of its origin; in politics this is party or platform; in
economics this is a mutual misfortune or mutual power; in the arts and sciences this basis consists of special training or activity or
interest. In all these matters, the more exclusive the basis of selection, the stronger the movement—a condition diametrically opposed
to that existing in the Bahá’i Cause. Hence the Cause, for all its spirit of growth and progress, develops slowly as regards the numbers
of its active adherents. For people are accustomed to exclusiveness and division in all affairs. The important sanctions have ever been
warrants and justifications of division. To enter the Bahá’i religion is to leave these sanctions behind—an experience which at first
invariably exposes one to new trials and sufferings, as the human ego revolts against the supreme sanction of universal love. The
scientific must associate with the simple and unlearned, the rich with the poor, the white with the colored, the mystic with the literalist,
the Christian with the Jew, the Muslim with the Parsee: and on terms removing the advantage of long established presumptions and
privileges.
But for this difficult experience there are glorious compensations. Let us remember that art grows sterile as it turns away from the
common humanity, that philosophy likewise loses its vision when developed in solitude, and that politics and religion never succeed
apart from the general needs of mankind. Human nature is not yet known, for we have all lived in a state of mental, moral, emotional
or social defense, and the psychology of defense is the psychology of inhibition. But the love of God removes

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

fear; the removal of fear establishes the latent powers, and association with others in spiritual love brings these powers
into vital, positive expression. A Bahá’i community is a gathering where this process can take place in this age, slowly
at first, as the new impetus gathers force, more rapidly as the members become conscious of the powers unfolding the
flower of unity among men.
Where the community is small and insignificant, in comparison with the population of the city or town, the first
condition of growth is understanding of the Manifestation of Bahá’u’llih, and the next condition is that of true humility.
If these two conditions exist, the weakest soul becomes endowed with effective power in service to the Cause. The
result of unity, in fact, is to share the powers and faculties of all with each.
The responsibility for and supervision of local Bahã’i affairs is vested in a body known as the Spiritual Assembly. This
body (limited to nine members) is elected annually on April 1, the first day of Riçlvin (the Festival commemorating the
Declaration of Bahã’u’llãh) by the adult declared believers of the community, the voting list being drawn up by the
outgoing Spiritual Assembly. Concerning the character and functions of this body, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written as
follows:
“It is incumbent upon everyone (every believer) not to take any step (of Bahã’i activity) without consulting the
Spiritual Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with heart and soul its bidding and be submissive unto it, that things
may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person will act independently and, after his own
judgment, will follow his own desire, and do harm to the Cause.
“The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all
else save God, attraction to His divine fragrance, humility and lowliness amongç His loved ones, patience and longsuffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these
attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Bahá shall be vouchsafed to them. In this day, Assemblies of
consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity.

Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory. The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for illfeeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresses with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth
forth his argument. Should anyone oppose, he must on no account feel hurt, for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way
be revealed. The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If after discussion a decision be carried
unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, the majority of voices must prevail.
“The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the Assembly. They must be wholly free from
estrangement and must manifest in themselves the Unity of God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of
one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden. Should harmohy of thought and absolute unity be
non-existent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that Assembly be brought to naught.
“The second condition: They must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on high and ask aid from the realm of Glory.
. . . Discussions must all be confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the

poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the
exaltation of His Holy Word. Should they endeavor to fulfill these conditions the grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto
them and that Assembly shall become the center of the divine blessings, and hosts of divine confirmation shall come to their aid, and
they shall day by day receive a new effusion of spirit.”
The letters of Shoghi Effendi quote the fundamental instructions contained in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the
character of Bahá administration, and give them definite application: “A careful study of Bahã’u’lláh’s and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets
will reveal that other duties (besides teaching the Cause), no less vital to the in-

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The Bahá’i Community of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The newly constituted Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Maywood, Illinois, in 1938.

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THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

terests of the Cause, devolve upon the elected representatives of the friends in every locality.
“They must endeavor to promote amity and concord amongst the friends and secure an active and whole-hearted cooperation for the
service of the Cause.
“They must do their utmost to extend at all times the helping hand to the poor, the sick, the disabled, the orphan, the widow,
irrespective of color, caste and creed.
“They must promote by every means in their power the material as well as spiritual enlightenment of youth, the means for the
education of children; institute, whenever possible, Bahá’i educational institutions; organize and supervise their work, and provide the
best means for their progress and development.
“They must bend every effort to promote the interests of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár (that is, House of Worship) 1 and hasten the day when
the work of this glorious Edifice2 will have been consummated.
“They must encourage and stimulate by every means at their command, through subscriptions, reports and articles, the development of
the various Bahá’i magazines.
“They must undertake the arrangement of the regular meetings of the friends, the feasts and anniversaries, as well as the special
gatherings designed to serve and promote the social, intellectual and spiritual interests of their fellowmen.
“They must supervise in these days when the Cause is still in its infancy all Bahá”i publications and translations, and provide in
general for a dignified and accurate presentation of all Bahá’i literature and its distribution to the general public.
“These rank among the most outstanding obligations of the members of every Spiritual Assembly. In whatever locality the Cause has
sufficiently expanded, and in order to insure efficiency and avoid confusion, each of these manifold functions will have to be referred
to a special Committee, responsible to that Assembly, elected by it from among the friends in that locality, and upon whose work the
Assembly will have to exercise constant and general supervision.
“In every locality, be it city or hamlet, where the number of adult declared believers

exceed nine, a local Spiritual Assembly must be forthwith established.
“As the progress and extension of spirtual activities is dependent and conditioned upon material means, it is of absolute necessity that
immediately after the establishment of local as well as national Spiritual Assemblies, a Bahá’i Fund be established, to be placed under
the exclusive control of the Spiritual Assembly. All donations and contributions should be offered to the Treasurer of the Assembly,
for the express purpose of promoting the interests of the Cause throughout that locality or country. It is the sacred obligation of every
conscientious and faithful servant of Bahá’u’llah, who desires to see His Cause advance, to contribute freely and generously for the
increase of that Fund. The members of the Spiritual Assembly will at their own discretion expand it to promote the teaching campaign,
to help the needy, to establish educational Bahá’i institutions, to extend in every way their sphere of service.
“Nothing whatever should be given to the public by any individual among the friends, unless fully considered and approved by the
Spiritual Assembly in his locality; and, if this (as is undoubtedly the case) is a matter that pertains to the general interests of the Cause
in that land, then it is incumbent upon the Spiritual Assembly to submit it to the consideration and approval of the National Body
representing all the various local Assemblies. Not only with regard to publication, but all matters without any exception whatsoever,
regarding the interests of the Cause in that locality, individually or collectively, should be referred exclusively to the Spirtual
Assembly in that locality, which shall decide upon it, unless it be a matter of national interest, in which case it shall be referred to the
National (Bahá’i) Body. With this National Body also will rest the decision whether a given question is of local or national interest.
(By national affairs is not meant matters that are political in their character, for the friends of God the world over are strictly forbidden
to meddle with political affairs in any way whatever, but rather things that affect the
‘Referring particularly to Spiritual Assemblies in America.
‘On the shore of Lake Michigan.

THE BAHA’! WORLD

spiritual activities of the body of the friends in that land.)
“Full harmony, however, as well as cooperation among the various local Assemblies and the members themselves, and particularly
between each Assmbly and the National Body is of the utmost importance, for upon it depends the unity of the Cause of God, the
solidarity of the friends, the full, speedy and efficient working of the spiritual activities of His loved ones.
“The various Assemblies, local and national, constitute today the bedrock upon the strength of which the Universal House (of Justice)
is in future to be firmly established and raised. Not until these function vigorously and harmoniously can the hope for the termination
of this period of transition be realized. . . . Bear in mind that the keynote of the Cause of God is not dictatorial authority, but humble
fellowship; not arbitrary power, but the spirit of frank and loving consultation. Nothing short of the spirit of a true Bahá”i can hope to
reconcile the principles of mercy and justice, of freedom and submission, of the sanctity of the right of the individual and of selfsurrender, of vigilance, discretion and prudence on the one hand, and fellowship, candor, and courage on the other.”
Experience in the life of a Bahã’i community and participation in the details of its several activities impresses one with the fact that
Bahá’i unity has in it new elements which work powerfully to expand one’s area of sympathy, deepen one’s insight, develop one’s
character and bring order and stability into all of one’s affairs. There can be no higher privilege than the experience of attempting to
serve faithfully upon a Spiritual Assembly, conscious as its members are of the unique standard upheld by ‘Abdu’l-Bahã and bringing
as it does the opportunity of dealing with a large range and diversity of human problems from an impersonal point of view. It is
inevitable that the nine elected members shall exemplify diverse interests and types of character, with the result that unity of heart and
conscience with the other eight members is a direct training to enter into spiritual unity with the larger body of mankind. No such
schools of discipline and inspiration exist on earth today, for one must

bear in mind that a Bahá’l community can never be an exclusive group nor a closed circle of interests, but, on the
contrary, its fundamental purpose is to unify and cooperate with every possible element in the surrounding population.
The local Spiritual Assembly after election organizes by electing from its own number a chairman, corresponding
secretary, recording secretary and treasurer. It should appoint from its own members or from the local Bahã’i
community working committees responsible for the various permanent activities of the Cause.
Since a Spiritual Assembly is established upon a new and higher ideal, the character, knowledge and purity of its
members is essential to success. Wherever personal ambition, narrowness or impurity enters a Spiritual Assembly, the
results are invariably to check the growth of the Cause and, if these conditions are prolonged, to destroy the foundation
already laid. The careful student of the teachings will accept this result as one more vindication of the all-surrounding
spirit protecting this Faith. The elimination of an unworthy group from the Bahá’i Cause would be a bitter
disappointment but not an evidence that the Cause had failed. On the contrary, the Cause could only be declared a
failure if personal ambition, pride, narrowness and impurity should so prevail as to build a world-wide organization
able to pervert the original purpose.
The local Spiritual Assemblies of a country are linked together and coordinated through another elected body of nine
members, the National Spiritual Assembly. This body comes into being by means of an annual election held by elected
delegates representing the local Bahi’i communities. The delegates are elected by all the adult declared believers of a
community in which a Spiritual Assembly exists. The National Convention in which the delegates are gathered together
is composed of an elective body based upon the principle of proportional representation. The total number of delegates
is fixed by Shoghi Effendi for each country, and this number is fulfilled by assigning to each local community the
number of delegates called for by its relative numerical strength. These National Con-

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

ventions are preferably held during the period of Ridván, the twelve days begin- fling April 21, which commemorate the Declaration
made by Bahá’u’lláh in the Garden of Riçlván near Baghdad. The recognition of delegates is vested in the outgoing National Spiritual
Assembly.
A National Convention is an occasion for deepening one’s understanding of Bahã’i activities and of sharing reports of national and
local activities for the period of the elapsed year. It has been the custom to hold a public Bahá’i Congress in connection with the
Convention. The function of a Bahá’i delegate is limited to the duration of the National Convention and participation in the election of
the new National Spiritual Assembly. While gathered together, the delegates are a consultative and advisory body whose
recommendations are to be carefully considered by the members of the elected National Spiritual Assembly.
Delegates unable to attend the Convention in person are permitted to vote for the new National Spiritual Assembly by mail.
The relation of the National Spiritual Assembly to the local Spiritual Assemblies and to the body of the believers in the country is thus
defined in the letters of the Guardian of the Cause:
“Regarding the establishment of National Assemblies, it is of vital importance that in every country, where the conditions are f
avorable and the number of the friends has grown and reached a considerable size—that a National Spiritual Assembly be
immediately established, representative of the friends throughout that country.
“Its immediate purpose is to stimulate, unify and coordinate, by frequent personal consultations, the manifold activities of the friends
as well as the local Assemblies; and by keeping in close and constant touch with the Holy Land, initiate measures, and direct in
general the affairs of the Cause in that country.
“It serves also another purpose, no less essential than the first, as in the course of time it shall evolve into the National House of
Justice (referred to in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will as the ‘Secondary House of Justice’) which according to the explicit text of the Testament
will have, in conjunction with

‘the other National Assemblies throughout the BahI’i World, to elect directly the members of the International or
Universal House of Justice, that Supreme Council that will guide, organize and unify the affairs of the Movement
throughout the world.
“This National Spiritual Assembly which, pending the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, will have to be
re-elected once a year, obviously assumes grave responsibilities for it has to exercise full authority over all the local
Assemblies in its province, and will have to direct the activities of the friends, guard vigilantly the Cause of God, and
control and supervise the affairs of the Movement in general.
“Vital issues, affecting the interests of the Cause in that country, such as the matter of translation and publication, the
Mashriqu’lAdhkâr, the teaching work, and other similar matters that stand distinct from strictly local affairs, must be
under the full jurisdiction of the National Assembly.
“It will have to refer each of these questions, even as the local Assemblies, to a special committee, to be elected by the
members of the National Spiritual Assembly from among all the friends in that country, which will bear to it the same
relations as the local committees bear to their respective local Assemblies.
“With it, too, rests the decision whether a certain point at issue is strictly local in its nature, and should be reserved for
the consideration and decision of the local Assembly, or whether it should fall under its own province and be a matter
which ought to receive its special attention.
“It is the bounden duty, in the interest of the Cause we all love and serve, of the members of the incoming National
Assembly, once elected by the delegates at Convention time, to seek and have the utmost regard, individually as well as
collectively, for the advice, the considered opinion and the true sentiments of the assembled delegates. Banishing every
vestige of secrecy, of undue reticence, of dictatorial aloofness from their midst, they should radiantly and abundantly
unfold to the eyes of the delegates by whom they were elected, their plans, their hopes and their cares. They should
fasuiliarize the delegates with the various matters that will

THE BAHA’i WORLD

have to be considered in the current year, and calmly and conscientiously study and weigh the opinions and judgments of the
delegates. The newly elected National Assembly, during the few days when the Convention is in session, and after the dispersion of
the delegates, should seek ways and means to cultivate understanding, facilitate and maintain the exchange of views, deepen
confidence, and vindicate by every tangible evidence their one desire to serve and advance the common weal.
“The National Spiritual Assembly, however, in view of the unavoidable limitations imposed upon the convening of frequent and longstanding sessions of the Convention, will have to retain in its hands the final decision on all matters that affect the interests of the
Cause—such as the right to decide whether any local Assembly is functioning in accordance with the principles laid down for the
conduct and the advancement of the Cause.
“The seating of delegates to the Convention (that is, the right to decide upon the validity of the credentials of the delegates at a given
Convention), is vested in the outgoing National Assembly, and the right to decide who has the voting privilege is also ultimately
placed in the hands of the National Spiritual Assembly, either when a local Spiritual Assembly is for the first time being formed in a
given locality, or when differences arise between a new applicant and an already established local Assembly.
“Were the National Spiritual Assembly to decide, after mature deliberation, to omit the holding of the Bahá’i Convention and
Congress in a given year, then they could, only in such a case, devise ways and means to insure that the annual election of the National
Spiritual Assembly should be held by mail, provided it can be conducted with sufficient thoroughness, efficiency and dispatch. It
would also appear to me unobjectionable to enable and even to require in the last resort such delegates as cannot possibly undertake
the journey to the seat of the Bahá’i Convention to send their votes, for the election of the National Spiritual Assembly only, by mail
to the National Secretary.”
Concerning the matter of drawing up the voting list to be used at the annual local

Bahá’i elections, the responsibility for this is placed upon each local Spiritual Assembly, and as a guidance in the matter the Guardian
has written the following:
“To state very briefly and as adequately as present circumstances permit, the principal factors that must be taken into consideration
before deciding whether a person may be regarded a true believer or not: Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author
and the True Exemplar of the Bahá’i Cause, as set forth in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament; unreserved acceptance of and
submission to whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloved’s sacred Will;
and close association with the spirit as well as the form of the present-day Bahã’i administration—these I conceive to be the
fundamental and primary considerations that must be fairly, discreetly and thoughtfully ascertained before reaching such a vital
decision.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions provide for the further development of Bahá’i organization through an International Spiritual Assembly to
be elected by the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies. This international body has not yet come into existence, but its
special character has been clearly defined:
“And now, concerning the Assembly (Baytu’l-’Ad’l: that is, House of Justice) which God hath ordained as the source of all good and
freed from all error, it must be elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. Its members must be manifestations of the fear
of God, and day-springs of knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God’s Faith, and the well-wishers of all mankind. By
this Assembly is meant the Universal Assembly: that is, in each country a secondary Assembly must be instituted, and these secondary
Assemblies must elect the members of the Universal one.
“Unto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text.
By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved, and the Guardian of the Cause is its sacred head and the distinguished
member, for life, of that body. Should he not attend in person its de

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

liberations, he must appoint one to represent him. . . . This assembly enacteth the laws and the executive enforceth them. The legislative
body must reinforce the executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body, so that, through the close union and harmony
of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become
even as Paradise itself.
“Unto the Most Holy Book everyone must turn, and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal
Assembly. That which this body, either unanimously or by a majority, doth carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God
Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice and turned away from the Lord of
the Covenant.”
Even at the present time, the Bahá’is in all parts of the world maintain an intimate and cordial association by means of regular
correspondence and individual visits. This contact of members of different races, nationalities and religious traditions is concrete proof
that the burden of prejudice and the historical factors of division can be entirely overcome through the spirit of oneness established by
Bahá’u’llãh.
The general student of religion will not fail to note four essential characteristics of Bahá’i administration. The first is its completely
successful reconciliation of the usually opposed claims of democratic freedom and unanswerable authority. The second is the entire
absence from the Bahá’i Cause of anything approaching the institution of a salaried professional clergy. The Bahá’i conception of
religion is one which combines mysticism, which is a sacred personal experience, with practical morality, which is a useful contact
between the individual and his fellow man. In the nature of things, some souls are more advanced than others, and the function of
spiritual teaching is given special importance in the writings of Bahã’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The Bahã’i teacher, however, has no
authority over the individual conscience. The individual conscience must be subordinated to the decisions of a duly elected Spiritual
Assembly, but this relationship is entirely different in character and

results, from the relationship of an individual with minister or priest.
The third characteristic is the absence of internal factionahsm, that bane of all organized effort, and the sure sign of the
presence of spiritual disease. The predominant spirit of unity which distinguishes the Bahá’i Cause in its relation to the
world, making its followers strive for reconciliation rather than partisan victory, creates an internal condition, unlike
that which exists in movements which accept partisan victory, in one or another form, as their very reason for being.
Such movements can but disintegrate from within; the Bahá’i Order can but grow.
Significant also is the fourth characteristic, namely, that the Bahá’i Cause has within it an inherent necessity operating
slowly but surely to bring its administration into the hands of those truly fitted for the nature of the work. The lesser
vision gives way invariably for the larger vision, itself replaced by the still larger vision in due time. The result is an
inevitable improvement in the qualities placed at the service of the Cause, until the highest attributes of humanity will
be enrolled. In the Bahá’i Cause we are actually witnessing the fulfillment of the strange and cryptic saying, “The meek
shall inherit the earth.”
That the administrative machinery is not an end in itself but merely the means to spread everywhere the light of faith
and brotherhood, is frequently expressed by the Guardian in his general letters, and this brief survey may well close
with one of those passages:
rNot by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized
campaign of teaching—no matter how world-wide and elaborate in its character—not even by the staunchness of our
faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and skeptical age
the sufrreme claim of the Abhd Revelation. One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the
undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror
forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by ‘Bahd’u’lldh.”

THE BAHA’I WORLD
A PROCEDURE FOR THE CONDUCT OF THE
LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
Adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahd’is of the
United States and Canada

INTRODUCTION
PERUSAL of some of the words of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the duties and functions of the Spiritual Assemblies in every
land (later to be designated as the local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the sacredness of their nature, the wide scope of their
activity, and the grave responsibility which rests upon them.”— SHOGHI EFFENDI, March 5, 1922.
“The Lord hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established wherein shall gather counselors to the number of Bahã. . .
It behooveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for
all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God,
for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly. Thus hath the Lord your God
commanded you. Beware lest ye put away that which is clearly revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, O ye that perceive.”—
BAHA’u’LLAH.
“It is incumbent upon every one not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with
heart and soul its bidding and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person
will act independently and after his own judgment, will follow his own desire, and do harm to the Cause.
“The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God,
attraction to His Divine Fragrance, humility and lowliness- amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in difficulties and
servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of
Bahã shall be vouchsafed to

them. In this day, Assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity. Obedience unto them is essential and
obligatory. The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can
be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. Should any one
oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of
truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If, after discussion, a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but
if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise a majority of voices must prevail. .
“The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the Assembly. They must be wholly free from
estrangement and must manifest in themselves the unity of God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of
one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden. Should harmony of thought and absolute unity be
non-existent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that Assembly be brought to naught. The second condition:
They must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on High and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must then
proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search out
the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one’s views will lead ultimately to discord and
wrangling and the truth will remain hidden. The honored members must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in no
wise permissible for one to belittle the thought of another, nay, he must with moderation set forth the truth, and should differences of
opinion arise a majority of voices must prevail, and all must obey and

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

submit to the majority. It is again not permitted that any one of the honored members object to or censure, whether in or out of the
meeting, any decision arrived at previously, though that decision be not right, for such criticism would prevent any decision from
being enforced. In short, whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with love and purity of motive, its result is light, and should the
least trace of estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness upon darkness. . . . If this be so regarded, that Assembly shall be of God,
but otherwise it shall lead to coolness and alienation that proceed from the Evil One. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual
matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all
classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Holy Word. Should they
endeavor to fulfill these conditions the grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them, and that Assembly shall become the
center of the Divine blessings, the hosts of Divine confirmation shall come to their aid and they shall day by day receive a new
effusion of Spirit.”—’AEnu’LBAHA.
“The importance, nay the absolute necessity, of these local Assemblies is manifest when we realize that in the days to come they will
evolve into the local House of Justice, and at present provide the firm foundation on which the structure of the Master’s Will is to be
reared in the future.
“In order to avoid division and disruption, that the Cause may not fall a prey to conflicting interpretations, and lose thereby its purity
and pristine vigor, that its affairs may he conducted with efficiency and promptness, it is necessary that every one (that is, every
member of the Bahá’i community) should conscientiously take an active part in the election of these Assemblies, abide by their
decision, enforce their decree, and cooperate with them whole-heartedly in their task of stimulating the growth of the Movement
throughout all regions. The members of these Assemblies, on their part, must disregard utterly their own likes and dislikes, their
personal interests and inclinations, and
concentrate their minds upon those measures that will conduce to the welfare and happiness of the Bahá’i community and promote the
common weal.”—SHoGHJ EFFENDI, March 12, 1923.
“Let us recall His explicit and often- repeated assurance that every Assembly elected in that rarefied atmosphere of selflessness and
detachment is, in truth, appointed of God, that its verdict is truly inspired, that one and all should submit to its decision unreservedly
and with cheerfulness.”
—SHOGHI EFFENDI, February 23, 1924.
I. FUNCTIONS OF THE LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLy
The various functions of the local Spiritual Assembly, and its nature as a constitutional body, are duly set forth in Article VII of the
By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly, and are more definitely defined in the By-Laws of a local Spiritual Assembly approved
by the National Spiritual Assembly and recommended by the Guardian. Each local Spiritual Assembly, and all members of the local
Bahá’i community, shall be guided and controlled by the provisions of those By-Laws.
II. MEETINGS OF THE LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLy
In addition to its observance of the general functions vested in the institution of a Spiritual Assembly, each Spiritual Assembly has
need of a procedure for the conduct of its meetings. The following items represent the outline of the parliamentary rules of procedure
which the National Spiritual Assembly has adopted and recommends to each and every local Spiritual Assembly throughout the
United States and Canada.
CaJilug of Meetings
A meeting of the Spiritual Assembly is valid only when it has been duly called, that is, when each and every member has been
informed of the time and place. The general practice is for the Assembly to decide upon some regular time and place for its meetings
throughout the Bahá’i year, and this decision when recorded in the minutes

tHE BAHA’i WORLD

is sufficient notice to the members. When the regular schedule cannot be followed, or the need arises for a special
meeting, the secretary, on request by the chairman or any three members of the Spiritual Assembly, should send due
notice to all the members.
Order of Business
Roll call by the Secretary (or Recording Secretary).
Prayer.
Reading and approval of minutes of previous meetings.
Report of Secretary (or Corresponding Secretary), including presentation of letters received by the Assembly since its
last meeting, and of any and all recommendations duly adopted by the community at the last Nineteen Day Feast.
Report of Treasurer.
Report of Committees.
Unfinished business.
New business, including conferences with members of the community and with applicants for enrollment as members
of the community.
Closing Prayer.
Conduct of Business
A Spiritual Assembly, in maintaining its threefold function of a body given (within the limits of its jurisdiction) an
executive, a legislative and a judicial capacity, is charged with responsibility for initiating action and making decisions.
Its meetings, therefore, revolve around various definite matters which require deliberation and collective decision, and
it is incumbent upon the members, one and all, to address themselves to the subject under discussion and not engage in
general speeches of an irrelevant character.
Every subject or problem before an Assembly is most efficiently handled when the following process is observed: first,
ascertainment and agreement upon the facts; second, agreement upon the spiritual or administrative Teachings which
the question involves; third, full and frank discussion of the matter, leading up to the offering of a resolution; and
fourth, voting upon the resolution.

A resolution, or motion, is not subject to discussion or vote until duly made and seconded. It is preferable to have each
resolution clear and complete in itself, but when an amendment is duly made and seconded, the chairman shall call for
a vote on the amendment first and then on the original motion. An amendment must be relevant to, and not contravene,
the subject matter of the motion.
The chairman, or other presiding officer, has the same power and responsibility for discussion and voting upon motions
as other members of the Assembly.
Discussion of any matter before the Assembly may be terminated by a motion duly made, seconded and voted calling
upon the chairman to put the matter to a vote or to proceed to the next matter on the agenda. The purpose of this
procedure is to prevent any member or members from prolonging the discussion beyond the point at which full
opportunity has been given all members to express their views.
When the Assembly has taken action upon any matter, the action is binding upon all members, whether present or
absent from the meeting at which the action was taken. Individual views and opinions must be subordinated to the will
of the Assembly when a decision has been made. A Spiritual Assembly is an administrative unit, as it is a spiritual unit,
and therefore no distinction between “majority” and “minority” groups or factions can be recognized. Each member
must give undivided loyalty to the institution to which he or she has been elected.
Any action taken by the Assembly can be reconsidered at a later meeting, on motion duly made, seconded and carried.
This reconsideration, according to the result of the consultation, may lead to a revision or the annulment of the prior
action. If a majority is unwilling to reconsider the prior action, further discussion of the matter by any member is
improper.
The Assembly has a responsibility in filling a vacancy caused by the inability of any member to attend the meetings. “It
is only too obvious that unless a member can attend regularly the meetings of his local Assembly, it would be
impossible for him to discharge the duties incumbent upon him, and to ful

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

fill his responsibilities as a representative of the community. Membership in a local Spiritual Assembly carries with it, indeed, the
obligation and capacity to remain in close touch with local Bahá’i activities, and ability to attend regularly the sessions of the
Assembly.”—SHoGHs EFFENDI, January 27, 1935.
The Spiritual Assembly, as a permanent body, is responsible for maintaining all its records, including minutes of meetings,
correspondence and financial records, throughout its existence as a Bahá’i institution. Each officer, therefore, on completing his or her
term of office, shall turn over to the Assembly all records pertaining to the business of the Assembly.
III. CONSULTATION WITH THE
COMMUNSTT
A. The institution of the Nineteen Day Feast provides the recognixed and regular occasion for general consultation on the part of the
community, and for consultation between the Spiritual Assembly and the members of the community. The conduct of the period of
consultation at Nineteen Day Feasts is a vital function of each Spiritual Assembly.
From Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “The Nineteen Day Fast was inaugurated by the Mb and ratified by Bahã’u’lláh, in His Holy Book, the
‘Aqdas,’ so that people may gather together and outwardly show fellowship and love, that the Divine mysteries may be disclosed. The
object is concord, that through this fellowship hearts may become perfectly united, and reciprocity and mutual helpfulness be
established. Because the members of the world of humanity are unable to exist without being banded together, cooperation and
helpfulness is the basis of human society. Without the realization of these two great principles no great movement is pressed forward.”
London, England, December 29, 1912. (Quoted in BAHA’f NEWS No. 33.)
The Nineteen Day Feast has been described by the Guardian as the foundation of the World Order of Bahã’u’lláh. It is to be conducted
according to the following program: the first part, entirely spiritual in character, is devoted to readings from Bahã’i

Sacred Writings; the second part consists of general consultation on the affairs of the Cause. The third part is the
material feast and social meeting of all the believers, and should maintain the spiritual nature of the Feast.
Bahá’is should regard this Feast as the very heart of their spiritual activity, their participation in the mystery of the
Holy Utterance, their steadfast unity one with another in a universality raised high above the limitations of race, class,
nationality, sect, and personality, and their privilege of contributing to the power of the Cause in the realm of collective
action.
The Spiritual Assembly is responsible for the holding of the Nineteen Day Feast. If the Bahá’i calendar for some
adequate reason cannot be observed, the Assembly may arrange to hold a Feast at the nearest possible date.
Only members of the Bahá’i community, and visiting Bahá’is from other communities, may attend these meetings, but
young people of less than twenty-one years of age, who have studied the Teachings and declared their intention of
joining the community on reaching the age of twenty-one, may also attend.
Regular attendance at the Nineteen Day Feast is incumbent upon every Bahá’i, illness or absence from the city being
the only justification for absence. Believers are expected to arrange their personal affairs so as to enable them to
observe the Bahá’i calendar.
Order of Business for the
Consultation Period
The chairman or other appointed representative of the Spiritual Assembly presides during the period of consultation.

Calendar of the Nineteen Day Feast

March21
April 9
April 28
May 17
June 5
June 24
July 13
August 1
August 20
September 8
September 27
October 16
November 4

November 23
December 12
December 31
January 19
February 7
March 2

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The Spiritual Assembly reports to the community whatever communications have been received from the Guardian and the National
Spiritual Assembly, and provides opportunity for general discussion.
The Assembly likewise reports its own activities and plans, including committee appointments that may have been made since the last
Feast, the financial report, arrangements made for public meetings, and in general share with the community all matters that concern
the Faith. These reports are to be followed by general consultation.
A matter of vital importance at this meeting is consideration of national and international Bahá’i affairs, to strengthen the capacity of
the community to cooperate in promotion of the larger Bahá’i interests and to deepen the understanding of all believers concerning the
relation of the local community to the Bahá’i World Community.
Individual Bahá’is are to find in the Nineteen Day Feast the channel through which to make suggestions and recommendations to the
National Spiritual Assembly. These recommendations are offered first to the local community, and when adopted by the community
come before the local Assembly, which then may in its discretion forward the recommendation to the National Spiritual Assembly
accompanied by its own considered view.
Provision is to be made for reports from committees, with discussion of each report. Finally, the meeting is to be open for suggestions
and recommendations from individual believers on any matter affecting the Cause.
The local Bahá’i community may adopt by majority vote any resolution which it wishes collectively to record as its advice and
recommendation to the Spiritual Assembly.
Upon each member of the community lies the obligation to make his or her utmost contribution to the consultation, the ideal being a
gathering of Bahá’is inspired with one spirit and concentrating upon the one aim to further the interests of the Faith.
The Secretary of the Assembly records each resolution adopted by the community, as well as the various suggestions advanced during
the meeting, in order to report these

to the Spiritual Assembly for its consideration. Whatever action the Assembly takes is to be reported at a later Nineteen Day Feast.
Matters of a personal nature should be brought before the Spiritual Assembly and not to the community at the Nineteen Day Feast.
Concerning the attitude with which believers should come to these Feasts, the Master has said, “You must free yourselves from
everything that is in your hearts, before you enter.” (BaJni’I News Letter of the N. S. A. of Germany and Austria, December, 1934.)
B. The Annual Meeting on April 21, called for the election of the Spiritual Assembly, provides the occasion for the presentation of
annual reports by the Assembly and by all its Committees.
The chairman of the outgoing Assembly presides at this meeting.
The order of business includes: Reading of the call of the meeting, reading of appropriate Bahá’i passages bearing upon the subject of
the election, appointment of tellers, distribution of ballots, prayers for the spiritual guidance of the voters, the election, presentation of
annual reports, tellers’ report of the election, approval of the tellers’ report.
C. The Annual Meeting for the election of Convention delegate (or delegates) is likewise presided over by the Assembly chairman,
and except for the annual reports the order of business is similar to that observed at the meeting held each April 21. It is preferable for
the Spiritual Assembly to arrange a special meeting for the election of delegates, and not to hold this election during the consultation
period of a Nineteen Day Feast.
D. In addition to these occasions for general consultation, the Spiritual Assembly is to give consultation to individual believers
whenever requested.
During such consultation with individual believers, the Assembly should observe the following principles: the impartiality of each of
its members with respect to all matters under discussion; the freedom of the individual Bahá’i to express his views, feelings and
recommendations on any matter affecting the interests of the Cause, the confiden

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

tial character of this consultation, and the principle that the Spiritual Assembly does not adopt any resolution or make any final
decision, until the party or parties have withdrawn from the meeting.
Appeals from decisions of a local Spiritual Assembly are provided for in the By-Laws and the procedure fully described in a statement
published in BAHA’i NEWS, February, 1933.
When confronted with evidences of unhappiness, whether directed against the Assembly or against members of the community, the
Spiritual Assembly should realize that its relationship to the believers is not merely that of a formal constitutional body but also that of
a spiritual institution called upon to manifest the attributes of courtesy, patience and loving insight. Many conditions are not to be
remedied by the exercise of power and authority but rather by a sympathetic understanding of the sources of the difficulty in the hearts
of the friends. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahã has explained, some of the people are children and must be trained, some are ignorant and must be
educated, some are sick and must be healed. Where, however, the problem is not of this order but represents flagrant disobedience and
disloyalty to the Cause itself, in that case the Assembly should consult with the National
DESPITE the repeated explanations given by the Guardian on this subject, there seems to exist each year, prior to and also during the
Convention period, some misunderstanding as to the nature of the Annual Meeting.
In order to establish a definite standard of Convention procedure, the following statement has been approved and adopted, and in
accordance with the vote taken by the National Assembly, a copy of the statement is placed in the hands of the presiding officer of the
Convention to control the Convention procedure, after being read to the delegates by the officer of the National Spiritual Assembly by
whom the Convention is convened.’

Spiritual Assembly concerning the necessity for disciplinary action.
Members of the Bahá’i community, for their part, should do their utmost by prayer and meditation to remain always in a positive and
joyous spiritual condition, bearing in mind the Tablets which call upon Bahã’is to serve the world of humanity and not waste their
precious energies in negative
complaints. ________
IV. BuA’I ANNIVERSARIES, FESTIVALS AND DAYS OF FASTING
The Spiritual Assembly, among its various duties and responsibilities, will provide for the general observance by the local community
of the following Holy Days:
Feast of Ridván (Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh) April 21-May 2, 1863.
Declaration of the Báb, May 23, 1844.
Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, May 29, 1892.
Martyrdom of the Mb, July 9, 1850.
Birth of the Báb, October 20, 1819.
Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, November 12, 1817.
Day of the Covenant, November 26.
Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, November 28, 1921.
Period of the Fast, nineteen days beginning March 2.
Feast of Naw-RCsz (Bahá’i New Year), March 21.
“The delegates present at this Annual Bahá’i Convention are called upon to render a unique, a vital service to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
Their collective functions and responsibihties are not a matter of arbitrary opinion, but have been clearly described by the Guardian of
the Cause. If civil governments have found it necessary to adopt the doctrine that ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse,’ how much more
essential it is for Bahá’is, individually and collectively, to base their responsible actions upon thorough camThis reference to “being
read to the delegates”
was in connection with the 1934 Convention only. The statement is here published for the general information of the believers.

THE ANNUAL BAHA’i CONVENTION
A Stat ernent by the National Spiritual Assembly
(Approved by the Guardian)

THE BAHA’i WORLD

prehension of the fundamental principles which underlie that Administrative Order which in its maturity is destined to become the
World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
“Considerable confusion would have been avoided at Conventions held during the past three years had the delegates, and all members
of the National Spiritual Assembly itself, given sufficient consideration to the fact that BAHA’f NEWS of February, 1930, contained
an explanation of the Annual Convention which had been prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly, submitted to Shoghi Effendi,
and definitely approved by him. It is because this statement of four years ago has gone unnoticed that successive Conventions, acting
upon some matters as a law unto themselves, have inadvertently contravened the Guardian’s clear instructions.
“The National Spiritual Assembly now calls attention to two specific portions of the 1930 statement approved by the Guardian which
have been neglected in subsequent Conventions: first, the ruling that non-delegates do not possess the right to participate in
Convention proceedings; and, second, that the time of the election of members of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be fixed in the
Agenda at such a time as to allow the outgoing Assembly full time to report to the delegates, and to allow the incoming Assembly to
have full consultation with the assembled delegates. It is surely evident that a procedure or principle of action once authorized by the
Guardian is not subject to alteration by any Bahá’i body or individual believer to whom the procedure directly applies.
“In order to remove other sources of misunderstanding, the National Spiritual Assembly now feels it advisable to point out that the
Guardian’s letters on the subject of the Convention, received and published in BAHA’i NEWS this year,’ do not, as some believers
seem to feel, organically change the character and function of the Annual Meeting, but reaffirm and strengthen instructions and
explanations previously given. In the light of all the Guardian’s references to this subject, compiled and published by the National
Spiritual Assembly in BAHA’i NEWS of November, 1933 and February, 1934, the

following brief summary has been prepared and is now issued with the sole purpose of contributing to the spiritual unity of the chosen
delegates here present:— “1. The Annual Bahá’i Convention has
two unique functions to fulfill, discussion of current Bahá’i matters and the election of the National Spiritual Assembly. The
discussion should be free and untrammeled, the election carried on in that spirit of prayer and meditation in which alone every
delegate can render obedience to the Guardian’s expressed wish. After the Convention is convened by the Chairman of the National
Spiritual Assembly, and after the roll call is read by the Secretary of the Assembly, the Convention proceeds to the election of its
chairman and secretary by secret ballot and without advance nomination, according to the standard set for all Bahá’i elections.
“2. Non-delegates may not participate in Convention discussion. All members of the National Spiritual Assembly may participate in
the discussion, but only those members who have been elected delegates may vote on any matter brought up for vote during the
proceedings.
“3. The outgoing National Spiritual Assembly is responsible for rendering reports of its own activities and of those carried on by its
committees during the past year. The annual election is to be held at a point midway during the Convention sessions, so that the
incoming Assembly may consult with the delegates.
“4. The Convention is free to discuss any Bahá’i matter, in addition to those treated in the annual reports. The Convention is
responsible for mahing its own rules of procedure controlling discussion; for example, concerning any limitations the delegates may
find it necessary to impose upon the time allotted to or claimed by any one delegate. The National Assembly will maintain the rights
of the delegates to confer freely and fully, free from any restricted pressure, in the exercise of their function.
“5. The Convention as an organic body is hn-iited to the actual Convention period. It has no function to discharge after the

‘February. 1934.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

close of the sessions except that of electing a member or members to fill any vacancy that might arise in the membership of the
National Spiritual Assembly during the year.
“6 The Convention while in session has no independent legislative, executive or judicial function. Aside from its action in electing the
National Spiritual Assembly, its discussions do not represent actions but recommendations which shall, according to the Guardian’s
instructions, be given conscientious consideration by the National Assembly.
“7. The National Spiritual Assembly is the supreme Bahá’i administrative body within the American Bahá’i community, and its
jurisdiction continues without interruption during the Convention period as during the remainder of the year, and independently of the
individuals composing its membership. Any matter requiring action of legislative, executive or judicial nature, whether arising during
the Convention period or at any other time, is to be referred to the National Spiritual Assembly. The National Assembly is responsible
for upholding the administrative principles applying to the holding of the Annual Convention as it is for upholding all other
administrative principles. If, there-

fore, a Convention departs from the principles laid down for Conventions by the Guardian, and exceeds the limitations of function
conferred upon it, in that case, and in that case alone, the National Spiritual Assembly can and must intervene. It is the National
Spiritual Assembly, and not the Convention, which is authorized to decide when and why such intervention is required.
“8. The National Spiritual Assembly feels that it owes a real duty to the delegates, and to the entire body of believers, in presenting
any and all facts that may be required in order to clarify matters discussed at the Convention. There can be no true Bahi’I consultation
at this important meeting if any incomplete or erroneous view should prevail.
“9. The National Assembly in adopting and issuing this statement does so in the sincere effort to assure the constitutional freedom of
the Convention to fulfill its high mission. The path of true freedom lies in knowing and obeying the general principles given to all
Bahã’is for the proper conduct of their collective affairs. While the entire world plunges forward to destruction, it is the responsibility
of the National Spiritual Assembly to uphold that Order on which peace and security solely depends.”

THE NON-POLITICAL CHARACTER OF THE BAHA’i FAITH
A Statement Prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly in Response to the Request for Clarification of the Subject
Voiced by the 1933 Annual Convention

It is the view of the National Spiritual Assembly that the Guardian’s references to the non-political character of the Bahá”i Faith, when
studied as a whole, are so clear that they can be fully grasped by all believers and rightly applied by all Local Spiritual Assemblies to
any problems they may encounter. Should special circumstances arise, however, the National Assembly will make every effort to
assist any Local Assembly to arrive at fuller understanding of this important subject.
The first reference to consider is taken from the letter written by Shoghi Effendi on March 21, 1932, published under the title

of “The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.”
“I feel it, therefore, incumbent upon me to stress, now that the time is ripe, the importance of an instruction which, at the present stage
of the evolution of our Faith, should be increasingly emphasized, irrespective of its application to the East or to the West. And this
principle is no other than that which involves the non-participation by the adherents of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, whether in their
individual capacities or collectively as local or national Assemblies, in any form of activity that might be interpreted, either directly or
indirectly, as an

THE BAHA’t WORLD

interference in the political affairs of any particular government.
“Let them refrain from associating themselves, whether by word or by deed, with the political pursuits of their
respective nations, with the policies of their governments and the schemes and programs of parties and factions. In such
controversies they should assign no blame, take no side, further no design, and identify themselves with no system
prejudicial to the best interests of that worldwide Fellowship which it is their aim to guard and foster. Let them beware
lest they allow themselves to become the tools of unscrupulous politicians, or to be entrapped by the treacherous
devices of the plotters and the perfidious among their countrymen. Let them so shape their lives and regulate their
conduct that no charge of secrecy, of fraud, of bribery or of intimidation may, however ill-founded, be brought against
them.
It is their duty to strive to distinguish, as clearly as they possibly can, and if needed with the aid of their elected
representatives, such posts and functions as are either diplomatic or political, from those that are purely administrative
in character, and which under no circumstances are affected by the changes and chances that political activities and
party government, in every land, must necessarily involve. Let them affirm their unyielding determination to stand,
firmly and unreservedly, for the way of Bahá’u’lláh, to avoid the entanglements and bickerings inseparable from the
pursuits of the politician, and to become worthy agencies of that Divine Polity which incarnates God’s immutable
Purpose for all men.
“Let them proclaim that in whatever country they reside, and however advanced their institutions, or profound their
desire to enforce the laws and apply the principles enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, they will, unhesitatingly, subordinate the
operation of such laws and the application of such principles to the requirements and legal enactments of their
respective governments. Theirs is not the purpose, while endeavoring to conduct and perfect the administrative affairs
of their Faith, to violate, under any circumstances, the provisions of their country’s constitution, much less to allow the
machinery of their administration to supersede

the government of their respective coun tries.”
This instruction raised the question whether believers should vote in any public election. A Tablet revealed by
‘Abdu’lBahá to Mr. Thornton Chase was sent to the Guardian, and the following reply was received, dated January 26,
1933:
“The Guardian fully recognizes the authenticity and controlling influence of this instruction from ‘Abdu’l-Baha upon
the question. He, however, feels under the responsibility of stating that the attitude taken by the Master (that is, that
American citizens are in duty bound to vote in public elections) implies certain reservations. He, therefore, lays it upon
the individual conscience to see that in following the Master’s instructions no Bahá’i vote for an officer nor Bahá’i
participation in the affairs of the Republic shall involve acceptance by that individual of a program or policy that
contravenes any vital principle, spiritual or social, of the Faith.” The Guardian added to this letter the following
postscript: “I feel it incumbent upon me to clarify the above statement, written in my behalf, by stating that no vote
cast, or office undertaken, by a Bahá’i should necessarily constitute acceptance, by the voter or office holder, of the
entire program of any political party. No Bahá’i can be regarded as either a Republican or Democrat, as such. He is,
above all else, the supporter of the principles enunciated by Bahá’u’llah, with which, I am firmly convinced, the
program of no political party is completely harmonious.”
In a letter dated March 16, 1933, the Guardian sent these further details:
“As regards the non-political character of the Bahá’i Faith, Shoghi Effendi feels that there is no contradiction
whatsoever between the Tablet (to Thornton Chase, referred to above) and the reservations to which he has referred.
The Master surely never desired the friends to use their influence towards the realization and promotion of policies
contrary to any of the principles of the Faith. The friends may vote, if they can do it, without identifying themselves
with one party or another. To enter the arena of party politics is surely detrimental to the best interests of the Faith and
will

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

harm the Cause. It remains for the individuals to so use their right to vote as to keep aloof from party politics, and
always bear in mind that they are voting on the merits of the individual, rather than because he belongs to one party or
another. The matter must be made perfectly clear to the individuals, who will be left free to exercise

their discretion and judgment. But if a certain person does enter into party politics and labors for the ascendancy of one party over
another, and continues to do it against the expressed appeals, and warnings of the Assembly, then the Assembly has the right to refuse
him the right to vote in Bahã’i elections.”

CONCERNING MEMBERSHIP IN NON-BAHA’i RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
The instruction written by Shoghi Effendi concerning membership in non-Bahá’i religious organizations, published in the July, 1935,
number of BAHA’i Nuws, has brought forth some interesting and important communications from local Spiritual Assemblies and also
from individual believers, to all of which the National Spiritual Assembly has given careful and sympathetic attention.
The National Assembly itself, on receiving that instruction, made it the subject of extensive consultation, feeling exceedingly
responsible for its own understanding of the Guardian’s words and anxious to contribute to the understanding of the friends.
In October, 1935, the Assembly sent in reply to some of these communications a general letter embodying its thoughts on the subject,
and a copy of that letter was forwarded to Shoghi Effendi for his approval and comment. His references to its contents, made in letters
addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly on November 29 and December 11, 1935, are appended to this statement.
Now that Shoghi Effendi’s approval has been received, the National Assembly feels it desirable to publish, for the information
•of all the American believers, the substance of the October letter.
While so fundamental an instruction is bound to raise different questions corresponding to the different conditions existing throughout
the Bahl’i community, the most important consideration is our collective need to grasp the essential principle underlying the new
instruction, and our capacity to perceive that the position which the Guardian wishes us to take in regard to

church membership is a necessary and inevitable result of the steady development of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
This essential principle is made clear when we turn to Shoghi Effendi’s further reference to the subject as published in BAHA’I
NEWS for October, 193 5—words written by the Guardian’s own hand.
In the light of these words, it seems fully evident that the way to approach this instruction is in realizing the Faith of Bahã’u’lláh as an
ever-growing organism destined to become something new and greater than any of the revealed religions of the past. Whereas former
Faiths inspired hearts and illumined souls, they eventuated in formal religions with an ecclesiastical organization, creeds, rituals and
churches, while the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, likewise renewing man’s spiritual life, will gradually produce the institutions of an ordered
society, fulfilling not merely the function of the churches of the past but also the function of the civil state. By this manifestation of the
Divine Will in a higher degree than in former ages, humanity will emerge from that immature civilization in which church and state
are separate and competitive institutions, and partake of a true civilization in which spiritual and social principles are at last reconciled
as two aspects of one and the same Truth.
No Bahá’i can read the successive World Order letters sent us by Shoghi Effendi without perceiving that the Guardian, for many
years, has been preparing us to understand and appreciate this fundamental purpose and mission of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.
Even when the Master ascended, we were

THE BAHA’i WORLD

for the most part still considering the Bahá’i Faith as though it were only the “return of Christ” and failing to perceive
the entirely new and larger elements latent in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Thus, in the very first of the World Order letters, written February 27th, 1929, Shoghi Effendi said: “Who, I may ask,
when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the increasing complexity of its
affairs, the diversity of its adherents, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the infant Faith of God, can
for a moment question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and
stress of a struggling civilization, the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its
interests?”
Although for five years the Guardian had been setting forth the principles of Bahã’i Administration in frequent letters,
in 1927 he apparently felt it necessary to overcome some doubts here and there as to the validity of the institutions the
Master bequeathed to the Bahá’is in His Will and Testament. The series of World Order letters, however, goes far
beyond the point of defending and explaining their validity as an essential element in the Faith of ,Bahá’u’lláh—the
Guardian vastly extended the horizon of our understanding by making it clear that the Administrative Order, in its full
development, is to be the social structure of the future civilization.
Thus, in that same letter quoted above, he wrote: “Not only will the present-day Spiritual Assemblies be styled
differently in future, but will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives
necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Bahá’u’llãh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the
world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Bahã’i Faith permeates the masses
of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign
States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme
organ of the

Bahá’i Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world’s future super-state.”
This passage stands as the keystone in the noble structure which Shoghi Effendi has raised in his function as interpreter
of the Teachings of Bahà’u’lláh. The Master developed the Cause to the point where this social Teaching, always
existent in the Tablets of Bahã’u’llãh, could be explained to the believers and given its due significance as the
fulfillment of Bahá’i evolution. As the Guardian expressed it: “That Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is
the primary mission of the BahI’i Faith.” (World Order of Bahd’u’lldh, pp. 3-4.)
For us these words mean that a Bahá’i is not merely a member of a revealed Religion, he is also a citizen in a World
Order even though that Order today is still in its infancy and still obscured by the shadows thrown by the institutions,
habits and attitudes derived from the past. But since the aim and end has been made known, our devotion and loyalty
must surely express itself, not in clinging to views and thoughts emanating from the past, but in pressing forward in
response to the needs of the new creation.
That true devotion, which consists in conscious knowledge of the “primary mission,” and unified action to assist in
bringing about its complete triumph, recognizes that a Bahá’i today must have singleness of mind as of aim, without
the division arising when we stand with one foot in the Cause and one foot in the world, attempting to reconcile diverse
elements which the Manifestation of God Himself has declared to be irreconcilable.
The principle underlying the Guardian’s instruction about membership in non-BahI’i religious bodies has already been
emphasized by Shoghi Effendi in another connection— the instruction about the non-political character of the Faith
which he incorporated in his letter entitled “The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.” For example: “I feel it,
therefore, incumbent upon me to stress, now that the time is ripe, the importance of an instruction which, at the present
stage of the evolution of our Faith, should be increasingly emphasized, irrespective of its

THE WORLD ORDER OF RAHA’U’LLAH

application to the East or to the West. And this principle is no other than that which involves the non-participation by the adherents of
the Faith of Bahá’u’llãh, whether in their individual capacities or collectively as local or national Assemblies, in any form of activity
that might be interpreted, either directly or indirectly, as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government.”
Again, when the question was raised as to membership in certain non-Bahá’i organizations not directly religious or political in
character, the Guardian replied: “Regarding association with the World Fellowship of Faiths and kindred Societies, Shoghi Effendi
wishes to reaffirm and elucidate the general principle that Bahá’i elected representatives as well as individuals should refrain from any
act or word that would imply a departure from the principles, whether spiritual, social or administrative, established by Bahá’u’lláh.
Formal affiliation with and acceptance of membership in organizations whose programs or policies are not wholly reconcilable with
the Techings is of course out of the question.” (BAHA’i NEWS, August, 1933.)
Thus, not once but repeatedly the Guardian has upheld the vital principle underlying every type of relationship between Bahá’is and
other organizations, namely, that the Cause of Bahã’u’lláh is an ever-growing organism, and as we begin to realize its universality our
responsibility is definitely established to cherish and defend that universality from all compromise, all admixture with worldly
elements, whether emanating from our own habits rooted in the past or from the deliberate attacks imposed by enemies from without.
It will be noted that in the instruction published in July, 1935, BAHA’i NEWS, the Guardian made it clear that the principle involved
is not new and unexpected, but rather an application of an established principle to a new condition. “Concerning membership in non-
Bahá’ i religious associations, the Guardian wishes to re-emphasize the general principle already laid down in his communications to
your Assembly and also to the individual believers that no Bahá’i who wishes to be a whole-hearted and sin-

cere upholder of the distinguishing principles of the Cause can accept full membership in any non-BahI’i ecclesiastical organization. . . .
For it is only too obvious that in most of its fundamental assumptions the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is completely at variance with outworn
creeds, ceremonies and institutions. . . . During the days of the Master the Cause was still in a stage that made such an open and sharp
dissociation between it and other religious organizations, and particularly the Muslim Faith, not only inadvisable but practically
impossible to establish. But since His passing events throughout the Bahá’i world, and particularly in Egypt where the Muslim
religious courts have formally testified to the independent character of the Faith, have developed to a point that has made such an
assertion of the independence of the Cause not only highly desirable but absolutely essential.”
To turn now to the Guardian’s words published in October BAHA’i NEWS: “The separation that has set in between the institutions of
the Bahá’i Faith and the Islamic ecclesiastical organizations that oppose it
imposes upon every loyal upholder of the Cause the obligation of refraining from any word or action that might prejudice the position
which out enemies have . . . of their own accord proclaimed and established. This historic development, the beginnings of which could
neither be recognized nor even anticipated in the years immediately preceding ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s passing, may be said to have signalized
the Formative Period of our Faith and to have paved the way for the consolidation of its administrative order. . . . Though our Cause
unreservedly recognizes the Divine origin of all the religions that preceded it and upholds the spiritual truths which lie at their very
core and are common to them all, its institutions, whether administrative, religious or humanitarian, must, if their distinctive character
is to be maintained and recognized, be increasingly divorced from the outworn creeds, the meaningless ceremonials and man-made
institutions with which these religions are at present identified. Our adversaries in the East have initiated the struggle. Our future
opponents in the West will,

THE BAHA’i WORLD

in their turn, arise and carry it a stage further. Ours is the duty, in anticipation of this inevitable contest, to uphold unequivocally and
with undivided loyalty the integrity of our Faith and demonstrate the distinguishing features of its divinely appointed institutions.”
Nothing could be clearer or more emphatic. These words, asserting again the essential universality of the Cause, likewise repeat and
renew the warning that the organized religions, even in America, will become bitterly hostile to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, denounce
and oppose it, and seek its destruction in vain effort to maintain their own “outworn creeds” and material power. Informed of this
inevitable development, can a Bahá’i any longer desire to retain a connection which, however liberal and pleasing it now seems, is a
connection with a potential foe of the Cause of God? The Guardian’s instruction signifies that the time has come when all American
believers must become fully conscious of the implications of such connections, and carry out their loyalty to its logical conclusion.
Shoghi Effendi’s latest words are not merely an approval of the foregoing statement, but a most helpful elucidation of some of the
problems which arise when the friends turn to their local Assemblies for specific advice under various special circumstances.
“The explanatory statement in connection with membership in non-Bahá’i religious organizations is admirably conceived, convincing
and in full conformity with the principles underlying and implied in the unfolding world order of Bahá’u’lláh.” (November 29, 1933.)
“The Guardian has carefully read the copy of the statement you had recently prepared concerning non-membership in nonBahã’i
religious organizations, and is pleased to realize that your comments and explanations are in full conformity with his views on the
subject. He hopes that your letter will serve to clarify this issue in the minds of all the believers, and to further convince them of its
vital character and importance in the present stage of the evolution of the Cause.

feting believers, the Assemblies, whether local or national, should act tactfully, patiently and in a friendly and kindly spirit. Knowing
how painful and dangerous it is for such believers to repudiate their former allegiances and friendships, they should try to gradually
persuade them of the wisdom and necessity of such an action, and instead of thrusting upon them a new principle, to make them
accept it inwardly, and out of pure conviction and desire. Too severe and immediate action in such cases is not only fruitless but
actually harmful. It alienates people instead of winning them to the Cause.
“The other point concerns the advisability of contributing to a church. In this case also the friends must realize that contributions to a
church, especially when not regular, do not necessarily entail affiliation. The believers can make such offerings, occasionally, and
provided they are certain that while doing so they are not connected as members of any church. There should be no confusion between
the terms affiliation and association. While affiliation with ecclesiastical organizations is not permissible, association with them
should not only be tolerated but even encouraged. There is no better way to demonstrate the universality of the Cause than this.
Bahâ’u’lláh, indeed, urges His followers to consort with all religions and nations with utmost friendliness and love. This constitutes the
very spirit of His message to mankind.” (December
11, 1935.)
The National Spiritual Assembly trusts that the subject will receive the attention of local Assemblies and communities, and that in the
light of the foregoing explanations the friends will find unity and agreement in applying the instruction to whatever situations may
arise. In teaching new believers let us lay a proper foundation so that their obedience will be voluntary and assured from the beginning
of their enrollment as Bahá’is. In our attitude toward the older believers who are affected by the instruction let us act with the patience
and kindliness the Guardian has urged.
A special case involving an aged believer, afflicted with illness, for whom severance of church relations might have been too great a
shock.

In this case,1 as also in that of suf

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

BAHA’IS AND WAR
A Statement by the National Spiritual Assembly1

One of the chief responsibilities of Bahá’is in this transitional era is to grasp the principle upon which rests their loyalty
to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in relation to their duty toward their civil government. This problem arises in its most
difficult form in connection with our individual and collective attitude toward war.
Nothing could be more powerful than the Bahá’i teachings on the subject of peace. Not only does Bahá’u’lláh confirm
the teachings of all former Manifestations which uphold amity and fellowship between individual human beings, and
the supremacy of love as the end and aim of mutual intercourse and association, but He likewise extends the divine law
of peace to governments and rulers, declaring to them that they are called upon to establish peace and justice upon
earth, and uproot forever the dire calamity of international war.
Despite His Revelation, a most agonizing and excruciating conflict raged in Europe for four years, and since that war
many other wars and revolutions have dyed the earth, while at present the heaven of human hope is black with the
approach of a final world-shaking catastrophe.
What wonder that faithful Bahá’is, abhorring and detesting war as insane repudiation of divine law, as destroyer of life
and ruin of civilization, should now, in these fateful days, ponder how they may save their loved ones from the
calamity of the battlefield, and how they may contribute their utmost to any and every effort aimed at the attainment of
universal peace?
Conscious of these heart-stirrings, and mindful of its responsibility toward all Ai-faerican believers, and particularly
that radiant youth which would first of all be sacrificed in the event of a declaration of war by the government, the
National Spiritual Assembly wishes to express its view upon the matter, in the hope that the result of its study of the
Teachings and of the Guardian’s explanations will assist in bringing a unity of opinion and a clarification of thought
among the friends.

Concerning the duty of Bahá’is to their government, we have these words, written by Shoghi Effendi on January 1, 1929 (see “Bahá’i
Administration,” page 152): “To all these (that is, restrictive measures of the Soviet régime) the followers of the Faith of Bahâ’u’lláh
have with feelings of burning agony and heroic fortitude unanimously and unreservedly submitted, ever mindful of the guiding
principle of Bahá’i conduct that in connection with their administrative activities, no matter how grievously interference with them
might affect the course of the extension of the Movement, and the suspension of which does not constitute in itself a departure from
the principle of loyalty to their Faith, the considered judgment and authoritative decrees issued by their responsible rulers must, if they
be faithful to Bahâ’u’lláh’s and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s express injunctions, be thoroughly respected and loyally obeyed. In matters, however,
that vitally affect the integrity and honor of the Faith of Bahá’u’llâh, and are tantamount to a recantation of their faith and repudiation
of their innermost belief, they are convinced, and are unhesitatingly prepared to vindicate by their life-blood the sincerity of their
conviction, that no power on earth, neither the arts of the most insidious adversary nor the bloody weapons of the most tyrannical
oppressor, can ever succeed in extorting from them a word or deed that might tend to stifle the voice of their conscience or tarnish the
purity of their faith.”
In view of the fact that early Christians were persecuted because they refused to render military service, the question might be raised
whether the above statement means that the Guardian includes refusal to bear arms as one of those matters which “vitally affect the
integrity and honor of the Faith
and are tantamount to a recantation of their faith and repudiation of their inner-
1 “The Guardian has carefully read the N. S. A’s statement on the Bahá’i attitude toward war, sod approves of its circulation among the
believers.”— Shoghi Effeodi, through his secretary, Haifa, January 10, 1936.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

most belief”—a question the more important in that the early Christians preferred persecution to military service.
The answer to this question is that the Guardian instructs us that the obligation to render military duty placed by governments upon
their citizens is a form of loyalty to one’s government which the Bahá’i must accept, but that the believers can, through their National
Assembly, seek exemption from active army duty provided their government recognizes the right of members of religious bodies
making peace a matter of conscience to serve in some non-combatant service rather than as part of the armed force.
The National Spiritual Assembly has investigated carefully this aspect of the situation, and has found that, whereas the government of
the United States did, in the last war, provide exemption from military duty on religious grounds, nevertheless this exemption was part
of the Statutes bearing directly upon that war, and with the cessation of hostilities the exemption lapsed. In other words, there is today
no basis on which any Bahá’i may be exempted from military duty in a possible future conflict. The National Assembly, consequently,
cannot at present make any petition for exemption of Bahá’is from war service, for such petitions must be filed with reference to some
specific Act or Statute under which exemption can be granted. The Assembly understands that, in the event of war, there will be some
kind of provision for exemption enacted, but as far as Bahá’is are concerned, no steps can be taken until this government declares
itself in a state of war.
This explanation, it is hoped, will satisfy those who for some years have been urging that protection be secured for American Bahi’i
youth.
On the other hand it must be pointed out that it is no part of our teaching program to attract young people to the Cause merely

in order to take advantage of any exemption that may later on be officially obtained for duly enrolled Bahá’is. The only justifiable
reason for joining this Faith is because one realizes that it is a divine Cause and is ready and willing to accept whatever may befall a
believer on the path of devotion. The persecutions which have been inflicted upon Bahá’is so frequently make it clear that the path of
devotion is one of sacrifice and not of ease or special privilege.
Another question encountered here and there among believers is what can Bahá’is do to work for peace? Outside the Cause we see
many organizations with peace programs, and believers occasionally feel that it is their duty to join such movements and thereby work
for a vital Bahá’i principle.
It is the view of the National Spiritual Assembly that activity in and for the Cause itself is the supreme service to world peace. The
Bahã’i community of the world is the true example of peace. The Bahá’i principles are the only ones upon which peace can be
established. Therefore, by striving to enlarge the number of declared believers, and broadcasting the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, we are
doing the utmost to rid humanity of the scourge of war. Of what use to spend time and money upon incomplete human programs when
we have the universal program of the Manifestation of God? The firm union of the Bahá’is in active devotion to the advancement of
their own Faith—this is our service to peace, as it is our service to all other human needs—economic justice, race amity, religious
unity, etc. Let non-believers agitate for disarmament and circulate petitions for this and that pacifist aim—a Bahá’i truly alive in this
Faith will surely prefer to base his activities upon the foundation laid by Bahá’u’lláh, walk the path which the Master trod all His days,
and heed the appeals which the Guardian has given us to initiate a new era in the public teaching of the Message.
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

THE WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHA
Excerpts Made by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahd’Is of the United States and Canada, by
Direction of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahci’I Faith
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE WILL
AND TESTAMENT

ELL is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahã’u’lláh and rendereth thanks unto his Lord! For He
assuredly will be made manifest. God bath indeed ordained it in the Bayán.—THE BAB. (The Dispensation of
Bahd’u’lldh, pages 54-5 5.)
The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order.
Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System—the like of
which mortal eyes have never witnessed.—BAHA’u’LLAH. (The Dispensation of Bahá’u’llclh, page 54.)
It is incumbent upon the Aghsán, the Afnãn and My kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty
Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book: “When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed
and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed. Who hath branched
from this Ancient Root.” The object of this sacred verse is none except the Most Mighty Branch (‘Abdu’l-Bahã). Thus
have We graciously revealed unto you Our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful.—
BAHA’u’LLAH. (The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lldh, page 42.)
There hath branched from the Sadratu’lMuntahá this sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with
him that hath sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow. Verily the Limb of the Law of God hath sprung forth
from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as
to encompass the whole of creation.—BAHA’u’LLAH. (The Dispensation of Bahd’u’lldh, page 43.)

In accordance with the explicit text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh hath made the Center of the Covenant the Interpreter of His
Word—a Covenant so firm and mighty that from the beginning of time until the present day no religious Dispensation hath produced
its like.—’Antsu’L-BAHA. (The Dispensation of Bahd’u’lldh, page 44.)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who incarnates an institution for which we can find no parallel whatsoever in any of the world’s recognized religious
systems, may be said to have closed the Age to which He Himself belonged and opened the one in which we are now laboring. His
Will and Testament should thus be regarded as the perpetual, the indissoluble link which the mind of Him Who is the Mystery of God
has conceived in order to insure the continuity of the three ages that constitute the component parts of the Bahá’i Dispensation. .
The creative energies released by the Law of Bahá’u’lláh, permeating and evolving within the mind of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have, by their
very impact and close interaction, given birth to an Instrument which may be viewed as the Charter of the New World Order which is
at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation. The Will may thus be acclaimed as the inevitable offspring resulting
from that mystic intercourse between Him Who communicated the generating influence of His divine Purpose and the One Who was
its vehicle and chosen recipient. Being the Child of the Covenant
—the Heir of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God—the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá can no more be
divorced from Him Who supplied the original and motivating impulse than from the One Who ultimately conceived it. Bahã’u’lláh’s
inscrutable purpose, we must ever

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bear in mind, as been so thoroughly infused into the conduct of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and their motives have been so closely
wedded together, that the mere attempt to dissociate the teachings of the former from any system which the ideal
Exemplar of those same teachings has established would amount to a repudiation of one of the most sacred and basic
truths of the Faith.
The Administrative Order, which ever since ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ascension has evolved and is taking shape under our very
eyes in no fewer than forty countries of the world, may be considered as the framework of the Will itself, the inviolable
stronghold wherein this new-born child is being nurtured and
EXCERPTS FROM THE OF ‘ABDU
All-praise to Him Who, by the Shield of His Covenant, hath guarded the Temple of His Cause from the darts of
doubtfulness, Who by the Hosts of His Testament bath preserved the Sanctuary of His Most Beneficent Law and
protected His Straight and Luminous Path, staying thereby the onslaught of the company of Covenant-breakers, that
have threatened to subvert His Divine Edifice; Who hath watched over His Mighty Stronghold and All-glorious Faith,
through the aid of men whom the slander of the slanderer affects not, whom no earthly calling, glory and power can
turn aside from the Covenant of God and His Testament, established firmly by His clear and manifest words, writ and
revealed by His All-glorious Pen and recorded in the Preserved Tablet.
Salutation and praise, blessing and glory rest upon that primal branch of the Divine and Sacred Lote-Tree, grown out,
blest, tender, verdant and flourishing from the Twin Holy Trees; the most wondrous, unique and priceless pearl that
doth gleam from out the Twin Surging Seas; upon the offshoots of the Tree of Holiness, the twigs of the Celestial Tree,
they that in the Day of the Great Dividing have stood fast and firm in the Covenant; upon the Hands (pillars) of the
Cause of God that have diffused widely the Divine Fragrances, declared His Proofs, proclaimed His Faith, published
abroad His Law, de developed

This Administrative Order, as it expands and consolidates itself, will no doubt manifest the potentialities and reveal the
full implications of this momentous Document— this most remarkable expression of the Will of One of the most
remarkable Figures of the Dispensation of Bahã’u’lláh. It will, as its component parts, its organic institutions, begin to
function with efficiency and vigor, assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not only as the nucleus
but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind.—
SH0GHT EFFEND5. (The Dispensation of Bahd’u’lldh, pages 5 1-52.)
WILL AND TESTAMENT ‘L -BAHA
tached themselves from all things but Him, stood for righteousness in this world, and kindled the Fire of the Love of
God in the very hearts and souls of His servants; upon them that have beheved, rested assured, stood steadfast in His
Covenant and followed the Light that after my passing shineth from the Dayspring of Divine Guidance—for behold! he
is the blest and sacred bough that hath branched out from the Twin Holy Trees. Well is it with him that seeketh the
shelter of his shade that shadoweth all mankind.
O ye beloved of the Lord! The greatest of all things is the protection of the True Faith of God, the preservation of His
Law, the safeguarding of His Cause and service unto His Word. Ten thousand souls have shed streams of their sacred
blood in this path, their precious hves they offered in sacrifice unto Him, hastened wrapt in holy ecstasy unto the
glorious field of martyrdom, upraised the Standard of God’s Faith and writ with their life-blood upon the Tablet of the
world the verses of His Divine Unity. The sacred breast of His Holiness, the Exalted One (may my life be a sacrifice
unto Him), was made a target to many a dart of woe, and in Mázindarán, the Blessed feet of the AbhI Beauty (may my
life be offered up for His loved ones) were so grievously scouraged as to bleed and be sore wounded. His neck also was
put into captive chains

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

and His feet made fast in the stocks. In every hour, for a period of fifty years, a new trial and calamity befell Him and
fresh afflictions and cares beset Him. One of them:
after having suffered intense vicissitudes, He was made homeless and a wanderer and fell a victim to still new
vexations and troubles. [n ‘Iraq, the Day-Star of the world was so exposed to the wiles of the people of malice as to be
eclipsed in splendor. Later on He was sent an exile to the Great City (Constantinople) and thence to the Land of
Mystery (Adrianople), whence, grievously wronged, He was eventually transferred to the Most Great Prison (‘Akká).
He Whom the world hath wronged (may my life be offered up for His loved ones) was four times banished from city to
city, till at last condemned to perpetual confinement, He was incarcerated in this Prison, the prison of highway robbers,
of brigands and of man- slayers. All this is but one of the trials that have afflicted the Blessed Beauty, the rest being
even as grievous as this.
According to the direct and sacred command of God we are forbidden to utter slander, are commanded to show forth
peace and amity, are exhorted to rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and harmony with all the kindreds and
peoples of the world. We must obey and be the well-wishers of the governments of the land, regard disloyalty unto a
just king as disloyalty to God Himself and wishing evil to the government a transgression of the Cause of God.
O God, my God! Thou seest this wronged servant of Thine, held fast in the talons of ferocious lions, of ravening
wolves, of bloodthirsty beasts. Graciously assist me, through my love for Thee, that I may drink cLep of the chalice
that brimmeth over with faithfulness to Thee and is filled with Thy bountiful Grace; so that, fallen upon the dust, I may
sink prostrate and senseless whilst my vesture is dyed crimson with my blood. This is my wish, my heart’s desire, my
hope, my pride, my glory. Grant, 0 Lord my God, and my Refuge, that in my last hour, my end, may even as musk shed
its fragrance of glory! Is there a bounty greater than this? Nay, by Thy Glory! I call Thee to witness that no day passeth
but that I quaff my fill

from this cup, so grievous are the misdeeds wrought by them that have broken the Covenant, kindled discord, showed their malice,
stirred sedition in the land and dishonored Thee amidst Thy servants. Lord! Shield Thou from these Covenant-breakers the mighty
Stronghold of Thy Faith and protect Thy secret Sanctuary from the onslaught of tbe ungodly. Thou art in truth the Mighty, the
Powerful, the Gracious, the Strong.
O God, my God! Shield Thy trusted servants from the evils of self and passion, protect them with the watchful eye of Thy loving
kindness from all rancor, hate and envy, shelter them in the impregnable stronghold of Thy Cause and, safe from the darts of
doubtfulness, make them the manifestations of Thy glorious Signs, illumine their faces with the effulgent rays shed from the
Dayspring of Thy Divine Unity, gladden their hearts with the verses revealed from Thy Holy Kingdom, strengthen their loins by Thine
all-swaying power that cometh from Thy Realm of Glory. Thou art the All-Bountiful, the Protector, the Almighty, the Gracious!
O ye that stand fast in the Covenant! When the hour cometh that this wronged and broken-winged bird will have taken flight unto the
celestial concourse, when it will have hastened to the Realm of the Unseen and its mortal frame will have been either lost or hidden
neath the dust, it is incumbent upon the Afnán, that are steadfast in the Covenant of God, and have branched from the Tree of
Holiness, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God (the glory of the Lord rest upon them), and all the friends and loved ones, one and
all to bestir themselves and arise with heart and soul and in one accord, to diffuse the sweet savors of God, to teach His Cause and to
promote His Faith. It behooveth them not to rest for a moment, neither to seek repose. They must disperse themselves in every land,
pass by every clime and travel throughout all regions. Bestirred, without rest and steadfast to the end they must raise in every land the
triumphal cry “0 Thou the Glory of Glories!” (Ya-Baha’u’l-Abhá), must achieve renown in the world wherever they go, must burn
brightly

THE BAHA’! WORLD

even as a candle in every meeting and must kindle the flame of Divine love in every assembly; that the light of truth may rise
resplendent in the midmost heart of the world, that throughout the East and throughout the West a vast concourse may gather under
the shadow of the Word of God, that the sweet savors of holiness may be diffused, that faces may shine radiantly, hearts be filled with
the Divine spirit and souls be made heavenly.
In these days, the most important of all things is the guidance of the nations and peoples of the world. Teaching the Cause is of utmost
importance for it is the head corner-stone of the foundation itself. This wronged servant has spent his days and nights in promoting the
Cause and urging the peoples to service. He rested not a moment, till the fame of the Cause of God was noised abroad in the world and
the celestial strains from the Abhá Kingdom roused the East and the West. The beloved of God must also follow the same example.
This is the secret of faithfulness, this is the requirement of servitude to the Threshold of Bahá!
The disciples of Christ forgot themselves and all earthly things, forsook all their cares and belongings, purged themselves of self and
passion and with absolute detachment scattered far and wide and engaged in calling the peoples of the world to the Divine Guidance,
till at last they made the world another world, illumined the surface of the earth and even to their last hour proved self- sacrificing in
the pathway of that Beloved One of God. Finally in various lands they suffered glorious martyrdom. Let them that are men of action
follow in their footsteps!
O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the AghØn (Branches), the Afnán (Twigs) of
the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the Abhá Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi — the
youthful branch branched from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the two offshoots of the
Tree of Holiness—as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Aghsán, the
Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn.

He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.
The sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected
and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness,
the Exalted One (may my life be offered up for them both) * Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neither
obeyeth them, bath not obeyed God; whoso rebelleth against him and against them bath rebelled against God; wboso opposeth him
bath opposed God; whoso contendeth with them bath contended with God; wboso disputeth with him bath disputed with God; whoso
denieth him bath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him bath disbelieved in God; whoso deviateth, separateth himself and turnetb
aside from him bath in truth deviated, separated himself and turned aside from God. May the wrath, the fierce indignation, the
venegeance of God rest upon him! The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the
guardian of the Cause of God. It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsán, the Afnán, the Hands of
the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him
and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him bath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His
word and will become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition. Beware, beware, lest the days after the ascension (of Bahã’u’lláh) be
repeated when the Center of Sedition waxed haughty and rebellious and with Divine Unity for his excuse deprived himself and
perturbed and poisoned others. No doubt every vainglorious one that purposeth dissension and discord will not openly declare his evil
purposes, nay rather, even as impure gold, would he seize upon divers measures and various pretexts that he may separate the
gathering of the people of Bahá. My object is to show that the Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they
find anyone beginning to oppose and

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

protest against the guardian of the Cause of God cast him out from the congregation of the people of Bahá and in no wise accept any
excuse from him. How often bath grievous error been disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of doubt in the hearts
of men!
O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become
his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing. He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all
worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should
the first-born of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words:—”The child is the secret essence of
its sire,” that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be
matched with a goodly character, then must he (the guardian of the Cause of God), choose another branch to succeed him.
The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number, nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important
services in the work of the guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by majority
from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to
the choice of the one whom the guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor. This assent must be given in such wise as
the assenting and dissenting voices may not be distinguished (secret ballot).
O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under
his shadow and obey his command. Should any, within or without the company of the Hands of the Cause of God, disobey and seek
division, the wrath of God and His vengeance will be upon him, for he will have caused a breach in the true Faith of God.
The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote learn-

ing, to improve the character of all men and to be, at all times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things.
They must manifest the fear of God by their conduct, their manners, their deeds and their words.
This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the direction of the guardian of the Cause of God. He must continually urge them
to strive and endeavor to the utmost of their ability to diffuse the sweet savors of God, and to guide all the peoples of the world, for it
is the light of Divine Guidance that causeth all the universe to be illumined. To disregard, though it be for a moment, this absolute
command which is binding upon everyone, is in no wise permitted, that the existent world may become even as the Abhá Paradise,
that the surface of the earth may become heavenly, that contention and conflict amidst peoples, kindreds, nations and governments
may disappear, that all the dwellers on earth may become one people and one race, that the world may become even as one home.
Should differences arise they shall be amicably and conclusively settled by the Supreme Tribunal, that shall include members from all
the governments and peoples of the world.
O ye beloved of the Lord! In this sacred Dispensation, conflict and contention are in no wise permitted. Every aggressor deprives
himself of God’s grace. It is incumbent upon everyone to show the utmost love, rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and sincere
kindliness unto all the peoples and kindreds of the world, be they friends or strangers. So intense must be the spirit of love and
loving—kindness, that the stranger may find himself a friend, the enemy a true brother, no difference whatsoever existing between
them. For universality is of God and all limitations earthly. Thus man must strive that his reality may manifest virtues and perfections,
the light whereof may shine upon everyone. The light of the sun shineth upon all the world and the merciful showers of Divine
Providence fall upon all peoples. The vivifying breeze reviveth every living creature and all beings endued with hfe obtain their share
and portion at His heavenly board. In hke manner, the affections and loving-kindness of the servants of the One

THE BAHA’I WORLD

True God must be bountifully and universally extended to all mankind. Regarding this, restrictions and limitations are in no wise
permitted.
Wherefore, 0 my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness,
uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the
grace of Bahá, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the
peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show
your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you show justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you attract them to
yourself, should they show their enmity be friendly towards them, should they poison your lives sweeten their souls, should they
inflict a wound upon you be a salve to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the truthful.
And now, concerning the House of Justice which God hath ordained as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must be
elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. Its members must be manifestations of the fear of God and daysprings of
knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God’s faith and the well-wishers of all mankind. By this House is meant the
Universal House of Justice, that is, in all countries, a secondary House of Justice iuust be instituted, and these secondary Houses of
Justice must elect the members of the Universal one. Unto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and
regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the
guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its
deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the
guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in

his stead. This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the
executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the
foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.
O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon you to be submissive to all monarchs that are just and show your fidelity to every
righteous king. Serve ye the sovereigns of the world with utmost truthfulness and loyalty. Show obedience unto them and be their
well-wishers. ‘Without their leave and permission do not meddle with political affairs, for disloyalty to the just sovereign is disloyalty
to God himself.
This is my counsel and the commandment of God unto you. Well is it with them that act accordingly.
O dearly beloved friends! I am now in very great danger and the hope of even an hour’s hfe is lost to me. I am thus constrained to
write these lines for the protection of the Cause of God, the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His Word, and the safety of
His Teachings. By the Ancient Beauty! This wronged one bath in no wise borne nor doth he bear a grudge against any one; towards
none doth he entertain any ill- feeling and uttereth no word save for the good of the world. My supreme obligation, however, of
necessity, prompteth me to guard and preserve the Cause of God. Thus, with the greatest regret, I counsel you saying:—”Guard ye the
Cause of God, protect His law and have the utmost fear of discord. This is the foundation of the belief of the people of Bahá (may my
life be offered up for them) .“ “His Holiness, the Exalted one (the Báb), is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the
Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abhã Beauty (may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the Supreme
Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine Essence. All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding.” Unto the

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

Most Holy Book every one must turn and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice.
That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God himself.
Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice and turned away from the Lord of the
Covenant. By this House is meant that Universal House of Justice which is to be elected from all countries, that is, from those parts in
the East and West where the loved ones are to be found, after the manner of the customary elections in Western countries such as
those of England.
It is incumbent upon these members (of the Universal House of Justice) to gather in a certain place and deliberate upon all problems
which have caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book. Whatsoever they
decide has the same effect as the Text itself. And inasmuch as this House of Justice hath power to enact laws that are not expressly
recorded in the Book and bear upon daily transactions, so also it hath power to repeal the same. Thus for example, the House of
Justice enacteth today a certain law and enforceth it, and a hundred years hence, circumstances having profoundly changed and the
conditions having altered, another House of Justice will then have power, according to the exigencies of the time, to alter that law.
This it can do because that law formeth no part of the Divine Explicit Text. The House of Justice is both the Initiator and the
Abrogator of its own laws.
And now, one of the greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause of God is to shun and avoid entirely the Covenantbreakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past. 0
friends! It behooveth you to call to mind with tenderness the trials of His Holiness, the Exalted One and show your fidelity to the
Ever-Blest Beauty. The utmost endeavor must be exerted lest all these woes, trials and afflictions, all this pure and sacred blood that
hath been shed so

profusely in the Path of God, may prove to be in vain.
O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive with all your heart to shield the Cause of God from the onslaught of the insincere, for
souls such as these cause the straight to become crooked and all benevolent efforts to produce contrary results.
O God, my God! I call Thee, Thy Prophets and Thy Messengers, Thy Saints and Thy Holy Ones, to witness that I have
declared conclusively Thy Proofs unto Thy loved ones and set forth clearly all things unto them, that they may watch
over Thy Faith, guard Thy Straight Path and protect Thy Resplendent Law. Thou art, verily, the All-knowing, the Allwise!
Whosoever and whatsoever meeting becometh a hindrance to the diffusion of the Light of Faith, let the loved ones give
them counsel and say: “Of all the gifts of God the greatest is the gift of Teaching. It draweth unto us the Grace of God
and is our first obligation. Of such a gift how can we deprive ourselves? Nay, our lives, our goods, our comforts, our
rest, we offer them all as a sacrifice for the Abhá Beauty and teach the Cause of God.” Caution and prudence, however,
must be observed even as recorded in the Book. The veil must in no wise be suddenly rent asunder. The Glory of
Glories rest upon you.
O ye the faithful loved ones of ‘Abdu’lBahá! It is incumbent upon you to take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi, the
twig that hath branched from and the fruit given forth by the two hallowed and Divine LoteTrees, that no dust of
despondency and sorrow may strain his radiant nature, that day by day he may wax greater in happiness, in joy and
spirituality, and may grow to become even as a fruitful tree.
For he is, after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the guardian of the Cause of God, the Afnán, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause and the
beloved of the Lord must obey him and turn unto him. He that obeyeth him not, hath not obeyed God; he that turneth
away from him, hath turned away from God and he that denieth him, hath denied the True One. Beware lest anyone
falsely interpret these words, and like unto them that have broken the

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Covenant after the Day of Ascension (of Bahá’u’lláh) advance a pretext, raise the standard of revolt, wax stubborn and
open wide the door of false interpretation. To none is given the right to put forth his own opinion or express his
particular convictions. All must seek guidance and turn unto the Center of the Cause and the House of Justice. And he
that turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error.
The Glory of Glories rest upon you.
Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its
purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God’s immutable Purpose for mankind in this
day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than Bahá’u’lláh Himself. Its shield and defender
are the embattled hosts of the Abhá Kingdom. Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have
offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve are the authentic
provisions of the “Will and Testament” of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Its guiding principles are the truths which

I HAVE been acquainted by the perusal of your latest communications with the nature of the doubts that have been
publicly expressed, by one who is wholly misinformed as to the true precepts of the Cause, regarding the validity of
institutions that stand inextricably interwoven with the Faith of Bahá’u’llih. Not that I for a moment view such faint
misgivings in the light of an open challenge to the structure that embodies the Faith, nor is it because I question in the
least the unyielding tenacity of the faith of the American believers, if I venture to dwell upon what seems to me
appropriate observations at the present stage of the evolution of our beloved Cause. I am indeed inclined to welcome
these expressed apprehensions inasmuch as they afford me an opportunity to familiarize the elected representatives of
the believers with the origin and character of the institutions which stand at the very basis of

He Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West.
The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. The seat
round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr and its Dependencies.
The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House
of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by
Bahá’u’lláh. The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither
rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the “Most Great Peace”; its
consummation the advent of that golden millenium—the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of
God Himself, the Kingdom of Bahá’u’llãh.—SHoGHI EFFENDI. (“The Dispensation of Bahá’u’llãh,” pages 64 and 65.)
the world order ushered in by Bahã’u’lláh. We should feel truly thankful for such futile attempts to undermine our beloved Faith—
attempts that protrude their ugly face from time to time, seem for a while able to create a breach in the ranks of the faithful, recede
finally into the obscurity of bblivion, and are thought of no more. Such incidents we should regard as the interpositions of Providence,
designed to fortify our faith, to clarify our vision, and to deepen our understanding of the essentials of His Divine Revelation.
It would, however, be helpful and instructive to bear in mind certain basic principles with reference to the Will and Testament of
‘Abdu’l-Bahd, which together with the Kitdb-i-Aqdas, constitutes the chief depository wherein are enshrined those priceless
elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission

EXCERPTS FROM THE LETTERS OF SHOGHI EFFENDI

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of the Bahá’i Faith. A study of the provisions of these sacred documents will reveal the close relationship that exists
between them, as well as the identity of purpose and method which they inculcate. Far from regarding their specific
provisions as incompatible and contradictory in spirit, every fair-minded inquirer will readily admit that they are not
only complementary, but that they mutually confirm one another, and are inseparable parts of one complete unit. A
comparison of their contents with the rest of Bahá’i Sacred Writings will similarly establish the conformity of whatever
they contain with the spirit as well as the letter of the authenticated writings and sayings of Bahá’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá. In fact, he who reads the Aqdas with care and diligence will not find it hard to discover that the Most Holy Book
{Aqdas) itself anticipates in a number of passages the institutions which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ordains in His Will. By leaving
certain matters unspecified and unregulated in His Book of Laws Aqdas], Bahá’u’llah seems to have deliberately left a
gap in the general scheme of Bahá’i Dispensation, which the unequivocal provisions of the Master’s Will has filled. To
attempt to divorce the one from the other, to insinuate that the Teachings of Bahá’u’llah have not been upheld, in their
entirety and with absolute integrity, by what ‘Abdu’lBahá has revealed in his Will, is an unpardonable affront to the
unswerving fidelity that has characterized the life and labors of our beloved Master.
I will not attempt in the least to assert or demonstrate the authenticity of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd,
for that in itself would betray an apprehension on my part as to the unanimous confidence of the believers in the
genuineness of the last written wishes of our departed Master. I will only confine my observations to those issues which
may assist them to appreciate the essential unity that underlies the spiritual, the humanitarian, and the administrative
principles enunciated by the Author and the Interpreter of the Bahá’i Faith.
I am at a loss to explain that strange mentality that inclines to uphold as the sole criterion of the truth of the Bahá’i
Teachings what is admittedly only an obscure and un authenticate
translation of an oral statement made by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, in defiance and total disregard of the available text of all of His
universally recognized writings. I truly deplore the unfortunate distortions that have resulted in days past from the
incapacity of the interpreter to grasp the meaning of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and from his incompetence to render adequately
such truths as have been revealed to him by the Master’s statements. Much of the confusion that has ohscured the
understanding of the believers should be attributed to this double error involved in the inexact rendering of an only
partially understood statement. Not infrequently has the interpreter even failed to convey the exact purport of the
inquirer’s specific questions, and, by his deficiency of understanding and expression in conveying the answer of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, has been responsible for reports wholly at variance with the true spirit and purpose of the Cause. It was
chiefly in view of this misleading nature of the reports of the informal conversations of ‘Abdu’lBahá with visiting
pilgrims, that I have insistently urged the believers of the West to regard such statements as merely personal
impressions of the sayings of their Master, and to quote and consider as authentic only such translations as are based
upon the authenticated text of His recorded utterances in the original tongue.
It should be remembered by every follower of the Cause that the system of Bahá’i administration is not an innovation
imposed arbitrarily upon the Bahá’is of the world since the Master’s passing, but derives its authority from the Will
and Testament of ‘Abdn’l-Bahd, is specifically prescribed in unnumbered Tablets, and rests in some of its essential
features upon the explicit provisions of the Kitdb-i-Aqdas. It thus unifies and correlates the principles separately laid
down by Bahá’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and is indissolubly bound with the essential verities of the Faith. To dissociate
the administrative principles of the Cause from the purely spiritual and humanitarian teachings would be tantamount to
a mutilation of the body of the Cause, a separation that can only result in the disintegration of its component parts, and
the extinction of the Faith itself.

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Spiritual Assembly of East Cleveland, Ohio, Newly Constituted, April 21, 1939, with members of the Bahã’I
Community.

pict74.jpg
pict75.jpg

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LOCAL AND NATIONAL HOUSES OF JUSTICE
It should be Carefully borne in mind that the local as well as the international Houses of Justice have been expressly enjoined by the
Kitcib-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, as an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master’s
V/ill as the “Secondary House of Justice,” has the express sanction of ‘Abdu’l-Baha; and that the method to be pursued for the
election of the International and National Houses of Justice has been set forth by Him in His Will, as well as in a number of His
Tablets. Moreover, the institutions of the local and national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to all Local and National
Spiritual Assemblies, have not only been
tabhshed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Tablets He revealed to the Bahá”ss of the Orient, but their importance and necessity have been
repeatedly emphasized by Him in His utterances and writings. The concentration of authority in the hands of the elected
representatives of the believers; the necessity of the submission of every adherent of the Faith to the considered judgment of Bahá’i
Assemblies; His preference for unanimity in decision; the decisive character of the majority vote; and even the desirability for the
exercise of close supervision over all Bahá’i publications, have been sedulously instilled by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as evidenced by His
authenticated and widely-scattered Tablets. To accept His broad and humanitarian Teachings on one hand, and to reject and dismiss
with neglectful indifference His more challenging and distinguishing precepts, would be an act of manifest disloyalty to that which He
has cherished most in His life.
That the Spiritual Assemblies of today will be replaced in time by the Houses of Justice, and are to all intents and purposes identical
and not separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself. He has in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the
first Chicago Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Bahá’i body instituted in the United States, referred to them as the members of the
“House of Justice” for that city, and has thus with His own pen established beyond any doubt the identity of the present Bahã’i
Spiritual Assemblies with

the Houses of Justice referred to by Bahá’u’lláh. For reasons which are not difficult to discover, it has been found advisable to bestow
upon the elected representatives of Bahá’i communities throughout the world the temporary appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a
term which, as the position and aims of the Bahá’i Faith are better understood and more fully recognized, will gradually be superseded
by the permanent and more appropriate designation of House of Justice. Not only will the present-day Spiritual Assemblies be styled
differently in future, but will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by
the recognition of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State
Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Bahá’i Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and ‘West, and
its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of
Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Bahá’i Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties,
and responsibilities incumbent upon the world’s future superstate.
It must be pointed out, however, in this connection that, contrary to what has been confidently asserted, the establishment of the
Supreme House of Justice is in no way dependent upon the adoption of the Bahá’i Faith by the mass of the peoples of the world, nor
does it presuppose its acceptance by the majority of the inhabitants of any one country. In fact, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Himself, in one of His
earliest Tablets, contemplated the possibihty of the formation of the Universal House of Justice in His own lifetime, and but for the
unfavorable circumstances prevailing under the Turkish régime, would have, in all probability, taken the preliminary steps for its
establishment. It will be evident, therefore, that given favorable circumstances, under which the Bahá’is of Iran and of the adjoining
countries under Soviet Rule may be enabled to elect their national representatives, in accordance with the guiding principles laid down
in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s writings, the only remaining obstacle in the

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way of the definite formation of the International House of Justice will have been removed. For upon the National Houses of Justice of
the East and West devolves the task, in conformity with the explicit provisions of the Will, of electing directly the members of the
International House of Justice. Not until they are themselves fully representative of the rank and file of the believers in their respective
countries, not until they have acquired the weight and the experience that will enable them to function vigorously in the organic life of
the Cause, can they approach their sacred task, and provide the spiritual basis for the constitution of so august a body in the Bahã’i
world.
THE IN5TIvUTION OF GUARDJANSHIP
It must be also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of Guardianship does not under any circumstances abrogate, or
even in the slightest degree detract from, the powers granted to the Universal House of Justice by Bahã’u’lláh in the Kita’biAqdas, and repeatedly and solemnly confirmed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will. It does not constitute in any manner a contradiction
to the Will and Writings of Bahi’u’lláh, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions. It enhances the prestige of that exalted
assembly, stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the continuity of its labors, without presuming in the slightest to
infringe upon the inviolability of its clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction. We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to
claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications, or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it
undoubtedly contains. Only future generations can comprehend the value and the significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece,
which the hand of the Master- builder of the world has designed for the unification and the triumph of the worldwide Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh. Only those who come after us will be in a position to realize the value of the surprisingly strong emphasis that has been
placed on the institution of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship. They only will appreciate the significance of the vigorous
language employed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with reference to the band of

Covenant-breakers that has opposed Him in His days. To them alone will be revealed the suitability of the institutions initiated by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the character of the future society which is to emerge out of the chaos and confusion of the present age. .
THE AN5MATING PURPOSE OF BAHA’i
INsTITUTIONs
And now, it behooves us to reflect on the animating purpose and the primary functions of these divinely-established institutions, the
sacred character and the universal efficacy of which can be demonstrated only by the spirit they diffuse and the work they actually
achieve. I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration of the Cause is to be conceived
as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised
blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation.
. . . Who, I may ask, when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the increasing complexity of its

affairs, the diversity of its adherents,, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the infant Faith of God, can for a moment
question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and stress of a struggling civihzation,
the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its interests? To repudiate the validity of the assemblies of
the elected ministers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh would be to reject these countless Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’lBahã, wherein
they have extolled their privileges and duties, emphasized the glory of their mission, revealed the immensity of their task, and warned
them of the attacks they must needs expect from the unwisdom of friends, as well as from the malice of their enemies. It is surely for
those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been committed to prayerfully watch lest the tool should supersede the Faith itself,
lest undue concern for the minute details arising from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its promoters, lest
partiality, am-

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bition, and worldliness tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity, and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh.
(February 27, 1929.)
THE ADVENT OF DIVINE JUSTICE
These recurrent crises which, with ominous frequency and resistless force, are afflicting an ever-increasing portion of the human race
must of necessity continue, however impermanently, to exercise, in a certain measure, their baleful influence upon a world community
which has spread its ramifications to the uttermost ends of rhe earth. How can the beginnings of a world upheaval, unleashing forces
that are so gravely deranging the social, the religious, the political, and the economic equilibrium of organized society, throwing into
chaos and confusion political systems, racial doctrines, social conceptions, cultural standards, religious associations, and trade
relationships
—how can such agitations, on a scale so vast, so unprecedented, fail to produce any repercussions on the institutions of a Faith of such
tender age whose teachings have a direct and vital bearing on each of these spheres of human life and conduct?
Little wonder, therefore, if they who are holding aloft the banner of so pervasive a Faith, so challenging a Cause, find themselves
affected by the impact of these world- shaking forces. Little wonder if they find that in the midst of this whirlpool of contending
passions their freedom has been curtailed, their tenets contemned, their institutions assaulted, their motives maligned, their authority
jeopardized, their claim rejected.
In the heart of the European continent a community which, as predicted by ‘Abdu’lBahá, is destined, by virtue of its spiritual
potentialities and geographical situation, to radiate the splendor of the light of the Faith on the countries that surround it, has been
momentarily eclipsed through the restrictions which a regime that has sorely mis- apprehended its purpose and function has chosen to
impose upon it. Its voice, alas, is now silenced, its institutions dissolved, its literature banned, its archives confiscated, and its
meetings suspended.

In central Asia, in the city enjoying the unique distinction of having been chosen by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the home of the First
Mashriqu’l-Adhkar of the Bahã’i world, as well as in the towns and villages of the province to which it belongs, the sore-pressed Faith
of Bahá’u’llah, as a result of the extraordinary and unique vitality which, in the course of several decades, it has consistently
manifested, finds itself at the mercy of forces which, alarmed at its rising power, are now bent on reducing it to utter impotence. Its
Temple, though still used for purposes of Bahá’i worship, has been expropriated, its Assemblies and committees disbanded, its
teaching activities crippled, its chief promoters deported, and not a few of its most enthusiastic supporters, both men and women,
imprisoned.
In the land of its birth, wherein reside the immense majority of its followers—a country whose capital has been hailed by RaM’u’lláh
as the rnother of the world” and the erdaysprjng of the joy of manldnd”—a civil authority, as yet undivorced officially from
the paralyzing influences of an antiquated, a fanatical, and outrageously corrupt clergy, pursues relentlessly its campaign of repression
against the adherents of a Faith which it has for well-nigh a century striven unsuccessfully to suppress. Indifferent to the truth that the
members of this innocent and proscribed community can justly claim to rank as among the most disinterested, the most competent,
and the most ardent lovers of their native land, contemptuous of their high sense of world citizenship which the advocates of an
excessive and narrow nationalism can never hope to appreciate, such an authority refuses to grant to a Faith which extends its spiritual
jurisdiction over well nigh six hundred local communities, and which numerically outnumbers the adherents of either the Christian,
the Jewish, or the Zoroastrian Faiths in that land, the necessary legal right to enforce its laws, to administer its affairs, to conduct its
schools, to celebrate its festivals, to circulate its literature, to solemnize its rites, to erect its edifices, and to safeguard its endowments.
And now recently in the Holy Land itself, the heart and nerve-center of a world-embracing Faith, the fires of racial animosity,

THE BAHA’i WORLD

of fraticidal strife, of unabashed terrorism, have lit a conflagration that gravely interferes, on the one hand, with that flow of pilgrims
that constitutes the life-blood of that center, and suspends, on the other, the various projects that had been initiated in connection with
the preservation and extension of the areas surrounding the sacred Spots it enshrines. The safety of the small community of resident
believers, faced by the rising tide of lawlessness, has been imperiled, its status as a neutral and distinct community indirectly
challenged, and its freedom to carry out certain of its observances curtailed. A series of murderous assaults, alternating with outbursts
of bitter fanaticism, both racial and religious, involving the leaders as well as the followers of the three leading Faiths in that distracted
country, have, at times, threatened to sever all normal communications both within its confines as well as with the outside world.
Perilous though the situation has been, the Bahf’i Holy Places, the object of the adoration of a world-encircling Faith, have,
notwithstanding their number and exposed position, and though to outward seeming deprived of any means of protection, been
vouchsafed a preservation little short of miraculous.
A world, torn with conflicting passions, and perilously disintegrating from within, finds itself confronted, at so crucial an epoch in its
history, by the rising fortunes of an infant Faith, a Faith that, at times, seems to be drawn into its controversies, entangled by its
conflicts, eclipsed by its gathering shadows, and overpowered by the mounting tide of its passions. In its very heart, within its cradle,
at the seat of its first and venerable Temple, in one of its hitherto flourishing and potentially powerful centers, the as-yet
unemancipated Faith of Bahá’u’lláh seems indeed to have retreated before the onrushing forces of violence and disorder to which
humanity is steadily falling a victim. The strongholds of such a Faith, one by one and day after day, are to outward seeming being
successively isolated, assaulted and captured. As the lights of liberty flicker and go out, as the din of discord grows louder and louder
every day, as the fires of fanaticism flame with increasing

fierceness in the breasts of men, as the chill of irreligion creeps relentlessly over the soul of mankind, the limbs and organs that
constitute the body of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh appear, in varying measure, to have become afflicted with the crippling influences that
now hold in their grip the whole of the civilized world.
How clearly and strikingly the following words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are being demonstrated at this hour: tCThe darkness of error that
has enveloped the East and the West is, in this most great cycle, battling with the light of Divine Guidance. Its swords
and its spears are very sharp and pointed; its army keenly bloodthirsty.” “This day,” He, in another passage has written,
“the powers of all the leaders of religion are directed towards the dispersion of the congregation of the All-Merciful,
and the shattering of the Divine Edifice. The hosts of the world, whether material, cultural or political are from every
side launching their assault, for the Cause is great, very great. Its greatness is, in this day, clear and manifest to men’s
eyes.”
CHIEF REMAINING CITADEL
The one chief remaining citadel, the mighty arm which still raises aloft the standard of an unconquerable Faith, is none other than the
blessed community of the followers of the Most Great Name in the North American continent. By its works, and through the unfailing
protection vouchsafed to it by an almighty Providence, this distinguished member of the body of the constantly interacting Bahá’i
communities of East and West, bids fair to be universally regarded as the cradle, as well as the stronghold, of that future New World
Order, which is at once the promise and the glory of the Dispensation associated with the name of Bahâ’u’lláh.
Let any one inclined to either belittle the unique station conferred upon this community, or to question the role it will be called upon to
play in the days to come, ponder the implication of these pregnant and highly illuminating words uttered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and
addressed to it at a time when the fortunes of a world groaning beneath the burden of a devastating war had

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

reached their lowest ebb. “The continent of America,” He so significantly wrote, “is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land
wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the
righteous will abide, and the free assemble.”
Hss UNFAILING LIGHT
Dearly-beloved friends! Though the task be long and arduous, yet the prize which the All-Bountiful Bestower has chosen to confer
upon you is of such preciousness that neither tongue nor pen can befittingly appraise it. Though the goal towards which you are now
so strenuously striving be distant, and as yet undisclosed to men’s eyes, yet its promise lies firmly embedded in the authoritative and
unalterable utterances of Bahá’u’lláh. Though the course He has traced for you seems, at times, lost in the threatening shadows with
which a striken humanity is now enveloped, yet the unfailing light He has caused to shine continually upon you is of such brightness
that no earthly dusk can ever eclipse its splendor. Though small in numbers, and circumscribed as yet in your experiences, powers,
and resources, yet the Force which energizes your mission is limitless in its range and incalculable in its potency. Though the enemies
which every acceleration in the progress of your mission must raise up be fierce, numerous, and unrelenting, yet the invisible Hosts
which, if you persevere, must, as promised, rush forth to your aid, will, in the end, enable you to vanquish their hopes and annihilate
their forces. Though the ultimate blessings that must crown the consummation of your mission be undoubted, and the Divine promises
given you firm and irrevocable, yet the measure of the goodly reward which every one of you is to reap must depend on the extent to
which your daily exertions will have contributed to the expansion of that mission and the hastening of its triumph.
Dearly-beloved friends! Great as is my love and admiration for you, convinced as I am of the paramount share which you can, and
will, undoubtedly have in both the continental and international spheres of future Bahá’i activity and service, I feel it never-

theless incumbent upon me to utter, at this juncture, a word of warning. The glowing tributes, so repeatedly and deservedly paid to the
capacity, the spirit, the conduct, and the high rank, of the American believers, both individually and as an organic community, must,
under no circumstances, be confounded with the characteristics and nature of the people from which God has raised them up. A sharp
distinction between that community and that people must be made, and resolutely and fearlessly upheld, if we wish to give due
recognition to the transmuting power of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, in its impact on the hves and standards of those who have chosen to
enhst under His banner. Otherwise, the supreme and distinguishing function of His Revelation, which is none other than the calling
into being of a new race of men, will remain wholly unrecoguized and completely obscured.
THE SUPREME FUNCTION OF HIs
REVELATION
How often have the Prophets of God, not excepting Bahá’u’lláh Himself, chosen to appear, and deliver their Message in countries and
amidst peoples and races, at a time when they were either fast declining, or had already touched the lowest depths of moral and
spiritual degradation. The appalling misery and wretchedoess to which the Israelites had sunk, under the debasing and tyrannical rule
of the Pharaohs, in the days preceding their exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses; the dechne that had set in in the
religious, the spiritual, the cultural, and the moral life of the Jewish people, at the time of the appearance of Jesus Christ; the barbarous
cruelty, the gross idolatry and immorality, which had for so long been the most distressing features of the tribes of Arabia and brought
such shame upon them when Muhammad arose to proclaim His Message in their midst; the indescribable state of decadence, with its
attendant corruption, confusion, intolerance, and oppression, in both the civil and religious life of Iran, so graphically portrayed by the
pen of a considerable number of scholars, diplomats, and travelers, at the hour of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh—all

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demonstrate this basic and inescapable fact. To contend that the innate worthiness, the high moral standard, the political aptitude, and
social attainments of any race or nation is the reason for the appearance in its midst of any of these Divine Luminaries would be an
absolute perversion of historical facts, and would amount to a complete repudiation of the undoubted interpretation placed upon them,
so clearly and emphatically, by both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
How great, then, must be the challenge to those who, belonging to such races and nations, and having responded to the call which
these Prophets have raised, to unreservedly recognize and courageously testify to this indubitable truth, that not by reason of any racial
superiority, political capacity, or spiritual virtue which a race or nation might possess, but rather as a direct consequence of its crying
needs, its lamentable degeneracy, and irremediable perversity, has the Prophet of God chosen to appear in its midst, and with it as a
lever has lifted the entire human race to a higher and nobler plane of life and conduct. For it is precisely under such circumstances, and
by such means that the Prophets have, from time immemorial, chosen and were able to demonstrate their redemptive power to raise
from the depths of abasement and of misery, the people of their own race and nation, empowering them to transmit in turn to other
races and nations the saving grace and the energizing influence of their Revelation.
In the light of this fundamental principle it should always be borne in mind, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the primary
reason why the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh chose to appear in Iran, and to make it the first repository of their Revelation, was because, of all
the peoples and nations of the civilized world, that race and nation had, as so often depicted by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, sunk to such
ignominious depths, and manifested so great a perversity, as to find no parallel among its contemporaries. For no more convincing
proof could be adduced demonstrating the regenerating spirit animating the Revelations proclaimed by the Báb and Bahá’u’llah than
their power to transform what can be truly regarded as one of the most backward, the most cowardly, and per-

verse of peoples into a race of heroes, fit to effect in turn a similar revolution in the life of mankind. To have appeared among a race or
nation which by its intrinsic worth and high attainments seemed to warrant the inestimable privilege of being made the receptacle of
such a Revelation would in the eyes of an unbelieving world greatly reduce the efficacy of that Message, and detract from the selfsufficiency of its omnipotent power. The contrast so strikingly presented in the pages of Nab il’s Narrative between the heroism that
immortalized the life and deeds of the Dawn-Breakers and the degeneracy and cowardice of their defamers and persecutors is in itself
a most impressive testimony to the truth of the Message of Him Who had instilled such a spirit into the breasts of His disciples. For
any believer of that race to maintain that the excellence of his country and the innate nobility of its people were the fundamental
reasons for its being singled out as the primary receptacle of the Revelations of the Mb and Bahá’u’lláh would be untenable in the face
of the overwhelming evidence afforded so convincingly by that Narrative.
To a lesser degree this principle must of necessity apply to the country which has vindicated its right to be regarded as the cradle of
the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. So great a function, so noble a role, can be regarded as no less inferior to the part played by those
immortal souls who, through their sublime renunciation and unparalleled deeds, have been responsible for the birth of the Faith itself.
Let not, therefore, those who are to participate so predominantly in the birth of that world civilization, which is the direct offspring of
their Faith, imagine for a moment that for some mysterious purpose or by any reason of inherent excellence or special merit
Bahá’u’llih has chosen to confer upon their country and people so great and lasting a distinction. It is precisely by reason of the patent
evils which, notwithstanding its other admittedly great characteristics and achievements, an excessive and binding materialism has
unfortunately engendered within it that the Author of their Faith and the Center of His Covenant have singled it out to become the
standard-bearer of the New World Order envisaged in their

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

writings. It is by such means as this that Bahã’u’lláh can best demonstrate to a heedless generation His almighty power to raise up
from the very midst of a people, immersed in a sea of materialism, a prey to one of the most virulent and long-standing forms of racial
prejudice, and notorious for its political corruption, lawlessness and laxity in moral standards, men and women who, as time goes by,
will increasingly exemplify those essential virtues of self-renunciation, of moral rectitude, of chastity, of indiscriminating fellowship,
of holy discipline, and of spiritual insight that will fit them for the preponderating share they will have in calling into being that World
Order and that World Civilization of which their country, no less than the entire human race, stands in desperate need. Theirs will be
the duty and privilege, in their capacity first as the establishers of one of the most powerful pillars sustaining the edifice of the
Universal House of Justice, and then as the champion-builders of that New World Order of which that House is to be the nucleus and
forerunner, to inculcate, demonstrate, and apply those twin and sorely-needed principles of Divine justice and order—principles to
which the political corruption and the moral license, increasingly staining the society to which they belong, offer so sad and striking a
contrast.
Observations such as these, however distasteful and depressing they may be, should not, in the least, blind us to those virtues and
qualities of high intelligence, of youthfulness, of unbounded initiative, and enterprise which the nation as a whole so conspicuously
displays, and which are being increasingly reflected by the community of the believers within it. Upon these virtues and qualities, no
less than upon the elimination of the evils referred to, must depend, to a very great extent, the ability of that community to lay a firm
foundation for the country’s future role in ushering in the Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
How STAGGERING THE RE5P0N5JB5LITv
How great, therefore, how staggering the responsibility that must weigh upon the present generation of the American believers, at this
early stage in their spiritual and ad-

ministrative evolution, to weed out, by every means in their power, those faults, habits, and tendencies which they have inherited from
their own nation, and to cultivate, patiently and prayerfully, those distinctive qualities and characteristics that are so indispensable to
their effective participation in the great redemptive work of their Faith. Incapable as yet, in view of the restricted size of their
community and the limited influence it now wields, of producing any marked effect on the great mass of their countrymen, let them
focus their attention, for the present, on their own selves, their own individual needs, their own personal deficiencies and weaknesses,
ever mindful that every intensification of effort on their part will better equip them for the time when they will be called upon to
eradicate in their turn such evil tendencies from the lives and the hearts of the entire body of their fellow- citizens. Nor must they
overlook the fact that the World Order, whose basis they, as the advance guard of the future Bahá’i generations of their countrymen,
are now laboring to establish, can never be reared unless and until the generality of the people to which they belong has been already
purged from the divers ills, whether social or political, that now so severely afflict it.
Surveying as a whole the most pressing needs of this community, attempting to estimate the more serious deficiencies by which it is
being handicapped in the discharge of its task, and ever bearing in mind the nature of that still greater task with which it will be forced
to wrestle in the future, I feel it my duty to lay special stress upon, and draw the special and urgent attention of the entire body of the
American believers, be they young or old, white or colored, teachers or administrators, veterans or new-comers, to what I firmly
believe are the essential requirements for the success of the tasks which are now claiming their undivided attention. Great as is the
importance of fashioning the outward instruments, and of perfecting the administrative agencies, which they can utilize for the
prosecution of their dual task under the Seven Year Plan; vital and urgent as are the campaigns which they are initiating, the schemes
and projects which they are devising, and the funds which they are

THE BAHA’i WORLD

raising, for the efficient conduct of both the Teaching and Temple work, the imponderable, the spiritual, factors, which are bound up
with their own individual and inner lives, and with which are associated their human and social relationships, are no less urgent and
vital, and demand constant scrutiny, continual self-examination and heart-searching on their part, lest their value be impaired or their
vital necessity be obscured or f or- gotten.
SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES
Of these spiritual prerequisites of success, which constitute the bedrock on which the security of all teaching plans, Temple projects,
and financial schemes, must ultimately rest, the following stand out as preeminent and vital, which the members of the American
Bahá’i community will do well to ponder. Upon the extent to which these basic requirements are met, and the manner in which the
American believers fulfill them in their individual lives, administrative activities, and social relationships, must depend the measure of
the manifold blessings which the All-Bountiful Possessor can vouchsafe to them all. These requirements are none other than a high
sense of moral rectitude in their social and administrative activities, absolute chastity in their individual lives, and complete freedom
from prejudice in their dealings with peoples of a different race, class, creed, or color.
The first is specially, though not exclusively, directed to their elected representatives, whether local, regional, or national, who, in their
capacity as the custodians and members of the nascent institutions of the Faith of Bahã’u’lláh, are shouldering the chief responsibility
in laying an unassailable foundation for that Universal House of Justice which, as its title implies, is to be the exponent and guardian
of that Divine Justice which can alone insure the security of, and establish the reign of law and order in, a strangely disordered world.
The second is mainly and directly concerned with the Bahá’i youth, who can contribute so decisively to the virility, the purity, and the
driving force of the life of the Bahi’i community, and upon whom must depend the future orientation of its destiny, and the

complete unfoldment of the potentialities with which God has endowed it. The third should be the immediate, the universal, and the
chief concern of all and sundry members of the Bahi’i community, of whatever age, rank, experience, class, or color, as all, with no
exception, must face its challenging implications, and none can claim, however much he may have progressed along this line, to have
completely discharged the stern responsibilities which it inculcates.
A rectitude of conduct, an abiding sense of undeviating justice, unobscured by the demoralizing influences which a corruption- ridden
political life so strikingly manifests; a chaste, pure, and holy life, unsullied and unclouded by the indecencies, the vices, the false
standards, which an inherently deficient moral code tolerates, perpetuates, and fosters; a fraternity freed from that cancerous growth of
racial prejudice, which is eating into the vitals of an already debilitated society—these are the ideals which the American believers
must, from now on, individually and through concerted action, strive to promote, in both their private and public lives, ideals which
are the chief propelling forces that can most effectively accelerate the march of their institutions, plans, and enterprises, that can guard
the honor and integrity of their Faith, and subdue any obstacles that may confront it in the future.
This rectitude of conduct, with its implications of justice, equity, truthfulness, honesty, fair-mindedness, reliability, and
trustworthiness, must distinguish every phase of the life of the Bahi’i community. “The companions of God,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself
has declared, rtare in this day, the lump that must leaven the peoples of the world. They must show forth such
trustworthiness, such truthfulness and perseverance, such deeds and character that all mankind -may frro fit by their
example.” “I swear by Him Who is the Most Great Ocean!” He again affirms, Cewjithin the very breath of such souls as
are pure and sanctified far-reaching potentialities are hidden. So great are these potentialities that they exn-cise their
influence upon all created things.” “He is the true servant of God,” He in another passage has written, “who, in this day,
were he to pass

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

through cities of silver and gold, would not deign to look. upon them, and whose heart would remain pure and unde filed from
whatever things can be seen in this world, be they its goods or its treasures. I swear by the Sun of Truth! The breath of such a
man is endowed with potency, and his words with attraction.” ‘By Him Who shineth above the
Day-Spring of sanctity!” He, still more emphatically, has revealed, ‘7f the whole earth were to be converted into silver
and gold, no man who can be said to have truly ascended into the heaven of faith and certitude would deign to regard it, much less to
seize and keep it. . . . They who dwell within the Tabernacle of God, and are established upon the seats of everlasting glory, will refuse,
though they be dying of hunger, to stretch their hands, and seize unlaw fully the property of their neighbor, however vile and
worthless he may be. The purpose of the one true God in manifesting Himself is to summon all mankind to truthfulness and sincerity,
to piety and trustworthiness, to resignation and submissiveness to the will of God, to forbearance and kindliness, to uprightness and
wisdom. His object is to array every man with the mantle of a saintly character, and to adorn him with the ornament of holy and
goodly deeds.” eWe have admonished all the loved ones of God,” He insists, rto take heed lest the hem of Our sacred vesture be
smirched with the mire of unlawful deeds, or be stained wilh the dust of reprehensible conduct.” rCleave unto righteousness, 0 people
of BahtI,” He thus exhorts them, eThis, verily, is the commandment which this wronged One hath given unto you, and the first
choice of His unrestrained will for every one of you.” ‘A good character,” He explains, ‘is, verily, the best mantle for men from
God. With it He adorneth the temples of His loved ones. By My Life! The light of a good character surpasseth the light of the sun and
the radiance thereof.” crOne righteous act,” He, again, has written, “is endowed with a potency that can so elevate the dust as to
cause it to pass beyond the heaven of heavens. It can tear every bond asunder, and hath the power to restore the force that bath spent
itself and vanished. . . . Be pure, 0 people of God, be

pure; be righteous, be righteous. . . . Say:
o people of God! That which can insure the victory of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, His hosts and helpers on earth, have been set
down in the sacred Books and Scriptures, and are as clear and manifest as the sun. These hosts are such righteous deeds, such
conduct and character, as are acceptable in His sight. Whoso ariseth, in this Day, to aid Our Cause, and summoneth to his assistance
the hosts of a praiseworthy character and upright conduct, the influence from such an action will, most certainly, be diffused
throughout the whole world.” ‘‘The betterment of the world,” is yet another statement, “can be accomplished through pure and
goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct.” “Be fair to yourselves and to others,” He thus counseleth them, “that
the evidences of justice may be revealed through your deeds among Our faithful servants.” “Equity,” He also has written, “is the
most fundamental among human virtues. The evaluation of all things must needs depend upon it.” And again, “Observe equity in
your judgment, ye men of understanding heart! He that is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the characteristics that distinguish
man’s station.” ‘‘Beautify your tongues, 0 people,” He further admonishes them, ‘‘with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with
the ornament of honesty. Beware, 0 people, that ye deal not treacherously with any one. Be ye the trustees of God amongst His
creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people.” “Let your eye be chaste,” is yet another counsel, “your hand
faith fiel, your tongue truthful, and your heart enlightened.” “Be an ornament to the countenance of truth,” is yet another
admonition, “a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an
ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue.” “Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning,” is still
another admonition, ‘‘suffer not yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice, that the sweet savors of holiness
may be wafted from your hearts upon all created things. Say: Beware, 0 people of Baha’, lest ye walk in the ways of

THE BAHA’f WORLD

them whose words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the
signs of God, and to mirror forth 1-us commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the professions of
most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct. It is through your deeds that ye can distin— guish yourselves
from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth. Happy is the man that
heedeth My counsel, and keepeth the precepts prescribed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”
“0 army of God!” writes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “Through the protection and help vouchsafed by the Blessed Beauty—may my
life be a sacrifice to His loved ones—ye must conduct yourselves in such a manner that ye may stand out distinguished
and brilliant as the sun among other souls. Should any one of you enter a city, he should become a center of attraction
by reason of his sincerity, his faithfulness and love, his honesty and fidelity, his truthfulness and loving- kindness
towards all the peoples of the world, so that the eole of that city may cry out and say: ‘This man is unquestion ably a
Bahcl’I, for his manners, his behavior, his conduct, his morals, his nature, and disposition reflect the attributes of the
Bahd’Is.’ Not until ye attain this station can ye be said to have been faith fit! to the Covenant and Testament of God.”
“The most vital ditty, in this day,” He, moreover, has written, “is to purify your characters, to correct your manners,
and im prove your conduct. The beloved of the Merciful must show forth such character and conduct among His
creatures, that the fragrance of their holiness may be shed upon the whole world, and may quicken the dead, inasmuch
as the pur pose of the Manifestation of God and the dawning of the limitless lights of the Invisible is to educate the
souls of men, and refine the character of every living man.
Truthfulness,” He asserts, “is the foundation of all human virtues. Without truthfulness progress and success, in all the
worlds of God, are impossible for any soul. Why-n this holy attribute is established in man, all the divine qualities will
also be acquired.”

Such a rectitude of conduct must manifest itself, with ever-increasing potency, in every verdict which the elected representatives of
the Bahá”i community, in whatever capacity they may find themselves, may be called upon to pronounce. It must be constantly
reflected in the business dealings of all its members, in their domestic lives, in all manner of employment, and in any service they
may, in the future, render their government or people. It must be exemplified in the conduct of all Bahá’i electors, when exercising
their sacred rights and functions. It must characterize the attitude of every loyal believer towards nonacceptance of political posts,
nonidentification with political parties, nonparticipation in political controversies, and non-membership in political organizations and
ecclesiastical institutions. It must reveal itself in the uncompromising adherence of all, whether young or old, to the clearly enunciated
and fundamental principles laid down by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His addresses, and to the laws and ordinances revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in
His Most Holy Book. It must be demonstrated in the impartiality of every defender of the Faith against its enemies, in his fairmindedness in recognizing any merits that enemy may possess, and in his honesty in discharging any obligations he may have towards
him. It must constitute the brightest ornament of the life, the pursuits, the exertions, and the utterances of every Bahá’I teacher,
whether laboring at home or abroad, whether in the front ranks of the teaching force, or occupying a less active and responsible
position. It must be made the hall-mark of that numerically small, yet intensely dynamic and highly responsible body of the elected
national representatives of every Bahá’i community, which constitutes the sustaining pillar, and the sole instrument for the election, in
every community, of that Universal House whose very name and title, as ordained by Bahá’u’lláh, symbolizes that rectitude of
conduct which is its highest mission to safeguard and enforce.
So great and transcendental is this principle of Divine justice, a principle that must be regarded as the crowning distinction of all Local
and National Assemblies

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

in their capacity as forerunners of the Universal House of Justice, that Bahá’u’lláh Himself subordinates His personal
inclination and wish to the all-compelling force of its demands and implications. “God is My witness!” He thus
explains, “were it not contrary to the Law of God, I would have kissed the hand of My would-be murderer, and would
cause him to inherit My earthly goods. I am restrained, however, by the binding Law laid down in the Book, and am
Myself bereft of all worldly posessions.” “Know thou, of a truth,” He significantly affirms, “these great oppressions
that have befallen the world are preparing it for the advent of the Most Great Justice.” “Say,” He again asserts, “He
ha/h appeared with that Justice wherewith mankind hath been adorned, and yet the people are, for the most part,
asleep.” “The light of men is Justice,” He moreover states, “Quench it not with the contrary winds of oppression and
tyranny. The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men.” “No radiance,” He declares, “can compare
with that of justice. The organization of the world and the tranquillity of mankind depend upon it.” “0 people of God!”
He exclaims, “That which traineth the world is Justice, for it is upheld by two pillars, reward and punishment. These
two pillars are the sources of life to the world.” “Justice and equity,” is yet another assertion, “are two guardians for
the protection of man. They have appeared arrayed in their mighty and sacred names to maintain the world in
uprightness and protect the nations.” “Bestir yourselves, 0 people,” is His emphatic warning, “in anticipation of the
days of Divine justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to apprehend its un port, and be
accounted among the erring.” “The day is approaching,” He similarly has written, “when the faithful will behold the
day-star of justice shining in its full splendor from the days pring of glory.” “The shame I was made to bear,” He
significantly remarks, “hath uncovered the glory with which the whole of creation had been invested, and through the
cruelties I have endured, the day-s/ar of justice ha/h manifested itself, and shed its splendor upon men.” “The world,”
He again has written,

“is in great turmoil, and the minds of i/s people are in a state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may
graciously illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable them to discover that which will be profitable unto
them at all times and under all conditions.” And again, “There can be no doubt whatever that if the day_star of justice,
which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed its light upon men, the face of the earth would be completely
transformed.”
“God be praised!” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His turn, exclaims, “The sun of justice hath risen above the horizon of Bahd’u’lldh.
For in His Tablets the foundations of such a justice have been laid as no mind ha/h, from the beginning of creation,
conceived.” “The canopy of existence,” He further explains, “resteth upon the pole of justice, and not of forgiveness, and
the life of mankind dependeth on justice and not on forgiveness.”
Small wonder, therefore, that the Author of the Bahá’i Revelation should have chosen to associate the name and title of that House,
which is to be the crowning glory of His administrative institutions, not with forgiveness but with justice, to have made justice the
only basis and the permanent foundation of His Most Great Peace, and to have proclaimed it in His Hidden Words as “the best
beloved of all things” in His sight. It is to the American believers, particularly, that I feel urged to direct this fervent plea to ponder
in their hearts the implications of this moral rectitude, and to uphold, with heart and soul and uncompromisingly, both individually and
collectively, this sublime standard—a standard of which justice is so essential and potent an element.
As to a chaste and holy life it should be regarded as no less essential a factor that must contribute its proper share to the strengthening
and vitalization of the Bahá’I community, upon which must in turn depend the success of any Bahá’I plan or enterprise. In these days
when the forces of irreligion are weakening the moral fibre, and undermining the foundations of individual morality, the obligation of
chastity and holiness must claim an increasing share of the attention of the American believers, both

THE BAHA’t WORLD

in their individual capacities and as the responsible custodians of the interests of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. In the
discharge of such an obligation, to which the special circumstances resulting from an excessive and enervating
materialism now prevailing in their country lend particular significance, they must play a conspicuous and predominant
role. All of them, be they men or women, must, at this threatening hour when the lights of religion are fading out, and
its restraints are one by one being abolished, pause to examine themselves, scrutinize their conduct, and with
characteristic resolution arise to purge the life of their community of every trace of moral laxity that might stain the
name, or impair the integrity, of so holy and precious a Faith.
A chaste and holy hfe must be made the controlling principle in the behavior and conduct of all Bahá’is, both in their
social relations with the members of their own community, and in their contact with the world at large. It must adorn
and reenforce the ceaseless labors and meritorious exertions of those whose enviable position is to propagate the
Message, and to administer the affairs, of the Faith of Bahá’u’llãh. It must be upheld, in all its integrity and
implications, in every phase of the life of those who fill the ranks of that Faith, whether in their homes, their travels,
their clubs, their societies, their entertainments, their schools, and their universities. It must be accorded special
consideration in the conduct of the social activities of every Bahá’i summer school and any other occasions on which
Bahá’i community life is organized and fostered. It must be closely and continually identified with the mission of the
Bahá’i Youth, both as an element in the life of the Bahá’i community, and as a factor in the future progress and
orientation of the youth of their own country.
Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness,
involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and
literary avocations. It demands daily vigilance in the control of one’s carnal desires and corrupt inclinations. It calls for
the abandon-.

ment of a frivolous conduct, with its excessive attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures. It requires total
abstinence from all alcoholic drinks, from opium, and from similar habit-forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of
art and of literature, the practices of nudism and of companionate marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all
manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the
standards, the habits, and the excess of a decadent age. Nay rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of
its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the
perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses.
CeBy the righteousness of God!” writes Bahá’u’llãh, ‘tThe world, its vanities and its glory, and whatever delights it
can offer, are all, in the sight of God, as worthless as, nay even more contemptible than, dust and ashes. Would that the
hearts of men could comprehend it. Wash yourselves thoroughly O people of Ba/ba’, from the defilement of the world,
and of all that pertaineth unto
it. God Himself beareth Me witness! The things of the earth ill beseem you. Cast them away unto such as may desire
them, and fasten your eyes upon this most holy and effulgent Vision.” eeO ye My loved ones!” He thus exhorts His
followers, •5uf fer not the hem of My sacred vesture to be smirched and mired with the things of this world, and follow
not the promptings of your evil and corrupt desires.” And again, “0 ye the beloved of the one true God! Pass beyond
the narrow retreats of your evil and corrupt desires, and advance into the vast immensity of the realm of God, and
abide ye in the meads of sanctity and of detachment, that the fragrance of your deeds may lead the whole of mankind to
the ocean of God’s unfading glory.” “jy5 encumber yourselves,” He thus commands them, “of all attachment to this
world and the vanities thereof. Beware that ye approach them not, inasmuch as they prompt you to walk after your own
lusts and covetous desires, and hinder you from entering the straight and glorious Path.” “Es-

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

chew all manner of wickedness,” is His commandment, ‘f or such things are forbidden unto you in the Book which none touch
except such as God hath cleansed from every taint of guilt, and numbered among the purified.” eA race of men,” is His written
promise, ‘incoin parable in character, shall be raised up which, with the feet of detachment, will tread under all who are in heaven
and on earth, and will cast the sleeve of holiness over all that bath been created from water and clay.” rThe civilization,” is His
grave warning, ‘so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of
moderation, bring great evil upon men.
If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restrains of
moderation.” He bath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of His servants,” He explains, ‘rand made them each a seat for the
revelation of His glory. Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which they were created may be en graven
upon them. This indeed is a token of God’s bountiful favor.” ‘Say,” He procliams, rHe is not to be numbered with the people of
Babe who followeth his mundane desires, or fixeth his heart on things of the earth. He is my true follower who, if he come to a valley
of pure gold will pass straight through it aloof as a cloud, and will neither turn back, nor pause. Such a man is assuredly of Me. From
his garment the Concourse on high can inhale the frag rance of sanctity. . . . And if he met the fairest and most comely of women, he
would not feel his heart seduced by the least shadow of desire for her beauty. Such an one indeed is the creation of spotless chastity.
Thus instructeth you the Pen of the Ancient of Days, as bidden by your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.” They that follow their
lusts and corrupt inclinations,” is yet another warning, ‘have erred and dissipated their efforts. They indeed are of the lost.” ‘CIt
behooveth the people of Bahd,” He also has written, to die to the world and all that is therein, to be so detached from all earthly
things that the inmates of Paradise may inhale from their garment the sweet smelling savor of sanc tity

. . . They that have tarnished the fair name of the Cause of God by following the things of the flesh—these are in palpable error!” Purity

and chastity,” He particularly admonishes, “have been, and still are, the most great ornaments for the hand- maidens of God. God
is My Witness! The brightness of the light of chastity sheddeth its illumination upon the worlds of the spirit, and its fragrance is wafted
even unto the Most Exalted Paradise.” “God,” He again affirms, “bath verily made chastity to be a crown for the heads of His
hand- maidens. Great is the blessedness of that handmaiden that bath attained unto this great station.” “We verily, have decreed in
Our Book,” is His assurance, “a goodly and bountiful reward to whosoever will turn away from wickedness, and lead a chaste and
godly life. He, in truth, is the Great Giver, the All-Bountiful.” “We have sustained the weight of all calamities,” He testifies, “to
sanctify you from all earthly corruption and ye are yet indifferent. .
We, verily, behold your actions. If We perceive from them the sweet smelling savor of purity and holiness, We will most certainly bless
you. Then will the tongues of the inmates of Paradise utter your praise and magnify your names amidst them who have drawn nigh
unto God.”
“The drinking of wine,” writes ‘Abdu’lBahá, “is, according to the text of the Most Holy Book, forbidden; for it is the cause of
chronic diseases, weakeneth the nerves, and consumeth the mind.” “Drink ye, 0 handmaidens of God,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself has
affirmed, “the Mystic Wine from the cup of My words. Cast away, then, from you that which your minds abhor, for it bath been
forbidden unto you in His Tablets and His Scriptures. Beware lest ye barter away the River that is life indeed for that which the souls
of the pure-hearted detest. Become ye intoxicated with the wine of the love of God, and not with that which deadeneth your minds, 0
ye that adore Him! Verily, it bath been forbidden unto every believer, whether man or woman. Thus bath the sun of My commandment
shone forth above the horizon of My utterance, that the handmaidens who believe in Me may be illumined.”

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It must be remembered, however, that the maintenance of such a high standard of moral conduct is not to be associated or confused
with any form of asceticism, or of excessive and bigoted puritanism. The standard inculated by Bahá’u’lláh, seeks, under no
circumstances, to deny any one the legitimate right and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys,
beauties, and pleasures with which the world has been so plentifully enriched by an All-Loving Creator. “Should a man,”
Bahá’u’lláh Himself reassures us, “wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake
of the hene fits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and
God, for God bath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants
as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, 0 people, of the good things which God bath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves
from His wondrous bonn ties. Render thanks and praise unto Hun, and be of them that are truly thank fiel.”
THE MOST CHALLENGING ISSUE
As to racial prejudice, the corrosion of which, for well nigh a century, has bitten into the fibre, and attacked the whole social structure
of American society, it should be regarded as constituting the most vital and challenging issue confronting the Bahá’i community at
the present stage of its evolution. The ceaseless exertions which this issue of paramount importance calls for, the sacrifices it must
impose, the care and vigilance it demands, the moral courage and fortitude it requires, the tact and sympathy it necessitates, invest this
problem, which the American believers are still far from having satisfactorily resolved, with an urgency and importance that can not
be overestimated. White and negro, high and low, young and old, whether newly converted to the Faith or not, all who stand identified
with it must participate in, and lend their assistance, each according to his or her capacity, experience, and opportunities, to the
common task of fulfilling the instructions, realizing the hopes, and following the example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Whether colored

or noncolored, neither race has the right, or can conscientiously claim, to be regarded as absolved from such an obligation, as having
realized such hopes, or having faithfully followed such an example. A long and thorny road, beset with pitfalls, still remains
untraveled, both by the white and the negro exponents of the redeeming Faith of Bahã’u’lláh. On the distance they cover, and the
manner in which they travel that road, must depend, to an extent which few among them can imagine, the operation of those intangible
influences which are indispensable to the spiritual triumph of the American believers and the material success of their newly-launched
enterprise.
Let them call to mind, fearlessly and determinedly, the example and conduct of ‘Abdu’l-Bahf while in their midst. Let them remember
His courage, His genuine love, His informal and indiscriminating fellowship, His contempt for and impatience of criticism, tempered
by His tact and wisdom. Let them revive and perpetuate the memory of those unforgettable and historic episodes and occasions on
which He so strikingly demonstrated His keen sense of justice, His spontaneous sympathy, for the down-trodden, His ever-abiding
sense of the oneness of the human race, His overflowing love for its members, and His displeasure with those who dared to flout His
wishes, to deride His methods, to challenge His principles, or to nullify His acts.
To discriminate against any race, on the ground of its being socially backward, politically immature, and numerically in a minority, is
a flagrant violation of the spirit that animates the Faith of Bahã’u’lláh. The consciousness of any division or cleavage in its ranks is
alien to its very purpose, principles, and ideals. Once its members have fully recognized the claim of its Author, and, by identifying
themselves with its Administrative Order, accepted unreservedly the principles and laws embodied in its teachings, every
differentiation of class, creed, or color must automatically be obliterated, and never be allowed, under any pretext, and however great
the pressure of events or of public opinion, to reassert itself. If any discrimination is at all to be tolerated, it should be a discrimination
not against, but rather in

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

favor of the minority, he it racial or otherwise. Unlike the nations and peoples of the earth, be they of the East or of the West,
democratic or authoritarian, communist or capitalist, whether belonging to the Old World or the New, who either ignore, trample
upon, or extirpate, the racial, religious, or political minorities within the sphere of their jurisdiction, every organized community,
enlisted under the banner of Bahá’u’llah should feel it to be its first and inescapable obligation to nurture, encourage, and safeguard
every minority belonging to any faith, race, class, or nation within it. So great and vital is this principle that in such circumstances, as
when an equal number of ballots have been cast in an election, or where the qualifications for any office are balanced as between the
various races, faiths or nationalities within the community, priority should unhesitatingly be accorded the party representing the
minority, and this for no other reason except to stimulate and encourage it, and afford it an opportunity to further the interests of the
community. In the light of this principle, and bearing in mind the extreme desirability of having the minority elements participate and
share responsibility in the conduct of Bahá’i activity, it should be the duty of every Bahá’i community so to arrange its affairs that in
cases where individuals belonging to the divers minority elements within it are already qualified and fulfill the necessary
requirements, Bahá’i representative institutions, he they Assemblies, conventions, conferences, or committees, may have represented
on them as many of these divers elements, racial or otherwise, as possible. The adoption of such a course, and faithful adherence to it,
would not only be a source of inspiration and encouragement to those elements that are numerically small and inadequately
represented, but would demonstrate to the world at large the universality and representative character of the Faith of Bahá’u’llah, and
the freedom of His followers from the taint of those prejudices which have already wrought such havoc in the domestic affairs, as well
as the foreign relationships, of the nations.
Freedom from racial prejudice, in any of its forms, should, at such a time as this

when an increasingly large section of the human race is falling a victim to its devastating f&ocity, be adopted as the watchword of the
entire body of the American believers, in whichever state they reside, in whatever circles they move, whatever their age, traditions,
tastes, and habits. It should be consistently demonstrated in every phase of their activity and hfe, whether in the Bahá’i community or
outside it, in public or in private, formally as well as informally, individually as well as in their official capacity as organized groups,
committees and Assemblies. It should be deliberately cultivated through the various and everyday opportunities, no matter how
insignificant, that present themselves, whether in their homes, their business offices, their schools and colleges, their social parties and
recreation grounds, their Bahf’i meetings, conferences, conventions, summer schools and Assemblies. It should, above all else,
become the keynote of the policy of that august body which, in its capacity as the national representative, and the director and
coordinator of the affairs of the community, must set the example, and facilitate the application of such a vital principle to the lives
and activities of those whose interests it safeguards and represents.
“0 ye discerning ones!” Bahá’u’llah has written, “Verily, the words which have descended from the heaven of the Will of
God are the source of unity and harmony for the world. Close yonr eyes to racial differences, and welcome all with the
light of oneness.” “We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations,” He proclaims, “. . . that all
nations should hecoine one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of
men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled.”
“Bahci’u’lldh hath said,” writes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “that the various races of human kind lend a composite harmony and
beauty of color to the whole. Let all associate, therefore, in this great human garden even as flowers grow and blend
together side by side without discord or disagreement between them.” “BahJ’u’lljh” ‘Abdu’l-]3ahá moreover has said,
“once coin pared the colored people to

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the black pupil of the eye surrounded by the white. In this black pupil is seen the reflection of that which is before it,
and through it the light of the spirit shineth forth.”
“God,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself declares, “maketh no distinction between the white and the black. If the hearts are pure
both are acceptable unto Him. God is no respector of persons on account of either color or race. All colors are
acceptable unto Him, be they white, black, or yellow. Inasmuch as all were created in the image of God, we must bring
ourselves to realize that all embody divine possibilities.” “In the estimation of God,” He states, “all men are equal.
There is no distinction or preference for any soul, in the realm of His justice and equity.” “God did not make these
divisions;” He affirms, “these divisions have had their origin in man himself. Therefore, as they are against the plan
and purpose of God they are false and imaginary.” “In the estimation of God,” He again affirms, “there is no
distinction of color; all are one in the color and beauty of servitude to Him. Color is not important; the heart is allimportant. It mattereth not what the exterior may be if the heart is pure and white within. God doth not behold
differences of hue and complexion. He looketh at the hearts. He whose morals and virtues are praiseworthy is
preferred in the presence of God; he who is devoted to the Kingdom is most beloved. In the realm of genesis and
creation the question of color is of least importance.” “Throughout the animal kingdom,” He explains, “we do not find
the creatures separated because of color. They recognize unity of species and oneness of kind. If we do not find color
distinction drawn in a kingdom of lower intelligence and reason, how can it be justified among human beings,
especially when we know that all have come from the same source and belong to the same household? In origin and
intention of creation mankind is one. Distinctions of race and color have arisen afterward.” “Man is endowed with
superior reasoning power and the faculty of perception”; He further explains, “he is the manifestation of divine best
owals. Shall racial ideas prevail and obscure the creative purpose of unity in his

kingdom?” “One of the important questions,” He significantly remarks, “which affect the unity and the solidarity of mankind is the
fellowship and equality of the white and colored races. Between these two races certain points of agreement and points of distinction
exist which warrant just and mutual consideration. The points of contact are many. . . . In this country, the United States of America,
patriotism is common to both races; all have equal rights to citizenship, speak one language, receive the blessings of the same
civilization, and follow the precepts of the same religion. In fact numerous points of partnership and agreement exist between the two
races; whereas the one point of distinction is that of color. Shall this, the least of all distinctions, be allowed to separate you as races
and individuals?” “This variety in forms and coloring,” He stresses, “which is manifest in all the kingdoms is according to creative
Wisdom and bath a divine purpose.” “The diversity in the human family,” He claims, “should be the cause of love and harmony, as
it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord.” “If you meet,” is His admonition, “those
of a different race and color from yourself, do not mistrust them, and withdraw yourself into your shell of conventionality, but rather
be glad and show them kindness.” “In the world of being,” He testifies, ‘the meeting is blessed when the white and colored races
meet together with infinite spiritual love and heavenly harmony. When such meetings are established, and the participants associate
with each other with perfect love, unity and kindness, the angels of the Kingdom praise them, and the Beauty of Bahd’u’lldh
addresseth them, ‘Blessed are ye! Blessed are ye!’” “When a gathering of these two races is brought about,” He likewise asserts,
“that assemblage will become the magnet of the Concourse on high, and the confirmation of the Blessed Beauty will surround it.”
“Strive earnestly,” He again exhorts both races, “and put forth your greatest endeavor toward the accomplishment of this
fellowship and the cementing of this bond of brotherhood between you. Such an attainment is not possible without will and effort

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

on the part of each; from one, expressions of gratitude and appreciation; from the other, kindliness and recognition of equality. Each
one should endeavor to develop and assist the other toward mutual advancement. . . . Love and unity will be fostered between you,
thereby bringing about the oneness of mankind. For the accomplishment of unity between the colored and white will be an assurance
of the world’s peace.” hope,” He thus addresses members of the white race, ‘that ye may cause that downtrodden race to
become glorious, and to be joined with the white race, to serve the world of man with the utmost sincerity, faithfulness, love, and
fmrity. This opposition, enmity, and prejudice among the white race and the colored cannot be effaced eccept through faith,
assurance, and the teachings of the Blessed Beauty.” tT his question of the union of the white and the black is very important,” He
f
warns, or if it is not realized, erelong great difilculties will arise, and harmful results will follow.” If this matter remaineth without
change,” is yet another warning, eenmity will be increased day by day, and the final result will be hardship and may end in
bloodshed.”
A tremendous effort is required by both races if their outlook, their manners, and conduct are to reflect, in this darkened
age, the spirit and teachings of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Casting away once and for all the fallacious doctrine of racial
superiority, with all its attendant evils, confusion, and miseries, and welcoming and encouraging the intermixture of
races, and tearing down the barriers that now divide them, they should each endeavor, day and night, to fulfill their
particular responsibilities in the common task which so urgently faces them. Let them, while each is attempting to
contribute its share to the solution of this perplexing problem, call to mind the warnings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and
visualize, while there is yet time, the dire consequences that must follow if this challenging and unhappy situation that
faces the entire American nation is not definitely remedied.
Let the white make a supreme effort in their resolve to contribute their share to the solution of this problem, to abandon

once for all their usually inherent and at times subconscious sense of superiority, to correct their tendency towards revealing a
patronizing attitude towards the members of the other race, to persuade them through their intimate, spontaneous and informal
association with them of the genuineness of their friendship and the sincerity of their intentions, and to master their impatience of any
lack of responsiveness on the part of a people who have received, for so long a period, such grievous and slow-healing wounds. Let
the negroes, through a corresponding effort on their part, show by every means in their power the warmth of their response, their
readiness to forget the past, and their ability to wipe out every trace of suspicion that may still linger in their hearts and minds. Let
neither think that the solution of so vast a problem is a matter that exclusively concerns the other. Let neither think that such a problem
can either easily or immediately be resolved. Let neither think that they can wait confidently for the solution of this problem until the
initiative has been taken, and the favorable circumstances created, by agencies that stand outside the orbit of their Faith. Let neither
think that anything short of genuine love, extreme patience, true humility, consummate tact, sound initiative, mature wisdom, and
deliberate, persistent, and prayerful effort, can succeed in blotting out the stain which this patent evil has left on the fair name of their
common country. Let them rather believe, and be firmly convinced, that on their mutual understanding, their amity, and sustained
cooperation, must depend, more than on any other force or organization operating outside the circle of their Faith, the deflection of
that dangerous course so greatly feared by ‘Abdu’l-Baliá, and the materialization of the hopes He cherished for their joint contribution
to the fulfillment of that country’s glorious destiny. . .
THE AWAKENING OF LATIN AMERICA
No sooner is this initial step taken, involving as it does the formation of at least one nucleus in each of these virgin states and
provinces in the North American continent, than the machinery for a tremendous

THE BAHA’I WORLD

intensification of Bahi’i concerted effort must be set in motion, the purpose of which should be the reinforcement of the noble
exertions which only a few isolated believers are now making for the awakening of the nations of Latin America to the Call of
Bahá’u’lláh. Not until this second phase of the teaching campaign, under the Seven Year Plan, has been entered can the campaign be
regarded as fully launched, or the Plan itself as having attained the most decisive stage in its evolution. So powerful will be the
effusions of Divine grace that will be poured forth upon a valiant community that has already in the administrative sphere erected, in
all the glory of its exterior ornamentation, its chief Edifice, and in the teaching field raised aloft, in every state and province, in the
North American continent the banner of its Faith—so great will be these effusions that its members will find themselves overpowered
by the evidences of their regenerative power.
The InterAmerica Committee must, at such a stage, nay even before it is entered, rise to the level of its opportunities, and display a
vigor, a consecration, and enterprise as will be commensurate with the responsibilities it has shouldered. It should not, for a moment,
be forgotten that Central and Southern America embrace no less than twenty independent nations, constituting approximately onethird of the entire number of the world’s sovereign states, and are destined to play an increasingly important part in the shaping of the
world’s future destiny. With the world contracting into a neighborhood, and the fortunes of its races, nations and peoples becoming
inextricably interwoven, the remoteness of these states of the Western Hemisphere is vanishing, and the latent possibilities in each of
them are becoming increasingly apparent.
When this second stage in the progressive unfoldment of teaching activities and enterprises, under the Seven Year Plan, is reached,
and the machinery required for its prosecution begins to operate, the American believers, the stout-hearted pioneers of this mighty
movement, must, guided by the unfailing light of Bahã’u’lláh, and in strict accordance with the Plan laid out by ‘Abdu’l-Bahã, and
acting under the direction of their

National Spiritual Assembly, and assured of the aid of the InterAmerica Committee, launch an offensive against the
powers of darkness, of corruption, and of ignorance, an offensive that must extend to the uttermost end of the Southern
continent, and embrace within its scope each of the twenty nations that compose it.
Let some, at this very moment, gird up the loins of their endeavor, flee their native towns, cities, and states, forsake
their country, and, “putting their whole trust in God as the best provision for their journey,” set their faces, and direct
their steps towards those distant climes, those virgin fields, those unsurrendered cities, and bend their energies to
capture the citadels of men’s hearts— hearts, which, as Bahá’u’llãh has written, “the hosts of Revelation and of
utterance can subdue.” Let them not tarry until such time as their fellow-laborers will have passed the first stage in
their campaign of teaching, but let them rather, from this very hour, arise to usher in the opening phase of what will
come to be regarded as one of the most glorious chapters in the international history of their Faith. Let them, at the very
outset, “teach their own selves, that their speech may attract the hearts of their hearers.” Let them regard the triumph
of their Faith as their “supreme objective.” Let them not “consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle” that
carries the measure of grace that God poureth forth in this age. Let them “disencumber themselves of all attachment to
this world and the vanities thereof,” and, with that spirit of detachment which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá exemplified and wished
them to emulate, bring these diversified peoples and countries to the remembrance of God and His supreme
Manifestation. Let His love be a “storehouse of treasure for their souls,” on the day when “every pillar shall tremble,
when the very skins of men shall creep, when all eyes shall stare ufr with terror.” Let their “souls be aglow with the
flame of the undying Fire that burneth in the midmost heart of the world, in such wise that the waters of the universe
shall be powerless to cool down its ardor.” Let them be “unrestrained as the wind” which “neither the sight of
desolation nor the evidences of prosperity can either pain or please.” Let

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

them ‘unloose their tongues and proclaim unceasingly His Cause.” Let them pro claim that which the Most Great Spirit will inspire
them to utter in the service of the Cause of their Lord.” Let them rbeware lest they contend with any one, nay strive to make him
aware of the truth with kindly manner and most convincing exhortation.” Let them wholly for the sake of God proclaim His
Message, and with that same spirit accept whatever response their words may evoke in their hearers.” Let them not, for one
moment, forget that the ‘Faithful Spirit shall strengthen them through its power,” and that ‘a company of His chosen angels shall
go forth with them, as bidden by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise.” Let them ever bear in mind ‘how great is the blessedness
that awaiteth them that have attained the honor of serving the Almighty,” and remember that ‘such a service is indeed the prince of
all goodly deeds, and the ornament of every goodly act.”
And, finally, let these soul-stirring words of Bahá’u’lláh, as they pursue their course throughout the length and breadth
of the southern American continent, be ever ready on their lips, a solace to their hearts, a light on their path, a
companion in their loneliless, and a daily sustenance in their journeys:
‘O wayfarer in the path of God! Take thou thy portion of the ocean of His grace, and deprive not thyself of the things that lie hidden in
its depths. . . . A dewdrop out of this ocean would, if shed upon all that are in the heavens and on earth, suffice to enrich them with the
bounty of God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. With the hands of renunciation draw forth from its life-giving waters, and
sprinkle therewith all created things, that they may be cleansed from all man-made limitations, and may approach the mighty seat of
God, this hallowed and resplendent Spot. Be not grieved if thou performest it thyself alone. Let God be all-sufficient for thee. . . .
Proclaim the Cause of thy Lord unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth. Should any man respond to thy call, lay bare before
him the pearls of the wisdom of the Lord, thy God, which His Spirit bath sent down upon thee, and be thou of them that truly believe.
And should any one reject thy offer,

turn thou away from him, and put thy trust and confidence in the Lord of all worlds. By the righteousness of God! Whoso openeth his
lips in this day, and maketh mention of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration shall descend upon him from the heaven
of my name, the All Knowing, the All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high, each bearing aloft a chalice of pure
light. Thus hath it been foreordained in the realm of God’s Revelation, by the behest of Him Who is the All-Glorious, the Most
Powerful.”
Let these words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, gleaned from the Tablets of the Divine Plan, ring likewise in their ears, as they go
forth, assured and unafraid, on His mission: “0 ye apostles of Bahd’u’llcih! May my life be sacrificed for you! . . . Behold the
portals which Bahd’u’llcih hath opened before you! Consider how exalted and lofty is the station you are destined to attain; how
unique the favors with which you have been endowed.” “My thoughts are turned towards you, and my heart leaps within me at your
mention. Could ye know how my soul gloweth with your love, so great a happiness would flood your hearts as to cause you to become
enamored with each other.” “The full measure of your success is as yet unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended. Erelong ye
will, with your own eyes, witness how brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining star, will radiate in the firmament of your country
the light of Divine Guidance, and will bestow upon its people the glory of an everlasting life.” “I fervently hope that in the near future
the whole earth may be stirred and shaken by the results of your achievements.” “The Almighty will no doubt grant you the help of
His grace, will invest you with the tokens of His might, and will endue your souls with the sustaining power of His holy Spirit.” “Be
not concerned with the smallness of your numbers, neither be oppressed by the multitude of an unbelieving world. . . . Exert yourselves;
your mission is unspeakably glorious. Should success crown your enterfrrise, America will assuredly evolve into a center from which
waves of ritual power will emanate, and the throne of the Kingdom of God will, in the leni

THE BAHA’t WORLD

tude of its majesty and glory, be firmly established.”
It should be remembered that the carrying out of the Seven Year Plan involves, in so far as the teaching work is concerned, no more
than the formation of at least one center in each of the Central and South American Republics. The hundredth anniversary of the birth
of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh should witness, if the Plan already launched is to meet with success, the laying, in each of these countries,
of a foundation, however rudimentary, on which the rising generation of the American believers may, in the opening years of the
second century of the Bahá’i era, be able to build. Theirs will be the task, in the course of successive decades, to extend and reinforce
those foundations, and to supply the necessary guidance, assistance, and encouragement that will enable the widely-scattered groups
of believers in those countries to establish independent and properly constituted local Assemblies, and thereby erect the framework of
the Administrative Order of their Faith. The erection of such a framework is primarily the responsibility of those whom the
community of the North American believers have converted to the Divine Message. It is a task which must involve, apart from the
immediate obligation of enabling every group to evolve into a local Assembly, the setting up of the entire machinery of the
Administrative Order in conformity with the spiritual and administrative principles governing the life and activities of every
established Bahá’i community throughout the world. No departure from these cardinal and clearly enunciated principles, embodied
and preserved in Bahá’i national and local constitutions, common to all Bahá’i communities, can under any circumstances be
tolerated. This, however, is a task that concerns those who, at a later period, must arise to further a work which, to all intents and
purposes, has not yet been effectively started.
THE SPECIAL POSITION OF PANAMA
Faithful to the provisions of the Charter laid down by the pen of CAbdulBaha I feel it my duty to draw the special attention of those to
whom it has been entrusted to

the urgent needs of, and the special position enjoyed by, the Republic of Panama, both in view of its relative proximity
to the heart and center of the Faith in North America, and of its geographical position as the link between two
continents. reAll the above countries,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, referring to the Latin States in one of the Tablets of the Divine
Plan, has written, erhave importance, but especially the Republic of Panama, wherein the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
come together through the Panama Canal. It is a center for travel and passage from America to other continents of the
world, and in the future it will gain most great importance.” “Likewise,” He again has written, “ye must give great
attention to the Republic of Panama, for in that point the Occident and the Orient find each other united through the
Panama Canal, and it is also situated between the two great oceans. That place will become very important in the
future. The teachings, once established there, will unite the East and the West, the North and the South.” So privileged
a position surely demands the special and prompt attention of the American Bahá’i community. With the Republic of
Mexico already opened up to the Faith, and with a Spiritual Assembly properly constituted in its capital city, the
southward penetration of the Faith of Bahã’u’lláh into a neighboring country is but a natural and logical step, and
should, it is to be hoped, prove to be not a difficult one. No efforts should be spared, and no sacrifice be deemed too
great, to establish even though it be a very small group in a Republic occupying, both spiritually and geographically, so
strategic a position—a group which, in view of the potency with which the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have already
endowed it, cannot but draw to itself, as soon as it is formed, the outpouring grace of the Abhi Kingdom, and evolve
with such marvelous swiftness as to excite the wonder and the admiration of even those who have already witnessed
such stirring evidences of the force and power of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Preference, no doubt, should be given by all
would-be pioneers, as well as by the members of the InterAmerica Committee, to the spiritual needs of this privileged
Republic,

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

though evcry effort should, at the same time, be exerted to introduce the Faith, however tentatively, to the Republics of Guatemala,
Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica which would link it, in an unbroken chain, with its mother Assesnblies in the North
American continent. Obstacles, however formidable, should be surmounted, the resources of the Bahá’i treasury should be liberally
expended on its behalf, and the ablest and most precious exertions should be consecrated to the cause of its awakening. The erection of
yet another outpost of the Faith, in its heart, will constitute, I firmly believe, a landmark in the history of the Formative Period of the
Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the New World. It will create limitless opportunities, galvanize the efforts, and reinvigorate the life, of those
who will have accomplished this feat, and infuse immense courage and boundless joy into the hearts of the isolated groups and
individuals in the neighboring and distant Republics, and exert intangible yet powerful spiritual influences on the life and future
development of its people.
AN INSCRUTABLE WISDOM, AN ALL-COMPELLING WILL
Such, dearly-beloved friends, is the vista that stretches before the eyes, and challenges the resources, of the American Bahá’i
cornmunity in these, the concluding years of the First Century of the Bahá’i Era. Such are the qualities and qualifications demanded of
them for the proper discharge of their responsibilities and duties. Such are the requirements, the possibilities, and the objectives of the
Plan that claims every ounce of their energy. Who knows but that these few remaining, fast-fleeting years, may not be pregnant with
events of unimaginable magnitude, with ordeals more severe than any that humanity has as yet experienced, with conflicts more
devasting than any which have preceded them. Dangers, however sinister, must, at no time, dim the radiance of their new-born faith.
Strife and confusion, however bewildering, must never befog their vision. Tribulations, however afflictive, must never shatter their
resolve. Denunciations, however clamorous, must never sap their loyalty. Upheavals,

however cataclysmic, must never deflect their course. The present Plan, embodying the budding hopes of a departed Master, must be
pursued, relentlessly pursued, whatever may befall them in the future, however distracting the crises that may agitate their country or
the world. Far from yielding in their resolve, far from growing oblivious of their task, they should, at no time, however much buffeted
by circumstances, forget that the synchronization of such world-shaking crises with the progressive unfoldment and fruition of their
divinely appointed task is itself the work of Providence, the design of an inscrutable Wisdom, and the purpose of an all-compelling
Will, a Will that directs and controls, in its own mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the destinies of men. Such
simultaneous processes of rise and of fall, of integration and of disintegration, of order and chaos, with their continuous and reciprocal
reactions on each other, are but aspects of a greater Plan, one and indivisible, whose Source is God, whose author is Bahá’u’lláh, the
theatre of whose operations is the entire planet, and whose ultimate objectives are the unity of the human race and the peace of all
mankind.
Reflections such as these should steel the resolve of the entire Bahá’i community, should dissipate their forebodings, and arouse them
to rededicate themselves to every single provision of that Divine Charter whose outline has been delineated for them by the pen of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The Seven Year Plan, as already stated, is but the initial stage, a stepping-stone to the unfoldment of the implications of
this Charter. The impulse, originally generated through the movement of that pen, and which is now driving forward, with increasing
momentum, the machinery of the Seven Year Plan, must, in the opening years of the next century, be further accelerated, and impel
the American Bahá’i community to launch further stages in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan, stages that will carry it far beyond the
shores of the Northern Hemisphere, into lands and among peoples where that community’s noblest acts of heroism are to be
performed.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Members of the Spiritual Assembly newly established on April 21, 1938. Photograph shows tree under which ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá stood in 1912.

Sacramento, California

Spiritual Assembly of Ricbmond Highlands, Washington, Newly Constituted April 21, 1939.
pict76.jpg

pict77.jpg

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

THE ADVENT OF THE KINGDOM
Let any one inclined to doubt the course which this enviable community is destined to follow, turn to and meditate
upon these words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, enshrined, for all time, in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, and addressed to the entire
community of the believers of the United States and Canada:
‘The full measure of your success,” He informs them, ‘is at yet unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended. Erelong, ye will,
with your own eyes, witness how brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining star, will radiate, in the firmament of your country, the
light of Divine Guidance, and will bestow upon its people the glory of an everlasting life. . . . The range of your future achievements still
remains undisclosed. I fervently hope that in the near future the whole earth may be stirred and shaken by the results of your
achievements. The hope, therefore, which ‘Abdu’l-Bahd cherishes for you is that the same success which has attended your efforts in
America may crown your endeavors in other parts of the world, that through you the fame of the Cause of God may be diffused
throughout the East and the West, and the advent of the Kin gdom of the Lord of Hosts be proclaimed in all the five continents of the
globe.” “The moment,” He most significantly adds, “this Divine Message is carried forward by the American believers from the
shores of America, and is propagated throughout the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa, and of Australasia, and as far as the
islands of the Pacific, this community will find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion. Then will all the
peoples of the world witness that this community is spiritually illumined and divinely guided. Then will the whole earth resound with
the praises of its majesty and greatness.”
No reader of these words, so vibrant with promises that not even the triumphant consummation of the Seven Year Plan
can fulfill, can expect a community that has been raised so high, and endowed so richly, to remain content with any
laurels it may win in the immediate future. To rest upon such laurels would indeed be tantamount to a betrayal of the
trust placed in that
community by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. To cut short the chain of victories that must lead it on to that supreme triumph when, “the whole earth
may be stirred and shaken” by the results of its achievements would shatter His hopes. To vacillate, and fail to “propagate
through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa, and of Australasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific” a
Message so magnificently proclaimed by it in the American continent would deprive it of the privilege of being “securely
established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion.” To forfeit the honor of proclaiming “the advent of the Kingdom
of the Lord of Hosts” in “all the five continents of the globe” would silence those “praises of its majesty and greatness”
that otherwise would echo throughout “the whole earth.”
Such vacillation, failure, or neglect, the American believers, the ambassadors of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, will, I am firmly convinced,
never permit. Such a trust will never be betrayed, such hopes can never be shattered, such a privilege will never be forfeited, nor will
such praises remain sunuttered. Nay rather the present generation of this blessed, this repeatedly blessed, community will go from
strength to strength, and will hand on, as the first century draws to a close, to the generations that must succeed it in the second the
torch of Divine Guidance, undimmed by the tempestuous winds that must blow upon it, that they in turn, faithful to the wish and
mandate of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, may carry that torch, with that self-same vigor, fidelity, and enthusiasm, to the darkest and remotest corners
of the earth. .
One more word in conclusion. Among some of the most momentous and thought- provoking pronouncements ever made by ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá, in the course of His epoch- making travels in the North American continent, are the following: “May this American
Democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreeinent. May it be the first nation to
proclaini the unity of mankind. May it be the first to unfurl the Standard of the Most Great Peace.” And again: “The
American people are indeed worthy of being the first to build the Tabernacle of the Great Peace, and pro-

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claim the oneness of mankind. . . . For America hath developed powers and capacities greater and more wonderful than
other nations. . . . The American nation is equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of
history, to become the envy of the world, and be blest in both the East and the West for the triumph of its people. . . . The
American continent gives signs and evidences of very great advancement. Its future is even more promising, for its
influence and illumination are far-reaching. It will lead all nations spiritually.”
THE DESTINY OF AMERICA
The creative energies, mysteriously generated by the first stirrings of the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, have, as soon as
released within a nation destined to become its cradle and champion, endowed that nation with the worthiness, and invested it with the
powers and capacities, and equipped it spiritually, to play the part foreshadowed in these prophetic words. The potencies which this
God-given mission has infused into its people are, on the one hand, beginning to be manifested through the conscious efforts and the
nation-wide accomplishments, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Bahã’l activity, of the organized community of the
followers of Bahá’u’ll áh in the North American continent. These same potencies, apart from, yet collateral with these efforts and
accomplishments, are, on the other hand, insensibly shaping, under the impact of world political and economic forces, the destiny of
that nation, and are influencing the lives and actions of both its government and its people.
To the efforts and accomplishments of those who, aware of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, are now laboring in that continent, to their
present and future course of activity, I have, in the foregoing pages sufficiently referred. A word, if the destiny of the American
people, in its entirety, is to be correctly apprehended, should now be said regarding the orientation of that nation as a whole, and the
trend of the affairs of its people. For no matter how ignorant of the Source from which those directing energies

proceed, and however slow and laborious the process, it is becoming increasingly evident that the nation as a whole,
whether through the agency of its government or otherwise, is gravitating, under the influence of forces that it can
neither comprehend nor control, towards such associations and policies, wherein, as indicated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, her
true destiny must lie. Both the community of the American believers, who are aware of that Source, and the great mass
of their countrymen, who have not as yet recognized the Hand that directs their destiny, are contributing, each in its
own way, to the realization of the hopes, and the fulfillment of the promises, voiced in the above- quoted words of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The world is moving on. Its events are unfolding ominously and with bewildering rapidity. The whirlwind of its
passions is swift and alarmingly violent. The New World is being insensibly drawn into its vortex. The potential storm
centers of the earth are already casting their shadows upon its shores. Dangers, undreamt of and unpredictable, threaten
it both from within and from without. Its governments and peoples are being gradually enmeshed in the coils of the
world’s recurrent crises and fierce controversies. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are, with every acceleration in the
march of science, steadily shrinking into mere channels. The Great Republic of the West finds itself particularly and
increasingly involved. Distant rumblings echo menacingly in the ebullitions of its people. On its flanks are ranged the
potential storm centers of the European continent and of the Far East. On its southern horizon there looms what might
conceivably develop into another center of agitation and danger. The world is contracting into a neighborhood.
America, willingly or unwillingly, must face and grapple with this new situation. For purposes of national security, let
alone any humanitarian motive, she must assume the obligations imposed by this newly created neighborhood.
Paradoxical as it may seem, her only hope of extricating herself from the perils gathering around her is to become
entangled in that very web of international association which the Hand of an inscrutable Providence is weaving.
‘Abdu’l

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

Baha’s counsel to a highly placed official in its government comes to mind, with peculiar appropriateness and force.
You can best serve your country if you strive, in your capacity as a citizen of the world, to assist in the eventual
application of the principle of federalism, underlying the government of your own country, to the relationships now
existing between the peoples and nations of the world.” The ideals that fired the imagination of America’s tragically
unappreciated President, whose high endeavors, however much nullified by a visionless generation, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
through His own pen, acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, though now lying in the dust, bitterly
reproach a heedless generation for having so cruelly abandoned them.
That the world is beset with perils, that dangers are now accumulating and are actually threatening the American
nation, no clear-eyed observer can possibly deny. The earth is now transformed into an armed camp. As much as fifty
million men are either under arms or in reserve. No less than the sum of three billion pounds is being spent, in one year,
on its armaments. The light of religion is dimmed and moral authority disintegrating. The nations of the world have, for
the most part, fallen a prey to battling ideologies that threaten to disrupt the very foundations of their dearly- won
political unity. Agitated multitudes in these countries see them with discontent, are armed to the teeth, are stampeded
with fear, and groan beneath the yoke of tribulations engendered by political strife, racial fanaticism, national hatreds,
and religious animosities. The winds of despair,” Bahá’u’lláh has unmistakably affirmed, ‘rare, alas, blowing from
every direction, and the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending
convulsions and chaos can now be discerned.
“The ills,” ‘Abdu’l-Baha, writing as far back as two decades ago, has prophesied, tfrom which the world now suffers
will multiply; the gloom which envelops it will deepen. The Balkans will remain discontented. Its restlessness will
increase. The vanquished Powers will continue to agitate. They will resort to every measure that may rekindle the
flame of war. Movements,

newly-born and world-wide in their range, will exert their utmost for the advancement of their designs. The Movement
of the Left will acquire great importance. Its influence will spread.” As to the American nation itself, the voice of its own
President, emphatic and clear, warns his people that a possible attack upon their country has been brought infinitely closer by the
development of aircraft and by other factors. Its Secretary of State, addressing at a recent Conference the assembled representatives of
all the American Republics, utters no less ominous a warning. “These resurgent forces loom threateningly throughout the world—
their omninous shadow falls athwart our own Hemisphere.” As to its Press, the same note of warning and of alarm at an approaching
danger is struck. “We must be prepared to defend ourselves both from within and without. . . . Our defensive frontier is long. It reaches
from Alaska’s Point Barrow to Cape Horn, and ranges the Atlantic and the Pacific. When or where Europe’s and Asia’s aggressors
may strike at us no one can say. It could be anywhere, any time. . . . We have no option save to go armed ourselves. . . . We must mount
vigilant guard over the Western Hemisphere.”
The distance that the American nation has traveled since its formal and categoric repudiation of the Wilsonian ideal, the changes that
have unexpectedly overtaken it in recent years, the direction in which world events are moving, with their inevitable impact on the
policies and the economy of that nation, are to every Bahá’i observer, viewing the developments in the international situation, in the
light of the prophecies of both Bahá’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha, most significant, and highly instructive and encouraging. To trace the
exact course which, in these troubled times and pregnant years, this nation will follow would be impossible. We can only, judging
from the direction its affairs are now taking, anticipate the course she will most likely choose to pursue in her relationships with both
the Republics of America and the countries of the remaining continents.
A closer association with these Republics, on the one hand, and an increased par-

THE BAHA’I WORLD

ticipation, in varying degrees, on the other, in the affairs of the whole world, as a result of recurrent international crises, appear as the
most likely developments which the future has in store for that country. Delays must inevitably arise, setbacks must be suffered, in the
course of that country’s evolution towards its ultimate destiny. Nothing, however, can alter eventually that course, ordained for it by
the unerring pen of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Its federal unity having already been achieved and its internal institutions consolidated—a stage
that marked its coming of age as a political entity—its further evolution, as a member of the family of nations, must, under
circumstances that cannot at present be visualized, steadily continue. Such an evolution must persist until such time as that nation will,
through the active and decisive part it will have played in the organization and the peaceful settlement of the affairs of mankind, have
attained the plenitude of its powers and functions as an outstanding member, and component part, of a federated world.
The immediate future must, as a result of this steady, this gradual, and inevitable absorption in the manifold perplexities and problems
afflicting humanity, be dark and oppressive for that nation. The world shaking ordeal which Bahâ’u’lláh, as quoted in the foregoing
pages, has so graphically prophesied, may find it swept, to an unprecedented degree, into its vortex. Out of it it
will probably emerge, unlike its reactions to the last world conflict, consciously determined to seize its opportunity, to bring the full
weight of its influence to bear upon the gigantic problems that such an ordeal must leave in its wake, and to exorcise forever, in
conjunction with its sister nations of both the East and the West, the greatest curse which, from time immemorial, has afflicted and
degraded the human race.
Then, and only then, will the American nation, molded and purified in the crucible of a common war, inured to its rigors, and
disciplined by its lessons, be in a position to raise its voice in the councils of the nations, itself lay the cornerstone of a universal and
enduring peace, proclaim the solidarity, the unity, and maturity of mankind, and assist in the establishment of the promised reign of
righteousness on earth. Then, and only then, will the American nation, while the community of the American believers within its heart
is consummating its divinely-appointed mission, be able to fulfill the unspeakably glorious destiny ordained for it by the Almighty,
and immortally enshrined in the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bah& Then, and only then, will the American nation accomplish that which will
adorn the pages of history,” “become the envy of the world and be blest in both the East and the ‘West.”

December 25, 1938.

SH0GH5.

MESSAGES FROM THE GUARDIAN
Excerfrts from Letters and Cablegrams Received by the American Bahd’is from April, 1938 to April, 1940

MARCHING TOWARD THEIR GOAL
I wish to reaffirm in person my sense of joy and gratitude, as expressed in my last cable to your Assembly, at the new spirit of
alertness and determination which you have so clearly demonstrated while yet on the threshold of your year of stewardship in the
service of the Cause of Bahã’u’llãh. I am filled with fresh hopes, and yearn to witness, ere the present year draws to a close, not only
the fulfillment of an unexampled record of service but the revelation of such

depths of consecration as will astonish, nay thrill, both the members of your own community and the rest of the Bahã’i world.
Pregnant indeed are the years looming ahead of us all. The twin processes of internal disintegration and external chaos are being
accelerated and every day are inexorably moving towards a climax. The rumblings that must precede the eruption of those forces that
must cause “the limbs of humanity to quake” can already be heard. “The time of the end,” “the latter years,”

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

as foretold in the Scriptures, are at long last upon us. The Pen of Bahã’u’lláh, the voice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have time and again,
insistently and in terms unmistakable, warned an unheeding humanity of impending disaster. The Community of the Most Great
Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up of the old, discredited, tottering
order, and assist in the unf oldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute. The American
believers, standard-bearers of this world-wide community and torch-bearers of an as yet unborn civilization, have girt up their loins,
unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena of service. Their Plan has been formulated. Their forces are mobilized. They are
steadfastly marching towards their goal. The hosts of the Abhá Kingdom are rushing forth, as promised, to direct their steps and
reinforce their power. Through their initial victories they have provided the impulse that must now surge and, with relentless force
sweep over their sister-communities and eventually overpower the entire human race. The generality of mankind, blind and enslaved,
is wholly unaware of the healing power with which this community has been endowed, nor can it as yet suspect the role which this
same community is destined to play in its redemption. Fierce and manifold will be the assaults with which governsnents, races, classes
and religions, jealous of its rising prestige and fearful of its consolidating strength, will seek to silence its voice and sap its
foundations. Unmoved by the relative obscurity that surrounds it at the present time, and undaunted by the forces that will be arrayed
against it in the future, this community, I cannot but feel confident, will, no matter how afflictive the agonies of a travailing age,
pursue its destiny, undeflected in its course, undimmed in its serenity, unyielding in its resolve, unshaken in its convictions.
(July 5, 1938)
UNBROKEN SOLSDAR5TY, UNQUENCHABLE ENTHUSIASM
I feel truly exhilarated as I witness the ever-recurrent manifestations of unbroken

solidarity and unquenchable enthusiasm that distinguish every stage in the progressive development of the nation-wide enterprise
which is being so unflichingly pursued by the whole American Bahá’i community. The marked deterioration in world affairs, the
steadily deepening gloom that envelops the storm-tossed peoples and nations of the Old World, invest the Seven-year Plan, now
operating in both the northern and southern American continents, with a significance and urgency that cannot be overestimated.
Conceived as the supreme agency for the establishment, in the opening century of the Bahá’i Era, of what is but the initial stage in the
progressive realization of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Plan for the American believers, this enterprise, as it extends its ramifications throughout
the entire New World, is demonstrating its power to command all the resources and utilize all the facilities which the machinery of a
laboriously evolved Administrative Order can place at its disposal. However we view its aspects, it offers in its functioning a sharp
contrast to the workings of the moribund and obsolescent institutions to which a perverse generation is desperately clinging.
Tempestuous are the winds that buffet and will, as the days go by, fiercely assail the very structure of the Order through the agency of
which this twofold task is being performed. The potentialities with which an almighty Providence has endowed it will no doubt enable
its promoters to achieve their purpose. Much, however will depend upon the spirit and manner in which that task will be conducted.
Through the clearness and steadiness of their vision, through the unvitiated vitality of their belief, through the incorruptibility of their
character, through the adamantine force of their resolve, the matchless superiority of their aims and purpose, and the unsurpassed
range of their accomplishments, they who labor for the glory of the Most Great Name throughout both Americas can best demonstrate
to the visionless, faithless and restless society to which they belong their power to proffer a haven of refuge to its members in the hour
of their realized doom. Then and only then will this tender sapling, embedded in the fertile soil of a Divinely appointed Ad-

THE BAHA’I WORLD

ministrative Order, and energized by the dynamic processes of its institutions, yield its ricbest and destined fruit. That the community
of the American believers, to whose keeping so vast, so delicate and precious a trust has been committed will, severally and
collectively prove themselves worthy of their high calling, I foc one, who in my association with them have been privileged to observe
more closely than perhaps any one else the nature of their reactions to the momentous issues that have confronted them in the past,
will refuse to doubt.
(September 10, 1938)
LOYALTy To WORLD ORDER OF
BAHA’U’LLAH
Loyalty world order Bahá’u’lláh, security its basic institutions, both imperatively demand all its avowed supporters, particularly its
champion builders American continent, in these days when sinister uncontrollable forces are deepening cleavage sundering peoples,
nations, creeds, classes, resolve despite pressure fast crystallizing public opinion abstain individually collectively in word, action,
informally as well as in all official utterances publications from assigning blame, taking sides, however indirectly, in recurring
political crises now agitating, ultimately engulfing human society. Grave apprehension lest cumulative effect such compromises
disintegrate fabric, clog channel grace that sustains system God’s essentially supra-national, supernatural order so laboriously evolved,
so recently established. (Cablegram September 24, 1938)
Mv HEART B1UM5 OVER WIvH GRATIVUDE
I had scarcely dispatched my cable expressing my approval of your written suggestion to enter into a contract as soon as one-third of
the estimated cost of the First Story of the Temple is in hand when the most welcome news reached me of your readiness to place an
immediate contract for the making of the models, thus effecting considerable saving of time and expense in connection with the
ornamentation of the remaining unit. I am thrilled by the news,

and my heart brims over with gratitude as I witness on the one hand the evidences of your resourcefulness and
unrelaxing vigilance, and observe on the other the ready and generous response of the individual believers at every
critical stage in the prosecution of this magnificent enterprise. I feel so happy and thankful to have been able to
associate, at this juncture, through my recent offering to the Temple Construction Fund, the name of the Greatest Holy
Leaf, with the noble exertions of those who, through their unstinted support, both moral and financial, are so valiantly
acquitting themselves of their task under the Seven Year Plan.
The initial contract, proclaiming the opening of the final phase of a work that embodies the finest contribution ever
made by the West to the Ctuse of Bahá’u’lláh, is now ready for your signature. The fourth of the successive steps
outlined in my previous message is punctually being taken. The fond hopes cherished on the assumption of your
exalted office are being amply fulfilled. The heroism displayed by the members of the American Bahá’i Community in
the face of these recurring, constantly widening opportunities is growing more apparent every day. With every fresh
crisis that plunges a hapless humanity deeper and deeper into the morass of despair and degradation, the pioneers of the
nascent Faith of Bahá’u’llah are elevated to nobler heights of triumph, evince a rarer spirit of selfabnegation and
courage, and disclose more compelling evidences of their capacity and power.
Every operation, no matter how indirectly connected with the dual responsibilities assumed by the American believers,
must continue to be conducted and supported with that self-same assuidity, sternness of purpose and steadiness of
vision that have garnered them thus far so rich a harvest. A work so auspiciously begun, so efficiently organized, so
rapidly extended, so uniquely blessed, can never be allowed, however somher the clouds looming on the international
horizon, to fall into abeyance or to even appear to have sustained the least injury from the world-shaking forces that
now batter on the tottering institutions of hu

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

man society. The adamant determination of those who support it will enable it to yield at the appointed time its destined fruit.
(November 27, 1938)
THE RAREST PRIVILEGE EVER CONFERRED BY PROVIDENCE UPON THE AMERICAN
BAHA’I COMMUNITY
I have, in a recent cable addressed to your Assembly, felt it necessary to stress the paramount need of maintaining the proper balance
between the Temple construction work and the teaching activities which have been initiated and are being so energetically conducted
under your direction in accordance with the Seven Year Plan. The twofold aim you are now pursuing should at no time become
obscured, nor should either one of the dual responsibilities you have assumed be allowed to preponderate over the other. The urgency
of the task connected with the ornamentation of the Mashriqu’l-Adkãr has been rightly recognized, and its immediate needs have been
generously and promptly met. A similar, nay a mightier effort should now be deliberately and persistently exerted in the field of
pioneer teaching, in both the United States and Canada. Every facility and encouragement, moral and material, should be extended to
the National Teaching Committee and its auxiliary agencies to insure the speedy termination of the first stage in the teaching
campaign to which every American believer is now pledged.
Very soon we shall be entering the second half of the last decade of this, the first century of the Bahâ’i Era. The five remaining years
should essentially be consecrated to the imperative, the spiritual needs of the remaining Republics of both Central and South America,
for whose entry into the fellowship of Bahã’u’lláh the Plan was primarily formulated. The prime requisite for the definite opening of
what may come to be regarded as one of the most brilliant chapters in American Bahá’i history, is the completion of the initial task
which American Bahã’i pioneers must perform in the nine remaining States and Provinces as yet unassociated with the organic
structure of the Faith.

The period ahead is short, strenuous, fraught with mortal perils for human society, yet pregnant with possibilities of unsurpassed
triumphs for the power of Bahã’u’lláh’s redemptive Cause. The occasion is propitious for a display, by the American Bahá’i
Community, in its corporate capacity, of an effort which in its magnitude, character, and purpose must outshine its past endeavors.
Failure to exploit these present, these golden opportunities would blast the hopes which the prosecution of the Plan has thus far
aroused, and would signify the loss of the rarest privilege ever conferred by Providence upon the American Bahá’i Community. It is in
view of the criticalness of the situation that I was led to place at the disposal of any pioneer willing to dedicate himself to the task of
the present hour such modest resources as would facilitate the discharge of so enviable a duty.
The Bahii’i World, increasingly subjected to the rigors of suppression, in both the East and the West, watches with unconcealed
astonishment, and derives hope and comfort from the rapid unfoldment of the successive stages of God’s Plan for so blest a
community. Its eyes are fixed upon this community, eager to behold the manner in which its gallant members will break down, one
after another, the barriers that obstruct their progress towards a divinely-appointed goal. On every daring adventurer in the service of
the Cause of Bahã’u’lláh the Concourse on high shall descend, ‘each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light.” Every one of these
adventurers God Himself will sustain and inspire, and will ‘cause the pure waters of wisdom and utterance to gush out and
flow copiously from his heart.” re7’he Kingdom of God,” wfites ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ, 9s possessed of limitless potency.
Audacious must be the army of life if the confirming aid of that Kingdom is to be repeatedly vouchsafed unto it. . . . Vast
is the arena, and the time ripe to spur on the charger within
it. Now is the time to reveal the force of one’s strength, the stoutness of one’s heart and the might of one’s soul.”
Dearly-beloved friends! What better field than the vast virgin territories, so near at hand, and waiting to receive, at this very

THE BAHA’I WORLD

hour, their full share of the onrushing tide of Bahá’u’lláh’s redeeming grace? What theatre more befitting than these long- neglected
nine remaining states and provinces in which the true heroism of the intrepid pioneers of His World Order can be displayed? There is
no time to lose. There is no room left for vacillation. Multitudes hunger for the Bread of Life. The stage is set. The firm and
irrevocable Promise is given. God’s own Plan has been set in motion. It is gathering momentum with every passing day. The powers
of heaven and earth mysteriously assist in its execution. Such an opportunity is irreplaceable. Let the doubter arise and himself verify
the truth of such assertions. To try, to persevere, is to insure ultimate and complete victory.
(January 28, 1939)
Mv PLEA, Mv SUPREME ENvREAvv
I have in two recent, successive messages, cabled to your Assembly, giving expression, as far as it lay in my power, to the feelings of
overpowering gratitude which the response of so many pioneers to the call of teaching has evoked in my heart. I have moreover felt
impelled to convey my congratulations to the members of your Assem-. bly who, through their resource, unity and singlemindedness,
have lent so needed and timely an impetus to the mighty work associated with the second year of the Seven Year Plan. There can be
no doubt whatever that what the American believers, no less than their elected national representatives, have accomplished, the long
and assiduous care of the former and the potent methods employed by the latter, have witnessed to the uprising of a new spirit on
which the defamers of the Cause may well pause to reflect, and from which its lovers cannot but derive deep joy and solace. I again
wish to thank with all my soul those whose acts have stirred the imagination of friend and foe alike.
In my desire not to omit anything that might help to spur on or reinforce the community of the American believers as they move on to
their destiny, I feel it necessary to add a word of warning in connection with the work that has been so splendidly

begun lest it should be jeopardized or frustrated. The initial phase of the teaching work operating under the Seven Year Plan has at
long last been concluded. They who have pushed it forward have withstood the test gloriously. By their acts, whether as teachers or
administrators, they have written a glorious page in the struggle for the laying of a continent-wide foundation for the administrative
Order of their Faith. At this advanced stage in the fulfillment of the purpose to which they have set their hand there can be no turning
back, no halting, no respite. To launch the bark of the Faith, to implant its banner, is not enough. Support, ample, organized and
unremitting, should be lent, designed to direct the course of that work and to lay an unassailable foundation for the fort destined to
stand guard over that banner.
The National Spiritual Assembly, the National Teaching Committee, the Regional and local teaching committees, no less than the
itinerant teachers, should utilize every possible means calculated to fan the zeal, enrich the resources and insure the solidity and
permanency of the work, of those who, actuated by so laudable and shining a spirit of self-sacrifice, have arisen to face the hazards
and perils of so holy and historic an adventure. Indeed every believer, however humble and inexperienced, should sense the obligation
to play his or her part in a mission that involves so very deeply the destinies not only of the American Bahá’i community but of the
nation itself.
Whether through the frequency of their visits, the warmth of their correspondence, the liberality of their support, the wisdom of their
counsels, the choice of the literature placed at the disposal of the pioneers, the members of the community should, at this hour when
the sands of a moribund civilization are inexorably running out, and at a time when they are preparing themselves to launch yet
another stage in their teaching activities, insure the security and provide for the steady expansion, of the work initiated in those
territories so recently set alight from the torch of an inextinguishable Faith.
This is my plea, my supreme entreaty. (April 17, 1939)

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

PROVE THEMSELVES. . . WORTHy OF THAT PRICELESS HERITAGE
The concerted activities of the followers of Bahá’u’lIáh in the North American continent assume, as they multiply and develop, a dual
aspect, and may be said to fall into two distinct categories, both equally vital and complementary to each other. The one aims at the
safeguarding and consolidation of the work already achieved; the other is designed to enlarge the range of its operation. The former
depends chiefly for its success upon the capacity, the experience and loyalty of wise, resourceful and judicious administrators, who,
impelled by the very nature of their task, will be increasingly called upon to exercise the utmost care and vigilance in protecting the
interests of the Faith, in resolving its problems, in regulating its life, in enriching its resources, and in preserving the pristine purity of
its precepts. The latter is essentially pioneer in nature, demanding first and foremost those qualities of renunciation, tenacity,
dauntlessness and passionate fervor that can alone brave the dangers and sweep away the obstacles with which an infant Faith,
struggling against vested interests and face to face with the entrenched forces of prejudice, of ignorance and fanaticism, must needs
contend. In both of these spheres of Bahá’i activity the community of the American believers, it is becoming increasingly evident, is
evincing those characteristics which must be regarded as the essential foundation for the success of their dual task.
As to those whose function is essentially of an administrative character it can hardly be doubted that they are steadily and
indefatigably perfecting the structural machinery of their Faith, are multiplying its administrative agencies, and are legalizing the
status of the newly established institutions. Slowly and patiently they are canalizing the spirit that at once directs, energizes and
safeguards its operation. They are exploiting its potentialities, broadcasting its message, publicizing its literature, fostering the
aspirations of its youth, devising ways and means for the training of its children, guarding the integrity of its teachings, and paving the
way for the ultimate codification of its laws. Through all the resources at

their disposal, they are promoting the growth and consolidation of that pioneer movement for which the entire machinery of their
Adniinistrative Order has been primarily designed and erected. They are visibly and progressively contributing to the enrichment of
their unique community life, and are insuring, with magnificent courage and characteristic promptitude, the completion of their
consecrated Edifice—the embodiment of their hopes and the supreme symbol of their ideals.
As to those into whose vahant and trusted hands—and no believer, however humble is to think himself debarred from joining their
ranks — the standards of a forward marching Faith have been entrusted, they too with no less zest and thoroughness are pushing farther
and farther its frontiers, breaking new soil, establishing fresh outposts, winning more recruits, and contributing to the greater
diversification and more harmonious blending of the elements comprised in the world-wide society of its followers.
The Edifice of this New World Order, which the Báb has heralded, which the mind of Bahá’u’lláh has envisioned, and whose features,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, its Architect, has delineated, we, whatever our capacities, opportunities or position, are now, at so precarious a period
in the world’s history, summoned to found and erect. The community of the Most Great Name in the ‘Western Hemisphere is, through
the nature of its corporate life and the scope of its exertions, assuming, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a preponderating share in the
laying of such a foundation and the erection of such a structure. The eyes of its sister communities are fixed upon it. Their prayers
ascend on its behalf. Their hands are outstretched to lend whatever aid lies within their power. I, for my part, am determined to
reinforce the impulse that impels its members forward to meet their destiny. The Founders of their Faith survey from the Kingdom on
high the range of their achievements, acclaim their progress, and are ever ready to speed their eventual triumph.
Far be it from me to underrate the gigantic proportions of their task, nor do I

THE BAHA’! WORLD

for one moment overlook the urgency and gravity of the times in which they are laboring. Nor .do I wish to minimize the hazards and
trials that surround or lie ahead of them. The grandeur of their task is indeed commensurate with the mortal perils by which their
generation is hemmed in. As the dusk creeps over a steadily sinking society the radiant outlines of their redemptive mission become
sharper every day. The present world unrest, symptom of a world-wide malady, their world religion has already affirmed must needs
culminate in that world castastrophe out of which the consciousness of world citizenship will be born, a consciousness that can alone
provide an adequate basis for the organization of world unity, on which a lasting world peace must necessarily depend, the peace itself
inaugurating in turn that world civilization which will mark the coming of age of the entire human race.
Fortified by such reflections, the American believers, in whichever section of the Western Hemisphere they find themselves laboring,
whether at home or abroad, and however dire and distressing the processes involved in the disintegration of the structure of presentday civilization, will, I feel convinced, prove themselves, through their lives and deeds, worthy of that priceless heritage which it is
their undoubted privilege to proclaim, preserve and perpetuate.
(May 22, 1939)
OFFICIAL INAUGURATION OF WORLD
MIssION
Newly-launched Central American campaign marks official inauguration (of) long- deferred World Mission constituting
‘Abdu’lBahá’s distinctive legacy (to the) Bahá’i Community (of) North America. Chosen Community broadening its basis, gaining
(in) stature, deepening (in) consecration. Its vanguard now entering arena monopolized (by) entrenched forces (of) Christendom’s
mightiest ecclesiastical institutions. Laboring amidst race foreign in language, custom, temperament embracing vast proportion (of)
New World’s ethnic elements. American believers’ isolated oversea teaching enterprises hitherto tentative, intermittent, now at end.
New epoch opening, demanding

exertions incomparably more strenuous, unflinchingly sustained, centrally directed, systematically organized, efficiently conducted.
Upon alacrity, tenacity, fearlessness (of) present prosecutors (of the) unfolding mission depend speedy (and) fullest revelation, in the
First (and) Second Centuries, (of the) potentialities (of the) birthright conferred (upon) American believers. Convey (to) pioneers (in)
North, Middle (and) South America my eagerness (to) maintain with each direct, personal contact. Assure Teaching (and)
InterAmerica Committees (my) delight (at) successive testimonies (of) believers’ glowing spirit reflected (in) Minutes, letters (and)
reports recently received. Entreat every section (of) community (to) labor unremittingly until every nation (in) Western Hemisphere
(is) illumined (by) rays (and) woven (into) fabric (of) Bahá’u’llãh triumphant Administrative Order.
(Cablegram May 28, 1939)
FULFIL UNFLINCHINGLy THE REQUIREMENTS
The readiness of your Assembly, as expressed in your recently cabled message, to transfer the National Baha’i Secretariat to the
vicinity of the Temple in Wilmette has evoked within me the deepest feelings of thankfulness and joy. Your historic decision, so wise
and timely, so surprising in its suddenness, so far-reaching in its consequences, is one that I cannot hut heartily and unreservedly
applaud. To each one of your brethren in the Faith, throughout the United States and Canada, who are witnessing, from day to day and
at an ever-hastening speed, the approaching completion of their National House of ‘Worship, the great Mother Temple of the West,
your resolution to establish within its hallowed precincts and in the heart of the North American continent the Administrative Seat of
their beloved Faith cannot but denote henceforward a closer association, a more constant communion, and a higher degree of
coordination between the two primary agencies providentially ordained for the enrichment of their spiritual life and for the conduct
and regulation of their administrative affairs. To the far-flung Bahá’i com

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

munities of East and West, most of which are being increasingly proscribed and ill- treated, and none of which can claim to have had a
share of the dual blessings which a specially designed and constructed House of Worship and a fully and efficiently functioning
Administrative Order invariably confer, the concentration in a single locality of what will come to be regarded as the fountain-head of
the community’s spiritual life and what is already recognized as the mainspring of the administrative activities, signalizes the
launching of yet another phase in the slow and imperceptible emergence, in these declining times, of the model Bahá’i community—a
community divinely ordained, organically united, clear-visioned, vibrant with life, and whose very purpose is regulated by the twin
directing principles of the worship of God and of service to one’s fellowmen.
The decision you have arrived at is an act that befittingly marks the commencement of your allotted term of stewardship in service to
the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Moreover, it significantly coincides with the inauguration of that world mission of which the settlement of
Bahá’i pioneers in the virgin territories of the North American continent has been but a prelude. That such a decision may speedily
and without the slightest hitch be carried into effect is the deepest longing of my heart. That those who have boldly carried so weighty
a resolution may without pause or respite continue to labor and build up, as circumstances permit, around this administrative nucleus
such accessories as the machinery of a fast evolving administrative order, functioning under the shadow of, and in such close
proximity to, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, must demand, is the object of my incessant and fervent prayer. That such a step, momentous as
it is, may prove the starting point for acts of still greater renown and richer possibilities that will leave their distinct mark on the third
year of the Seven Year Plan is a hope which I, together with all those who are eagerly following its progress, fondly and confidently
cherish.
The American believers, while straining to accomplish befittingly this particular task, must simultaneously brace themselves

for another sublime effort to discharge, ere the present year draws to a close, their manifold responsibilities allotted to
them under the Seven Year Plan. The placing of yet another contract for the casting of the ornamentation of the First
Story of the Temple, the permanent settlement of the six remaining Republics of Central America, and the extension of
continual support both material and moral, to those weaker States, Provinces and Republics that have been recently
incorporated in the body of the Faith, combine to offer, at this hour when the fate of civilization trembles in the
balance, the boldest and gravest challenge that has ever faced the community of the American believers both in the
propagative and administrative spheres of Bahâ’i activity. In the field of pioneer teaching, and particularly in
connection with the opening of the Republics of Haiti, Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Dominica and Guatemala, the
utmost encouragement should at all times be vouchsafed by the elected representatives of the community to those who,
out of the abundance of their hearts, and in direct response to the call of their Faith and the dictates of their conscience,
have renounced their comforts, fled their homes, and hazarded their fortunes for the sake of bringing into operation the
majestic Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, while special support should be extended to those who appear to be best qualified for
the strenuous labors which pioneering under such exacting circumstances demands. Care should be exercised lest any
hindrance, should, for any reason, be placed in the way of those who have, whether young or old, rich or poor, so
spontaneously dedicated themselves to so urgent and holy a mission.
Towards this newly-appointed enterprise a more definite re-orientation is needed. To its purposes a more complete
dedication is demanded. In its fortunes a more widespread concern is required. For its further consolidation and speedy
fulfillment a larger number and a greater variety of participants are indispensable. For its success a more abundant flow
of material resources should be assured.
Let the privileged few, the ambassadors of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh, bear in mind

THE BAHA’I WORLD

His words as they go forth on their errands of service to His Cause. tejt behoveth whosoever willeth to journey for the sake of God, and whose
intention is to proclaim His Word and quicken the dead, to bathe himself with the waters of detachment, and to adorn his temple with the ornaments of
resignation and submission. Let trust in God be his shield, and reliance on God his provision, and the fear of God his raiment. Let patience be his helper,
and praise-worthy conduct his succorer, and goodly deeds his army. Then will the concourse on high sustain him. Then will the denizens of the Kingdom
of Names march forth with him, and the banners of Divine guidance and inspiration be unfurled on his right hand and before him.”
Faced with such a challenge, a community that has scaled thus far such peaks of enduring achievements can neither falter nor recoil.
Confident in its destiny, reliant on its God-given power, fortified by the consciousness of its past victories, galvanized into action at
the sight of a slowly disrupting civilization, it will—I can have no doubt—continue to fulfill unflinchingly the immediate requirements
of its task, assured that with every step it takes and with each stage it traverses, a fresh revelation of Divine light and strength will
guide and propel it forward until it consummates, in the fulness of time and in the plenitude of its power, the Plan inseparably bound
up with its shining destiny.
(July 4, 1939)
THIS, THE MOST FATEFUL HOUR IN THEIR HISTORY
A triple call, clear-voiced, insistent and inescapable, summons to the challenge all members of the American Bahá’i community, at
this, the most fateful hour in their history. The first is the voice, distant and piteous, of those sister communities which now, alas, are
fettered by the falling chains of religious orthodoxy and isolated through the cruel barriers set up by a rampant nationalism. The
second is the plea, no less vehement and equally urgent, of those peoples and nations of the New World, whose vast and unexplored
territories await to be warmed by the light and swept into the

orbit of the Faith of Bahi’u’lláh. The third, more universal and stirring than either of the others, is the call of humanity
itself crying out for deliverance at a time when the tide of mounting evils has destroyed its equilibrium and is now
Strangling its very life.
These imperative calls of Bahá’i duty the American believers can immediately if only partially answer. Their present
status, their circumscribed resources, debar them, however great their eagerness, from responding completely and
decisively to the full implications of this threefold obligation. They can, neither individually nor through their
concerted efforts, impose directly their will upon those into whose hands the immediate destinies of their persecuted
brethren are placed. Nor are they as yet capable of launching a campaign of such magnitude as could capture the
imagination and arouse the conscience of mankind, and thereby insure the immediate and full redress of those
grievances from which their helpless coreligionists in both the East and the West are suffering. They cannot moreover
hope to wield at the present time in the councils of nations an influence commensurate with the stupendous claims
advanced, or adequate to the greatness of the Cause proclaimed, by the Author of their Faith. Nor can ‘they assume a
position or exercise such responsibilities as would enable them by their acts and decisions to reverse the process which
is urging so tragically the decline of human society and its institutions.
And yet, though their influence be at the present hour indecisive and their divinely- conferred authority unrecognized,
the role they can play in both alleviating the hardships that afflict their brethren and in attenuating the ills that torment
mankind is none the less considerable and far-reaching. By the range and liberality of their contributions to mitigate the
distress of the bereaved, the exiled and the imprisoned; by the persistent, the wise and judicious intervention of their
elected representatives through the authorities concerned; by a clear and convincing exposition, wherever
circumstances are propitious, of the issues involved; by a vigorous defense of the rights and liberties denied; by an
accurate and

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

dignified presentation of the events that have transpired; by every manner of encouragement which their sympathies
may suggest, or their means permit, or their consciences dictate, to succor the outcast and the impoverished; and above
all by their tenacious adherence to, and wide proclamation of, those principles, laws, ideals, and institutions which their
disabled fellow-believers are unable to affirm or publicly espouse; and lastly, by the energetic prosecution of those
tasks which their oppressed fellow-workers are forbidden to initiate or conduct, the privileged community of the
American Bahã’is can play a conspicuous part in the great drama involving so large a company of their unemancipated
brethren in the Asiatic, the European and African continents.
Their duties towards mankind in general are no less distinct and vital. Their impotence to stem the tide of onrushing
calamities, their seeming helplessness in face of those cataclysmic forces that are to convulse human society, do not in
the least

detract from the urgency of their unique mission, nor exonerate them from those weighty responsibilities which they alone can and
must assume. Humanity, heedless and impenitent, is admittedly hovering on the edge of an awful abyss, ready to precipitate itself into
that titanic struggle, that crucible whose chastening fires alone can and will weld its antagonistic elements of race, class, religion and
nation into one coherent system, one world commonwealth. eThe hour is approaching” is Bahá’u’lláh’s own testimony, eewhen
the most great convulsion will have appeared . . . I swear by God! The promised day is come, the day when tormenting
trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: Taste ye, what your hands have wrought.’”
Not ours to question the almighty wisdom or fathom the inscrutable ways of Him in whose hands the ultimate destiny of an
unregenerate yet potentially glorious race must lie. Ours rather is the duty to believe that the world-wide community of the Most Great
Name, and in

Newly formed Spiritual Assembly of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1938.

pict78.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

particular, at the present time its vanguard in North America, however buffeted by the powerful currents of these
troublous times, and however keen their awareness of the inevitability of the final eruption, can, if they will, rise to the
level of their calling and discharge their functions, both in the period which is witnessing the confusion and breakdown
of human institutions, and in the ensuing epoch during which the shattered basis of a dismembered society is to be
recast, and its forces reshaped, re-directed and unified. With the age that is still unborn, with its herculean tasks and
unsuspected glories, we need not concern ourselves at present. It is to the fierce struggle, the imperious duties, the
distinctive contributions which the present generation of Bahá’is are summoned to undertake and render that I feel we
should, at this hour, direct our immediate and anxious attention. Though powerless to avert the impending contest the
followers of Bahá’u’llah can, by the spirit they evince and the efforts they exert help to circumscribe its range, shorten
its duration, allay its hardships, proclaim its salutary consequences, and demonstrate its necessary and vital role in the
shaping of human destiny. Theirs is the duty to hold, aloft and undimmed, the torch of Divine Guidance, as the shades
of night descend upon, and ultimately envelop the entire human race. Theirs is the function, amidst its tumults, perils
and agonies, to witness to the vision, and proclaim the approach, of that re-created society, that Christ-promised
Kingdom, that World Order whose generative impulse is the spirit of none other than Bahá’u’lláh Himself, whose
dominion is the entire planet, whose watchword is unity, whose animating power is the force of Justice, whose
directive purpose is the reign of righteousness and truth, and whose supreme glory is the complete, the undisturbed, and
everlasting felicity of the whole of human kind. By the sublimity and serenity of their faith, by the steadiness and
clarity of their vision, the incorruptibility of their character, the rigor of their discipline, the sanctity of their morals, and
the unique example of their community life, they can and indeed must in a world polluted with its incurable
corruptions, paralyzed by its

haunting fears, torn by its devastating hatreds, and languishing under the weight of its appalling miseries demonstrate the validity of
their claim to be regarded as the sole repository of that grace upon whose operation must depend the complete deliverance, the
fundamental reorganization and the supreme felicity of all mankind.
Though the obstacles confronting the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the American continent in their efforts to completely emancipate
their fellow-Bahá’is on the one hand, and to speedily rehabilitate the fortunes of their fellow-men on the other, be in the main
unsurmountable, such impediments cannot as yet be said to exist that can frustrate their efforts to fully discharge the second duty now
incumbent upon them in the inter-continental sphere of Bahã’i teaching. The field, in all its vastness and fertility, is wide open and
near at hand. The harvest is ripe. The hour is over-due. The signal has been given. The spiritual forces, mysteriously released, are
already operating with increasing momentum, unchallenged and unchecked. Victory, speedy and unquestioned, is assured to
whosoever will arise and respond to this second, this urgent and vital call. In this field, as in no other, the American believers can most
easily evince the full force of their latent energies, can exercise in their plentitude their conspicuous talents, and can rise to the highest
level of their God-given opportunities.
Fired by their zeal, their love for and faith in Bahá’u’lláh; armed with that Holy Charter, wherein ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s mandate investing
them with their world mission is inscribed; piloted through the instrumentality of those agencies which a divine, a smoothly
functioning administrative Order has providentially placed at their disposal; disciplined and invigorated by those immutable verities,
spiritual principles and administrative regulations that distinguish their religious beliefs, govern their individual conduct and regulate
their community life; aspiring to emulate the example of those heroes and martyrs, the narrative of whose exploits they have admired
and pondered, it behooves all members of the American Bahá’i community to gird themselves as never before to the task of befittingly

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

playing their part in the enactment of the opening scene of the First Act of that superb Drama whose theme is no less than the spiritual
conquest of both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Their immediate task, under the Seven Year Plan, the object of which is the
establishment of a minimum of one Bahá’i center in each of the Republics of Middle and South America, has flow been gloriously
ushered in through the settlement of one pioneer in most of the Central American Republics, and bids fair to he recognized by
posterity as the original impulse imparted to an enterprise that will go round the world. That impulse must, as time goes by,
communicate itself to the farthest extremities of Latin America, and must be reinforced in every manner, by as many of the American
believers as possible. The broader the basis of this campaign, the deeper its roots, the finer the flower into which it shall eventually
blossom. That its call may be heeded, that its imphcations may be recognized and its potentialities progressively unfold, is my earnest
prayer, and the supreme longing of my heart. (July 28, 1939)
THE SEAL OF COMPLETE TRIUMPH
The association of the First Mashriqu’lAdhkár of the West with the hallowed memories of the Purest Branch and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
mother, recently re-interred under the shadow of the Bãb’s holy Shrine, inaugurates a new, and at long last the final phase of an
enterprise which, thirty years ago, was providentially launched on the very day the remains of the Forerunner of our Faith were laid to
rest by our beloved Master in the sepulchre specifically erected for that purpose on Mt. Carmel. The birth of this holy enterprise,
pregnant with such rich, such infinite possibilities, synchronized with, and was consecrated through, this historic event which, as
‘Abdu’l-Bahã Himself has affirmed, constitutes the most signal act of the triple mission He had been prompted to perform. The site of
the Temple itself was honored by the presence of Him Who, ever since this enterprise was initiated, had, through His messages and
Tablets, bestowed upon it His special attention and care, and surrounded it with the marks of His unfailing solicitude. Its foundationstone was laid

by His own loving hands, on an occasion so moving that it has come to be regarded as one of the most stirring episodes of His historic
visit to the North American continent. Its superstructure was raised as a direct consequence of the pent-up energies which surged from
the breasts of ‘Abdu’lBahã’s lovers at a time when His sudden removal from their midst had plunged them into consternation,
bewilderment and sorrow. Its external ornamentation was initiated and accelerated through the energizing influences which the rising
and continually consolidating institutions of a divinely es- tablished Administrative Order had released in the midst of a community
that had identified its vital interests with that Temple’s destiny. The measures devised to hasten its completion were incorporated in a
Plan which derives its inspiration from those destiny-shaping Tablets wherein, in bold relief, stands outlined the world mission
entrusted by their Author to the American Bahá’i community. And finally, the Fund, designed to receive and dispose of the resources
amassed for its prosecution, was linked with the memory and bore the name of her whose ebbing life was brightened and cheered by
those tidings that unmistakably revealed to her the depth of devotion and the tenacity of purpose which animate the American
believers in the cause of their beloved Temple. And now, while the Bahá’i world vibrates with emotion at the news of the transfer of
the precious remains of both the Purest Branch and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s mother to a spot which, watched over by the Twin Holy Shrines
and in the close neighborhood of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, is to become the focus of the administrative institutions
of the Faith at its world center, the mere act of linking the destiny of so far-reaching an undertaking with so significant an event in the
Formative Period of our Faith will assuredly set the seal of complete triumph upon, and enhance the spiritual potentialities of, a work
so significantly started and so magnificently executed by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the North American continent.
The Plan which your Assembly has suggested to raise the sum of fifty thousand

THE BAHA’I WORLD

dollars by next April, which will enable you to place the necessary contracts for the final completion of the entire First
Story of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, meets with my unqualifled approval. It was specially in order to initiate and encourage
the progress of such a plan that I felt impelled to pledge the sum of one thousand pounds in the memory of these two
glorious souls who, apart from the Founders of our Faith and its Exemplar, tower together with the Greatest Holy Leaf,
above the rank and file of the faithful.
The interval separating us from that date is admittedly short. The explosive forces which lie dormant in the
international field may, ere the expiry of these fleeting months, break out in an eruption that may prove the most fateful
that mankind has experienced. It is within the power of the organized body of the American believers to further
demonstrate the imperturbability of their faith, the serenity of their confidence and the unyielding tenacity of their
resolve.
We stand at the threshold of the decade within which the centenary of the birth of our Faith is to be celebrated. Scarcely
more

than four years stand between us and that glorious consummation. No community, no individual, neither in the East nor in the West,
however afflictive the circumstances that now prevail, can afford to hesitate or falter. The few years immediately ahead are endowed
with potencies that we can but dimly appreciate. Ours is the duty and privilege to utilize to the full the opportunities which these fateladen years offer us. The American Bahã’i community, already responsible, over such a long period, for such heroic acts, under such
severe handicaps, cannot and will not hesitate or falter. The past is a witness of their splendid triumphs. The future will be no less a
witness of their final victory.
(December 30, 1939)
THE AMERICAN BELIEVERS PURSUE THEIR GOD-GIVEN TASK
The fourth year of the Seven Year Plan enters upon its course in circumstances that are at once critical, challenging, and
unprecedented in their significance. The year that has passed has in so far as the rise and establishment of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in
the Western Hemisphere is concerned, been one of the most eventful since the Plan began to operate and exercise its potent and
beneficent influence. Both within and without the Community of the Most Great Name, the events which the last twelve months has
unfolded have in some mysterious way, whether directly or indirectly, communicated their force to the Plan’s progressive unfoldment,
contributed to the orientation of its policy and assisted in the consolidation of the diversified undertakings, both primary and
subsidiary that fall within its orbit. Even the losses which the ranks of its stout-hearted upholders have sustained will, when viewed in
their proper perspective, be regarded as gains of incalculable value, affecting both its immediate fortunes as well as its ultimate
destiny.
The successive international crises which agitated the opening months of the year that has elapsed, culminating in the outbreak of the
war in Europe, far from drowning the enthusiasm or daunting the spirit of the prosecutors of God’s Plan, served by deflecting their
gaze from a storm-tossed conti Recentl

constituted Spiritual Assembly of Glendale, Arizona.
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THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

nent, to focus their minds and resources on ministering to the urgent needs of that hemisphere in which the first honors
and the initial successes of the heroes of the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh are to be scored and won.
The sudden extinction of the earthly life of that star-servant of the Cause of Bahã’u’llãh, Martha Root, who, while on
the last lap of her fourth journey round the world
—journeys that carried her to the humblest homes as well as the palaces of royalty—was hurrying homeward to lend
her promised aid to her fellow-countrymen in their divinely- appointed task—such a death, though it frustrated this
cherished resolution of her indomitable spirit, steeled the hearts of her bereaved lovers and admirers to carry on, more
energetically than ever, the work which she herself had initiated, as far back as the year 1919 in every important city in
the South American continent.
The subtle and contemptible machinations by which the puny adversaries of the Faith, jealous of its consolidating
power and perturbed by the compelling evidences of its conspicuous victories, have sought to challenge the validity and
misrepresent the character of the Administrative Order embedded in its teachings have galvanized the swelling army of
its defenders to arise and arraign the usurpers of their sacred rights and to defend the long-standing strongholds of the
institutions of their Faith in their home country.
And now as this year, so memorable in the annals of the Faith, was drawing to a close, there befell the American Bahã’i
community, through the dramatic and sudden death of May Maxwell, yet another loss, which viewed in retrospect will
come to be regarded as a potent blessing conferred upon the campaign now being so diligently conducted by its
members. Laden with the fruits garnered through well-nigh half a century of toilsome service to the Cause she so
greatly loved, heedless of the warnings of age and ill-health, and afire with the longing to worthily demonstrate her
gratitude in her overwhelming awareness of the bounties of her Lord and Master, she set her face towards the southern
outpost of the Faith in the New World, and laid down her life in such a

spirit of consecration and self-sacrifice as has truly merited the crown of martyrdom.
To Keith Ransom-Kehler, whose dust sleeps in far-off Ifáhán; to Martha Root, fallen in her tracks on an island in the
midmost heart of the ocean; to May Maxwell, lying in solitary glory in the southern outpost of the Western
Hemisphere—to these three heroines of the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, they who now labor so
assiduously for its expansion and establishment, owe a debt of gratitude which future generations will not fail to
adequately recognize.
I need not expatiate on other, though less prominent, events that have contributed their share to the furtherance of the
Seven Year Plan, or marked its systematic development. The association of the Fund, specifically inangurated for its
prosecution, with the hallowed memories of both the Mother and Brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; the establishment of at least
one pioneer in each of the Republics of Central and South America; the ushering in of the last phase of the external
ornamentation of the Temple; the conjunction of the institutions of the Uairatu’l-Quds and the Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr in
the heart of the North American continent; the founding of yet another institution designed as a training school for
Inter- America teaching work; the steady rise in the number of groups and Assemblies functioning within the
Administrative Framework of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh—these stand out as further evidences of the animating Force
that propels the Plan towards its final consummation.
Varied and abundant as have been the past manifestations of this driving, resistless Force, they cannot but pale before
the brilliant victories which its progressive and systematic development must achieve in the future.
The American believers, standing on the threshold of the fourth year of the Seven Year Plan, pursue their God-given
task with a radiance that no earthly gloom can dim, and will continue to shoulder its ever-growing duties and
responsibilities with a vigor and loyalty that no earthly power can either sap or diminish.
(April 15, 1940)
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PART TWO
(Continued)
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2.

THE SPIRIT AND FORM OF THE
BAHA’I ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
“And now as I look into the future, I hope to see the friends at all times, in every land, and of every shade of thought
and character, voluntarily and joyously rallying round their local and in particular their national centers of activity,
upholding and promoting their interests with coin plete unanimity and contentment, with perfect understanding,
genuine enthusiasm, and sustained vigor. This indeed is the one joy and yearning of my life, for it is the fountain-head
from which all future blessings will flow, the broad foundation upon which the security of the Divine Edifice must
ultimately rest.”— SHOGHI EFFENDI.
FOREWORD

THE 1926-27 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada completed a task which,
while pertaining to the outer and more material aspects of the Cause, nevertheless has a special significance for its spirit
and inward sacred purpose. This task consisted in creating in a legal form which gives proper substance and substantial
character to the administrative processes embodied in the Bahá’i Teachings. The form adopted was that known as a
Voluntary Trust, a species of corporation recognized under the common law and possessing a long and interesting
history. The famous Covenant adopted by the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower, the first legal document in American
history, is of the same nature as the Declaration of Trust voted by the National Spiritual Assembly. This Declaration of
Trust, with its attendant By-Laws, is published for the information of the Bahã’is of the world. Careful examination of
the Declaration and its By-Laws will reveal the fact that this document contains no arbitrary elements nor features new
to the Bahá’i Cause. On the contrary, it represents a most conscientious effort to reflect those very administrative
principles and elements already set forth in the letters of the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, and already determining the

methods and relationships of Bahl’i collective association. The provision both in the Declaration and in the By-Laws for amendments
in the future will permit the National Spiritual Assembly to adapt this document to such new administrative elements or principles as
the Guardian may at any time give forth. The Declaration, in fact, is nothing more or less than a legal parallel of those moral and
spiritual laws of unity inherent in the fullness of the Bahá’i Revelation and making it the fulfillment of the ideal of Religion in the
social as well as spiritual realm. Because, in the Bahá’i Faith this perfect correspondence exists between spiritual and social laws, the
Bahã’is believe that administrative success is identical with moral success; and that nothing less than the true Bahá’i spirit of devotion
and sacrifice can inspire with effective power the world-wide body of unity, revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. Therefore it has seemed fitting
and proper to accompany the Declaration of Trust with excerpts from the letters of Shoghi Effendi which furnished the source whence
the provisions of the Declaration were drawn, and which furthermore give due emphasis to that essential spirit without which any and
every social or religious form is but a dead and soulless body.
HORACE HOLLEY.

I
THE BAHA’ WORLD

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Certification of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of the United States and Canada.

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THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 33 UU*! tUtL!a f it ;!
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Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States
and Canada.

pict83.jpg

pict84.jpg
364 THE BAHA’I WORLD

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DECLARATION OF TRUST
By the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada
We, Allen B. McDaniel of Washington, D. C., Horace Holley of New York City, N. Y., Carl Scheffler of
Evanston, Ill., Roy C. Wilhelm of West Englewood, N. J., Florence Morton of Worcester, Mass., Amelia
Collins of Princeton, Mass., Ali-Kuli Khan of New York City, N. Y., Mountfort Mills of New York City,
N. Y., and Siegfried Schopflocher of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, duly chosen by the representatives of the
Bahá’is of the United States and Canada at the Annual Meeting held at San Francisco, Calif., on April 29,
April 30, May i, and May 2, 1926, to be the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States
and Canada, with full power to establish a Trust as hereinafter set forth, hereby declare that from this date
the powers, responsibilities, rights, privileges and obligations reposed in said National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahâ’is of the United States and Canada by Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’i Faith, by ‘Abdu’I-
Bahá, its Interpreter and Exemplar, and by Shoghi Effendi, its Guardian, shall be exercised, administered
and carried on by the above-named National Spiritual Assembly and their duly qualified successors under
this Declaration of Trust.
The National Spiritual Assembly in adopting this form of association, union and fellowship, and in
selecting for itself the designation of Trustees of the Bahá’js of the United States and Canada, does so as
the administrative body of a religious community which has had continuous existence and responsibility for
over, eighteen years. In consequence of these activities the National Spiritual Assembly is called upon to
administer such an ever-increasing diversity and volume of affairs and properties for the Bahá’is of the
United States and Canada, that we, its members, now feel it both desirable and necessary to give our
collective functions more definite legal form. This action is taken in complete unanimity and with full
recognition of the sacred relationship thereby created. We acknowledge in behalf of ourselves and our
successors in this Trust the exalted religious standard established by Bahã’u’lláh for Bahâ’i administrative
bodies in the

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 365
utterance: “Be ye Trustees of 11w Merciful One among men”; and seek the help of God and His guidance
in order to fulfil that exhortation.
Article I
The name of said Trust shall be the National Spiritual Assenthly of the Bahd’is of the United States and
Canada.
Article II
Sharing the ideals and assisting the efforts of our fellow Bahâ’is to establish, uphold and promote the
spiritual, educational and humanitarian teachings of human brotherhood, radiant faith, exalted character and
selfless love revealed in the lives and utterances of all the Prophets and Messengers of God, Founders of
the world’s revealed religions—and given renewed creative energy and uniersal application to the
conditions of this age in the life and utterances of Bahá’u’llâh—we declare the purposes and objects of this
Trust to be to administer the affairs of the Cause of Bahâ’u’lláh for the benefit of the Bahã’is of the United
States and Canada according to the principles of Bahá’i affiliation and administration created and
established by Bahá’u’lláh, defined and explained by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and amplified and applied by Shoghi
Effendi and his duly constituted successor and successors under the provision of the Will and Testament of
‘Abdu’lBahâ.
These purposes are to be realized by means of devotional meetings; by public meetings and conferences of
an educational, humanitarian and spiritual character; by the publication of books, magazines and
newspapers; by the construction of temples of universal worship and of other institutions and edifices for
humanitarian service; by supervising, unifying, promoting and generally administering the activities of the
Bahâ’is of the United States and Canada in the fulfilment of thcir religious offices, duties and ideals; and by
any other means appropriate to these ends, or any of them.
Other purposes and objects of this Trust are:
a. The right to enter into, make, perform and carry out contracts of every sort and kind for the furtherance
of the objects of this Trust with any person, firm, association, corporation, private, public or municipal or
body politic, or any state, territory or colony thereof, or any foreign government; and in this connection,
and in all transactions under the terms of this

366 THE BAHA’I WORLD
Trust, to do any and all things which a co-partnership or
natural person could do or exercise, and which now or here afte may be authorized by law.
b. To hold and be named as beneficiary under any trust estab lishe by law or otherwise or under any will or
other testa mentar instrument in connection with any gift, devise, or
bequest in which a trust or trusts is or are established in any
part of the world as well as in the United States and Canada; to
receive gifts, devises or bequests of money or other property.
c. All and whatsoever the several purposes and objects set forth
in the written utterances of Bahá’u’llâh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and
Shoghi Effendi, under which certain jurisdiction, powers and
rights are granted to National Spiritual Assemblies.
d. Generally to do all things and acts which in the judgment of
said Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’is of the United States and Canada, are necessary, proper
and advantageous to promote the complete and successful ad ministratio of this Trust.
Article III
Section z. All persons, firms, corporations and associations extending, credit to, contracting with or having
any claim against the Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual Assembly, and the members thereof, of any
character whatsoever, whether legal or equitable and whether arising out of contract or tort, shall look
solely to the funds of the Trust and to the property of the Trust estate for payment or indemnity, or for the
payment of any debt, damage, judgment or decree or any money that may otherwise become due or payable
from the Trustees, so that neither the Trustees nor any of them, nor any of their officers or agents appointed
by them hereunder, nor any beneficiary or beneficiaries herein named shall be personally liable there for.
Section 2. Every note, bond, proposal, obligation or contract in writing or other agreement or instrument
made or given under this Trust shall be explicitly executed by the National Spiritual Assembly, as Trustees
by their duly authorized officers or agents.
Article IV
The Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual Assembly, shall adopt for the conduct of the affairs entrusted to
them under this Declaration of

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 367
Trust, such by-laws, rules of procedure or regulations as are required to define and carry on its own’administrative
functions and those of the several local and other elements composing the body of the Bahá’is of the United States and
Canada, not inconsistent with the terms of this instrument and all in accordance with the explicit instructions given us
to date by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, which instructions are already known to the Bahá’is
of the United States and Canada and accepted by them in the government and practice of their religious affairs.
Article V
The central office of this Trust shall be located in the City of New York, State of New York, United States of America.
Article VI
The seal of this Trust shall be circular in form, bearing the following description:
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of the United States and Canada. Declaration of Trust, 1927.
Article VII
This Declaration of Trust may be amended by majority vote of the National Spiritual Assemb’y of the Bahá’is of the
United States and Canada at any special meeting duly called for that purpose, provided that at least thirty (30) days
prior to the date fixed for said meeting a copy of the proposed amendment or amendments is mailed to each member of
the Assembly by the Secretary.
Art. V amended to read “. . . located in the Village of Wilniette, Illinois, the site of the Bahf’i House of Worship.”

368 THE BAHA’i WORLD
BY-LAWS OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
Article I
The National Spiritual Assembly, in the fulfilment of its sacred duties under this Trust, shall have exclusive jurisdiction
and authority over all the activities and affairs of the Bahá’i Cause throughout the United States and Canada, including
paramQunt authority in the administration of this Trust. It shall endeavor to stimulate, unify and coordinate the
manifold activities of the local Spiritual Assemblies (hereinafter defined) and of individual Bahfl’is in the United States
and Canada and by all possible means assist them to promote the oneness of mankind. It shall be charged with the
recognition of such local Assemblies, the scrutiny of local membership rolls, the calling of the Annual Meeting or
special meetings and the seating of delegates to the Annual Meeting and their apportionment among the various local
Bahfl’i communities. It shall appoint all national Bahá’i committees and shall supervise the publication and distribution
of Bahá’i literature; the reviewing of all writings pertaining to the Bahâ’i Cause, the construction and administration of
the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and its accessory activities, and the collection and disbursement of all funds for the carrying on
of this Trust. It shall decide whether any matter lies within its own jurisdiction or within th jurisdiction of any local
Spiritual Assembly. It shall, in such cases as it considers suitable and necessary, entertain appeals from the decisions of
local Spiritual Assemblies and shall have the right of final decision in all cases where the qualification of an individual
or group for continued voting rights and membership in tl-ie Bahá’i body is in question. It shall furthermore represent
the Bahfl’is of the United States and Canada in all their cooperative and spiritual activities with the ]3ahá’is of other
lands, and shall constitute the sole electoral body of the United States and Canada in the formation of the Universal
House of Justice provided for in the Sacred Writings of the Bahá’i Cause. Above all, the National Spiritual Assembly
shall ever seek td attain that station of unity in devotion to the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh which will attract the
confirmations of the Holy Spirit and enable the Assembly to serve the founding of the Most Great Peace. In all its
deliberation and action
For amendments made to April 20, 1940, see notes at foot of pages 370, 373, 374, 375.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 369
the National Assembly shall have constantly before it as Divine guide and standard the utterance of
Bahá’u’lláh :—
“It behooveth them (i.e., Spiritual Assemblies) to b the trusted
ones of the Merciful among men and to consider themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that
dwelt on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the
servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and
seemly.”
Article II
The Bahá’is of the United States and Canada, for whose benefit this Trust has heen established, shall
consist of all persons resident in the United States and Canada who are recognized by the National Spiritual
Assembly as having fulfilled the requirements of voting membership in a local Bahâ’i community. To
become a voting member of a Bahá’i community a person shall
a. Be a resident of the locality defined by the area of jurisdiction of the local Spiritual Assembly, as
provided by Article VII, Section 12, of this instrument.
b. Have attained the ages of 21 years.
c. Have established to the satisfaction of the local Spiritual Assembly, subject to the approval of the
National Assembly, that he possesses the qualifications of Bahâ’i faith and practice required under the
following standard: Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner (the Báb), the Author (Bahâ’u’llãh),
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahã the True Exemplar of te Bahá’i Cause: unreserved acceptance of, and submission to,
whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of Abdu’l-Bahâ’s
sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of present-day Bahâ’i administration
throughout the world.
Article III
The National Assembly shall consist of nine members chosen from among the Bahá’is of the United States
and Canada, who shall be elected by the said Bahá’is in manner hereinafter provided, and who shall
continue in office for the period of one year, or until their successors shall be elected.

370 THE BAHA’f WORLD
Article IV
The officers of the National Spiritual Assembly shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer,
and such other officers as may be found necessary for the proper conduct of its affairs. The officers shall be elected by
a majority vote of the entire membership of the Assembly taken by secret ballot.
Article V
The first meeting of a newly-elected National Assembly shall be called by the member elected to membership by the
highest number of votes or, in case two or more members have received the same said highest number of votes, then by
the member selected by lot from among those members; and this member shall preside until the permanent Chairman
shall be chosen. All subsequent meetings shall be called by the Secretary of the Assembly at the request of the
Chairman or, in his absence or incapacity, of the Vice-Chairman, or of any three members of the Assembly; provided,
however, that the Annual Meeting of the Assembly shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by a majority vote of
the Assembly, as hereinafter provided.
Article VI
Five members of the National Assembly present at a meeting shall constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of those
present and constituting a quorum shall be sufficient for the conduct of business, except as otherwise provided in these
By-Laws, and with due regard to the principle of unity and cordial fellowship involved in the institution of a Spiritual
Assembly. The transactions and decisions of the National Assembly shall be recorded at each meeting by the Secretary,
who shall supply copies of the minutes to the Assembly members after each meeting, and preserve the minutes in the
official records of the Assembly.
Article VII
Whenever in any locality of the United States and Canada, be it city, town or village, the number of Bahâ’is resident
therein recognized by the National Spiritual Assemlily exceeds nine, these may on April 21st of any year convene and
elect by plurality vote a local administrative body of nine members, to be known as the Spiritual AsArticle IV,
amended to read “. . . by a majority vote of the Assembly taken by secret
ballot.”

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 371
sembly of the Bahá’is of that community. Every such Spiritual Assembly shall be elected annuaily thereafter upon each
successive 21st day of April. The members shall hold office for the term of one year and until their successors are
elected and qualified.
When, however, the number of Bahá’is in any community is exactly nine, these may on April 21st of any year, or in
successive years, constitute themselves the local Spiritual Assembly by joint declaration. Upon the recording of such
declaration by the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, said body of nine shall become established with the
rights, privileges and duties of a local Spiritual Assembly as set forth in this instrument.
Section i. Each newly-elected local Spiritual Assembly shall at once proceed in the manner indicated in Articles IV and
V of these By-Laws to the election of its officers, who shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and
Treasurer, and such other officers as the Assembly finds necessary for the conduct of its business and the fulfilment of
its spiritual duties. Immediately thereafter the Secretary chosen shall transmit to the Secretary of the National Assembly
the names of the members of the newly-elected Assembly and a list of its officers.
Section 2. The general powers and duties of a local Spiritual Assemb y shall be as set forth in the writings of
Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’lBahá and Shoghi Effendi.
Section 3. Among its more specific duties, a local Spiritual Assembly shall have full jurisdiction of all Bahá’i activities
and affairs within the local community, subject, however, to the exclusive and paramount authority of the National
Spiritual Assembly as defined herein.
Section 4. Vacancies in the membership of a local Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by election at a special meeting of
the local Bahâ’i community duly called for that purpose by the Assembly. In the event that the number of vacancies
exceeds four, making a quorum of the local Assembly impossible, the election shall be held under the supervision of
the National Spiritual Assembly.
Section . The business of the local Assembly shall be conducted in like manner as provided for the deliberations of the
National Assembly in Article VI above.
Section 6. The local Assembly shall pass upon and approve the qualifications of each member of the Bahá’i community
before such members shall be admitted to voting membership; but where an individual is dissatisfied with the ruling of
the local Spiritual Assembly

372 THE BAHA’f WORLD
upon his Bahfl’i qualifications, such individual may appeal from the ruling to the National Assembly, which shall
thereupon take jurisdiction of and finally decide the case.
Section ‘. On or before the 1st day of February of each year the Secretary of each local Assembly shall send to the
Secretary of the National Assembly a duly certified list of the voting members of the local Bahfl’i community for the
information and approval of the National Assembly.
Section 8. All matters arising within a local Bahá’i community which are of purely local interest and do not affect the
national interests of the Cause shall be under the primary jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly of that locality; but
decision whether a particular matter involves the interest and welfare of the national Bahfl’i body shall rest with the
National Spiritual Assembly.
Section 9. Any member of a local Bahfl’i community may appeal from a decision of his Spiritual Assembly to the
National Assembly, which shall determine whether it shall take jurisdiction of the matter or leave it to the local
Spiritual Assembly for reconsideration. In the event that the National Assembly assumes jurisdiction of the matter, its
finding shall be final.
Section 10. Where any dissension exists within a local Bah.â’i community of such a character that it cannot be
remedied by the efforts of the local Spiritual Assembly, this condition shall be referred by the Spiritual Assembly for
consideration to the National Spiritual Assembly, whose action in the matter shall be final.
Section ix. All questions arising between two or more local Spiritual Assemblies, or between members of different
Bahâ’i communities, shall be submitted in the first instance to the National Assembly, which shall have original and
final jurisdiction in all such matters.
Section 12. The sphere of jurisdiction of a local Spiritual Assembly, with respect to residential qualification of
membership, and voting tights of a believer in any Bahfl’i community, shall be the locality included within the dvil
limits of the city, town or village, but Bahfl’is who reside in adjacent, outlying or suburban districts and can regularly
attend the meetings of the local Bahfl’i community, may be enrolled on the membership list of the adjacent Spiritual
Assembly and enjoy full voting rights pending the establishment of a local Spiritual Assembly in their home
community.
All differences of opinion concerning the sphere of jurisdiction of any local Spiritual Assembly or concerning the
affiliation of any Bahã’i

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 373
or group of Bahá’is in the United States and Canada shall be referred to the National Spiritual Assembly, whose
decision in the matter shall be final.
Article VIII
The Annual Meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly at which its members shall be elected shall be known as the
National Convention of the Bahâ’is of the United States and Canada, and shall be held at a time and place to be fixed
by the National Assembly, which shall give sixty days’ notice of the meeting to each local Bahâ’i community through
its Spiritual Assembly. The National Assembly shall at the same time inform each Spiritual Assembly of the number of
delegates to the Convention it has assigned to the local Bahá’i community in accordance with the principle of
proportionate representation in such manner that the entire number of delegates composing the National Convention
shall be ninety-five. Upon receipt of this notice each local Spiritual Assembly shall, within a convenient period and
after giving due and sufficient notice thereof, call a meeting of the voting members on its rolls for the purpose of
electing their delegate or delegates to the National Convention; and, not later than thirty days before the date of the
Convention, the Secretary of each local Spiritual Assembly shall certify to the Secretary of the National Spiritual
Assembly the names and adddresses of the delegates so elected.
Section i. All delegates to the Convention shall be elected by plurality vote of those present at their election.
Section 2. All delegates to be seated at the Convention must be enrolled as voting members of the Bahã’i community
represented by them.
Section . The rights and privileges of a delegate may not be assigned nor may they be exercised by proxy.
Section 4. The recognition and seating of delegates to the National Convention shall be vested in the National Spiritual
Assembly.
Section 5. Delegates unable to be present in person at the Convention shall have the right to vote for members of the
National Spiritual Assembly by mail or telegram under such conditions as may be indicated by the National Assembly.
Section 6. If in any year the National Spiritual Assunbly shall consider that it is impracticable or unwise to assemble
together the delegates to the National Convention, the National Spiritual Assembly shall provide ways and means by
which the business of the Convention may be conducted by correspondence or telegram. Any action taken
Article VIII, amended to read “. . . number of delegates composing the National Convention shall be one hundred seventyone.”
Article VIII, Section 1, amended to read “. . . by plurality Vote. Members who for illness or other unavoidable reasons are
unable to be present at the election in person shall have the right to transmit their ballots by mail or telegram under
conditions acceptable to the local Spiritual Assembly.”
Article VIII, Section 6, amended to end with words “. . . by correspondence or telegram.”

374 THE BAHA’f WORLD
under such circumstances shall be by a majority vote of all the delegates.
Section 7. The presiding officer of the National Spiritual Assembly present at the National Convention
shall call to order the delegates, who shall then proceed to the permanent organization of the meeting,
electing a presiding officer, a Secretary and such other officers as are necessary for the proper conduct of
the business of the Convention.
Section 8. The principal business of the National Convention hall be the election of the nine members of
the incoming National Spiritual Assembly, the consideration of the reports of the financial and other
activities of the outgoing National Assembly and its various committees, and deliberation upon the affairs
of the Bahá’i Cause in general, it being understood, however, in accordance with the principles of Bahã’i
administration defined by the Guardian that all deliberation and action of the delegates at the National
Convention, other than the election of the members of the incoming National Spiritual Assembly, shall
constitute merely advice and recommendation for consideration by the said Assembly, final decision on all
matters concerning the affairs of the ]3ahâ’i Cause in the United States and Canada being vested solely in
that body.
Section 9. The general order of business to be taken up at the National Convention shall be prepared by the
National Spiritual Assembly, but any and all matters pertaining to the Cause introduced by any of the
delegates may upon motion and vote be taken up as part of the deliberations of the Convention.
Section io. The election of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be by plurality vote of the
delegates recognized by the outgoing National Spiritual Assembly, i.e., the members elected shall be the
nine persons receiving the greatest number of votes on the first ballot cast by delegates present at the
Convention and delegates whose ballot has been transmitted to the Secretary of the National Spiritual
Assembly by mail or telegram. In case by reason of a tie vote or votes the full membership is not
determined on the first ballot, then one or more additional ballots shall be taken until all nine members are
elected.
Section ii. All official business transacted at the National Convention shall be recorded and preserved in the
records of the National Assembly.
Section 12. After the termination of the National Convention and until the next such Annual Meeting has
been called in session, the delegates shall continue as a consultative body capable of rendering a disArticle
VIII, Section 7, amended to read “. . . electing by ballot a presiding officer,” etc.
Article VIII, Section 12, deleted.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 375
tinctive service to the work of the Cause, and they shall make every effort to contribute to the unified spirit, information
and useful action of the National Spiritual Assembly throughout the year.
Section 13. Vacancies in the membership of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by a plurality vote of the
delegates composing the Convention which elected the Assembly, the ballot to be taken by correspondence or in any
other manner decided upon by the National Spiritual Assembly.
Article IX
Where the National Spiritual Assembly has been given in these By-Laws exclusive and final jurisdiction, and
paramount executive authority, in all matters pertaining to the activities and affairs of the Bahá’i Cause in the United
States and Canada, it is understood that any decision made or action taken upon such matters shall be subject in every
instance to ultimate review and approval by the Guardian of the Cause or the Universal House of Justice.
Article X
Whatever functions and powers are not specifically attributed to local Spiritual Assemblies in these By-Laws shall be
considered vested in the National Spiritual Assembly, which body is authorized to delegate such discretionary functions
and powers as it deems necessary and advisable to the local Spiritual Assemblies within its jurisdiction.
Article XI
In order to preserve the spiritual character and purpose of Bahá’i elections, the practice of nominations or any other
electoral method detrimental to a silent and prayerful election shall not prevail, so that each elector may vote for none
but those whom prayer and reflection have inspired him to uphold.
Among the most outstanding and sacred duties incumbent upon those who have been called upon to initiate, direct and
coordinate the affairs of the Cause as members of local or national Spiritual Assemblies are :—
To win by every means in their power the confidence and affection
of those whom it is their privilege to serve; to investigate and acquaint themselves with the considered views, the
prevailing sentiments and the personal convictions of those whose welfare it is their solemn obligation to promote; to
purge their deliberations and the general conduct
Article VIII, Section 13, amended to be Section 12.

376 THE BAHA’f WORLD
of their affairs of self-contained aloofness, the suspicion of secrecy, the stifling atmosphere of dictatorial
assertiveness and of every word and deed that may savor of partiality, seif-centeredness and prejudice; and
while retaining the sacred right of final decision in their hands, to invite discussion, ventilate grievances,
welcome advice, and foster the sense of inter-dependence and co-partnership, of understanding and mutual
confidence between themselves and afl other Bahâ’is.
Article XII
These By-Laws may be amended by majority vote of the National Spiritual Assembly at any of its regular
or special meetings, provided that at least fourteen days prior to the date fixed for the said meeting a copy
of the proposed amendment or amendrñents is mailed to each member of the Assembly by the Secretary.
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THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 377
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378 THE BAHA’i WORLD

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THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 379
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THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

\\IIR, Marta Blanche Brauns-Forel, Karlsruhe i. B.; Paul Ferdinand Goilmer, Stuttgart; Max Greeven, Bremen; Dr.
Her- mann Grossmann, Neckargemund; Edith Elisabeth Anna Horn, Stuttgart; Anna Maria Kostlin, Esslingen a. N.;
Dr. Adelbert Friedrich Alexander Marinus Muhlschle gel, Stuttgart; Dr. Karl Eugen Schmidt, Stuttgart; Alice Corinna
Gabriele Emma Amélie (Táhirih) Schwarz-Solivo, Stuttgart, erklaren hiermit als der durch die Abgeordneten der Bahá’i
in Deutschland und österreich anlasslich der Jahrestagung in Stuttgart am
22. April 1934 ordnungsmassig gewahlte und mit allen Vollmachten zur Errichtung der nachfolgenden Treuhandschaft
ausgestattete Nationale Geistige Rat der Baha”i in Dents chland und Osterreich, dass vom heutigen Tage an die
diesem Rate durch BabYu’lláh, den BegrUnder des Bahá’i-Glaubens, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, den Ausleger und das Vorbild,
und Shoghi Effendi, den Hiker desselben, ubertragenen Befugnisse, Verantwortlichkeiten, Recite, Vorrechte und
Pulichten von dem vorgenannten Nationalen Geistigen Rat und semen ordnungsmassig bestellten Nachfolgern gemäss
dieser Treuhandschaftserklarung ausgeubt, verwalter und fortgeführt werden sollen.
Die Annahme dieser Form des Zusammenschlusses, der Vereinigung und Gemeinschaft, und die Zulegung der
Bezeichnung als Treuhander der Bahá’i in Deutschland und österreich erfolgt durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat als
dem seit mehr als dreiundzwanzig Jahren bestehenden und verantwortlichen Verwaltungskorper einer
Religionsgemeinschaft. Infolge dieser Tatigkeit erwachst dem Nationalen Geistigen Rat die Pflicht zur Verwaltung der
standig mannigfacher und umfangreicher werdenden Angelegenheiten und Vermogenswerte der Bahã’i in Deutschland
und öesterreich, weshalb wir als dessen Mitglieder es für

wünschenswert und notwendig erachten, unserer gemeinsamen Tatigkeit eine fester umrissene, gesetzmässige Form zu geben. Wir tun
dies in volliger Einmütigkeit und in voller Erkenntnis der damit geschaffen heiligen Bindung. Wir anerkennen für uns und unsere
Nachfolger in dieser Treuhandschaft die erhabene religiose Richtschnur, die für Baha’i_Verwaltungskorperschaf ten in dem Worte
Bahi’u’llih’s zum Ausdruck kommt: ,,Seid Treuhander des Barmherzigen unter den Menschen”, und suchen den Beistand Gottes und
Seine Führung, damit wir dieser Ermahnung folgen konnen.
ARTIKEL I
Die genannte Treuhandgemeinschaft führt die Bezeichnung, ,,der Nationale Geistige Rat der Bahá’i in Deutschland und österreich”.
ARTIKEL II
Wir teilen die Ideale unserer Mit-Bahá’i und arbeiten mit ihnen an der Aufrichtung, Erhaltung und Forderung der geistigen,
erziehlichen und menschenfreundlichen Lehren menschlicher Bruderschaft, strahlenden Glaubens, erhabenen Charakters und
selbstloser Liebe, wie sie im Leben und in den Ausserungen aller Propheten und Botschafter Gottes, der Bergründer der
Offenbarungsreligionen in der Welt, geoffenbart sand mit erneuter Kraft und allumfassender Geltung für die Gegebenheiten dieses
Zeitalters durch das Leben und die Worte Bahi’u’lláh’s verkündet worden sind. Wir erklaren als Zweck und Gegenstand dieser
Treuhandgemeinschaft die Verwaltung der Angelengenheiten der Sache Bahã’u’llâh’s zum Besten der Bahá’i in Deutschland und
österreich gamäss den von Bahá’u’lláh geschaffenen sand eingeführten, von ‘Abdu’l-Bahá naher bestimmten und erlauterten und von
Shoghi Effendi und dessen nach dem Willen und

TREUHANDSCHAFTSERKLARUNG
DES NATIONALEN GEISTIGEN RATS DER BAHA’I IN DEUTSCHLAND UND
OSTERREICH
THE DECLARATION AND BY-LAWS OP THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’IS
OF GERMANY AND AUSTRIA

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Testament ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s ordnungsmassig eingesetzten Nachfolger und Nachfolgern erweiterten und angewandten
Grundsatzen für die Bahá’i-Zugehorigkeit und -Verwaltung.
Der Erfullung dieses Zweckes sollen Andachtszusammenkunfte, offentliche Versammlungen und Zusammenkünfte
erziehlichen, menschenfreundlichen und geistigen Charakters, die Veroffentlichung von Buchern, Zeitschriften und
Zeitungen, die Errichtung von Tempein ailgemeiner Anbetung und anderer Einrichtungen und Bauten fur
menschenfreundliche Dienste, die Uberwachung, Vereinheitlichung, Forderung und ailgemeine Verwaltung der
Angelegenheiten der Bahá’i in Deutschland und österreich in Erfüllung ihrer religiosen Dienste, Pflichten und Ideale,
sowie jedes sonstige diesen Zielen oder einem von ihnen forderliche Mittel dienen.
Weiterer Zweck und Gegenstand dieser Treuhandgemeinschaft ist:
a. das Recht, mit irgendwelchen Personen, Unternehmungen, Vereinigungen, privaten, offentlichen oder gemeindlichen
KOrperschaften, dem Staat oder irgendwelchen seiner Lander, Gebiete oder Kolonien oder mit irgendwelchen fremden
Regierungen in jeder Art und Weise Vertrage abzuschliessen, zu vollziehen und zu erfullen, die zur Forderung der
Ziele dieser Treuhandschaft dienen, und im Zusammenhang damit und bei alien Verrichtungen, die im Rahmen dieser
Treuhandschaft erfolgen, alies und jedes zu tun, was eine Gesellschaft oder naturliche Person zu tun oder auszuflben
vermag und was gegenwärtig oder kunftig vom Gesetz zugelassen ist,
b. bei alien durch Gesetz oder anderswie errichteten Verbanden oder Nachlassen und sonstigen letztwilligen
Verfügungen in Verbindung mit Schenkungen, Vermachtnissen oder Aufiassungen jeder Art, in welchen em oder
mehrere Treuhander in irgend einem Teil der Welt sowohl als auch in Deutschland und österreich besteilt werden,
aufzutreten und als emp fangsberechtig

Zn gelten und Schenkungen, Vermachtnisse oder Auflassungen in Geld oder sonstigen Vermogenswerten anzunehmen,
c. ailes und was immer in den schriftlichen Ausserungen Bahá’u’llah’s; ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s, Shoghi Effendi’s und seiner
ordnungsrnassigen Nachfolger, durch die den Nationalen Geistigen Räten gewisse Spruchrechte, Befug-. nisse und
Gerechtsame gewahrt sind, an verschiedenen Zwechen und Zielen niedergelegt ist,
d. gemeinhin alles zu tun und zu bewirken, was nach Ansicht der benannten Treuhänder d. h. des Nationalen Geistigen
Rates der Bahá’i in Deutsehiand und österreich Zur FOrderung der vollstandigen und erfolgreichen Verwaltung dieser
Treuhandgemeinschaft erforderlich, geeignet und von Vorteil ist.
ARTSKEL III
1. Abs chuilt. Allen Personen, Unternehmungen, Korperschaften und Vereinigungen gegenuber, die den Treuhandern
d. h. dem Nationalen Geistigen Rat und den Mitgliedern desselben in ihrer Eigenschaft als solche Kredit gewahren,
Verträge mit ihnen schliessen oder irgendwelche Ansprüche gegen sie, gleichviel welcher Art, ob rechtlich oder billig,
zu Recht oder zu Unrecht, haben, gilt lediglich das Treuhandvermogen und der Treuhandbesitz als Masse für Zahlung
oder Sicherstellung bezw. für die Begleichung irgendwelcher Schulden, Ersatzansprüche, Auflagen und Bescheide oder
irgendwelcher Beträge, die in sonstiger Weise seitens der Treuhander geschuldet oder zahlbar werden konnten, sodass
weder die Treuhander, noch irgendeiner von ihnen, noch irgendeiner ihrer kraft dieses ernannten Beamten oder
Beatsftragten, noch irgendwelche hierin genannte Berechtigte, sei es einzeln oder gemeinsam, persOnlich dafür haften.
2. Abschnitt. Alle Bescheinigungen, Schuldanerkenntnisse, Antrage, schriftlichen Verpflichtungen und Verträge oder
sonstigen Vereinbarungen und Urkunden, die im Rahmen dieser Treuhandschaft getroffen oder gegeben werden,
werden ausdrucklich

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

vom Nationalen Geistigen Rat als Treuhander durch dessen ordnungsmassig ermachtigte Beamte und Beauftragte
‘ollzogen.
ARTIKEL IV
Die Treuhander, d. h. der Nationale Geistige Rat, nehmen für die Durchfuhrung der ihm in dieser
Treuhandschaftserklarung anvertrauten Obliegenheiten die zur Festlegung und Erledigung der eigenen
Verwaltungsaufgaben wie auch derjenigen der verschiedenen ortlichen und sonstigen Gliederungen, die die Bahá’i in
Deutschland und österreich verkorpern, erforderlichen Sanunger, Bestimmungen und Dienstvorschriften gemäss den
Zwecken dieser Einrichtung und in Ubereinstimmung mit den seitherigen ausdrucklichen, den Bahá’i in Deutschland
und österreich bereits bekannten und von ihnen in der Fuhrung und Handhabung ihrer religiosen Angelegenheiten
ubernommen Weisungen Shoghi Effendi’s, des Huters des Bahá’i-Glaubens, an.
ARTIKEL V
Die Hauptgeschaftsstelle dieser Treu handgemeinschaf

befindet sich an demjenigen Ort, der durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat von Zeit zu Zeit bestimmt wird.
ARTIKEL VI
Das Siegel dieser Treuhandgemeinschaft besitzt runde Form und zeigt folgende Inschrift:
Der Nationale Gel stige Rat tier Bahd’I
in Deuts chianti und Osterreich e. 17.
Treuhandschaftserlziiirung 193 5.
ARTIKEL VII
Diese Treuhandschaftserklarung kann durch absoluten Mehrheitsbeschluss des Nationalen Geistigen Rats der Bahá’i in Deutschland
und österreich in jeder besondern Versammlung, die zu diesem Zwecke ordnungsmassig einberufen worden ist, ergänzt werden,
vorausgesetzt, dass mindestens dreissig Tage vor dem für die Versammlung festgesetzten Zeitpunkt eine Abschrift der
vorgeschlagenen Ergänzung oder Ergänzungen an jedes Ratsmitglied durch den Sekretar mittels eingeschriebenen Briefes versandt
wird.

SATZIJNG DES NATIONALEN GEISTIGEN RATS

ARTIKEL I
Der Nationale Geistige Rat besitzt in Erfüllung seiner geheiligten Pflichten im Rahmen dieses Treuhandverhaltnisses ausschliessliches
Spruch- und Hoheitsreich über alle Veranstaltungen und Angelegenheiten der Bahá’i-Sache in Deutschland und österreich unter
Einschluss der Oberhoheit in bezug auf die Verwaltung dieser Treu— handschaft. Er soll darnach streben, die (nachstehend erlauterte)
Arbeit der ortlichen Geistigen Rate sowie diejenige der einzelnen Bahá’i in Deutschland und Osterreich anzuspornen,
zusammenzufassen und gleichzurichten, und sic in jeder nur möglichen Weise in der Forderung der Einheit der Menschheit
unterstützen. Ihm obliegt die Anerkennung derartiger ortlicher Rate, die Prüfund der ortlichen Mitgliederrollen, die Einberufung der
Jahrestagung oder besonderer Versammlungen und die Einsetzung der Abgeordneten zur Jahrestagung und

ihre ziffernmassige Verteilung auf die verschiedenen Bahá’i-Gemeinden. Er ernennt samtliche nationalen Bahá’i-
Ausschüsse und überwacht die Veroffentlichung und Verteilung vom Bahã’i-Schrifttum, die Uberprüfung aller die
Bahá’i-Sache betreffenden Schriften, den Bau und die Verwaltung des allgemeinen Mashriq’l-Adhkár’s und seiner
Nebeneinrichtungcn und die Erhebung und Verwendung aller Gelder zur Fortführung dieser Treuhandschaft. Er
entscheidet, ob irgendwelche Angelegenheiten dem Bereiche seines eigenen Spruchrechtes oder demjenigen eines
ortlichen Geistigen Rates angehoren. Er nimmt in Fallen, die ihm geeignet und notwendig erscheinen, Berufungen aus
Entscheidungen ortlicher Geistiger Rate an und besitzt das Recht zur endgültigen Entscheidung in allen Fallen, in
denen die Befahigung eines Einzelnen oder einer Gruppe, standig das Wahlrecht auszuuben oder Mitglied der Bahá’i-
Gemeinschaft zu

THE BAHA’! WORLD

scm, in Frage steht. Er vertritt die Bahá’i in Deutschiand und österreich uberail, wo es sich urn die Zusammenarbeit und geistige
Betätigung rnit den Bahá’i anderer Lander handeit, und bildet das alleinige Wahiorgan der Bahâ’i in Deutschland und österreich bei
Schaffung des in den heiligen Schrif ten der Sache vorgesehenen Universalen Hauses der Gerechtigkeit. Vor allem aber soil der
Nationale Geistige Rat stets jene Stufe der Einheit in Ergebenheit, gegenüber der Offenbarung Bahã’u’lláh’s erstreben, die die
Bestätigung des Heiligen Geistes anzieht und den Rat zum Dienste an der Begründung des Grossten Friedens fähig machen wird. Bei
alien semen Beratungen und Handlungen soil der Nationale Geistige Rat als gottiichen Führer und Massstab standig die Ausserung
Bahá’u’lláh’s vor Augen haben:
,,Es geziemt ihnen. (d. h. den Geistigen Räten), die Vertrauten des Barrnherzigen unter den Menschen zu sein und sich für Gottes
auserwahlte Hütter von allem, was auf Erden ist, zu halten. Es obliegt ihnen, rniteinander zu beraten und auf die Be- lange der Diener
Gottes acht zu haben, urn Seiner Selbst willen, wie sie auf die eigenen Belange achten, und das zu wahlen, was geziemend ist und
schicklich.”
ART5KEL II
Die Bahá’i in Deutschland und österreich, zu deren Gunsten diese Treuhandschaft errichtet ist, umfassen alle in Deutschland und
österreich wohnhaften Personen, die vom Nationalen Geistigen Rat als den Erfordernissen zum stirnmberechtigten Mitglied einer
Bahá’i-Gemeinde genügend anerkannt sind. Wer stimmberechtigtes Mitglied einer Bahã’i-Gemeinde werden will, muss
a. in dem Ortsgebiet wohnen, das durch den Rechtsbereich des ortlichen Geistigen Rates gemäss dem zweiten Abschnitt des Artikels
VII dieser Satzung bestimmt ist,
b. das einundzwanzigste Lebensjahr vollender haben,
c. zur Zufriedenheit des ortlichen Geistigen Rates, die zon der Zustimmung durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat abhangt, dargetan
haben, dass er den

folgenden Bahá’i - Glaubensforderungen und -brauehen genügt:
voile Anerkennung der Stufe des Vorlaufers (des Mb), des Begründers (Bahã’u’lláh’s) und ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s, des Erklärers und wahren
Vorbildes des Bahá’i-Glaubens, vorbehaltlose Annahme von allem, was durch ihre Feder geoffenbart ist, und Unterwerfung darunter,
treues und standhaftes Festhalten an alien Teilen des geheiligten Willens ‘Abdu’l-Bahi’s und enge Verbundenheit sowohl mit dem
Geiste als auch mit dr Form der gegenwärtigen Bahá’i-Verwaltung in der Welt.
ARTJKEL III
Der Nationale Geistige Rat besteht aus neun aus dem Kreise der Bahá’i in Deutschland und österreich gewählten Mitgliedern, die von
den genannten Bahã’i in der weiter unten beschriebenen Weise gewahlt werden und für die Dauer eines Jahres oder dis zur WahI ihrer
Naehfolger irn Amte bleiben.
ARTIKEL IV
Die geschaftsführenden Mit glieder des Nationalen Geistigen Rates bestehen aus einem Vorsitzer, stellvertretenden Vorsitzer, Sekretar
und Rechner und was sonst zur geeigneten Führung seiner Geschafte an Amtern für nötig erachtet wird. Die geschäftsführenden
Mitglieder werden mit absoluter Stimmenmehrheit durch samtliche Ratsmitglieder in geheimer Abstimmung gewahlt.
ARTIKEL V
Die erste Versammlung des neugewahlten Nationalen Geistigen Rates wird durch dasjenige Mitglied einberufen, das bei der Wahl die
hoehste Stimmenzahl erhalten hat, oder, soweit Zwei oder mehrere Mitglieder die gleiche Stimmenzahl aufweisen, durch das unter
diesen ausgeloste Mitglied. Dieses Mitglied führt den Vorsitz bis zur Wahl des standigen Vorsitzers. Alle folgenden Sitzungen werden
durch den Sekretar des Rates auf Ersuchen des Vorsitzers oder, bei dessen Abwesenjseit oder Verhinderung des stellvertretenden
Vorsitzers oder dreier beliebiger Ratsmitglieder einberufen, wobei

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

jedoch die Jahrestagung, wie weiterhin lestgelegt, in bezug auf Zeitpunkt und Ort von der Versammlung durch absoluten
Mehrheitsbeschluss lestgelegt wird.
ARTIKEL VI
Der Nationale Geistige Rat ist beschlussfahig, sobald lunf Mitglieder desselben in einer Sitzung anwesend sind, und die durch diese
gel assten, absoluten Mehrheitsbeschiusse gelten, soweit nicht diese Satzung em Anderes bestimmt, in gebuhrendem Hinblick auf den
in der Einrichtung der geistigen Rate enthaltenen Grundsatz der Einheit und aufrichtigen Gemeinschaft als ausreichend zur Fuhrung
der Geschafte. Die Verhandlungen und Entscheidungen des Nationalen Geistigen Rates sind bei jeder Sitzung durch den Sekretar zu
protokollieren, der den Ratsmitgliedern nach jeder Sitzung Abschriften der Protokolle zustellt und die Protokolle unter den offiziellen
Urkunden des Rates aufbewahrt.
ARTIKEL VII
Wo immer in Deutschland und öster— reich, in einer Stadt oder euler landlichen Gemeinde, die Zahi der darin wohnenden, vom
Nationalen Geistigen Rat anerkannten Bahi’i neuen ubersteigt, konnen diese am 21. April eines Jahres zusammenkommen und mit
relativer stimmenmehrheit eine ortliche Verwaltungskorperschaft von neun Personen als Geistigen Rat der betreffenden Gemeinde
wahlen. Jeder soiche Geistige Rat wird darauf alljahrlich an jedem folgenden 21. Tag des Aprils gewahlt. Die Mitglieder bleiben für
die Dauer eines Jahres und his zur Wahl und Benennung ihrer Nachfolger im Amte.
Soweit dagegen die Zahl der Bahá’i in einer Gemeinde genau neun betragt, konnen sich diese am 21. April eines Jahres und in den
nachfolgenden Jahren durch gemeinsame Erklarung zum ortlichen Geistigen Rat ernennen. Durch Benrkundung einer solchen
Erklarung seitens des Sekretars des Nationalen Geistigen Rats gilt der besagte Neunerrat als mit allen Rechten, Vorrechten und
Pffichten eines ortlichen Geistigen Rates, wie sie in dieser Satzung festgelegt sind, eingesetzt.
1. Abs chnitt. Jeder neugewahlte ort lich

Geistige Rat verfahrt sofort gemäss den in den Artikeln IV und V dieser Satzung enthaltenen Anweisungen uber die
Wahl seiner geschaftsfuhrenden Mitglieder, die aus einem Vorsitzer, stellvertretenden Vorsitzer, Sekretar und Rechner
und was der Rat sonst für die FUhrung seiner Geschafte und die Erfullung seiner Geistigen Pflichten an Amtern für
nötig erachten snag, bestehen. Unmittelbar darnach ubermittelt der gewahlte Sekretar dem Sekretar des Nationalen
Geistigen Rates die Namen der Mitglieder des neugewahlten Rates und eine Liste seiner geschaftsfuhrenden
Mitglieder.
2. Abschnitt. Die allgemeinen Befugnisse und Pflichten eines ortlichen Geistigen Rates ergeben sich aus den Schriften
Bahá’u‘lláh’s, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s und Shoghi Effendi’s.
3 Abs chnitt. Unter die besonderen Pflichten eines ortlichen Geistigen Rates fallt das volle Spruchrecht uber alle
Bahâ’iVeranstaltungen und -Angelegenheiten innerhalb der Gemeinde, unbeschadet der hierin erklarten
ausschliesslichen Oberhoheit des Nationalen Geistigen Rates.
4. Abschnitt. Ausscheidende Mitglieder eines ortlichen Geistigen Rates werden auf einer zu diesem Zwecke durch den
Rat ordnungsmassig einberufenen, besonderen Gemeindeversammiung durch Wahi ergänzt. Falls die Zahl der
ausscheidenden Mitglieder hoher als vier ist, sodass die Beschlnssfahigkeit des orlichen Rates entfallt, wird die Wahl
unter der Oberaufsicht des Nationalen Geistigen Rates vorgenommen.
S Abschnitt. Die Geschafte des örtlichen Rates werden in gleicher Weise gefuhrt, wie oben in Artikel VI für die
Verhandlungen des Nationalen Geistigen Rates festgelegt ist.
6. Abs chnitt. Der ortliche Rat uberpruft und anerkennt die Eignung jedes Mitghedes der Bahã’i-Gemeinde vor dessen
Zulassung als wahlberechtigtes Mitglied, doch steht es jedem, der mit dem Befund des ortlichen Geistigen Rates uber
seine Eignung als Bahá’i unzufrieden ist, frei, gegen den Befund beim Nationalen Geistigen Rat Berufung einzulegen,
der den Fall aufgreift und endgültig darüber entscheidet.
7. Abs cb-nitt. Am oder vor dem ersten Tag im Februar jedes Jahres sendet der Sekretar jedes ortlichen Rates dem
Sekretar

THE BAHA’t WORLD

des Nationalen Geistigen Rates eine ordnungsmässig beglaubigte Liste der stimmberechtigten Mitglieder der Bahá’i-
Gemeinde zur Unterrichtung und Gutheissung durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat.
8. Abs cimitt. Alle sich innerhaib einer Bahá’i-Gemeinde ergebenden Angelegenheiten von rein örtlichen Interessen,
die nicht die nationalen Belange der Sache beruhren, unterstehen in erster Instanz dem Spruchrecht des betreffenden
ortlichen Geistigen Rates, doch liegt die Entscheidung daruber, ob in einem Fall durch die Angelegenheit die Belange
und die Wohlfahrt der nationalen Bahá’i-Gemeinschaft beruhrt werden, heirn Nationalen Geistigen Rat.
9. Abschnitt. Jedem Mitglied tuner Bahá’i-Gemeinde steht es frei, gegen eine Entscheidung seines Geistigen Rates
beim Nationalen Geistigen Rat Berufung einzulegen, der daruber befindet, ob er die Sache zur Entscheidung aufgreifen
oder sie beim ortlichen Geistigen Rat zur nochmaligen Erwagung belassen will. Greift der Nationale Geistige Rat die
Sache zur Entscheidung auf, so ist seine Findung endgultig.
10. Abs cimiti. Bestehen innerhalb einer Bahá’i-Gemeinde Meinungsverschiedenheit en, die nicht durch die
Bemuhungen des ortlichen Geistigen Rates beigelegt werden konnen, so ist die Angelegenheit durch den Geistigen Rat
dem Nationalen Geistigen Rate zur Erwagung zu uberweisen, des- sen Vorgehen in der Sache dann endgultig ist.
11. Abschnitt. Alle Streitfragen zwischen zwei oder mehreren ortiichen Geistigen Räten oder zwischen Mitgliedern
verschiedener Bahá’j-Gemeinden sollen in erster Instanz dem Nationaien Geistigen Rate unterbreitet werden, dem bei
alien derartigen Angelegenheiten das erste und letzte Spruchrecht eigen ist.
12. Abschnitt. Der Rechtsbereich der einzelnen ortlichen Geistigen Rate in bezug auf die ortliche Befindung zur
Mitgliedschaft und Wahlberechtigung eines Glaubigen in einer Bahi’i-Gemeinde entspricht der durch die
verwaitungsrechtiichen Grenzen einer Stadt oder einer iandlichen Gemeinde bezeichneten Gemarkung, doch konnen
Bahá’i, die in angrenzenden, abseits liegenden oder vorstadtischen Bezirken

wohnen und regelmässig an den Versammlungen der Bahá’i-Gemeinden teilzunehmen vermögen, bis zur Errichtung
eines ortlichen Geistigen Rates in ihrer Heimatgemeinde in die vom angrenzenden Geistigen Rat gefuhrte
Mitgliederrolle eingeschrieben werden und voiles Wahlrecht geniessen.
Alle Auffassungsverschiedenheiten in bezug auf das Rechtsgebiet eines ortliehen Geistigen Rates oder bezuglich der
Angliederung irgend eines Bahá’i oder einer Gruppe in Deutschland und öesterreich sind dem Nationalen Geistigen Rat
zu unterbreiten, desen Entscheidung in der Sache endgultig

ist.

ARTJKEL VIII

Die Jahresversammlung des Nationalen Geistigen Rates, auf der die Wahl seiner Mitglieder erfolgt, fuhrt die
Bezeichnung Nationaltagung der Bahá’i in Deutschland und österreich. Zeitpunkt und Ort für die Abhaltung bestimmt
der Nationale Geistige Rat, der alle Bahá’i-Gemeinden durch ihre Geistigen Rate sechzig Tage zuvor von der
Versammlung in Kenntnis setzt. Der Nationale Geistige Rat teilt jedem Geistigen Rat gleichzeitig die von ihm der
Bahã’i-Gemeinde gemäss dem Grundsatz der Verhaltnisvertretung zugeteilte Anzahl von Abgeordneten zur
Nationaltagung mit, wobei die Gesamtzahl der Abgeordneten, die die Nationaltagung darstellen, neunzehn betragen
soil. Nach Empfang dieser Benachrichtig_ ung beruft jeder ortliche Geistige Rat innerhalb eines angemessenen
Zeitraumes und unter Beachtung ordnungsmassiger und ausreichender Ankundigung eine Versammlung der in seiner
Rolle verzeichneten stimnsberechtigten Mitglieder zwecks WaLl ihres oder ihrer Abgeordneten zur Nationaltagung em,
worauf die Sekretare der einzelnen ortlichen Geistigen Rate dem Sekretar des Nationalen Geistigen Rates spätestens
dreissig Tage vor dem Zeitpunkt der Tagung die Namen und Anschriften der so gewahlten Abgeordneten bescheinigen.
1. Abschnitt. Alle Tagungsabgeordneten sind mit relativer Stimmenmehrheit zu wahlen. Mitglieder, die durch
Krankheit oder andere unvermeidliche Gründe verhindert sind, an der WaLl personlich teilzunehmen, haben das Recht,
ihre Stimme brieflich oder

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

telegrafiseh in einer Weise abzugeben, die dem ortlichen Geistigen Rat genügt.
2. Abs chnitt. Alle für die Tagung emzusetzenden Abgeordneten müssen als stimmberechtigte Mitglieder der von ihnen
vertretenen Bahá’ i-Gemeinden eingetragen sein.
3. Abscbnitt. Die Rechte und Vorrechte der Abgeordneten konnen weder ubertragen noch abgetreten werden.
4. Abscbnitt. Die Anerkennung und Einsetzung der Abgeordneten zur Nationaltagung erfolgt im Nationalen Geistigen
Rate.
5. Abschnitt. Soweit Abgeordnete nicht personlich an der Tagung teilnehmen konnen, haben sie das Recht, Mitglieder
des Nationalen Geistigen Rates schriftlich oder telegrafisch zu den vom Nationalen Geistigen Rat festzusetzenden
Bedingungen zu wahlen.
6. Abschnitt. Halt der Nationale Geistige Rat in irgend einem Jahre die Zusammenrufung der Abgeordneten zur
Nationaltagung für undurchführbar oder nicht geraten, so setzt der Nationale Geistige Rat die Mittel und Wege für die
briefliche oder telegraflsche Durchführung der Geschäfte der Nationaltagung fest.
7. Abs chnitt. Das auf der Nationaltagung anwesende vorsitzende, geschaftsführende Mitglied des Nationalen Geistigen
Rates ruft die Abgeordneten auf, die darauf zur endgültigen Ordnung der Versammlung schreiten, einen Vorsitzenden,
Schriftführer und was weiter an Amtern für die geeignete Führung der Geschafte der Tagung erforderlich ist, wahlen.
8. Abschnitt. Die Hauptaufgabe der Nationaltagung ist die Wahi der neun Mitglieder zum kommenden Nationalen
Geistigen Rate, die Entgegennahme der Berichte über die flnanzielle und sonstige Tatigkeit des ausscheidenden
Nationalen Geistigen Rates und seiner verschiedenen Ausschüsse und Beratung über die Angelegenheiten der Bahá’i -
Sache im allgemeinen, selbstverständlich in Ubereinstimmung mit den von Shoghi Effendi ausgedrückten Grundsatzen
der Bahâ’i-Verwaltung, wonach alle Betatungen und Handlungen der Abgeordneten zur Nationaltagung ausser der
Wahi der Mitglieder zum kommenden Nationalen
Geistigen Rate nur Ratschlage und Empfehlungen zur Beachtung durch den genannten Rat darstellen, wahrend die
Entscheidung in allen Fragen, die die Angelegenheiten der Bahá’i-Sache in Deutschland und Osterreich betreffen,
ausschliesslich bei dieser Korperschaft liegt.
9. Abschnitt. Die auf der Nationaltagung anzunehmende Geschattsordnung wird durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat
vorbereitet, doch konnen alle auf die Sache bezüglichen Angelegenheiten die von irgend einem Abgeordneten
vorgebracht werden, auf Antrag, über den abzustimmen ist, als Punkt der Tagungsberatungen aufgenommen werden.
10. Abschnitt. Die Wahl der Mitgheder des Nationalen Geistigen Rates erfolgt mit relativer Stimmenmehrheit durch die
vom ausscheidenden Nationalen Geistigen Rat anerkannten Abgeordneten, d. h. als gewahlt gelten diejenigen neun
Personen, die im ersten Wahigang der bei der Tagung anwesenden Abgeordneten sowie derjenigen Abgeordneten,
deren Stimme dem Sekretar des Nationalen Geistigen Rates schriftlich oder telegrafisch übermittelt worden ist, die
grösste Anzahl Stimmen erhalten haben. Falls infolge Stimmengleichheit die volle Mitgliedszahl nicht im ersten
Wahlgang erreicht wmrd, finden em oder mehrere weitere Wahlgange statt, bis samtliche neun Mitglieder gewahlt
smnd.
11. Abs chnitt. Alle bel der Nationaltagung offiziell behandelten Angelegenheiten sind unter die Protokolle des
Nationalen Geistigen Rates aufzunehmen und mit die- sen zu bewahren.
12. Abschnilt. Nach Schluss der Nationaltagung und bis zur Einberufung der nachsten Jahrestagung wirken die
Abgeordneten als zu besonderem Dienste in der Arbeit für die Sache befahigte beratende Körperschaft fort, in jeder
Weise bemüht, zum emnheitlichen Geiste und zu fruchtbringender Tatigkeit des Nationalen Geistigen Rates wahrend
des Jahres beizutragen.
13. Abschnitt. Freigewordene Mitgliedssitze des Nationalen Geistigen Rates werden mit relativer Stimmenmehrheit
seitens der Abgeordneten der Nationaltagung, die den Rat seinerzeit gewahlt haben, neu besetzt, wobei die Wahl in
brieflicher oder irgend

THE BAHA’I WORLD

sonstiger durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat bestimmter Form erfoigt.
ARTIKEL IX
Soweit dem Nationalen Geistigen Rat durch diese Satzung in irgendwelchen, die Tatigkeit und die Angelegenheiten der Bahá’i-Sache
in Deutschland und österreich betreffenden Fragen ausschliessliches und hochstrichterliches Spruchrecht sowie youziehende
Oberhoheit ubertragen ist, gilt dies mit der Weisung, dass alle bezugiich soldier Fragen getroffenen Entscheidungen oder erfolgten
Massnahmen in jedem Falle dem Huter der Sache oder dem Uniyersalen Hause der Gerechtigkeit zur endgultigen Prufung und
Billigung zu unterbreiten sind.
ARTIKEL X
Soweit Aufgaben und Befugnisse durch diese Satzung nicht ausdrucklich den örtlichen Geistigen Räten ubertragen sind, gel- ten sie
als dem Nationalen Geistigen Rate verliehen, wobei dieser K2irperschaft das Recht zur Ubertragung solcher beliebiger Verrichtungen
und Befugnisse zusteht, die zie innerhalb ihres Spruchrechtes als für ortliche Geistige Rate erforderlich und ratsam erachtet.
ARTIKEL XI
Zur Wahrung des geistigen Charakters und Zweckes der Bahá’i-Wahlen soll weder der Brauch der Wahlvorschlage noch irgend em
sonstiges, eine stille und von Gebeten getragene Wail beeintrachtigendes WahIverfahren aufkommen, sodass jeder Wahler fur
niemanden stimmen soil, als wen ibm Gebet und Uberlegung eingegeben haben.
Zu den hervorragendsten und geheiligtsten Pflichten deter, die berufen werden, die Angelegenheiten der Sache als Mitglieder ortlicher
oder nationaier Geistiger Rate aufzugreifen, zu fuhren und gleichzurichten, gehort:

auf jede nur mogliche Weise das Vertrauen und die Zuneigung derer zu gewinnen, denen zu dienen sie das Vorrecht haben; die
Meinungen, vorherrschenden Empflndungen und die personliche Uberzeugung derjenigen, deren Wohlergehen zu fordern ibre
feierliche Pflicht ist, zu erforschen und sich mit ihnen vertraut zu machen; ihre Erwägungen und die ailgemeine Fuhrung ihrer
Angelegenheiten von verschlossener Teilnahmslosigkeit, dem Anschein der Heimlichkeit, dem erstickenden Dunstkreis diktatorjscher
Bestimmungen und von allen Worten und Handlungen zu reinigen, die den Emdruck von Parteilichkeit, Selbstsucht und Vorurteilen
erwecken konnen, und unter Vorbehalt des geheiligten Rechtes endgultiger Entscheidung zur Besprechung emzuladen, Beschwerden
nachzugehen, Ratschlage zu begrussen und das Gefubl der gegenseitigen Abhangigkeit und Mitbeteiligung, des Verstandnisses und
wechseiseitigen Vertrauens unter sich und alien ubrigen Bahá’i zu pflegen.
ARTIKEL XII
Diese Satzung kann vom Nationalen Geistigen Rat in jeder regeimässigen oder besonderen Sitzung mit absoluter Stimmenmehrheit
ergänzt werden, srorausgesetzt, dass mindestens yierzehn Tage vor dem für die betreffende Versammiung festgesetzten Zeitpunkt eine
Abschrift der vorgeschiagenen Erganzung oder Ergänzungen an jedes Ratsmitglied durch den Sekretar mittels Einschreibebriefes
versandt wird.
In alien Fallen, in denen uber den durch den Wortlaut ausgedrückten Sinn dieser Treuhandschaftserldarung und Satzung Unklarheit
besteht, ist der englische Wortlaut der Declaration of Trust and By Laws der Bahá’i der Vereinigten Staaten und Kanadas zu Rate zu
ziehen.
Stuttgart, den 10. Februar 1935.
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 391

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Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the British Isles.

406 THE BAHA’ WORLD
THE COMPANIES ACT, 1929.
AN UNLIMITED COMPANY WITHOUT A SHARE CAPITAL.

THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAEEA’ is OF
THE BRITISH ISLES.

Itcmnranuni
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rtktri of snciatinn,
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720, Salisbury House,
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Articles of Association of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the British Isles.

THE COMPANIES ACT, 1929

AN UNLIMITED COMPANY WITHOUT A SHARE CAPITAL
MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION OF
THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF
THE BAHA’iS OF THE BRITISH ISLES

1. The name of the Company hereinafter called “the National Spiritual Assembly” is
the “NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’iS OF THE BRITISH ISLES.”
2. The registered office of the National Spiritual Assembly will be situate in England.
3. The objects for which the National Spiritual Assembly is established are:—
(1)

Sharing the ideals and assisting the efforts of fellow Bahá’is to establish, uphold and promote the spiritual, educational and
humanitarian teachings of human brotherhood, radiant faith, exalted character and selfless love revealed in the lives and utterances of
all the Prophets and Messengers of God, Founders of the world’s revealed religions, and given renewed creative energy and universal
application to the conditions of this age in the life and utterances of Bahá’u’lláh, to administer the affairs of the faith of Bahá’u’lláh
for the benefit of the Bahi’is of the British Isles according to the principles of Bahã’i affiliation and administration created and
established by Bahã’u’lláh, defined and explained by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and amplified and applied by Shoghi Effendi and his duly
constituted successor and successors under the provision of the Will and Testament of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
(2) To have exclusive jurisdiction and authority over all the activities and
affairs of the Bahã’i Faith throughout the British Isles, including paramount authority in the administration of its affairs. To endeavour
to

stimulate, unify and co-ordinate the manifold activities of the Local Spiritual Assemblies (hereinafter defined) and of individual
Bahá’is in the British Isles and by all possible means assist them to promote the oneness of mankind. To recognise Local Spiritual
Assemblies, to scrutinize local membership rolls, to call the National Convention or special meetings and to seat the delegates to the
National Convention and to apportion them among the various Local Bahá’i Communities. To appoint all National Bahã’i Committees
and supervise the publication and distribution of Bahá’i literature, review all writings pertaining to the BahI’i Faith, construct and
administer the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and its accessory activities, and collect and disburse all fv ads for the carrying on of this work. To
decide whether any matter lies within its own jurisdiction or within the jurisdiction of any Local Spiritual Assembly and in such cases
as it considers suitable and necessary to entertain appeals from the decisions of Local Spiritual Assemblies and shall have the right of
final decision in all cases where the qualification of an individual or group for continued voting rights and membership in the Bahã’i
body is in question. To represent the Bahá’is of the British Isles in all their co-operative and spiritual activities with the Bahá’is of
other lands and constitute the sole electoral body of the British Isles in the formation of the Universal House

THE BAHA’I WORLD

of Justice provided for in the sacred writings of the Bahá’i Faith. Above all to seek to attain that station of unity in devotion to the
revelation of Bahf’u’lláh which will attract the confirmations of the Holy Spirit and enable the National Spiritual Assembly to serve
the founding of the Most Great Peace. In all its deliberation and action the National Spiritual Assembly shall have constantly before it
as divine guide and standard the utterance of Bahá’u’ll ah:—
‘tlt behooveth them (i.e. Spiritual Assemblies) to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to consider themselves as the
guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth.
“It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as
they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly.”
(3) To hold devotional and public meetings and conferences, lectures, exhibitions and classes of an educational, humanitarian and
spiritual character; to establish and carry on schools or colleges; to print, publish and distribute, papers, periodicals, books, circulars,
pamphlets, magazines and newspapers; to construct temples of universal worship and other institutions and edifices for humanitarian
service; to maintain and preserve memorials; to supervise, unify, promote and generally administer the activities of the Bahf’is of the
British Isles in the fulfilment of their religious offices, duties and ideals; and to do anything else appropriate to these ends, or any of
them.
(4) To enter into, make, perform and carry out contracts or arrangements of every sort and kind for the furtherance of the objects of the
National Spiritual Assembly with any person, firm, association, cor poration

private, public or municipal or body politic or any state, territory or colony thereof, or any foreign government and to obtain from any
such body, any rights, privileges and concessions which the National Spiritual Assembly may think it desirable to obtain and in this
connection and in all transactions under the terms of the National Spiritual Assembly to do any and all things which a co-partnership
or natural person could do or exercise, and which now or hereafter may be authorised by law.
(5) To procure the National Spiritual Assembly to be registered or recognised abroad.
(6) To appoint any person or persons, firm or firms, company or companies to be the agent or agents of the National Spiritual
Assembly and to act as agents, managers, secretaries or in similar capacity.
(7) To provide for the welfare of persons who are or have been in the employment of the National Spiritual Assembly; to establish,
provide, maintain and support or to contribute and aid in the establishment, provision, maintenance and support of any insurance fund,
hospitals, dispensaries, libraries, classes, baths, recreation grounds, hotels, coffee houses and other institutions or conveniences and to
grant pensions and gratuities. And to subscribe or guarantee money for charitable, religious, scientific, educational or benevolent
objects and generally for any public or useful object, promote, contribute to or assist financially or otherwise any fund for any
charitable purpose.
(8) Generally to purchase or take on lease or option or in exchange, or hire or otherwise acquire any real or personal property and any
rights or privileges which the National Spiritual Assembly may think necessary or convenient for its purposes and to vest any property
acquired by or on behalf of the National

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

Spiritual Assembly and with or without a declared trust in favour of the National Spiritual Assembly.
(9) To sell, improve, manage, develop, exchange, lease, enfranchise, dispose of, turn to account, or otherwise deal with,
all or any part of the property and rights of the National Spiritual Assembly.
(10) To invest and deal with any of the moneys of the National Spiritual Assembly upon such securities and in such
manner as may be thought fit and from time to time to vary or realize such investments.
(11) To borrow or raise or secure the payment of money in such manner as may be thought fit and to pay off or redeem
such money or securities, provided that no invitation shall be made to the public to subscribe for any debentures or
debenture stock.
(12) To build, maintain, alter, pull down and remove any buildings or works necessary or convenient for the purposes
of the National Spiritual Assembly.
(13) To hold and be named as beneficiary under any trust established by law or otherwise or under any Will or any
other testamentary instrument in connection with any gift, devise or bequest in which a trust or trusts is or are
estabhshed in any part of the world as well as in the British Isles, to receive gifts, devises or bequests in which a trust or
trusts is or are established in any part of the world as well as in the British Isles to receive gifts, devises or bequests of
money or other property.
(14) Generally to do all things and acts which in the judgment of the National Spiritual Assembly are necessary, proper
and advantageous to promote its complete and successful administration and are incidental or conducive to the
attainment of these objects.
(15) To promote any company or companies for the purpose of acquiring all or any of the property, rights and liabilities
of the National Spirit-

ual Assembly or for any other purpose which may seem directly or indirectly to its benefit.
(1 ) To draw, make, accept, indorse, discount, execute and issue promissory notes, bills of exchange, and other
negotiable or transferable instruments.
(17) To undertake and execute any trusts the undertaking whereof may seem desirable.
(18) To adopt such means of making known the objects of the National Spiritual Assembly as may seem expedient and
in particular by advertising in the Press, by circulars, by purchase and exhibition of works of art or interest by
publication of books and periodicals, and by granting prizes, rewards, and donations.
(19) To obtain any provisional order or Act of Parliament for enabling the National Spiritual Assembly to carry any of
its objects into effect, or for effecting any modification of the National Spiritual Assembly’s constitution, or for any
other purpose which may seem expedient, and to oppose any proceedings or applications which may seem calculated
directly or indirectly to prejudice the National Spiritual Assembly’s interests.
(20) If thought fit to obtain any Act of Parliament dissolving the National Spiritual Assembly and re-incorporating its
Members as a new company for any of the objects specified in this Memorandum, or for effecting any other
modification in the National Spiritual Assembly’s constitution.
(21) To take over the whole or any of the assets and liabilities of the unincorporated association known as the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the British Isles.
(22) To pay all or any expenses incurred in connection with the formation, promotion and incorporation of the National
Spiritual Assembly and to remunerate any person, firm or company rendering services to the

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National Spiritual Assembly or any
of them.
(23) To do all or any of the above things
in any part of the world and either
as principals, agents, trustees or
otherwise and either alone or in con junctio with others.
(24) The objects set forth in any subclause of this clause shall not, except
when the context expressly so re quires be in any wise limited or
restricted by reference to or infer enc from the terms of any other
sub-clause or by the name of the
National Spiritual Assembly. None of such sub-clauses or the objects therein specified or the powers thereby conferred
shall be deemed subsidiary or auxiliary merely to the objects mentioned in the first sub- clause of this clause, but the
National Spiritual Assembly shall have full power to exercise all or any of the powers conferred by any part of this
clause in any part of the world and notwithstanding that the business, undertaking, property or acts proposed to be
transacted, acquired, dealt with or performed do not fall within the objects of the first sub- clause of this clause.
4. Provided that the National Spirtual Assembly shall not support with its funds or endeavour to impose on or procure
to be observed by its Members or others any regulation or restriction which if an object of the National Spiritual
Assembly would make it a Trade Union.
5. Provided also that in case the National Spiritual Assembly shall take or hold any property subject to the jurisdiction
of the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales, or Board of Education, the National Spiritual Assembly shall not
sell, mortgage, charge, or lease the same without such authority, approval or consent as may be required by law, and as
regards any such property the National Spiritual Assembly shall be chargeable for such property as may come into its
hands, and shall be answerable and accountable for its own acts, receipts, neglects and defaults, and for the due
administration of such property in the same

manner and to the same extent as it would if no incorporation had been effected, and the incorporation of the National
Spiritual Assembly shall not diminish or impair any control or authority exercisable by the Chancery Division, the
Charity Commissioners or the Board of Education, but shall, as regards any such property, be subject to such control or
authority as if the National Spiritual Assembly were not incorporated. In case the National Spiritual Assembly shall
take or hold any property which may be subject to any trusts, the National Spiritual Assembly shall only deal with the
same in such manner as allowed by law having regard to such trusts.
6. The income and property, whencesoever derived shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the
National Spiritual Assembly as set forth in this Memorandum of Association, and no portion thereof shall be paid,
transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend, bonus, or otherwise howsoever by way of profit, to the Members
of the National Spiritual Assembly. Provided that nothing herein shall prevent the payment in good faith, of
remuneration to any officer or servant, or to any Member of the National Spiritual Assembly in return for any services
actually rendered to the National Spiritual Assembly, nor prevent the payment of interest at a rate not exceeding five
per cent per annum on money lent, or reasonable and proper rent for premises demised or let by any such Member of
the National Spiritual Assembly.
7. If upon the winding up or dissolution of the National Spiritual Assembly there remains, after satisfaction of all its
debts and liabilities any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed among its Members but shall
be given or transferred to some other institution or institutions having similar objects to the objects of the National
Spiritual Assembly, and which shall prohibit the distribution of its or their income and property among its or their
members to an extent at least as great as is imposed on the National Spiritual Assembly under or by virtue of Clause 6
hereof, such institution or institutions to be determined by the Members of the National Spiritual Assembly at or before
the time of the dissolution and in

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

default thereof by a judge of the High Court of Justice having jurisdiction in regard to charitable funds, and if and so far as effect
cannot be given to the aforesaid provision, then to some charitable object.
8. True accounts shall be kept of the sums of money received and expended, and the matter in respect of which such receipt and the
expenditure takes place, and of the property, credits, and liabilities of the National Spiritual Assembly; and, subject to any reasonable
restrictions as to the time and manner of inspecting the same that may be imposed in accordance with the regulations of the National
Spiritual Assembly for the time being, shall be open to the inspection of its Members. Once at least in every year, the accounts shall be
examined and the correctness of the balance-sheet ascertained by one or more properly qualified Auditor or Auditors.
WE, the several persons whose names and addresses are subscribed, are desirous of being formed into a Company, in pursuance of
this Memorandum of Association.
NAMES, AnDRE55E5 AND DESCRIPTIONS
op Sunscpameas
GRACE CHALLIS, “Rizwan,” Broadstone, Dorset, Nursing Sister.
Witness :—WINIFRED WADE, “Rizwan,” Broadstone, Dorset, Nurse.
K. V. BROWN, 14, Frognal Mansions, N.W.3, Widow.
Witness:—MARJ0RIE CLAYTON, 14, Chelsea Gardens, S.W.1, Teacher.
ALFRED SUGAR, 39, Dover Street, Manchester, 8, Clothing Designer, Retired.
Witness :—J0HN B. SUGAR, 39, Dover Street, Manchester, 8, Warehouseman.
CONSTANCE LANGDON-DAVIES, 6, Huxham’s Cross, Dartington, Totnes, Independent.
MARGUERITE WELLEY, 1 24a, St. John’s Wood High Street, N.W.8, Private Secretary.
H. M. BALYUZI, 14, Frognal Mansions, Frognal, N.W.3, Research Student.
DAVID HOFMAN, 34E, Elvaston Place, S.W.7, B.B.C. Announcer.
Witness to the above four signatures:— T. W. DRURY, 720, Salisbury House, London Wall, E.C.2, Solicitor.
ARTHUR NORTON, 41, Cranhourne Rd., Bradford, Company Director.
F. P. WILKINsoN, 20, Southey Place, Bradford, Glass Merchant.
Witness to above two signatures:—DoiiOTHT SMITH, 34, Gwynne Avenue, Bradford Moor, Bradford, Clerk.
Dated the 2nd day of August, 1939.

THE COMPANIES ACT, 1929.
AN UNLIMITED COMPANY WITHOUT A SHARE CAPITAL.
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION OF
THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’IS OF THE BRITISH ISLES

1. In these presents unless there be something in the subject or context inconsistent therewith—
“The National Spiritual Assembly” means
the above-mentioned Company.
“The Members” means the Members for the time being of the National Spiritual Assembly.
“In writing” means written or printed or partly written or printed.

“The Act” means the Companies Act, 1929.
Where any provision of the Act is referred to, the reference is to that provision as modified by any Statute for the time being in force.
Unless the context otherwise requires, expressions defined in the Act or any Statutory modification thereof in force at the date at
which these Regulations

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become binding on the National Spiritual Assembly shall have the meanings so defined.
“Registered office” means the registered office for the time being of the National Spiritual Assembly.
MEMBERS
2. The Bahã’is of the British Isles shall consist of all persons resident in the British Isles who have attained the age of 15 and who
have established to the satisfaction of the National Spiritual Assembly, that he or sbe possess the qualifications of Bahã’i faith and
practice, required under the following standard: Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner (the Bib), the Author (Bahi’u’llih),
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahi, the True Exemplar of the Bahi’i Faith; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed
by Their pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of ‘Abdu’l-Bahi’s sacred will; and close association with the spirit as well
as the form of present day Bahi’i administration throughout the world. Bahi’is must attain the age of 21 before being admitted to
voting membership. In districts where a local Spiritual Assembly has been established these powers shall be exercised by such local
Spiritual Assembly subject to the approval in the case of each member of the National Spiritual Assembly.
3. The Members shall consist of nine persons chosen from among the Bahi’is of the British Isles who have attained the age of 21 and
who shall be elected by such Bahi’is in manner hereinafter provided, and who shall remain Members and continue in office for the
period of one year, or until their successors shall be elected and on failure to be re-elected to the National Spiritual Assembly shall
cease to be Members.
4. The officers of the National Spiritual Assembly shall consist of a Chairman, Vice- Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, and such
other officers as may be found necessary for the proper conduct of its affairs. The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the
Members taken by secret ballot.
MEETINGS

Members shall be called by the Member elected to membership by the highest number of votes or, in case two or more
Members have received the same said highest number of votes, then by the Member selected by lot from among those
Members; and this Member shall preside until the permanent Chairman shall be chosen. All subsequent meetings shall
be called by the Secretary at the request of the Chairman or, in his absence or incapacity, of the Vice-Chairman, or of
any other Member, provided however that the National Convention shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by a
majority vote of the Members as hereinafter provided.
6. A General Meeting shall however be held once at least in every calendar year at such time, not being more than
fifteen months after the holding of the last preceding General Meeting, and at such time and place as may be prescribed
by the Members in General Meeting. Such General Meetings shall be called “Ordinary Meetings” and all other
meetings shall be called “Extraordinary Meetings.” On the requisition of any Member the Secretary shall forthwith
proceed to convene an Extraordinary Meeting. The requisition must state the objects of the meeting and must be signed
by the requisitionist and deposited at the office.
7. Subject to the provisions of Section
117 (2) of the Act relating to Special Resolutions, seven days’ notice at least (exclusive of the day uxs which the notice
is served or deemed to be served, but inclusive of the day for which notice is given) specifying the place, the day, and
the hour of meeting, and in case of special business, the general nature of that business shall be given to all the
Members. The accidental omission to give notice of a meeting to or the non-receipt of a notice of a meeting by, any
Member shall not invalidate the proceedings at any meeting.
8. Five Members present at a meeting shall constitute a quorum and a majority vote of those present and constituting a
quorum shall be sufficient for the conduct of business, except as otherwise provided in these Articles, and with due
regard to the principle of unity and cordial fellowship involved in the institution of a Spiritual Assembly. No business
shall be transacted at

5. The first meeting of newly-elected

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

any General Meeting unless the quorum requisite shall be present at the commencement of the business. The transactions and
decisions of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be recorded at each meeting and copies of the minutes shall be supplied if requested
to the Members after each meeting. The minutes shall be preserved in the official records.
9. If the Chairman or Vice-Chairman shall not be present within ten minutes after the time appointed for holding a meeting or is
unwilling to act, the Members present shall choose one of their number to be Chairman for that meeting.
10. A printed copy of every Special and Extraordinary Resolution and other resolutions mentioned in Section 118 of the Act shall be
sent to the Registrar of Companies as provided by that section.
11. A resolution in writing signed by all the Members shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the
Members duly called and constituted.
12. The seal shall not be affixed to any instrument except by authority of a resolution of the National Spiritual Assembly and one
Member in addition to the Secretary shall sign every instrument to which the seal shall be so affixed.
13. True accounts shall be kept of the sums of money received and expended and the matters in respect of which such receipts and
expenditure takes place and of the assets and liabilities of the National Spiritual Assembly and such accounts shall at all reasonable
times be open for inspection by the Members.
LOCAL SPSJUTUAL ASSEMBLIES
14. Whenever in any district the number of Bahá’is resident therein who have attained the age of 21 and who are recognized by the
National Spiritual Assembly exceeds nine, these may on April 21st of any year convene and elect by plurality vote a local
administrative body of nine members, to be known as the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of that district. Every such Spiritual
Assembly shall be elected annually thereafter upon each successive 21st day of April, and the members thereof shall hold

office for the term of one year or until their successors are elected and qualified.
15. When however the number of such Bahâ’is as aforesaid in any district is exactly nine, these may on April 21st of any year or in
successive years, constitute themselves the local Spiritual Assembly by joint declaration. Upon the recording of such declaration by
the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly the said body of nine shall become established with the rights, privileges and duties
of a local Spiritual Assembly as set forth in these Articles.
16. Each newly elected local Spiritual Assembly shall at once proceed in the manner indicated in Article 4 to the election of its
officers, who shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and such other officers as the local Assembly finds
necessary for the conduct of its business and the fulfillment of its spiritual duties. Immediately thereafter the Secretary chosen shall
transmit to the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly the names of the members of the newly elected local Assembly and a list
of its officers.
17. The general powers and duties of a local Spiritual Assembly shall be as set forth in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’lBahá and
the Guardian for the time being of the Faith.
18. Among its more specific duties a local Spiritual Assembly shall have full jurisdiction of all Bahã’i activities and affairs within its
district, subject, however, to the exclusivc and paramount authority of the National Spiritual Assembly.
19. Vacancies in the membership of a local Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by election at a special meeting of the local Community
duly called for that purpose. In the event of the number of vacancies exceeding four making a quorum of the local Assembly
impossible the election shall be held under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly.
20. The business of the local Assembly shall be conducted in like manner as provided for the deliberations of the National Spiritual
Assembly in Articles 8 and 9.
21. The local Assembly shall pass upon and approve the qualifications of each member of the local Bahá’i community before

THE BAHA’I WORLD
such member shall be admitted to voting membership of that community but where an individual is dissatisfied with the
ruling of the local Spiritual Assembly upon his Bahã’i qualifications, such individual may appeal from the ruling to the
National Spiritual Assembly which shall thereupon take jurisdiction of and finally decide the case.
22. On or before the 1st day of February of each year the Secretary of each local Assembly shall send to the Secretary
of the National Spiritual Assembly a duly certified list of the voting members of the local Bahã’i community for the
information and approval of the National Spiritual Assembly.
23. All matters arising within a local Bahá’i community which are of purely local interest and do not affect the national
interests of the Faith shall be under the primary jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly of that district; but the decision
whether a particular matter involves the interest and welfare of the national Bahã’i body shall rest with the National
Spiritual Assembly.
24. Any member of a local Bahá’i community may appeal from a decision of his Spiritual Assembly to the National
Spiritual Assembly, which shall determine whether it shall take jurisdiction of the matter or leave it to the local
Spiritual Assembly for reconsideration. In the event of the National Spiritual Assembly assuming jurisdiction of the
matter, its finding shall be final.
2 5. Where any dissension exists within a local Bahá’i community of such a character that it cannot be remedied by the
efforts of the local Spiritual Assembly, this condition shall be referred to the National Spiritual Assembly for
consideration whose action in the matter shall be final.
26. All questions arising between two or more local Spiritual Assemblies or between members of different Bahá’i
communities, shall be submitted in the first instance to the National Spiritual Assembly, which shall have original and
final jurisdiction in all such matters.
27. The sphere of jurisdiction of a local Spiritual Assembly, with respect to residential qualifications of membership
and voting rights of a believer in any Bahá’i

Community shall be as delineated by the National Spiritual Assembly but Bahá’is who have attained the age of 21 and who reside in
neighbouring districts and can regularly attend the Meeting of the neighbouring Bahã’i Community may be enrolled on the
membership list of that local Spiritual Assembly and enjoy full voting rights pending the establishment of a local Spiritual Assembly
in their own district.
28. All differences of opinion concerning the sphere of jurisdiction of any local Spiritual Assembly or concerning the affiliation of any
Bahá’i or group of Bah&’is in the British Isles shall be referred to the National Spiritual Assembly, whose decision in the matter shall
be final.
NATIONAL CONVENTION
29. The Annual Meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly at which its Members for the following year shall be elected shall be
known as the National Convention of the Bahã’is of the British Isles and shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by the National
Spiritual Assembly which shall give sixty days’ notice of the Meeting to each local Bahá’i community through its Spiritual Assembly
and to Bahã’is not members of local communities. The National Spiritual Assembly shall at the same time inform each Spiritual
Assembly of the number of delegates to the Convention it has assigned to the local BahI’i community in accordance with the principle
of proportionate representation in such manner that the entire number of delegates composing the National Convention shall be
nineteen. Upon receipt of this notice each local Spiritual Assembly shall, within a convenient period and after giving due and
sufficient notice thereof, call a Meeting of the Voting members on its rolls for the purpose of electing their delegate or delegates to the
National Convention; and, not later than thirty days before the date of the Convention the Secretary of each local Spiritual Assembly
shall certify to the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly the names and addresses of the delegates so elected.
30. All delegates to the Convention shall be elected by plurality vote. Members who for illness or other unavoidable reasons are

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

unable to be present at the election in person shall have the right to transmit their ballots by registered post or telegram
under conditions approved by the local Spiritual Assembly.
31. All delegates to be seated at the Convention must be enrolled as voting members of the Bahá’i community
represented by them.
32. The rights and privileges of a delegate may not be assigned nor may they be exercised by proxy.
33. The recognition and seating of delegates to the National Convention shall be vested in the National Spiritual
Assembly.
34. Delegates unable to be present in person at the Convention shall have the right to vote for members of the National
Spiritual Assembly by registered post or telegram under such conditions as may be indicated by the National Spiritual
Assembly.
35. The Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be present at the National Convention and shall call to order
the delegates who shall then proceed to the permanent organization of the Meeting, electing a Presiding Officer, a
Secretary and such other officers as are necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the Convention.
36. The principal business of the National Convention shall be:
(a) Election for one year of the nine Members of the National Spiritual Assembly;
(b) Consideration of a statement of the receipts and payments received and made during the preceding year together
with a statement of the assets and liabilities made up to a date not more than six weeks before the Convention and
signed by the Treasurer. together with a report as to the state and condition of the National Spiritual Assembly and its
various committees signed by the Secretary;
(c) Deliberation of the affairs of the Bahá’i Faith in general, it being understood however, in

accordance with the principles of Bahá’i administration outlined by ‘Abdu’l—Bahã and Bahã’u’lláh and defined by the
Guardian that all deliberation and action of the delegates at the National Convention, other than the election of the
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly, shall constitute merely advice and recommendation for consideration by
the National Spiritual Assembly, final decision on all matters concerning the affairs of the Bahá’i Faith in the British
Isles being vested solely in that body; and
(d) Appointment of an auditor or auditors to hold office until the next National Convention and their appointment,
remuneration, rights and duties shall be regulated by Sections 132 to 134 of the Act.
37. Once in every year as immediately prior to the National Convention as is reasonably practicable the accounts shall
be examined and their correctness ascertained by the auditor or auditors appointed as hereinbefore mentioned.
38. The general order of business to be taken up at the National Convention shall be prepared by the National Spiritual
Assembly, but any and all matters pertaining to the Faith introduced by any of the delegates may upon motion and vote
be taken up as part of the deliberations of the Convention.
39. The election of the Members of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be by plurality vote of the delegates
recognized by the National Spiritual Assembly, i.e., the Members elected shall be the nine persons receiving the
greatest number of votes on the first ballot cast by delegates present at the Convention and delegates whose ballots
have been transmitted to the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly by registered post or telegram. In case by
reason of a tie vote or votes the full membership is not determined on the first ballot, then one or more additional
ballots shall be taken

THE BAHA’I WORLD

concerning those tying until all nine Membets are elected.
40. All official business transacted at the National Convention shall be recorded and preserved in the records of the National Spiritual
Assembly.
41. A Member may at any time by notice in writing to the National Spiritual Assembly relinquish his membership and thereupon his
name shall be removed from the register of Members.
42. Vacancies in the membership of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by a plurality vote as aforesaid of the delegates
composing the Convention which elected the Members the ballot to be taken by correspondence or in any other manner decided upon
by the National Spiritual Assembly.
APPORTIONMuNT OF POWERS
43. Where the National Spiritual Assembly has been given in these Articles exclusive and final jurisdiction, and paramount executive
authority, in all matters pertaining to the activity and affairs of the Bahã”i Faith in the British Isles, any decision made or action taken
upon such matters shall be subject to ultimate review and approval by the Guardian for the time being of the Faith or the Universal
House of Justice.
44. Whatever functions and powers are not specifically attributed to Local Spiritual Assemblies in these Articles shall be considered
vested in the National Spiritual Assembly, which body is authorised to delegate such discretionary functions, and powers as it seems
necessary and advisable to the local Spiritual Assemblies within its jurisdiction.
45. In order to preserve the spiritual character and purpose of Bahá’i elections, the practice of nominations or any other electoral
method detrimental to a silent and prayerful election shall not prevail, so that such elector may vote for none but those whom prayer
and reflection have inspired him or her to uphold.
46. Among the most outstanding and sacred duties incumbent upon those who have been called upon to initiate, direct and co-ordinate
the affairs of the Faith as

members of local Spiritual Assemblies or the National Spiritual Assembly are:— To win by every means in their power
the confidence and affection of those whom it is their privilege to serve; to investigate and acquaint themselves with the
considered views, the prevailing sentiments and the personal convictions of those whose welfare it is their solemn
obligation to promote, to purge their deliberations and the general conduct of their affairs of self-contained aloofness,
the suspicion of secrecy, the stifling atmosphere of dictatorial assertiveness and of every word and deed that may
savour of partiality, self-centredness and prejudice; and while retaining the sacred right of final decision in their hands,
to invite discussion, ventilate grievances, welcome advice, and foster the sense of interdependence and co-partnership,
of understanding and mutual confidence between themselves and all other Bahi’is.
47. These Articles may be amended by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the Members at any of its ordinary or
extraordinary meetings, provided that at least twenty-one days prior to the date fixed for the said meeting a copy of the
proposed amendment or amendments is or are sent by registered post to each Member by the Secretary.
NoTicEs
48. A notice may be served by the National Spiritual Assembly upon any Member, either personally or by sending it
through the post in a prepaid letter envelope or wrapper addressed to such Member at his registered place of address.
49. Every Member whose registered place of address is not in the United Kingdom may from time to time notify in
writing to the National Spiritual Assembly an address in the United Kingdom which shall be deemed his registered
place of address within the meaning of the last preceding clause.
50. As regards those Members who have no registered place of address in the United Kingdom a notice posted up in the
registered office shall be deemed to be well served on them at the expiration of 24 hours after it is so posted up.
51. The subscribers to the Memorandum

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

of Association of the National Spiritual Assembly and such other persons as shall be elected Members in place of any one or more of
them in accordance with Articles 36, 39 and 42 shall be Members until the next election of Members at the Annual Meeting and
Convention.
52. For the purpose of registration the number of Members shall be taken to be nine.
53. The common seal shall be deposited at the registered office.
NAMES, ADDRESSES AND DESCRIPTIONS
OF SUBSCRSBERS
GRACE CHALLIS, “Rizwan,” Broadstone, Dorset, Nursing Sister.
Witness :—WINIFRED WADE, “Rizwan,” Broadstone, Dorset, Nurse.
K. V. BROWN, 14, Frognal Mansions, N.W.3, Widow.
Witness :—MARJORIE CLAYTON, 14, Chelsea Gardens, S.W. 1, Teacher.
ALFRED SUGAR, 39, Dover Street, Manches ter

8, Clothing Designer, Retired.
Witness :—JOHN B. SUGAR, 39, Dover Street,
Manchester, 8, Warehouseman.
CONSTANCE LANGDON-DAVIE5, 6, Huxham’s Cross, Dartington, Totnes, Independent.
MARGUERITE WELLEY, 1 24a, St. John’s Wood High Street, N.W. 8, Private Secretary.
H. M. BALYUZI, 14, Frognal Mansions, Frognal, N.W. 3, Research Student.
DAVID HOFMAN, 34n, Elvaston Place, S.W.7,
B.B.C. Announcer.
Witness to the above four signatures:—
T. W. DRURY, 720, Salisbury House, London Wall, E.C.2, Solicitor.
ARTHUR NORTON, 41, Cranbourne Rd., Bradford, Company Director.
F. P. WILKINSON, 20, Southey Place, Bradford, Glass Merchant.
Witness to above two signatures :—D0R- OTHY SMITH, 34, Gwynne Avenue, Bradford Moor, Bradford, Clerk.
Dated the 2nd day of August, 1939.

418 THE BAHA’ WORLD
THE COMPANIES ACT, 1929.
+
An Unlimited Company without a Share
Capital
THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’ is
OF THE BRITISH ISLES.
Umuraurnm
AND rtkki tif søciafinu.
— —

J. HAMPSON Fo, 720, Salisbury House,
London Wall, E.C.2.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

S4 4
J3 Ci O(A- SA____________

Q a C& __

Qc’A O%rf%cS Q 4 _____

Awc\’ cWL(OW c
A2JJ% wS ________________

c
ie1ctou ,f tist 3vs o
RSS4*jot t 5øi
ZL

cS4a
Cc v
CO 6 o 3’3
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of
Australia and New Zealand.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

BY-LAWS OF THE SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’tS OF THE CITY
OF NEW YORK1
ARTICLE I
The Bahã’is of the City of New York adopt this Corporation in order to supply proper legal status to the conduct of the affairs of a
religious community which has had continuous existence for more than thirty years, being one of the first two local Bahá’i
communities established in North America. During this period the community has been recognized, encouraged and instructed in
letters and communications addressed to it by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, who in one communication designated New York “The City of the
Covenant.” It was in this city that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá devoted the larger portion of His American visit in 1912. The Assembly has been
recognized since the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in letters addressed to it by the Guardian of the Bahá’i Faith. The New York Bahá’i
community has been continuously and uninterruptedly represented by delegates in the Annual Meetings held by the recognized
national Bahã’i body of North America since the formation of that body in 1909. The Spiritual Assembly is at present enrolled in the
list of Local Spiritual Assemblies recognized by the National Spiritual Assembly.
The Trustees, i.e., the Spiritual Assembly, recognized that this action has been taken in full unanimity and agreement. They
acknowledge for themselves and on behalf of their successors the sacred meaning and universal purpose of the Bahá’i Faith, the
teachings and principles of which fulfill the Divine promise of all former revealed religions.
ARTICLE II
In administering the affairs of the Bahá’i Religion under this Corporation for the benefit of the Bahá’is of the City of New York in
accordance with the religious teachings and administrative principles of this Faith, the Spiritual Assembly shall act in conformity with
the functions of a Local Spiritual Assembly as defined in the By-Laws adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly and published by
that body for the informa tio

and guidance of Bahá’is throughout the United States and Canada.
ARTICLE III
The Spiritual Assembly, in the fulfillment of its obligations and responsibilities under this Corporation, shall have exclusive
jurisdiction and authority over all the local activities and affairs of the Bahá’i community of the City of New York, including
paramount authority in the administration of this Corporation. It shall be responsible for maintaining the integrity and accuracy of all
Bahá’i teaching, whether written or oral, undertaken throughout the local community. It shall make available the published literature
of the Faith. It shall represent the community in its relation to the National Spiritual Assembly, in its relation to the Guardian of the
Bahá’i Faith, to other local Bahá’l communities, and to the general public in the City of New York. It shall be charged with the
recognition of all applicants requesting membership in the local Bahá’i community. It shall pass upon the right of any and all members
of the community whose membership is in question to retain their status as voting members of the community. It shall call the
meetings of the community, including the Bahá’i Anniversaries and Feasts, the meetings of consultation, the Annual Meeting and the
meeting for the election of delegates to the Annual Meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly. It shall appoint and supervise all
committees of the Bahá’i community. It shall collect and disburse all funds intended for the maintenance of this Corporation. It shall
have full and complete custody of the headquarters or meeting place of the Bahá’i community. It shall report to the National Spiritual
Assembly annually, or when requested, the membership roll of the Bahá’i community, for the information and approval of the national
Bahá’i body. The Spiritual Assembly, however, shall recognize

1 The pattern for all local Bahá’i constitudons.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

the authority and right of the National Spiritual Assembly to declare at any time what activities and affairs of the Bahá’i community of
the City of New York are national in scope and hence subject to the jurisdiction of the national Bahá’i body. It shall likewise
recognize the right of any member of the community to appeal to the National Spiritual Assembly for review and decision of any
matter in which the previous decision of the local Spiritual Assembly is felt by the member to be contrary to the explicit teachings of
the Bahã’i Faith or opposed to its best interests. It shall, on the other hand, have the authority and right to appeal from the decision of
the National Assembly to the Guardian of the Bahá’i Faith for review and final decision of any matter related to the Faith in the City
of New York.
ARTXCLE IV
The Spiritual Assembly, in administering this Corporation, shall ever bear in mind the ideals upheld in the Sacred Writings of the
Bahá’i Faith respecting the relationships of a Spiritual Assembly to its Bahá’i community, respecting the relations of Bahá’is to one
another in the community, and the relationships of Bahá’is to all non-Bahá’is, without prejudice of race, creed, class or nationality.
The Assembly shall therefore above all recognize its sacred duty to maintain full and complete unity throughout the Bahá’i
community, to relieve and comfort the sick and distressed, to assist the poor and destitute, to protect the orphans, the crippled and the
aged, to educate the children of Bahá’is according to the highest religious and intellectual standards, to compose differences and
disagreements among members of the community, to promulgate the principles of Divine Civilization revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, and to
promote in every way possible the Bahá’i aim of the oneness of mankind. It shall faithfully and devotedly uphold the general Bahá’i
activities and affairs initiated and sustained by the National Spiritual Assembly. It shall cooperate wholeheartedly with other local
Spiritual Assemblies throughout North America in all matters declared by the National Spiritual Assembly to be of general

Bahá’i importance and concern. It shall rigorously abstain from any action or influence, direct or indirect, that savors of
intervention on the part of a Bahá’i body in matters of public politics and civil jurisdiction. It shall encourage
intercourse between the Bahi’i community of the City of New York and other recognized BahI’i communities, issuing
letters of introduction to Bahá’is traveling from New York and passing upon letters of introduction issued by other
Bahá’i Assemblies. It shall regard its authority as a means of rendering service to Bahã’is and non-Bahã’is and not as a
source of arbitrary power. While retaining the sacred right of final decision in all matters pertaining to the Bahá’i
community, the Spiritual Assembly shall ever seek the advice and consultation of all members of the community, keep
the community informed of all its affairs, and invite full and free discussion on the part of the community of all matters
affecting the Faith.
ARTJCLE V
The Bahá’is of the City of New York, for whose benefit this Corporation has been established, shall consist of all
persons resident in the City of New York who are recognized by the Spiritual Assembly as having fulfilled the
requirements of voting membership in this local Bahá’i community. To become a voting member of this Bahá’i
community a person shall:
a. Be a resident of the City of New York as defined by the area of jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly, as provided
hereinafter in this instrument.
b. Have attained the age of 21 years.
c. Have established to the satisfaction of the Spiritual Assembly, subject to the approval of the National Spiritual
Assembly, that he (or she) possesses the qualifications of Bahá’i Faith and practice required under the following
standard: Full recognition of the Station of the Forerunner (the Báb), the Author (Bahi’u’lláh), and ‘Abdu’lBahá, the
Exemplar of the Bahá’i religion; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by Them;
loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sacred ‘Will and Testament; and close association with
the spirit as

THE BAHA’I WORLD
well as the form of Bahá’i administration throughout the world.
ARTICLE VI
The Spiritual Assembly shall consist of nine Trustees chosen from among the Bahá’is of the City of New York, who shall be elected
by these Bahá’is in a manner hereinafter provided and who shall continue in office for the period of one year, or until their successors
shall be elected.
ARTICLE VII
The officers of the Spiritual Assembly shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, and such other officers as
may be found necessary for the proper conduct of its affairs. The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the entire membership
of the Assembly taken by secret ballot.
ARTICLE VIII
The first meeting of a newly-elected Assembly shall be called by the member elected to membership by the highest number of votes,
or, in case two or more members have received the same said highest number of votes, then by the member selected by lot from
among those members; and this member shall preside until the permanent Chairman shall be chosen. All subsequent meetings shall be
called by the Secretary of the Assembly at the request of the Chairman, or, in his absence or incapacity, of the Vice- Chairman, or of
any three members of the Assembly; provided however that the Annual Meeting of the Assembly shall be held on April 2 1st, in
accordance with the administrative principles recognized by all Bahá’i Assemblies.
Section 1. Five members of the Assembly present at a meeting shall constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of those present and
constituting a quorum shall be sufficient for the conduct of business, except as otherwise provided in these By-Laws, and with due
regard to the principles of unity and cordial fellowship involved in the institution of a Spiritual Assembly. The transactions and
decisions of the Assembly shall be recorded at each meeting by the Secretary, who shall have the minutes adopted

and approved by the Assembly, and preserve them in the official records of the Assembly.
Section 2. Vacancies in the membership of the Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by election at a special meeting of the local Bahã’i
community duly called for that purpose by the Assembly. In the event that the number of vacancies exceeds four, making a quorum of
the Spiritual Assembly impossible, the election shall be under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly.
ARTICLE IX
The sphere of jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly, with respect to residential qualification of membership, and voting rights of a
believer in the Bahá’i community, shall be the locality included within the civil hmits of the City of New York, but Bahá’is, who
reside in adjacent, outlying or suburban districts and can regularly attend the meetings of the local Bahá’i community, may be enrolled
on the membership list of the Spiritual Assembly and enjoy full voting rights pending the establishment of a local Spiritual Assembly
in their home community.
ARTICLE X
Section 1. In the event that any decision of the Assembly is unacceptable to any member or members of the community, the
Assembly shall after endeavoring to compose the differences of opinion invite the said member or members to make appeal to the
national Bahá’i body and notify that body of the condition of the matter and the readiness of the Assembly to become party to the
appeal.
Section 2. In the same manner, if any difference arises between the Assembly and another local Assembly, or Assemblies, in North
America, the Assembly shall report the matter to the national Bahá’i body and inform that body of its readiness to make joint appeal
together with the other Assembly or Assemblies.
Section 3. If, however, the result of such appeal is unsatisfactory to the Spiritual Assembly or the Assembly at any time has reason to
believe that actions of the National Spiritual Assembly are affecting adversely the welfare and unity of the Bahá’i community of the
City of New York, it shall, after seeking to compose its difference of

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

opinion with the national body in direct consultation, have the right to make appeal to the Guardian of the Faith.
Section 4. The Assembly shall likewise have the right to make complaint to the National Spiritual Assembly in the event that matters
of local Bahã’i concern and influence are referred to the national body by a member or members of the local community without
previous opportunity for action by the local Assembly.
ARTICLE XI
The Annual Meeting of the Corporation at which its Trustees shall be elected shall be held on April 21 at an hour and place to be fixed
by the Assembly, which shall give not less than fifteen days’ notice of the meeting to all members of the local Bahá’i community.
Section 1. The Assembly shall accept those votes transmitted to the Assembly before the election by members who by reason of
sickness or other unavoidable reason are unable to be present at the election in person.
Section 2. The election of members to the Spiritual Assembly shall be by plurality vote.
Section 3. All voting members of the local Bahá’i community are eligible for election as members of the Spiritual Assembly.
Section 4. The Assembly shall prepare an agenda for the Annual Meeting in which shall be included reports of the activities of the
Assembly since its election, a financial statement showing all income and expenditure of its fund, reports of its committees and
presentation of any other matters pertaining to the affairs of the Bahã’i community. The Assembly, both preceding and following the
annual election, shall invite discussion and welcome suggestions from the community, in order that its plans may reflect the
community mind and heart.
Section 1. The result of the election shall be reported by the Spiritual Assembly to the National Assembly.
ARTICLE XII
In addition to the Annual Meeting, the Assembly shall arrange for regular meetings of the Bahã’i community throughout the year at
intervals of nineteen days, in ac cordanc

with the calendar incorporated in the teachings of the Bahá’i Faith.
ARTICLE XIII
The Spiritual Assembly, on notice from the National Spiritual Assembly, shall report the number of voting members in the local
community, that the national Bahâ’i body may be duly informed of the number of delegates to be assigned to the Bahâ’i community of
the City of New York in accordance with the principle of proportionate representation controlling the annual election of members to
the National Spiritual Assembly.
Section 1. When informed of the number of delegates assigned to the local community, the Spiritual Assembly shall call a special
meeting of the community for the purpose of electing said number of delegates to represent the community at the Annual Meeting of
the National Spiritual Assembly.
Section 2. The election of delegates to the Annual Meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be by plurality vote.
Section 3. All voting members of the local Bahá’i community are eligible for election as delegates to the Annual Meeting of the
National Assembly.
Section 4. The result of the election shall be reported by the Spiritual Assembly to the National Spiritual Assembly, and the Spiritual
Assembly shall meet all the conditions laid down by the national Bahá’i body for the recognition of local Spiritual Assemblies and the
participation of local Bahâ’i communities in the annual election of the national Bahâ’i body.
ARTICLE XIV
The seal of this Corporation shall be circular in form, bearing the following description: The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the
City of New York, Corporate Seal.
ARTICLE XV
These By-Laws may be amended by majority vote of the Spiritual Assembly at any of its regular or special meetings, provided that at
least fourteen days prior to the date fixed for the said meeting a copy of the proposed amendment or amendments is mailed to each
member of the Assembly by the Secretary.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Iiuwuj flhlrpf, The rent Seal of the State is euccto affixed.
wcu 000 cnozuan

UNITED STPrES QF AMERICA STAlE OF NEW YOkK

BY

EDWARD J. FLYNN
Secretary of State and Custodian of the Great Seal tflsereoj,

t bi 1,rfb rWb, ThaIisgi
Clerk of the County said State, and Clerk of the 5reme Court therein being a Court of Record, an the day of the date of the annexed
and duh authøritd to grant the same; that tht same is in due form and exe d by the proper officer; that the seal affixed to said
certificate ic the seal of said County Court; that the ngnature thereto of said deck is m his proper handwriting, and it
and that full faith and credit may and ought to be given to his official arts.

I
my hand at the Ii4 of Aban9 ,4 floceb

hundred nd ti

Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of New York.
pict96.jpg

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

Certificate

)? 7220 H

STATE OF NEW YORK
99.
COUNTY OF NEW.YORK

I, ALBERT MARINELLI, Clerk of the County of New York and also Clerk of the Supreme Court in and for said county,
DO HEREBY CERTIFY, that I have compared the within photographic copy
the original

and I do further certify, that such photographic copy it a correct transcript of such record and of the whole of said original.
In WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand a5d
the seal oØ,id court yfd county at 9re City of New York, this
day of Et....1’ .. 993G.

Clerk of the Counts of New York cud Clerk of the Supreme Court.
The fee charged for tjils Copy was Cooosy Clerk.

:z. %
pict97.jpg

426 THE BAHA’I WORLD
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
THE SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BABA’ IS
OF THE CITY OF MEL YORK
Pursuant to Section 193 of the Religious
Corporation Law of the State of New York
We, the undersigned, an being of full age, and citizens of the United States, and residents of the State of New York,
desiring to form a corporation pursuant to Section 193 of the Religious Corporation Law of the State of New York, do
hereby make, sign, and acknowledge this certificate as follows:
FIRST: The purpose end objects for which the corporation is formed are to administer the affairs of the Beta’ i Religion
for the benefit of the Bats’ is of the City of New York in accordance with the religious teachings and administrative
principles of this Faith.
SECOND: The name of the corporation is to be “The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the City of
New York.”
THIRD: The territory in which its activities are principally to be conducte( is New
York City and vicinity.
FOURTH: The prmncipal place of worship is to be located in the City of New York,
County of New York, State of New York.
FIFTH: The number of trustees is to be nine.
SIXTH: The nemes and places of residence of the persons to be trustees
until the first annual meeting are as follows:
PLACE OF RESIDENCE
Ophelia Crust 101 West 55th Street, New York City
Horace Hoiley 125 East 10th Street, New York City
Bertha Herklotz 1810 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Hooper Harris 162 West 13th Street, New York City
Julia Threlkeld 101 West 55th Street, New York City
.Lotlie A. Mathews 430 East 57th Street, New York City
Marie B. Moore 41 Convent Avenue, New York City
Marion Little 465 Park Avenue, New “ork Citj
Edward B. Kinney 204 West 55th Street, New York City
SEVENTH: The time for holding its annual meeting is to be on the twenty—first day of April in each year.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 427
The first meeting was held on March 30,1952, at Baha’i Center, il9 West 57th Street, New York City.
IN WITNESS WEEREOF, We have made, signed and acknowledged this certificate iii triplicate. Dated
this thirty—first day of March,1932.

Before me on this thirty—first day of March,l932, personally appeared Horace Holley, Ophe1i Crum, and
Bertha Herklotz, who being by me severally sworn did acknowledge that they had executed the written
certificate of
COMMISSIONER OF DEEDS.
NEW YORK CITY
N0 York Co. CIek’. No, SO
New Yo,k Co. Rgir’. No 20S4
Comm..ion topi.o Feb 2, 1934

-&Q
Presi ng Off ir 7fl2L

-

428 THE BAHA’ WORLD
INC.
4201
CERTIFICALFORATION
THE SPUITUAI. ASSEMBLY OF THE BAWlS
OF TUE CITY OF NEW YORK
FEE PAID $___________
Date MAR31 1932
County
A.LNAOO è1OA M3N
I31 A.LNflOD
00 : Hd - - èJVN 61
QOeJO33 0391.d
cRTIrIDpy ISSUED
Fee p
Count Clerk, N. ‘f. Co
BY

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 429
NEW SOUTH WALES.
t
Te Companies Ai3
SLtt 8)
(d

0) that the said Company s lzmed by gnte
i)tB under my hand, at Sydtthy, this
day of one thousand nine hundred
and thzrty -

? L. E
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of the City of Sydney, Australia.

No,283&5

tu$t to Cj—
(i) thi u . or

is mcorporotëd wider 4se Companies Act, 1936.
(2) that the dqrc of jucorparation of the said Company is
the day of ocn one thousand
nine hundred and thirty

pict98.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

‘r- —

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Vancouver, B. C.

a

pict99.jpg
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 431

o r:o ccccn q:copo±b:p ttp1ccw
SOCIETIES ACT
:
2517 P

Jrtffiratr uf JururpøratWn
31 1pribg trttfg that
17TIII CORPORATION 0? TR13 SPIRITUAL ASLY 0? T A!A’IS OF TIlE i cir or VANCouVER”
ha this dde, betn incorporated a a Sociely under the Societies Act
Th loiialy in whn.h the operatwns of the Society will be chiefly earned on j Vaic ourer ProLince of British Columbia
GlVENuridormy band ancSeaI pf Office at P.ctorki. &oviceof
British Columbia thi —25t day
of one thousand nine hund1ed
and thty’ine.
+ / 44 REQ COQPAN5 )i
—

Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the City of Vancouver.
432 THE BAHA’! WORLD
- CLXVi J3T (2 Tb. S

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a, te todersiwnea, hereby decinro that we
4aire in inn a ecitty uflber toe ‘octettee hats, o’u tint:
3-, The hsee of tbø Society shl1 be the Carp otdttn of the tirttiei Jsembjy of the inhS’isof
The object of the insiety sai be to arniie
tsr the effaty of L 2n’t feith for tin benefit of ttieB 5jg of the Cit1 at Vance tnt in aoc-rdaoce with
rolt tone teaehtnre to tdttojetratiye ttceipini oftbisfoith,
The aperatioi of the ooietyare to be chiefly
earrtd onto the City of Vancouver, rv1oae of onitQfl
Golacibta. -

b TTLt this day :, :,i, it th City of Vancouver, in the brevina, of british Colnabje
WW/d1 #WS- -

: 4rta—4 i-adrf(
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I oeo”hy reTttiy thot o duponote en$lnaJ - $- kcc 0
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f’ol stu ott W ,SOCIeLIACt,. 1’10ct4
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THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 433 -
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feed C poroiron Art of Ohio, tie heed,y menu
,EL The remote of .dd rHino sholl
The piece ho liii. Sr whCeo tire hopel riSe of the ronperetino it Ito ha Iterated co- —
— him,ina±4 ,— ,.. *
Th, Tie popo.r an Foam lea rebirth mid peection in fotmod near
TitO f fmrtrmrtinC hr oized for roilgiomor pmormoor 011th ilto 1n iortlef business onO objtets
oh 0,’ m’rtmtm Ott tic Oenrtttim,gs mtr hon ,jgim mtbd It) tomb_ti $tO0 ltd uffaix’s in rmiteana
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‘m mi tt pinto or pit sac mop oemrnl,io trod orhlo.
,R1’L The fall lun perotozem shell nerve eomd eprt.tirmrt. caine. cold tire firsi anneal maeits or allan m..lleg nailed or elmtet tecoimo,
luu,hml,tm ittmuuorr ,mmi4O tpoorth ortO., bietuli, OhIO
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En—coo tuo-tatr Of ‘to 0000 ,omc,, OreOrti, Oils
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iimfftof, ‘, ‘Onto t,liood 0, riottn 40Cc, porn hook, Sidle
duttogmttmt 1,013 looldgo ,too, itmuOtrU, Ohio
it, tro 4110,1 biJ,s,to One, Cl,rrtiinttoti, Ololmo
lurnuoma burgost 4013 Colemoitipo moore. hilontiti, CitriC
lotmo, ti,,c sittlot 24th 1 opno Laaott, uhosti, Clots
rNwmmbp?WI-fElGEOT, oVa hays ltrreorrmo smolm.r,,hrml oar nwnco, thin,,, ___ti.p oL_L,,,,, ii ff20111 11
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ThLO 2PECmo3O VI2OIIIILmo TOTEGE
101017 101113! 4USOIN
1105310P10,41’0R13.
THE STATE 01’ uHlO, OOUNJY OF Eh100N ,.. .,..,,
Prmeatr,rlly appoowod bylom m time nrlmmvnipocd, o Nmtroey I’,rhlis, in nod fore *aid roonnrii tinia,,, TOiL, day çd
Iit1,ff’co’ rgsnt Gplo’udo 2pluogtoot, lhao’y Ltmtrt n,
odom ch veoslly ne ooIaJermf the aiennhsn of zirto fonrsahr rtmt,o’mts of krtt’Oapmoatnofl to ho lot free riot mmd deed, lam the tries sod potponea therein toenniamoed,
‘01 liNES’S op hoed ott,l mt m of ceol ore the doy nod pear err olnoenaid,
SiudOl 4100111
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ititt’ttltuHItJ °‘ I of lh State of Gino.
do hersimy tomnify rIot time lovr’ytmiof a ott eaerrmplfflrtl copy, rsr’rfctlly compared by mo with he tirtOnol rrmromd flow’ in tsp othrmitf nosrotly tee 5treerten’ rd Stole, end fonnorl to Ire terre flJ
correct cr1 the Articles of locorporot,on of
11Nu oPOnEOUtI, tiollOOfLy OF ill’S idui010’T,S <IF IIhfEhNNrfI OHIO
hlrml io nh’S oSice no the. , EGIi , day oI,_ NOm5teO I9J asa ,erprded in V,dtrtce, ASS ‘ , Pore,, S’ , of the Rersa,in of locoapowiioa.,
WITOESS my lined anal offlefel anal at

Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Cincinnati, Ohio.

434 THE BAHA’I WORLD

I

I
F
the Bahá’is of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’Is of San Francisco, California.
/‘

Statt Ø’4t’4Efornia
-
4,

iepattmiuf of %tatt

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 435

PRANK CJORDAN SECRETARY Cr SYA5E

I, FRANK C JORDAN, Secretary of State of the State of Qali/orola, do hereby certify that 1 have caref RifT compared the
tranc rUst4 to which this certificate is attached, i-c i/h the record on file in ,iry office of which it urfrorts to be a copy, and that the
same is a full, true and correct copy thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, 1 have hereunto set m-y hand anl have caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed hereto
5th aavor ‘ 1Q3$.
this. --

--

¶4. -

Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of San Francisco, California.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

KNOW ALL WN BY THESE PRESENTS:
That the nmbers of The Spiritual Assembly of the Bah1ia San Franc iaco, California, an unincorporated association, have day
voluntarily associated ourselves tog.thir, for the purpos. of forming a corporation under the laws of the State of California.
AND WE DO HEREBY CERTIFY
First: That the nam• of this corporation is — CTHE SPIR ITTJAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHAS OF SAN 1RA C ISCO.
The name of the existing unincorporated association which i. being incorporated is _NTh. Spiritual Assembly of the Bahaic of San
Francisco.
Second: That this corporation does not contemplate pecuniary gain or profit to the members thereof, and that the purpose. for which
thL corporation is formed are the followings
Sharing the ideals and assisting the efforts of our f.ilow Bahais to ectablish, uphold and promote th. spiritual,
educational and humanitarian teachings of human brotherhood, radiant faith,
•xalted character and selfless love revealed in the lives and Utterances of all the Prophets and
e.aenger. of God, Founder, of the Wor].ds revealed religion. — and given renewed
creative energy and universal application to the conditions of this ag. in the
life and utterances of Bahüll&h — we declare the purposes and object. of this corooration to be i.e administer the affairs of
the Faith of Bahhd11h for the ben.2Cit of the Bah. of the City and County of San Prancisco according to the
principle, of Bahal affiliation and administration created end established by Bahiiil.h, defined aM
explained by ..bthJ.—Bah, and amplified and applied by Shoghi Eff.ndj and his duly constituted successor and
successors under the provisions of tue Will and Testament of 1Abdel-Bah.

ART IES F INcQR’(1 T ION

—1—
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 437
These purposes are to be r•aiized by means of devotional meetings; by public meetings and conferences of an
educational. humanitarian and spiritual character; by the publication of books, megasinea and
newspapers; by the construction of temples of uni— v.r.al worship and of other institutions and edifices for humanitarian
service; by supervising, unifytng, promoting grid generally administering the activities
of the 3ahia of the City and County of san ?rancisco in the fulfilment of their religious
offices, duties and ideals; and by any other means appropriate to these ends, or any of them.
Other purposes and objects of this corration are;
(a) The right to ntsr into, make, perform and carry out contracts of every sort and kind for the
furtherance of the objects of this corporation with any person, firm. association, corporation, private, public or
municipal or body politic, or iy state, territory or colony thereof, or any foreign government; and in this connection,
and in all transactions under the powers and objects of this corporation, to do any
and eli things which a co—partnership or natural person could do or exorcise, &nd
which now or hereafter may be authorized by law.
(b) To hold and be named as beneficiary under any trust establiabs I by law or
otherwioe or under any will or other toatanntary inatrumant in connection with any
gift, devise, or bequest in iieh a trust or trusts La or are established in any part of the
world as well as in the United States and Canada; to receive gifts, devises or
bequests of money or other property.
(c) AU and whatsoever the several purposes and objects set forth in the written utterances of
Bahi11làh. ‘ dul-Bah and Shoghi Effendi. under which certain jurisdiction, powers and rights e
granted to Local Spiritual ssembliss.
(d) To a and be sued; to receive property by devise or bequest, subject to the laws
relatir€ to iran if er of property by wlU; and to otherwise acquire and hold all property, real or personal.
inclnding shares of stock, bonds and securities of other corporations; to act as trustee under
any trust incidental to the principal objects of this corporation; and to receive or administer and expend
funds and property subject to such trust; to convey, exchange. lease. mortgage, encumber, transfer upon
trust, or otherwise Jispose of all property, real or psrsoral; to borrow money, contract debts and issue bonds, motes and
debentures

438 THE BAHA’f WORLD
i4 scour. the se; and g.na1ly to do all other acts n.c.aaary or i cp.o tent for .no adainistrstton of the affe ira &4 atteinmt of the pwpoa,. of this cporation.
Thirdi That the principal off i. fbr the transaction of the ia1n.me of this corporation is to te located in the City and County of
San Francisco, tate of Californ is.
Fourth That there shall be nine (9) directors; that the naxees and eddrese.• of the peraor o uhall act as direct— ora until the
election of their succesooro o as follows:
Mr. La oy toes. 640 — 46th ftve. • san ‘rw-c taco • al if. trg.Uarr R. Incon 655 P’ol.k St.,
i. Wa. 1±. Snith, i.avenwurU St.” C .r. Juhe E. SflaiI, ll3 Brod.xicx 4t. ‘
hi. 4Uiouy C. Seto 41 Pail 5t,ret,,

a1’5. ie i.. “ ‘1
iaa Lacy J. i4arahail, 20 roderick ‘ C .ias Honor .spton, 22O’ Van N.ss Ave., 1 tiaNadeen . Cooper1 748 Page Street1
Flfthi That Th. Spiritual ssanbly of tne ah3’ia of San Franciaco has heretofore exiatco no an unincorratad association. and in
oiopting this torn of inoorporetion, associeUon, unicn end faliowhip. and in selecting for Itself the designation of The Spiritual
,asenibly of the £*h’i. of Can an e hoc • does so as the aiinistrativa body of a religious oo.aanity which has had continuous
existence rasponsibi lit7 for over a sari years. In consequence of these acUviti.s The 3piritual Assebly of the BehI’ia of San
Pranci aco is called upon to ad— ainiatar ouch en over—increasing diveroity end volune of affairs arid properties for the Hohais of
Son ranciaco • that we, its mer., now feel it both deajj-ab] end nocunsary to giv. our colictdve functions oore d.tinit legal fern.
This action is tekuri in copl.te 1uianiity and with fuil racogni t.ion of the sacreci rulattonship thereby created. We acknoala&ge
in behalf of ourselves Cnd our successors in this corpor ction the exalt.- ad religious ctandard established byrIah&u11&h for
Saht ad.. alniatrctive bodies in the utteranoer e ye Truit.es of the
—3—

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 439
Merciful One among men’; and seek th. help øf God and Hi. guidance in order to fulfill that exhortation.
G ixth: All persons • firme, corpor ationa and assoc iationa eAtend ing credit to1 contracting with or having any claim egainat this
ccrporation and it. officers, and it. agents or any thereof, end the members thereof1 or any character wratmoaver, whether legal or
equitable and whether arising out of contract or tort, shall look solely to the funds of this corporation and to the property of this
corporation for payment or indeiity, or for the payment of eny debt, damage, judgment or decree or any money that may
otherwise become aus or payabl. from this corporation1 o that neither the d freotors, ir any of them, nor any of the ir officers or
agents appointed by them hereunder1 nor any member or members of this corporation shall, be personally liable therefor.
eventb The members by a vote or written assent of the majority thereof shall adopt for the conduct of the affair. of this
corporation, such by—laws, rules of proceure or reguisUons as or. r.quirwcl to define and carry on its administrative
functions1 not Inconsistent with the terms of this instrument end all in accordance with the explicit instructions
promeigatd to date by Shoghi ff.ndi, Guardian of the Faith of Bih111h, which instruction. ar. already kno*i to the
BahhLs of the City and County of 5en ?ran c isco and accep ted by them in the gov.rut and practic. of their re ]4g ious
affairs • 3ub- ject to the rit of the members to adopt, amend or repeal bylaw, by-law other than a by-law or amendment
thereof, changing the authorized niber of dir.cto re, may be adopted, amend- .4 or rep.aled by a majority vot, of the
Board of Directors at any of it. regular or special meeting.; provided, that at least fourt.en days prior to the date fixed for
said m..ting a copy of the proposed aendmsi t or awndmenta is nailed to each

440 THE BAHA’i WORLD
member by the Secretary.
Eighth: These Articles of Incorporation may be amended from time to tim. in the manner provided by law.
IN hITNESS WTREOF, The Spiritual tssemnbly of the 3ahis of Can F’rancisco, heretofore existing as an
unincorporated association, has caused these Articles of Inc poration to be signed by its directors, this ]th day of
November
1938,
Laroy Ipas
1a, Harry H. unaon
Win. H. Smith
rJohIl B, Shaur
Anthony Y. Seth
Mrp. Mamie L. Seth
Lucy J. Marshall
Honor Kempton
Nadee G. Cooper

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 441
sAX QI CAL.I1QN1A• )
)
crr A coy OF 3Me FR.NCiSCQ, )
Oa thia 17 day of __•
beft reai• FRANK RAHVEY a Notary
Puhliq in and for ha City and C.zaty of an frarioiao,
3tata of ca1ifei!ia. por.aiiafly par.4 IERCY IOAS MRS.
HARRY R • MJ!3ON • H • u rH JAL B • s a4W. ANU1 .
SETO. MS1 AJSI L. SETO, LUCY J. MIRSNAL.L, HONOR
EJIP13$, nd c• • knos .o e to be th. p.r.
N. P.
cane io .x.mat.d th. with1 tnctruim.nt, and wli$e nimc
are anbaicrihad th.r.te, ai4 .averal1 ao1 ,u,gai ta
— that they eouta the aae.
IN WiTNESS I have hereunto act y hand
and affixed ny official .ai at off to. in th. City ard Cowity ot San Franciaeo, SLota of Caiarzia t.he q
in thu cartUteat.. first above writton.
(SEAL) (3(10 1y
1oi’ ti CTy
ad County of Smi Franoisco Steta
of California.
J4 Ooeiids.lan Kxpir..,
JPme 2Q 3938.

442 THE BAHA’ WORLD
STATE OF ALI1ORNLA,
CITY AND CXUNTY SAM FIjANCISCO. )
On this _ day of December .
hafor. an, Frank Harvey , a Motary Public in
and for said CiLL7 and County of San Yranciaoo, Stat. of California. residing th.r.in, duly ccissionad and sworn,
q,p.ar.d LEROY IOAS and NADN G. COOPER. who, being sworn, cash f•r hIaneif deposes and say.: That the said
LOY IOAS ii the Chair.au and presiding officer of The Spiritual Assbly of the Bah’is of San Francisco, and that the
said SADE1N G. OOOP is the Secretary of Th. Spiritual As.bly the Behis of San Francisco; that. The apiritual
Aaably of the Bahs of San Francisco is an unincorporated aisociation end that said association has aly authoriasd
its incorporation; that LOY IOAS and EADN G. COOP?R have executed these articles of incorporation in
their official capacity and by aithority of such association.
Leroy Iou
Madsen 3. Cooper
JB3I aud sworn to before n this 3rd day of
— December •

(SEAL) PRAIX HARVEY
1otary Public in aix! for the
City and County of San Francisco,
State Of California.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 443
trt if *nrrtfirni
•ius1..&ss.eLh1. of the. .edie3 e of .Ume, OdA
de.dgned, t whoo iwe of thr Udtod ttr deerog fozm not fo oof wider fqG Cop niO ot Oha, do hel)r r#%U$
cirst The nem of odd d,afl te. aLe
—
SCO4D. Tb plect b this te whero tbr piwp.I office oEhe ppr $ to he lo*ted a
.Cozety
THIRD. Th.
Corpoutio. is ouiz4 for ligiue purposee anti its pr b ies n4 ob3ecti ar 1 ronote the teeohixiga or liall4i ReUjion trie t adaijuieter its
sffaizø in eooozdeuee with the eligida tectobiuge M a iuistrati,e pineiplee ot this Faith, in— alu4ig the aaisitenazce or a pleos Oz
aee of wohip en tesobiag,
FOURTN The foUnwne pezaone d1I serve odd cOrpor*tn II to*teoe untI the ftt annwd mee*ig
or othor mèetfpg esIed to eleet tp.teea. D 1tI*It AD000eE.
1. 1an A. Iske 815 West Elm $treet, ti Ohio
, .si6Z emstet oo..

; )Aieeale 1Q Xoztb Westwoot Drive, Ob.ia
. ,ElmaJ4iesa.lai te#two*4.•. Ohio 7 4O KOtb Collott 5tr.t, X..iae, Ohio

1: .r
IN WITNESS WHEREOF We beve hereunto eohw naoo. thi. doy of . /y

:.._.,—
soOeAroas N. fl Axlkle, will be eaueu.d mIete exoopeed by f4m ded4foe 1bt*oey ,geea S.. G. C. 8eZ342L
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Lima, Ohio.

-i

THE BAHA’ WORLD
LL ARTI LF G NCORPTO FILED MUsT Bt 4CcOMPsND- BY FOLLOWU*
DNWrIO OF AEWF,

rigtuut bppatntrnEilt Lif wnt
OI ii*. --
823. 129, Geeat Code,
KNOW AU. MEN 3Y THESE PRESENTS That .. h,..
,,1
oL_Et.a.._. i. -
— .U.u. Count, Ow. natural peroo and reaident of said county.

The iritu1 Annezbly ø
_.

ii located, ia bexeby appointed as th person t whom proeeaa, ta oc*icea and dcmancl, against _..may bc erveL
Not Lta
The Spi.Eit.nal Atb1. øt , .hai f. 4tu O)e
— - , %,X

‘? -,tZ
,. .....a4 , .a .. a., a,,
•,

.. •.. Ohio *i L.*,.haU of Limb lio
.

Gentlemen: I herrby accept the ppcintent sa th representatfee of your companyizpm whom process, tax notices, or demsnds may be
servod -
+

Stte of Ohio, • .
County oL.. +
Personally peated bcfore sue, the undessi*ed a Notary Public in and for said County, 19$+. theabovename4
,.who acknowledged the SiFuing of the oregoiug
., A5*n

to be his free act and dead for the use. and purposes therein mentioned,
WITNESS my hand and official seal on the day and ye$r laat aforesaid
Notary Public in and for
+_CounOhi
Z1y ‘

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

-—

Pre*infly eptnrn tb. • *utht. in n4 fo seid ø*rn fi*$
L
øorotc7

4! gpt
rk mezX Y!
;kttpwtLlltrc thr ecAtccc he tt ttl ,cttt tt frt tcd thrt4 lutr hhe
atui pst<* ildn menw*rthL
y hrtcd tttci rraI ntil ttet *lct &ty øred ye hst Ørnd
($EAL)

/ 1t
*iJ A . , ;
*etC *e let 9hcb tctel pe,*eca te* ate t that whata the Ceh eteakee
fee the tthet el *f ieerpeesttee n 4ate4 efe..ea ef ped qt ae pah edt taep#te
*ht*ee eheh he ferttc*f ccl etrt* ettf eat
llllAL Aev eer.e cct eeee ccet tees ee t,ae • rirt a eh.ta eea dtt*mt, a the iJe,tad, tetee t att a ear tee ecr tar pratt h, eel dllrta btrthlda* ea$ Mtag ra eht ahao he ad t.te Cl retC tettatr. IcCCap after called
eetkh* .*ttht lecfkr
I The earn, ad the earparetian
ll The place ta thi. atete whaaa the petrattpol ada ad tha epeee4kee to to ha
t, The perpeee Cr epeeeo fee wfrleh to .p
4 The caere. errt poatrr4tea erfrfeaaar4 of *t. et tser .er lea, the. thre. ‘ette eat to, eee oath th, fret aetetoat eterttrsg or ether ededttIft called ha maca
L to de,tred th0 caere. ad oe parseat wee tneihar tarth *1.. *h eethee. *4 t4o Optfah oat CS top .ttredrea* .d the tparttepematrn
lt 11 deatrmrf, cay raaltocatleac lee ,eepheeehtpr to otth campae*traer
hay torrId peoecaen wIdth racy IcC datoe*ri far the parepoae of Setde* lfha a, eseefedec tire emmtoe ad the pcreree cr1 th, dCtC*dOttr cad tI *fr, ttrretecr med tIthe era e}rarto at 01 caret tfo,t d tceraeftter
em fee the perpara,
a1 recorrac cc defracaty etobt. cad pece$aIot cr1 the raao,Imtea martare tera.Iaca Aar pteeitorrtr w4CU#1COrl to he
1cr char retr4ataccr at tact cccrparccrlecr aray to 4aeatatc 1aatr1ad cc .cccadcctc tcrca, Ne care. atey Ira earaf rtherh ,1c41 ha Irkale tar the pbUrt.

II

LIi
I
a,
, 1:
H

I
Ii r I HI
,
I roe
He

II

i

THE BAHA’i WORLD

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Philadelphia, Pa. Taken at the Nineteen Day Feast, Jan. 19, 1939.

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Lima, Ohio.

It
j
V

I
I1

r

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 447
1n re 1. 7
Charter at the / - ecnber Term, 193S
SPTRTAI AS$E’BL OP aAi{A’Is of
the ity- of Philadelphia ia, 4029
CI?’ A. 0UNTY OF FMXLADEL?HIA, SS:
A NOW, this day of A. D, 199,
the within Certificate of Incorpotion, h vine been PrBsGnted to me,a L.aw Jude of said
County, accompahiei by due proof of publication of notice of this app1ioatio a e1tlrcdbthe Act at Assembly- and RuT.e of this Cou’t in such Oaea made and provided, I certify that I have
examined nd pcruaed the said wri tjnc, aid have found the sane o be in proScr tozu and within the purposes flamed in
the Act of the .ereal Asemblr of the Commonwéalth of Penayvaia, entitled onProit Corporation Law’s approved
the fifth day of !ay, 1933, P.L. 289, and the supplements thereto; and the same
appearing to be lnwfn. and oi urious to 1he coaanunity, I do hereby on motion o !nanUe1 FrThdman,
!s4., on beheif of the Petitjoner, order aid dLrect that the said Cbsrter Of the
Spiritual Assembly of Bah’s of the City- of Phjlê... deiphia atoresatd be and
the same is hereby approved, and that unan the recording of the same and at this Order., the
eubaerThers therto nd their assocl&ts shall he a corporationhy the name of TIfl
IRIUAI4 A3SE tY OF TF BAIUC’fS O F. OITY OF ILADLg or thØ prposee aXid upon the terms therein atated,
Certificate of Incorporation, and Articles of Incorporation of the Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá’is of the City of Philadelphia.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

cowr c PItDI COUIITY
No.
AT1CLS OF X1rCORFRAT IOU O T SPIRITUAL ASSUIBI?
O TZ ATAiS OU TW CIIY c?

dresses
Ethel C. Reveil Sophia A, Rief GY Jeeie E. Reveil Ida W. huff )ry J, Revefl rtha 4aehjnton

Flees of Residenee hnd Poet Offios Address
2531 Nozth 19ib Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
4fi25 Tenpe Street, lodlphta, Pa.
2531 North 19th Street, Philaie1phia, Pa.
100 West 1—lema Street, i1adelphia,
2631 North 19th Street, Phuaaelphia, Pa.
214 South 43rd Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

TO TUN CrTORABLE T!E JUG1 OF WE SA1D COURT:
Ethel C. ReeU, Sophia A. Rieer, Jessie E, Rewell, Ida IT. Itft, 1hrr J. Revell, Nartha Waahington Clazenoe W Fisher, Dbroth’ R.
Gref and Luey A. Reynolds hereby respectfully apZy for the frentin of a oharter tothiz and their auc essore under the .-rofit
Corporation law of Jy 5, 1935, a* fe11s
Firsts The name qf the popoee4 c oretion shall be 5The 6iritual Assembly of the Bab’ of the City of hilade1phie.5
J Second: The leoation and poet offio address of its initial regis— tered offios shall be No, 2631 North Nineteenth S4xeet,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Third: It is a oorporation Which does not contemplate pecnflieX’ gain ez’ profit, incidental or otharwine to its nembere. Its purpose/s
to a&jnia— tsr th affairs of thø !3ah&1 Religion for the benefit of the Neh’fa f’ the City of Philadelphia in aooordaiee with the
roliioua teachings and administra— tire vririclplee of this Faith.,
foirth s It is to sni et .pernetua fly.
Fifth The respective nenee, pieces of rosidence end post oftic
of the incorporetors ares

Pa,

Ciaronee IV. fisher 7153 j3ryan rset 1ado1phia Ps
florethr . Oraf 6109 ‘aync Anue I i1do1ph1a, P,
Luo A, Røynolds 160 Wont oi1tor tret, Philadelphia, Pa’.
Sixths The said nine persn bovc—nsisod nrc to net as truttees wtil the eleation of their successors,
Sevenths The oorporsLion is to he nranixod rnona non-.stook 1asis,
Eifhth The nmomnt of assets whih the eorporaion will have to str1 its corperate functions ,s 137,5Q iii
In Witness Whereof, thø said inoorperatoz’e have set their hands and
seals this / day of Jannnrr, l99
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 449

‘d4 c.
(&t)
(SPAt)
‘4 ic:
(ii’acwt/ /f’ t4
-

THE BAHA’I WORLD

p

CXflr1aUL1 F fSYt4*ylA CC1WPY w

ns, the subscriber, abotar:; Publte of the Constonwesith of
Pennsy1v, renidtnr in tha City of Philtdn12hia, personall:p appeared the itiov named L’thol C. develi, Sophid A. Hierer, Jessie 5, Reveli, Ida h, Vufr, i
J. Peve111hstba sthwtpn Qlareuee Fisher, Dorothy 5. Oraf and taidy A. Re3niblds, on the day of January, 1939, and in due fersi of len sgthowleded the
fcrer4nr t0 be their Sot and deed end the act arid deed bf each of then. -
Witness spy hand end iiotttflai Seal the day and year aforessid.

---
?r oomeis4on expires

i
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 451
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
OEPARTMENT OF STATE
I ftO ?IZREBV CdRTZFV, That the same
‘t’c wi ——
beng avai.lable for uae y a prepaBed noxiprofi.t aorparatafl, was thts day du1 reg*stere4 it thj offiae in a dance with the proviaIazle of Artie U of the
Nonprofit Corporation raw, (AØt No. 105), approved the fifth day of May, A I 153.-——— LN 12SE1AIO1 Y WhEREOF, I ho reak
4 m4 oiuset ik,. rh,
nmid f Stoo i w

z
Itfrny &th’Lnry I t Co osaost

THE BAHA’ WORLD

— — ____________
The cinder.ignud. . ,inoeicy of wbøn, oar timme of the United Scotec. ckeh4og to fotm armetice. not for puolit. under tI,. euen4 Co ,cn,tiou Act of Ohio, da hereby nrr,ify,
of .id c r1mrnjicn hcfl
Thu plucu in Itch Stut inhere the pdnoip.I other of the nccepototim, t. to be baited h________
THIRD, The puopoen or purpouto tot Which emd corpoation h fo,med are
‘Ii’ a ii ‘icvii’, ph J,t’i irphiha P Pros,, ,yd Uihtp
U ‘‘a’ ,- P a11 ‘ide iii Pa P ,‘a’l,’tcr P7 f’$,Iya In
‘7, - p .. i’ tin ypi, ,iic al liii, ,!iiith, I 1us ibo
7 1 U wet’s! id Put sit,
FOURTH, Th0 loUo.ofnt peenen, ,Icoll mccc onid eoqcoaitim 0 hinter. ,mtfl tIm lOot onma.1 ,nr.tio or other mrietfni c*B.d to elect tm.tein,
‘. ,i’’i’ 71 1111, Ii’ PU
1’ -
7 7 a’ ,t, I’m is-,, Pp —. . _, .:
Li Je t-i-’, ‘“‘II U,,ii., 4 t
— ,in “Pat I, P1 uP,, L1Luu, a. ‘I
— 1.1 .1] ,W V 172 di Ih,flid iii 12
r ,, 111 1 ii aPi’ 1, 1 1 ij - ji, j
p ILiU1’, ut ii
I,,,, ‘t -‘ dahipani, i”Lu
El WITNESS WHEREOF. We hers hereunto to calnd our rome., th.,?,. slop I’L.
1 I’, 4 t1 .V,i I i,
£lid& h 7, lii ‘a
ii’ P l,d ‘-I ‘.‘t 7i sit pii’y
P i,- L.J1i7i ,.4,7 ,,hii,t$5
U Wi] P 1!’ 1
THE SlAtE, Of OHiO, COUNTY OF ‘77’” , 4 era
Pee.onolly uipeoerit brfo,e mci rho cprler,ior,tt, a Norary f’otulk, in nod fin nod county. , I. i’a a’ i’d iiuii I iyiiii 11C!ii1VV’d, Pup II.
the sheve oomed, ,., , __________ nod
,earh otW Søt,1Pdrtttlc lorogio*
,rttcles of !ncooporarhin to be hi. free our sod deed, lot the noes sod porpora. therein mentioned,
itITNESS my I,,,ml ned aPPoint rciul on Ifs’ day cod pints alt amor,’eiod.
SEAL ________
4tdStitEtoIAirictIf , lTI!Ib!*, Pjp, utiasy of Stsro, of the Etch’ of Ohio,
ItIOut thtr,eiol ‘ei,,ri dir heoohy edify thot the Ee’pois is on eoooipt,Eed copy, cirtelofly rarnpored by mc with
the originol o coed nun hi my illeicI melody or Snonroey 51 Stoic, end foniod Pc hO true cod
cotseet, of ho Article, of Incseponotioo of ‘a
I; dii ,,,,,_ ‘117
med’mthioottteron,h&. ‘ absyah ‘_,,,,,,,, ,E L,mcd
recorded Pt Voices’ ‘1 Pego, ‘: of tho Rncor4.”efInt7tepoentlcoo.
WiTI5S my,lnod ud odic1 trod of ii
7 / ‘,
‘CoIm,hco, OJio
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Columbus, Ohio.

P3

—OF---
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 453

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Columbus, Ohio.

I
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Phoenix, Arizona.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

HAVING UMI-rrro TO THE ARIZONA CO ORA ON N MISSION CVIDENCS OF COM
PLIANCE WITh tHS LAWOF THE STATE 01- [TONA GOVEITNINO ThE JNC0RP0IATION
OP COMI’ANIES, S, VIRTUE OF HE POW S VESTED IN rOE COMMS5ION UNOER
THE CONSIITUTION AND TI-IF LAWS OF THE STATS OF AFZONA, OLNENY GRAN-TFO THIS
i1: t:i4 t’ I9i -DJ! I-1 {) L-- 1-f) (LV{1 1)
IO th fi1--- t 1ic- iCfl).-s_--
AUTHOZIN SAID COMPNy TO LX RlS5 rH PUNCTIONF OF A CORPORATION
LINDEN 1-115 LAWS I-SOW IN EFFECT IN THE WTT Dl- ARIZONA, AND SUBJECT TO SUCH
LAWS AS MAY I-IER5AETFR NL ENACT5D FOR PERIOD OF TWENTYFIVE YFAR5 FROM
THE DATE HLRErDF, UNLFS5 SOONER RLVOREO BY &IJTI-IORITY OF LAW,

//

! /z

Certificate of Incorporation, and Articles of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahã’is of Phoenix, Arizona.

COD1ISS1ON
‘10 all b oni seiits sJ II RN (p hot:

E IT FROWN TWA7 - - - - -

NY ORO5B Or THF ARIZONA CORPQRA1-ION COMMISSION, ‘IT, M -
- L’ 4T-3 4 1FOjç
1HS CHAIIMAN HAVE HEREUNTO SET FAT HAND
AND CAUSED THE OFFICIAL SEAL OF THE ARIZONA
CORPORATION COMMISSION TO 85 AFFIXEG AT THE
CAPITOL, IN THE CITY OF PHOENIX, THIS th
OAY OF A’j1 - 199.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

- -,“--—- — -----P-- —
* 4 4J4*IA •tTt% :‘

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SCC*t44t

;:*
ARZON CORPORATION COMMISSION
Y4t cjAP4T4L
PHOENIX
My CS,

1r cc . ugWe & &&&& 17CR Vn lurbn
+ p++orn$z, u’+Rra.

Cy 1C&QPQ!*4ØDl 4sion,

&&

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j pave thi€ piaced a tecord+

p

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al ‘ovide ‘ ot e& tearUc1 ot rn r”tiQflOt 1 bU CF OZNIDC,
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THE BAHA’i WORLD

d1foW1una dhLsn %s#:uts Edwfl (t4e, (jueUuq:
1, MCflXU4NkT$ SNONNTANY or THC ANEZCEEA CONPONATEON OOMMEflEON
00 HCRENY CrNTEE’Y tHAT ‘u’ j’ -‘ t”nu ,3 Cua, flt tycu’u uf thE’

ARP:CLiS ci

“CEEPJ iflittTaL A’$ii Li’ CF iic lii: ltCE’iX, ARID:’

F Ii, zild Ar rsO1tDor 00 tTdrA up ERr (Ar’,’,, A, C,, :o, ‘ ‘ti’ ,‘rlpckC, i,,, nrirideJ, yirva
N WYTNiICSS 14’flIakEflF4 t*v HtpuHt pa’ in’ HAND AND APPEXCO Thp OPPEWAE, SCAR OP THN ARIZONA CONPOSATLON coN, HESSEON AT TNt CAPITOL, EN ClIP flfl OP ppopN, THES ‘ci
OAVOp A “11
A7
C&,,C

()N?1ISS1ON
- Sr

THE WORLD ORDER OF ]3AHA’U’LLAH 457
-
rcyrt tytlohi,
moe unterained, pe;s000 1501 ng to c ootte themselve into comporet Ont itranent to OhantaP 14, av1°O ht itotas of lea of the Stati of triton, ant rare sne€f1ntll oor tha nonccotit
features of %rttcle 3, Section €02 theaaaf, do hc’aby aoopt the foUowing:
tad nets r -s;irh such dorporation is to ha no is “PD - trnl9’AI AStI,IX 0’ Th hAPA’iS 0? 0bPIX gIl0NA”
That the porpose fo-’ erich ft is formed ije o ednipieter the affairs of the BehFi religion for the beexef it of tiet siFis of
Phoenix, ax-icons in accordance cub the religious teachings and aIr inistrative principles oi this faWn
The territory in whifh its attivttics are principally to be ran— ducirt is the city of Phoenix aol the cor4oration is located in the city of Phoenix, booty oi vanicep4 otate ox” AriZonu
and the la,jtl
eoent of the corporatior Os the secordind Secstetary hirius 3ughee 1732 Ptst Van Puren St., macnix, Arizona.
A”’TlCLh 10’
- One annual seet ing of the corporation shell he held in Phoenix, Arizona on the 21st day of April of tech yest end tO irty aye notice of the tisre &nd place of each n”eting Mailed
ihe voting menberebip,
shrIoLt V
trustees shall serve fos 005 ear Ir avail tleet “uccassorr are e1eted tot airlifted. The asather ad tpuotser ci”fl he nine czt the flares 01 ti-a
True”e”-5 er-”” it’ll 01, 1—ti tea:—
Th”a ‘rjb-a’ ‘1 OP r P £nocri/
to * 0 0 sir O
0 riot u,hra 10r
2hr*h r”ca 10 0’:” nnt 4
1lamanc 44 il€ : ,Pi*t 4
- 41i a 0 icr riot,‘
rni” ‘hr-sr fl asP P’’
trrl’hrc PP-s -a at - ii’
lisP-in ‘, ‘“a—bee IOta a t ti or -

rrct: r

THE BAHA’T WORLD

I’ ‘SS Ow heraunto :
dy at
L
T” F ATOrR
f’’7 CF
Tue faroinJ a eyt was lscrje1 nd sworu to
aet of F hyuh li rey dw5
uppera irisa Bugbe sh c*z leacs Ctvei’eon, Paul A choeny Jaunts Ouwaun Luy ‘T. Lzoas an Citon H X3tbee wo c1cnw1ec1ed. to me thai thet exeoUted the same far the pwpose
eM nsideration thesia epessec,
Totary PuuIO

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4 ‘,
C t uee a is ‘C
P Vea uua uF, Aeiz
C. C”’ C
Cu’.t :
Cy 1 C CO.

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&&&

&&&&&
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&&&
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— &&& &
& && &&& & &

4.

& ;-c ,) ?T&
&& :7. $
ARflCLES OF X!tOFPOP4TIO!1
& - & OF fiPflfl’UAJ4 ASSW1LY OF -lfl
& sflS OF flbt”fl, MIfltA.
R&tCOROLR9 OhIE &
& P}n..& M4ncopaCo4n2tflAá.
FL&4.nl re(rn a &
& ___

&&& As &
&& Roger C. Iaveen
& &-
& - & & *Y&&_*_4_____

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.4
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

1TO4 O OJ MT*55b Et

u to 1bom tc rtent Ø1a’ @rtttin flOt1hatuhereas ck.’Ia s L T g]kKIT . RJ,

haifl iLA J. LzNk aT L ao
o:mla and LTiaik
hlag pe esned Artide of Irzorporation of a c poration. organized and ftrmed ttnder and pursisa esf the State of Oregon pertaining to
Rthgotss Chatitable, Education4 ert. Organzza].zoas, anJ.baeing paid she organiy.ubrn fee provided by said laws;
ijerefürt, 3. ait. C pora1i Comrnisüor of the Stare of Oregon. DO 1hRL CERTIFY that said 4r!klts of ineorporasion have
. .

bees filed in the
affise of the Cwpoyariwr Commissioner; that the name ,sslmned by said corporation is
..PlhIfjisL ±at3L1 Of Ins. ,sho’ is Us’ tONO 5OUON
the --‘$hv objett, bsisinrxs or pursuit
sa wLbcb this corparatioss /srssposes to engage ts a follows:
(C) To Odsh 1w’ af”nir, of 55* BaOa’t koliyLo fqa’ 15* bennfit
c’ tb5&i5 of inn O,i.y of rtizs 1w aooo5danae with the ycliCicns tooOhiwra a a ohra nlravntjve riw’ioIos of saiu roii&hn, ann’ in of’oru1ty with the
a ice,! .‘ni a rrs0Ij Iintlt*d in tn b5*’a :so5*n by the 7t1n.1 fp!ntlusd ‘:1 o’ On Bs.hniv asd pubiieswh hy fast bony for t5w tsnor,55iion and r’ sidan”s
of Baha’ to t ,nsarsnst inn United StateS end fafladu,. 5nrn puroeeo are to be y lisSed by soonna of devotioni a ttna b- publio
ann foeftrnncea of an edocatlonal, hna itartah non npiritssal chreoter;
(i’) To 3w end bg vons
To ,aid >e enotranted with;
(5) T tov ann nan norporoe anal wsd the osann to ohenge ni
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ls of Portland, Oregon.

No. JG7O5
Certificate of 5 ilin rttc1e of ‘3rnorporation

462 THE BAHA’I WORLD

— : —

(e) To puc*e :eJve e4s çiipoie of ai perbonBi. property a or enIert o orx ou1 tb 9bject of 5i&

:, otio ::
(f) ro ke *ws o incon8itn with eitin Iaw for tb
ovarflt of tts ffs eent of itb __________________
im#ed áe of its ptop#srn4 maee oe unre4 fty an /1oQ .L.

the lo€atio# of t eip4Z office PorU.nd
Coirnty of Orepn; the 48k of fili8g 14 Artick of frcorforatioa
the—5th—d oj pii ;A, P. 1994tnd the amolrnt of ik
organzzat#t fee dd 1k d OO4oO($5OO) Doil4rt.
Jn cttinon tjtreof, I Iseve bereöntu s my hmd
ati4 4ffredbto the .teJ of eke CorporaI1on Dep*8efltOf thi State of OreS
r t k Cdp4toi 8t4m •n. thit
— 939_
flINT

*4

:
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 463
r-

— ft
y &t IwrrLi (frrtifu 14g;/hqe
dfrs4 tpoUm
(7 “1Zk pnrrua ssthu ttoa$aBAna’Is.o! JEkSLY CJ3X, — -
(7qr/%
)an/ 4n/n amVnØouf/a7// ivinaQi&/
P&4/9i(O/w //±LZ s:3z2-:
— and nw n4/flrMfn/F4Oflhf/frCt?/4frn
In Erntiñünt Whtrrl’f. 4h&flw,6:
JdmF
—— ___ _____

Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Jersey City, New Jersey.

464 THE BAHA’f WORLD
r-
WIQf?I P IH ArzvN -
Th >?IX!TtML LT )F 19*. Atja OF sir crjy, NL
The un4ei.jgne4 pezaa, 4oaNti to asecoipte theose1O8 into
oirpc.pnInn purwi1t to t f rthe I i1sture ot te tta ot Ne 3eriey, entit1e Act to Inoororet. soLtj-s rr foz Peounbrpofjt
epproved4rei11, 189e, nd the oendment or supplementt thereto1 do her0b Certif
1* Thet the ncrnq by which euoh ooreretjorL j t j Uf)j, JIUAL M’ X cW BI Q JY 1TY,NW
ONL) Thct the purposo for tOt t ja forod je tø Rcmi1e
the attc ire ot the Oeh’1 ?njth for the beoetit of th onbtfs f
Jerasy GLt, hew Jercey, in rdenee with thc relijous teceljn
nd tx’rtjwj p niplu-e f the cze
he territory in whiob its edtivitiea eropreeipsI)y to be ben ucted .n Jorney City, hew Jereey- end the corporti is to be tdj tho city or
_____

JesovCity Oonty of Hwso 4
Ne Jereey, red, the xwme o thb agent te4ii end in ohergo thez4- [of, od upon høe process rgciist the Corp ction ny be eerd ii -
Arthur Vector, øoret;ry,
OURTU The sxnber of true We zhe 11 be I ‘ (9) cud thq- shs11
hold ofrie, or one 70cr, or until their cuooewaors cre duly elected end qunlifled, The esnes nid pIes ot reidtnco of the
truateoa e1oet’d to et cc ouch until the tirst srv-uel ceetcnq o’e corpo tion to ho bald, April 2let, 1q39 ere
_øar oFrIfl ALMESf
______

A4iN 316 union teet, Jersey City, New Jersey
DtVXD 1U$OF 316 Union bt0et, Jorcey City ow Jeret
U —UON 316 Pnion btrnet, Jer- ity, Jersoy
-ILLI( BRODflAP $85 Nudsen Bouleviird Jersey city, Uew Jersey
4. Torznofle Avnue, Jez’ey City, New’ Jersey
iJIE J. VQ3?U 41 i’onnelle Iweuue, Jersey City New ‘Jersey
d O LL 316 Union 3teet, Jersey City, Nøw- Jersey
U GOI.LW 41 Toxmelle Ayezrno, Jersey City, ew Jersey A1ZP AU?T 147 13erenood Pleas, North 3egen,New
Jersey
- IN hXTNb1SS :1Rh? we hrve herOwito cot our hends this sixth dsy’

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

te

POF RSY )
CoTflZ OP HUDSON
b IT R k&.Rhj) th,t o th* 4
day of areh 199, ba1orø e, an Attox’oey t ew of New Jersey, personnily appeaxe4
jRLBRT AON DAVID ACGJ LLIXAN 4CBSON VILLIAM BRO$HEA1 JTHUR POSTER, ELANCBH 3 POSTER,
WALTER M (0OWELLCM, &RN4RD E
0LIEB, ADOLPH HUPT, to me known, and known to me to be the pertie8 in nd who exeotod the foregoing
inatrument an$ I h&wing
first made knswn to thee the ootenta thereof, they did each duly acknQwle4ge to me that tIey signed, sealed nd
delivered the same as teii voluntary act and deed for tle uses end purposes therein expxessed.
AT0RN1T AT lAW of New

l.

4-f
466 THE BAHA’T WORLD
ENDORS:
Receiyed ite ihzdon Go. h. J. fjer1cs Office Apr1145 A. 0. 1939. Roorded in G1rk Record No.rz on Page
Clerk.”
“ILRD A0J ENOORIRD
Apr NO 1939
Thomas A
Seoretay of Stte*Th
LHTIFIO Or ID0OPOTXOo
Qj
. : ,

FAnL’L

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

800K 1261 PAOE2S:j’,
SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF TH BAAAIS OF WILMETTE
WILJ*ITTE, iUNOt.
Alt Penn Atenue,
-Pf
stcPOP nhitots)
)3s.
C QO’JIiPI OP COOK ).
Oonlnñe true, do soleonily acer that at the annual ‘oootln4
of no rnmntars çf’tte njt4 oooru tty of Ijiwotte, In fe’ wIllate of h1ntte, tour q of CooP, nd noate ct 111 n’r n hoe 21-t dapof kprl, 4.0. j93, fry that
ruronee, the followint rsoh wore elected; ,Loinlt P. Bnwtholetw, ‘flo’tnle K. ib’nvnlnn, ::ar” ‘I, Pa rurd, Cowl A., l’aoron, otwlo C. Xatoon, Otla S. I.
o’oy, Pluord D: St ‘urn, Canton K, lone, t, 4 ICon V. t or’, to be hoe S 4tuel
ho Oh lai,a’io of holoohoe r. sooordao,n’oY h 0Cc po’ ple of lanai C0n0 C etojiot,’ patton, stth ponoc hod Jut’ Os hor,ll ii’ to trustøos nd o,lLh fu1l
rower to setabilnh 0 00 ‘uooatlcu .r’ in’rnlneftcr at forth, nuneb,’ declare toot “now rio ‘tt, tie ‘aer’, ‘noonsibtl101cc, rl’ts, an) ohltations vested In this
Sp tu1 lss’wbly by’ aoetUtllth, w000dmr of tho 1t o, by Ubdohihotho, ‘to hote nn”'ter aol ‘fçr o7 a, by ic ;‘ 1. 2ff” di , Cf Croetl’n’o, arC t ‘a oh ‘neC
SplL’tiu’ 1 1-seably of Oh 0” ‘‘ IC tOr’ fh&t” ‘ at naoa wIth °i’adooertars instltitat ,,, coooohotlooo slOb too 00001’’ T”nobe ‘n Melqu’l-a,htb’an located 0
‘ilNotte, IfIdhol:, Con di°y notithel canOn]. adniblo native art “ ty, sIll] o” oxeeeied a) “,‘ lot 0 on by the above non’ d Sntnlt’icl A-nw Thiy cod .0 aIr
owl” ol ‘Clot anooon Ore under Lii’ Dornorato A eonent, l ‘ult u’t’tt’o,, am nO -r be4h1t0itn o:r’oe-te me, “tol”tot oh ‘eob’y ‘o’ lohi 1’
•‘ t ‘7’
. /r-t, , C”fln’t.
sworn to I’’”’ t in[r’.X “ :.n.l”4t

5)001055 ‘:‘ : —. —
My bosom I
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Wilmette, Illinois.

468 THE BAHA’! WORLD
sfA1LOP1LLl\TOS
C italy of Conk
1, fDWXK1) 1. NOL3e & tcr oC Dce&k 4z of cZcr&j
• 1 R’c;l c f ,i :m I 1r S Cm ily, C ito Dv
Cart tint Ui fCCo og S it trta tad own a haiogñtpe of’ tjn i catd of a cc -t;i’t Dr am a ‘di U it ni I, OStco ia,+ :,
ewny.,+_A, Tit ic , as D&a’aa i cud rcttn’c I itcfl JIcOt& at P ‘a
- - IN tfiT] \LOXY WUnLL3f I lit, ci bra mit,i at ai!’f daod;,lThce I my (ic,SSi ss , ,. J,,, 2U: av of

fl I&U, , ,
-,,

& Lted ‘, ,& , -‘, , , & , &

a & ‘ ‘ -- :,
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Peoria, Illinois.
470 THE BAHA[ WORLD
i
) bL
(QULTY :t PbOb[b )
I , o1t iv
01 te Ltbtr o ti Conifl UttY 0 PQrt oalci in the ($ty of Pkoria, Comty of Peorlu La ftt 01 Ill1noI, n the blat y f rL1 . ll, 1or fit tfe
follovtnj r Lcte: U1c. C><1 k. aLt, 7oe &y r, Ibh Tl uott Qh. rløtta VLy, I iorc e Ue L ih’, 1lu 0, qoo. u Chester
I 3,rtt, t r T AS r1biy O1’ tne
ori irk a ordnce viift toe rie1leb
ol to€ Ioci.L o1 rUrnInitrt Lon ordred od fira1 u too hottor1 ?iritba. Aoobly of toe
t.e ntt4 toto L4 tt lull
3 er to ebJj o u I tr SCt
ortn, ueraby uece ti b frtn tLs tt tot poers, p’tLLtef, Lob ivileger obiotjoo Vetu In t($ xttul Assmuiy uy il1an1 I ooihtt o &ha I k olto by
t dU’l-dau, its tnterrrt tub Llttplor, by hoghi iJLeogi; &t oorciian, OkKI oy tOe atiooa1 hpirttua3. Isbly I tn 3ogu ol. tht boIted Etatoa
.aybl Cuuidu, Ith OU.L t1.tutd ptruount aub eentl adrntnis— trL tLe outoo.rit> in so los hotn n.ztoa, uiull u. tity:jne. nh Inted by tOt
atove nneI
rtuul si nob ineir duly oU1Leo ucoe, 5015 unoer 1.ir. (.ootJon sre€i, Ann SeLu tL tool 4SrrOly ndoto.l as its potate nase.
in trituol snrnbly o tnt, I3bn&La’of ?eoria,’1
son ‘at onto nu ttLri tnit ‘o otr”1 s
sworn to btfore,me this

ol —r 1 A. 0. 1940.
NotaryPublic,’
y Coatainn L tresz
Corporation Declaration by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’Is of Peoria, Illinois.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 471
— j”

31H262
cJL Ii:i :LL .:i:
f 1lr- aLt :. ny Q
..Ltj$ at ttcrL
Fkd h- reenrd
CcutLy t nra th— r of
Lageot S. Adorns. Cc UfltY Rflotdtr

afl:19d9

THE BAHA’T WORLD

BOU34959 PAG[58 3
CORPORATE AFFIDAVIT
THE SPIRIT Y OF THE
OF WINNETA, ILLINOIS
STATE OF ILLINOIS
:SS.
CDDN Y COOK
I, ROBERT S. HAMMOND, do solemnly swear that at the annual meeting of The Bah’ i Coauni ty of Winnetka I ilinol
a, held in Winnetka, Cook County, Illinois, o April 21, 1939, the following persons were elected:
Robert S. Hamnond
Helen J. flameond
Harriet U. Hilpert
Margery McCormick
C. Frederick Simpson
Clara Simpson
Lois Soukoup
Helen Becker
Eva U. Zoul
to be the Spiritual Assembly of the Bah’i’s of Winnetka, Illinois, according to the rules and usages of the local Bah’1
Iministra.. tion, recoized and affixmed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bah’Ls of the United States and
Canada, with full power to establish a corporation as h.r.inaf tar set forth; and I hereby declare that from this date the
powers, responsibilities, rights, privileges and obligations v.sted in this Spiritual Assembly by Baha’u’llah, Founder of
the Bah’i Faith, by ‘Abdul’l-Baha, its Interpreter and Kejiplar, sogbi Effendi, its Guardian, end by the National
Spiritual Aa.enbl5ytef the Bah’1s of the United States and Canada, its duly .aonetitut.d pramount and central
adminietratire authority n nd for North America, shall be exeroised and maintained by the above-named Sjlritual
Assembly of the Bah’is of Winnetka and their duly qualified maccessors. And at said meeting said Spiritual Assembly t
the Bah’is of Winnetka adopted as its corporat, name, “Spiritual Assembly of the Bah&’ia of Winnatka.’ And
said meeting this affient act.d as Chairm.

5u
ibed end srn to befor. me this day of _____, A.D. l9.

Pub ii
Corporation Declaration of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’Is of Winnetka, Illinois.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 473
6UUK34959 PAGE5SO
12310398
STATE OF ILLINOIS I
COOK COuNTY 155.NO.
FILED FOR RECORD
39MYII PN24S
34959
AND RECORDED IN

P-2

THE BAHA’f WORLD

j
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Seattle, Washington.
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

I3OMISuC

$*5—4Il $5
8164
rjrnrtnwni f tztr
OrFtKO,,TH
Of
I, BELLS REEVES.,
Secretary of Sto’e of the 3tste of Was ngfon, do hereltj
ARTICLES OF XNCORPO1ATION
oy rHz
UFTPI
o l)mqljc Corporation, of 8eaEt1 Wtaington were On
the+. daij of *UEt 19, J]9 .octock s
filed for 2’eord in this offiee izncl now temoin on jUe herein, being thiy tecorde in floof 225 ncstie Corpoetions,
IN TESPIMQNY WHEREOF, I hcwt hereunto
set noy hand and offlced hereto the Seat of the
State of Washington,
Dont o lisa Capitol. l Ohjthf% this
A D. i - 3$
BELLE EEVES
Seeretar,j of Stae
-:
4#olotái $eae of ttate,
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bah’Is of Seattle, Washington.

476 THE BAHA’I WORLD t j-L ‘AN 1ur,
CTSO?OR?OR4i
SPI JLt 0)’ TH! L’IOF
WATL er zie 1 of f ae eoi citizen o th Uiiit.Stat.# oopartøx n1er Renington’ ]ev 4tute Or the Vaah1nto aph 38 o 37 nio beoeYo1it end bitb1 iops ot
operatio fr profit, do hereby es— toether an her.by ms sign edaokiiowladge
tire At o ortion, in t1iate.
Th ot t.1 oøiparation sU be exid hereb’ is d.clare4 tobe
RI1JAI ASsi2LY 0)’ Th
S)’0TLy,
tr±oi. u
The yuz’poeee fur whiob this eorporetion ta orgeniaei are to hiut$ter the affeire o tbø Eøbai r.liion for the bai of the City of ttle in strict
cccot4*ue•,wtth th. religious teacbLns anç adminiet.rattye priiop1ss of seid feith,
ARICL II
• The territory in whieb this cooretion’ otivitie. ar
rinotpally to be OOtdotid is the City of 85tt5b ring Caty, State of Washin€too

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 477
ARTIGE X,
The principal pleas f worship Is t be 1OaelI Ia thø
atr Q heattle Whtatan
TlCh V.
The auxaber o II atcs ot tae eorQrt1GS1 shell be uth. () ta saber sxid the zaaes ath lsc af resi2easø f the
rs7ate ihe Shall Sat 55 S 4t until the first ennuel iiof the aoryurtlun, on the 3151 3ay orAiril era as rollows 503 they shall hull off toe until theIr
SuuoeseGrs are eleatal eth çalif let as 3rovlIe6 by Ihe bywsi
togsu 3 ator 0337 57th tee. .W. 8asttle, Wash.
hrgrt Lotineider Rio aunt 3llsthS
t. ce 716 third Aae. West 3ettle, Wash.
en.aett Dora b36 No. 76th Dt 5e tIle, Wash.
a illunfla hiahmonl Deaub Wash.
CrLra &th hOSt 37th Ave. So. Seattle, Wash,
helen Wilkes 505 W. 44th ht SebItle, WSSh,
Snyder 1752 Joven AWe. teethe, WSsh.
Thssia Ware 0765 50th Ave. SW, Seattle, Wash.
TI0tE V.
ThIS aororetion shell have 5eretu$ exi&tenoe,
ylded ty th hews of the State o Weehington ana nberehi therein shall be lhaaitM to thoSe ahoe In eaSerdenee wIth the adathistretive priuniplee of hbs
Sehel relIIoo as fully set forth In the by—laws,
IN tat 75153 t3O, we, the I 6soatore ehd di,eetors
shoWs prnaed, have hereunto set Our bends endseets!
,-,-,- -“-

THE BAHA’I WORLD

C

Q
IS I’S hSTII’Y that o thie day, efoe e, the
a Nota7 ?‘ibiia in and to tha Stati of Vangtoi, duly n.isioned and $won, ieraonai1y apea1& I.SGU RTGR. M.RSd 6SII’ThEF, DOSIS L OUI SQR, LC]tE
)tILUARN, RI IJtk, HJILS tii1tS, I1 1t? and DSin WZ t5 a• known to be thee jjdale arb,d in and who exeeue tb. foregoi Aatiolee of op’zation, ansi a
ow1eed to me that tbf etgaod and ealod the ama an the free and ro1uztery set and deed, oy thè uses and pu,o ass therein rsantloned
nIvIu NS laY 5A)1S MI) ICIAL sm this 3o day
Qf July, 1S
C in an fo the State
of WahLngton, reeldind at Seattis.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

c/Zt1/ttç May , 1940.

I Hereby Certify the Attaobed to be a True Photoetatie Copy, Witnese the
Great Seal or the Commonwealth.

,?4’raeoretary o Thebommonwealth.

&i
4,
— 5-Z 3& N, 5161.

The Spiritual

Assembly

of the Bahâ’is of Boston, Massachusetts.

Ft

THE BAHA’ WORLD

THE COUMONWETH OF’ MAssMHusETrS
C CORPOM9W# A?4U 16XA1O*5
su F iø
a STAYt H*WIL Io#ON

ART1CLXS OF ORGANiATJON

We, *1&n. ,irn I’tdtnt Yctor U. Ao bauVt
eIen AOnmaUt Clerk or Seretgry and
/(
Roeahn Wilk sOnJobn L,oZs •!loan U,Orioff t,oi. LGaiSam S,42(k1stet u 1sh)OgAtY L$ia W,E11r

being a aorhy h the diret ors, or has4ng the powers of d1rctort under authttriy of wetion 7 of chapter l80 General Eaws of
Tke $p 1.tual As*e1y of the Baha’ # f he City of Bostan.
in complianCe with tjee requirements of sectiOn 3
of chapter 8O of the GenereL Uws, do heteby state sh*t the following it a true copy of the egreemetl of a ociatkrn to form taid
corporetion with the names of the subscril,ers thereto—
We, whme Ilamef are hereto subscribed, do by this agrecolenc, associate ourselvt* wish the intention df fdnxtissg ksrporaiion under
the pro oxsol chapter 180 of the General Laws
The name y whkh the corporation shell be known is
The 8piritua1 AeeezsbW of theE&a&is Of the City of Boeton.

as the ttme and place for holding Sam nrst meeting. --
IN Wrnnm WfleaaOr, w have hereto aign our names this O1tb
day of in the yrer nineteen hundred and morty

•- %444.4RA9 44

.i_
9i1 I
ia u.
a. +L -

‘f flk? .-.

4 ?eeq (?— -ioi Prope First Name should be Written in Full
Initsals and abbreviations arc not sufficient

f
I
Tlklpcatltmn ohe printipal nOire of the corporation to be in Maseaehusetts is the
City of oetot at 175 DartnOuth $teet
The purposesfor wblh the corporation is formed are as follows>— The est.eblishmeflt aM maintenance of religiotra woreltip and spiritual aotvities in
aceordance with the principleB of the aha5i Taithae establiehed b $a1&ul1ah5its ?ounder,bAbdu’l Bäba5ita Interpreter and C1hy Shoghi ffe
iits Ctzazdiaand by the Bational Stiritual Aseembty of the Baha5is of the United Statee and Genada,its duly - oonstitttted,paremnurat and centrn
Mainistrative authority in fld for North £merioaar$ the doing of eli thinge naceessary eM incidntal thereto ermieoble IUI4er
(Ihaptex’ 180 of the tner8l Laws - -

ItFStOZNVS M.souser or Si-wa
- (cii-i o nmw5( si-asar mso Nu,sStX) Sumcszsap eni
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’Is of Boston, Massachusetts.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH
:2

= That thc irst rneting uf the subscribers to aid sgrcernent as hold on thd TGUth
4ay ø April iã the year ninetesui hundred’ and Lbry’ø
has a capital stock dii in the foileswin ‘Thg the amount f capital stock now to be issued if
sharet of ptcf etred StGC1t
hare of cmrnon stock

to b pa.id fr as foUowt

AMouyir OT STOCK tsstJED.,

0 kIM $01 Y$E’E * 1%
Ts PaoPicY;
Real Istatc _..... —
Lo.ation,.
Peional Property
Accounts rcej iablo. .....:... ..
Notet rcceivable.... .. ,. .,:.,....,..,,:....+..:.. .—“.,...
Supplies.
Machinery.... _.:.........,.
Motor vehicles ad rajlero,.. ......,,
Equipment and too ,_._.
Furniture and tixturvs.......,,,..,..,
Patent rights...-...,_., ... ... ,.
Trademarko,., ............... ,,.—..—.“..,———
Gemd will ___..____ ..
*Scrviecs — .... .., .... ... .. ...... .. ..

‘E*penset.. .__..___. ..:_._.,... ._.__

,.

IN C4s
I fulL., ._. ._._ .._....... .... ..,...,.... ,.. ..——.-—.. . —
By instalments ... .,..,, ,..... ...
at inotolmenu to fe p.tid bdme commenon5 boaina.

... ..

I,
I
‘No ,totk oh*l1 be it ny time isouad unless th cash, on for a duo, or the nropery sejrkm at ovpenneo fat whrh t was adthori.e4 to be Ssur4 has betn artoatly eecefvd or icrred bit, or
ernweyed or rernttrod to, the eotyaration, or is in o passessbn as ourphts; oar otisIt aay ontO er,evidenct of badness, armored or unstrured, of any prrsan to tohono stock is
fsautd, be deemed to he paymont yherefor and doi pr&dern, treasurey and drmztors sladi be iantly and severally liable to any ttockhalder tot the orporitioO for 5usl 4ainagea
coined to hits by asth hoer.
‘State dearly the toatore ot sorb oroices or evpenses intl the asotoonot at stock to he h*soeot tbtrefor, $esvicea otosat have been rendend asyd eapernes incurred befor* *tock is
issued thrftst.

482 THE BAHA’f WORLD
ii: 3
Th name reidece and patciffie ad$ess f of the oces ar a
% NAt o1 OcE - RmtcE ]osr-Ornci Aouiss
(CtyorTwn)
tChairman HLrafl Ober Eliot ,Maine 430 Paxk is.
Bldg. oeton,JLa*s.
Jreasurer Victois amba1t Arlington,Ma5$ 3 Pilgisia Roa&
(, retary)en L,Afc11au1t1ArlitOn,a PilgriaRoad Dircto (ur Officcrf havog bc power of retor),
Vioe Cheirman Roiehan ft1kneon, BrpO1ine)a8$ 1232 Beacon Street.
.LcCie Bostaa,Kaas 331 fluntingion Ave
Roan U.0rIff, Beton1ea 20 Ohar1eegateWe&t,
ioia A. Gorhom, BoatonKaes 25 Park Drive . 30 olyOke Stfeet,
Lelia WjtiUr (East )BoatonJaas 1061 Baisatoga st
.0
WBIREoF nd undrr th f priury wc have bcreto ignd or r ne fhs QUt iy of April n th yca nhwtrrinrndred

rnd forty (?
$a
:4

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 483
F VI
4.
Sbr eomlunnweatt4 at
RECEIVED WRITE NOTHING
-) 5c..0j_
APR 5— 1940 orfr.raltoa Sod Coniia
DflORATK* ‘n
SECRETARY’S OFFICE -r1L1S-- .Meik1z. ckt the B.ha!4_ °‘
the City of Boston, The ..
Articles of Organization
C ‘VE[) Groom, i oms, toonno ISO, S.oo*o 7
I - ,jfl Filed in ‘he office of the hnrflaey of the ro,rmooown:rh, °
F ‘-.ç1v -s OI
%oL ,jjr’ .TI3:S
1 I,erohc ocrttiy char it q’cara, oocn 50 rt0000.,ttOO of
rho rrith,o sort le, of orgorcic.,rror, the agreement o5 nmororiott,
the I c Iamt sn-I the rtorrrrla of tht in otp.rtotcrt. 4017’ itlrtnitttd
oritin, hit rI,e rrqtrrn,nrnrs of ‘So Gtt,etoi lam. touting to the
rr4atnstnnoi titrionooma hit e lottt orrttpiitd toith, •ttd I
botchy gpprott said ardelro rio’
1 doy of Al._n.0k 1044
(irottot to he sent to — __ _•_ - —.
-‘--- - -?

to/.n. fJV’h 44°
L
484 THE BAHA’I WORLD
CM?J.FICAT OF FORATIO OF A
000AZ. SPflUTUAL A SgMSLy SY JOINT OiiGOARATION
We the i2nsd do here certify to the National Spiritual Aeerabiy of the
Bahaa f the Guited StaSea tod Qanade that we have c olarsion frsed tNe
lcel SpirinwLL Aeaesbiy of the SeNL Is of ‘i i ,
citF state province
on the date of April 21, i4f in aç cadence with the following cunditionc end re— quirewenta
1. AU applicants have annerted their full acceptance of the qualifications of a. a&i by zndivAdwliy aigniog the enroiiuaOt card provided by the Nation—
ai Spiritual ANseably for ragietfetion of beilavayn cat csaeheoa of en eatabijed— gj
2. All nine applicants hereby assert their t’uil acceptance, individually and ccl— lectively, I the functions of a local Spiritual seably as set forth i the Will
cad £etarcent of 1AMal_flsh, in the writinga of L3cagbi gtTeztdi, and in the Gonstitutioca and d-hawe of the National Spiritual Asaeahty, eon their
cow— plate reanicesa to accapt such farther oavalopeeOt of thoae,functicna as say frOm tire to ties be explained by th Guardian of the Bao ‘i faith or by
the National Spiritual Aeaeably of the Gah’is of the United States and Canada.
S. AlL otne are residuoto of this one eaae civil Oo5awdty,
4. AU caine are twenty—one or anre years of ege
Our purpose in eubaitalng this Certification no the National Spiritual Asoerbiy
in to request recognition of th Spiritual macholy of the Bes of this
sue its earoileent in the Adeawbif lieS aaintaaaeu by the National Spiritual Ase-.
bay. We severally wit.ues* Shed thu following signatures ware iritwa in the presence
f each othøf.
1,7 :4( 1 +

./‘ S._________________

4/’3
And we further report that fOLtowici the fora5tton of the
olot declaration, iSa wenbera proceeded tc
, lJhairaaa

‘xc - , Secretary
whi b Nlectiop. ineerti.fiad,for t1o
bato
Note if ore other eddreee than that of the Secretary is to he ucd for corraspon.-. cencC 00 at eceiviitg copiee of Sab Newa, please indicate • If other
Xficure
icotod in addition to thosø pvi4ød in the above tCra add their s.
Certificate of Formation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ls of Mexico City, Mexico.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

This is the first Bahá’i Community of Latin America. Mexico City has the First
Spiritual Assembly to be formed in that part of the new world and possesses a newly opened Bahá’i Center and reading
room.
Membership card used in enrolling new believers in the Bahá’i Faith in the City of Mexico.

TRANSLATION
The belief of the Bahá’is is that this is the Day in which God has established the promised union of all religions, and this is my belief
also. The Cause of God appeared through the Manifestation of the Báb; and through the Manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh the Laws of God
were revealed for all humanity.

The administrative institutions of the New World Order were made known by ‘Abdu’lBahá, the Center of the Covenant
made by Bahá’u’llah and the Interpreter of His Word. According to the sacred Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the
Guardian guides the establishment of the World Community.
And I, with all my heart, desire to live under this New World Order.
Bahá’is of the newly established community of Mexico City, Mexico.

El sentimiento de los Bahâ’is es que este es el Dia, en el cual Dios ha cumplido Ia union prometida por todas las
religiones, y es, tambien el sentimiento mio. La Causa de Dios aparecio por Ia Manifestacion del Báb; y, por Ia
ManifestaciOn de Bahá’u’lláh, las Ieyes de Dios fueron reveladas para toda la humanidad. Las instituciónes
administrativas del Nuevo Orden Mundial fueron dibujadas por ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, El Centro del Pacto hecho por
Bahá’u’lláh y El Intérprete de Su Palabra. En acuerdo con el sagrado Testamento de ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, El Guardian guiá Ia
construcción de La Communidad Mundial.
Y, yo, con todo corazon, deseo vivir en El Nuevo Orden Universal.

486 THE BAHA’I WORLD
COMMONWEALTH or AUSTRALIA -
me TRAPE MA5KS ACT rRA-i9%. -
CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION OF A TRADE MARK.
.f Trade Marks, do hereby certify that the Trade Mark, a representation of whiih is shown I)eressnderl,has beep registered in Clns...,.,,.3
irs respect
of. ... .Ptbutos.tionØ. .,...:
a period of Fort sears as from the day of A.O. 191t.
and that
Pt $9th.WisEa flgje t t.44S5’ Cgg*AflwUgs
flo
1t3 been entered on the Register of Trade Marks as the Pruprieksr thereof.
I certfr further thet the Trade Mark in question Was advertised irs the “Australian Official Josrrnal of Trade Màyks” of the.
eUtMnth]ir4 dsy of..SW l9,,, VoLe.,, No.22, Page.,i69.35 raapn. gt,,the &mc oM.St,Gn*P Gven under irty Hand and the Seal
of the Trade Marks Offirt this....ZflfltYtrfltt, ..day of..,,Q,otq)ixtzsjS3ftra
Registrar of Trade Marks,
Trade mark certificate obtained from the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia covering the name
“Bahá’i” and the symbol of the Greatest Name.
c,•
II;;_
‘i’:i
Ji IL’
-j’ w’i;üi :‘Lj
‘,_-4, J
t,t
L1i,

‘(/“ -Z” q4_v J’’t’
-/ ‘Y
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 487

1.)

:

Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahâ’is of fran.
488 THE BAHA’I WORLD 1_j
I J4 kae A
1 k. LP , L;
)1I JL; U

Bahã’I Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’Is of
Egypt and Südán.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

j95 ç) c-’
e JU•J ±1 >-

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— —__- ___—.--,-—.— ...•. .

jL.,JI ji çs::: y jiM
Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq.

r.T_

%)A çJç9iiJ

—--
490 THE BAHA’I WORLD
:;Lii 1JAPLiI
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• •. ,L ...

£‘i.-. LJA)L J,’J k,}’:I, 4iia’i, Bahi’I Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’is of Iran.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHAU’LLAH 491
I
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________________

--.. —...--—..----—J
...-_.__-.. _-.______

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______ ....

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L.
Bahá’i Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the BaM’is of
Egypt and Siidán.

na he 4ebrateb i iizc ut ok antt
SP1RTUAL ASU3LY ( th BAHAIS / CHICAGO

5tee of fl1rete )
c°’
poeja peatc bøfo’e 4
t of oek o o of
- -4k oo tlCat ‘0 ha the neøxt of

ou aeota t* be rote4. Thie effi*,jt te to
t0 E .1 eoiage 1e et Ott foth to the woitin or
/ ç /2 )
-

30ro to- ,n4 4jta4 before . -

_a. ______________

aor1 *iie -
Marriage License Issued by the State of Illinois authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Chicago,
Illinois, to solemnize Bahá’i marriages, with explanatory letter.

492 THE BAHA’i WORLD

anti jrson L11q )1utIor1z6to $okmnizMrrjaga.
,# n ______The Pooe.o ,e t.?duCiO.* okj
ierebj oerd4. that • d M4tJ 2I4L __L
uke4 Ia Max1ago b7 the Crnirty of Cook eE1floic1j
oe fhti 4ay oLCk. is4L C
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Text in frnian of the Outline of Bahá’I Laws regarding Matters of Personal Status submitted for recognition to the Egyptian Government by
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Egypt and Si’idán.

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THE BAHA’ WORLD

Map of Bahã’i holdings showing extension of properties surrounding and dedicated to the
Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel.

0/ Me aanai Commw,Uy Ha if

flnnttmiwtat attxrcafl! tgt,dc.s H,eh
hgrE

LJz -
PART TWO
(Continued)
3.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-
ADH}CAR
Visible Embodiment of the Universality of the Faith of Bahd’u’lldh
FOREWORD

MANY discerning minds have testified to the profoundly significant change which has taken place during recent years
in the character of popular religious thinking. Religion has developed an entirely new emphasis, more especially for the
layman, quite independent of the older sectarian divisions.
Instead of considering that religion is a matter of turning toward an abstract creed, the average religionist today is
concerned with the practical applications of religion to the problems of human life. Religion, in brief, after having
apparently lost its influence in terms of theology, has been restored more powerfully than ever as a spirit of
brotherhood, an impulse toward unity, and an ideal making for a more enlightened civilization throughout the world.
Against this background, the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar stands revealed as the supreme expression of all
those modern religious tendencies animated by social ideals which do not repudiate the reality of spiritual experience
but seek to transform it into a dynamic striving for unity. The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, when clearly understood, gives the
world its most potent agency for applying mystical vision or idealistic aspiration to the service of humanity. It makes
visible and concrete those deeper meanings and wider possibilities of religion which could not be realized until the
dawn of this universal age.
The term “Mashriqu’l-Adhkar” means literally, “Dawning-place of the praise of God.”
To appreciate the significance of this

Bahá’i institution, we must lay aside all customary ideas of the churches and cathedrals of the past. The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár fulfills the
original intention of religion in each dispensation, before that intention had become altered and veiled by human invention and belief.
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is a channel releasing spiritual powers for social regeneration because it fills a different function than that
assumed by the sectarian church. Its essential purpose is to provide a community meeting-place for all who are seeking to worship
God, and achieves this purpose by interposing no man-made veils between the worshiper and the Supreme. Thus, the Mashriqu’l-
Adhkár is freely open to people of all Faiths on equal terms, who now realize the universality of Bahá’u’lláh in revealing the oneness
of all the Prophets. Moreover, since the Bahá’i Faith has no professional clergy, the worshiper entering the Temple hears no sermon
and takes part in no ritual the emotional effect of which is to establish a separate group consciousness.
Integral with the Temple are its accessory buildings, without which the Mashriqu’lAdhkir would not be a complete social institution.
These buildings are to be devoted to such activities as a school for science, a hospice, a hospital, an asylum for orphans. Here the
circle of spiritual experience at last joins, as prayer and worship are allied directly to creative service, eliminating the static subjective
elements from religion and laying a foundation for a new and higher type of human association.
HORACE HOLLEY.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, or Bahá’i Temple, showing ornamentation of second story

c

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-- V 1-
- 71_i_A

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in process, 1938.
THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR

THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR
A LETTER FROM SHOGHI EFFENDI

The Beloved of the Lord and the Hand- maids of the Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.
My well-beloved friends:
Ever since that remarkable manifestation of Bahá’i solidarity and self-sacrifice which has signalized the proceedings of
last year’s memorable Convention, I have been expectantly awaiting the news of a steady and continuous support of the
Plan which can alone ensure, ere the present year draws to its close, the resumption of building operations on our
beloved Temple.
Moved by an impulse that I could not resist, I have felt impelled to forego what may be regarded as the most valuable
and sacred possession in the Holy Land for the furthering of that noble enterprise which you have set your hearts to
achieve. With the hearty concurrence of our dear Bahá’l brother, Ziaoulláh Asgarzadeh, who years ago donated it to the
Most Holy Shrine, this precious ornament of the Tomb of Bahã’u’lláh has been already shipped to your shores, with
our fondest hope that the proceeds from its sale may at once ennoble and reinforce the unnumbered offerings of the
American believers already accumulated on the altar of Bahá’i sacrifice. I have longed ever since to witness such
evidences of spontaneous and generous response on your part as would tend to fortify within me a confidence that has
never wavered in the inexhaustible vitality of the Faith of Bahá’u’llah in that land.
I need not stress at this moment the high hopes which so startling a display of unsparing devotion to our sacred Temple
has already aroused in the breasts of the multitude of our brethren throughout the East. Nor is it I feel necessary to
impress upon those who are primarily concerned with its erection the gradual change of outlook which the early
prospect of the construction of the far-famed Mashriqu’l-Adhkar in America has unmistakably occasioned in

high places among the hitherto sceptical and indifferent towards the merits and the practicability of the Faith
proclaimed by Bahá’u’llfh. Neither do I need to expatiate upon the hopes and fears of the Greatest Holy Leaf, now in
the evening of her life, with deepening shadows caused by failing eyesight and declining strength swiftly gathering
about her, yearning to hear as the one remaining solace in her swiftly ebbing life the news of the resumption of work on
an Edifice, the glories of which she has, from the lips of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself, learned to admire. I cannot surely
overrate at the present juncture in the progress of our task the challenging character of these remaining months of the
year as a swiftly passing opportunity which it is in our power to seize and utilize, ere it is too late, for the edification of
our expectant brethren throughout the flst, for the vindication in the eyes of the world at large of the realities of our
Faith, and last but not least for the realization of what is the Greatest Holy Leaf’s fondest desire.
As I have already intimated in the course of my conversations with visiting pilgrims, so vast and significant an
enterprise as the construction of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West should be supported, not by the munificence
of a few but by the joint contributions of the entire mass of the convinced followers of the Faith. It cannot be denied
that the emanations of spiritual power and inspiration destined to radiate from the central Edifice of the
Mashriqu’lAdhkár will to a very large extent depend upon the range and variety of the contributing believers, as well as
upon the nature and degree of self-abnegation which their unsolicited offerings will entail. Moreover, we should, I feel,
regard it as an axiom and guiding principle of Rahã’i administration that in the conduct of every specific Bahá’i
activity, as different from undertakings of a humanitarian, philanthropic, or charitable character, which may in future be
con-

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Sculptor carving central panel over doorway.

Model for detail of First Story of Temple, in Process at Earley Studios.

pict160.jpg
pict161.jpg

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR

An early picture of Louis Bourgeois, the French Canadian architect whose design for a Bahã’i Temple is now being
constructed at
Wilmette, Illinois.

ducted under Bahá’i auspices, only those who have already identified themselves with the Faith and are regarded as its avowed and
unreserved supporters should be invited to join and collaborate. For apart from the consideration of embarrassing complications which
the association of non-believers in the financing of institutions of a strictly Bahá’i character may conceivably engender in the
administration of the Bahá’i community of the future, it should be remembered that these specific Bahá’i institutions, which should be
viewed in the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s gifts bestowed upon the world, can best function and most powerfully exert their influence in the
world only if reared and maintained solely by the support of those

who are fully conscious of, and are unreservedly submissive to, the claims inherent in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. In cases,
however, when a friend or sympathizer of the Faith eagerly insists on a monetary contribution for the promotion of the Faith, such
gifts should be accepted and duly acknowledged by the elected representatives of the believers with the express understanding that
they would be utilized by them only to reinforce that section of the Bahá’i Fund exclusively devoted to philanthropic or charitable
purposes. For, as the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh extends in scope and in influence, and the resources of Bahá’i communities correspondingly
multiply, it will become increasingly desirable to differentiate between

I
iI
pict162.jpg

THE BAHA’ WORLD

Completing the clay model of a unit to go
on the first story.

Carving an Original Model.

pict163.jpg
pict164.jpg

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR

--—
—

& 1$a t1IàiI
such departments of the Bahá’i treasury as minister to the needs of the world at large, and those that are specifically designed to
promote the direct interests of the Faith itself. From this apparent divorce between Bahá’i and humanitarian activities it must not,
however, be inferred that the animating purpose of the Faith of Bahã’u’lláh stands at variance with the aims and objects of the
humanitarian and philanthropic institutions of the day. Nay, it should be realized by every judicious promoter of the Faith that at such
an early stage in the evolution and crystallization of the Cause such discriminating and precautionary measures are inevitable and even
necessary if the nascent institutions of the Faith are to emerge triumphant and unimpaired from the present welter of confused and
often conflicting interests with which they are surrounded. This note of warning may not be thought inappropriate at a time when,
inflamed by a consuming passion to witness the early completion of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, we may not only be apt to acquiesce in
the desire of those who, as yet uninitiated into the Cause, are willing to lend financial assistance to its institutions, but may even

feel inclined to solicit from them such aid as it is in their power to render. Ours surely is the paramount duty so to acquit ourselves in
the discharge of our most sacred task that in the days to come neither the tongue of the slanderer nor the pen of the malevolent suay
dare to insinuate that so beauteous, so significant an Edifice has been reared by anything short of the unanimous, the exclusive, and
the self-sacrificing strivings of the small yet determined body of the convinced supporters of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. How delicate
our task, how pressing the responsibility that weighs upon us, who are called upon on one hand to preserve inviolate the integrity and
the identity of the regenerating Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and to vindicate on the other its broad, its humanitarian, its all-embracing
principles!
True, we cannot fail to realize at the present stage of our work the extremely limited number of contributors qualified to lend financial
support to such a vast, such an elaborate and costly enterprise. We are fully aware of the many issues and varied Bahá’i activities that
are unavoidably held in abeyance pending the successful conclusion of

t—

Design for the Bahá’I Temple by Mr. L. S. Buffington, architect, of Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
pict165.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

the Plan of Unified Action. We are only too conscious of the pressing need of some sort of befitting and concrete
embodiment of the spirit animating the Cause that would stand in the heart of the American Continent both as a witness
and as a rallying center to the manifold activities of a fast growing Faith. But spurred by those reflections may we not
bestir ourselves and resolve as we have never resolved before to hasten by every means in our power the consummation
of this all-absorbing yet so meritorius task? I beseech you, dear friends, not to allow considerations of number, or the
consciousness of the limitation of our resources, or even the experience of inevitable setbacks which every mighty
undertaking is bound to encounter, to blur your vision, to dim your hopes, or to paralyze your efforts in the prosecution
of your divinely appointed task. Neither, do I entreat you, suffer the least deviation into the paths of expediency and
compromise to obstruct those channels of vivifying grace that can alone provide the inspiration and strength vital

not only to the successful conduct of its material construction, but to the fulfillment of its high destiny.
And while we bend our efforts and strain our nerves in a feverish pursuit to provide the necessary means for the speedy
construction of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, may we not pause for a moment to examine those statements which set forth
the purpose as well as the functions of this symbolical yet so spiritually potent Edifice? It will be readily admitted that
at a time when the tenets of a Faith, not yet fully emerged from the fires of repression, are as yet improperly defined
and imperfectly understood, the utmost caution should be exercised in revealing the true nature of those institutions
which are indissolubly associated with its name.
Without attempting an exhaustive survey of the distinguishing features and purpose of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkâr, I should
feel content at the present time to draw your attention to what I regard as certain misleading statements that have found
currency in van-

Design for the Bahã’i Temple by Mr. F. 3. Woodward, architect, of Washington, D. C.
pict166.jpg

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR

$11

I

One of the designs submitted by Mr. Charles Mason
Remey, architect, of Washington, D. C., for the
Bahá’I Temple competition held in New York, 1919.

ous quarters, and which may lead gradually to a grave misapprehension of the true purpose and essential character of
the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
It should be borne in mind that the central Edifice of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, round which in the fullness of time shall
cluster such institutions of social service as shall afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to the poor, shelter to the
wayfarer, solace to the bereaved, and education to the ignorant, should be regarded apart from these Dependencies, as a
House solely designed and entirely dedicated to the worship of God in accordance with the few yet definitely pre scribe

principles established by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. It should not be inferred, however, from this general
statement that the interior of the central Edifice itself will be converted into a conglomeration of religious services
conducted along lines associated with the traditional procedure obtaining in churches, mosques, synagogues, and other
temples of worship. Its various avenues of approach, all converging towards the central Hall beneath its dome, will not
serve as admittance. to those sectarian adherents of rigid formul and manmade creeds, each bent, according to his way,
to observe his rites, recite his prayers,
pict167.jpg

512 THE BAHA’T WORLD
*
‘—A

perform his ablutions, and display the particular symbols of his faith within separately defined sections of Bahá’u’lláh’s Universal
House of Worship. Far from the Mashriqu’lAdhkãr offering such a spectacle of incoherent and confused sectarian observances and
rites, a condition wholly incompatible with the provisions of the Aqdas and irreconcilable with the spirit it inculcates, the central
House of Bahá’i worship, enshrined within the Mashriqu’l-Acjkár, will gather within its chastened walls, in a serenely spiritual
atmosphere, only those who, discarding forever the trappings of elaborate and ostentatious ceremony, are willing worshipers of the
one true God, as mani feste

in this age in the Person of Bahá’u’lláh. To them will the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár symbolize the fundamental verity
underlying the Bahi’i Faith, that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is not final but
progressive. Theirs will be the conviction that an all- loving and ever-watchful Father Who, in the past, and at various
stages in the evolution of mankind, has sent forth His Prophets as the Bearers of His Message and the Manifestations of
His Light to mankind, cannot at this critical period of their civilization withhold from His children the Guidance which
they sorely need amid the darkness which has beset them, and which

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Design submitted by Mr. W. S. Maxwell, architect, of Montreal, Canada, for the competition for the Bahá’i Temple,
held in New York, 1919.

pict168.jpg

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAP.

neither the light of science nor that of human intellect and wisdom can succeed in dissipating. And thus having
recognized in Bahá’u’llãh the source whence this celestial light proceeds, they will irresistibly feel attracted to seek the
shelter of His House, and congregate therein, unhampered by ceremonials and unfettered by creed, to render homage to
the one true God, the Essence and Orb of eternal Truth, and to exalt and magnify the name of His Messengers and
Prophets Who, from time immemorial even unto our day, have, under divers circumstances and in varying measure,
mirrored forth to a dark and wayward world the light of heavenly Guidance.
Rut however inspiring the conception of Bahá’i worship, as witnessed in the central Edifice of this exalted Temple, it
cannot be regarded as the sole, nor even the essential, factor in the part which the Mashriqu’lAdhkár, as designed by
Bahá’u’lláh, is destined to play in the organic life of the Bahá’i community. Divorced from the social, hu manitarian

educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, Bahá’i worship,
however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve beyond the meager and
often transitory results produced by the contemplations” of the ascetic or the communion of the passive worshiper. It
cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshiper himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and
until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is the
supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár to facilitate and promote. Nor will the exertions, no
matter how disinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu’lAdhkár will be engaged in
administering the affairs of the future Bahá’i Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close
and daily communion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating
The site of the first Bahá’i Temple of the western world as it appeared on Sept. 24th, 1920 when excavation for the
foundation was begun, in Wilmette, Illinois.

pict169.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Bahá’is and workmen gathered on Sept. 24th, 1920, when the first drilling for bed-rock was begun at the site of the
Bahá’i Temple, Wilmette, Illinois. The man holding a photograph of the design for the Temple is Louis Bourgeois, the
architect of the building.

from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu’lAdhkár. Nothing short of direct and constant interaction between the spiritual
forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashriqu’lAdhkãr, and the energies
consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity can possibly provide the
necessary agency capable of removing the ills that have so long and so grievously afflicted humanity. For it is assuredly
upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual
communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles
and laws He revealed,

that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend. And of all the institutions that stand associated with His
Holy Name, surely none save the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár can most adequately provide the essentials of
Bahã’i worship and service, both so vital to the regeneration of the world. Therein lies the secret of the loftiness, of the
potency, of the unique position of thc Mashriqu’l-Adkãr as one of the outstanding institutions conceived by
Bahá’u’llãh.
Dearly-beloved friends! May we not as the trustees of so priceless a heritage, arise to fulfill our high destiny?
Haifa, Palestine,
October 25, 1929.

&&&
pict170.jpg

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR

The “Mth Temple of the West” reflected in the still waters of Lake Michigan.

$15

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pict171.jpg
pict172.jpg

516 THE BAHA’i WORLD
BAHA’ TEXTS FOR THE NINE OUTER DOORS OF THE
MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR
1. The earth is but one coljntry; and mankind its citizens.
2. The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.
3. My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure.
4. Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.
5. Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.
6. I have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?
7. Make mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee.
8. 0 rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.
9. The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR

ILLINOIS
The Bahá’i Temple used as design for Cachet selected by the Postal authorities of Wilmette, Illinois and used on all
outgoing mail during National Air Mail Week
May 15-21, 1938.
Arrange Program for Air Mail Week Observance in Wilmette
Poster, Essay Contests Pro- tb0 of the establishment of air mail cede Week’s Activities service, tern oard that stamp eollrc.
tars everywhere are eagerly awastrng
Prrporatioes foe the ohservaece of °° olPirtaoriY to recore first-dat
5Pt5 c Air M.iI Ysn, Letter. I
lv Postmaslrr Herbert L. OCooneil. Villa gers ace carvestly invited to general chairman iv charge of an- participate io the ovent by mailing at rangerarels, and the complete pro- eats on rlettrr at the Wilmette post
gram for the meek mill soya hr an- office to he forwarded by air mtil.
r,nnaeced. - Several groaps are nosy holding es Wjsmest is taking ae active part is trra numbering iota the bander-in tire essay and pattrr contests, Mr. for that purpose. Local residents
—0 CouncIl states that he has rrcciard wlrate batiness affiliations are irs Chiand sent to list Chiragn heard vi rage are alsn planning to make largr awards twrety-loar pcstrr drtigcs mailings 1mm tltit point. received
Iroso payilt ef the grade and Mr. O’Connell urgently invites alt pavochtal schnol,, the latter sendrng civic, fraternal, religious sod cornre by far tho larger nawbnr. Essays mernial groups in the villagr to lend brie g
restricted to high schools, sty- a band ia plaoing the Wilmrtse post dents vi Mallinchrods, else ovly high slime iv the first raah of nefebraots school in the village, sabmitled thirty si She 211th 000icessary of air nail

essays in thy comyrtitiurs. Is is seder- service stood shot the awards mill he made — _____________________— in odvarce of Air Mail wrrh Amerig
the postrrn, especially, thc’rmvvrrr
several esoeplinoally fine renderings
of orrgieat ideas.
D.e..n. Cnlset
The aconmpasryirrg illostrasion
uhomsanesclssicc caches to be used
on all air snail sent out from nbc
Wilmettr post offics dorrng Air Mart
week. It shown the dome of Baha’i
temple is Wifmrttr, mitts a mail place
The design is sserntly orrgrrral,
ts created by local tairvi.
Federal 5oct01 drparlmrrlt has
rd a special air snail stansp
will hr placed ua sale en the

1918-1938

WILMETTE
Mailed at
BAHA’I TEMPLE
NATIONAL AIR MAlI. WEEK, MAY 15-21,1938
WILMETTI1 LIFE

pict173.jpg

pict174.jpg

THE RAHA’I WORLD

(niteb tatt ot Wce
nr4ta

kiilhotte, flhiooio, optflber ?th,, 3O.

Nrten!1 S;iritzzc Assembly of thd
rn Lore,
Eliot1 Moiae
Your letter of the 2nf fm Mr. !Tolley xr.ieasiaf
oppreotat{pn to us for the roe o.t the bths*i Temple for the
Wilmette ieeigzi for At r Mail Week rermiwe4 ao we are elwoyo plfled to yet lotion of this nrtume Wø tnt that in ohoesing this far
oqr àesise, we were toling the eutoiaadtn building met only of Wilatte1but of the World, seeing thet there to be other to ooswtre I3*h
it in arohiteottte,
1e aloe wish to thank you and your foilewer for the
intoreet ohon by tbe in milling theos orohots to theirjriende
during Air UaiTWflki
Respeotfully yours,
-:
Qoetthaoter

Letter of the Postmaster of Wilmette, Illinois, to The National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá’Is of the United States and Canada.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHICAR

THE TEMPLES OF THE AGES
B ALLEN MCDANIEL

SAVAGE man in time of storm and trouble sought comfort and refuge in appealing to an unseen power, which as
time went on grew into the proportions of a deity. To propitiate this great power, he set up altars on the high places and
offered up sacrifices of animals and even of human flesh. In the plains countries, ancient so- called civilizations built
great pyramid- shaped structures, on the tops of which the priests performed the rites of sacrifice. Thus the earliest
temples resembled the Tower of Babel, and their remains have been found in the jungles of Yucatan and Peru and in
the valleys of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The children of Israel, on their wanderings from bondage into the Promised Land, carried their place of worship—a
portable tent-like structure—with them. Hundreds of years later their temple was set up in permanent form by Solomon
in Jerusalem. This temple was similar in form, style and construction to the temples erected as early as 2000 n. c. by the
Pharaohs on the banks of the Nile in Egypt. Rectangular in form and consisting of several rooms or courts, the roofs of
which were supported by rows of columns, these buildings were of great size. Blocks of stone weighing many tons
each were used for the columns and lintels, and many centuries were required for the building of these structures. The
temples were not houses of worship for the people, but the habitation of the deity, whose statue was placed generally in
an inner court, where the priests performed the sacred rites.
This form of Temple reached its highest development in Greece about 500 years before the time of the Christ. The
Parthenon, erected to Athena Parthenos, is still considered one of the finest examples of the temple structures of the
ancient civilizations.
During this early period, the Romans were developing a wide range of buildings adapted to their complex civilization
and available materials. They made the arch and vault the basic elements of their construc tion

and used a native material from the slopes of Vesuvius to form a plastic material which hardened on setting—the precursor of our
modern concrete. The rectangular form of temple structure was followed early by the circular building, the noblest example of which
was the Pantheon built in the early part of the second century after Christ. This building was unique in its massive dome rising to a
height of 140 feet and furnishing light and air through a circular opening 28 feet in diameter at its top.
The official recognition of Christianity in the year 328 A. U. by Constantine legalized an institution which for three centuries had been
growing in power and influence toward its conquest of the ancient world. With this civilization of the West came an artistic awakening
in the arts, which was exemplified by the building of the basilica type of church, a rectangular shaped structure comprising a lofty
nave separated by rows of columns from the single or double side- aisles. At the far end of the nave was the sanctuary with seats for
the clergy, who performed the rites on the altar in front of the raised platform of the apse. Projections of the main building to the right
and lef t— known as transepts—sometimes were extended before the altar and covered the shrine of the saint or martyr. Many
basilicas were built in Italy and in the Holy Land during the early days of the Christian era, but the largest and finest were built by
Constantine.
With the fall of Rome in the West, there arose in the East, especially in the capital founded by Constantine in ancient Byzantium,
located at the natural highway of commerce between East and West, a new form of church architecture. The first emperor of
Christianity had a predilection for circular buildings and built a number of tombs and baptisteries in this form—notable of which was
the baptistery for his sister Constantia in Rome. Byzantine architecture evolved from the Roman, using the arch

no THE BAHA’i WORLD

Front Elevation of the Church of Church of Notre Dame in Paris.
St. John Lateran, Rome.

:1
Amiens Cathedral, France. Interior.

The Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem.

pict175.jpg
pict176.jpg

THE INSTITUTIoN OF THE MASHRIQU’LADHKAR

and dome as the principal structural elements. The dome was applied early to square forms, resulting in the use of triangular spherical
surfaces to carry the load from the dome to points of support at the corners of the square. Side domes extended the space around the
central dome. Thus was developed the principle of carrying the roof loads down through vaults to the supporting piers and columns, a
principle which reached its highest development in the Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages.
Hagia Sophia (Divine Wisdom) built about 500 A. D. at Constantinople is the outstanding example of the Byzantine church, with its
imposing masses of brick and stone masonry and its elaborate interior ornamentation of marble paneling, mosaic, wall decorations and
hangings. The influence of this art was widespread, extending through Europe and Asia and manifesting itself in such later structures
as St. Mark’s at Venice, a monumental building with five domes and richly ornamented both externally and internally with colored
marble and mosaics.
While the Byzantine Empire was at its zenith, the new faith of Islam was spreading rapidly through western Asia and the lands along
the Mediterranean Sea. The followers of Muhammad in the construction of their churches followed, in a general way, the plan and
style of the contemporary Christian structures; in the smaller room or outer court the followers of the faith performed the requisite
ablutions and ceremonies preparatory to entering the inner room of worship with its central dome. The mosques of the Moslem world,
however, were distinctive in the use of a bulbous form of dome, in emphasis on exterior entrances and doorways, in minute surface
ornamentation of a geometric pattern, and in the absence of pictures and sculpture which were predominant in later Byzantine
churches. Climatic conditions of the East were favorable to the use of tile for exterior walls, and afforded an opportunity for the wide
use of color. In southern Spain, the Moorish civilization was marked by the extraordinary development of a unique and beautiful
architecture, which has had its influence to this day in the

synagogues of the Jews throughout the world. The Great Mosque at Cordova, the Alcazars of Seville and Malaga, the
Giralda at Seville, and the Alhambra at Granada are famous buildings of this great civilization, which may be destroyed
during the tempestuous conflict, which is casting its devastating blight over this land.
The so-called Dark Ages, which followed the fall of the Western Empire in 476 A.D. marked the beginning of a new
epoch in church architecture. The Roman monuments covering the soil of southern Europe were a constant object
lesson to the builders of that time and served as the basis for the early evolution of the Romanesque styles which
formed the transitional stage between the basilica of the early Christian era and the Gothic cathedral of the Middle
Ages. Basilica in plan, the churches of the tenth to twelfth centuries, especially in southern France and northern Italy,
were distinguished by the round arch, towers and occasional spires and exterior ornamentation of gabled porches,
arcades and galleries, and sculptured doorways.
With the gradual development of the vaulting, which formed the ceilings of the naves and aisles of the churches, the
craftsmen of these days carried their buildings to a greater height, concentrating the roof and wall loads on piers and
columns made up of clustered rihs and posts within and transferring the loads to buttresses on the exterior. Thus the
cathedrals became lovely, lace-like structures with great windows filled in with stained glass and stone tracery,
surmounted with graceful pointed arches. Structurally these builders evolved the principle of balanced thrusts, which
made possible the beautiful, towering churches, which were the fruits of the labor of generations of worshipers and are
enduring monuments to the faith and skill of architects, builders and sculptors of this age.
With the passing of mediaeval monasticism and asceticism, and the spread of the intellectual awakening known as the
Renaissance, came the revival of interest in classic styles. This revival manifested itself in the early part of the fifteenth
century in the dome of the cathedral at Florence and culminated in the stupendous church of St.
__ r IlL__
The Church of Santa Sofia, Istanbul.

Hall of Ablutions, Mosque of Sultan Hasan, Cairo, Egypt. (Interior view.)

The Parthenon, Athens, Greece.

A.

J4”
. .1

pict177.jpg

pict178.jpg
pict179.jpg

THE INSTITUTIoN OF THE MASHRIQU’LADHKAR

Peter at Rome. These churches were distinctive for the wealth of external ornamentation and the richness of interior
decoration. Barrel vaults and ribbed domes were outstanding structural features of the church buildings of this period.
After the Renaissance came the Reformation with its period of pillage and destruction of church edifices. Religion
became the sport of political factions, and religious arts ceased for about a century.
England settled her feudal disputes early. The awakening of church architecture was manifested in outstanding
examples of the Palladian style—the best known of which was St. Paul’s in London. In this and other similar structures
of this period, the scientific method was emphasized to secure efficiency in design and economy in the use of materials.
Somewhat later, on the Continent, came the revival of Graeco-Roman building methods as expressed in the Madeleine
and Pantheon in Paris.
Following the classic revival came the Gothic revival which spread from France to England and a century later to the
New World. In England, the Byzantine influence was introduced in the design of several religious buildings, the most
notable of which was Westminster Cathedral.
In America, early church architecture was inspired by the contemporaneous work of the Mother Country, and produced
the so-called Colonial style of New England and the Southeastern States. The first Gothic revival was of short duration
and was followed by the vogue of Romanesque which had a strong influence on church building for a generation. Since
the turn of the twentieth century, the larger churches of both the United States and of Canada have been in the Gothic;
the Cathedral Church of Christ at Victoria, British Columbia, the Washington Cathedral and the Cathedral of St. John
the Divine in New York City are probably the best known of these modern structures.
Considerable comment has appeared in the public press, in technical journals and in popular magazines since the
selection of a design for a Universal House of Worship which is being erected in the heart of the American continent on
the western shore

of Lake Michigan near Chicago. As he gazed upon a plaster model of “The Temple of Light”—the design of Louis Bourgeois— on
exhibition in the Engineering Societies Building in New York City, in June, 1920, a distinguished architect remarked, “This is the first
new idea in religious architecture since the Middle Ages.”
The spirit of the design, which apparently sums up and integrates into one harmonious whole the architectural motifs and structural
elements of the temples and churches of the past, is given in the words of the architect, Louis Bourgeois: “The history of this Temple,
as step by step it unfolds, is so unique that already the story will fill a book. Its inception was not from man for, as musicians, artists,
poets receive their inspiration from another realm, feel themselves to be a receiver by whose means a heavenly melody, a new idea, is
given to the world, so the Temple’s architect through all his years of labor was ever conscious that Bahá’u’llah was the creator of this
building to be erected to His glory. . . . When the manmade creeds are stripped away from all the religions we find nothing left but
harmony. Today, however, religion is so entangled in the superstitions and hypotheses of men that it must needs be stated in a new
form to be once again pure and undefiled. Likewise in architecture those fundamental structural lines which originated in the faith of
all religions are the same, but so covered over are they with the decorations picturing creed upon creed and superstition upon
superstition that we must needs lay them aside and create a new form of ornamentation. Into this new design, then, of the Temple, is
woven, in symbolic form, the great Bahá’i teaching of unity—the unity of all religions and of all mankind. There are combinations of
mathematical lines, symbolizing those of the universe, and in their intricate merging of circle into circle, of circle within circle, we
visualize the merging of all the religions into one.”
“Structurally,” stated Allen B. McDaniel, supervising engineer, in an article in The Technology Review, “the temple is remarkable
in that it will comprise a steel, reinforced concrete and glass framework, on which will be placed the highly ornamental

THE BAHA’! WORLD

surface material. It is a nonagon, or nine- sided structure; each side having the form of a circular arc, with a large doorway in the
center; and the whole edifice giving the appearance of extending welcoming arms to the people approaching from every direction.
Pylons - forty-five feet in height stand like sentinels at the corners of the first story. Above the gallery, the clerestory and the dome are
also nine-sided but with the ribs rising from midway of the first story sides.
“To get a mental picture of the Temple, imagine a lofty cylindrical room topped with a hemispherical dome of 75 feet interior
diameter and extending to a height of 135 feet in the center, formed of glass supported in a metal framework. The glass roof and sides
protect the interior of the building from the weather. When completed, the glass will be concealed within the exterior and interior
surface ornamental material, which will act as perforated screens through which the hght will pass.
“The weight of the structure and the dome is carried principally at nine points equally distant from the center, and the super-structure
is supported on a circular platform or foundation, 202 feet in diameter at the ground surface, and rising by 18 concentric steps to the
main floor of the Temple, which is 153 feet in diameter.
“Entering any one of the nine doors, one will pass through a hallway into the central circular room or auditorium. Out of this main hall
open radially (and separated by the hallways) nine smaller rooms, comparable to chapels in a cathedral. Looking upward toward the
dome, will be seen a gallery

36 feet above the main floor, and above this a second (or singers’) gallery 61 feet above the floor level. Above the second gallery is a
19 foot clerestory from which springs the dome. The galleries project 10 feet into the central hall, giving the latter a clear interior
diameter of 75 feet. The dome will be in three parts; the outer dome of perforated concrete or metal, the concealed wire glass weatherproof dome, and the inner dome of perforated material, decorative in character. The central domed hail will have an area of about
4,000 square feet and seat about 700 people. The nine small rooms opening out of the main hall are about 20 feet wide, 24 feet deep
and with ceilings 33 feet high. These auxiliary rooms will seat about 100 persons each.
“The construction of the ornamental surface structure involves new materials and a new technique of construction. The completed
external ornamentation of the dome unit, carried out by the John J. Earley Studios, reveals an entirely new quality of textural surface,
made possible by the plastic medium employed. Hand-carved models were made of all the different sections, and from the resulting
molds each completed section has been individually cast and then gone over by expert craftsmen. The material selected was quartz,
with a medium of white cement. The result is a surface harder and more enduring than rock, and at the same time carrying an intricate
design as delicate as lace. The color scheme shades from pure white on the dome to light buff at the base. An unusual plan of
illumination will later be installed.”

UNE INSTITUTION BEhAlF
LE 1flACHREQOU’L-
AZIcAR’
D”ACHQABAD
PAR
HIPPOLYTE DREYFUS
Paris
Ernest Leroux, Editeur
1909
Le voyageur qni se rend dans I’Asie centrale par Ia vole ferrde qui dopuis plusieurs années relic Ia mer
Caspienne aux grandes villes du l4urkestan russe, s’arrête d’abord It Achqa1b1d. La’ville et toute
moderne, et l’on n’y roncontre aucune des ruines grandioses qui, ii Merv, It BokhâM, It Samarqand
attestent encore Ic faste do la domination tartare. Memo les luttes reIatjvment récentes des Russes contre
les Turkonians n’ont pour ainsi dire pus laissé do trace dans le pays, et l’on pourrait se croire, en parcourant
les grandes avenues taiilées It angles droits thins Ia
Jioussière du dsert, dans quelque pays récemment ouvert It une exploitation d’industrie intensive, ou dans
quelque cantonment d’une cite de l’Inde.
Pourtant depuis iongtemps les grandes routes des caravanes qul portaient en RUssie los produits de Ia
Perse, du Beloutchis. tan et dii Pendjâb se rencontraient en ce point It Ia deseente du versant nord des
montagnes du Khorassan gravies au sortir de Mechhed. C’est d’ailleurs It l’activité do Ia colonie persane
qul depuis quarante ans est venue chercher au delIt des frontiêres de Ia patrie une sécurité qu’elle n’avait
plus chez cue qu’iI faut attribuer en partie la rapide prospérité d’ AchqItbad. Lo commerce y est en effet
dans une grande proportion entre los mains des nombreuses families persanes qul out quitté leur pays, uu
moment oü les persecutions contre les adeptes du Bab et de Bahà’on’lhlh, le prophèto du Béhaisme, étaient
It leur comble; et ce n’est pas sans un lCgitime orgueil qu’ils montrent
propoa d’une récente acquisition du départewer4 es manuscrits de Ii Bibliotbéque Nationale
Note: “Une Institution Béhaie, Le Machreqou’l-Azkar d’Achqabad” par Hippolyte Dreyfus est extrait des
“Mélanges Hartwig Derenbourg, Recueil de travaux d’érudition dédié a la mémoire de Hartwig
Derenbourg par ses amis et ses élèves.” (Hartwig Derenbourg, membre de 1’ Institut, Professeur a 1’Ecole
Nationale des Langues
Orientales, arabisant, auteur d’ouvrages d’érudition.)

526 THE BAHA’I WORLD
aux étrangcrs le plus beau monument de Ia vile, dont Ia coupole et les minarets élèvent vers Ic del
leurs formes ékgantes. Its aiment a rappeler qu’alors que leur pays les contraignait i l’exil, us out
Pu hbrement so développer ki, et que Ic géwral Kouropalkine, en cc temps gouverneur général
du Turkestan, füt délégué par Ic Tzar pour Ic représenterà Ia cérémonle do Ia pose do la premiere
pierre du Mahreqou l-Azkâr béhal.
Qu’est-ce quo to Mackrcqou l-Azkr; Ic lieu d’oü montent les ikrs ? Ce serait Hue errellr de
s’imaginer, en donnant a ce wot si signification littérale, quo cc monument soit le
lieu oü quelqile secte de fakirs oii de derviches se rassemble pourseli’vrer
Ii Je pleuse gymnastique traditionnelle do son ordre. Ni les Qâdirts, ni les Moulwls, ni les
Beirünils n’ont ici accès; et l’étranger désappointé ne saurait voir ilotter les longues robes
blanches, tournant au signal de l’lmim.
Le plan du inonument que nous reproduisons ci-dessous nous montre également cobien sont
profondes, malgré les ressemblances apparentes, his differences qui empêchent de Ic considérer
comme une simple mosquCe. En effet on Wy trouve nile pulLs destine aux ablutions, nile mihrdh
indiquant Ia direction do Ia qiblak et oü se tient I’Imân pour Ia prière, nile minbar oa l’on monte
pour exhorter les fldèles, et exciter leuil ardeur au réçit des martyres.
C’est qu’à vrai dire to BéhaIsme a apporté de radicales trans or.mations dans UlsIam. On saiL
comment Ia religion nouvelte s’exerce sanclergó, et no comporte aucun des exercices cultuels
considérés ailleurs comme essentiels; nombreuses en effet sont los prescriptions édictées par le
Prophète pour prévenir ce qu’il coasidère comme Ia cause principale do la dégénérescence des
religions et do leur stérilité, c’est-à-dire Ia creation des dogmes qu’ila no tardent par a imposer.
Bahâou’lhth a ainsi supprimé Ia coutume des prières en commun, et tout ce
qui constitue lea liturgies. Si donc les Béhais peuvent se rendre au
achreqou’l-AkAr pour prier, its to font sur leur propre initiative, non it I’appel
do I’âzân, et nut no monte en chaire pour les

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR

admonestor, leur rappeler les principes ile Ia religion, ou dire Ic kijotbé dii vcndredj.
Le monument d’Achqâbâd est par consequent tout autre chose qu’une mosquCe. Line
architecture caratéristique frappe to regard 1ès le premier abord I’édiflce est un polygone a

neuf faces construit aulourde cinqallées concentriques. Aucune statue dons le temple, aucune image sur les
murs : In viellie prescription du judaIsme est toujours eu vigneur, non plus pa crainte des fótichismes
suraxnés, mais pour quo rien ne vienne arrêter l’Ame des fidèles qul s’efforce do s’éiever vers Dieu. Une
pict180.jpg

528 THE BAHA’I WORLD

a
decoration discrete de falences pelychromes et quciques inscrip. Lions dues la plume artistique du
célCbre Mnchkineqahirn vIennent jeter leurs notes claires dans l’austérité dii lieu.
Les nombres 9 et 5 qui out prCsidé it sa consLrut ion rappellent aux adeptes les noms saerés do ;‘ et de
d’après Ia notation de l’abdjad. Verses d’ailleurs dans la science des nonibres, les bChals sont habiles ii
trouver dans ces deux syniboles (le profondes signilications. us savent que Ic nombre parfait de 9, c’est-à-
dire celui qui s’obtient en en additionnant les parties aliquotes,est45’,etque ccliii deS esti5’, quo 5esL
egalaIetlSa quo de memo qu’Adam et ve sont los ancétres de l’huinanité, I’union spirituelle de
Bah1’ou’lhlh et do Bb doit produire Ia génCration qui conduira Ic monde It ses destinées nouvelles, It
I’Adam rCgénCrC, et qu’ainsi doll s’entendre la mystérieuse vérité mathematique : 9 X 5 = 45.
Mais ii ne suffit pas de rechercher’ les significations cachCes des motifs architecturaux de Machreqou’l-
Azkar pour en saisir toute Ia valeur: ii faut surtout se reporter aux textes mCmes qui l’ont institué. A cet
égard, le manuscrit qul est inscrit sous no 6397 du fonds arabe de Ia Bibliothèque Nationale va nous fournir
de précieux renseignements. C’est an élégant volume de 59 feulllets, joliment relié en laque, écrit d’un bout
It Pautre dansle plus pm’ nas/èh, etdontles deuxpremières pagessont finement enluminées par tin artiste
anonyme qu’une pieusemodestie a emp&hé de signer au bas du principal Livre do Bahikou’llikh! C’est en
efTet Ic Kittbou’ l-Aqdas, Ic Livre Très-Saint, qui contient les préceptes de Ia nouvelle religion, une sorte
de code donnant les principes généranx qui serviront pour I’organisalion des sociétés futures. Dans le
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (vol. XXI, new series, p. 495) Ic savant orientaliste E. 6. Browne,
décrivait ainsi le manuscrt qu’il en possCdit, et auquel ii attachait Ia plus précieuse valeur: — It is quite
2. 1÷2=3-I-S=6+410+5 =15+6 =21+7=28-t836+94W.
2. t+2=3+3=6+410 + 15.

THE INSTITUTIoN OF THE MASHRIQU’LADHKAK 529
a small volume, written in Arabic, and summing up the doctrine in its essentials, with regulations
concerning prayer, (he fast, the division of (he year, marriage. inheritance, the puiiiislinient of crime amid
other matters .
Les passages dii Kitibou’ I-Aqdas qui so réfèrent nu Macbreqou’l-Azkâr, (lisséminês 110 pen dans tout le
livre, no sont pas très Ctendus, mnais, a vrai dire, us suffisent a nous en faire connaltre Ia signifieaton et
Ia portée.
q •— 4— , , q, • I

(5 ç$j
y.: S’j
flis certes un Maclircjou’[-Azkár est (onto inaison construite pour (consaerëe a) ma mention dans les
villes et los villages.. Ainsi ont-elles été nomnées devant Ic Trne, si vous tcs do ceux qui savent’ ‘.
Ainsi bate maison, ce qul implique qu’il n’est pas nécessaire d’édifler nn monument ad hoc. Et partout en
Orient oii les croyants Wont pas en los moyens do donner a leur religion Ia consecration somptuense qui
lui a etC rCservCe a Achqâhâd, les Béhais ont réserv Ic nom de Machreqou’l-Azkar a Ia derneure do
ccliii des leurs o& us ont Uhabitude de se rCunir pour lire les versets sacrCs, et dClibérer sur Jes intéréts
gCnér ux de Ia communantC.
Mais Bahâou’l1h plus loin exhorte ses disciples, lorsque Ia situation Ic permnet, a faire plus, a construire
en l’honneur de Dieu des monuments spéciaàx
_—, ,, • I —
— ‘• —. —

?\:cA: c’ -‘5 F ‘J A
— —
t. Loc. cit., feuiIlet 37.

530 THE BAHA’T WORLD

c & :“
..

a £dillez les maisons de l)ieu et ses villes; pius là, mentionnez-le par les melodies des éhis.
En vCritC les cours s’édiilent par Ia tongue comme les maisons et les pays s’édiflent par
Ia main et Ics autres instruments’ Nous allons voir d’ailleurs cc que BahA.ou’llah entend
.

par les villes ile Dieu, ci ponrquol ii attache une importance si considerable la fondation
des Machreqou’l-Azkâr.
Au tenlIlet 5. du manuscrit so trouve Ic verset suivant qui rend obligatoire In prière
solitaire, supprimant ainsi les prières en commun, messes etc. oü s’afflrme le pouvoir des
prCtres sur les foules

c z s’ p4
a II vous a ClC ordonnC de prier seuls, et Ic commandenient de reunion est abrogC saul
dans la prière des morts. En vérité hi est ccliii qul commande, qui gouverne! ))
On salt quo les priéres pour les morts so font dans I’Islain hors Ia presence do l’Imâin, ci
cette exception a l’interdiction générale lui donne sa veritable signification nous nous
trouvons id en presence d’une des nombreuses prescriptions du BChaisme destinées a
détruire l’autoritC des clergés. II en est dc mCme du verset suivant qni s’applique
Cgalement au Machreqou I-Azkr
I. Loc. cit., (eulllet 50.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR 531
i/— — A q
). ‘)‘ )\;‘• jjP. ..); I1 vous est interdjt do monter dens les minhars. Ccliii qili voudra lire pour vous
les versets do soU Seigneur, qu’il s’assoie sur le siege situé sur le divan, et qü’il mentionne Dieu
son Scigiieur et Ic Scigneur des creatures’.
Cc verset sans doute plus que tout autre aboutiri a Ia suppression des clergCs : quo deviendrait
en elTet l’influence des pretres sur Ia foule s’ils s’asseyaient auprès d’elIe, au lieu do Iadmonester
du haul des ehaires, dans l’apparcil impressionnant des églises et des temples?
Telles sont les règles éparses dans le KitAboni-Aqdu qul fixent Ic caractère religleux du
monumept dAchq&bAd. Mais pour en comprendre toute Ia portée, non plus seulement religieuse
mais sociale, ii faut savoir pie Ic Machroqou’l-AzkAr est surtont Ic centre de tonIc une
organisation elvile quo Bahou’llâh dans Ic verset que noas venous do. citer appelle une yule ik
J)bt ct dont do nombreux passages do ses ouvrages et de ceux ite ‘Abdou’l-3ahl, son Ills et
l’interprète de sa doctrine, nous commentent Ia nature. On salt que Abdou’l-Bah est anjourd’bui
le chef dii mouvement béhaf, et que, de SaintJean-d’Acrc oü II reside depuis prè de quarante ans,
II so tient en rapports avec les lldCles dos différentes parties dii monde pour lear donner los
commentaires et les explicatlons qu’ils désirent. C’est ainsi que, dans une pItre dont nous
possédons to manuscrit, II dit, flu sujet dii monument qul nous intéresse: 6
4. Loc. cit., teuillet 48.

32 THE BAHA’I WORLD A
Le Machreqou 1-Azk1r est tine des plus importantes institutiotis de l’humanité, ci ses dépendances sont
nömbreuses. L Machreqou’l-Azk1r est Iden tin lieu do dvotions, mais aussi ii doit étre cii connexion avec
tin hOpital. tin dispensaire, tine maison pour recevoir les voyageurs, une école pour les orphelins, une
université pour l’enseignement des siences supéricures. Chaqiie Machreqou ‘l-Akàr dolt être en con nexion
avec ces cinq fondations. i)
Bah1’ouih1h a done vouhi que-1e Maehreqou’l-Azkr fit non seulement un lieu réservé a Ia prière,
solennel el grandiose comiue ii ‘convient. mais aussi qu’il ft Ic centre de toute uhe organisation sociale,
répondantaux besoins les plus élevés de Ia collectivité, rappelant a chacun ses responsabilités et ses
devoirs, et faisant apparaltre en lettres de pierre cette idée qu’il R Si souvent expriméc dans ses livres, it
savoir qne hi veil- table prière est l’action, ci que ‘Ia religion dolt s’exerecr dans tous les actesde Ia vie. II
na pas manqué dindiquerégalenient de quelle façon ees diffCrentes institutions seraieiit administrees,
comment tin Conseil special, le BaItou’1-Adl, est chargé de cc soin, comme aussi des autres intéréts de Ia
communauté bCliaIe’. Mais cc serait notis entrainer hors dii cadre de cette étude que d’entrer dans tons les
details de cette question.
Nous avons uniquement voulu rechercher I’origine et Ia signification dii monument d”Achqbâd II nous a
paru intéressant de constater comment los BéhaIs, par cette institution, prétendent concilier les
imprescriptibles aspirations de l’me,
qui obligent l’homme parfois it chercher dans les temples Ic rcciieillemont qui lui est iiCcessaire pour prier
it l’abri de l’agitation de Ia vie, avec les iiiesures qui doivent prévenir Ia constitution des clergCs ella
formation des rites; et aussi comment Bahãou’llâh s’est elTorcé de mettre pour ainsi dire Ia religion dans
toutes les fonctions sociales, ci d’en faire Ic signe visible, le centre principal de l’efTort de I’humanité dans
son euvre de solidarité ci de progrès.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKAR

:erS t Ifliwn tiik ::
1. thin, nia11hkiiin ja ddio kuulhvat luEat i miirtaa11i,i oankka1 nilot, Sin iafh
iija. çi4at mm. yIcjsmaaj1rna1L
jiii. kndinyfljju jomio
tk11, Thde1mroslfljs Ite3i
u1i1Uj
IiiMhin j
Q1
t3ny iyi
ôii kaiki MllLlo
t 1 Fir Si iisdi U1 on 11ifa
ai rnyis keii
ikign A fa$ii $hoi J4ikZE
i1ijai*t ra1enfa fl1ai1
phitWte A:iplhi, ChiaiJgthlle i4kiim 3
3Ii1J &iUdia i ,p
tiomTlR
kuu1uk
va $a1Vat
rakimix i
Kokuxiai
44 ii3
irtI o
aiieta. T
ai
13 hUn TWah iirhi jaimi
tepc1ia kat Irjhi.
ti1h 1iifty1t jihta ithih pe1ia.

Bahâi, H
S omaiaaRa y&Ik qa hkh tieoi sijtj, mAkAi dii RaM Id
se on var i4jaJt hiOo)’t YJ (13 sval1oit ja vaikka iillk on kao
1iijia hiyhskin issi
E massa. jupa nilnkhi 111 kuAn RnotsMA. Kim n t ik1uA idu+staia, su?smlistntyitleR [ Joephik on k mässk Sthmacia, “Suomest aiIieu’ nyt h4uAL jii1
saihilla oapaa 1iikatt.
tikS noiiaimaq
Menvwiqa $ai
( Maen Mins ia Y1itict Ia hnea Minidi ranrah. RM o$ ‘vavtv1 MieJii gaihasa. Hin no eyimnshi kuAá khyàs, dithki ofl1na, tjha h1nen intmk. OoOleii1l
uAn uAIUt irh b4I piiMd non. varsin frtiiii ulhmea. 1Giyy( Cileagox üruonhoitaata rktiuji Mn tøimi hiaamaiJiui aikami ruhoitajatrcia Rmwa. Alan no
npikeflut lkh y1iopistohis ja oorltuju l ata4tny o€ nrts-ikiii no iilau yIapistnia York CJya. ail3naminIai
tiica 1iA1kd&

From Soumen Nainen, 1938. Published in Finland.

pict181.jpg

pict182.jpg
pict183.jpg

pict184.jpg

534 THE BAHA’L WOR.LD
RIthOninW Ut1
tIM
‘asLrnth4tn pLt4, oI,

‘ Ameri1zkaiñøn
I I iwM 1ti nnplLM(e
I ?U$Stl 51ëtI ft
yen hiflssIt BRM4fr

vierk
I ,1ImlmnRLnetI
I nukecn. kneenkik ‘
mUnfntfln pLtng1yii InIaRe&Wq I4 aAp 4iterik pest, kteleesn Kaztso—
kahsLey jyy.t, manAtee 4 mAn Ale tf A? y IA,, I es yea pelted an ptlfeeein—
to t S Ic, joke keaknnfrRnln petIyItMxpelo UepçMnwi tone kannetnoalIon—
ijrAktbt ,j teLot LtFikttO nfeflse AyAwfrA&bsn pn-’ an laosne&&Ittaaa
teJslSfI fe eP tyA e eltea kttynWLpsd O1IOAft fØettsA4S Mitten ft nginefl Re
,l4RJ tee 4’fe’e4ALe ye yagRokin eoetp enAfI tile ie4ffr $ant1tOiIneieo Retakes
Jet te}AnU fit fee eelAoinonn net fan4eA4A1kn*4 41mP— tasMIeOlIllot5tL sees tt nISIkL -ieltftlmap5flnlllln_
f ksJ4ifà I, pSI keskamnin
kae tjntenanlittl Ofryketlnaute taA pktst41 )jI1 lets 4iissI EgRtf—U($ nit Ieeetstltql korfoilln- sIteilItt eel keAntafte ke,strtynsd flu yet If t,neonlolsw
t 41I1j 4iweikkawa. Iclejoja on kdWs— ttHyotetnnt If Its NfrIft 5nAXtStt JJttIfeRi fiffioWRfkte netley 4IRIII I 4nsetikaatst Wl&nttlnedJfihetf* fEIfWZSOiISt It 4rey jjuiflttuioen
fiy1lAsS ,ase4fli tjtblnO CbtoeptIl fi1Ifr4i’1tn ,-ann,aUn—=sftiitoee lltkkeen $yZn cpdtinf sew hlip yen l&sknit1ee aIJI ikp4 II fftttiy 545 nlafInfi4Iefiq4y Iye1et onpathntlknen_ eakentetlki IIJ,fl1eus sfrntetflt frarunts t ojufutei 1t’1 t1’fSr 4s44 lnnppedl, fya i4iØrAsn salthrikffi-reutai tO44 Sen Iyenteslse pjsgtefy AffrYt’
Lit sSeets tts ufç4f1 I enknnneylsl4i innksasnenüe--J motfenonene etlethsetei kyyuklni on LoRe mLyelITtta YLtPPt bitt pIJ1e oPs94 KeRn ni 4elmiØJt9yene ntekyy,
ennyekep’nrs kineses. as LutiSt /frtieyluesaI A5 SHItll9meso’R Laetsf-15L11541a1 JfLsieL en ta-st 5d#1 )cl1yeleeI etjaoilrnmo gftdekllttsieu4tl Waldin oat çitl4’ tyke zetfr
f+treioi ‘II Tti—tiikcWp pR4ifJkbfisl’ They folicle tthatflkvoflt Serene feskekas kàkonasnw1tIfcao_
a t 5J250t ki.If45it I KiiiilttSfttfe tIUkt Osidottis keskelLt—s sleet 70 4yteØJlel44 ft444fi1 4fkiynan peyntpIn iftyeyee iyJfl- ereqAsaiitJlas lti1d1utirUt, ken —toko rsakanssui
caftan I yeoft tAu&fetsfn&jetakeleknn yI1tati jof ktdw IIeoea1tlnsslillsen aetfeglen ft itniatagyyejin totes y fit fi t) k fakes estates Llnsfrsstej lfttoaLlft italic. t1cfk’ ns1n
sot silrteiJ settles —- ketiñEspd ftiknl pfs7le 1tfrn Mifye p*rOleafkosS make n’ IMals ejipia, net rakep Juno. kti’ntelt aftdsts an nsnetksnso_finjnlttinsainn
jok keh?yenfll keoytaytoioka pSosfatiekaon tttstpW file ,ild tettoimzsertesya, jakfl tsi Jilt kelkeltatjunlnuij simile its kiertstØ i’fnnJyfusayeftrt eJinlt ale jiyekirnys Sake enS Rzntf
f 1k’- wereepesftoas —

From Naisten Aini, 1938. Published in Finland.
pict185.jpg

pict186.jpg

Two views of the land recently purchased by the Bahá’is of Iran and destined to be the site of the first Bahá’i Temple
of that country.
Above is the distant view of the land showing its setting in the hills not far from Tihrán. Below a close-up of the
property.

pict187.jpg

pict188.jpg
4.

BAHA’I CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS
FOREWORD

B DR. J. E. ESSLEMONT

From Baha”u’lla’h and the New Era

ik MONG different peoples and at different times many different methods have been adopted for the measurement of
time and fixing of dates, and several different calendars are still in daily use, e.g., the Gregorian in Western Europe, the
Julian in many countries of Eastern Europe, the Hebrew among the Jews, and the Muhammadan in Muslim countries.
The Bãb signalized the importance of the dispensation which He came to herald, by inaugurating a new calendar. In
this, as in the Gregorian Calendar, the lunar month is abandoned and the solar year is adopted.
The Bahá’i year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (i.e., 361 days), with the addition of certain “intercalary days”
(four in ordinary and five in leap years) between the eighteenth and nineteenth months in order

to adjust the calendar to the solar year. The Báb named the months after the attributes of God. The Bahá’i New Year, like the ancient
Iranian New Year, is astronomically fixed, commencing at the March equinox (March 21), and the Bahá’i era commences with the
year of the Báb’s declaration (i.e., 1844 A.D., 1260 A.H.).
In the not far distant future it will be necessary that all peoples in the world agree on a common calendar.
It seems, therefore, fitting that the new age of unity should have a new calendar free from the objections and associations which make
each of the older calendars unacceptable to large sections of the world’s population, and it is difficult to see how any other
arrangement could exceed in simplicity and convenience that proposed by the Báb.

BAHA’i FEASTS, ANNIVERSARIES,
AND DAYS OF FASTING

April 21-May 2, 1863.

Feast of Ridván (Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh),
Feast of Naw-Rflz (New Year), March 21.
Declaration of the Báb, May 23, 1844.
The Day of the Covenant, November 26.
Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, November 12, 1817.
Birth of the Bãb, October 20, 1819.
Birth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, May 23, 1844.
Ascension of Bahã’u’lláh, May 29, 1892.
Martyrdom of the Mb, July 9, 1850.
Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã, November 28, 1921.
Fasting season lasts 19 days beginning with the first day of the month of ‘Ala’, March 2—the feast of Naw-Rflz follows immediately
after.

BAHA’I CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS

BAHA’t HOLY DAYS ON WHICH WORK SHOULD BE SUSPENDED
The first day of Ridván,
The ninth day of Riçlvãn,
The twelfth day of Riçlván,
The anniversary of the declaration of the Báb,
The anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh,
The anniversary of the birth of the Báb,
The anniversary of the ascension of Bahá’u’llãh,
The anniversary of the martyrdom of the Báb,
The Feast of Naw-Rflz.
NOTE: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in one of His Tablets addressed to a believer of Nayriz, Iran, has written the following: “Nine
days in the year have been appointed on which work is forbidden. Some of these days have been specifically mentioned
in the Book. The rest follows as corollaries to the Text. . . . Work on the Day of the Covenant (Fête Day of ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá), however, is not prohibited. Celebration of that day is left to the discretion of the friends. Its observation is not
obligatory. The days pertaining to the Abhá Beauty (Bahâ’u’lláh) and the Primal Point (the Bãb), that is to say these
nine days, are the only ones on which work connected with trade, commerce, industry and agriculture is not allowed. In
like manner, work connected with any form of employment, whether governmental or otherwise, should be
suspended.”
As a corollary of this Tablet it follows that the anniversaries of the birth and ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahi are not to be
regarded as days on which work is prohibited. The celebration of these two days, however, is obligatory.
Bahá’is in East and West, holding administrative positions, whether public or private, should exert the utmost effort to
obtain special leave from their superiors to enable them to observe these nine holy days.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL GLEANED FROM NABIL’S NARRATIVE (VOL. II),
REGARDING THE BAHA’i CALENDAR

The Badi’ Calendar (Bahá’i Calendar) has been taken by me from the “Kitáb-i-Asmcl’,” one of the works written by the Bâb. As I
have observed in these days that certain believers are inclined to regard the year in which Bahá’u’lláh departed from Baghdad to
Constantinople as marking the beginning of the Badi’ Calendar, I have requested Mirzá Aqá Jan, the amanuensis of Bahi’u’llãh, to
ascertain His will and desire concerning this matter. Bahá’u’lláh answered and said: ‘The year sixty A.H. (1844 A.D.), the year of the
Declaration of the Bab, must

be regarded as the beginning of the Badi’ Calendar.’ The Declaration of the Bab took place on the evening preceding the fifth day of
Jamãdiyu’l-Avval, of the year 1260 A.H. It has been ordained that the solar calendar be followed, and that the vernal Equinox, the day
of Naw-RiIz, be regarded as the New Year’s Day of the Badi’ Calendar. The year sixty, in which the fifth day of Jamádiyu’l-Avval
coincided with the sixty-fifth day after Naw-Rflz, has accordingly been regarded as the first year of the Badi’ Calendar. As in that
year, the day of Naw-Rflz,

THE BAHA’f WORLD

the vernal Equinox, preceded by sixty-six days the date of the Declaration of the Báb, I have therefore, throughout my history,
regarded the Naw-Rüz of the year sixty-one A.H. (the Naw-Rüz immediately following the Declaration of the Báb) as the first Naw-
Rüz of the Badi’ Calendar. I have accordingly considered the Naw-Róz of this present year, the year 1306 A.H., which is the 47th solar
year after the Declaration of the Bãb, as the 46th Naw-Rüz of the Badi’ Calendar.

Month
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
Arabic Name
Bahá
Jalál
Jamal
‘Azamat
Nor
Rahmat Kalimát Kamál Asmi’
‘Izzat Mashiyyat
‘Ilm Qudrat Qawl Masá’il Sharaf Sultan Mu&
‘Ala’

Soon after Bahá’u’lláh had left the fortress of ‘Akka and was dwelling in the house of Malik, in that city, He
commanded me to transcribe the text of the Badi’ Calendar and to instruct the believers in its details. On the very day
in which I received His command, I composed, in verse and prose, an exposition of the main features of that Calendar
and presented it to Him. The versified copy, being now unavailable, I am herein transcribing the version in prose. The
days of the week are named as follows:

Translation
Splendor
Glory
Beauty
Grandeur
Light
Mercy
Words
Perfection
Names
Might
Will
Knowledge
Power
Speech
Questions
Honor
Sovereignty
Dominion
Loftiness

of each month, are as
First Days
March21
April 9
April28
May 17
June 5
June 24
July 13
August 1
August 20
September 8
September 27
October 16
November 4
November 23
December 12
December 31
January 19
February 7
March 2
1 inclusive—
The names of the months, which are the same as the days follows:

Ayyam-i-Ha (Intercalary Days) February 26 to March four in ordinary and five in leap years.

1st Jalál

2nd Jamal Saturday Glory

3rd Kamál Sunday Beauty

4th Fidal Monday Perfection

5th ‘Idal Tuesday Grace

6th Istijlal Wednesday Justice

7th Thursday Majesty

BAHA’I CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS

The first day of each month is thus the day of Bahá, and the last day of each month the day of ‘AM’.
The Báb has regarded the solar year, of 365 days, 5 hours, and fifty odd minutes, as consisting of 19 months of 19 days
each, with the addition of certain intercalary days. He has named the New Year’s Day, which is the Day of Naw-Rfiz,
the day of Bahá, of the month of Bahá. He has ordained the month of ‘AM’ to be the month of fasting, and has decreed
that the day of Naw-Rflz should mark the termination of that period. As the Báb did not specifically define the place for
the four days and the fraction of a day in the Badi’ Calendar, the people of the Baya’n were at a loss as to how they
should regard them. The revelation of the Kita’b-iAqdas in the city of ‘Akkâ resolved this problem and settled the
issue. Bahá’u’lláh designated those days as the “Ayyãm-i-Há” and ordained that they should immediately precede the
month of ‘AM’, which is the month of fasting. He enjoined upon His followers to devote these days to feasting,
rejoicing, and charity. Immediately upon the termination of these intercalary days, Bahá’u’lláh ordained the month of
fasting to begin. I have heard it stated that some of the people of the Baycin, the followers of Mirzá Yahyá, have
regarded these intercalary days as coming immediately after the month of ‘AM’, thus terminating their fast five days
before the day of Naw-Rflz. This, notwithstanding the explicit text of the Baydn which states that the day of NawRüz
must needs be the first day of the month of Bahã, and must follow immediately after the last day of the month of ‘Ala’.
Others, aware of this contradiction, have started their fasting on the fifth day of the month of ‘Ala’, and included the
intercalary days within the period of fasting.
Every fourth year the number of the intercalary days is raised from four to five. The day of Naw-Rflz falls on the 21st
of March only if the vernal Equinox precedes the setting of the sun on that day. Should the vernal Equinox take place
after sunset, Naw-Rflz will have to be celebrated on the following day.
The Bãb has, moreover, in His writings, revealed in the Arabic tongue, divided the

years following the date of His Revelation, into cycles of nineteen years each. The names of the years in each cycle are as follows:
1. Alif A.
2. Bi’ B.
3. Ab Father.
4. Dál D.
5. Bãb Gate.
6. Vâv V.
7. Abad Eternity.
8. Jad Generosity.
9. Bahi Splendor.
10. Hubb Love.
11. Bahháj Delightful.
12. Javáb Answer.
13. Abad Single.
14. Vahháb Bountiful.
15. Vidád Affection.
16. BadI Beginning.
17. Bahi Luminous.
18. Abha Most Luminous.
19. Val.ild Unity.
Each cycle of nineteen years is called Vábid. Nineteen cycles constitute a period called Kull-i-Shay’. The numerical value of the word
“VábId” is nineteen, that of “Kulli-Shay’ “ is 361. “Vabid” signifies unity, and is symbolic of the unity of God.
The Bab has, moreover, stated that this system of His is dependent upon the acceptance and good-pleasure of “Him Whom God shall
make manifest.” One word from Him would suffice either to establish it for all time, or to annul it forever.
For instance, the date of the 21st of April, 1930, which is the first day of Ridván, and which according to the Kitdb-i-Aqdas must
coincide with the “thirteenth day of the second Bahâ’i month,” and which fell this year (1930) on Monday, would, according to the
system of the Badi’ Calendar, be described as follows:
“The day of Kamál, the day of Qudrat, of the month of Jalal, of the year Bahháj, of the fifth Vahid, of the first Kull-i-Shay’.”

540 THE BAHA’I WORLD
HISTORICAL DATA GLEANED FROM NABIL’S NARRATIVE (VOL. II)
REGARDING
BAHA’U’LLAH
Works Revealed Houses Occupied
A. BA&iDAD During This During This
Period Period
arrival latter part Jamádiyu’th- Qullu’t-Ta’ám House of Háji ‘All Tháni 1269 A.H. Madad
March 12—April 10, 1853 A.D. (in old Baghdad)
departure for Sulaymániyyih on House of Sulaymán Wednesday April 10, 1854 A.D.— i-Ghannlm
Rajab 12, 1270 A.H.
B. SULAYMANIvvIH Prayers
Before reaching SulaymlnIyyih, He
lived for a time on the Sar-Galá Qaidiy-i-Varqa’iyyih
mountain.
During His absence from Baghdad, Saqiyas-Ghayb-iHis
family transferred their resi- Baqá
dence from House of Háji ‘AllMadad
to that of Sulaymán-iGhannam.
Nabil arrived at Baghdad 6 months
after Bahá’u’llah’s departure for
Sulaymániyyih.
C. BAGHDAD Tafsir-i-Ijurüfat-i
Muqaçça’ih
arrived from Sulaymaniyyih on aifiy-i-Shattiyyih
Wednesday, March 19, 1856 A.D.— Haft-Vadi
Rajab 12, 1272 A.H. (Seven Valleys)
Tafsir-i-Há
Law-i-H6riyyih
Kitáb-i-fqán
Kalimát-i-Maknjjnih
(Hidden Words)
departure from Mazra’iy-i-Vash- Subl3ána-Rabbiya’l
shash: Thursday, March 26, 1863 ‘Ala
A.D.—Shavvál 5, 1279 A.H. Shikkar-Shikan
Shavand
Tablet of the Holy Mariner revealed IIiir-i-’Ujab
while in the Mazra’iy-i-Vashshásh. Halih-Halih-Ya
Bisharat
Ghulámu’l-Khuld
Az-Bagh-i_Jlahl

BAHA’I CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 541
Works Revealed Houses Occupied
C. BAGHDAD—COntinued During This During This
Period Period
departure from Baghdad for Con- Bázãvu-Bidih-Jámi
stantinople, Wednesday afternoon
(first day of Riclv&n), April 22,
1863 A.D.—Dhi’l-Qa’dih 3, 1279
A.H.
Süriy-i-Sabr revealed on first day of Mallá5u’l-Quds
Rilván. (Holy Mariner)
arrival at Garden of Najibiyyih
(Garden of Ridvân), April 22,
1863 A.D.—Dhi’l-Qa’dih 3, 1279
A.H.
arrival of Bahá’u’llih’s Family at Süriy-i-abr
Garden of Riçlván on eighth day
after first of Ridván.
departure from Garden of Ri4ván
for Constantinople last day of
Ridván, at noon on Sunday, May
3, 1863 A.D.—Dhi’l-Qa’dih 14,
1279 A.H.
length of overland journey from
Garden of Riclván to Samsün on
Black Sea: 110 days.
Firayját (arrival early afternoon— Márdin,
stayed seven days), arrived on Sun- Diyár-Bakr,
day, May 3, 1863 A.D.—Dhi’l- Ma’dan-Mis,
Qa’dih 14, 1279 A.H. (Firayját Khárpflt (stayed 2 or 3 days),
is about 3 miles distant from Ma’dan-Nuqrih,
Baghdad) Dilik-Tásh,
Judaydih, Sivás,
Dili-’Abbás, Tüqát,
Qarih-Tapih, Amasia, (stayed 2 days)
Saláhiyyih (stayed two nights), Iláhiyyih (while approaching Sam Dást-Khurmátfl son, “Lawh-i-Hawdaj” was re Tawuq vealed), (last
day of overland
KarkOk (stayed two days), journey),
Irbil, SamsOn (stayed 7 days), Black
Zab River, Sea port. Sailed in a Turkish
Bartallih, steamer about sunset for Constan Mosu (stayed 3 days), tinople
ZakhO, Sinope (arrived next day about
Jazirih, noon), Black Sea port; stayed few
Nisibin, hours,
Hasan-Aqã, AnyábulI (arrived next day).

542 THE BAHA’I WORLD
Works Revealed Dur- Houses Occupied Dur D CONSTANTINOPLE . . . . . Duration
ing This Period ing This Period
arrival at noon on Sub5ánika-Yá-Hü House of Shamsi Big 1 month Sunday, August 16, Lawh-i-’Abdu’l-’Aziz (2-story, near Khir1863
A.D. Va-Vukalá gih Sharaf Mosque) Rabi’u’l-Avval 1,
1280 A.H.
Length of sea voyage House of Vlsi Pãshã 3 months
from Sámsón to (3-story, near Sul Constantinopl 3 çán Muhammad
days. Mosque)
Length of journey
from Constantinople
to Adrianople 12
days.
1. KUchik-Chakmachih (3 hours from Constantinople—spent one night)
2. Buyük-Chakmachih (arrived about noon)
3. Salvari 4. Birkás S. Bãbã-iski
Works Revealed Dur- Houses Occupied Dur E ADRIANOPLE . . . . . Duration
ing Tnis Periou ing This Period
arrival on Saturday, Siriy-i-Aáb 1. Khán-i-’Arib 3 nights
December 12, 1 863 (caravanserai, two A.D —Rajab i, 1280 story, near house
A.H. Law5-i-ajj I of ‘Izzat-Aqá)
Length of stay: 4
years, 8 months, 22
days. ii:
Length of overland Kitãb-i-Badl’ 2. House in Murãdlyyih 1 week
journey from Con- Süriy-i-Mulük quarter, near Tak stantinopl to Adri- (Tablet of the yiy-i-Mawlavi
anople: 12 days. Kings)
Departure from Adri- Sáriy-i-Amr 3. House in Murãdiyyih 6 months
anople on Wednes- Sñriy-i-Damm quarter, near house
day, August 12, Alváh-i-Laylatu’l- 2
1868 A.D.—Rabi- Quds 4. Khániy-i-Amru’lláh
‘u’th — Tháni 22, Munãjáthãy-’i - iyám (several stories,
1285 A.H. (Prayers for Fast- near Sulçan-Salini
ing) Mosque)
Lawh-i-Sayyáh 5. House of Riclá Big 1 year

BAHA’t CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 543

. Works Revealed Dur— Houses Occupied Dur- .
... ...
E. ADRIAN0PLE—contznued Duration
sng This Period ing This Period

Law-i-Nápulyin I
(First Tablet to Napoleon III) 6. House of Amru’lláh (3-story. North of
3 months?
Lawb-i-Sulcán Sulçan - Salim Mosque)
7. House of ‘Izzat-Aqá 11 months
(Tablet to the Shah of Persia)
Law5-i-Nuqçih

1. Uzün-Kupri
2. Kashánih (arrived about noon. Lawh-i-Ra’s (Tablet of Ra’is) was revealed in this place)
3. Gallipoli (length of journey from Adrianople to Gallipoli about 4 days)
(after a few days’ stay sailed before noon in Austrian steamer for Alexandria, Egypt)
4. Madelli (arrived about sunset—left at night)
5. Smyrna (stayed 2 days, left at night)
6. Alexandria (arrived in the morning, transshipped and left at night for Haifa)
7. Port Said (arrived morning, left the same day at night)
8. Jaff a (left at midnight)
9. Haifa (arrived in the morning, landed and after a few hours left on a sailing vessel for ‘Akkã)

,

F. AKKA
arrival on Monday,
August 31, A.D.
Works Revealed Dur- Houses Occupied Dur- .
1868 — Jamádiyu’l- ......

Avval 12, 1285A.H. sng Tnis Perion ing i nis Person Duration
Purest Branch died on Thursday, June 23, 1870 A.D. —
Rabi’- u’l-Avval 23, 1287 A.H.
Passed away May 29, 1892 A.D.

Kitáb-i-Aqdas Lawh-i-Nápulyón II
(Second Tablet to Napoleon III)
Lawh-i-Malikih 1. Barracks
(Tablet to Queen Victoria) 2. House of Malik
Lawh-i-Malik-i-Rüs (Tablet to the 3. House of Rábi’ih 2 years, 2 months, 5
Czar) 4. House of Mansi5s days
Süriy-i-Haykal 5. House of ‘Abbid (where Kitáb- 3 months
Lawh-i-Burhán iAqdas was revealed) 2 or 3
Law-i-Ru’yã 6. Mazra’ih months
Lawh-i-Ibn-i-Dhi’b (Epistle to Son of the Wolf) 7. Qar (Mansion, where He passed
Law5-i-Páp away)
(Tablet to the
Pope)

5.
YOUTH ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE BAHA’i
WORLD
B FLORENCE MATTOON
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT

(El OD has not forgotten man; man has forgotten God. As young Bahá’is we know that this is true. The world,
however, does not agree. It is our great responsibility and privilege to tell the world that God has again sent mankind a
Teacher—a Leader
—a Divine Manifestation to lead us out of the confusion, carnage, and despair of the world today. We no longer live in
a world of satisfied people who are sure of the future. Everyone is feeling the uncertainty of today and is fearing
tomorrow.
Among the hopeful of the world there stand the Bahá’is who believe that “A new era of divine consciousness is upon
us. The world is going through a process of transformation. A new race is being developed. This is the hour of unity of
the sons of men and the drawing together of all races and all classes.” The Rahá’is know that the world faces an even
greater catastrophe than that of 1914. They know that out of this war will come for the first time a universal and
enduring peace. They look forward to a time when “Wars shall cease between the nations, and, by the will of God, the
most great peace shall come. The world shall be seen as a new world and all men will live as brothers.”
The entire Bahá’i world has been stirred to undreamed-of achievements by the steady flow of letters sent to us by our
Guardian, Shoghi Effendi. Through these dynamic letters we see our Faith, not as a visionary ideal toward which we
may falteringly grope, but as a firm rock upon which we may be permitted to help establish the New World Order. In a
letter to Bahã’i Youth, dated December 31, 1938, Shoghi Elfendi wrote that there were two major points which he

would recommend the Bahá’i youth to stress in all their talks and writings. “First is the all-important fact that mankind
is, in this age through the potentialities released by the Revelation of Bahã’u’lláh, entering the highest and most
significant stage of its development, mainly that of maturity, and that the Bahã’is view therefore the present- day
convulsions agitating society, in every realm of human activity, as signs and evidences of this new growth. The social
upheavals we are witnessing today, the moral confusion, the economic and political transformations, more swift and
cataclysmic than any humanity has ever witnessed, all mark the birth pangs of the New World Order revealed by God
for this age.
“Next to this teaching of the maturity of mankind, and as a corollary of it, comes the principle of the oneness of
humanity, which, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has repeatedly stated, constitutes the hall-mark of the Bahã’i Revelation. The
implications of this principle of the oneness of humanity are many and far- reaching, and it is on these that, the
Guardian feels, our Bahá’i youth should dwell in their talks and activities, proving by their deeds as well as through
their words, their faithful and whole-hearted adherence to this corner-stone principle of the Faith.
“Above all they should strive to get rid of all their ancestral prejudices, whether of race, creed or class, and thus attract
through the example of their lives many outsiders to the Cause. At a time when racial prejudice is becoming so
widespread and intense, it should be their constant endeavor to associate and mingle with the members of all races, and
thereby demonstrate to the world at large the hollowness, nay the stupidity of

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

The Bahá’ i children’s class of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, taken with their teachers, 193 8.

the racial doctrines and philosophies which are so increasingly poisoning the minds of individuals, classes and nations throughout the
world.
“This,” he concluded, “is the high standard of thought and conduct which the Guardian wishes the Bahá’i youth to strictly and
faithfully maintain. May they, each and all, arise and live up to its high and noble ideals.”
BAHA’i STANDARDS AFFECT YOUTH
In a letter to the youth who attended the Louhelen Summer School, in Davison, Michigan, dated July 29, 1939, Shoghi Effendi wrote
that, “Above all, Bahá’l Youth, by their faithful and close adherence to those high standards of Bahã’I hfe and conduct, can best and
most effectively contribute towards the growth of that institution (Louhelen Summer School) and attract to it the attention and interest
of the non-Bahã’i world outside.” How easy it is for youth to unfurl banners and enthusiastically tell others of a great new Faith.
While we realize that the enthusiasm and adventurous spirit of youth is of untold value in the spreading of the Bahá’i Faith, still we
realize more and more that the character and

life of a Bahá’i is a thousand times more important than his words. Lip service is not enough. The Bahá’i Faith does require of its
followers exacting and sometimes demanding standards. Sometimes it is difficult to obey these standards. Bahá’i youth are
understanding more and more that it is necessary to do so. It is difficult to be different. It is not pleasant at first. Yet we know that the
character which we develop will be the rock upon which the Bahá’i Community will rise. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, many years ago, “I
desire for you distinction.” Today, we must gain that distinction by changing our own lives, transforming them, so that they will
attract others to the Bahá’i Faith. Bahá’u’lláh said: “Whoso ariseth among you to teach the cause of his Lord, let him before all else,
teach his own self, that his speech may attract the hearts of them that hear him.” Again Bahã’u’lláh wrote: “Let truthfulness and
courtesy be your adorning. Suffer not yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice, that the sweet savors of
holiness may be wafted from your hearts upon all created things. Beware, 0 people of Bahi, lest ye walk in the ways of them whose
words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest

tea

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THE BAHA’t WORLD

to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the
professions of most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct. It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves
from others.”
As one talks to young Bahá’is, it is evident that they are eager to follow the ideals of Bahã’i conduct. When a young person recognizes
the greatness and majesty and love of the Bahi’i Faith, it is no longer hard for him to give up alcohol. While smoking is not forbidden,
it is strongly discouraged and many young Bahá’is have stopped smoking.
Bahã’is, old as well as young, must obey their governments. In case his country goes to war, the Bahã’i must also go to war, if called.
The Bahá’i is not a pacifist because he believes pacifism can only bring about anarchy. Shoghi Effendi once said to Helen Bishop:
“Non-cooperation is too passive a philosophy to become an effective way for social reconstruction.” The Bahâ’is believe that this is
the day of Justice. Justice must be brought about by peaceful means, however. Labor strikes and acts of physical violence are opposed
to the spirit of the Bahá’i Faith. Bahá’u’llãh once wrote: “In every country or government where any of this community reside, they
must behave toward the government with faithfulness, trustfulness, and truthfulness.”
Every young Bahá’i is required to engage in some work or profession, no matter how handicapped he may be. Bahâ’u’lláh said:
“Work, especially when performed in the spirit of service, is a form of worship.”
The virtues of courtesy, honesty, justice dignity, tolerance, and kindliness are enjoined upon every Bahá’i. ‘Abdu’l-Bahã stressed the
importance of chastity. To an American believer, he wrote: “Because in the ocean of divine knowledge one particle of chastity is
greater than ten thousand years of adoration.” Shoghi Effendi wrote in The Advent of Divine Justice: “In these days when the
forces of irreligion are weakening the moral fibre, and undermining the foundations of individual morality, the obligation of chastity
and holiness must claim an increasing share of the attention of the
American believers, both in their individual capacities and as the responsible custodians of the interests of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
A chaste and holy life must be made the controlling principle in the behavior and conduct of all Bahá’is, both in their social relations
with the members of their own community, and in their contact with the world at large. It must be upheld, in all its integrity and
implications, in every phase of the life of those who fill the ranks of that Faith, whether in their homes, their travels, their clubs, their
societies, their entertainments, their schools, and their universities. It must be accorded special consideration in the conduct of the
social activities of every Bahá’i Summer School and any other occasions on which Bahá’i community life is organized and fostered. It
must be closely and continually identified with the mission of the Bahá’i Youth, both as an element in the life of the Bahã’i
community, and as a factor in the future progress and orientation of the youth of their own country.
“Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less
than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands
daily vigilance in the control of one’s carnal desires and corrupt inclinations. It calls for the abandonment of a frivolous conduct, with
its excessive attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures. It requires total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks, from opium,
and from similar habit- forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of art and of literature, the practices of nudism and of
companionate marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It
can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excesses of a decadent age. Nay, rather it seeks to
demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the
hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses.
“It must be remembered, however, that the maintenance of such a high standard

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

a
John Eichenauer, the youngest pioneer of the
Bahá’i Faith, who in 1939, at the age of seventeen,
went to San Salvador to establish a center.

of moral conduct is not to be associated or confused with any form of asceticism, or of excessive and bigoted
puritanism. The standard inculcated by Bahá’u’llih, seeks, under no circumstances, to deny any one the legitimate right
and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys, beauties and pleasure with

which the world has been so plentifully enriched by an All-Loving Creator.”
It is not easy to become a true Bahá’i. That young man or young woman who sincerely strives to live according to these
standards and who glories in so doing—he is truly helping to build the world-wide Bahâ’i Community.
powerfully animates them in the service of the Cause of Bahã’u’llâh. Though lacking in experience and faced with
insufficient resources, yet the adventurous spirit which they possess, and the vigor, the alertness, and optimism they
have thus far so consistently shown, qualify them to play an active part in arousing the interest, and in securing the
allegiance of their fellow youth in those countries. No greater demonstration can be

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES IN THE AMERICAS

The Bahá’i Youth of America have a tremendous goal to strive for. In The Advent of Divine Justice, there is a
paragraph addressed to the Bahá’i Youth of America. Shoghi Effendi wrote, “To the Bahã’i Youth of America,
moreover, I feel a word should be addressed in particular, as I survey the possibilities which a campaign of such
gigantic proportions has to offer to

the eager and enterprising spirit that so
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THE BAHA’I WORLD

given to the people of both continents of the youthful vitality and the vibrant power animating the life and institutions of the nascent
Faith of Bahá’u’llah than an intelligent, persistent, and effective participation of the Bahá’i Youth, of every race, nationality, and
class, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Bahá’i activity. Through such a participation the critics and enemies of the
Faith, watching with varying degrees of skepticism and resentment, the evolutionary processes of the Cause of God and its
institutions, can best be convinced of the indubitable truth that such a Cause is intensely alive, is sound to its very core, and its
destinies in safe keeping. I hope, and indeed pray, that such a participation may not only redound to the glory, the power, and the
prestige of the Faith, but may also react so powerfully on the spiritual lives, and galvanize to such an extent the energies of the
youthful members of the Bahá’i community, as to empower them to display, in a fuller measure, their inherent capacities, and to
unfold a further stage in their spiritual evolution under the shadow of the Faith of Bahá’u’llãh.”
Since 1933, the Bahá’i Youth activities have been steadily progressing. Before that time there were many unorganized groups of
young people who studied the Bahá’i teachings and discussed them together. Through the efforts of the National Bahá’i Youth
Committee these groups have become a very real part of almost every Bahá’i Community in the United States and Canada. More and
more groups are becoming organized throughout the world. Margaret Swengel, secretary of the National Youth Committee, sent out a
questionnaire to all the Bahá’i communities in the United States and Canada in September, 1939. To date sixty-six communities have
replied. In thirty-six of the communities who have so far answered the questionnaire there are active groups of young people studying
the Bahá’i Faith.
Since 1937, the National Bahi’i Youth
Committee has met at Louhelen Summer
School to make plans for the coming year.
In 193 8, eight members were able to be
present. In the spring of 1939, the National
Spiritual Assembly made a change in the

organization of the National Bahl’i Youth Committee. They appointed six young people to an executive committee of the National
Youth Committee. These six people live within easy traveling distance of one another. This makes it easier for them to meet together
frequently. Five of the executive committee were able to meet at Louhelen Summer School during the second session, in August.
There are eleven associate members of the Committee who live throughout the United States and Canada.
Following is the report of the activities of the American Bahá’i Youth in carrying out the plans made by the National Youth
Committee, in addition to their individual group projects.
A. ANNUAL WORLD BAHA’i YOUTH DAys
The Fourth Annual World Bahá’i Youth Day was held February 26th, 1939 (except in Muhammadan countries, where it was held
February 24th because Friday is their holiday). This is the greatest teaching effort made by the Bahá’i youth of the world. It is the time
when Bahã’i youth, the world over, act simultaneously to teach the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. The general theme was The Unfoldment of
World Civilization. The occasion was publicized by letters sent out to youth groups throughout the world. Most of the December,
1939, issue of Bahd’I Youth was devoted to plans for the Youth Day. It contained a series of outlines for discussion of the five subtopics chosen. These sub-topics were: Unity in Diversity, Wm’ld Order, What Hath God Wrought, One Common Faith, and
Lost Horizons. Demonstrating the unity of their faith and the universality of their belief, countries as far apart as the United States,
‘Iraq, England, France, Canada, Egypt, Iran, and India participated in the event. Reports show that twenty-nine groups in the United
States and Canada took part. Ten groups abroad participated. Many groups abroad were unable to take part because they are forbidden
to have public meetings.
In preparation for this great day, regional conferences were held in New York and Chicago. Reports show a high standard of effort and
enthusiasm. Printed programs, special invitations, newspaper publicity,

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

publicity in college papers, posters, and radio programs indicate a remarkable celebration of the Bahá’i Youth Day.
Most of the programs included musical selections and the serving of light refreshments.
A permanent record of these world-wide Symposiums has been sent to our Guardian, Shoghi Effendi. It is in the form
of a scrap book containing a general message signed by young Bahá’is at each Symposium, photographs, publicity,
programs, and detailed accounts of every session. Such an account has been sent to Shoghi Effendi after each Bahá’i
Youth Day.
At the time of the Third World Bahã’i Youth Day, in 1938, a cablegram was sent to the Guardian: “Youth groups
throughout (the) world today collaborate (in a) unified public teaching effort (in the) Third Annual World Bahá’i Youth
Symposiums. May we so consecrate (the) spirit animating us (in the) service (of our) beloved Cause.” The Guardian
replied: “Deeply appreciate message. Delighted solidarity youth groups. Praying extension services increased
understanding and nobler standard Bahá’i virtue. Shoghi.” In reply to the cablegram which the National Youth
Committee sent on the day of the Fourth Annual World Bahá’i Youth Day, Shoghi Effendi cabled: “Pro-

found appreciation youth committee’s sentiments praying deepening spirit extensions services.”
In Bahd’I Youth of October, 1939, we read: “The Fifth Annual International Youth Symposium will be February 25, 1940 (in
Mul3ammadan communities the day of the Symposium will be Friday, February 23, as Friday is their weekly day of rest.” The general
theme this year is The Dawn of a New Day. The detailed outlines for the sub-topics will be published in the Bahd’I Youth Bulletin
in the December issue. The purpose of this symposium is to make known to the peoples of the world the Great Message of
Bahã’u’lláh.”
B. “BAHA’I YOUTH”—AN INTERNAvIONAL
YOUTH BULLET5N
This magazine, a quarterly, has grown from a small, mimeographed bulletin to a sixteen-page publication in which is found editorials,
general articles, letters from Shoghi Effendi, verse, suggestions for study, international news, general letters from the Youth
Committee, announcements and book reviews. Bahd’I Youth is published in New York City. One thousand copies are printed of
each issue. Much of the credit for this splendid publication goes to the

The Bahâ’i Youth Group of Alexandria, Egypt.

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editor (Lawrence La Rocque in 193 8-39, Annamarie Kunz Honnold in 1939-40) and to the Business Manager, (Mae Graves Dyer).
C. STUDY DAYS
Since 1937, the National Youth Committee has planned Study Days “to prepare ourselves thoroughly for life in the Bahi’i community
and for youth work and effective teaching.” We need much more than a mere surface knowledge of the Bahi’i Faith.
In the June, 1938, issue of Bahd’I Youth we read the following report of the Study Days: “The five Youth Study Days, proposed
and outlined by the National Youth Committee last September, found enthusiastic reception in eighteen of our forty-four Youth
Groups. Sustained study day activity was reported from Montreal, Canada; Eliot, Maine; Springfield, Mass.; New Haven, Conn.;
Philadelphia, Pa.; New York City; Binghamton, N. Y.; Urbana, Ill.; Peoria, Ill.; Chicago, Ill.; Northshore, Ill.; Cleveland, Ohio;
Kenosha, Wis.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Seattle, Wash.; San Francisco, Cal., and Berkeley, Cal.
“Youth groups, with from three to twenty-five in attendance held regular concentrated study meetings in Bahá’i homes and Bahá’i
centers, each group following the procedure best suited to local conditions. When two study sessions on the same day were not
possible, ofttimes two Sunday afternoons or two evenings were used, or just one session was devoted to this new group study. In one
instance it was reported by a particularly zealous group that they held meetings for each Study Day until they covered all the material
outlined because it was difficult for them to find time for a day’s preparation all at one time.
“After a prayer and music and the reading of the suggested references (sometimes supplemented by other study material), smaller
groups sometimes followed the lecture - and-general-discussion-of-the-questions method; others reserved the first session for
individual study of assigned references, all of which were discussed in the second period; while others divided their number into

smaller groups, each group taking a division made in the study material, collectively analyzing the results of its reading, and being
responsible for a part of the discussion which followed.
“When only one session was feasible, the suggested questions were sometimes chosen beforehand, each member conducting his
special part of the discussion on the Study Day. In some cases, short talks were given by all the members of small groups, followed by
a general discussion on each phase of the subject.
“The plan of holding these youth meetings in private homes on our bi-monthly Study Days was believed to have been conducive to
added interest on the part of the youth themselves, and also to have created an interest in the neighborhood.
“Refreshments were invariably served between the session following the meetings.”
In 1939, there were seven study days. The first two days we studied The Dispensation of Bahci’u’lldh and the last five days
we studied the five sections of “Some Answered Questions.”
In the October, 1939, issue of Bahd’I Youth we read “There are to be five study days — in October, November, January, March, and
April. The general theme will be the Bahá’I Epoch. It was felt by the National Youth Committee that Bahá’i youth need to be
better informed about Bahá’i history; therefore, this topic was selected. The subject for the five Study Days are as follows:
October — Secular Persian History and History of the Báb.
November—Life of Bahá’u’lláh.
January—Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
March—Current Bahá’i History. (This will cover contemporary Bahi’i activities.)
April—The Golden Age: Study of the New World Order. Study Outlines will be published in the Bahá’i Youth Bulletin.”
We feel very strongly that these study days deepen the understanding and organize the knowledge of enrolled Bahá’i Youth and those
beginning a serious study of the Teachings. Knowledge is the lifeblood of the Cause. The most successful Bahi’is, both as teachers
and as individuals, are those who have the best understanding of the Teach-

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

ings. We feel that this study helps a young person to truly fill his place in the Bahá’i community.
D. PERSIAN DINNERS
In 1939, Bahá’i Youth Groups throughout the world met together in a novel and interesting way. Persian dinners were planned. After
eating oriental dishes, different members of the youth groups acted as story-tellers and told of the lives of the Dawnbreakers — told of
the beauty and courage and wisdom and love of the great heroes of our faith.
E. REGIONAL CONFERENCES
The regional conferences in New York City and in Chicago have become annual events. The value of these conferences, usually held
about January 1st, in stimulating youth to new enthusiasm and activity cannot be emphasized too greatly. Perhaps it is not so much
what we talk about and discuss at the conferences as it is the joy of reunion which makes them so worth while.
In 1939 the general topic of both the Eastern and Mid Western conferences was Teaching. The talks and discussions were directed
toward working out plans for greater participation of young people in the teaching activity of the local and national communities.
Plans are already well under way for the

1940 regional conference in Wilmette, Ill. It is to be January 6th and 7th at the Bahá’i House of Worship in Wilmette. The theme will
be Youth’s Destiny in a Chaotic World. These topics will be discussed:
Bahd’i Character, Bahd’I Attitude toward War, The Minority Question (how to attract minority groups), and Teaching (at
home, near home, and pioneering and settling new areas). Saturday evening, January 6th, the Northshore Youth Group will entertain
the guests at a buffet supper after which there will be a musical program.
Following is the report of the Third Annual Weekend Youth Conference held at Binghamton, New York: “M be of the Binghamton
Bahá’i Committee for Youth entertained at their homes those attending the third annual youth Conference June 10th and 11th, 1939.
Following a picnic supper, an outdoor meeting was held at which the speakers were Mrs. Willard McKay and Mr. John Sterns of
Jamestown,
N. Y. On Sunday, the whole group was entertained at Quaker Lake with swimming, hiking, etc. In the afternoon, an informal
discussion meeting was held, at which Rinaldo Quigley, Betty Murray and Philip Sprague of New York City gave short talks. General
talks and discussion followed, during which plans for the summer were discussed, including a return visit of the Binghamton friends to
Jamestown. The main theme of the conference was Teaching,

Bahá’i youth attending the seventh annual Bahá’i Youth luncheon held in conjunction with the Bahã’ i convention, Evanston, Illinois,
1939.

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THE BAHA’I WORLD

and many new ideas were exchanged and talked over.
“Many non-Bahã’is from Binghamton also attended all sessions, and the total attendance at meals was approximately sixty. We feel
that the week-end was most inspiring, and we hope that it may really become an annual conference.”
F. YOUTH LUNCHEON
The seventh annual Bahá’i Youth Luncheon held in the ballroom of the Orrington Hotel in Evanston, Illinois, on Sunday, April 30,
1939, was a grand climax for all the youth who came to the Convention. The event, sponsored by the youth groups of Chicago and the
North Shore, has been for years a highlight on the program of the Convention. This year there were people at the luncheon from
Tihran, Iran; Honolulu; Toronto and Monctofl, Canada; as well as from every part of the United States.
Edwin Koyl of Chicago, as chairman, made all arrangements for the occasion. The program began with a prayer read by Joe Hannen.
Linda Taylor entertained us with two readings. Larry La Rocque, chairman of the National Youth Committee talked on the work of
the National Youth Committee and its relation to each local youth group. Vernita Mason read the paragraph in The Advent of Divine
Justice addressed by Shoghi Effendi to Bahá’i Youth.
Greetings from the Persian Bahá’is were given to those present by Mr. and Mrs.

Sabett. Marvin Newport, accompanied by Lillian Dobbins sang several beautiful songs. The climax of the meeting came with an
inspiring talk by Virginia Camelon, entitled, Looking Back to 1939. She painted a word picture depicting the historians of the year
2005 A.D. writing in letters of gold upon tablets of chrysolite the deeds of those who in 1939 A.D., the 95th year of the Bahá’i Era,
arose with valor and determination to do their utmost for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Florence Mattoon read the closing prayer.
Everyone felt it was one of the finest luncheons that have been given.
G. BAHA’i SUMMER SCHOOLS IN THE
UNITEn STATES
The Bahá’i summer schools serve a unique function. Through them both adults and young people are enabled to see the type of
society possible when the laws of Bahá’u’llih are followed. There is a spirit of love and harmony and practical idealism pervading the
whole atmosphere of the schools. There are many opportunities for cooperation at the summer schools. The students help plan and
execute the program, they consult over problems arising, and they conduct the devotions and help provide group recreation. In their
dormitories they try to show harmony which transcends color, social, and age differences.
The following reports of summer schools in the United States appeared in Bahd’I Youth” l7ol. V, No. 3.

LOUHELEN YOUTH SESSIONS—1939
BETTT SCHEFFLER

In the increased attendance, greater enthusiasm and more complete participation in youth activities at Louhelen Summer School this
summer, the Bahã’i Youth showed their desire to make the summer school a really fine institution and true center of learning. The
Youth Session was divided into two five day periods, the first from June 25 to 30, the second from August 16 to 21.
The morning program, beginning with devotions before breakfast, included three courses. The first on the subject, Character
Building, was conducted by Miss Flora

Hottes in the first session and Mrs. Virginia Camelon in the second. The Bahá’i standard of conduct, its effect upon the individual and
upon society as a whole in creating a foundation for the New World Order, was emphasized. The first of the following two courses,
which were carried on simultaneously, was designed for younger and newly interested youth, The Promise of All Ages, concerning
the Bahá’i principles and history. Mr. Ralph Garner and Mr. Edward Miessler as the teachers of this class encouraged all of the youth
attending to take part in the discussions. The second class on the

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES

Teacher and class at the Bahá’i Summer School, Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan, during the 1939 Youth Session.

Prophet of Arabia was intended for those who wished to make deeper inquiry into a phase of religious study so closely
associated with our Faith. This class, given by Mr.
N. H. Firoozi, the first, and Mrs. Helen Bishop, the second session, involved an intensive study of the background of
Islam, that is, the conditions in Arabia before the appearance of Mubammad, the life and character of the Prophet, the
revelation of the Qur’án and the institutions and culture of the Moslem Faith. Valuable bibliographies designed as a
guide to more profound individual study were listed by both teachers.
In the afternoon class on the topic, The Laws of Bahd’u’lldh, directed in the first session by Mr. Clarence Niss and in
the second by Mr. Carl Scheffier, the youth discussed the Bahá’i laws as differentiated from the principles of the Bahá’i
Faith, the working of universal law, and the specific Bahá’i laws thus far known which in their present day application
will lead to the New World Order.

Bahá’i administration and the privileges and responsibilities of Bahá’i citizenship, involving the consideration of local
community problems, proved an interesting subject for a forum on the last day of the session. During the first period a
mock Spiritual Assembly was elected which then directed the local activities, meeting and discussing as a group the
problems which any Bahá’i Assembly might sneet.
Afternoons were, for the most part, left free for recreation which included swimming, tennis, ping-pong, croquet,
horseback riding and other activities. Often plans were made so that the group as a whole might do something together.
Early in the evening during the latter youth session, Mrs. Carpenter gave talks on the World Order Letters of Shoghi
Effendi, impressing again upon the youth the standards which they, as Bahá’is must uphold and the responsibilities
which rest upon them as the new world order unfolds. The young people at Louhelen enjoyed also a talk by
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Mrs. Carpenter on the pronunciation of Persian names and phrases.
Evening entertainment included a treasure hunt followed by group singing and a marshmallow roast in the glen, a masquerade party,
stunt nights in which everyone took part in presenting short plays, games and dancing. The youth groups from various cities in the
region cooperated with the North Shore group in planning the evening programs so that everyone might take part. Each day was
brought to a close with devotions held in the dormitories.
The importance of the Bahá’I Summer School at present and its place in the future order is stressed by H. Rabbani in a letter received
from Shoghi Effendi in answer to the message of greeting sent by the youth attending the June session. In it he says:
“Remembering the strong emphasis repeatedly laid by the Guardian on the importance of the institution of the summer school, both as
a center for the preparation

and training of prospective teachers and pioneers, and for the commingling and fellowship of various elements in the Bahá’i
Community, the Bahi’i Youth, on whom Louhelen Ranch has exercised a particular and indeed irresistible appeal, and whose sessions
they have so frequently and in such large numbers attended, have a peculiar responsibility to shoulder in connection with its
development into that ideal Bahá’i University of the future, which should be the aim of every existing Bahã’i Summer School to
establish in the fullness of time. Through their regular attendance at each and every session of the school, and their participation in all
phases of its activities, intellectual, spiritual, social and recreational, and above all by their faithful and close adherence to those high
standards of Bahá’i life and conduct, they can best and most effectively contribute towards the growth of that institution and attract to
it the attention and interest of the non-Bahá’i world outside.”

GEYSERVILLE YOUTH SESSION
JOHN EXCHENAUER, Jn.

Bahá’u’lláh has inspired the youth of the Thirteenth Annual Bahá’i Summer School at Geyserville, California, to new and loftier
heights of achievement. The spirit pervading the varied activities was truly wonderful and made one feel he had spent three weeks in
an entirely different world. In these twenty-one days we have been given spiritual insight into the Teachings, Teachings that must
ultimately cover the earth.
Although the school was founded in 1926 by John and Louise Bosch, this is the first youth session that has been held separately.
Affairs of the youth were supervised by a student government committee which was elected by youth present at an organization
meeting held just after the Unity Feast, Sunday afternoon, July 2. Everyone, children, youth, and adults attended devotions at 9:00 for
from 15 to 20 minutes. At 9:45 the first youth course on The Young Bahd’I in the World Today, including such subjects as “What
is a Bahá’i youth and how distinguished?” “Spiritual and social attitudes toward such individual problems as family relations,
marriage, work, prayer;
and such collective problems as war, class struggle, etc.,” was held. From 11:00 to 11:45 an intensive course including projects in
contacts, publicity, radio, public speaking, and the use of Bahá’i literature in teaching, gave us good preparation for teaching work.
Classes adjourned before 12:00 so that everyone could “get his million dollar check at the bank,” i.e., obey the law of Bahá’u’lláh and
repeat the obligatory prayer. Our staff of teachers included Marion Holley, director, Evelyn Cliff, Marzieh Carpenter, Charlotte
Linfoot, Virginia Orbison, Hishmat ‘Alá’i, Marion Yazdi, Mr. John B. Shaw, Mrs. Ella Goodall Cooper, and Mr. Willard Hatch.
Subjects were briefly presented by teachers and with their supervision of the creative discussion that followed, a spontaneity in all
present was brought out which would otherwise remain hidden in presence of adults. Afternoons were spent in projects selected by the
individual. Some attended round table discussions of The Advent of Divine Justice under the great tree. Others worked on publicity
which appeared in Gey

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

serville, Cloverdale, and Healdsburg papers. Speakers chosen for the youth public meeting by the student government committee spent
several afternoons in preparation. Still others contacted town people to invite them to the dance, July 8th, and youth public meeting,
July 13th. About 3:30 groups would usually organize to go swimming in the Russian River. Entertainments included talks on art and
music appreciation; motion picture travelogues of Mexico, China, Africa, Philippines, and the Holy Land; Geyserville Gaieties,
comedy with all participating; and the pageant about the Báb, Gate of Dawn.
The youth public meeting was held Thursday evening, July 13th, in Bahã’i Hall. A prayer meeting for speakers was held just before
the meeting. Farrukh loas was chairman and Mme. Rose Florence accompanied by Anita loas sang at different times. John Eichenauer
repeated a prayer in Spanish to demonstrate concentration of teaching activity on Latin America. Frances Nolan spoke on
Humanity’s Coming of Age, tell-

ing of the powers loose in the world today that must be used for the benefit and not the destruction of humanity.
Barbara Dorgan spoke on £ Pluribus Unum, demonstrating how “from many one” must be applied to many phases of
life. John Eichenauer spoke on America’s Spiritual Mission, outlining America’s station as well as that of American
youth in the coming years. This was followed by Adrienne Ellis’ presentation of The World of Tom arrow, as envisaged
by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. Genay Schoeny concluded the meeting with some quotations from the writings
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. Jack Fatooh closed the meeting with a prayer in Esperanto to demonstrate that
needed principle of an international auxiliary language. Over the week end, July 7th to 9th, San Francisco youth were
entertained, and a party was given Friday night, a dance Saturday night, and a youth conference, Sunday morning.
Friday morning, July 14th, a conference was held to plan for next year’s session.

GREEN ACRE YOUTH SESSION
BETTY SHOOK

Despite the fact that there were only 3 0 present at Youth Week, the spirit prevailing was very strong. The classes, of
which there were two in the morning conducted by Norman Smith, a Youth, and Horace Holley and also a Laboratory
course in the afternoon conducted by Dr. Shook, were well attended. In the evenings there were social gatherings for
the Youth at various homes. At the beginning of the week, the Youth met to consult about the rules

to be observed during the week. Previously these rules have been given out by the committee, but this year they felt it was time they
were using the Bahá’i principle of consultation and the results were very gratifying. Saturday morning there was a Symposium on
Teaching. Orcella Rexford spoke on Pioneering and Mrs. Bowman spoke on the use of literature in Teaching. Afterwards plans were
discussed for next year’s Youth Week and Horace Holley gave a

Attendants at the Youth session of the Bahá’i Summer School at Louhelen Ranch,
Davison, Michigan.

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short talk on the real meaning of Youth Week. One of the non-believers, a brilliant Youth from New York, stated that during Youth
Week he had found what he had been looking for in regard to the Faith for
“They that have forsaken their country for the purpose of teaching Our Cause— these shall the Faithful Spirit strengthen through its
power . . . By My life! No act, however great, can compare with it, except such deeds as have been ordained by God, the all-Powerful,
the Most Mighty. Such a service is indeed the prince of all goodly deeds, and the ornament of every goodly act.”—The Advent of
Divine Justice, page 57.
“That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race.”—Gleanings, page 250.
In 1936, Shoghi Effendi sent this message to the Annual Bahá’i Convention in Wilmette, Illinois: “Would to God, every state within
American Republic and every Republic in American continent might ere termination this glorious century embrace light Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh and establish structural basis of His World Order.” All Bahã’is are working to reach this goal by
1944.
The spiritual force released by Shoghi Effendi when he established this goal has stirred many young Bahá’is with ardor to become
pioneer teachers of the Faith of Bahá’u’llah. John Eichenauer, a member of the National Bahá’i Youth Committee, left his home in
Phoenix, Arizona, to go to Central America to pioneer. We received a card from him, dated October 11, 1939, in which he said, “Mrs.
Caswell and I came together to Panama. We arrived on the fourth, met Matthew Kaszab and Joseph Wantuk, the first Rahá’i of
Panama. Yesterday morning Matthew and I gave a fifteen minute radio program over HP5A in Spanish and English. We have met
several newspaper and radio people through Matthew. We leave on the sixteenth for Nicaragua and then I go on to San Salvador.”
John is the youngest pioneer teacher among

eral years. The deeds and actions of the Youth impressed him very much. After this meeting there was a beach picnic at
Oguniquit Beach and the week closed with a dance at the Inn in the evening.
the Bahá’is. He studied Spanish, read Spanish and Mexican newspapers whenever he could, and sought out people of
these nationalities in order to become better acquainted with them. On November 9, he wrote a letter saying, “I’m here
in San Salvador pioneering, and Clarence Iverson (also from Phoenix, Arizona) is coming to join me. You will
probably be interested to know that there are eight declared Bahá’is here. The first believer is a good friend of mine,
especially because he speaks English and can interpret my words into Spanish. He will soon go to Santa Ana and he
will probably do wonderful things for he has brought three of the eight in here. You will be surprised as I was at the
publicity enclosed (three long articles about the Bahá’i Faith). I wrote some articles in Spanish, and am supposed to
answer the opinions of the local thinkers. The paper is quite liberal. It keeps me “broke” buying papers with Bahá’i
publicity in them. I use the newspaper articles as literature until more arrives. I will probably enter a private high school
here and work half a day and devote the other half to working for the Faith. I work all day long now and don’t get
everything done.”
During the summer, Gerrard Sluter, a young Bahá’i from Toronto, Canada, came to the Bahã’I House of Worship, in
Wilmette, en route to Guatemala to teach the Bahã’i Faith.
Wilfrid Barton, a young Bahá’i who has long been active in Bahá’i work in Chicago, Boston, and Kansas City, sailed
for Montevideo, Uruguay, this fall.
The pioneer work in Canada has received a tremendous impetus recently because of the settlement of three young
Vancouver Bahá’is there. Rowland Estall is a pioneer in Winnipeg. He has already started a study class there. Miss
Doris Skinner is in Cal-

MANY YOUTH ARE PIONEER TEACHERS OF THE BAHA’i FAITH

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

gary, Alberta. She secured a position within two weeks after her arrival there. Miss Skinner writes, “Really, I don’t know why more
Bahá’is don’t do pioneer work; it is quite the most exciting experience I have ever had. I wouldn’t go home again for anything.”
Katherine Moscrop is in Regina, Saskatchewan, helping to spread the teachings of Bahã’u’lláh.
Miss Elsie Beecroft, formerly of New York City, went to Toronto, Canada, a few years ago and has been doing outstanding Bahá’i
teaching among the young people there.
Miss Betty Shook, of Norton, Massachusetts, reports thrilling experiences in Atlanta, Georgia. Miss Shook is a member of the
National Youth Committee.
Miss Pearl Burt and Etta Mae Lawrence have left New York City to go to New Orleans, Louisiana, to help to establish a Bahá’i
community.
Mr. and Mrs. ‘William Sears are now living in Salt Lake City. From there they write, “We love Salt Lake City and feel that
a slow beginning is a firm ending. So far I have a small list of about fifteen who have been given a picture of the Cause. . . . We expect
in the fall to do some extensive radio work. Until then we will continue doing ground work.”
Mr. and Mrs. Don McNally are doing pioneer work in Providence, Rhode Island. They now have a fireside meeting for young people
on Wednesdays. They write, “The experience of coming here has been the most glorious adventure of our lives and we are now so
fully aware of the power of Bahã’u’llãh and of our inability to do anything ourselves. . . . One really must get out in the world to know
the real value of being a Bahá’i and experiencing the fellowship that exists within those sacred twelve principles.”
These young Bahã’is and many others who are pioneering near their own cities glory in the knowledge that they are bringing into
being the World Order of Bahã’u’lláh.

OTHER ACTIVITIES OF BAHA’t YOUTH GROUPS

While the main endeavor of the Bahá’i Youth Groups is to study the Bahã’i Faith, still we feel great joy in being with
other young Bahá’is and friends in a social way. Most of the youth groups report social gatherings, such as picnics,
hikes, parties, and teas, to which they invite friends who have shown some interest in the Bahá’i teachings. Lorriane
Statler, secretary of the Peoria, Illinois, group writes: “The last Tuesday of every month we devote to the youth who
don’t know much about the teachings. After a meeting we have a social hour—music, poems, dramatics, games, and
refreshments.”
“This summer,” writes Eleanor Sweney, secretary of the Champaign-Urbana (Illinois) Youth Group, “we departed from
our regular weekly evening meetings, and instead had early Sunday morning breakfasts in Crystal Lake Park. After a
social get- together over sausage and pancakes or ham and eggs fried out in the open, we had an inspirational devotion
period from one of the hills. The quiet and the out-of-doors

made those unusually effective worship periods. Our meetings were weekly then, as at any other time of the year.” The
youth group in Champaign-Urbana is composed almost entirely of University of Illinois students. Miss Sweney writes:
“With Margaret Kunz and Margaret Swengel, both of the National Youth Committee in our group, we hope to do well
this year even though half of our group left us through graduation this year. It is interesting to note that everyone of our
youth group found employment in the field he desired almost immediately upon leaving school.” Concerning teaching
activities, she writes, “As our group is made up largely of college students, the personnel shifts each year as members
graduate and leave the community to return to their own home towns or to work in other states and as new students
come to the campus. Our work is very important, then, since we teach a large territory merely by staying at home. One
of our outstanding meetings sponsored in cooperation with the adult group was one at which Dorothy Baker

THE BAHA’I WORLD

and Rabbi Sachar of the Hillel Foundation here spoke on the ‘Problem of the Jew.’ There were more than a hundred
present at this meeting.”
A letter from the executive committee of the New York City Youth Group dated October, 1939, tells us of many fine
activities. “Th Youth Committee conducts one regular meeting a week on Thursday evenings. It has been the policy at
these meetings to present both young and old speakers, thus giving diverse aspects of the Bahá’i Faith. The talks are
short, affording time for questions and discussions. Following as much as possible a simple and sincere approach, using
as a pattern and inspiration the talks by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the meetings have proved to be very stimulating and productive.
The youth have participated in symposiums, feasts, out-of-town teaching trips and picnics, public gatherings and at the
Bahá’j exhibit at the World’s Fair. A dramatic club composed of Bahá’i and nonBahá’i Youth proved that the drama
could be utilized as a teaching medium and many interracial parties and entertainments served to promote the spirit of
fellowship and amity.”
The youth group in West Englewood, New Jersey, finds symposiums to be splendid ways to teach the Bahá’i Faith.
One of their most successful symposiums was held November 25th, 1939, at the Evergreen Cabin, Teaneck, New
Jersey. The theme was Bahd’I, The Answer. The speakers were: Mr. Benjamin Davis, 1%/hat Is a Bahd’I?, Mr.
Norman Smith, Baha”! Attititde Towards this Chaos, and Miss Ruth Frey. There were other Youth Symposiums where
speakers came from New York City. Miss Ellen Wagner, the secretary of this group, writes further, telling us, “Mr.
Norman Smith and Miss Ruth Frey were invited to attend a Lutheran meeting at a private home, in February, 1939. Mr.
Smith and Miss Frey spoke to the group and many responded, asking numerous questions. We have also been
associating with the “Inter Faith Youth Council.”
In Lima, Ohio, there are two youth groups. One group, called the “Youth Group,” consists of young people between the
ages of 15 and 21. The other called the

“Young People’s Group,” consists of young people between the ages of 21 and 31. Both groups are very active and
have enthusiastically taken part in all the activities outlined by the National Youth Committee.
The Kenosha, Wisconsin, Bahá’i Youth Group realizes its need for deep study of the Bahá’i Faith in all its aspects.
Young people vitally interested in world problems, economic, political, and social, have been coming to their meetings.
Robert Koehl, chairman of the Kenosha Youth Group, wrote in a report dated October, 1939:
“This discussion type of meeting showed up the need for further study on the part of the Kenosha Bahá’I Youth in the
realms of Bahá’i doctrine, psychology, and patience. Undoubtedly the young people, Bahã’i and non-Bahá’i, profited
from the meetings. More than ten people became actively interested in the Bahá’i religious viewpoint.”
The Youth Group in Seattle, Washington, tried out a new type of program in 1938- 1939. It was patterned after the
popular Radio Quiz programs. They felt that with the question and answer type of program much more material could
be presented that would be concise and to the point. Also, more youth could take part. They divided the program into
three parts, as follows: (1) Questions of general historical importance which tend to show how world conditions of the
past century have been pointing to the present general crisis; (2) Questions concerning current events tending to show
how society is inevitably moving toward a “Future World Commonwealth;” (3) Questions aiming to present
unequivocally the manner in which the Bahá’i Faith as the world religion is already laying the foundation of the New
World Order.
The Seattle Youth Group, besides being very active in their own community, have helped to form a youth group in
Monroe, Washington. They also make teaching trips to Vancouver and Portland.
In California there is an active group of young Bahá’is who call themselves the BayArea Bahá’i Youth Group. The
group is composed of Bahá’is from San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and San Mateo. Miss Farrukh loas, subsecretary of the National Youth Committee, writes: “The response to these

BAHA’T YOUTH ACTIVITIES

combined meetings has been very gratifying. The young people from one side of the Bay go together in a couple of
automobiles to the other side. It is felt that the combined group is more invigorating and develops a finer discussion
than the separate meetings could. This contact acts as a stimulus to renewed effort in study, living the life, and
teaching.”
The Youth Group in Phoenix, Arizona, is a most active and alive group. They have presented many radio programs
concerning the Bahã’i Faith. They have participated most heartily with all the plans sent out by the National Youth
Committee. In August, 1938, three members of the Phoenix Youth Group made a 3000-mile trip through New Mexico,
Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona. These three, Clarence Iverson, John and Marshall Eichenauer, met
many Bahã’is and told many non-Bahã’is of the Faith of Bahi’u’lláh. They also left books in libraries. Clarence Iverson
and John Eichenauer are now doing pioneer teaching work in Central America.
Joseph Noyes, one of the secretaries of the National Youth Committee, reports much activity around Binghamton, New
York. In September, 1939, they started the fall activities with a picnic. Norman Smith, of

West Englewood, New Jersey, talked on America, the Hope of the World. On September 30, 1939, the Binghamton Youth Group
went to Jamestown, New York, to repay a visit that that group had made in the spring. The Binghamton group presented a program
introducing the Bahã’i Faith, bringing out the history and the religious and social teachings. On the next day a carload of young people
came to Jamestown from Buffalo, New York, for an afternoon meeting. The Binghamton Youth Group has started a new type of
meeting. The series is called Widening Our Horizons. NonBahá’i speakers are asked to speak on community service projects and
other topics of general interest. On December 17th, 1939, a comparative religion class in one of the churches attended a meeting to
learn about the Bahá’i Faith. As Joseph Noyes writes, “There is no doubt about it, the weeks will have to be longer or else the fortyhour working week will need to be shortened for Bahâ’is! But we wouldn’t be happy if we weren’t so busy, and we really have
something to work for.”
Shoghi Effendi wrote to the National Youth Committee in 1937: ‘With the increasing gloom that is rapidly surrounding the world
around them, the Bahá’i Youth of

& .<&
&&
& N

Group attending the Bahâ’i Youth session of the Geyserville Bahâ’i Summer School, California, 1939.
pict195.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

the world, and of America in particular, should fully realize their tremendous and sacred responsibility of keeping alive
the torch of faith in their hearts, and to endeavor through united, sustained, and carefully-planned and systematic effort
to diffuse the light of the Teachings among the despairing and harassed youth of the world.”
Shoghi Effendi tells us how we may accomplish this in The Unfoldment of World Civilization. To achieve this truly
gigantic task the Bahá’i youth throughout the world must not only strive to spread the knowledge
BAHA’I ACTIVITIES IN
Europe, the center of culture for centuries past, seems determined to destroy itself. Every news broadcast, every
newspaper tells us more of the horror of war in Europe and Asia. Chaos reigns. No one can escape. Bahá’u’llah wrote,
“The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is
daily increasing.” Two decades ago ‘Abdu’l-Baha prophesied, “The ills from which the world now suffers will
multiply; the gloom which envelops it will deepen. The Balkans will remain discontented. Its restlessness will increase.
The vanquished Powers will continue to agitate. They will resort to every measure that may rekindle the flame of war.
Movements, newly born and world-wide in their range, will exert their utmost for the advancement of their design.”
We see these things happening all around us, particularly in the countries of Europe and Asia. Intelligent young people
throughout the world cannot ignore the terror of this condition.
In the October, 1939, edition of Baha”I Youth, Margaret Kunz, chairman of the National Youth Committee, addressed
an editorial to Bahá’i young people in all lands, telling them that the upheavals of today must not deflect our course.
She wrote: “Today there are two great wars being waged in the world; one in the Orient and the other in Europe. The
effects of these wars will be world-wide. None of us can escape the tragic reverberations of the bloody, savage war now
being carried on.
“What position and attitude must the

of the Teachings, but also and above all to live them as completely as circumstances permit. They should attract people
to the Cause not so much through the exposition of its principles and teachings but through the power of their
individual lives. The Bahá’i youth must indeed exemplify through their lives, both as individuals and as conscious and
active members of the Bahâ’i community, the purity, the effectiveness and sublime character of their Faith. They can
teach best when they live up to the standard inculcated by Bahã’u’lláh.”
EUROPE AND ASIA
Bahá’i Youth assume? This is a vital question to each of us. In the Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi gives us
the answer. ‘Dangers, however sinister, must, at no time, dim the radiance of their new-born faith. Strife and confusion,
however bewildering, must never befog their vision. Tribulation, however afflictive, must never shatter their resolve.
Denunciations, however clamorous, must never sap their loyalty; never deflect their course. The present Plan,
embodying the budding hopes of a departed Master, must be pursued, relentlessly pursued, whatever may befall them
in the future, however distracting the crises that may agitate their country or the world.’
“Shoghi Effendi further points out that the strife, tribulations, and upheavals all about us are a part of the Divine Plan
and we must accept them as such. The Bahá’is must not ‘forget that the synchronization of such worldshaking crises
with the progressive unfoldment and fruition of their divinely appointed task is itself the work of Providence, the
design of an inscrutable Wisdom, and the purpose of an all-compelling Will, a Will that directs and controls, in its own
mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the destinies of men. Such simultaneous processes of rise and of fall,
of integration and of disintegration, of order and chaos, with their continuous and reciprocal reactions on each other,
are but aspects of a greater Plan, one and indivisible, whose Source is God, whose author is Bahã’u’lláh, the theatre of
whose operations is the entire planet, and whose ultimate objectives

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

are the unity of the human race and peace of all mankind.’
“In a letter to the Bahá’is dated July 28, 1939, Shoghi Effendi gives us these instructions: ‘Though powerless to avert the impending
contest the followers of Bahá’u’lláh can, by the spirit they evince and the efforts they exert, help to circumscribe its range, shorten its
duration, allay its hardships, proclaim its salutary consequences, and demonstrate its necessary and vital role in the shaping of human
destiny. Theirs is the duty to hold, aloft and undimmed, the torch of Divine Guidance, as the shades of night descend upon, and
ultimately envelop the entire human race.’
“Bahá’i Youth, this is our task: ‘To hold, aloft and undimmed, the torch of Divine Guidance, as the shades of night descend upon, and
ultimately envelop the entire human race.’
“The words of our beloved Guardian are clear. Our work must go forward in spite of the tragedies surrounding us on every hand. May
each of us become a center of light and hope to a sick humanity in dire need of the message of Bahá’u’llah.”
On account of restrictions of all kinds we have not been able to receive reports of

Bahá’i activities in many countries of Europe. In these countries we know that the public activities of Bahá’is have been restrained, if
not stopped entirely. We know, also, that although their activities may be at a standstill, nevertheless, they are “holding aloft the torch
of Divine Guidance” in their hearts and lives.
In a few European countries Bahá’is are still free to work and teach the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, for example— England — From
London, Lancashire,
Manchester and Bradford come reports of splendid youth work among the Bahá’Is. Dorothy Cansdale of London wrote in a letter
dated October, 1938: “So far as our work is concerned, we have just been getting started again after the break in the summer. The
English Summer School was grand and we really feel it was a great success. There were about seventy visitors altogether, and three
people actually declared themselves believers in the Faith in the course of the session. The Youth group itself had meetings all last
winter on all sorts of topics, and also held social evenings at various homes, and in the summer picnics in the country. We have lost
about half-a-dozen members through the

A meeting of the young Bahá’is from live neighboring centers held at Jamestown, New York, 1939.

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return of Persian students to their own country, but we have contacted several new circles of people in London, where we were not
known before, and from these new people, some of whom were the direct result of last year’s Youth Symposium, we have two new
believers who will formally declare themselves as soon as they come of age. London is organizing a drive to have as many fireside
meetings as possible this winter. We find that we get better results from this more intimate form of teaching, though we have not given
up having public meetings. I live in a flat with another Bahi’i girl and we have an “at home” every Tuesday to which we invite anyone
who has ever showed any interest in the Cause and anybody we think is likely to.
A letter from Miss Helen Chessell of Lancashire brought us the joyous news that a National Youth Committee for England had been
appointed in the fall of 1938. The members of the committee are Mr. Wilkinson of Bradford, Mr. Rosenfield of London, and Miss
Helen Chessell of Lancashire. Largely on account of their efforts the Youth Symposiums held in England were very successful.
Of the Lancashire Youth Group, Miss Chessell tells us: “The Bahá’i Youth Group here has only just been formed, and as yet our
numbers are only very small, but despite this we hope to do great things. We are holding study classes here every Tuesday evening on
Some Answered Questions, and of course later on we shall take other books. The Bahá’is of Bradford and Manchester have been
keeping in touch with one another by meeting on several rambles at a lovely little place halfway between the two, Hebden Bridge in
Yorkshire.”
A great many of the lectures given at the Bahá’i Summer School in July, 1939, were presented by David Hofman and IJasan Balyuzi,
a young Bahá’i of the London Group. The Bahá’i Theatre Group attracts many young people of London to investigate further into the
Bahi’i Teachings.
We are sure that the untiring efforts of the three members of the National Youth Committee of England will result in many
confirmations among the youth of that country.

France—Each year since 1930 the Union of Bahá’i Students have invited the Bahi’i Youth of Europe to a conference. The
conferences have been held at Paris, France. The eighth annual conference was held the 1st and 2nd of January, 1938. Talks were
given by Bahá’i youth from Lyons, Paris, and London. Friends came from Belgium, Egypt, kin, and Switzerland. In the evening,
January 2nd, they invited the friends to a friendship dinner.
In a letter from Mr. C. N. Kennedy, of Paris, France, dated January, 1939, we read of the Bahi’i work in general in Paris, Marseille,
and Lyons, France. He stresses that the sad European political events of last fall and ever since are making people more anxious to
investigate spiritual truths.
Another report from Paris tells us that the ninth annual conference of Bahi’i Youth was held in Paris on May 28th, 1939. The subjects
and speakers were as follows:
Analogies among the Different Manifestations—Monsieur Berdjis (Switzerland).
Different Aspects of Prayer—Mademoiselle Migette (Lyons).
Concrete Action of the Bahi’is in Actual Circumstances — Monsieur Macatoune (Paris).
Monday, May 29th, the young people who attended the conference commemorated the Ascension of Bahi’u’llih. They also held a
friendship breakfast. The Bahi’i Youth who attended felt it to be a most inspiring occasion. The importance of this reunion is apparent
as it has the whole support of Shoghi Effendi.
Letters of loving greetings have been sent by the Bahi’i Youth of Lyons, Marseilles, and Paris, France to the Youth of America.
Bulgaria—Mrs. Louise Gregory reports that there is quite a large group of Bahi’is in Sophia, Bulgaria. Lately two students at Varna,
Bulgaria, became declared believers. Several refugee students at Belgrade have become deeply interested in the Bahi’i Faith.
Czechoslovakia—Sometime in 1938, we
received a copy of a paper entitled “Pax.”
It was sent to us by a young Bahi’i of
Prague. The date of the paper was July and
August, 193 8 issue. This article, written by

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES

The Mid-west Regional Bahã’I Youth conference held January 8th and 9th, 1938, at Wilmette, Illinois.
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a non-Bahá’i, read as follows: “The peace program calls our attention to the Bahá’i Movement, which is striving
towards a New World Order, on a moral development of humanity, and has followers here in Czechoslovakia. By
request of the Czech section of this paper the Czechoslovak Bahá’is have given us these ideals of their faith. They will
be glad to forward additional information upon a written request to the editor.
“Bahá’is recognize the ‘Oneness of God’ and His Prophets, and the ‘Oneness of Humanity.’ The Bahá’i Faith raises the
banner of independent investigation of truth. It condemns all forms of superstitions and prejudice. It teaches that the
foundation of religion is to strive for peace and harmony. It teaches that religion and science must go hand in hand, for
that is the only foundation of peaceful, orderly and progressive society. It emphasizes further, equal rights for men and
women. It raises the standard of work to the station of prayer. It recommends the acceptance of an international
language, as a means of assuring peace.
“This teaching originated about the middle of the 19th century in Persia. The forerunner of the founder of the Faith was
Mirzá ‘All-Muhammad, of Shiráz, known as the Báb (the Gate). He prophesied, in 1844, the coming of a new Prophet.
“The founder of the Faith was Bahá’u’lláh (Glory of God) Whose coming the Báb prophesied. He declared his station
in 1863, in Baghdad.
“The explainer of the teachings and the exemplar of life was His oldest son ‘Abdu’lBahá (Servant of God), Who from
childhood shared the fate of His Father. In the year 1908, when the new government régime freed the political
prisoners, He undertook extensive trips for the purpose of spreading the Bahã’l teachings, in Egypt, Europe, and
America. He died in 1921, in Haifa, Palestine.
“By His Will He appointed His eldest grandson, Shoghi Efiendi, in Haifa as the first Guardian of the Bahã’i Faith.
“The Spiritual and administrative center of the Bahá’i Faith is in ‘Akká and Haifa. The administrative center for
European countries is in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The first time our attention was called to

the Bahá’i teachings was in 1913 by Milos Wurm, in a pamphlet translated from German. The translation of the title of
the pamphlet would read Proclamation of Peace in the East. Later in 1926, we again heard of the Bahá’i Faith from the
lips of Martha
L. Root, who in her constant travels all over the world, propagates Bahá’l thought through Esperanto lectures, and
newspaper items.
“The text hook, Bahd’u’llcih and the New Era has been translated into 35 languages, among them Czech. The Bahá’is
believe that the dawn of a new humanity is here. Among those who strive for peace, all disputes will disappear. The
time is here when all humanity must unite, all races and classes. ‘Wars between nations will cease. By the Will of God,
world peace will be established. The world will be a new world and all will be as brothers.”
Hungary—From Jeanne Boles, a member of the New York City Youth Group’s Executive Committee, we have just
received a letter telling us of some outstanding Bahá’i youth in Budapest. Public activities there are practically
suspended. Nevertheless, they are able to do some very fine Bahá’i work. For example, one young woman is translating
the Hidden Words into Hungarian. It is difficult to speak of the Bahá’i Faith in Hungary because of political and
religious pressure. Anti-Semitism is rampant. It is difficult to bring Christians and Jews together in one meeting, so
they must be approached separately.
India and Burma—We were very happy to receive a letter dated August, 1939, from the secretary of the newly formed
National Bahá’i Youth Committee of India and Burma. The fact that such a committee has been appointed surely is
evidence of great activity among the youth of those countries. The following people are members of the new
committee:
Mr. ‘Abbás ‘All Butt, B.A. (Simla); Mr.
Siyyid Ghulam Murtaza ‘All (Rangoon);
Mr. Mihraban Jamshidi (Karachi); Mr.
Nadir usayn (Delhi); Mr. Ilabibu’llãh
Mil3r-i-’Ali Manji (Bombay) to act as secretary.

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES

The duties and functions of the committee have been defined by the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma as
follows:
1. To keep in touch with the American Youth Committee and coordinate their activities in general and the Annual
World Bahá’i Youth Symposium in particular.
2. To prepare plans for activities throughout the year either following the American plans or making our own plans for
the purpose.
3. To encourage the formation of Youth Committees in all the centers and to stimulate their activities by constant
appeals to them to follow the year’s program.
4. To prepare periodic reports on the work of the different Youth Committees and to send them to the National Spiritual
Assembly for information and to the Bahd’I News Letter for publication.
Some years ago the secretary of this new National Youth Committee received a letter from the secretary of Shoghi
Effendi which said: “It is towards youth that the Guardian is eagerly looking and it is upon their shoul der

that he is laying all the responsibilities for the promotion of the Cause. Theirs is the opportunity to arise and serve to
their utmost this Great Cause of God.”
From Bombay, India, we received a most enthusiastic report of their activities during 193 8-1939. The group there held
35 regular meetings and 2 special meetings during the year. They started a study class which is held once a week. The
group contributes a copy of the World Order magazine to the Royal Asiatic Society Library, Bombay Branch, and to
the Khalsa College Library, Màtunga, Bombay. They tell of the great inspiration which they received from the visit of
Martha L. Root: “When she parted from us on December 29th, 1938, we felt as if our very soul was leaving our body.”
The greatest event in the history of the group this year was the holding of the Fourth Annual World Bahá’i Youth Day
on February 26, 1939. Nearly 150 prominent and leading citizens of the city were present. It is very interesting to know
that talks were given in Gujerati, English, Urdu, and Hindi.

The Youth Groups of Pasadena and adjacent Bahá’i Communities. Pasadena, California, October, 1939.
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THE BAHA’I WORLD

The Third Annual Bahâ’i Youth Day in Poona was so well appreciated that the speakers were invited to repeat it in local colleges.
Delhi invited all their guests to a grand dinner at the close of the Symposium. These groups, as well as the youth groups in Surat and
Karachi, report fine meetings at the time of the Fourth Annual Bahá’i Youth Day.
Iran—From the Unity of the East and West Committee of Tihrán, Iran, comes an exciting account of the work of a young Bahá’i
teacher, Mr. A. G. Faizi: “Mr. Faizi is a well educated young Bahá’i who fifteen months ago gave up his job in order to dedicate his
whole time to the service of the Cause. He has been living in Najaf-Abâd (village near I3fáhán) helping the friends there in their
activities. Najaf-Abád is a small rural place. Of its 2500 inhabitants 1500 are Bahá’is. They have always been and still are subject to
persecution, but their firmness and faith in God is unshakable.
“Lately the schools there established by the believers have been closed. But the energetic Educational Committee immediately
organized a new and novel system of education. They divided the 400 Bahá’I children into several classes according to age and
knowledge. These classes are held at different private places and run by six women teachers headed by Mr. Faizi. The teachers begin
their round early in the morning and finish at midnight.
“Another very interesting scheme the Najaf-Abãd Youth Group have already begun to put into action is the building of a public bath
with four compartments. To a person who knows the unhygienic conditions in such places as Najaf-Abâd, the building of a bath is a
praiseworthy scheme and a vital necessity. Here again the spirit of love and solidarity is predominant. All the Bahá’is, young and old,
are cooperating and helping to build this bath. Some bring stones and materials from long distances, some actually work as masons,
and others help financially. With such a spirit no enterprise can fail!
“A plan for building a place to be used as a public library is also being prepared, and help has been offered not only by every mem be

of that community but by a great number of centers in and outside the country. Two hundred books have already been
offered, and Ijusayn Effendi Rabbani has promised them more.”
The outstanding work of Mr. Faizi and his companions is an inspiration to every Bahi’i.
Egypt—The Bahá’i Youth Committee of Cairo, Egypt, wrote: “We were so much delighted to arrange for a youth
meeting on Friday, February 24, 1939. On account of present circumstances in which the hearts and minds are stirred
by religious antagonism, the symposium could not be publicly arranged. Nevertheless the fragrance and spirituality
which we felt on that day were of such degree that they will remain vivid until the coming day when all these obstacles
will be removed by the power of the Word and the banner of Ya Bahâ’u’l, Abhá will be unfurled.”
Mr. Ibrahim El Masry, of Kafr El Dawar, Egypt, has written a brief article called In Egypt. Mr. Masry says that the
Egyptians are in great need of the Bahá’i Teachings. He says that the Christian and Mubammadan teachings are not
enough to purify the spirits in our time. His article gives us insight into the deplorable conditions of the lower classes in
Egypt. He writes: “The farmer is a poor creature. He is alive in the twentieth century but his habits are those of the old
ages. He eats dirty food and drinks defiled water. He has no house. He lives in a cottage or den. When you ask a
farmer, ‘Are you pleased with this life?’ he says, ‘Yes, God wishes so and I must respect His will.’ The religious men
tell him this.
“When the government begs him to let his son enter the school without paying fees, he refuses and says that his son
helps him in cultivating the land. The governor in the village is obliged to call the boys to enter the school in spite of
the wish of their parents.
“He does not fear God although he prays all the time. I think that education is the best remedy. It is not enough to
educate a farmer. He must live with an educated man to imitate him.”

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES

‘Irdq—The Bahi’i Youth of Baghdad, ‘Iraq, report a fine meeting at the time of the Fourth Annal Bahá’i Youth Day. They write:
“The meeting was a beautiful demonstration by the ‘Iraqi Youth of their unity and cooperation with the rest of the Bahá’i Youth
throughout the world. They held special meetings beforehand to make plans for the occasion. All the talks were given in Arabic.
Kamil ‘Abbás spoke on the Aims and Purposes of the Baha”I Faith, Adib R. Baghdádi spoke on Unity in Diversity, ‘Aziz
Sabur spoke on The Need for Spirituality. Refreshments were served after the talks. They report that the addresses were well
received by the audience.
China—Mr. H. A. Ouskouli, of Shanghai, China, has published a small pamphlet, “Some Principles of the Bahá’i Faith.” In it is a
brief statement by Dr. Y. S. Tsao, Principal of Tsing-Hwa University of Peking. He says: “After studying the Bahá’i Faith and the
reviving effect it produces over the heart and mind of man, I came to the conclusion that the only way to regenerate China is to
introduce the Bahá’i teachings in China. Therefore I began to translate Bahi’i books into Chinese, so that the Chinese nation may be
benefited too by this heavenly Manifestation. That is ‘s’hy every day after leaving my office, though very tired, I go home and start
working on the translations of Bahá’i Teachings, and usually I forget that I am tired.”
In a letter dated November 13th, 1939, Mr. Ouskouli sent the English version of an article written by the translator of a part of the
book. This article is included in the front of the book together with an introduction by the late Dr. Tsao. Following is the introduction
written by I. S. Shen: “I happened to have read through the wonderful book Some Questions Answered and was amazed by its
truthful realities—the realities of Divine Manifestations.
“My friend, Mr. M. H. A. Ouskouli,

handed me one copy of this book which was already translated by the late Mr. Tsao, but unfortunately a part of Mr. Tsao’s translation,
Chapters XXXIX to XLIV, was destroyed at the time of printing, and Mr. Tsao died subsequently before the destroyed part could be
translated by him again. It was in July, 1939, when Mr. Ouskouli asked me to translate the destroyed part of the original work.
“I at first refused to do the translation before I read and studied the whole book, and suddenly I felt a light come into my life. I, as a
realist and a man never seriously considering religious studies, began to be pleased with one of the twelve Bahâ’i principles, viz.:
‘Religion should be in accord with science and reason.’ Nothing can be truer than the above principle and it is nothing but the real
truth.
“Having translated the destroyed part, I could not but form the conclusion that this book, the teaching of Bahã’u’llãh, at this time of
the world when nations are vying with each other and hatred and fears are reigning, is a great contribution toward the Divine task of
removing the international differences and bringing about the universal peace of mankind.”
Mr. I. S. Shen wrote this introduction in Shanghai, July 30, 1939.
Loving letters of greeting have been sent by the Bahá’is of Oslo, Norway; Gjinokaster, Albania; Lebanon; ‘Akká, Palestine; Tokyo,
Japan; and Tabriz, Iran.
Though these reports evidence great interest, great activity, on the part of the young Bahá’is throughout the world, yet they stand
barely on the threshold of the great opportunities which will be theirs. Although there are restrictions upon Bahá’i Youth in almost
every land, nevertheless, the universal truths which they are studying are equipping them with courage and knowledge so that they
may help in the reconstruction of society for world peace and for the brotherhood of mankind.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

EXCERPTS FROM ‘tBAHA’I YOUTH”
MAGAZINE

February, 1938-December, 1939

Balance in an Unbalanced World—Kenneth Christian
The Path Is Clear—Wilfrid Barton
A Plea—Annamarie Kunz Honnold
II. ARTICLES
Why Be Religious?—Betty Shook
World Citizenship—Ansel Schurgast
Humanity’s Coming of Age—Virginia Russell
The Scientist Needs Religion—Otto Zmeskal
Bahã’i Internationalism—Herbert Berman
III. SPECIAL FEATURES
A Youth Who Made History—Teresita E. Ryan
The New Hour Has Struck! (A survey of Shoghi

A Letter—Bahiyyih Farajullah
The Unfoldment of World Civilization (including outlines of study for the Fourth Annual World Bahá’i Youth Day)
A New Civilization at Work (a reprint from Karachi Daily Gazette of June
25, 1938)
The Báb—Robert Koehl
BALANCE IN AN UNBALANCED WORLD

David Starr Jordan was so impressed by the personality and life of ‘Abdu’l-Babá that he made the statement, “ ‘Abdu’l-Baha will unite
the East and the West, for he treads the mystical path with practical feet.” In ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as the living Exemplar of the Bahã’i Faith,
we find the perfect balance between man the thinker and man the activist.
In finding a practical way of living under conditions of modern life, we must first achieve for ourselves a healthy body — a body
equipped to carry us successfully through the demands which every day makes upon us. Then, with this as a foundation, our next task
is to build a personality which

achieves a workable balance between the extremes of the extrovert and the introvert.
This is much more easily said than done, The importance is obvious, however, when we see the results of too much introspection and
emphasis on self. Equally undesirable are the individuals who live such a vigorous, shallow social life that one wonders how
completely their mental and spiritual powers have been stunted. Individuals in either class are not living happily or “normally.”
Is it not, then, our individual task to seek the middle road as we work out our life problems from day to day, and week to week?
Man needs an Educator if he is to find

I. EDITORIALS

Effendi’s Cablegrams)
—Nan Reasoner

I
EDITORIALS

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES

The Bahá’i Youth Group of Karachi, India, 1938.

and be able to follow such a middle path. In the Bahá’i concept of life and history, the Prophets, or Manifestations of
God, are the great spiritual geniuses who give man the pattern of life which is balanced. The great social and economic
changes of history make it necessary for the pattern to he repeated, changed, and amplified from age to age. The
succeeding Manifestations who appear in progressive revelation renew for man the ancient Faith and point out again
the golden mean of human conduct.
The Bahá’i Teachings reveal the unity of man. For, in the writings of Bahá’u’llah

and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, we find emerging a picture of man developing all the aspects of his nature, individual and social. ‘Abdu’l-Baha
demonstrated this as the Bahá’i Exemplar under all conditions of life in both the Orient and the Occident. In addition to the great
literature to which we may turn for counsel on any aspect of hfe, we have the constant example of His life.
“The mystical path with practical feet”— spiritual man creatively at work in the modern world—there is the Pattern for a balanced life
in an unbalanced world.
KENNETH CHRISTIAN.

THE PATH IS CLEAR
“The call has gone forth, the path is clear,” writes Shoghi Effendi in a recent letter to the American Bahá’i Community. Can we, as
Bahá’i youth, have any doubt as tp what that path is? Can we, in the face of such a realization, hesitate to devote these precious
moments of our lives to contributing our significant part to the prosecution of this task—a task so supreme, so unparalleled in the
history of our planet that none

shall ever be able to adequately estimate its value?
Again Shoghi Effendi says, “The potentialities with which an Almighty Providence has endowed it (i.e., the World Order of
Bahá’u’lláh) will no doubt enable its promoters to achieve their purpose. Much, however, will depend upon the spirit and manner in
which the task will be conducted.” Once more let us try to appre

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ciate the imphcation of these words. The crisis confronting not alone the world at large, but also, and as a corollary to the first, the
followers of Bahá’u’llãh, individually and collectively, is too colossal and too imminent for us to remain passive or oblivious.
“The twin processes of internal disintegration and external chaos,” writes Shoghi Effendi, “are being accelerated and every day are
inexorably moving towards a climax. The rumblings that must precede the eruption of those forces that must cause ‘the limbs of
humanity to quake’ can already be heard. ‘The time of the end,’ ‘the latter years,’ as foretold in the Scriptures, are at long last upon us.
. . . The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up

of the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned,
and resolute.”
An Almighty Providence has decreed the triumph of our Cause whether we will or no. But that which concerns us here and now is our
own relation to it—”much will depend upon the spirit and manner in which that task will be conducted. Through the clear-

ness and steadiness of their vision, through the unvitiated vitality of their belief, through the incorruptibility of their character, through
the adamantine force of their resolve, the matchless superiority of their aims and purpose, and the unsurpassed range of their
accomplishments, they who labor for the glory of the Most Great Name throughout both Americas can best demonstrate to the
visionless, faithless and restless society to which they belong their power to proffer a haven of refuge to its members in the hour of
their realized doom.”
And now that “the path is clear” before us shall we not, Bahá’i youth, arise as never before and avail ourselves to the fullest degree of
the priceless privilege that is ours? Let us detach our lives completely from a preoccupation with the thoughts, interests, and pursuits
of the decadent society about us—the heritage of a civilization rotten at the core — and turn our faces wholly to Bahá’u’lláh, centering
our attentions upon that which will conduce to the up-building of that New World Order, and of the institutions inseparably associated
with it, ordained by God as the sole refuge for a despairing humanity. Bahá’i youth, what shall be the measure of our service, our
heroism?
WILFRJD BARTON.

A PLEA
Teach ye the Cause of God, 0 people of Bahá, for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and
“. . .

regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds.”
Are we heeding Bahá’u’lláh’s stirring words? Are we utilizing every available opportunity for teaching this great Cause? If we are
failing, we can offer absolutely no legitimate excuse. We are breaking a trust.
We cannot say that our friends are not ready for it. A letter from Haifa, quoted in Baba”I News for August, 1938, tells us that the
believers should give the Message even to those who appear unready, for we cannot judge what influence may be exerted by God’s
word. With the love-of-God spirit we are to “accept whatever response our (his) words may evoke in our (his) hearer.”
Dare we say that we were not born to

be speakers? Bahá’u’lláh has given us a promise when He declares, “We are with you at all times, and shall strengthen
you through the power of truth.” Furthermore, teaching need not be from the platform. The fireside discussion and têtea-tête style are effective methods.
Does modern life allow many consecutive days to pass wherein we do not somehow or other make new acquaintances?
Are we aware that each new person whom we contact, no matter in what situation, has been placed in a position where
he may hear “of the greatness of this day?” Are we going to deprive him of this great privilege? The responsibility to
act lies with us.
We have no justification for saying that we find no opportunities to teach. Have we attempted to find them? Have we
welcomed and utilized the slightest opportu

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES

nity? Have we used the teaching prayers at the beginning of each day, before going to class or to work, when going into
the world to attend to our various duties? Have we asked Bahá’u’llãh to open up the way for us?
If we would cultivate the habit of using a teaching prayer daily, surely our eyes would see what we have failed to
perceive before. We must have faith in Bahá’u’llâh when we pray, “0 God! 0 God! Thou

seest my weakness, lowliness and humility amongst Thy creatures; nevertheless I have trusted in Thee and have arisen
in the promotion of Thy Teachings amongst Thy strong servants, relying on Thy power and might!”
We impart light to the world and stimulate happiness within ourselves when we consciously arise and do our part to
teach God’s Word for this day.
ANNAMARIE KUNZ HONNOLD.
II

ARTICLES
WHY BE RELIGIOUS?
BETTY SHOOK

Unfortunately the word “religious” repels many young people. To them “religious” means something solemn, something almost
unnatural, something bound in traditions and not understandable. Also the term implies piety, and to be pious is not a normal ambition
of any young person. This is probably due to the false conception of piety which is so often connected with religion.
On the other hand, the term “philosophy” does not arouse this spirit of antagonism. It does not seem to be so iron- bound; it is more
pliable. To be philosophical seems less harsh and unnatural than to be so-called “religious.”
But how fundaiuentally untrue both of these concepts are. Philosophy, though it stimulates thought, gets no where. The same problems
are taken up by different philosophers, but the fallacy lies in the fact that none of them agree. The beauty of a prophetic religion is that
you have some one to whom you can turn. In the Bahã’i Faith we have Bahá’u’lláh. He is understanding and moreover He is our
helper in all our problems. When we have a difficult problem to solve, we turn to His writings for the solution. These problems do not
pertain necessarily to religion either; Bahá’u’lláh has solutions for all our problems, religious and secular.
According to the dictionary, religion means, “Feeling and living in accordance

with a belief in a divine power . . .“ Pious is also given as a synonym. . . . When we look up pious we find that it means, “showing
reverence for God. . .
How silly we have been in the past to have let the connotation of the two words upset us and turn us away from something which in
reality is our life. Our religion should make us happy. Is there any reason why we shouldn’t be happy? Is there any reason why God
should not want us to be happy? Religions of the past have instilled in people the “fear of God” rather than the “lose of God.” In the
Bahã’i Faith we are taught to do things for the love of God.
The question arises, “How can one be religious or even happy when the world around us is in such a chaotic condition?” This is a
good question, but it is obvious that it does not imply any action. The questioner probably feels that it is purely foolish to be happy
under these conditions and that the prayers of a so-called religious person could not solve these problems; truly, a most hopeless
outlook on life.
However, we as Bahá’is have another method: that of action. We can be happy because we feel that these calamities and disasters are
but tests for us and we should show our strength. We pray for this strength and then proceed to the best of our ability to overcome
these obstacles. These tests become a joy rather than a burden

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when we know that God is helping us. True, prayer alone will not solve any problem. It is an old conception that we pray and God will
do the rest. Not so, however, in this day of the New World Order; action is the necessary function.
To go one step further; we are taught that worship and work go hand in hand. “In the Bahá’i Cause, arts, sciences and all crafts are
considered as worship. . . Briefly,

all effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to
do service to humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and minister to people’s needs. Service is prayer.” (Bahd’I Scripture, par.
826)
How can anyone help but be religious if he makes action in service his whole life, as every Bahá’i endeavors to do?

WORLD CITIZENSHIP
AN5EL SCHURGA5T

In this day of turmoil and confusion in which the North hates the South, and the South hates the North; the Negro hates the white man,
and the white man hates the Negro; the Fascist hates the Socialist, and the Sociahst hates the Fascist; the East hates the West, and the
West does not understand the East, we see a need of a change of attitude. Our economic system is failing because of this lack of unity
in the world; sciences are hindered because our economic system is not working smoothly.
Patriotism must give way to world citizenship. Loving our own country is proper and necessary, but loving our kind, (humanity), is
much more important. The world of today cannot possibly advance unless prejudices are given up and a proper world attitude is
promoted. This globe which is so closely united by both communication and transportation cannot go on living and working as long as
its nations act as isolated, separate units.
Why do we spend so many valuable years of our life studying languages? Because there is no auxiliary world language. Why do
people starve in one part of the world, while food is burned in another part? Because there is no international government to adjust
such things. There is not even a feeling of cooperation; the people would rather burn food than spend a few dollars to ship to countries
where it is needed. Why do we lose money every time we change our coins for those of another country? Because there is no
international currency. Why do we spend the greatest part of our “tax dollar” for guns, battleships, and poisonous gases to kill our
fellowmen instead

of spending that same money for building bridges or improving housing conditions? For the same reason that the League of Nations
failed. Every country wants to “get” but is not willing to give to those who need; every country is suspicious of every neighboring
country instead of being friendly and trying to coOperate for the good of both.
By education through radio and other means the world is slowly awakening to the fact that something must be done. Admiral Byrd
writes: “The great folly of all follies is the amazing attitude of civilixed nations toward each other. It seems a great madness. If this
attitude is not changed I don’t see how our civilization, as we know it, will survive. If I survive this ordeal, I shall devote what is left
of my life largely to trying to help further the friendship of my country with other nations of the world.”—(World Events) And
again H. V. Morton writes: “I cannot understand how any traveler can stand unmoved at the graveside of the civilization from which
our own world springs, or can see a Corinthian capitol lying in the mud without feeling that such things hold a lesson and a warning,
and, perhaps, a prophecy.” (“In The Steps of St. Paul”)
Many peace organizations have been formed to try to bring about world unity, but most of these are faihng because of selfish
prejudices.
Youth in our colleges realize that things cannot go on as they are, but they do not know where to turn. The slogan: “Do as the last
generation did,” is no longer true, for if we did that we would get into an even

BAHA’t YOUTH ACTIVITIES

more hopeless chaos than the one we are facing now. One thing that we greatly need: broad-minded teachers in our schools who will
“put over” this idea of world citizenship and world consciousness such as we have in our Bahã’i summer schools.
The important thing for us to keep in mind is that we should get up and do something about it, and not just sit around talking about it.
To my mind the best thing that we can do is to express our attitude to others around us even though we are. ridiculed at first.
Shoghi Effendi’s words state very aptly what our attitude really is; “Though loyal to their respective governments, though profoundly
interested in anything which affects their security and welfare, though anxious to share whatever promotes their best interests, . . . they
conceive their Faith to be essentially non-political, supra-na tiona
in character, rigidly non-partisan, and entirely dissociated from nationalistic ambitions, pursuits, and purposes. Such a
faith knows no division of class or party.
It subordinates every particularistic interest to the paramount interests of humanity, firmly convinced that in a world of
interdependent peoples and nations the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole, and
that no abiding benefit can be conferred on the component part if the general interests of the entity itself are ignored or
neglected.” (Unfoldment of World Civilization.)
When we get the entire world to understand and accept this attitude, that we must be impartial citizens of the world
besides being citizens of our countries, then we shall have taken one of the greatest steps towards the fulfillment of the
New World Order.

HUMANITY’S COMING OF AGE
VIRGIN5A RUSSELL

Religion is a most vital force in the realm of human existence, and nothing can separate one from the other. From the
earliest times, when man found his ambitions and desires to live more affluently frustrated and opposed by a power
which he recognized as superior and dependent upon arbitrary volition, he sought to secure resources and alhes.

At first he sought these allies outside himself and thought he found them in natural objects—a stage of religion called
animism. Nature-worship was followed by polytheism, a kind of animism attributing personality to the spirits of the
natural objects. Naturally, his tendency was towards superstition. Whatever was unknown, powerful, or vast invariably
impressed his imagi Som

of the Bahâ’i Youth of Tihrán celebrating international Bahá’i Youth Day.

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nation with an awesome kind of dread. If a great stone or petrified tree seemed to give help, it was due to the spirits therein. These
objects were only the outward manifestations of an indwelling spirit, and therefore worthy of veneration. And so it was that the spirit
was named and endowed with godhood.
Monotheism arrived with a dispute in the minds of men in regard to the various gods and goddesses of Olympus. One great god
gaining ascendancy over the other gods and the minor gods suffering elimination, eventually led to monotheism.
As Fetishism was left behind, so in due time man’s reason led him forth from star- worship. Gradually, he exchanged his outmoded
doctrine of arbitrary volition for that of law.
At last the temperamental genii and gods who constantly preyed upon the fear and veneration of all because of their seeming influence
on every event, were displaced by the lofty conception of one Almighty Being who ruled the universe according to reason, and
therefore according to law.
Because it is impossible for the finite mind to comprehend the infinite, it was decreed that there should appear on the earth Divine
Messengers of God; interpreters and promulgators of his Word; great educators of the people.
As government must be adapted to climate, so must the Prophets of God state the Truth so that it is applicable to the land in which that
prophet appears, and can be comprehended by the inhabitants of that period. As Bahá’u’lláh has said, “In every Dispensation the light
of Divine Revelation has been vouchsafed to men in direct proportion to their spiritual capacity.”
It is with equal discrimination that we look upon the holy Manifestations who have been the founders of various great religions and
note their unity and agreement in purpose and teaching. His Holiness Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the
Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh are one in spirit and reality. Each Prophet fulfilled the promise of the One who came before Him and likewise
each forecast the appearance of the One who would follow.
Judaism, a religion maintained by the Jews

and offered to the world by Abraham, its first adherent, established the Unity of God in the midst of a polytheistic generation.
Moses appeared at a time when the people had reached the depths of decadence, ignorance, and degradation. By the patience,
fortitude, and willing endurance of this great Educator, His ingenuity and zealous work, a race was brought far on the road of religious
evolution. From animistic polytheism, it attained to the dawn of ethical monotheism in a very short space of time. As can be expected
of the message of a true prophet, the laws and teachings brought forth by Moses served not only that period of darkness, but formed
the backbone of legislature and religious customs in the periods to follow when they were adopted by the Christians and spread around
the world. As a result of the institutions and the establishment of Moses’ religious and civil laws, the people attained a position which
entitled them to honor among all nations, and the highest degree of civilization of that period.
Zoroaster realized the need of arousing in the Persians a hatred for unworthy things; the need for a guide to teach them ethical
discrimination. Like Moses, he became a. great leader, welding and steadying the wandering tribes, making of them a stabilized nation
through his influence and teachings. The world will ever remain His debtor for the system of philosophy, ethics, and theology He built
up for it.
Buddhism arose in India as an antagonist against the theological system of the Vedas, which was enforced by a tyrannical hierarchy. It
had a prodigious and unequalled success—a success resting on the assertion of absolute equahty of all men. This, in a country that had
for decades been burdened with castes. It introduced a powerful monastic system and offered many points resembling the subsequent
one of Europe.
A short time before the appearance of Christ, there was a gradual mental breakdown in Greece; a breakdown of that strength from
which original discovery matures. There was no new development in the physical sciences; natural philosophy had come to a
standstill. Men were content to rest on their past laurels. Greek intellectual

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

life had passed into oblivion, and the moral conditions of the European world were in antagonism to scientific progress.
At about this same time, the priests and followers of every god were permitted to pursue without interference their own
special forms of worship in Rome. The final outcome of the comparisons instituted, was the philosophical rejection of
polytheism and a scepticism as regards them all. It indicated a complete mental and social demoralization—mental
demoralization, for the principles of knowledge were sapped and man persuaded that his reason was no guide; social
demoralization, for he was taught that right and wrong, virtue and vice, conscience, law and God are merely illusions.
To what appalling condition society has arrived when it reaches the conclusion that there is no religion, no justice,
virtue or truth in the world; that the only object of human existence is unlimited physical enjoyment, and the only
standard of man’s position is wealth!

With the disintegration of polytheism, the decline of philosophy, and the moral and social disorganization of the
Roman Empire, the people turned to Christianity. Asia and Africa were tranquil, but with the tranquillity of despair. Is
there anyone who can conscientiously say that such abhorrent conditions could be rectified by anyone other than One
who is imbued with the essential illumination, the bounty of which can be received only from the Reality of the
Divinity? Helped and confirmed by divine power, Christ, a true educator of the world of humanity, abrogated the
Ancient Mosaic Law, reformed the general morals, and once again laid the foundation of external glory for the
Israelites, thus fulfilling the law of Moses. He brought humanity the blessed tidings of universal peace and spread
abroad teachings which were not for Israel alone, but were for the general well-being of the whole human race.
In 603 A.D. there was born in Arabia at Mecca, a man who exercised a very great in-

V
The Bahái Youth Committee of Bombay, India, taken with Martha Root on the occasion of her tour of India and Burma during 1938.
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fluence upon the human race. This illustrious man, Muhammad, raised his own nation from Fetishism, the adoration of meteoric stone,
and from the basest idol-worship. He preached a monotheism which quickly pushed into the background the empty disputes of the
Arians and Catholics. He applied Himself to improving the social conditions of his people, and was the first to take steps in the
direction of religious and political unity when He consolidated all the tribes of Arabia into one unit. While Europe underwent the
throes of the Dark Ages, culture and science flourished in Islam to the superiority of the other nations. Mubammadanism had never
been surpassed in adaptation to the spiritual wants of humble life.
Today the churches founded on the old conception of religion are emptying and those who filled them are seeking to satisfy their
hunger in the hundreds of sects and cults that spring up on every side when spiritual famine sets in and mental stamina weakens from
lack of proper nourishment. Such is the danger of intellect outgrowing the formulas of faith.
It is necessary that the Truth be interpreted and reformulated to fit the conditions as they exist today. With the great advances made in
science, politics, philosophy, and education, it is inevitable that a new synthesis be formed and that man should seek to unify his
experiences.
With the appearance of the Bab, in 1844, a multitude of Persians became enlightened and radiant’ with the effect of the Báb’s
message; thus was laid a foundation of high morals, customs, and vastly improved conditions in Persia. He not only awakened this
unenlightened mass, but foretold and prepared them for the coming of One greater than He.

Who can question the station of this great Educator who suffered imprisonment and exile, abuse and every kind of
affliction in order that a foundation might be laid as a basis for unity throughout the entire world and peace might be.
inaugurated?
Bahá’u’llah declared unremittingly that He was the long-awaited Educator and Teacher for the entire world, whose
appearance was foretold in all the Holy Books.
Man has attained maturity. It is his privilege and responsibility to investigate the Truth for himself—searching until he
finds the pure gold, unadulterated by the gloss of dogmas, creeds, and doctrines that embellish the faith of his
ancestors.
The conformity of religion to science and reason, the oneness of the human race, unity of nations, races, and religions,
the complete banishment of superstitions and prejudices, equality of men and women, the establishment of a supreme
international tribunal, justice, and righteousness, the unification of languages, and compulsory education for all
—these and many other teachings were revealed by Bahã’u’lláh more than sixty years ago.
His message is unparalleled in its compendiousness and scope, and directly in accord with the signs and needs of the
time. There has never before been a period in history in which there were so many proposed solutions to the numerous
problems and conflicts, nor was the need of guidance to a struggling mankind so urgently and widely felt.
Bahá’u’lláh said, “man was created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.” This can only be accomplished by
the guidance of the principles and foundations for the progress as illuminated by the pen of the Prophet for this day.
THE SCIENTIST NEEDS RELIGION
OTTO ZMESKAL

In entering upon a discussion of a controversial subject, it is well to define in a precise manner the terms upon which the discussion is
to rest. In this discussion there are two terms: scientist, and religion. A scientist we shall define as one whose main

objective is the pursuit of the secrets of nature, whose outstanding trait is observance, and whose chief virtue is an
adamantine refusal to accept the unproven. To conform with the author’s scope, the discussion will be further narrowed
to the material scien

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES

Midwest Bahá’i Youth Conference held at Wilmette, Illinois, January 6-7, 1940. The picture was taken in the recently
designated kIairatu’l-Quds or National Bahá’i
Headquarters.

tist. Religion will be defined as God’s plan for man.
The scientist persistently seeks to unravel the mysteries of the universe. He constantly searches for new facts; however, no true
scientist is a mere fact-finder or data- gatherer. After the accumulation of the facts, there must needs follow the classification and
organization of these facts from which the trends and the significances of the facts are determined. The ultimate goal is to estabhsh a
generalization from which new facts may be predicated and determined. This generalization is then tested. When repeated observation
indicates that it is valid it is called a law. The scientist then feels that he has command of one of nature’s processes, that he has learned
another of her formulae.
Has he? In no case is the law an explicit direction of an action of nature. Laws are merely approximations whose validity is established
over a limited range, only. For example, consider the equation of state—

the law describing the behavior of gases when subjected to variations in temperature and pressure. The equation is a
law only under narrow limits of the variables, and must be modified empirically to apply to varying conditions.
It is the task of the scientist to answer the question, “Why?” The facts of nature are usually known for a considerable
time before man becomes able to attempt to explain them. In other words, sciences develop from the arts. Invariably in
his explanations, the scientist reaches an impasse; he finds himself unable to answer the final, “Why?” For example, the
art of working ductile metals, as copper, silver, and gold, to increase their hardness is an ancient one, but only recently
have scientists been able to break the surface of the question, “Why does work harden metals?”
The scientist continually endeavors to improve upon his concepts of nature. He ultimately approaches the problem of
the structure of matter. He has proceeded with
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his tools to the electron, to what he believes to be the fundamental particle of matter. He cannot see his subject, yet he
is not groping in the dark; for he can determine the trail his subject leaves in its actions. The actions of all that the
scientist worked with heretofore could be fairly well described in terms of classical mechanics. To describe the electron
he had to invent a new mechanics, to which he has given the name quantum mechanics. Knocking on the door of what
he hopes to be the storehouse of nature’s secrets, he is yet without a key that fits the lock. In other words, the scientist
is refining his attack on nature, but is yet a long way from complete knowledge of her.
In the embyronic stage of his study the scientist becomes reverent at the seemingly perfect order of nature; after more
detailed observation he becomes dismayed at the disorder he notices. He adopts the view that the whole universe is
governed by probability, from conception to destruction. He does not find solace in any of the old religions, governed
by a literal adherence to allegorical teachings. Their bigotry and re fusa

to accept the truth in favor of a misinterpreted and decayed tradition forces him to deny them. His God becomes the God of Chance.
His spiritual life becomes barren, and his efforts become devoid of the potential power to attain that which he seeks. He is in need of a
restatement of the fundamentals of life.
Is the scientist endeavoring to measure the universe with a straight yardstick? That is, are not his measurements too coarse (perhaps
even fundamentally inaccurate) to discern the operations of nature? Is not nature the visible handiwork of an invisible creator? Is not
the scientist too egotistical in thinking that he can gain access to the key of God’s domain without aid from the Owner? On the other
hand, should he feel that he is searching for that which is not to be known? He can not answer these questions of himself; he must ask
the One who has authority from God to answer. God has given to this age Bahá’u’lláh, who says, “The generality of mankind is still
immature. Had it acquired sufficient capacity We would have bestowed upon it so great a measure of our knowledge that all . . . would
have found

The Bahã’i Youth Group of Los Angeles, California, February, 1939.
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BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

themselves . . . completely independent of all knowledge save the knowledge of God.
The great scientist is the creator, the one who recognizes the verities of nature. Of course, observation and the organization of
observation are necessary, but they are not enough. A “hunch,” or intuition, is needed to start observation on the path leading to the
discovery of one of nature’s secrets. How does this creative instinct come? Is it not God’s gift, presented to man when man is ready
for it? Does this mean that search is futile? Will the knowledge come to us despite our efforts? Is it not better to adopt the attitude that
God will allow man to know of Him in proportion to man’s capability to assume that knowledge; that the search must ever continue,
and when the time is right, the answer will be found?

The scientist should ever search, striving constantly to increase the store of knowledge of nature, attempting always to find the
fundamental, praying fervently to be the one permitted to reveal the truth.
Can the scientist ever hope to know precisely of nature’s actions? He hopes that he may; he is duty-bound to ever strive towards that
objective. Will God ever allow man to know the precise truth? Bahá’u’lláh gives us the answer: “Within the treasury of Our Wisdom
there lies unrevealed a knowledge, one word of which, if we chose to divulge it to mankind . . . would enable every one to discover the
secrets of all the sciences. Other knowledges we do as well possess, not a single letter of which We can disclose, nor do We find
humanity able to hear even the barest reference to their meaning. . . . The day is approaching

BAHA’I INTERNATIONALISM
HERBERT BERMAN

The idea of internationalism—of a United States of Europe and of the world—is, of course, not new. It was advanced not only by
prophets like Isaiah, but, in modern times, by men like Kant, Goethe, and Napoleon. Kant “dreamt of a future confederation of all
states and peoples for the establishment of a universal peace,” and Goethe, explaining his refusal to write war songs against the
French, declared, “National hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest
degree of culture. But there is a degree where it vanishes altogether, and where one stands to a certain extent above nations, and feels
the weal or woe of a neighboring people, as if it had happened to one’s own.” Napoleon said, in language strikingly similar to that
used by Bahã’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahã, that had his plans succeeded, “Europe would soon have become one nation, and any who
travelled in it would always have been in a common fatherland. . . . Sooner or later, this union will be brought about by the force of
events. The first impetus has been given; and, after the fall and disappearance of my system, it seems to me that the only way

in which an equilibrium can be achieved in Europe is through a league of nations.”
What the Bahã’i Faith contributes to internationalism is not so much the idea itself as the impetus that can make its realization
possible. Bahi’u’lláh, indeed, attributes all the astonishing progress made in the last hundred years or so to the energy released by His
Revelation. “A new life is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth,” he announces, “and yet none hath discovered its
cause or perceived its motive.” Nothing, He asserts, can prevent the triumph of His Cause and the principles it supports. “Whether ye
rejoice or whether ye burst for fury, the heavens are cleft asunder, and God hath come down, invested with radiant sovereignty.”
Shoghi Effendi likewise declares: “The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahã’u’lláh
revolve—is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. . .
It implies at once a warning and a promise
—a warning that in it lies the sole means for the salvation of a greatly suffering world, a promise that its realization is at hand.”

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The Faith also teaches that internationalism cannot come about from the mere annunciation of the idea, but that its realization can be
accomplished only after intense spiritual anguish. “That so fundamental a revolution . . . can be achieved through the ordinary processes
of diplomacy and education seems highly improbable,” writes the Guardian. “We have but to turn our gaze to humanity’s bloodstained history to realize that nothing short of intense mental as well as physical agony has been able to precipitate those epochmaking changes that constitute the greatest landmarks in the history of human civilization.”

Reliance on such utterances enables the Rahã’is to look beyond the present depressing conditions to a brighter future.
Humanity, declares Shoghi Effendi, is now passing through its adolescence, “the most turbulent stage of its evolution.”
Infancy and childhood are passed, maturity is not yet come. When it does arrive, however, a condition is to come which
is well described in the familiar but still poignant words of the Apocalypse: “And God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the
former things are passed away.”

III

SPECIAL FEATURES
A YOUTH WHO MADE HISTORY
(A Reflection on erThe Dawn-Breakers”)
TERE5IYA E. RYAN

“I declare you equal to this task.”
Imagine the happiness of Mullá Husayn, when Siyyid Káim addressed these words to the youthful disciple!
We read in The Dawn-Breakers how Mullã Ijusayn sprang to his feet, kissed the hem of his teacher’s garment, and with
complete severance set out to perform a mission the difficulties and delicacy of which might well have discouraged a
man of maturity and experience.
We enter with him, vicariously, into the presence of the renowned Siyyid, and hear his courageous plea for the
assistance of the learned man. We observe the emotions of the Siyyid who is moved to tears by the sincerity of Mullá
Husayn, and charmed by his eloquence and fervent manner. When the Siyyid does all that is asked of him, our joy is
boundless, for we see that Mullá Uusayn was, indeed, “equal to this task.”
Continued evidences of Mullã usayn’s greatness are described and we find him ceaselessly spreading the knowledge of
the Revelation, increasing the numbers of followers wherever he goes, winning them by his selflessness and love for
the Cause.

Nabil said he had heard this testimony from the lips of one of the early believers:
“He seemed to us the very embodiment of piety and virtue. He inspired us with his rectitude of conduct and passionate loyalty. Such
were the force of his character and the ardour of his faith that we felt convinced that he, unaided and alone, would be capable of
achieving the triumph of the Faith of God.”
One is impressed by the faith which Mullá 1Iusayn aroused in those with whom he came in contact. What was responsible for this
remarkable power? Might it not have been due to his own faith? Always he seemed confident that he would be given the strength and
means to achieve what he set out to do.
Priceless rewards were bestowed upon him; his was the privilege of being the first to believe in the Bãb, who gave him the title,
“Bábu’l Báb” (Gate of the Gate). His life was crowned magnificently when, at the age of 38, he was martyred while on his way, with
some of his followers, to assist Bahá’u’lláh.
We are stirred by many emotions when

BAHA’i YOUTH ACTIVITIES

we study The Dawn-Breakers. Heartbreaking for all of us are the accounts of the tribulations endured so heroically by
the pioneers of our Faith. We feel the pain of the dreadful tortures, the unspeakable mortifications inflicted upon them.
But through the entire narrative there is a strain of indescribable joy. To serve the Cause has, from its earliest days,
been the one glory its followers have longed to attain. The Dawn-Breakers realized the fulfillment of that glorious
ambition.
Our pride increases, as page by page, the

glowing story unfolds of those noble souls who left us our great heritage, the tremendous responsibility of serving the
Cause of God.
Mighty and lowly, old and young attained the Supreme Joy of being numbered among the Dawn-Breakers.
Each reader sees in Nabil’s narrative a character he might have been himself. What tremendous inspiration there is for
every believer in such beautiful Bahã’i examples! The study of their noble lives should, indeed, help to make us “equal
to this task.”

THE NEW HOUR HAS STRUCK!
A Survey of Shoghi Effendi’s Cablegrams.
NAN REASONER

A Cablegram from the Guardian, dated December 1935, concerning the completion of the Temple read in part:
“Forces which progressive Revelation of this Mighty Symbol of Our Faith (i.e., The Temple) is fast releasing in heart of sorely tried
continent, no one of this generation can correctly appraise. . . . The New Hour has struck in the history of our beloved Cause calling for
nationwide systematic sustained effort in teaching field, enabling thereby these forces to be directed into such channels as shall
redound to the glory of our Faith and honor of its institutions.”
Two and a half years have passed since the declaration of the New Hour was made by the Guardian following the completion of the
dome unit in the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in December 1935. Not only does this symbolize a significant period in the development of the
Cause, but it marks a sudden turn in world events as well. At least three major wars have taken place since 1935, not to mention the
numerous revolutions and petty political strifes which have harassed nations as close to us as Central America and Mexico. The
United States herself has quaked from internal corruption and labor contentions on one hand, while on the other physical disaster in
the shape of floods, droughts, and dust storms have steadily taken their toll.
Concerning these staggering events, a repeated note of warning is evidenced in the

cablegrams from the Guardian (beginning 1936) which was not so apparent before.
From the Guardian’s cablegram dated May, 1936, we read:
“First century of Bahá”i era drawing to a close. Humanity entering outer fringe most perilous stage of its existence.
Opportunities of present hour unimaginably precious!”
In August of the same year we read:
“Time is short! The sands of a chaotic, despairing civilization are steadily running out.”
Again in the same cablegram:
“Audacity, resolution and self-abnegation are imperatively demanded. Impatiently and prayerfully waiting.”
In a cablegram dated October, 1936, we read:
“Shadows encircling sore-tried human society noticeably deepening. World crisis inexorably moving towards climax,
challenging torch bearers Bahá’i Civilization scale loftier heights individual heroism.”
In October, 1936 came the most ominous forewarning from Haifa.
“The present opportunity unutterably precious. It may not recur again!”
That administration is sufficiently organized for the present, we were told in this cablegram, dated November 28, 1937:
“The various rulings and regulations recorded in the Bahã’i Administration and the

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supplementary statements already issued by the National Spiritual Assembly, are for the present sufficiently detailed to guide the
friends in their present-day activities.”
Confirming this fact are these two fragments from a cablegram August 1936 and another dated in March of the same year:
“Functioning within the framework of an Administrative Order so laboriously erected—”
“Now that the Administrative organs of a firmly established Faith are vigorously and harmoniously functioning—”
An even greater impetus has been added to the Administration by the appointment of the 171 delegates to the Convention of 1938,
through which the Guardian’s suggestion for a more representative National Spiritual Assembly we hope will be realized.
With regard to Teaching, five powerful weapons have been translated by the Guardian as especially suitable for the needs of this
Hour: NabIl’s Narrative, ‘Abdu’lBahá’s Tablets—The Divine Plan, the Gleanings from the Writings of Bahd’u’lldh, and
Prayers and Meditations by Bahd’u’lldh. And the writings of Shoghi Effendi himself have unfailingly guided us through these
precarious years since ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s passing.
In a cablegram of March, 1936, we read:
“This new stage in the gradual unfoldment of the formative period of our Faith into which we have just entered, the phase of
concentrated teaching activity, synchronizes with a period of deepening gloom, of universal impotence, of ever-increasing destitution
and widespread disillusionment in the fortunes of a declining age. . .
and from a cablegram dated October, 1936:
“The American believers, if they wish to carry out in the spirit and the letter the parting wishes of their beloved Master, must intensify
their teaching work a thousandfold, and extend its ramifications beyond the confines of their native land, and as far as the most distant
outposts of their far-flung Faith.”
In another cablegram dated May, 1936, came this touching appeal.
“Would to God every state within American Republic and every Republic in American Continent might, ere termination of this
glorious century, embrace the light of

the Faith of Bahi’u’lláh and establish (the) structural basis of His World Order.”
The Seven Year Plan came into being May 1, 1937 as a revitalizing measure, and a direct appeal from the Guardian to the American
Youth concerning this issue is here quoted from a letter, dated January 15, 1938, which was written especially for this survey:
“The point which the Guardian wishes you to emphasize in your appeal is a twofold one: first, the absolute necessity for Bahá’i young
men and women to participate actively and increasingly in the activities which the American believers are initiating under the Seven
Year Plan, and particularly in connection with the organization and extension of the teaching work. They have indeed a special
responsibility to shoulder in the discharge of this most vital task now facing The American Bahá’i Community, and upon the measure
of their self -sacrifice and devotion to such a task will assuredly depend the success and future progress of their labors for the
promotion of Bahá’i Youth activity throughout the States.
“The Bahá’i Youth, the Guardian strongly feels, should also welcome such cooperation in carrying out the Teaching Program outlined
in the Seven Year Plan because of the marvelous opportunity it offers them to acquire better training in teaching the Cause. To this
end, he would further urge on American young Bahá’is to attend regularly all the sessions of either one of the three established
Summer Schools in the United States. He is confident that through such attendance, not only their knowledge of the teaching will be
considerably deepened but they will increasingly gain in unity and fellowship and become thoroughly imbued with that spirit of
service which is the aim of every loyal and true believer to acquire.”
Let us keep in mind that the fulfillment of the Divine Plan entrusted to us by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and furthered by our beloved Guardian is a
far greater task than the conquest of this or any continent by our forefathers: it is the spiritual conquest of America! to quote again
from the Guardian’s cable in December 1936:

p

U

The North Shore Youth Group composed of Bahá’is from communities in the vicinity of the Bahã’i Temple, Wilmette,
Illinois, taken
in 1939.
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“The Dawn Breakers in a previous age have on Persian soil signalized by their acts the birth of the Faith of Bahá’u’llah.
Might not American believers, their spiritual descendants, prove themselves in turn capable of ushering in on world
scale the civilization of which that Faith is the direct source and sole begetter?”
April, 1937, brought us the joyous news of the consummation of the union of East and West in the marriage of
Ruhiyyih Khánum to the Guardian. Quoting from the Guardian’s cablegram commenting on this historical event:
“Deeply moved your message. Institution Guardianship head cornerstone of the Administrative Order of Cause of
Bahá’u’llah, already ennobled through its organic connection with the Persons of Twin Founders of the Bahá’i Faith, is
now further reinforced through direct association with West and particularly with the American believers, whose
spiritual destiny is to usher in World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. For my part, desire

to congratulate community of American believers on acquisition of tie vitally binding them to so weighty an organ of their Faith.”
Finally let us consider carefully the cable dated September, 1937:
“In a world perilously near cataclysmic convulsions destined (to) experience, at a time when forces of repression are launching their
assaults and conspiring to undermine foundations of most powerful strongholds of Bahá’j Faith in land of its birth
an inescapable, well nigh staggering responsibility rests on America, its chief remaining Citadel. Who among its stalwart defenders
will arise untrammeled and unafraid to implant its banner in those states, provinces and Countries? . . . Entreat afresh American
Community heed vital urgency of my impassioned plea and spur efforts bring speedy termination first stage in evolution so important
phase of dual task so enthusiastically shouldered.
(signed) SH0GHI.”

A LETTER

The following letter, written by Miss Bahiyyih Farajullah, an Egyptian Bahá’i now residing in ‘Iraq, came to us from Mr. Nureddin
‘Abbás, of Baghdad. His letter says, “While looking into the writings of her college days, I found a copy of a letter penned by her in
answer to a letter sent to her by a teacher who called to convert Miss Bahiyyih to Christianity. The teacher is an American woman and
is a missionary by nature. It indeed was a brave temerity, a shining symbol of solid faith on the part of a girl student while still in the
preparatory school to answer her prejudiced teacher so courageously. I was so impressed with its zeal and style that I would like so
much to share it with you
Dear Miss
According to the principle, “Better late than never,” I here will acquit myself of the duty of answering your dear message.
Being elevated in religious atmosphere, I always was imbued with tolerance and reverence towards all creeds. My parents always
impressed me with the undeniable fact that all religions accord in one principle, and

that each one, historically speaking, fulfills the other; that they are all spiritual outpourings from one divine source. Christ His
Holiness, according to our religion, holds amongst the founders of religion a very high esteem. We certainly believe in Christ as a
Saviour of humanity. Indeed, we Bahá’is feel that we are the real Christians. We adore Him as a Prophet, we love Him as a Saviour,
and we worship Him as one of the Sons of God Whom the divine Will ordained that they should sacrifice their lives for the welfare of
humanity.
I always revel in reading the Sermon on the Mountain, and take it as one of the greatest blessings God ever revealed to humanity. But
at the same time I put on equal footing to it the great teachings expressing the same spirit and the same spiritual melody and the
teachings of the other great inspired Prophets and benefactors of humanity. What would become of the hundreds of millions in China,
India, Africa, had it not been for the great influence of the teachings of Muhammad, of Gautama Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tse and
others? I

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

certainly admit that there are a good number of imperfections wrongly attributed to the teachings of these reformers,
yet I assure you with the spirit of tolerance which is one of the main principles of Christ, one can realize that it is not
and it will never he through their fault that such nations are sometimes morally backward. Consult any believer in
religions other than Christianity, and certainly you’ll be convinced and undoubtedly astonished that such people
entertain the same beliefs as you do and hold tenaciously to principles entirely identical with the principles of Christ.
You are certainly acquainted with the teaching of Buddhism. European scholars are of opinion that Christ was
influenced by the teachings of Buddhism. I have at my disposal a book written by a certain Professor Dwight Goddard,
entitled Was Jesus Influenced by Buddhism? in which the author claims that certainly Christ was influenced by
Buddhism. On my part as a Bahá’i, I don’t hold the view of this author. I only believe that both Christ and Gautama
Buddha were Sons of God, and that they have drunk of the same Divine Source, that the greatness of God such as to
send from

time to time according to a periodical order Christs, Mu5ammads, Moses, and so forth— God’s Divinity does not
change. We consider the personalities of the Prophets as different horizons from which rises the same Sun always.
Whatever they say is God’s Word.
I hope from all these that you will know that I am not so unchristian as you thought. The only difference between you
and me is this: that I take a wider view of God’s order than you take, that I consider those prophets whom you believe
to be impostors, as God’s Words and as God’s Sons. I think with this view one can go on better with his fellow human
beings than with a narrow one which restricts respect and deference to one Prophet only. Such a view to my humble
opinion accords more with the principles of Christ, which consider all human beings as brothers, than with the one you,
alas, entertain.
Well, excuse me for my long letter. I wanted simply to convince you that I understand the principles of Christ and that I
believe in them.
Sincerely yours,
BAHIYvIH FARAJULLAH

“THE UNFOLDMENT OF WORLD CIVILIZATION”
Fourth Annual World Bahd’I Youth Day

“Now it (humanity) has entered its long predicted phase of maturity.”
How familiar now are these words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ, written many years before the ominous trend of world events impelled the
Guardian to warn us that “ ‘The time of the end,’ ‘the latter years,’ as foretold in the Scriptures, are at long last upon us!”
Who, when reading the frequent and impassioned pleas from Shoghi Effendi, can fail to respond from the depths of his soul? Who is
there in our ranks who has not promised God that he would “rise from the couch of heedlessness” to teach, teach, teach! “Impatiently
and prayerfully waiting,” says our Guardian, in tones which should galvanize every follower of Bahá’u’lláh into instant action.
On February 26, 1939, will come our

greatest opportunity for group service—the Fourth Annual World Bahâ’i Youth Day. The National Youth Committee is
calling all Bahá’i youth to participation in the greatest and most important of our yearly activities. We have the glorious
promise of Bahá’u’lláh that the Supreme Concourse will assist all those who arise to serve Him.
Under the general theme of The Unfoldment of World Civilization, representative young people in each community are
to give public talks on the following subjects:
Unity in Diversity
“What Hath God Wrought?”
Lost Horizons
One Common Faith
World Order

In Muhammadan countries, the Sympo

THE BAHA’i WORLD

siums will be held on Friday, February 24, since that is their weekly holiday.
Complete outlines will be found elsewhere in this issue.
As in past years, a special Symposium issue of Bahd’I Youth will be published in February. Please order extra copies at
once from Mrs. Frank Dyer, 211 Schermerhorn St., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Another scrapbook will be compiled for presentation to the Guardian.
Talks will be broadcast by radio, wherever possible.
Each participating community is to have a preliminary session of prayer for the

cess of the speakers, and all who assist in this united effort.
Important: Please send reports of plans to sub-secretaries and international secretaries as soon as possible.
For Bahá’u’lláh, for the Guardian, and for humanity in its darkest hour, let us, one and all, rise on February 26 to prove
ourselves worthy of our high calling.
“0 ye friends! This is not the time of rest and tranquillity! This is not the season of silence and stillness.”
“The cup of giving, overflowing with the wine of fulfillment is offered :—blessed are they who drink thereof!”

UNITY IN DIVERSITY
ROBERT KOEHL
(Kenosha, Wis.)

AIM
1. To prove that diversity of characteristics in individuals is essential for the unity of mankind; that uniformity is not, and cannot be,
such a requisite.
2. To show how unity in diversity may be brought about.
REFERENCES
“Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” pp. 17, 30, 45, 75, 127.
“Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,” pp. 187, 196, 215, 218, 260, 286, 315, 331, 333.
“Security for a Failing World,” by Stan- wood Cobb, pp. 132-140.
“Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” by J. E.
Esslemont, pp. 109-110.
“The Promulgation of Universal Peace,” Vol. I, pp. 2, 13, 16, 34, 53—54, 185-186, 202-203, 223-229.
“The Promulgation of Universal Peace,” Vol. II, pp. 291, 315.
“The Modern Social Religion,” Part III, by Horace Holley.
“A World Community,” by J. H. Randall (World Unity Library), pp. 70-76.
“Letter to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace,” by ‘Abdu’l Baha, p. 10.
“The Oneness of Mankind,” Compilation.

“Unity through Love”—a talk by Howard MacNutt.
“World Order Magazine,” November,
1936, “Unity of Thought.”
“World Order Magazine,” August, 1937, “Unity,” by Benjamin Schreibman.
“World Order Magazine,” October, 1937, “Citizen of the World.”
SUGGESTED PROCEDURE
Show first that although men differ in characteristics they have one Source, one Goal; viz., one Creator. Show how men’s attributes
are like the facets of jewels, some polished, some not. By allegories such as those used by ‘Abdu’l-Baha (the army, the garden, the
musical chords) strive to point out that diversity of function is necessary and pleasing. Consider a baseball team. Point out as dynamic
proofs the amalgamation in the United States, and in the Bahá’i Cause. Finally, show that universal love, made possible by the
Manifestation, who brings the power of the Holy Spirit, is the only sure means of bringing about unity in diversity.
QUESTIONS To CONSIDER
1. What are the great differences between unity and uniformity?
2. Is unity or uniformity more reason-

BAHA’! YOUTH ACTIVITIES

able to consider as a goal for humanity? Why?
3. What has been the attitude of philosophers towards unity? (Mention plans for unity made by some philosophers.)
4. Can a whole be realized without all its parts? Remembering that a unity is a whole, give some concrete and some abstract proofs for
your conclusion.
5. How are opposites complementary?
6. What is universal love?
AIM
1. To show that the disorder of our present-day society can be changed into World Order only by accepting the plan of Bahá’u’lláh,
which is fundamentally a spiritual plan.
2. To characterize this new World Order as it has been described for us by Bahâ’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi.
3. To point out the important role of Bahá’i Youth in helping to usher in this new World Order.
REFERENCES
“Goal of a New World Order,” by Shoghi Effendi, pp. 15-25.
“Unfoldment of World Civilization,” by Shoghi Effendi, pp. 42-46.
“World Order Magazine,” “The World Crisis” (in three parts) by Mountfort Mills
—February, March, and April, 1938.
“Stepping Stones to a New World Order” (in three parts) by Edna Eastman—June, July, August, 1938.
“Signs of the Times,” by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
“Security for a Failing World,” by Stan- wood Cobb, Chapters 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 17.
“Bahã’u’lláh and the New Era,” by J. E. Esslemont, Chapters 5, 8, 9, and 10.
“Bahá’i Youth Magazine,” “Pioneering Role of Bahá’i Youth,” by Teresita E. Ryan
—March, 1937.
“What the Bahá’i Faith Means to the

7. How is universal love to be brought about?
8. How are universal love and justice linked so closely together?
9. Is diversity the cause of warfare, or is misunderstanding?
10. Is not every true religion founded to bring about unity in diversity?
11. Is lack of unity worthy of the station of man?
12. How does prejudice combat unity?
Youth of Today,” by Mae Graves—June, 1937.
“Youth,” by Foad Rushdy—June, 1938.
“World Order—Not Utopia,” by Wilf rid Barton—February, 1938.
Encyclopedia Britannica.
New International Encyclopedia.
Americana.
Last three books for articles on Communism, Fascism, etc.
SUGGESTED PROCEDURE
The modern world is characterized by disorder in the economic, political, social, and religious realms. This state of disorder is
wrecking human lives. Disillusionment, despair, hopelessness, discouragement, disappointment, crime, poverty, sickness, and
unemployment are widespread. Everyone is suffering to a greater or lesser degree.
A solution is needed. Somehow we must find a way out. The success of methods being tried at present is negligible.
Bahã’is turn to Bahá’u’lláh, who has brought us a spiritual solution for the world’s problems. The BahI’is believe no other solution
will work. The laws of love, of kindness, of forgiveness, of devotion to God and His Prophets, and of the oneness of mankind must
again be lived, and woven into the warp and woof of our social, economic, and political patterns. Thus the new World Order will have
a spiritual basis. Only on this foundation can a new World Order be built.
Some characteristics of the World Order

WORLD ORDER
MARGARET KUNz
(Bryn Mawr, Pa.)

THE BAHA’T WORLD

of which Bahã’u’llah is the motivating force:
a) Economic justice
b) Universal education
c) World peace
d) A world state
e) An international tribunal
f) Universal language
g) Religious unity
Today we see a tendency in the direction of all these steps. Bahá’u’llah’s plan is beginning already to take effect in the
world. It is not an imaginary, unattainable Utopia.
Bahá’i youth today have a tremendous challenge, for ours is the task of helping to usher in this new World Order of
Bahá’u’llah. We must show courage, faith, zeal, sacrifice, and reverance to accomplish our goal.

POINTS To STRESS AND DEVELOP
1. Show how and why methods being tried at present have failed to solve the world’s problems.
2. Stress the need for the spiritualization of human relationships. Man needs to find again spiritual values in living.
Bahá’u’llah is the door to this new way of life, which will lead to new social relationships characterized by
cooperation, confidence, goodwill, kindness, sympathy, understanding, generosity, and graciousness.
3. Paint a vivid picture of the new World Order of Bahá’u’llah. Show how it will bring a better and richer life to all
mankind.
4. Stress that this is not an imaginary Utopia. We see many signs about us today of the future order.

“WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT”
Joy IvERS0N
(Urbana, Illinois)

OBJECTIVE
To show the tremendous influence toward unifying nations this latest Manifestation of God has had upon the world in the past, and
will have to an even greater degree in the future.
REFERENCES
“The Bahá’i Proofs,” by Mirzá AbulFazl, pp. 35-113.
“Bahá’u’llah and the New Era,” by J. E. ESslemont, pp. 1-85—Chapters I, II, III, IV.
“The Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” pp. 30- 34 “The Universal Love.”
“World Order Magazine,” January, 1938, pp. 381-385.
“World Order Magazine,” March, 1938, pp. 461-464.
SUGGESTED PROCEDURE
Show the relation of the title to the subject matter by explaining that in 1844, the year of the Báb’s declaration and ‘Abdu’lBahá’s
birth, the first message ever sent by telegraph was the words “What hath God wrought?” and at that time there was an

answer to the question forming Slowly in the far East. There was being brought to mankind a renewal of the Divine Teachings. For
while we in the West were marveling at the huge strides civilization was making in a material way, much greater advancement in the
way of spiritual rebirth was being felt in the Orient. Review the history of the Movement, touching with especial emphasis on the
conditions of the people and the country before the influence of the Báb and Bahã’u’lláh was felt and the profound, almost
instantaneous effect Their influence had upon individuals, and Their relationship to all mankind. This might be the keynote of the talk:
This latest Manifestation of God is creating in the hearts of men a universal love for humanity.
POINTS TO STRESS AND DEVELOP
1. The beauty of the Bahá’i conception of universal love as exemplified by the three Central Figures of the Cause.
2. The actual practicabihty of this love even in our materialistic Western world.
3. The basis of love is found in understanding.

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

AIM
To show how the Bahá’i Teachings unify all religions by recognizing existing diversities as man-made differences of form and
procedure, and discarding dogma for reality.
REFERENCES
“Goal of the New World Order,” by Shoghi Effendi, p. 19. “Seven Lights of Unity,” p. 22, “The Principle of Oneness.”
“Bahá’u’llah and the New Era,” by J. E. Esslemont, Chapter VIII.
“Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh,” pp. 315, 50—51, 57.
“Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” pp. 15-16.
“Gleanings from the Writings of Bahã’u’llah,” pp. 5 3-56, 59.
AIM
1. To point out the decline of religions, resulting in moral and social decay.
2. To show what the Bahá’I Faith has to

offer.

REFERENCES

“Readers Digest,” July, 1938, pp. 1-3,

28-3 1.
“Readers Digest,” February, 1938, p. 73.
“Readers Digest,” May, 1938, pp. 120- 121, 126-128.
“Security for a Failing World,” by Stan- wood Cobb, Chapters VI, XV.
“The Unfoldment of World Civilization,” by Shoghi Effendi, pp. 10, 20-3 0.
“The Goal of a New World Order,” by Shoghi Effendi, pp. 10-12.
“Bahá’i Youth Magazine”—”Nobility,” by Kenneth Christian—July, 1936.
“World Order Magazine”—”Modern Tendencies in World Relgions,” by Nevin C. Harner—March, 1937.
“World Order Magazine”—”The World

SUGGESTED PROCEDURE
Illustrate the physical unity of the modern world through science, and Stress the need for spiritual understanding and oneness, that
mankind may become thoroughly integrated. Point out the necessity for a spiritual approach to the problem of human relations and
how the Bahâ’i Faith solves this problem.
POINTS To STRESS AND DEVELOP
1. The necessity for one religion.
2. The common principles of the great religions of the world.
3. The oneness of God, and the consequent oneness of His Manifestations.
Crisis,” by Mountford Mills — February, 1938.
“World Order Magazine”—”Assurance,” by Dorothy Baker, December, 1936.
“Foundations of World Unity,” by ‘Abdu’l-Bahi, pp. 28-33.
“Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” Chapter IX, by J. E. Esslemont.
SUGGESTED PROCEDURE
Problem: Today humanity is immersed in iniquity and waywardness.
Solution: In the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is found that certainty of a future and regeneration of a social order, which alone can come
from the power of the Word of God.
POINTS TO STRESS AND DEVELOP
1. Give concrete examples of the breaking down of religious institutions.
2. Give examples of a decadent society.
3. Using the Bahá’i principles as examples, explain why the Bahá’i has a breadth of vision surpassing all limited horizons.
4. Reveal the privileges of a true Bahá’i.

ONE COMMON FAITH
ROBERTA V. KALEV
(Binghamton, N. Y.)
“Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh,” p. 20, No. 68.

LOST HORIZONS IRENE HANSEN
(Hilisdale, Ill.)

THE BAHA’i WORLD

A NEW CIVILIZATION AT WORK
Meheran K. Jamshedi of Karachi, India, sends us the following article which is reprinted from the Karachi Daily
Gazette of June 25, 1938

Sadhu T. L. Vaswani gave an eloquent lecture on Wednesday evening in the Bahá’i Hall on The Bahd’I Faith and the
Modern World. His presence as well as his speech created an atmosphere vibrant with love, understanding, sympathy
and illumination. Mr. Hatim A. Alavi, Mayor of Karachi, occupied the chair. Bahá’i prayers in the Iranian language
were chanted before and after the talk. The hall was filled, and every one listened to the address with rapt attention.
“Why do I feel drawn to the Bahá’i Faith?” asked Sadhu Vaswani. “As a student of modern thought and modern life, I
am drawn to this world-wide movement. There are five features of the Bahá’i Faith, the Bahi’i Teachings, which have
great fascination for me. I shall very briefly refer to these five and so indicate the relation of the Bahá’i Faith to the
modern world.
“The Bahá’i Faith believes, as I believe, that the problem of the modern world is essentially a spiritual problem; purely
political solutions are inadequate, inadequate, too, is the economic solution of the problem.
“The second feature of the Bahá’i Faith which fascinates me is the ‘Brotherhood of Religions.’ The true Bahá’i
believes that religions are not rivals. The world has suf fere

much for there has been wrangling in the name of religion.
“The harmony of Science and Religion! Here you have the third fascinating feature of the Bahá’i Faith. We live in a scientific age—an
age which is developing more and more its reflective consciousness. And in this age when the power of thinking is growing, it will not
do to offer to the world creeds and traditions which will not stand the test of reason. The modern world refuses to accept them.
“The fourth feature of the Bahá’i Faith is: a NEW CIvsLTzATsoN, a BROTHERLY CIVILSZATION. That is what the whole world
is crying for. The one piteous, urgent need today is a new brotherly civilization. The world is in ferment. There are processes of breakup in Asia and in the West, and the longing is growing for a new brotherly civilization.
“Emancipation and education of women is the fifth fascinating feature of the Bahã”s Faith. I recall the words of the great German
poet, Goethe: ‘The woman-soul will lead us upward, on!’ Man has had this chance and man has bungled. Man has blundered. And
look! Civilization lies broken and bleeding. Let women have a chance to remould civilization for woman has intuition, devotion,
sacrifice, woman has the spirit of love.”

BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES 591
THE BAB
(Written by Robert Koehi of Kenosha, Wisconsin for the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Báb)
O thou Morning Star:
What flaming beauty Thine,
Intoxicating men like wine,
To draw them from afar!
O Messenger of God:
How great the need for Thee,
And yet, Thy worth, how few could see
To walk where Thou has trod!
O Forerunner of the Kingdom:
What Spirit hath Thine eyes shown forth,
That twenty thousands saw its worth,
And followed Thee in martyrdom!
O Prophet of the Lord:
Who for Thy Cause Thyself preserved,
But finishing, men’s laws observed,
And died for their accord!
O twofold Prince and Guide:
Who mirrored forth Thy Lord,
And gazed straight heavenward,
And saw Bahá’u’lláh, ere Thou hadst died.
O Reformer of this Day:
What fiery accents used!
What mighty laws infused
In men who sleeping lay!
O Primal Point:
Thy mightiest Name adored—
In which all Names are stored,
Who did men’s souls anoint;
We ask to learn of Thee
How power flows to men
From out God’s mighty Pen
And makes them truly free.
pict206.jpg
II
REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH
pict207.jpg
II
REFERENCES TO THE
BAHA’I FAITH
Alphabetical List of Authors
Archduchess Anton of Austria Charles Baudouin
President Eduard Benel
Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Princess Marie Antoinette de Brogue Aussenac
Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University
Luther Burbank
Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford
General Renato Piola Caselli
Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of British Academy
Sir Valentine Chirol
Rev. K. T. Chung
Right. Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston
Prof. James Darmesteter, École des Hautes Etudes, Paris
Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A.
Dr. Auguste Forel, University of Zurich
Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons
Arthur Henderson
Rt. Hon. M. R. Jayakas, Privy Councillor, London
Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D.
President David Starr Jordan
Prof. Jowett, Oxford University
Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, University of Sofia
Miss Helen Keller
Prof. Dr. V. Lesny
Harry Charles Lukach
Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania
Alfred V. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.

President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Do yen of Jurisprudence of Japan
Mr. Renwick J. G. Millar
Prof. Herbert A. Miller, Bryn Mawr College The Hon. Lilian Helen Montagu, J.P.,
D.H.L.
Arthur Moore
Angela Morgan
A. L. M. Nicolas
Prof. Yone Noguchi
Rev. Frederick W. Oakes
H.R.H. Princess Olga of Jugoslavia
Sir Flinders Petrie, Archeologist
Prof. Raymond Frank Piper
Prof. Bogdan Popovitch
Charles H. Prisk
Dr. Edmund Privat, University of Geneva
Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.
Eugen Relgis
Ernest Renan
Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka
Viscount Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P.
Emile Schreiber, Publicist
Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, D.Litt.
Col. Raja Jai Prithvi Bahadur Singh, Raja of Bajang (Nepal)
Rev. Griffith J. Sparham
Sir Ronald Storrs, N.V.C., M.G., C.B.E.
Ex-Governor William Sulzer
Shri Purohit Swami
Leo Tolstoy
Prof. Arminius Vambéry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth
Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E.

B-sr DOWAGER QUEEN MARIE OF RUMANIA Indeed a great light came to me with the message of Bahk’u’llkh and ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá.
1. It came as all great messages come at an
I was deeply moved on reception of your hour of dire grief and inner conflict and dis letter tress, so the seed sank deeply.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

My youngest daughter finds also great strength and comfort in the teachings of the beloved masters.
We pass on the message from month to month and all those we give it to see a light suddenly lighting before them and much that was
obscure and perplexing becomes simple, luminous and full of hope as never before.
That my open letter was balm to those suffering for the cause, is indeed a great happiness to me, and I take it as a sign that God
accepted my humble tribute.
The occasion given me to be able to express myself publicly, was also His Work— for indeed it was a chain of circumstances of
which each link led me unwittingly one step further, till suddenly all was clear before my eyes and I understood why it had been.
Thus does He lead us finally to our ultimate destiny.
Some of those of my caste wonder at and disapprove my courage to step forward pronouncing words not habitual for Crowned Heads
to pronounce, but I advance by an inner urge I cannot resist. With bowed head I recognize that I too am but an instrument in greater
Hands and rejoice in the knowledge.
Little by little the veil is lifting, grief tore it in two. And grief was also a step leading me ever nearer truth, therefore do I not cry out
against grief!
May you and those beneath your guidance be blessed and upheld by the sacred strength of those gone before you.
A woman1 brought me the other day a Book. I spell it with a capital letter because it is a glorious Book of love and goodness, strength
and beauty.
She gave it to me because she had learned I was in grief and sadness and wanted to help.. . . She put it into my hands saying:
“You seem to live up to His teachings.” And when I opened the Book I saw it was the word of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, prophet of love and
kindness, and of his father the great teacher of international good-will and understanding—of a religion which links all creeds.
Their writings are a great cry toward peace, reaching beyond all limits of frontiers,

above all dissension about rites and dogmas. It is a religion based upon the inner spirit of God, upon the great, not-to-be-overcome
verity that God is love, meaning just that. It teaches that all hatreds, intrigues, suspicions, evil words, all aggressive patriotism even,
are outside the one essential law of God, and that special beliefs are but surface things whereas the heart that beats with divine love
knows no tribe nor race.
It is a wondrous Message that Bahá’u’lláh and his son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have given us. They have not set it up aggressively, knowing that
the germ of eternal truth which lies at its core cannot but take root and spread.
There is only one great verity in it: Love, the mainspring of every energy, tolerance toward each other, desire of understanding each
other, knowing each other, helping each other, forgiving each other.
It is Christ’s Message taken up anew, in the same words almost, but adapted to the thousand years and more difference that lies
between the year one and today. No man could fail to be better because of this Book.
I commend it to you all. If ever the name of Bahá’u’lláh or ‘Abdu’l-Bahá comes to your attention, do not put their writings from you.
Search out their Books, and let their glorious, peace-bringing, love-creating words and lessons sink into your hearts as they have into
mine.
One’s busy day may seem too full for religion. Or one may have a religion that satisfies. But the teachings of these gentle, wise and
kindly men are compatible with all religion, and with no religion.
Seek them, and be the happier.
(From the Toronto Daily Star, May 4, 1926.)
2.
Of course, if you take the stand that creation has no aim, it is easy to dismiss life and death with a shrug and a “that ends it all; nothing
comes after.”
But how difficult it is so to dismiss the universe, our world, the animal and vegetable world, and man. How clearly one sees

‘Mi,s Martha L. Root .—Editor.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

a plan in everything. How unthinkable it is that the miraculous development that has brought man’s body, brain and spirit to what it is,
should cease. Why should it cease? Why is it not logical that it goes on? Not the body, which is only an instrument, but the invisible
spark or lire within the body which makes man one with the wider plan of creation.
My words are lame, and why should I grope for meanings when I can quote from one who has said it so much more plainly, ‘Abdu’l-
Bah&, whom I know would sanction the use of his words:
“The whole physical creation is perishable. Material bodies are composed of atoms. When these atoms begin to separate,
decomposition sets in. Then comes what we call death.
“This composition of atoms which constitutes the body or mortal element of any created being, is temporary. When the power of
attraction which holds these atoms together is withdrawn, the body as such ceases to exist.
“With the soul it is different. The soul is not a combination of elements, is not composed of many atoms, is of one indivisible
substance and therefore eternal.
“It is entirely out of the order of physical creation; it is immortal! The soul, being an invisible, indivisible substance, can suffer neither
disintegration nor destruction. Therefore there is no reason for its coming to an end.
“Consider the aim of creation: Is it possible that all is created to evolve and develop through countless ages with merely this small
goal in view—a few years of man’s life on earth? Is it not unthinkable that this should be the final aim of existence? Does a man cease
to exist when he leaves his body? If his life comes to an end, then all previous evolution is useless. All has been for nothing. All those
eons of evolution for nothing! Can we imagine that creation had no greater aim than this?
“The very existence of man’s intelligence proves his immortality. His intelligence is the intermediary between his body and his spirit.
When man allows his spirit, through his soul, to enlighten his understanding, then does he contain all creation; because man be-

ing the culmination of all that went before, and thus superior to all previous evolutions, contains all the lower already-evolved world
within himself. Illumined by the spirit through the instrumentality of the soul, man’s radiant intelligence makes him the crowningpoint of creation!”
Thus does ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explain to us the soul — the most convincing elucidation I know.
(From the Toronto Daily Star, September 28, 1926.)
3.
At first we all conceive of God as something or somebody apart from ourselves. We think He is something or somebody definite,
outside of us, whose quality, meaning and so-to-say “personality” we can grasp with our human, finite minds, and express in mere
words.
This is not so. We cannot, with our earthly faculties entirely grasp His meaning
—no more than we can really understand the meaning of Eternity.
God is certainly not the old Fatherly gentleman with the long beard that in our childhood we saw pictured sitting amongst clouds on
the throne of judgment, holding the lightning of vengeance in His hand.
God is something simpler, happier, and yet infinitely more tremendous. God is All, Everything. He is the power behind all beginnings.
He is the inexhaustible source of supply, of love, of good, of progress, of achievement. God is therefore Happiness.
His is the voice within us that shows us good and evil.
But mostly we ignore or misunderstand this voice. Therefore did He choose his Elect to come down amongst us upon earth to make
clear His word, His real meaning. Therefore the Prophets; therefore Christ, Muhammad, Bahá’u’lláh, for man needs from time to time
a voice upon earth to bring God to him, to sharpen the realization of the existence of the true God. Those voices sent to us had to
become flesh, so that with our earthly ears we should be able to hear and understand.
Those who read their Bible with “peeled eyes” will find in almost every line some revelation. But it takes long life, suffering

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or some sudden event to tear all at once the veil from our eyes, so that we can truly see.
Sorrow and suffering are the surest and also the most common instructors, the straightest channel to God—that is to
say, to that inner something within each of us which is God.
Happiness beyond all understanding comes with this revelation that God is within us, if we will but listen to His voice.
We need not seek Him in the clouds. He is the All- Father whence we came and to whom we shall return when, having
done with this earthly body, we pass onward.
If I have repeated myself, forgive me. There are so many ways of saying things, but what is important is the truth which
lies in all the many ways of expressing it. (From the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Monday, September 27, 1926.)
4.
“Lately a great hope has come to me from one, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. I have found in His and His Father, Bahã’u’llah’s
Message of Faith all my yearning for real religion satisfied. If you ever hear of Bahá’is or of the Bahá’i Movement
which is known in America, you will know what that is. What I mean: these Books have strengthened me beyond belief
and I am now ready to die any day full of hope. But I pray God not to take me away yet for I still have a lot of work to
do.”
5.
“The Bahá’i teaching brings peace and understanding.
“It is like a wide embrace gathering together all those who have long searched for words of hope.
“It accepts all great prophets gone before, it destroys no other creeds and leaves all doors open.
“Saddened by the continual strife amongst believers of many confessions and wearied by their intolerance towards each
other, I discovered in the Bahá’i teaching the real spirit of Christ so often denied and misunderstood:
“Unity instead of strife, hope instead of condemnation, love instead of hate, and a great reassurance for all men.”

6.
“The Bahá’i teaching brings peace to the soul and hope to the heart.
“To those in search of assurance the words of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering.” 1934.
7.
“More than ever today when the world is facing such a crisis of bewilderment and unrest, must we stand firm in Faith
seeking that which binds together instead of tearing asunder.”
“To those searching for light, the Bahá’i Teachings offer a star which will lead them to deeper understanding, to
assurance, peace and good will with all men.” 1936.

By PROFESSOR E. G. BROWNE

1.

Introduction to Myron H. Phelps’ ‘Abbds Effendi, pages xi-xx; 1903 rev. 1912— I have often heard wonder expressed
by
Christian ministers at the extraordinary success of Bábi missionaries, as contrasted with the almost complete failure of
their own. “How is it,” they say, “that the Christian doctrine, the highest and the noblest which the world has ever
known, though supported by all the resources of Western civilization, can only count its converts in Mubammadan
lands by twos and threes, while
Bábiism can reckon them by thousands?” The answer, to my mind, is plain as the sun at midday. Western Christianity,
save in the rarest cases, is more Western than Christian, more racial than religious; and by dallying with doctrines
plainly incompatible with the obvious meaning of its Founder’s words, such as the theories of “racial supremacy,”
“imperial destiny,” “survival of the fittest,” and the like, grows steadily more rather than less material. Did Christ
belong to a “dominant race,” or even to a European or “white race”?
I am not arguing that the Christian religion is true, but merely that it is in manifest conflict with several other theories
of life which practically regulate the conduct of all States and most individuals in the Western world, a world which, on
the whole, judges all things, including religions, mainly by material, or to use the more popular term,

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

“practical” standards. . . . There is, of course, another factor in the success of the Bábi propagandist, as compared with the Christian
missionary, in the conversion of Muhammadans to his faith: namely, that the former admits, while the latter rejects, the Divine
inspiration of the Qur’án and the prophetic function of Muhammad. The Christian missionary must begin by attacking, explicitly or by
implication, both these beliefs; too often forgetting that if (as happens but rarely) he succeeds in destroying them, he destroys with
them that recognition of former prophetic dispensations (including the Jewish and the Christian) which Muhammad and the Qur’án
proclaim, and converts his Muslim antagonist not to Christianity, but to Skepticism or Atheism What, indeed, could be more illogical
on the part of Christian missionaries to Muhammadan lands than to devote much time and labor to the composition of controversial
works which endeavor to prove, in one and the same breath, first, that the Qur’án is a lying imposture, and, secondly, that it hears
witness to the truth of Christ’s mission, as though any value attached to the testimony of one proved a liar! The Bábi (or Bahá’i)
propagandist, on the other hand, admits that Muhammad was the prophet of God and that the Qur’án is the Word of God, denies
nothing but their finality, and does not discredit his own witness when he draws from that source arguments to prove his faith. To the
Western observer, however, it is the complete sincerity of the Bábis, their fearless disregard of death and torture undergone for the
sake of their religion, their certain conviction as to the truth of their faith, their generally admirable conduct towards mankind and
especially towards their fellow believers, which constitutes their strongest claim on his attention.
2.
Introduction to Myron H. Phelps’ ‘Abinis Effendi, pages xii-xiv— It was under the influence of this enthusiasm that I penned the
introduction to my translation of the Traveller’s Narrative.
This enthusiasm condoned, if not shared, by many kindly critics and reviewers, exposed me to a somewhat savage attack

in the Oxford Magazine, an attack concluding with the assertion that my Introduction displayed “a personal attitude
almost inconceivable in a rational European, and a style unpardonable in a university teacher.” (The review in question
appeared in the Oxford Magazine of May 25, 1892, page 394, “the prominence given to the Báb in this
book is an absurd violation of historical perspective; and the translations of the Traveller’s Narrative a waste of the
powers and opportunities of a Persian Scholar.”) Increasing age and experience (more’s the pity!) are apt enough, even
without the assistance of the Oxford Magazine, to modify our enthusiasm; but in this case, at least, time has so far
vindicated my judgment against that of my Oxford reviewer that he could scarcely now maintain, as he formerly
asserted, that the Bábi religion “had affected the least important part of the Muslim World and that not deeply.” Every
one who is in the slightest degree conversant with the actual state of things (September 27, 1903), in Persia now
recognizes that the number and influence of the Bãbis in that country is immensely greater than it was fifteen years ago.

3.

A Traveller’s Narrative, page 309—

The appearance of such a woman as Qurratu’l-’Ayn is in any country and any age a rare phenomenon, but in such a
country as Persia it is a prodigy—nay, almost a miracle. Alike in virtue of her marvelous beauty, her rare intellectual
gifts, her fervid eloquence, her fearless devotion and her glorious martyrdom, she stands forth incomparable and
immortal amidst her countrywomen. Had the Bãbi religion no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient—that it
produced a heroine like Qurratu’l-’Ayn.
4.
Introduction to A Traveller’s Narrative, pages ix, x—
Though I dimly suspected whither I was
going and whom I was to behold (for no distinct intimation had been given to me), a second or two elapsed ere, with a
throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious that the room was not untenanted.

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In the corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a felt head-dress of the kind called tj by
dervishes (but of unusual height and make), round the base of which was wound a small white turban. The face of him on whom I
gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on
that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing down in
indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before
one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.
A mild, dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued: “Praise be to God, that thou hast attained! . . . Thou hast come
to see a prisoner and an exile. . . . We lesire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us
a stirrer-up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment. . . . That all nations should become one in faith and
all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that
diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled—what harm is there in this? . . .Yet so it shall be;
these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come. . . . Do not you in
Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold?
Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human
race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind. . . . These strifes and this bloodshed and discord
must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family.
Let not a man glory in this that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this: that he loves his kind. . .
Such, so far as I can recall them, were the words which, besides many others, I heard from Bahá. Let those who read them consider
well with themselves whether such doctrines merit death and bonds, and whether the world is more likely to gain or lose by their
diffusion.

5.
Introduction to A Traveller’s Narrative, pages xxxv, xxxvi— Seldom have I seen one whose appearance
impressed me more. A tall, strongly built man holding himself straight as an arrow, with white turban and raiment, long black locks
reaching almost to the shoulder, broad powerful forehead, indicating a strong intellect, combined with an unswerving will, eyes keen
as a hawk’s and strongly marked but pleasing features—such was my first impression of ‘Abbás Effendi, “The Master” (‘Aghá) as he
par excellence is called by the Bábis. Subsequent conversation with him served only to heighten the respect with which his appearance
had from the first inspired me. One more eloquent of speech, more ready of argument, more apt of illustration, more intimately
acquainted with the sacred books of the Jews, the Christians and the Muhammadans, could, I should think, be scarcely found even
amongst the eloquent, ready and subtle race to which he belongs. These qualities, combined with a bearing at once majestic and
genial, made me cease to wonder at the influence and esteem which he enjoyed even beyond the circle of his father’s followers. About
the greatness of this man and his power no one who had seen him could entertain a doubt.
By Dn. J. ESTLIN CARPENTER
Excerpts from Comparative Religions, pages
70, 71—
From that subtle race issues the most
remarkable movement which modern Muhammadanism has produced. . . . Disciples gathered round him, and the movement was not
checked by his arrest, his imprisonment for nearly six years and his final execution in 1850. . . . It, too, claims to be a universal teaching;
it has already its noble army of martyrs and its holy books; has Persia, in the midst of her miseries, given birth to a religion which will
go round the world?
B THE REV. T. K. CHEYNE, D. LITT., D.D.
Excerpts from The Reconciliation of Races and Religicms, (1914)—

There was living quite lately a human

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’i FAITH

being’ of such consummate excellence that many think it is both permissible and inevitable even to identify him mystically with the
invisible Godhead. . . . His2 combination of mildness and power is so rare that we have to place him in a line with supernormal men. . . .
We learn that, at great points in his career after he had been in an ecstasy, such radiance of might and majesty streamed from his
countenance that none could bear to look upon the effulgence of his glory and beauty. Nor was it an uncommon occurrence for
unbelievers involuntarily to bow down in lowly obeisance on beholding His Holiness.
The gentle spirit of the Báb is surely high up in the cycles of eternity. Who can fail, as Professor Browne says, to be attracted by him?
“His sorrowful and persecuted life; his purity of conduct and youth; his courage and uncomplaining patience under misfortune; his
complete self-negation; the dim ideal of a better state of things which can be discerned through the obscure mystic utterances of the
Baya!n; but most of all, his tragic death, all serve to enlist our sympathies on behalf of the young prophet of Shiráz.”
a
jJ sentait le besoin d’une réforme pro- fond introduire dans les moeurs publiques.
Ii s’est sacriflé pour l’humanité; pour elle il a donne son corps et son âme, pour elle il a subi les privations, les affronts, les injures, Ia
torture et le martyre.” (Mons. Nicolas.)
If there has been any prophet in recent times, it is to Bahâ’u’llâh that we must go. Character is the final judge. Bahâ’u’llâh was a man
of the highest class—that of prophets. But he was free from the last infirmity of noble minds, and would certainly not have separated
himself from others. He would have understood the saying: “Would God all the Lord’s people were prophets!” What he does say,
however, is just as fine: “I do not desire lordship over others; I desire all men to be even as I am.”
The day is not far off when the details of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s missionary journeys will be admitted to be of historical importance. How
gentle and wise he was, hundreds could testify from personal knowledge, and I, too, could perhaps say something. . . . I will

only, however, give here the outward framework of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s life, and of his apostolic journeys, with the help of my friend
Lutfulláh.
During his stay in London he visited Oxford (where he and his party—of Persians mainly—were the guests of Professor and Mrs.
Cheyne), Edinburgh, Clifton and Woking. It is fitting to notice here that the audience at Oxford, though highly academic, seemed to be
deeply interested, and that Dr. Carpenter made an admirable speech.
B PROFESSOR VAMBERY
Testimonial to the Religion of ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ. (Published in Egyptian Gazette, Sept. 24, 1913, by Mrs. J. Stannard.)— I forward
this humble petition to the
sanctified and holy presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ ‘Abbâs, who is the center of knowledge, famous throughout the world, and loved by all
mankind. 0 thou noble friend who art conferring guidance upon humanity—May my life be a ransom to thee!
The loving epistle which you have condescended to write to this servant, and the rug which you have forwarded, came safely to hand.
The time of the meeting with your Excellency, and the memory of the benediction of your presence, recurred to the memory of this
servant, and I am longing for the time when I shall meet you again. Although I have traveled through many countries and cities of
Islam, yet have I never met so lofty a character and so exalted a personage as your Excellency, and I can bear witness that it is not
possible to find such another. On this account, I am hoping that the ideals and accomplishments of your Excellency may be crowned
with success and yield results under all conditions; because behind these ideals and deeds I easily discern the eternal welfare and
prosperity of the world of humanity.
This servant, in order to gain first-hand information and experience, entered into the ranks of various religions, that is, outwardly, I
became a Jew, Christian, Muhammadan and Zoroastrian. I discovered that the devotees of these various religions do nothing else but
hate and anathematize each other, that
1 Bahá’u’llili.

2 Báb.

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all their religions have become the instruments of tyranny and oppression in the hands of rulers and governors, and that
they are the causes of the destruction of the world of humanity.
Considering those evil results, every person is forced by necessity to enlist himself on the side of your Excellency, and
accept with joy the prospect of a fundamental basis for a universal religion of God, being laid through your efforts.
I have seen the father of your Excellency from afar. I have realized the self-sacrifice and noble courage of his son, and I
am lost in admiration.
For the principles and aims of your Excellency, I express the utmost respect and devotion, and if God, the Most High,
confers long life, I will be able to serve you under all conditions. I pray and supplicate this from the depths of my heart.
Your servant,
(Mamhenyn.)

and governors have sat for a time on the seats of the mighty and been swept away by some intrigue as sordid as that to
which they owed their own exaltation? And how many in humbler stations have been in the meantime the recipients of
their unworthy favors or the victims of their arbitrary oppression? A village which but yesterday was fairly prosperous
is beggared today by some neighboring landlord higher up the valley, who, having duly propitiated those in authority,
diverts for the benefit of his own estates the whole of its slender supply of water. The progress of a governor or royal
prince, with all his customary retinue of ravenous hangers-on, eats out the countryside through which it passes more
effectually than a flight of locusts. The visitation is as ruinous and as unaccountable. Is it not the absence of all visible
moral correlation of cause and effect in these phenomena of daily life that has gone far to produce the stolid fatalism of
the masses, the scoffing skeptiVAMBfiRY. cism of the more educated classes, and from time to time the revolt of some
nobler minds? Of such the most recent and perhaps the noblest of all became the founder of Bábiism.

By SIR VALENTINE CHIROL
Quotations from The Middle Eastern Question or Some Political Problems of Indian Defense, chapter XI, page 116. (The
Revival of Bábiism.)—
When one has been like Sa’id, a great personage, and then a common soldier, and then a prisoner of a Christian feudal chief; when one
has worked as a navvy on the fortifications of the Count of Antioch, and wandered back afoot to Shiráz after infinite pain and labor, he
may well be disposed to think that nothing that exists is real, or, at least, has any substantial reality worth clinging to. Today the public
peace of Persia is no longer subject to such violent perturbations. At least, as far as we are concerned, the appearances of peace
prevail, and few of us care or have occasion to look beyond the appearances. But for the Persians themselves, have the conditions very
much changed? Do they not witness one day the sudden rise of this or that favorite of fortune and the next day his sudden fall? Have
they not seen the Atábak-i-A’zam twice hold sway as the Shah’s all-powerful Vazir, and twice hurled down from that pinnacle by a
bolt from the blue? How many other ministers

Chapter XI, page 120— The Báb was dead, but not Bábiism. He
was not the first, and still less the last, of a long line of martyrs who have testified that even in a country gangrened
with corruption and atrophied with indifferentism like Persia, the soul of a nation survives, inarticulate, perhaps, and in
a way helpless, but still capable of sudden spasms of vitality.
Chapter XI, page 124— Socially one of the most interesting features of Bábiism is the raising of woman to a much
higher plane than she is usually admitted to in the East. The Báb himself had no more devoted a disciple than the
beautiful and gifted lady, known as Qurratu’l‘Ayn, the “Consolation of the Eyes,” who, having shared all the dangers
of the first apostolic missions in the north, challenged and suffered death with virile fortitude, as one of the Seven
Martyrs of Tihrán. No memory is more deeply venerated or kindles greater enthusiasm than hers, and the influence
which she yielded in her lifetime still inures to her sex.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

By HARRY CHARLES LUKACH
Quotation from The Fringe of the East, (Macmillan & Co., London, 1913.)— Bahá’iism is now estimated to count more
than two million adherents, mostly composed of Persian and Indian Shi’ihs, but including also many Sunnis from the Turkish Empire
and North Africa, and not a few Brahmans, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists and Jews. It possesses even European converts, and has
made some headway in the United States. Of all the religions which have been encountered in the course of this journey— the
stagnant pools of Oriental Christianity, the strange survivals of sun-worship, and idolatry tinged with Muhammadanism, the
immutable relic of the Sumerians—it is the only one which is alive, which is aggressive, which is extending its frontiers, instead of
secluding itself within its ancient haunts. It is a thing which may revivify Islam, and make great changes on the face of the Asiatic
world.
BY PROFESSOR JOwETT of Oxford
Quotation from Heroic Lives, page 305— Prof. Jowett of Oxford, Master of Balliol,
the translator of Plato, studied the movement and was so impressed thereby that he said: “The Bábite [Bahá’i) movement may not
impossibly turn out to have the promise of the future.” Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter quotes Prof. Edward Caird, Prof. Jowett’s successor as
Master of Balliol, as saying, “He thought Bábiism (as the Bahá’i movement was then called) might prove the most important religious
movement since the foundation of Christianity.” Prof. Carpenter himself gives a sketch of the Bahá’i movement in his recent book on
Comparative Religions and asks, “Has Persia, in the midst of her miseries, given birth to a religion that will go around the world?”
BY ALFRED W. MARTIN
Excerpts from Comparative Religion and the Religion of the Future, pages 81-91— Inasmuch as a fellowship of faiths is at
once the dearest hope and ultimate goal of the Bahá’i movement, it behooves us to take cognizance of it and its mission. . . . Today this
religious movement has a million and
more adherents, including people from all parts of the globe and representing a remarkable variety of race, color, class and creed. It
has been given literary expression in a veritable library of Asiatic, European, and American works to which additions are annually
made as the movement grows and grapples with the great problems that grow out of its cardinal teachings. It has a long roll of martyrs
for the cause for which it stands, twenty thousand in Persia alone, proving it to be a movement worth dying for as well as worth living
by.
From its inception it has been identified with Bahâ’u’lláh, who paid the price of prolonged exile, imprisonment, bodily suffering, and
mental anguish for the faith he cherished—a man of imposing personality as revealed in his writings, characterized by intense moral
earnestness and profound spirituality, gifted with the selfsame power so conspicuous in the character of Jesus, the power to appreciate
people ideally, that is, to see them at the level of their best and to make even the lowest types think well of themselves because of
potentialities within them to which he pointed, but of which they were wholly unaware; a prophet whose greatest contribution was not
any specific doctrine he proclaimed, but an informing spiritual power breathed into the world through the example of his life and
thereby quickening souls into new spiritual activity. Surely a movement of which all this can be said deserves—nay, compels— our
respectful recognition and sincere appreciation.
Taking precedence over all else in its gospel is the message of unity in religion.
It is the crowning glory of the Bahá’i movement that, while aeprecating sectarianism in its preaching, it has faithfully practiced what it
preached by refraining from becoming itself a sect. . . . Its representatives do not attempt to impose any beliefs upon others, whether by
argument or bribery; rather do they seek to put beliefs that have illumined their own lives within the reach of those who feel they need
illumination. No, not a sect, not a part of humanity cut off from all the rest, living for itself and aiming to convert all the rest into
material for its own growth; no, not that, but

THE BAHA’i WORLD

a leaven, causing spiritual fermentation in all religions, quickening them with the spirit of catholicity and fraternalism.
Who shall say but that just as the little company of the Mayflower, landing on Plymouth Rock, proved to be the small beginning of a
mighty nation, the ideal germ of a democracy which, if true to its principles, shall yet overspread the habitable globe, so the little
company of Bahá’is exiled from their Persian home may yet prove to be the small beginning of the world-wide movement, the ideal
germ of democracy in religion, the Universal Church of Mankind?
By PROF. JAMES DARMESTETER
Excerpt from Art in “Persia A Historical
and Literary Sketch (translated by G. K.
Nariman), and incorporated in Persia and
Parsis, Part I, edited by G. K. Nariman.
Published under patronage of the Iran
League, Bombay, 1925. (The Marker
Literary Series for Persia, No. 2.)— The political reprieve brought about by
the Sflf is did not result in the regeneration of thought. But the last century which marks the end of Persia has had its revival and
twofold revival, literary and religious. The funeral ceremonies by which Persia celebrates every year for centuries—the fatal day of
the 10th of Muharram, when the son of ‘Ali breathed his last at Karbilã—have developed a popular theater and produced a sincere
poetry, dramatic and human, which is worth all the rhetoric of the poets. During the same times an attempt at religious renovation was
made, the rehgion of Báb’sism. Demoralized for centuries by ten foreign conquests, by the yoke of a composite religion in which she
believed just enough to persecute, by the enervating influence of a mystical philosophy which disabled men for action and divested
life of all aim and objects, Persia has been making unexpected efforts for the last fifty-five years to re-make for herself a virile ideal.
Bábiism has httle of originality in its dogmas and mythology. Its mystic doctrine takes its rise from Sfifism and the old sects of the
‘Aliides formed around the dogma of divine incarnation. But the morality it inculcates is a revolution. It has the ethics of the West. It
suppresses lawful impurities which are a great barrier

dividing Islam from Chris tendom. It denounces polygamy, the fruitful source of Oriental degeneration. It seeks to reconstitute the
family and it elevates man and in elevating him exalts woman up to his level. Bábiism, which diffused itself in less than five years
from one end of Persia to another, which was bathed in 1852 in the blood of its martyrs, has been silently progressing and propagating
itself. If Persia is to be at all regenerate it will be through this new faith.
By CHARLES BAUDOUJN
Excerpts from Contemporary Studies, Part III, page 131. (Allen & Unwin, London, 1924.)—
We Westerners are too apt to imagine that
the huge continent of Asia is sleeping as soundly as a mummy. We smile at the vanity of the ancient Hebrews, who believed
themselves to be the chosen people. We are amazed at the intolerance of the Greeks and Romans, who looked upon the members of all
races as barbarians. Nevertheless, we ourselves are like the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Romans. As Europeans we believed Europe
to be the only world that matters, though from time to time we may turn a paternal eye towards America, regarding our offspring in
the New World with mingled feelings of condescension and pride.
Nevertheless, the great cataclysm of 1914 is leading some of us to undertake a critical examination of the inviolable dogma that the
European nations are the elect. Has there not been of late years a demonstration of the nullity of modern civilization — the nullity
which had already been proclaimed by Rousseau, Carlyle, Ruskin, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche? We are now inclined to listen more
attentively to whispers from the East. Our self-complacency has been disturbed by such utterances as that of Rabindranath Tagore,
who, lecturing at the Imperial University of Tokio on June 18, 1916, foretold a great future for Asia. The political civilization of
Europe was “carnivorous and cannibalistic in its tendencies.” The East was patient, and could afford to wait till the West, “hurry after
the expedient,” had to halt for the want of breath. “Europe, while busily speeding to her engagements, disdainfully casts her glance
from her carriage win-

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

dow at the reaper reaping his harvest in the field, and in her intoxication of speed, cannot but think him as slow and ever receding
backwards. But the speed comes to its end, the engagement loses its meaning, and the hungry heart clamors for food, till at last she
comes to the lonely reaper reaping his harvest in the sun. For if the office cannot wait, or the buying and selling, or the craving for
excitement—love waits, and beauty, and the wisdom of suffering and the fruits of patient devotion and reverent meekness of simple
faith. And thus shall wait the East till her time comes.”
Being thus led to turn our eyes towards Asia, we are astonished to find how much we have misunderstood it; and we blush when we
realize our previous ignorance of the fact that, towards the middle of the nineteenth century, Asia gave birth to a great religious
movement—a movement signalized for its spiritual purity, one which has had thousands of martyrs, one which Tolstoy has described.
H. Dreyfus, the French historian of this movement, says that it is not “a new religion,” but “religion renewed,” and that it provides
“the only possible basis for a mutual understanding between religion and free thought.” Above all, we are impressed by the fact that,
in our own time, such a manifestation can occur, and that the new faith should have undergone a development far more extensive than
that undergone in the same space of time nearly two thousand years ago, by budding Christianity.
At the present time, the majority of the inhabitants of Persia have, to a varying extent, accepted the Bãbiist faith. In the great towns of
Europe, America, and Asia, there are active centers for the propaganda of the liberal ideas and the doctrine of human community,
which form the foundations of Bahá’iist teaching.
‘We shall not grasp the full significance of this tendency until we pass from the description of Bahá’iism as a theory to that of
Bahã’iism as a practice, for the core of religion is not metaphysics, but morality.
The Bahá’iist ethical code is dominated by the law of love taught by Jesus and by all the prophets. In the thousand and one details of
practical life, this law is subject to manifold interpretations. That of Bahâ’ u’llá

is unquestionably one of the most comprehensive of these, one of the most exalted, one of the most satisfactory to the modern mind. .
That is why Bahá’u’lláh is a severe critic of the patriotism which plays so large a part in the national life of our day. Love of our
native land is legitimate, but this love must not be exclusive. A man should love his country more than he loves his house (this is the
dogma held by every patriot); but Bahá’u’llãh adds that he should love the divine world more than he loves his country. From this
standpoint, patriotism is seen to be an intermediate stage on the road of renunciation, an incomplete and hybrid religion, something we
have to get beyond. Throughout his life Bahá’u’lláh regarded the ideal universal peace as one of the most important of his aims. .
Bahá’u’llãh is in this respect enunciating a novel and fruitful idea. There is a better way of dealing with social evils than by trying to
cure them after they have come to pass. We should try to prevent them by removing their causes, which act on the individual, and
especially on the child. Nothing can be more plastic than the nature of the child. The government’s first duty must be to provide for
the careful and efficient education of children, remembering that education is something more than instruction. This will be an
enormous step towards the solution of the social problem, and to take such a step will be the first task of the Baytu’l-’Ad’l (House of
Justice). “It is ordained upon every father to rear his son or his daughter by means of the sciences, the arts, and all the commandments,
and if any one should neglect to do so, then the members of the council, should the offender be a wealthy man, must levy from him the
sum necessary for the education of his child. When the neglectful parent is poor, the cost of the necessary education must be borne by
the council, which will provide a refuge for the unfortunate.”
The Baytu’l-’Ad’l, likewise, must prepare the way for the establishment of universal peace, doing this by organizing courts of
arbitration and by influencing the governments. Long before the Esperantists had begun their campaign, and more than

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twenty years before Nicholas II had summoned the first Hague congress, Bahá’u’lláh was insisting on the need for a universal
language and courts of arbitration. He returns to these matters again and again: “Let all the nations become one in faith, and let all men
be brothers, in order that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men may be strengthened. . . . What harm can there be in
that? . . . It is going to happen. There will be an end to sterile conflicts, to ruinous wars; and the Great Peace will come!” Such were the
words of Bahâ’u’lláh in 1890, two years before his death.
While adopting and developing the Christian law of love, Bahâ’u’lláh rejected the Christian principle of ascetism. He discountenanced
the macerations which were a nightmare of the Middle Ages, and, whose evil effects persist even in our own days.
Bahá’iism, then, is an ethical system, a system of social morality. But it would be a mistake to regard Bahá’iist teaching as a collection
of abstract rules imposed from without. Bahá’iism is permeated with a sane and noble mysticism; nothing could be more firmly rooted
in the inner life, more benignly spiritual; nothing could speak more intimately to the soul, in low tones, and as if from within,
Such is the new voice that sounds to us from Asia; such is the new dawn in the East. We should give them our close attention; we
should abandon our customary mood of disdainful superiority. Doubtless, Bahá’u’lláh’s teaching is not definitive. The Persian prophet
does not offer it to us as such. Nor can we Europeans assimilate all of it; for modern science leads us to make certain claims in matters
of thought—claims we cannot relinquish, claims we should not try to forego. But even though Bahá’u’lláh’s precepts (like those of the
Gospels) may not fully satisfy all these intellectual demands, they are rarely in conflict with our scientific outlooks. If they are to
become our own spiritual food, they must be supplemented, they must be relived by the religious spirits of Europe, must be rethought
by minds schooled in the Western mode of thought. But in its existing form, Bahá’iist teaching may serve, amid our present chaos, to
open for us a road leading to solace and to com fort

may restore our confidence in the spiritual destiny of man. It reveals to us how the human mind is in travail; it gives us an inkling of
the fact that the greatest happenings of the day are not the ones we were inclined to regard as the most momentous, not the ones which
are making the loudest noise.
By Dn. HENRI’ H. JEssuP, D.D. From the World’s Parliament of Religion;
Volume II, 13th Day, under Criticism and
Discussion of Missionary Methods, page
1122. At the Columbian Exposition of
1893, at Chicago. Edited by the Rev.
John Henry Barrows, D.D. (The Parliament Publishing Company, Chicago,
1893.)—
This, then, is our mission: that we who are
made in the image of God should remember that all men are made in God’s image. To this divine knowledge we owe all we are, all we
hope for. We are rising gradually toward that image, and we owe to our fellowmen to aid them in returning to it in the Glory of God
and the Beauty of Holiness. It is a celestial privilege and with it comes a high responsibility, from which there is no escape.
In the Palace of Bahji, or Delight, just outside the Fortress of ‘Akkã, on the Syrian coast, there died a few months since, a famous
Persian sage, the Bábi Saint, named Bahá’u’lláh—the “Glory of God”—the head of that vast reform party of Persian Muslims, who
accept the New Testament as the Word of God and Christ as the Deliverer of men, who regard all nations as one, and all men as
brothers. Three years ago he was visited by a Cambridge scholar and gave utterance to sentiments so noble, so Christlike, that we
repeat them as our closing words:
“That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men
should be strengthened; that diversity of religions should cease and differences of race be annulled. What harm is there in this? Yet so
it shall be. These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come. Do not you in Europe
need this also? Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country:

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’t FAITH

let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.”
By THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL CURZON Excerpts from Persia, Vol. I, pages 496-504.
(“Written in 1892.)—
Beauty and the female sex also lent their
consecration to the new creed and the heroism of the lovely but ill-fated poetess of Qazvin, Zarrin-Táj (Crown of Gold) or Quarratu’l-
’Ayn (Solace of the Eyes), who, throwing off the veil, carried the missionary torch far and wide, is one of the most affecting episodes
in modern history.
The lowest estimate places the present number of Bábis in Persia at half a million. I am disposed to think, from conversations with
persons well qualified to judge, that the total is nearer one million. They are to be found in every walk of life, from the ministers and
nobles of the Court to the scavenger or the groom, not the least arena in their activity being the Mussulman priesthood itself. It will
have been noticed that the movement was initiated by Siyyids, [‘Iãjis and Mullás, i.e., persons who, either by descent, from pious
inclination, or by profession, were intimately concerned with the Muhammadan creed; and it is among even the professed votaries of
the faith that they continue to make their converts.
Quite recently the Bábis have had great success in the camp of another enemy, having secured many proselytes among the Jewish
populations of the Persian towns. I hear that during the past year (1891) they are reported to have made 150 Jewish converts in Tihran,
100 in Hamadán, 50 in Káshán, and 75 per cent of the Jews at Gulpáyigán.
The two victims, whose names were Iáji Mirzá Hasan and Háji Mirzá Husayn, have been renamed by the Bãbis: Sulçanu’shShuhadá’,
or King of Martyrs, and Malibflbu’sh-Shuhada’, or Beloved of Martyrs— and their naked graves in the cemetery have become places
of pilgrimage where many a tear is shed over the fate of the “Martyrs of Isfáh4n.” . . . It is these little incidents, protruding from time to
time their ugly features, that prove Persia to be not as yet quite redeemed, and that somewhat staggers the tall-talkers about Iranian
civilization. If one conclusion more than another

has been forced upon our notice by the restrospect in which I have indulged, it is that a sublime and murmuring [?) devotion has
been inculcated by this new faith, whatever it be. There is, I believe, but one instance of a Bábi having recanted under pressure of
menace of suffering, and he reverted to the faith and was executed within two years. Tales of magnificent heroism illumine the
bloodstained pages of Bábi history. Ignorant and unlettered as many of its votaries are, and have been, they are yet prepared to die for
their religion, and fires of Smithfield did not kindle a nobler courage than has met and defied the more refined torture-mongers of
Tihrán. Of no small account, then, must be the tenets of a creed that can awaken in its followers so rare and beautiful a spirit of selfsacrifice. From the facts that Bábiism in its earliest years found itself in conflict with the civil powers and that an attempt was made by
Bábis upon the life of the Shah, it has been wrongly inferred that the movement was political in origin and Nihilist in character. It does
not appear from a study of the writings either of the Báb or his successors, that there is any foundation for such a suspicion. . . . The
charge of immorality seems to have arisen partly from the malignant inventions of opponents, partly from the much greater freedom
claimed for women by the Báb, which in the oriental mind is scarcely dissociable from profligacy of conduct. . . . If Bábiism continues
to grow at its present rate of progression, a time may conceivably come when it will oust Muhammadanism from the field in Persia. . . .
Since its recruits are won from the best soldiers of the garrison whom it is attacking, there is greater reason to believe that it may
ultimately prevail. .
The pure and suffering life of the Báb, his ignominious death, the heroism and martyrdom of his followers, will appeal to many others
who can find no similar phenomena in the contemporaneous records of Islam. . .

By SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND

1.

Excerpts from The Gleam. (1923.)— The story of the Báb, as Mirzá ‘All-Muhammad called himself, was the story of

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spiritual heroism unsurpassed in Svabhava’s experience; and his own adventurous soul was fired by it. That a youth of no social
influence and no education should, by the simple power of insight, be able to pierce into the heart of things and see the real truth, and
then hold on to it with such firmness of conviction and present it with such suasion that he was able to convince men that he was the
Messiah and get them to follow him to death itself, was one of those splendid facts in human history that Svabhava loved to meditate
on. This was a true hero whom he would wish to emulate and whose experiences he would profit by. The Báb’s passionate sincerity
could not be doubted, for he had given his life for his faith. And that there must be something in his message that appealed to men and
satisfied their souls, was witnessed to by the fact that thousands gave their lives in his cause and millions now follow him.
If a young man could, in only six years of ministry, by the sincerity of his purpose and the attraction of his personality, so inspire rich
and poor, cultured and illiterate, alike, with belief in himself and his doctrines that they would remain staunch, though hunted down
and without trial sentenced to death, sawn asunder, strangled, shot, blown from guns; and if men of high position and culture in Persia,
Turkey and Egypt in numbers to this day adhere to his doctrines, his life must be one of those events in the last hundred years which is
really worth study. And that study fortunately has been made by the Frenchman Gobineau and by Professor E. G. Browne, so that we
are able to have a faithful representation of its main features.
Thus, in only his thirtieth year, in the year 18 50, ended the heroic career of a true God-man. Of the sincerity of his conviction that he
was God-appointed, the manner of his death is the amplest possible proof. In the belief that he would thereby save others from the
error of their present behefs he willingly sacrificed his life. And of his power of attaching men to him, the passionate devotion of
hundreds and even thousands of men who gave their lives in his cause is convincing testimony.
He himself was but “a letter out of that

most mighty book, a dewdrop from that limitless ocean.” The One to come would reveal all mysteries and all riddles. This was the
humility of true insight. And it has had its effect. His movement has grown and expanded, and it has yet a great future before it.
During his six years of ministry, four of which were spent in captivity, he had permeated all Persia with his ideas. And since his death
the movement has spread to Turkey, Egypt, India and even into Europe and America. His adherents are now numbered by millions.
“The Spirit which pervades them,” says Professor Browne, “is such that it cannot fail to affect most powerfully all subject to its
influence.”
2.
For many years I have been interested in the rise and progress of the Bahá’i Movement. Its roots go deep down into the past and yet it
looks far forward into the future. It realizes and preaches the oneness of mankind. And I have noticed how ardently its followers work
for the furtherance of peace and for the general welfare of mankind. God must be with them and their success therefore assured.
3.
Excerpt from Modern Mystics. (1935, p. 142.)
The martyrdom of the Báb took place on July 9, 1850, thirty-one years from the date of his birth.
His body was dead. His spirit lived on. Husayn had been slain in battle. Quddfis had been done to death in captivity. But Bahá’u’lláh
hved. The One who shall be made manifest was alive. And in him and in others had been engendered such love for the Rib and what
he stood for as, in the words of the chronicler, no eye had ever beheld nor mortal heart conceived: if branches of every tree were
turned into pens, and all the seas into ink, and Earth and Heaven rolled into one parchment, the immensity of that love would still
remain untold. This love for the Cause still survived. And it was sufficient. Bahá’u’llIh was, indeed, despoiled of his possessions,
deserted by his friends, driven into exile from his native land and, even in exile, confined to his house.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

But in him the Cause was still alive—and more than alive, purified and ennobled by the fiery trials through which it had passed.
Under the wise control, and direction of Bahá’u’lláh from his prison-house, first at Baghdad and then at ‘Akká in Syria, there grew
what is now known as the Bahã’i Movement which, silently propagating itself, has now spread to Europe and America as well as to
India and Egypt, while the bodily remains of the Báb, long secretly guarded, now find a resting-place on Mount Carmel in a Tombshrine, which is a place of pilgrimage to visitors from all over the world.
Excerpt from The Christian Commonwealth, January 22, 1913: “ ‘Abdu’l-Bahã at Oxford”— ‘Abdu’l-Bahã addressed a large and
deeply
interested audience at Manchester College, Oxford, on December 31. The Persian leader spoke in his native tongue, MIrzá Ahmad
Sohrab interpreting. Principal Estlin Carpenter presided, and introduced the speaker by saying that they owed the honor and pleasure
of meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahã to their revered friend, Dr. Cheyne, who was deeply interested in the Bahâ’i teaching. The movement sprung
up during the middle of the last century in Persia, with the advent of a young Mubammadan who took to himself the title of the Báb
(meaning door or gate, through which men could arrive at the knowledge or truth of God), and who commenced teaching in Persia in
the year 1844. The purity of his character, the nobility of his words, aroused great enthusiasm. He was, however, subjected to great
hostility by the authorities, who secured his arrest and imprisonment, and he was finally executed in 1850. But the movement went on,
and the writings of the Báb, which had been copious, were widely read. The movement has been brought into India, Europe, and the
United States. It does not seek to create a new sect, but to inspire all sects with a deep fundamental love. The late Dr. Jowett once said
to him that he had been so deeply impressed with the teachings and character of the Mb that he thought Biblism, as the present
movement was then known, might become the greatest religious movement since the birth of Christ.

By Rrv. J. TYssuL DAVIS, B.A.
Quotation from A League of Religions. Excerpts from Chapter X: Bahá’iism—The Religion of Reconciliation. (The Lindsey
Press, London, England.) — The Bahá’i rehgion has made its way
because it meets the needs of its day. It fits the larger outlook of our time better than the rigid exclusive older faiths. A characteristic is
its unexpected liberality and toleration. It accepts all the great religions as true, and their scriptures as inspired. The Bahá’iists bid the
followers of these faiths disentangle from the windings of racial, particularist, local prejudice, the vital, immortal thread, the pure
gospel of eternal worth, and to apply this essential element of life. Instances are quoted of people being recommended to work within
the older faiths, to remain, vitalizing them upon the principles of the new faith. They cannot fear new facts, new truths as the Creeddefenders must. They believe in a progressive revelation. They admit the cogency of modern criticism and allow that God is in His
nature incomprehensible, but is to be known through His Manifestations. Their ethical ideal is very high and is of the type we
Westerners have learnt to designate “Christlike.” “What does he do to his enemies that he makes them his friends?” was asked
concerning the late leader. What astonishes the student is not anything in the ethics or philosophy of this movement, but the
extraordinary response its ideal has awakened in such numbers of people, the powerful influence this standard actually exerts on
conduct. It is due to four things: (1) It makes a call on the Heroic Element in man. It offers no bribe. It bids men endure, give up,
carry the cross. It calls them to sacrifice, to bear torture, to suffer martyrdom, to brave death. (2) It offers liberty of thought. Even
upon such a vital question as immortality it will not bind opinion. Its asmosphere is one of trust and hope, not of dogmatic chill. (3) It
is a religion of love. “Notwithstanding the interminable catalogue of extreme and almost incredible sufferings and privations which
this heroic band of men and women have endured— more terrible than many martyrdoms—there is not a trace of resentment or
bitterness to

THE BAHA’I WORLD

be observed among them. One would suppose that they were the most fortunate of the people among whom they live,
as indeed they do certainly consider themselves, in that they have been permitted to live near their beloved Lord, beside
which they count their sufferings as nothing” (Phelps). Love for the Master, love for the brethren, love for the
neighbors, love for the alien, love for all humanity, love for all life, love for God
—the old, well-tried way trod once before in Syria, trodden again. (4) It is a religion in harmony with science. It has
here the advantage of being thirteen centuries later than Islam. This new dispensation has been tried in the furnace, and
has not been found wanting. It has been proved valid by the lives of those who have endured all things on its behalf.
Here is something more appealing than its logic and rational philosophy. “To the Western observer” (writes Prof.
Browne), “it is the complete sincerity of the Bãbis, their fearless disregard of death and torture undergone for the sake
of their religion, their certain conviction as to the truth of their faith, their generally admirable conduct toward
mankind, especially toward their fellow-believers, which constitute their strongest claim on his attention.”
“By their fruits shall ye know them!” We cannot but address to this youthful religion an All Hail! of welcome. We
cannot fail to see in its activity another proof of the living witness in our own day of the working of the sleepless spirit
of God in the hearts of men, for He cannot rest, by the necessity of His nature, until He hath made in conscious reality,
as in power, the whole world His

own.

B HERBERT PUTNAM
Librarian of Congress

The dominant impression that survives in my memory of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is that of an ext racrrclinary nobility:
physically, in the head so massive yet so finely poised, and the modeling of the features; but spiritually, in the serenity
of expression, and the suggestion of grave and responsible meditation in the deeper lines of the face. But there was
also, in his complexion, carriage, and expression, an assurance of the complete health which is a requisite of a sane
judg ment
And when, as in a lighter mood, his features relaxed into the playful, the assurance was added of a sense of humor without which there
is no true sense of proportion. I have never met any one concerned with the philosophies of life whose judgment might seem so
reliable in matters of practical conduct.
My regret is that my meetings with him were so few and that I could not benefit by a lengthier contact with a personality combining a
dignity so impressive with human traits so engaging.
I wish that he could be multiplied!
B LEO TOLSTOY
Translated from a letter to Mme. Isabel Grinevskaya, Oct. 22, 1903.
I am very glad that Mr. V. V. Stassov has told you of the good impression which your book has made on me, and I thank you for
sending it.
I have known about the Bãbis for a long time, and have always been interested in their teachings. It seems to me that these teachings,
as well as all the rationalistic social religious teachings that have arisen lately out of the original teachings of Brahmanism, Buddhism,
Judaism, Christianity and Islam distorted by the priests, have a great future for this very reason that these teachings, discarding all
these distorting incrustations that cause division, aspire to unite into one common religion of all mankind.
Therefore, the teachings of the Bãbis, inasmuch as they have rejected the old Muliammadan superstitions and have not established
new superstitions which would divide them from other new superstitions (unf ortunately something of the kind is noticed in the
exposition of the Teachings of the Bab), and inasmuch as they keep to the principal fundamental ideas of brotherhood, equality and
love, have a great future before them.
In the Muhammadan religion there has been lately going on an intensive spiritual movement. I know that one such movement is
centered in the French colonies in Africa, and has its name (I do not remember it), and its pro5het. Another movement exists in India,
Lahore, and also has its prophet and publishes its paper Review of Religions.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

Both these religious teachings contain nothing new, neither do they have for their principal object a changing of the
outlook of the people and thus do not change the relationship between the people, as is the case with Bábiism, though
not so much in its theory (Teachings of the Mb) as in the practice of life as far as I know it. I therefore sympathize with
Bábiism with all my heart inasmuch as it teaches people brotherhood and equality and sacrifice of material life for
service to God.
Translated from a letter to Frid ul Khan Wadelbekow.
(This communication is dated 1908 and is found among epistles written to Caucasian Muhammadans.)
In answer to your letter which questions how one should understand the term God. I send you a collection of writings
from my literary and reading club, in which some thoughts upon the nature of God are included. In my opinion if we
were to free ourselves from all false conceptions of God we should, whether as Christians or Muhammadans, free
ourselves entirely from picturing God as a personality. The conception which then seems to me to be the best for
meeting the requirements of reason and heart is found in 4th chap. St. John, 7-12-15 that means God is Love. It
therefore follows that God lives in us according to the measure or capacity of each soul to express His nature. This
thought is implicit more or less clearly in all religions, and therefore in Muhammadanism.
Concerning your second question upon what awaits us after death I can only reply that on dying we return to God from
whose Life we came. God, however, being Love we can on going over expect God only.
Concerning your third question, I answer that so far as I understand Islam, like all other religions, Brahmanism,
Buddhism, Confucianism, etc., it contains great basic truths but that these have become corrupted by superstition, and
coarse interpretations and filled with unnecessary legendic descriptions. I have had much help in my researches to get
clear upon Muhammadanism by a splendid little book “The Sayings of Muhammad.”
The teachings of the Bábis which come to

us out of Islam have through Bahá’u’llah’s teachings been gradually developed and now present us with the highest and
purest form of religious teaching.

By DR. EDMUND Pxxviur

1.

The practical and spiritual understanding between nations, the realization of the unity of mankind above all barriers of
language and religion, the feeling of responsibility towards all who suffer from grief or injustice are only different
branches of the same central teaching which gives the Bahá’i Movement such a faithful and active family of workers in
so many countries.
2.
La superstition, l’intolérance et l’alliance des prétres avec Ia tyrannie sévit en Islam comme ailleurs. La grande lumière
s’assombrit dans Ia fuméc ténébreuse des formes vides et des passions fanatiques. Ii y eut plusieurs fois des réveils et
des retours a la pureté du message.
Chez nous, en Perse, le Mb vécut en saint et mourut en martyr a Tabriz, il y a près d’un siècle. Bahf’u’lláh lui succéda,
exile de Perse, emprisonné par le sultan turc. Ii proclamait que l’unite divine exclut les rivalites. La soumission a Dieu
doit rapprocher les hommes. Si Ia religion les sépare, c’est qu’elle a perdu son principal sens.
En p1cm milieu du dix-neuvième siècle, au temps des Lamartine et des Victor Hugo, le grand saint musulman fixait
aux Bahã’i, ses disciples, un programme et des principes plus actuels que jamais. .
L’Islám a toujours proclamé cc dogme avec majesté, mais les religions luttent en brandissant le nom d’un prophète ou
d’un autre, au lieu d’insister sur leur enseignement, qui pourrait les rapprocher. Bahá’u’lláh tâchait dc faire tomber les
parois, non pas Mahométisme avant tout, mais vraiment Isldm, c’est-a-dire soumission commune a la volonté
supreme.
On ne parlait alors ni d’un Wilson, ni d’un Zamenhof, mais l’exilé de Bahj i montrait aux générations futures le chemin
qu’elles devaient prendre. Son fils ‘Abdu’lBahá répandit plus tard son message en Europe et en Amérique. Mème un
libre

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penseur comme Auguste Ford s’y rallia de grand coeur. Le cercie amical des Bahá’i s’etend autour du monde.
En Perse, un million d’entre eux sontiennent des écoles, fameuses dans le pays. (From La Sagesse de l’Orient, Chap.
III.)
By DR. AUGU5TE FOREL
(Excerpt from Dr. Auguste Forel’s Will.)
J’avais écrit les lignes qui précèdent en 1912. Que dois-j e ajouter auj ourd’hui en aoüt 1921, après les horribles guerres
qui viennent de mettre l’humanité a feu et a sang, tout en dévoilant plus que jamais la terrible férocité de nos passions
haineuses? Rien, sinon que nous devons demeurer d’autant plus fermes, d’autant plus inébranlables dans notre lutte
pour le Bien social. Nos enfants ne doivent pas se décourager; ils doivent au contraire profiter du chaos mondial actuel
pour aider a la pénible organisation supérieure et supranationale de L’humanité, a l’aide d’une fédération universelle
des peuples.
En 1920 seulement j’ai appris a connaitre, a Karlsruhe, la religion supraconfessionnelle et mondiale des Bahá’is
fondee en Orient par le person Bahã’u’lláh il y a 70
C’est la vraie religion du Bien social humain, sans dogmes, ni prétres, reliant entre eux tous les hommes sur notre petit
globe terrestre. Je ntis devenu Bahd’I. Que cette religion vive et prospère pour le bien de l’humanité; c’est là mon voeu
le plus ardent.
By GENERAL RENATO P50LA CA5ELLI
Having been engaged all of his life in the training of men, he does this (i.e., write on the subject of religion) more as a
“shepherd of a flock” might do, in hope of persuading his friends and brothers to turn spontaneously to the Illumined
Path of the Great Revelation.
By REV. FREDERICK W. OAKE5
The Enlightener of human minds in respect to their religious foundations and privileges is of such vital importance that
no one is safe who does not stop and listen for its quiet meaning, and is to the mind of men, as the cooling breeze that
unseen passes its breath over the varying leaves of a tree.

Watch it! And see how uniformly, like an unseen hand passing caressingly over all its leaves: Full of tender care and even in its gifts
of love and greater life: Caresses each leaf. Such it is to one who has seated himself amid the flowers and fruit trees in the Garden
Beautiful at ‘Akká, just within the circle of that Holy and Blessed shrine where rests the Mortal part of the Great Enlightener. His
handiwork is there, you touch the fruit and flowers his hand gave new life’s hopes to, and kneeling as I did beside Shoghi Effendi,
Guardian of the Marvelous Manifestation, felt the spirit’s immortal love of Him who rests there. While I could not speak the words of
the Litany, my soul knew the wondrous meaning, for every word was a word of the soul’s language that speaks of the Eternal love and
care of the Eternal Father. So softly and so living were the reflections from his beautiful personality, that one needed not spoken words
to be interpreted. And this Pilgrim came away renewed and refreshed to such a degree, that the hard bands of formalism were replaced
by the freedom of love and light that will ever make that sojourn there the prize memory and the Door of revelation never to be closed
again, and never becloud the glorious Truth of Universal Brotherhood. A calm, and glorious influence that claims the heart and
whispers to each of the pulsing leaves of the great family in all experiences of life, “Be not afraid. It is I!”—And makes us long to
help all the world to know the meaning of those words spoken by The Great Revealer, “Let us strive with heart and soul that unity
may dwell in the world.” And to catch the greatness of the word “Strive,” in quietness and reflection.
By RENWICK J. G. M5LLAR
Editor of John O’Groat Journal, Wick, Scotland
I was in Chicago for only some ten days, yet it would take a hundred chapters to describe all the splendid sights and institutions I was
privileged to see. No doubt Chicago has more than its fair share of alien gangsters and gunmen, and the despicable doings of this
obnoxious class has badly vitiated its civic life and reputation. But for all that it is a magnificent city—in many

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

respects probably the finest in America; a city of which its residents have innumerable reasons to be proud.
Every day indeed was filled up with sightseeing and the enjoyment of lavish hospitality. One day, for example, I was entertained to
lunch at the Illinois Athletic Club as the guest of Mr. Robert Black, a prosperous Scot belonging to Wigtonshire, who is in the building
trade. He is an ex-president of the St. Andrew’s Society. Mr. Falconer and other Scots friends were present, and they were all
exceedingly kind and complimentary. I could not, in short, have been treated with more distinction if I had been a prominent Minister
of State instead of a humble Scottish journalist out on a mission of fraternity and good will.
On the same day I met by appointment Mr. Albert R. Windust with whom I went out to see the Bahá’i Temple which is in course of
being erected at ‘Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan. It is about an hour’s ride out on the elevated railway.
Only the foundation and basement have so far been constructed, and the work was meanwhile stopped, but, we understand, is now
shortly to be resumed. I have no hesitation in saying that when completed this Temple will be one of the most beautiful pieces of
architecture in the world. I had the privilege of an introduction to the architect, a Frenchman, M. Bourgeois, who speaks English
fluently. We spent a considerable time with him in his beautiful studio overlooking the Lake, and he did me the honour of showing me
the plans of the Temple, drawings which cost him years of toil, and they are far beyond anything I could have imagined in beauty and
spiritual significance. M. Bourgeois, who is well advanced in years, is a genius and mystic—a gentleman of charming personality. In
all that I had the pleasure of seeing in his studio I had a privilege that is given to few. My signature is in his personal book, which
contains the names of some of the great ones of the earth! Mr. Windust, who is a leading Bahã’i in the city, is a quiet and humble man,
but full of fine ideas and ideals. He treated me with the utmost brotherly courtesy. How is it, I kept asking myself, that it should be
mine to have

all this privilege and honour? There was no reason save that they told me I had touched the chords of truth and sincerity in referring to
and reviewing the Bahá’i writings and principles in a few short articles in this Journal. The Temple is designed to represent these
principles—universal religion, universal brotherhood, universal education, and the union of science and religion. Meantime the
Chicagoans are seemingly indifferent to all its spiritual significance; but some day they will wake up to a realisation of the fact that its
symbolism will mark the city as one of destiny in the world.
By CHARLES H. PRTSK
Editor, Pasadena Star News
Humanity is the better, the nobler, for the Bahá’i Faith. It is a Faith that enriches the soul; that takes from life its dross.
I am prompted thus to express myself because of what I have seen, what I have heard, what I have read of the results of the Movement
founded by the Reverend Bahá’u’lláh. Embodied within that Movement is the spirit of world brotherhood; that brotherhood that
makes for unity of thought and action.
Though not a member of the Bahá’i Faith, I sense its tremendous potency for good. Ever is it helping to usher in the dawn of the day
of “Peace on Earth Good Will to Men.” By the spread of its teachings, the Bahã’i cause is slowly, yet steadily, making the Golden
Rule a practical reality.
With the high idealism of Bahá’u’llãh as its guide, the Bahá’i Faith is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect
day. Countless are its good works. For example, to the pressing economic problems it gives a new interpretation, a new solution. But
above all else it is causing peoples everywhere to realize they are as one, by heart and spirit divinely united.
And so I find joy in paying this little tribute to a cause that is adding to the sweetness, the happiness, the cleanness of life.
By PROF. HART PRASAD SHASTRt, D.LIvy.
My contact with the Bahá’i Movement and my acquaintance with its teachings, given by Iaçlrat-i-Bahá’u’lláh, have filled me with real
joy, as I see that this Movement,

THE BAHA’ WORLD

so cosmopolitan in its appeal, and so spiritual in its advocacy of Truth, is sure to bring peace and joy to the hearts of millions.
Free from metaphysical subtleties, practical in its outlook, above all sectarianism, and based on God, the substratum of the human soul
and the phenomenal world, the Bahã’i Movement carries peace and illumination with it.
As long as it is kept free from orthodoxy and church-spirit, and above personalities, it will continue to be a blessing to its followers.
By SHRI PUROHIT SwAM5
I am in entire sympathy with all of the principles that the Bahá’i Movement stands for; there is nothing which is contrary to what I am
preaching. I think at this stage of the world such teachings are needed more than anything else. I find the keynote of the Teachings is
the spiritual regeneration of the world. The world is getting more and more spiritually bankrupt every day, and if it requires anything it
requires spiritual life. The Bahã’i Movement stands above all caste, creed and color and is based on pure spiritual unity.

By PROF. HERBERT A. M5LLER In World Unity Magazine
1.

The central drive of the Bahá’i Movement is for human unity. It would secure this through unprejudiced search for truth, making
religion conform to scientific discovery and insisting that fundamentally all religions are alike. For the coming of universal peace,
there is great foresight and wisdom as to details. Among other things there should be a universal language; so the Bahá’is take a great
interest in Esperanto though they do not insist on it as the ultimate language. No other religious movement has put so much emphasis
on the emancipation and education of women. Everyone should work whether rich or poor and poverty should be abolished. . . . What
will be the course of the Bahá’i Movement no one can prophesy, but I think it is no exaggeration to claim that the program is the finest
fruit of the religious contribution of Asia.

2.
Shoghi Effendi’s statement cannot be improved upon. The Bahá’is have had the soundest position on the race question of any religion.
They not only accept the scientific conclusions but they also implement them with spiritual force. This latter is necessary because
there is no other way to overcome the emotional element which is basic in the race problem.
ttJ have not said enough perhaps in the first paragraph. Please add the following:
The task of learning to live together, though different, is the most difficult and the most imperative that the world faces. The economic
problem will be relatively easy in comparison. There are differences in the qualities of cultures but there are no differences in qualities
of races that correspond. This being recognized by minorities leads them to resist methods of force to keep them in subordination.
There is no solution except cooperation and the granting of self-respect.”

By VsscouNv SAMUEL, G.C.B., M.P. In John O’London’s Weekly,
March 25th, 1933.

1.

It is possible indeed to pick out points of fundamental agreement among all creeds. That is the essential purpose of the Bahá’i
Religion, the foundation and growth of which is one of the most striking movements that have proceeded from the East in recent
generations.
2.
If one were compelled to choose which of the many religious communities of the world was closest to the aim and purpose of this
Congress, I think one would be obliged to say that it was the comparatively little known Bahá’i Community. Other faiths and creeds
have to consider, at a Congress like this, in what way they can contribute to the idea of world fellowship. But the Bahã’i Faith exists
almost for the sole purpose of contributing to the fellowship and the unity of mankind.
Other communities may consider how far a particular element of their respective faith may be regarded as similar to those of other

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

communities, but the Bahã’i Faith exists for the purpose of combining in one synthesis all those elements in the various faiths which
are held in common. And that is why I suggest that this Bahã’i community is really more in agreement with the main idea which has
led to the summoning of the Congress than any particular one of the great religious communities of the world.
Its origin was in Persia where a mystic prophet, who took the name of the Báb, the “Gate,” began a mission among the Persians in the
earlier part of the nineteenth century. He collected a considerable number of adherents. His activities were regarded with apprehension
by the Government of Persia of that day. Finally, he and his leading disciples were seized by the forces of the Persian Government and
were shot in the year 1850. In spite of the persecution, the movement spread in Persia and in many countries of Ishim. He was
followed as the head of the Community by the one who has been its principal prophet and exponent, Bahá’u’lláh. He was most active
and despite persecution and imprisonment made it his life’s mission to spread the creed which he claimed to have received by direct
divine revelation. He died in 1892 and was succeeded as the head of the Community by his son, ‘Abdu’lBahá, who was born in 1844.
He was living in Haifa, in a simple house, when I went there as High Commissioner in 1920, and I had the privilege of one or two
most interesting conversations with him on the principles and methods of the Bahá’i Faith. He died in 1921 and his obsequies were
attended by a great concourse of people. I had the honour of representing His Majesty the King on that occasion.
Since that time, the Bahi’i Faith has secured the support of a very large number of communities throughout the world. At the present
time it is estimated that there are about eight hundred Bahâ’i communities in various countries. In the United States, near Chicago, a
great Temple, now approaching completion, has been erected by American adherents of the Faith, with assistance from elsewhere.
Shoghi Effendi, the grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is now the head of the community. He came to England and was educated at Balliol
College, Oxford, but now

lives in Haifa, and is the center of a community which has spread throughout the world.
(Introductory address delivered at the Bahá’i session of the World Congress of Faiths, held in London, July, 1936.)
By Lonu SAMUEL OF CARMEL, G.C.B., C.B.E. In 1920 I was appointed as the first High
Commissioner for Palestine under the British Mandate, and took an early opportunity of paying a visit to ‘Abdu’l-Bahã Effendi at His
home in Haifa.
I had for some time been interested in the Bahá’i movement, and felt privileged by the opportunity of making the acquaintance of its
Head. I had also an official reason as well as a personal one. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been persecuted by the Turks.
A British régime had now been substituted in Palestine for the Turkish. Toleration and respect for all religions had long been a
principle of British rule wherever it extended; and the visit of the High Commissioner was intended to be a sign to the population that
the adherents of every creed would be able to feel henceforth that they enjoyed the respect and could count upon the goodwill of the
new Government of the land.
I was impressed, as was every visitor, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s dignity, grace and charm. Of moderate stature, His strong features and lofty
expression lent to His personality an appearance of majesty. In our conversation He readily explained and discussed the principal
tenets of Bahá’i, answered my inquiries and listened to my comments. I remember vividly that friendly interview of sixteen years ago,
in the simple room of the villa, surrounded by gardens, on the sunny hillside of Mount Carmel.
I was glad I had paid my visit so soon, for in 1921 ‘Abdu’l-Bahi died. I was only able to express my respect for His creed and my
regard for His person by coming from the capital to attend His funeral. A great throng had gathered together, sorrowing for His death,
but rejoicing also for His life.
By REV. K. T. CHUNG
(From Rev. K. T. Chung’s Preface to the Chinese version of Dr. Esslemont’s Book.)

Last summer upon my return from a visit

THE BAHA’f WORLD

to Japan, I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler on the boat. It was learnt that this lady is a teacher of the Bahá’i
Cause, so we conversed upon various subjects of human life very thoroughly. It was soon found that what the lady imparted to me
came from the source of Truth as I have felt inwardly all along, so I at once realized that the Bahá’i Faith can offer numerous and
profound benefits to mankind.
My senior, Mr. Y. S. Tsao, is a well-read man. His mental capacity and deep experience are far above the average man. He often said
that during this period of our country when old beliefs have lost their hold upon the people, it is absolutely necessary to seek a religion
of all-embracing Truth which may exert its powerful influence in saving the situation, For the last ten years, he has investigated
indefatigably into the teachings of the Bahá’i Cause. Recently, he has completed his translations of the book on the New Era and
showed me a copy of the proof. After carefully reading it, I came to the full realization that the Truth as imparted to me by Mrs.
Ransom-Kehler is veritable und unshakeable. This Truth of great value to mankind has been eminently translated by Mr. Tsao and
now the Chinese people have the opportunity of reading it, and I cannot but express my profound appreciation for the same. . . . Should
the Truth of the Bahá’i Faith be widely disseminated among the Chinese people, it will naturally lead to the coming of the Kingdom of
Heaven. Should everybody again exert his efforts towards the extension of this beneficent influence throughout the world, it will then
bring about world peace and the general welfare of humanity.
By PROF. DIMITRY KAzAROv
University, Sofia, Bulgaria
Une des causes principales de la situation actuelle du monde c’est que l’humanité est trop en arrière encore dans son développement
a
spirituel. Voila pourquoi tout enseignement qui a pour but éveiller et fortifier la conscience morale et religieuse des hommes est
d’une importance capitale pour l’avenir de notre race. La Bahá’iisme est un de ces enseignements. Il a ce mérite qu’en portant des
principes qui sont communs de toutes

les grandes religions (et spécialement du christianisme) cherche ales adapter aux conditions de la vie actuelle et a la
psychologie de l’homme moderne. En outre il travail pour l’union des hommes de toute nationalité et race dans une
conscience morale et religieuse commune. II n’a pas la prétention d’être autant une religion nouvelle qu’on trait
d’union entre les grandes religions existantes: ce sur quoi II insiste surtout ce n’est pas d’abandoner la religion a
laquelle nous appartenons déjà pour en chercher une autre, mais a faire un effort pour trouver dans cette même religion
l’élément qui nous unit aux autres et d’en faire la force déterminante de notre conduite toute entière. Cet élément
(commun a toutes les grandes religions) c’est la conscience que nous sommes avant tout des êtres spirituels, unis dans
une même entité spirituelle dont nous ne sommes que des parties-unies entre elles par l’attribut fondamental de cette
entité spirituelle—a savoir l’arnour. Manifester, réaliser, développer chez nous et chez les autres (surtout chez les
enfants) cette conscience de notre nature spirituelle et l’amour comme son attribut fondamental c’est Ia chose
principale que nous devons poursuivre avant tout et par toutes les manifestations de notre activité. C’est en même
temps le seul moyen par lequel nous pouvons espérer de réaliser une union toujours grandissant parmi les hommes.
Le Bahá’iisme est un des enseignements qui cherche a éveiller chez nous—n’importe a quelle religion nous
appartenons—justement cette conscience de notre nature spirituelle.
Il y a plus de 20 ans un groupe d’hommes et femmes de différentes nationalités et religions, animés par le désir de
travailler pour l’union des peuples, ont commence a publier un journal en esperanto sous le titre “Universala Unigo.”
Le premier article du premier numero de ce journal était consacré au Bahâ’iisme et a son fondateur. Ii me semble que
ce fait est une preuve éclatante de ce que je viens de dire sur le Bahá’iisme.
B REV. GIUFFSTH J. SPARHAM
Highgate Hill Unitarian Christian Church,
London, England
In his book A League of Religions, the Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, formerly minister of

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’i FAITH

the Theistic Church in London, and at present minister of a Unitarian Church in Bristol, England, the writer sets out to demonstrate
that each great religious movement in the world has contributed something of peculiar importance to the spiritual life of man. Thus, he
says, the great contribution of Zoroastrianism has been the thought of Purity; of Brahmanism that of Justice; of Muhammadanism that
of Submission; of Christianity that of Service; and so on. In each instance he lays his finger on the one thing par excellence for
which the particular religious culture seemed to him to stand, and tries to catch its special contribution in an epigrammatic phrase.
Coming, in this way, to Bahi’iism, he names it “the Rehgion of Reconciliation.” In his chapter on Bahá’iism he says:
“The Bahá’i religion has made its way because it meets the need of the day. It fits the larger outlook of our time, better than the rigid
older faiths. A characteristic is its unexpected liberality and toleration. It accepts all the great religions as true and their scriptures as
inspired.”
These, then, as he sees Bahã’iism, are its essential features: liberality, toleration, the spirit of reconciliation; and that, not in the sense,
as Mr. H. G. ‘Wells has it in his Soul of a Bishop, of making a “collection” of approved portions of the world’s varied and differing
creeds, but in the sense, as he also puts it in the same book, of achieving a great ‘simplification.”
“Bahá’iists,” says Dr. Davis, “bid the followers of these (that is, the world’s) faiths disentangle from the windings of racial,
particularist, local prejudices, the vital, immortal thread of the pure gospel of eternal worth, and to apply this essential element to life.”
That is Dr. Davis’s interpretation of the genius of Bahá’iism, and that it is a true one, no one who has studied Bahá’iism, even
superficially, can question, least of all the outsider. Indeed one may go further and assert that no one who has studied Bahã’iism,
whether superficially or otherwise, would wish to question it; particularly if he approaches the subject from a liberal and unprejudiced
point of view. In the last act of his Wandering Jew, Mr. Temple Thurston

puts into the mouth of Matteos, the Wandering Jew himself, the splendid line, “All men are Christians—all are Jews.”
He might equally well have written, “All men are Christians—all are Bahã’is.” For, if the sense of the Unity of Truth is
a predominant characteristic of liberally-minded people, whatever may be their religious tradition, it is predominantly a
characteristic of Bahá’iism; since here is a religious system based, fundamentally, on the one, simple, profound,
comprehensive doctrine of the unity of God, which carries with it, as its necessary corollary and consequence, the
parallel doctrine of the unity of Man.
This, at all events, is the conviction of the present writer; and it is why, as a Unitarian, building his own faith on the
same basic principles of divine and human unity, he has long felt sympathy with and good will toward a religious
culture which stands on a foundation identical with that of the faith he holds. And a religion that affirms the unity of
things must of necessity be a religion of reconciliation; the truth of which in the case of BahI’iism is clear.
By ERNEST RENAN
Passage tire de Renan Les Apdtres, P.”
Edition Levy, Paris, 1866
Notre siècle a vu des mouvements rcligieux tout aussi extraordinaires que ceux d’autrefois, mouvements qui ont
provoqué autant d’enthousiasme, qui ont eu déjà, proportion gardée, plus de martyrs, et dont l’avenir est encore
incertain.
Je ne parle pas des Mormons, secte a quelques égards si sotte et si abjecte que l’on hésite a Ia prendre au sérieux.
Ii est instructif, cependant, de voir en plein 1 9ème siècle des milliers d’hommes de notre race vivant dans le miracle,
croyant avec une foi aveugle des merveilles qu’ils disent avoir vues et touchées. Il y a déjà toute une littérature pour
montrer l’accord du Mormonisme et de la science; ce qui vaut mieux, cette religion, fondée sur de niaises impostures, a
su accomphr des prodiges de patience et d’abnégation; dans cinq cents ans des docteurs prouveront sa divinité par les
merveilles de son établissement.
Le Bábisme, en Perse, a été un phénomène autrement considerable. Un homme doux et

THE BAHA’t WORLD

sans aucune prétention, une sorte de Spinoza modeste et pieux, s’est vu, presque malgré lui, élevé au rang de
thaumaturge d’incarnation divine, et est devenu le chef d’une secte nombreuse, ardente et fanatique, qui a failli amener
une revolution comparable a celle de l’Islãm. Des milliers de martyrs sont accourus pour lui avec l’allégresse audevant
de la mort. Un jour sans pareil peutêtre dans l’histoire du monde fut celui de Ia grande boucherie qui se fit des Bábis, a
Téhéran. “On vit ce jour-là dans les rues et les bazars de Téhéran,” dit un narrateur qui a tout su d’original, “un
spectacle que la population semble devoir n’oublier jamais. Quand la conversation encore aujourd’hui se met sur cette
matière, on peut juger l’admiration melee d’horreur que la foule éprouve et que les années n’ont pas diminuée. On vit
s’avancer entre les bourreaux des enfants et des femmes les chairs ouvertes sur tout le corps, avec des méches allumees,
flambantes, flchées dans les blessures. On trainait les victimes par des cordes et on les faisait marcher a coups de fouet.
Enfants et femmes s’avançaient en chantant un verset qui dit: En vérité nous venous de Dieu et nous retournons a Lui.
Leurs voix s’élevaient, éclatantes, au-dessus du silence pro- fond de la foule. Quand un des suppliciés tombait et qu’on
le faisait relever a coups de fouet ou de balonnette, pour peu que Ia perte de son sang qui ruisselait sur tous ses
membres lui laissât encore un peu de force, il se mettait a danser et criait avec un surcrol d’enthousiasme: “En vérité
nous sommes a Dieu et nous retournons a Lui.” Quelques-uns des enfants expirêrent pendant le trajet; les bourreaux
jetèrent leurs corps sous les pieds de leurs pères et de leurs soeurs, qui marchèrent flérement dessus et ne leur donnèrent
pas deux regards. Quand on arriva au lieu d’exécution, on proposa encore aux victimes la vie pour leur abjuration. Un
bourreau imagina de dire a un père que, s’il ne cédait pas, il couperait Ia gorge a ses deux Ills sur sa poitrine. C’étaient
deux petits garcons dont l’ainé avait 14 ans et qui, rouges de leur sang, les chairs calcinées, écoutaient froidement le
dialogue; le pêre répondit, en se couchant par terre, qu’il était prêt et l’ainé des enfants, réclamant avec emportement
son droit d’ainesse, de mand

a être égorgé le presuier.’ Enfln tout fut achevé. La nuit tomba sur un amas de chairs informes; les tétes étaient attachées en paquets
au poteau justicier et les chiens des faubourgs se dirigeaient par troupes de ce cóté.
Cela se passait en 1852. La secte de Mozdak sous Chosroes Nousch fut étouffée dans un pareil bain de sang. Le dévouement absolu
est pour les nations naives la plus exquise des jouissances et une sorte de besoin. Dans l’aIfaire des Bábis, on vit des gens qui étaient
a peine de la secte, venir se dénoncer eux-mémes afin qu’on les adjoignit aux patients. Ii est si doux a l’homme de souffrir pour
quelque chose, que dans bien des cas l’appât du martyre suffit pour faire croire.
Un disciple qui fut le campagnon de supplice du Báb, suspendu a côté de lui aux remparts de Tabriz et attendant Ia mort, n’avait
a
qu’un mot Ia bouche: “Es-tu content de moi, maitre?”
By HON. L5L5AN HELEN MONTAGUE,
J.P., D.H.L.
As a Jewess I am interested in the Bahá’i Community. The teaching lays particular stress on the Unity of God and the Unity of Man,
and incorporates the doctrine of the Hebrew Prophets that the Unity of God is revealed in the Unity of Men. Also, we seem to share
the conception of God’s messengers as being those people who in their deep reverence for the attributes of God, His beauty, His truth,
His righteousness and His justice, seek to imitate Him in their imperfect human way. The light of God is reflected in the soul of him
who seeks to be receptive. Like the members of the Bahá’i community, we Jews are scattered all over the world, but united in a
spiritual brotherhood. The Peace ideal enumerated by the Hebrew Prophets is founded on faith in the ultimate triumph of God’s justice
and righteousness.
Un autre detail que ie riens de source premiere eat celui-ci: Quelques sectaires, qu’on voulait amener C rétractation, furent attaches a
Ia gueule de canons amorcés dune meche longue et brsClanr lentement. On leur proposait de couper la meche, s’ils reniaient le l3Cb.
Eux, lea bras tendus Vera le feu, le suppliaient de se hater et de venir bien vite consommer leur bonheur.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

By NORMAN BENTWTCH
(From eePa1estine,) by Norman Bentwich, p. 235.)
“Palestine may indeed be now regarded as the land not of three but of four faiths, because the Bahã’i creed, which has its center of
faith and pilgrimage in Acre and Haifa, is attaining to the character of a world-religion. So far as its influence goes in the land, it is a
factor making for international and inter-religious understanding.”

By EMILE SCHREIBER

1.

Trois pro phetes

(From LES EcHos, Paris, France, September
27, 1933.)
Alors que le marxisme soviétique proclame le matérialisme historique, alors que les jeunes générations sionistes sont
également de plus en plus indifférentes aux croyances établies, une nouvelle religion est née en Orient, et sa doctrine
prend, dans les circonstances actuelles, un intérét d’autant plus grand que, s’écartant du domaine purement
philosophique, elle préconise en économie politique des solutions qui coincident curieusement avec les preoccupations
de notre époque.
Cette religion, de plus, est par essence antiraciste. Elle est née en Perse, vers 1840, et les trois prophetes successifs qui
l’ont prCchee sont des Persans, c’est-a-dire des musulmans de naissance.
Le premier, le créateur, s’appelait le Bâb. Ii précha vers 1850, et préconisa, outre la reconciliation des différents cultes
qui divisent l’humanité, la liberation de la femme, réduite aujourd’hui encore a un quasi esclavage dans tout l’Islam.
Une Persane d’une rare beauté, et qui, chose rare chez les musulmanes, était douée d’un grand talent oratoire,
répondant au nom difficile a prononcer de Qourratou-’l‘Mn, l’accompagna dans ses reunions, n’hésitant pas, en
donnant elle-méme l’exemple, a préconiser Ia suppression du voile pour les femmes.
Le Báb et elle réussirent a convaincre, a l’époque, des dizaines de milliers de Persans et le shah de Perse les
emprisonna l’un et l’autre, ainsi que la plupart de leurs partisans.

Le Báb fut pendu. Sa belle collaboratrice fat etranglee dans sa prison. Leurs disciples furent exiles a Saint-Jean-d’Acre,
devenue temple du “Bahã’iisme.” C’est ainsi que j’ai visité la maison du successeur du Mb, Bahá’u’lláh, transformée
aujourd’hui en temple du “Bahâ’iisme.” C’est ainsi que s’intitule cette religion, qui est plutôt une doctrine
philosophique, car elle ne comporte ni culte defini, ni surtout de clergé. Les prétres, disent les Bahá’istes, sont tentés de
fausser, dans un but de lucre, l’idealisme désintéressé des créateurs de religions.
Bahá’u’lláh, le principal des trois prophétes, répandit sa doctrine non seulement en Orient, mais dans beaucoup de pays
d’Europe, et surtout aux Etats-Unis ott son influence fut telle que le nombre des Bahá’iistes attient aujourd’hui
plusieurs millions. Il fut persécuté par les Perses et mourut en exile.
Son flls, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, lui succeda et formula, d’après les principes de son pére, Ia doctrine économique du
Bahá’iisme; elle indique une prescience étonnante des événements qui se sont déroulés depuis:
la guerre d’abord, la crise ensuite. Ii mourut peu après la guerre, ayant vu la realisation de Ia premiere partie de ses
prophéties.
L’originalité du Bahá’iisme est de chercher a faire passer dans le domaine pratique, et plus particuliCrement dans le
domaine social, les principes essentiels du judaisme, du catholicisme et de l’islamisme, en les combinant et en les
adaptant aux besoins de notre époque.
La Bahã’iisme proclame que les rapports sociaux deviennent fatalement impossibles dans une société ott l’idealisme
individuel ne donne pas une base certaine aux engagements qui lient les hommes entre eux.
L’individu se sent de plus en plus isolé au mileau d’une jungle sociale qui menace, a beaucoup d’égards, son bien-étre
et sa securité. La bonne volonte et l’honnétete, ne produisant plus dans sa vie et dans son travail le resultat qu’il
attend, tendent a perdre pour lui toute valeur pratique. De là naissent, selon les caractéres, l’indifference et le
découragement, ou l’audace, le manque de scrupules qui tendent a se procurer par tous les moyens, méme les plus
répré

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hensibles, les bénefices materiels nécessaires a l’existence.
La société, n’étant plus soumise a aucun contrhle, ni politique ni moral, devient un vaisseau sans gouvernail oü
personne ne peut plus rien prévoir et qui est sujet a des crises de plus en plus fréquentes et de plus en plus violentes.
L’époque actuelle, déclarent les prophètes persans, marque Ia fin d’une civilisation qui ne sert plus les intéréts de
l’humanité.
Elle aboutit a la faillite complete des institutions morales et matérielles destinees it assurer le bien-être et la sécurité
des hommes, c’est-it-dire l’Etat, l’Eglise, le Commerce et l’Industrie. Le principe fondamental d’oü peut venir le salut
de la civilisation engagée dans des voies qui conduisent it sa destruction est la solidarité des nations et des races. Car
l’interpénétration des peuples est devenue telle qu’il leur est impossible de trouver isolément la voie de la prospérité.
Ces prophéties, qui pouvaient paraitre cxcessives et quelque peu pessimistes it l’époque oil elles ont ete faites, vers
1890, ne sont pas, les événements l’ont prouvé, de simples jérémiades. Ii reste it examiner comment, partant de ces
données, qui ne sont que trop exactes, le Bahâ’iisme, conçu dans la Perse lointaine et si arriérée it l’époque, aboutit aux
mêmes conclusions que Ia plupart des économistes modernes qui, dans les différents pays de civilisation occidentale,
proclament qu’en dehors d’une collaboration internationale il n’y a pas d’issue possible it la crise actuelle entrainant
tous les peuples it une misère toujonrs plus grande.
2.

Une religion “economique”

(From Les Echos, Paris, France, September 28, 1933.)
Les principes du Bahá’iisme, formulés par son principal prophete, Bahá’u’lláh, peuvent paraitre sérieusement
compromis en un temps oil Ia frénésie nationaliste, récemment aggravée de racisme, semble en éloigner de plus en plus
l’application.
Toute Ia question est de savoir si ceux qui sont en faveur aujourd’hui, dans tant de pays, sont susceptibles de resoudre
le problème non pas de Ia prospérité, mais simplement du logement et de Ia f aim, dans les

différéntes nations qui nient par leurs tbéories et tous leurs actes a solidarité des peuples et des races.
Une nouvelle guerre mondiale sera sans doute nécessaire pour que l’humanité, qui n’a pas encore compris la leçon de
1914, se rende enfin compte que les solutions de violence et de conquéte ne peuvent engendrer que Ia ruine génerale,
sans profit pour aucun des belligérants.
Quoi qu’il en soit, les principales pensées économiques de Bahá’u’llah, telles qu’elles ont été formulées il y a un
demisiècle, prouvent que la sagesse et le simple bon sens ont cela de commun avec les écrevisses, c’est qu’il leur arrive
fréquemment de marcher it reculons.
Voici les principaux préceptes de ce moderne Marc-Aurele:
“L’évolution humaine se divise en cycles organiques, correspondant it la durée d’une religion, laquelle est d’environ un
millier d’années. Un cycle social nouveau commence toutes les fois qu’apparait un prophète dont l’influence et les
enseignements renouvellent Ia vie intérieure de l’homme et font déferler it travers le monde une nouvelle vague de
progrès.
“Chaque nouveau cycle détruit les croyances et les institutions usées du cycle précédent et fonde sur d’autres
croyances, en étroite conformité, celles-lit, avec les besoins actuels de l’humanite, une civilisation nouvelle.
“L’infiuence de chaque prophète s’est, dans le passé, limitée it une race ou it une religion, en raison de l’isolement
géographique des regions et des races, mais Ic siècle dans lequel nous entrons nécessite Ia creation d’un ordre
organique s’étendant au monde entier. Si le vieil esprit de tribu persiste, la science de— truira le monde, ses forces
destructrices ne pouvant être contrôlées que par une humanité unie travaillant pour la prospérité et le bien commun.
“La loi de Ia lutte pour Ia vie n’existe plus pour l’homme des qu’il devient conscient de ses pouvoirs spirituels et
moraux. Elle est alors remplacée par hi loi plus haute de Ia cooperation. Sous cette loi, l’individu jouira d’un statut
beaucoup plus large que celui qui est accordé aux citoyens passifs du corps politique actuel. L’administration publique

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’f FAITH

passera des mains de partisans politiques qui trahissent la cause du peuple aux mains d’hommes capables de considérer
une charge publique comme une mission sacrée.
“La stabilité économique ne depend pas de l’application de tel plan socialiste ou communiste plus ou moms théorique,
mais du sentiment de la solidarité morale qui unit tous les hommes et de cette conception que les richesses ne sont pas
la fin de la vie, mais seulement un moyen de vivre.
“L’important n’est pas en une aveugle soumission générale a tel système politique, a tel règlement, qui ont pour effet
de sup- primer chez l’mndividu tout sentiment de responsabilité morale, mais en un esprit d’entr’aide et de cooperation.
Ni le principe démocratique, ni le principe aristocratique ne peuvent fournir séparément a la société une base solide.
La democratie est impuis— sante contre les querelles intestines et l’aristocratie ne subsiste que par la guerre. Une
combinaison des deux principes est donc nécessaire.
“En cette periode de transition entre le vieil age de la concurrence et l’ère nouvelle de la cooperation, la vie méme de
l’humanité est en peril. Les ambitions nationalistes, la lutte des classes, la peur et le convoitises économiques sont
autant de forces qui poussent a une nouvelle guerre internationale. Tous les Gouvernements du monde doivent soutenir
et organiser une assemblée dont les membres soient élus par l’éhte des nations. Ceux-ci devront mettre au point, audessus des égoIsmes particuliers, le noveau statut économique du monde en dehors duquel tous les pays, mais surtout
l’Europe, seront conduits aux pires catastrophes.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahã, son successeur, reprenant la doctrine de son père, concluait dans un discours prononcé a New-York en
1912:
“La civilisation matérielle a atteint, en Occident, le plus haut dcgré de son developpement. Mais c’est en Orient qu’a
pris naissance et que s’est développee la civilisation spirituelle. Un lien s’établira entre ces deux forces, et leur union
est la condition de l’mn-imense progrès qui doit être accompli.
“Hors de la, la sécurité et la confiance feront de pius en plus defaut, les luttes et les dissensions s’accroitront de jour
en jour et les divergences entre nations s’accentue ron

davantage. Les pays augmenteront constamment leurs armements; la guerre, puis Ia certitude d’une autre guerre
mondiale angoisseront de plus en plus les esprits. L’unité du genre humain est Ic premier fondement de toutes les
vertus.”
Ainsi parla ‘Abdu’l-Bahã en 1912, et tout se passa comme ii l’avait prédit.
Mais ces paroles n’ont pas vieilli; cues pourraient, sans le moindre changement, être répétées en 1933. Aujourd’hui,
comme ii y a vingt ans, la menace de la guerre est de nouveau suspendue au-dessus de nos têtes et les causes de haines
et de conflits s’accumulent a tel point que, s’il existe vraiment un flux et un reflux des idées, on peut presque conclure,
avec une certaine dose d’optimisme, que nous n’avons jamais été si près de venir aux idées de cooperation qui, seules,
peuvent nous sauver.
3.
(Excerpt from a letter dated October, 29, 1934.)
Malgré les tristesses de notre époque et peut-étre mCme a cause d’elles, je reste convaincue que les idées a la fois
divines et humaines qui sont l’essence du Bahá’iisme finiront par triompher, pourvu que chacun de ceux qui en
comprennent l’immense intérét continue quoi qu’il advienne a les défendre et a les propager.
By Miss HELEN KELLER
(In a personal letter written to an American Bahá’i after having read something from the Braille edition of Bahá’u’lldh
and the New Era.)
The philosophy of Bahá’u’lláh deserves the best thought we can give it. I am returning the book so that other blind
people who have more leisure than myself may be “shown a ray of Divinity” and their hearts be “bathed in an
inundation of eternal love.”
I take this opportunity to thank you for your kind thought of me, and for the inspiration which even the most cursory
reading of Bahã’u’lláh’s life cannot fail to impart. What nobler theme than the “good of the world and the happiness of
the nations” can occupy our lives? The message of universal peace will surely prevail. It is

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useless to combine or conspire against an idea which has in it potency to create a new earth and a new heaven and to quicken human
beings with a holy passion of service.
By DR. ROICUICHIRO MA5uJIMA
“The Japanese race is of rational mind.
No superstition can play with it. Japan is the only country in the world where religious tolerance has always existed. The Japanese
Emperor is the patron of all religious teachings. The Bahá’i publications now form part of His Majesty’s Library as accepted by the
Imperial House.
“The search for truth and universal education inculcated by the Bahá’i Teachings, if soundly conducted, cannot fail to interest the
Japanese mind. Bahá’iism is bound to permeate the Japanese race in a short time.”
By SIR FLINDERS PETRIE
(In a letter to the Daily Sketch, London, England, December 16, 1932.)
The Bahá’i Movement of Persia should be a welcome adjunct to true Christianity; we must always remember how artificial the growth
of Latin Christian ideas has been as compared with the wide and less defined beliefs native to early Christian faith.
By FORMER PREsIDENT MA5ARVK OF
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
(In an audience with an American Bahá’i journalist in Praha, in 1928.)
Continue to do what you are doing, spread these principles of humanity and do not wait for the diplomats. Diplomats alone cannot
bring the peace, but it is a great thing that official people begin to speak about these universal peace principles. Take these principles
to the diplomats, to the universities and colleges and other schools, and also write about them. It is the people who will bring the
universal peace.
By ARCHDUCHESS ANTON OF AUSTRIA
Archduchess Anton of Austria, who before her marriage was Her Royal Highness Princess Ileana of Rumania, in an audi-

ence with Martha L. Root, June 19, 1934, in Vienna, gave the following statement for THE BAHA’i WORLD, Vol. V: “I like the
Bahá’i Movement, because it reconciles all Faiths, and teaches that science is from God as well as religion, and its ideal is peace.”
B DR. HERBERT ADAMS GIBBONS
Amen can Historian
(Excerpt from personal letter dated May 18,
1934.)
I have had on my desk, and have read several times, the three extracts from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Message of Social Regeneration. Taken
together, they form an unanswerable argument and plea for the only way that the world can be made over. If we could put into effect
this program, we should indeed have a new world order.
“The morals of humanity must undergo change. New remedy and solution for human problems must be adopted. Human intellects
themselves must change and be subject to the universal reformation.” In these three sentences we really have it all.
By H. R. H. PRINCESS OLGA OF JUGO5LAVIA
H. R. H. Princess Olga, wife of H. R. H. Prince Regent Paul of Jugoslavia, daughter of H. R. H. Prince Nicholas of Greece and cousin
of His Majesty King George II of Greece, is deeply interested in religion and in education, and her wonderful kindnesses to every one
have been commented upon beautifully in several English books and magazines as well as by the Balkan press.
“I like the Bahá’i Teachings for universal education and universal peace,” said this gracious Princess in her charming villa on the Hill
of Topcidor, Belgrade, on January 16, 1936; “I like the Bahf’i Movement and the Young Men’s Christian Association, for both are
programs to unite religions. Without unity no man can live in happiness.” Princess though she is, she stressed the important truth that
every man must do his job! “We are all sent into this world for a purpose and people are too apt to forget the Presence of God and
true religion. I wish the Bahá’i Movement every success in the accomplishment of its high ideals.”

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’i FAITH

By EUGEN RELGIS
Excerpt from Cosmornétaolis, 1935, pp.
108-109.
Nous avons trace dans ces pages seulement la signification du Bahâ’iisme, sans examiner tous ses principes et son programme
pratique dans lequel sont harmonisees avec l’ideal religieux “les aspirations et les objectifs de la science sociale.” Mais on doit attirér
l’at— tention de tous les esprits libres sur ce mouvement, dont les promoteurs ont le mérite d’avoir contribue C Ia clarification de
l’ancienne controverse entre Ia religion et Ia science—ct d’avoir donné C maint homme un peu de leur tolerance et de leur optimisme:
“L’humanité était jusqu’ici restée dans le stade de l’enfance; die approche maintenant de Ia maturité” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Washington,
1912).
Qui osera répéter aujourd’hui, dans la mêlée des haines nationales et sociales, cette sentence de progrès? C’est un Oriental qui nous a
dit cela, a nous, orgueilleux ou sceptiques Occidentaux. Nous voudrions voir aujourd’hui, dans l’Allemagne hitleriste, dans les pays
terrorisés par le fascisme, paralysés par la dictature politique,— un spectacle décrit par le suisse Auguste Ford d’après l’anglais
Sprague qui a vue en Birmanie et en mdc, des Bouddhistes, des Mahométans, des Chrétiens et des Juifs, qui allaient brasdessus brasdessous, comme des frères, “au grand étonnement de la population qui n’a jamais vu une chose pareille!”
B ARTHUR HENDERSON
Excerpt from a letter dated January 26, 1935 I have read the pamphlet on the New
World Order by Shoghi Elfendi. It is an eloquent expression of the doctrines which I have always associated with the BahC’i
Movement and I would like to express my great sympathy with the aspirations towards world unity which underlie his teaching.

B PROF. DR. V. LESNY

1.

The conditions are so changed now, since the technique of the present time has destroyed the barriers between nations,
that the world needs a uniting force, a kind of

super-religion. I think Bahi’iism could develop to such a kind of religion. I am quite convinced of it, so far as I know the Teachings of
Bahi’u’llCh. . . . There are modern saviors and Bahá’u’llCh is a Savior of the twentieth century. Everything must be done on a
democratic basis, there must be international brotherhood. We must learn to have confidence in ourselves and then in others. One way
to learn this is through inner spiritual education, and a way to attain such an education may be through Bahá’iism.
2.
I am still of the opinion that I had four years ago that the BahC’i Movement can form the best basis for international goodwill, and that
BahC’u’lláh Himself is the Creator of an eternal bond between the East and the West. . . . The Bahá’i Teaching is a living religion, a
living philosophy.
I do not blame Christianity, it has done a good work for culture in Europe, but there are too many dogmas in Christianity at the present
time. . . . Buddhism was very good for India from the sixth century B.C. and the Teachings of Christ have been good for the whole
world; but as there is a progress of mind there must be no stopping and in the Bahá’i Faith one sees the continued progress of religion.
B PRINCESS MARIE ANTOINETTE
DE BROGLIE AUSSENAC
A cette époque oü l’humanité semble sortie d’un long sommeil pour revivre C l’Esprit, consciemment ou inconsciemment, l’homme
cherche et s’élance C la poursuite de I’m- visible et de sciences qui nous y conduisent.
L’angoisse religieuse aussi n’a jamais ete plus intense.
Par sa grande evolution l’homme actuel est prèt C recevoir Ic grand message de Bahá’u’llfh dans son mouvement synthetique qui nous
fait passer de l’ancienne comprehension des divisions C Ia comprehension modern oü nous cherchons C suivre les ondes qui se
propagent traversant toute limitation humaine et de Ia creation.
Chaque combat que nous Iivrons C nos penchants nous degage des voiles qui sépa

THE BAHA’I WORLD

rent le monde visible du monde invisible et augmente en nous cette capacité de perception et de s’accorder aux longueurs d’ondes les
plus variées, de vibrer au contact des rythmes les plus divers de Ia creation.
Tout ce qui nous vient directement de la nature est toujours harmonie absolue. Le tout est de capter l’équilibre de toute chose et lui
donner Ia voix au moyen d’un instrument capable d’émettre les mêmes harmonies que notre âme, ce qui nous fait vibrer et devenir le
a
lien entre Ic passé et l’avenir en attaignant une nouvelle étape correspondant l’évolution du monde.
En religion, la Cause de Bahá’u’lláh, qui est la grande revelation de notre époque, est Ia méme que celle du Christ, son temple et son
fondement les mémes mis en harmonie avec le degre de maturité moderne.
By DAVID STARR JORDAN
Late President of Stanford University
‘Abdu’l-Baha will surely unite the East and the West: for He treads the mystic way with practical feet.
B Pstop. BOGDAN PoPovITcH
The Bahá’i Teaching carries in its Message a fine optimism—we must always in spite of everything be optimists; we must be
optimists even when events seem to prove the contrary! And Bahi’is can be hopeful, for there is a power in these Teachings to bring to
humanity tranquillity, peace and a higher spirituality.
By EX-GOVERNOR WILLIAM SULZER
(Excerpt from the Roycroft Magazine)
‘While sectarians squabble over creeds, the Bahá’i Movement goes on apace. It is growing by leaps and bounds. It is hope and
progress. It is a world movement—and it is destined to spread its effulgent rays of enlightenment throughout the earth until every
mind is free and every fear is banished. The friends of the Bahá’j Cause believe they see the dawn of the new day—the better day—
the day of Truth, of Justice, of Liberty, of Magnanimity, of Universal Peace, and of International Brotherhood, the day when one shall
work for all, and all shall work for one.

By LUTHER BURBANK
I am heartily in accord with the Bahâ’i Movement, in which I have been interested for several years. The religion of peace is the
religion we need and always have needed, and in this Bahâ’i is more truly the religion of peace than any other.
By PROF. YONE NOGUCHI
I have heard so much about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whom people call an idealist, but I should like to call Him a realist, because no idealism,
when it is strong and true, exists without the endorsement of realism. There is nothing more real than His words on truth. His words
are as simple as the sunlight; again like the sunlight, they are universal.
No Teacher, I think, is more important today than ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ.
By PROFESSOR RAyMOND FRANK PIPER
These writings (Bahá’i) are a stirring fusion of poetic beauty and religious insight. I, like another, have been “struck by their
comprehensiveness.” I find they have extraordinary power to pull aside the veils that darken my mind and to open new visions of
verity and life.
By ANGELA MORGAN
One reason I hail with thanksgiving the interpretation of religion known as the Bahâ’i Faith and feel so deep a kinship with its
followers is that I recognize in its Revelation an outreach of the Divine to stumbling humanity; a veritable thrust from the radiant
Center of Life.
Every follower of this faith that I have ever met impressed me as a living witness to the glory at the heart of this universe. Each one
seemed filled with a splendor of spirit so great that it overflowed all boundaries and poured itself out upon the world here in this
moment of time, by some concentrated act of love toward another human being.
By’ ARTHUR Moosus
The lovely peace of Carmel, which still attracts mystics of different faiths, dominates Haifa. On its summit are the Druses

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

in their two villages; at its feet the German Templars, whose avenue leads up to the now large and beautiful terraced property of the
Persian Bahá’is on the mountainside. Here the tombs of the Bãb and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, set in a fair garden, are a place of international
pilgrimage. On Sundays and holidays the citizens of Haifa of all faiths come for rest and recreation where lie the bones of that young
prophet of Shiráz who nearly a hundred years ago preached that all men are one and all the great religions true, and foretold the
coming equality of men and women and the birth of the first League of Nations.
B PROF. Dn. JAN RYPRA
The Bahã’is of trán are resolutely firm in their religion. Their firmness does not have its roots in ignorance. The I rãnian inborn
character causes them to see things somewhat too great, slightly exaggerated, and their dissensions with the ruling Islam make them a
little bitter towards it. Everything else in their characters is accounted for as due to their Teachings; they are wonderfully ready to help
and happy to sacrifice. Faithfully they fulfill their office and professional duties. Long ago they already solved the problem of the
Eastern woman; their children are carefully educated. They are sometimes reproached for their lack of patriotism. Certainly, as
specifically Iranian as the Shi’ih Faith, the Bahá’i Faith can never become; but the Bahá’i Religion like Christianity does not preclude
the love of one’s fatherland. . . . Are the Europeans not sufficiently patriotic! According to my experiences, the Bahá’is in that respect,
are very unjustly criticized by their Mubammadan brothers. During the centuries the Shi’ih Religion has developed a deep national
tradition; with this the universal Bahá’i Faith will have a hard battle. Nevertheless, the lack of so great numbers is richly recompensed
by the fervor and the inner spirit of the Iranian Bahá’i Community. The Bahã’i world community will educate characters which will
appear well worthy of emulation by people of other Faiths, yes, even by the world of those now enemies of the Bahá’i Cause.
The experience acquired in the West, for me was fully verified also in the Iranian Orient. The Bahá’i Faith is undoubtedly an

immense cultural value. Could all those men whose high morality I admired and still admire have reached the same
heights only in another way, without it? No, never! Is it based only on the novelty of the Teachings, and in the
freshness of its closest followers?
By A. L. M. NscoLAs
Je ne sais comment vous remercier ni comment vous exprimer la joie qui inonde mon coeur. Ainsi done, il faut non
seulement admettre mais aimer et admirer le Bab. Pauvre grand Prophète né au fin fond de la Perse sans aueun moyen
d’instruction et qui seul au monde, entouré d’ennemis, arrive par Ia force de son genie is eréer une religion universelle
et sage. Que Bahá’u’llãh lui ait, par la suite, suecédé, soit, mais je veux qu’on admire la sublimité du Bab, qui a
d’ailleurs payé de sa vie, de son sang la réforme qu’il a préehée. Citez-moi un autre exemple, semblable. Enfin, je puis
mourir tranquille. Gloire is Shoghi Effendi qui a ealmé mon tourment et mes inquiétudes, gloire a lui qui reconnais la
valeur de Siyyid ‘AllMuhammad dit le Bisb.
Je suis si content que je baise vos mains qui ont trace mon adresse sur l’enveloppe qui m’apporte le message de Shoghi.
Merci, Mademoiselle. Merei du fond du eoeur.

By PREsIDENT EDUARD BENEI

1.

I have followed it (the Bahá’i Cause) with deep interest ever since my trip to London to the First Races Congress in July, 1911, when I
heard for the first time of the BahI’i Movement and its summary of the principles for peace. I followed it during the war and after the
war. The Bahá’i Teaching is one of the spiritual forces now absolutely necessary to put the spirit first in this battle against material
forces. . . . The Bahá’i Teaching is one of the great instruments for the final victory of the spirit and of humanity.
2.
The Bahá’i Cause is one of the great moral and social forces in all the world to-

THE BAHA’i WORLD

day. I am more convinced than ever, with the increasing moral and political crises in the world, we must have greater international coordination. Such a movement as the Bahã’i Cause which paves the way for universal organization of peace is necessary.
By SIR RONALD STORRS,
M.V.C., M.G., C.B.E.
I met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá first in 1900, on my way out from England and Constantinople through Syria to succeed Harry Boyle as Oriental
Secretary to the British Agency in Cairo. (The episode is fully treated in my Orientations, published by Ivor Nicholson and Watson.)
I drove along the beach in a cab from Haifa to ‘Akká and spent a very pleasant hour with the patient but unsubdued prisoner and exile.
When, a few years later, He was released and visited Egypt I had the honour of looking after Him and of presenting Him to Lord
Kitchener who was deeply impressed by His personality, as who could fail to be? The war separated us again until Lord Allenby, after
his triumphant drive through Syria, sent me to establish the Government at Haifa and throughout that district. I called upon ‘Abbás
Effendi on the day I arrived and was delighted to find Him unchanged.
I never failed to visit Him whenever I went to Haifa. His conversation was indeed a remarkable planning, like that of an ancient
prophet, far above the perplexities and pettiness of Palestine politics, and elevating all problems into first principles.
He was kind enough to give me one or two beautiful specimens of His own handwriting, together with that of MishkinQalam, all of
which, together with His large signed photograph, were unfortunately burned in the Cyprus fire.
I rendered my last sad tribute of affectionate homage when in 1921 I accompanied Sir Herbert Samuel to the funeral of ‘Abbãs
Effendi. We walked at the head of a train of all religions up the slope of Mount Carmel, and I have never known a more united
expression of regret and respect than was called forth by the utter simplicity of the ceremony.

By COL. RAJA JAI PR5THv5 BAHADUR SINGH,
RAJA OF BAJANG (NEPAL)
Even as early as 1929 or perhaps even a little earlier, I used to hear the names of Bahã’u’lláh and Bahá’iism; and in 1929 when I
undertook a lecturing tour in Europe on the humanistic methods of promoting peace and unity among races, nations and individuals,
my attention was once again drawn to Bahá’u’lláh and his teachings by my friend Lady Blonxfield, who gave me some books, too, on
the subject. But my eyes were then too weak to permit any reading, and the need and urgency of some expert treatment for my eyes
was in fact an additional reason for my leaving for Europe. Besides, I was then too full of my own philosophy of “Humanism,” and
was too busy with my own programme of lectures for Europe, and did not acquaint myself with any full details about the Bahã’is and
their tenets and principles. Perhaps, I imagined that the Bahi’is were some sort of religious or philosophical mystics, and I was not
particularly interested in any mere mysticism or in any merely theoretical creed, however much its conclusions might be logical and
satisfying to the intellect.
When afterwards, in 1933, the Second Parliament of Religions or the World Fellowship of Faiths was held in Chicago—a conference
inspired by the high ideals of mutual understanding, good-will, co-operation and peace and progress, and I went there to attend and
participate in the conference, my attention was again drawn to the Bahá’i Faith by some of its followers there, who took me to their
temple at Wilmette, Illinois, which was then under construction but was nearly finished, and showed me the nine gates and chambers
of worship for the nine principal religions of the world. Naturally enough, I took it that Bahá’iism was something like theosophy,
which is interested in studying and comparing the respective merits of religions and in recognising their respective greatness, and
which can therefore appeal only to the intellectual section of mankind and hardly appeal to the masses.
Later, in 1936, however, while I was in Rangoon, I had an opportunity, rather, the opportunity was thrust upon me—to ac

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH

quaint myself more fully with the tenets and teachings of Bahá’iism. Mr. S. Schopflocher, a Bahã’i from Canada, who was on a
lecturing tour, was then in Rangoon, and I was asked to introduce him to the public and to preside over a lecture of his. Therefore I
secured a few books on the subject, and on reading them, I was struck with the remarkable fact that Bahá’iism is a faith, which not
merely recognises the respective merits of the world religions, but goes a step further and teaches that all religions are One, all the
religious seers, saints and prophets are the religious seers, saints and prophets of One religion only, that all mankind is One, and that
we must think and feel and act in terms of brotherhood. “We must realise,” as a Bahá’i very beautifully puts it, “that, as the aeroplane,
radio and other instruments have crossed the frontiers drawn upon the map, so our sympathy and spirit of one-ness should rise
above the influences that have separated race from race, class from class, nation from nation and creed from creed.
One destiny now controls all human affairs. The fact of world-unity stands out above all other interests and considerations.”
Sometime back, in this year, Mr. N. R. Vakil, a Bahá’i gentleman of Surat, gave me a copy of the book, THE BAHA’i WORLD:
1936-1938. Though I have not been able to read the whole book through, I find it is a mine of information, a regular cyclopndia on the
subject. It is interesting to read that the origin of the faith was in Persia, where a mystic prophet who took the name of “Mb” (which
means “gate”) began the mission among the Persians in the early part of the nineteenth century, that he and his disciples were
persecuted by the Persian Government and were finally shot in 1850, that, notwithstanding the persecution, the movement spread
under the able and inspiring leadership of Bahá’u’lláh, its principal prophet and exponent, that on his death in 1892 he was succeeded
by his son, ‘Abdu’lBahá, who continued the work till 1921, when, on his death, his grandson, Shoghi Effendi, became the head of the
community
—a community now numbering nearly a million and spread in all the five continents of the world.

Though the traditionally orthodox Hindus, Muslims, Christians, etc., may not agree to call themselves Bahá’is or even to subscribe to
its main tenet, viz., that all religions are One, I think that the really enlightened among them can have no conscientious objection and
will indeed wholeheartedly subscribe to it.
Another important aspect of the Bahá’i Faith is its absolutely non-political nature. In the Golden Age of the Cause of
Bahd’u’llcIh Shoghi Effendi categorically rules out any participation by adherents of the Faith, either individually or collectively, in
any form of activity which might be interpreted as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government. So that no
government need apprehend any sort of danger or trouble from Bahâ’iism.
On the whole, the perusal of the Book THE BAHA’I WORLD: 1936-1938 has deeply impressed me with the belief that the principles
of Bahã’iism, laying stress as they do on the One-ness of mankind, and being directed as they are towards the maintenance of peace,
unity and co-operation among the different classes, creeds and races of people, will go a long way in producing a healthy atmosphere
in the world for the growth of Fellowship and Brotherhood of Man. Further, I see no harm in the followers of other faiths accepting
these main principles of Bahã’iism, wherein, I think, they can find nothing against the teachings of their own prophets, saints and
seers. I rather think that by accepting these main principles of Bahá’iism they will help in hastening the establishment of a New World
Order, an idea perhaps first clearly conceived by Bahá’u’lláh and which every thinking man will now endorse as a “consummation to
be devoutly wished for.”
AN ART5cLE IN THE JANUARY (1922)
NUMBER OF THE JOURNAL OF THE
ROYAL AsIATIC SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND— The death of ‘Abbfs Effendi, better
known since he succeeded his father, RaM’u’llãh, thirty years ago as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, deprives Persia of one of the most notable of her
children and the East of a remarkable

THE BAHA’i WORLD

personality, who has probably exercised a greater influence not only in the Orient but in the Occident, than any Asiatic thinker and
teacher of recent times. The best account of him in English is that published in 1903 by C. P. Putnam’s Sons under the title of the Life
and Teachings of rAbbds Effendi compiled by Myron H. Phelps chiefly from information supplied by Bahiyyih Khánum. She
states that her brother’s birth almost coincided with the “manifestation” of Mirzá ‘All Muhammad the Báb (24th May, 1844), and that
she was his junior by three years. Both dates are put three years earlier by another reputable authority, but in any case both brother and
sister were mere children when, after the great persecution of the Bábis in 1852 their father Bahá’u’lláh and his family were exiled
from Persia, first to Baghdad (1852-63) then to Adrianople (1863-8), and lastly to ‘Akka (St. Jean d’Acre) in Syria, where Bahá’u’lláh
died on 28th May, 1892, and which his son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was only permitted to leave at will after the Turkish Revolution in 1908.
Subsequently to that date he undertook several extensive journeys in Europe and America, visiting London and Paris in 1911, America
in 1912, Budapest in 1913, and Paris, Stuttgart, Vienna, and Budapest in the early summer of 1914. In all these countries he had
followers, but chiefly in America, where an active propaganda had been carried on since 1893 with very considerable success,
resulting in the formation of important Bahã’i Centers in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and other cities. One of the most notable
practical results of the Bahã’i ethical teaching in the United States has been, according to the recent testimony of an impartial and
qualified observer, the

establishment in Bahá’i circles in New York of a real fraternity between black and white, and an unprecedented lifting of the “color
bar,” described by the said observer as “almost miraculous.”
Ample materials exist even in English for the study of the remarkable personality who has now passed from our midst and of the
doctrines he taught; and especially authoritative are the works of M. Hippolyte Dreyfus and his wife (formerly Miss Laura Clifford
Barney), who combine intimacy and sympathy with their hero with sound knowledge and wide experience. In their works and in that
of Mr. Myron H. Phelps must be sought those particulars which it is impossible to include in this brief obituary notice.
AN APPRECIATION OF THE BAHA’i FAITH
B RT. HON. M. R. JAYAKAR,
Privy Councillor, London
Bahã’iism insists on points which constitute the essentials of the several creeds and faiths which have divided and still divide the
human family. It seeks thereby to establish human unity. It inculcates pursuit of truth through the miasma of superstitions old and new.
These features ought to secure for Bahã’iism an enduring place in the religions of the world. It is one of the noblest contributions
which Asia has made to human civilisation. The history of its martyrdom in Teheran is a glorious chapter, indicating how much
suffering the awakened human spirit can endure for the sake of its convictions. In the world as one sees it to-day, divided and torn
asunder by warring ambitions, Bahá’iism has undoubtedly a great part to play.

III
IN MEMORIAM
pict208.jpg
IDEPARTURE South America by wish of beloved Guardian!” she heralded the news, and shortly on January 24th the steamship
Brazil left New York, with many a heart in East and ‘West speeding swiftly after her. “Although in body I am sailing away, yet my
deep love and spirit will be as close to you as it always is, and that is a nearness which can never be described in words.”
And indeed we felt this who were left behind. We accepted her voyage, confident of its beneficence to every port of call, knowing
well that the Faith’s unfoldment in South America must be immeasurably quickened in ways beyond our little visioning, its seeds
implanted with mysterious potency. Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires! Magic words and a vast continent— peoples and
nations scarcely touched and yet unconquered, “the most brilliant pages” still to be written in an epoch which the Guardian himself
had characterized as “one of the most glorious chapters in the international history of their Faith.”
How cruel then was her loss, how unprepared we were for that shock! For in less than six weeks, on March first in Buenos Aires, she
forsook this mortal life, closing it gloriously as she began it, a pioneer in the pathway of her Lord. And her blood seals the oneness of
our Continents. For eternity
for eternity.
The just words, the words always to remember, were cabled by Shoghi Effendi:
“‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s beloved handmaid, distinguished disciple May Maxwell (is) gathered (into the) glory (of the) Abhã Kingdom. Her
earthly life, so rich, eventful, incomparably blessed, (is) worthily ended. To sacred tie her signal services had forged, (the) priceless
honor (of a) martyr’s death (is) now added. (A) double crown deservedly won. (The) Seven-Year Plan, particu larl

(the) South American campaign, derive fresh impetus (from the) example (of) her glorious sacrifice. Southern outpost (of) Faith
greatly enriched through association (with) her historic resting-place destined remain (a) poignant reminder (of the) resist- less march
(of the) triumphant army (of) Bahá’u’lláh. Advise believers (of) both Americas (to) hold befitting memorial gathering.”
I.
She was born in Englewood, New Jersey, on January 14, 1870, the daughter of John B. Bolles and Mary Martin Bolles, in descent
American through many generations. Her early years were spent in the Englewood home of her maternal grandfather, a man
distinguished in New York’s banking world. She had one brother, Randolph, whom she loved deeply and whose attraction to the
Bahá’i Faith, as evidenced in the last year before his death in 1939 (by his translation into English of the French footnotes of Nabil),
gave her supreme content.
Even as a girl her priceless qualities adorned her—a capacity for affectionate and enduring ties; an eagerness for truth which led her
down many paths, laying the basis for an all-encompassing sympathy; and an independent, original nature, alive to the
susceptibilities of the Kingdom.” After fourteen years she accepted no formal schooling: “I felt very distinctly there was another
way of acquiring knowledge.”
Paris was early a pivot in her life’s destiny, its French “a lyric, plastic tongue” in which she often thought and felt. Two visits as a
child, including a period in a Convent school, were followed by a residence of some eleven years, undertaken for Randolph’s
architectural studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. It was 1898 of this sojourn that became forever memorable.

III
IN MEMORIAM
MAY ELLIS MAXWELL
“Erelong the world and whatsoever is therein will pass away; but the traces of the ‘martyrs in the path of God will
remain forever.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.

32 THE BAHA’T WORLD

I

I
May Ellis Maxwell
pict209.jpg

IN MEMORIAM

The first foreshadowing reached her when, at eleven years of age, she experienced in her sleep a sunlight so brilliant that for one day
her eyes were blinded. Again she dreamed that angels carried her through space. Seeing light, she found it was the earth, and the earth
was marked with seals, and one word was on the earth. Of this she could read only the B and the H, but she knew then that these
letters would transform her life. The Master Himself came to her in vision, a majestic figure in Eastern garb, beckoning her from
across the Mediterranean with characteristic gesture. She thought He was Jesus but two years later when Lua heard, “This is ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá,” she said.
Despite the beauty and comfort of her surroundings, and the warmth of her relation with mother and brother—”these three were one
heart, one soul, with a multitude of friends because of it”—the Paris years were not altogether easy ones. Ill health then as always
tested her, to which her husband has borne sufficient witness: “May had courage and her sublime faith inspired her to carry on, very
frequently under a handicap of health that would have daunted others.” This weakness chained her to her bed for two years before
Lua’s coming, and if later she recalled those months as preparation, the Master’s words to her make clear the reason:
“. . . The heart is made ready by all experi enc

for the seed of life. . . . Now your troubles are ended and you must wipe away your tears
On its face, it was not unusual that Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, close family friend, should in November, 1898, bring her party of American
tourists to her apartment on the Quai d’Orsay, then occupied by Mrs. Bolles, her son and daughter, and Mrs. Hearst’s two nieces
whom she chaperoned. The party was going up the Nile; its startling mission went undisclosed. Only May sensed in Lua Get- singer a
hidden fire, sought it out, believed, and through her passionate desire won the invitation of Mrs. Hearst to join this pilgrimage.
They were the first Americans to go. Because of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s imprisonment they traveled to Haifa in small groups, of which one
included May Bolles, Mrs. Thornburgh, Anne Apperson, Miss Pearson, and Robert Turner. She reached her Lord on February 17,
1899; her own words record that imperishable story.2
“Of that first meeting I can remember neither joy nor pain nor anything that I can name. I had been carried suddenly to too great a
height; my soul had come in contact with the Divine Spirit; and this force
‘Louise Bosch.
An Early Piigrinzage (note corrected date), pub— lished in 1917.

Friends gathered for burial service of May Ellis Maxwell.

pict210.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

so pure, so holy, so mighty had overwhelmed me. . . . And when He arose and suddenly left us we came back with a start to life:
but never again, oh! never again, thank God, to the same hfe on this earth!
• . . As we gazed on Him I realized that we could in no way comprehend Him; we could only love Him, follow Him, obey Him and

thereby draw nearer to His beauty.
When He had finished speaking we were led gently away. . . and for a moment it seemed that we were dying . . . until, as we drove away .
. . suddenly His spirit came to us, a great strength and tranquillity filled our souls. . . . We had left our Beloved in His glorious prison that

we might go forth and serve Him; that we might spread His Cause and deliver His Truth to the world; and already His words were
fulfilled—’The time has come when we must part, but the separation is only of our bodies; in spirit we are united forever.’
How truthful her record! How immeasurable the alteration of her life! None knew this better than ‘Abdu’l-BahJ for, as He adjured her
mother, Cshe was in a certain condition and now she is in another. Yea, she has been human, but now she is divine;
earthly, but now heavenly; mundane, but belonging now to the Kin gdom of God!” ‘Ali-Kuli Khán has recalled that when,
visiting ‘Akká in 1900, he was told of the American pilgrims, “the highest praise given by the Master . . . always centered upon May
Bolles.”
Certain it is that “her inertness (was) replaced by activity, . . . her muteness by wonderful speech, . . .“ and that upon returning to
Paris she began quietly with friends to convey her overwhelming experience. Her fellow-believers had by now gone on to America,
leaving her alone. “I say alone!” Mason Remey has exclaimed. “May Bolles stood alone as a Bahá’i, one frail woman in that vast
metropolis, the heart of Continental culture. . . . Her task was to establish there a Divine Cause!”
Merely to register the names of those who, from 1899 to 1902, were drawn by her “personal fascination . . . so fragile, so luminous
and the most delicate, perfect beauty, flower-like and star-like; “a and who, through this spell, attained to its origin in her rap-

turous love for ‘Abdu’l-Bahã—is to compel astonishment. The first to believe was Edith MacKaye, and by the New Year of 1900,
Charles Mason Remey and Herbert Hopper were next to follow. Then came Marie Squires (Hopper), Helen Ellis Cole, Laura Barney,
Mme. Jackson, Agnes Alexander, Thomas Breakwell, Edith Sanderson, and Hippolyte Dreyfus, the first French Bahã’i. Emogene
Hoagg and Mrs. Conner had come to Paris in 1900 from America, Sigurd Russell at fifteen returned from ‘Akká a believer, and in 1
901, the group was further reinforced by Juliet Thompson, Lillian James, and “the frequent passing through Paris of pilgrims from
America going to the Master . . . and then again returning from the Holy Land.” These are but a few, for “in 1901 and 1902 the Paris
group of Bahã’is numbered between twenty-five and thirty people with May Bolles as spiritual guide and teacher.”4
Nor let us forget that this superlative achievement was won without literature, almost without knowledge. Only a few prayers and the
Hidden Words, and the heart’s attachment to the Supreme Beloved, nourished and protected her teaching. What a bounty, then, to
receive in 1901 the extended visit of Mirzá ‘Abu’l FadI, sent by the Master to strengthen His Western children. For perhaps a month
he taught them almost daily, through the translations of Anton Haddad and ‘Ali-Kuli Khân. Of those memorable hours Agnes
Alexander has written: “An atmosphere of pure light pervaded the Paris meetings, so much so that one was transported, as it were,
from the world of man to that of God;” to which Juliet Thompson’s testimony is added: “That Paris group was so deeply united in love
and faith; May, Lua, Laura and Khán, these four especially so inspired, so carried away, so intoxicated with love for the beloved
Master; our great teacher, Mirzá ‘Abu’l-Fadl, so heavenly wise—that those days were the days of miracle, of all but incredible
confirmations.”
We can but imagine the special joy which Lua’s frequent presence must have brought, for May’s devotion to her “precious mother”
was constant to the last. Hers was the unJuliet Thompson.
‘Mason Remey.

IN MEMORIAM

common gift of discernment, beneath every veil of flesh, of the soul’s hidden virtue, and her words written upon the news of Lua’s
death in 1916 bear eloquent witness to this power: “Great and wonderful were her qualities—in her own person she bore the sins and
weaknesses of us all, and redeeming herself she redeemed us. She broke the path through the untrod forest; she cast her soul and body
into the stream and perished making the bridge by which we cross.
The passion of Divine love that consumed her heart shall hght the hearts of mankind forever and forever.”
Perhaps the most wondrous event of this fecund time was the confirmation of that brightest of spirits, Thomas Breakwell. Asked by
‘Abdu’l-Bahk to remain in Paris in the summer of 1901, despite her family’s displeasure May obeyed; only thus could she respond
when a friend brought to her door “this youth of medium height, slender, erect and graceful, with intense eyes and an indescribable
charm.” Although on their first meeting she did not mention her Faith, he returned the next day in great agitation, having experienced
a vision of Christ’s presence on this earth. “He was like a blazing light. Such was his capacity that he received the Message in all its
fullness and all its strength and beauty within three days, and on the third day he wrote his supplication to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which in its
force and simplicity I have never seen equalled: ‘My Lord, I believe; forgive me. Thy servant, Thomas Breakwell.’ That evening I
went to the rue du Bac to get my mail . . . and there lay a httle blue cablegram from ‘Abdu’lBahk. With what wonder and awe I read His
words. ‘You may leave Paris at any time!’ “
Yet even as we are touched by this account and by the remembrance of one whom the Master could so address: “0 my beloved, 0
Breakwell! Thou hart become a star in the most exalted horizon; . . .“ must we not also perceive the responsiveness of that instrument
through whom He obtained His will!
She was obedient not only in matters affecting her Faith. Her whole being, every attachment and every goal, she placed with tender
confidence at His disposal. “I have

not two lives but one,” she wrote in 1934, “the inner life of the Cause to which every outer thing and circumstance must adjust itself.”
So with her marriage, she delayed and consummated it at His desire.
William Sutherland Maxwell, Scotch- Canadian of an old and established family of Montreal, and young student of architecture in the
Ecole des Beaux Arts, met May Bolles through her brother, not long after his arrival in October, 1899. He was not a Bahá’i; indeed he
attended no meetings until 1902. After seventeen months he returned to Montreal to enter his profession, engaged to be married, but
waiting upon the news of her readiness. This came at last; they were wed in London on May 8, 1902. And his patience, he himself has
said, had an enduring recompense.
O Paris, crossroads of the world, when has your history unfolded such mysterious tales! What mighty power caused this “spot,
heedless of the praise of God,” to grow a fertile garden! See once the seeds of spring rooted in gifted hearts; see then these hearts,
bearing sweet fruits, dispersed to fecundate for never-ending harvests the countless nations. And were they not the choicest spirits,
flung by our generous Lord across His darkened planet, so to bestow upon all unregenerate, unlovely things the fragrance of
attraction?
O Paris, after forty years we do affirm the Master’s prayer went not unanswered! “Fill their breasts with the boundless joy that
blows as a breeze from Thy Kingdom of Abbe’, that they may be the miracles of Thine Appearance from the Highest
Horizon.”
II.
She was then thirty-two years old when, her fame hastening before, she returned to America. How can we at this distance penetrate the
dislocation of her ways, uprooted from dearest companions, from the Paris she adored, to come a bride to a far and alien land? “Thou
wert as pure gold,” the Master wrote her, “and didst enter the fire of test.
Gird up thy loins, fortify thy back,
See accounts in BAi-iA’i WoaLo, Vol. VII., pp. 707-711; and in Star of the West, Vol. V., pp.
29 7-2 9 8.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

arise, and with the strength of thy heart promote the Word of God . . . in that remote region.”
Yet she was ever a rootless creature, and for her neither time nor space nor the plans of men held real authority—a tendency much
strengthened by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s instruction. “Time is a gross deception,” she said, “the measuring rod of our present captivity And
again, “The mortal cage is nothing; the soul’s motion in relation to the Beloved is the unfolding of all the meaning of life.” Often in
1902 she reminded herself of that French heroine who, finding how unsubstantial was existence, had all her handkerchiefs
embroidered, ‘A quoi bon!” And Louise Bosch has vividly remembered:
“As often as I looked upon her, and contemplated her attitude to life and her disposition of it, I would distinctly feel that she was only
visiting here
“Ephemeral”—this was her own term, but without struggle and without reproach. She knew well that “the soul only grows and
expands in an atmosphere of joy,” and while this world seemed a fleeting shadow, yet it was irradiated with the splendor of her true,
her heavenly home.
This unquenchable joy she carried to Montreal and planted as well in her earthly home. Though she departed a hundred times (her
letters are dated from Edgartown, Rye, Boston, New York, Arverne), her heart turned always back with yearning renewed in poignant
memories. And with what wealth the years endowed these two! Montreal, mother-city of Canada; the Maxwell home, center “not only
of the Bahá’i friends
but of all the pilgrims who travelled that way during all . . . their blessed hves together!”° Louise Bosch, ‘Ali-Kuli Khán and Mme.
Khãn, Lua Getsinger, Agnes Alexander, Zia Bagdadi and Zeenat Khánum (sent by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for their marriage in April, 1914),
Mason Remey and George Latimer, Wilham H. Randall, Elizabeth Greenleaf, Jináb-i-Fádil, Mother Beecher, Keith Ransom-Kehler,
Ruhi Effendi, Martha Root, Emogene Hoagg, Mabel Ives—illustrious names in our Faith, all these and a host more were guests of Mr.
and Mrs. Maxwell. Small wonder then that even from Bahj i she should write: “I still long for you all who so live

in my heart and eagerly look forward to the hour when I shall meet you again, when we shall be together in a meeting of pure love and
unity in the room where our beloved Lord sat with us, where His blessed name has been mentioned, and His wonderful words have
been read for so many years.”
One thing is clear, that wherever she travelled, the spirit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went there too. So potent was the force of His attraction on
her heart that she in turn became “a magnet of love drawing everyone to God.” This alone was her method of teaching, the hidden
source of an inimitable effect. The following passage comes from a letter of 1915: “We must first touch the heart to awaken it; if it
opens and responds we must sow the priceless seed. . . . Prepare the soil with the warmth of your love just as the sun prepares the soil in
the spring or the seed would not grow. Remove the stones and weeds . . . that is to say, in a kind way try to remove prejudices. . . . Uproot
narrow superstitions by suggesting broader, deeper ideas. Never oppose people’s ideas and statements, but give them a little nobler
way of seeing life. Such words and thoughts will take effect because they come from a Bahã’i whose life flows from the Source of all
life on earth today. . . . My great and wise teacher, Mirzá ‘Abu’l-Fadl, laid down these divine principles of teaching in my soul .
and they have changed all my attitude. He showed me that it is the Spirit of God that is doing the work; we must wait upon the Spirit
and do Its bidding only.”
So in this way the Faith was sown in Montreal. By 1903 Sutherland Maxwell had become the first Canadian Bahá’i, and shortly after,
his cousin Martha MacBean followed him. Group meetings were then started and later regularly established. Soon Mary Corristine,
Rose Henderson, and others unrecorded had been won.
At the same time, through wide and active civic interests, the name of Mrs. Maxwell came to be distinguished among her
fellowcitizens. Prior to 1912 she supported a Children’s Court for Montreal, and her efforts were chief in maintaining the Colborne
Street Milk Station. Later about 1914 she brought from New York a Montessori
Elizabeth Greenleaf.

IN MEMORIAM

teacher, starting “the first school of this type in Canada in our own home. . . . It was through all this that I became interested in the
movement for Progressive Education, of which I was practically a charter member.
.“ Such sympathies were a solid basis for the Master’s triumphant welcome in 1912, for He found “no an/agonist and no

adversary.”
But before this consummation there came a bounty which must always be associated with the pilgrimage of February, 1909. Not for
ten years had she visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and though her name was often on His tongue—at this time, Mirzá Moneer affirmed, she was
renowned in the East through His frequent mentions in Tablets—great was the pleasure in ‘Akká on her return. That meeting with the
Master and the ladies of His house Louise Bosch has described, and from her, too, the tender greeting of the Holy Mother: “First as a
young girl, now with your husband; on your next visit, you will come with your child!”
Blessed indeed were those six days. To them ‘Abdu’l-Bahá referred in 1911 and 1913: “Thy utmost desire was to have a child
for whom thou hast prayed and supplicated while in ‘AR’JUi. Praise be to God that the prayer is answered and thy
desire realized. In the garden of existence a rose has blossomed with the utmost freshness, fragrance, and beauty. . . . I
beg of God that this little child may become great and wonderful in the Divine Kin gdoin.”
III.
“Now He is coming and will be here about the middle of next week, and I hope that nothing in this world will prevent your being
here! The months I spent near ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in New York have done more for the education and enlightenment of my heart and
conscience than all my life’s experience. . .
After five months in. the United States the Master was coming to Montreal! He had accepted their invitation, despite His friends’
forebodings, and late on the night of August 30, 1912, the Maxwells and Louise Bosch met His train from Boston. He went directly to
her home, for four days lavishing His presence before moving to the Hotel Wind-

sor. The columns of the Montreal Daily Star had for a week been heralding this great event, and during those memorable days the
best publicity of His American stay, He said, ensured a permanent record of His words. In hours of grave concern to Canada, of
threatening conflict and burdensome armaments, the predictions of this “Apostle of Peace . . . (of) An Appalling War” were headlined to
the city.
Besides daily interviews with groups and individuals, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made seven public lectures. His first was for morning service at
the Church of the Messiah (Unitarian) on September 1st. On the 3rd He outlined for five hundred Socialists at Coronation Hall—
vividly, completely—Bahã’i principles for The Economic Happiness of the Human Race. His last address drew twelve hundred
listeners to St. James Methodist Church on September 5th. Four talks were given in the Maxwell home, and many who there heard
Him were believers, while others became so.
Her share was strenuous in this historic sojourn, for she made the major part of His arrangements. But He accorded her immortal
praise in the Tablet to Canada. And rethe results in the future are inexhaustible!”
Iv.
‘Abdu’l-Bahã touched no other point in Canada; rather He hoped that His time in Montreal might so stir that city “that the melody
of the Kingdom may travel to all parts of the world.” “13o ye not look upon the smallness of your numbers,” He forbade
them. “One pearl is better than a thousand wildernesses of sand, especially this pearl of great price, which is endowed
with divine blessing.” And to May Maxwell He gave a special charge, sending in her care His two mighty Tablets to this nation.
The first was received in the fall of 1916 and she, together with the four who stood in like relation to the other regions of America,
was henceforth known to the American Bahá’is as a “center” for the spread of the Divine Plan. How mysterious is the Cause! The
secret energies released by these mother words seem to have enveloped the Eighth Convention (April, 1916). With a sublime intuition,
in the very month of the Master’s enunciation—”the banner of oneness must

THE BAHA’I WORLD

be unfurled in those states”—she “voiced the oneness of the world of humanity in so wonderful a way that one might well have
thought our beloved ‘Abdu’l-Baha was using (her) to convey a message to the Convention.” 7
It was not the first nor the last time that her searching spirit, restless and “ablaze with the fire of the love of God,” resuscitated
the delegates in their sessions. She attended a majority of Conventions, often as Montreal’s representative, and although on too many
occasions her health’s debility restrained her, she would appear, as Mabel Ives has said, “at occasional moments on the floor of the
Convention . . . raising such a lofty call that a new and high level was set of understanding and devotion
Does this amaze us? No, rather we should recall the Master’s characterization! “May Maxwell is really a Bahd’I. . . .“ “sh
breathed no breath and uttered no word save in service to the Cause of God.” “WhOSO ever meets her feels from her
association the susceptibilities of the Kingdom. Her company uplifts and develops the soul. . .
For her gift, her most exceptional gift was teaching. Every activity emanated from this source and every new heart roused to life owed,
with what inexpressible gratitude, its very being to her touch. It was not always her role to instruct the inquirer; this she could do with
matchless charm. Rather, for countless Bahh’is she unlocked a hidden treasure for which they long had searched. “Pray for me, May,”
wrote Keith in 1923. “It is my only refuge. . . . Through this bitter storm of trial in which every attribute of light is obscure or
withdrawn, you still stand, a dazzling presence on the further shore toward which I struggle, a gift and evidence lent me by the Master
And Keith, like others, acknowledged that such bestowal was spiritual motherhood.8
This “priceless and overflowing quality of the heart,” in Rowland Estall’s words, was by no means specialized to her contemporaries.
She was captured by “the mystery of the eternal stream of Life, flowing through the generations.” Whether in Montreal, New York,
Green Acre, California, Portland, Vancouver, Stuttgart, Paris, or Lyon, her perception of “the pure, fragrant, living

force of the rising generation under the shadow of Shoghi Effendi” drew to her many youthful spirits. For she was irresistible in a way
most vividly portrayed by her own daughter: “Many people inspire more or less love in others, but I don’t think I ever knew anyone
who inspired the love Mother did— so that it was like an event when one was going to see her. And this I felt all my life, day in day
out, and it never became commonplace!”
The Montreal Youth Group, so justly celebrated since 1927, profited immeasurably by her support. As Mr. Estall has said, “every one
of the young Bahá’is either sought out her company to receive the benefit of her wise counsel and mature knowledge . . . or were
befriended by her and experienced the privilege of her loving friendship and generosity.” Nor was this of small import, since she
influenced from the inception of that Group such ones as George Spendlove, Rowland Estall, Emeric and Rosemary Sala, Teddy
Edwards Alizade, Norman McGregor, Judie Russell Blakely, Dorothy and Glen Wade, Edward Dewing, Gerrard Sluter, David
Hofman, Rena Gordon, naming only some—each to become in turn an instrument of potent teaching.
Indeed, her sympathies recognized no bounds. “Oh, there is no separateness—it is the only sin!” And again, “If we knew the reality,
the mystery of oneness, we should be standing in the full light of God . . . and we should all be to each other an inexhaustible source of
life, strength, healing, joy, and blessedness.” This theme she did not speak idly; around it all her actions flowed with a fullness
tenderly remembered by friends of every kind and background. Generous beyond any record, she gave unstintingly “to the Temple
and to the furtherance of teaching work; for charity; for relieving sorrow and distress.”9 Generous too in courage and beyond assault,
how keenly she championed the neglected cause, or labored to reinforce the underprivileged race.
Through all the years of an undeviating
Star of the West, Vol. VII., p. 54.
Keith Ransorri—Kehier, first American martyr and Hand of the Cause, who died and is now interred at tsfShán—met Mrs. Maxwell at
the Convention of
1921.
Mariam Haney.

IN MEMOR.IAM

service to the Faith on the North American continent, from 1902 until 1940—years which only to some future biographer shall yield
the vast, heroic scope of her efforts’°
—she bore to her fellow-believers, whether in local or national community, a unique, a spiritual relationship. “Mother of the Latin
races,” she has been titled; no, so much more, mother of yearning hearts in every spot she ever visited!
And this relation was hers in special measure to Canada. The Tablets of the Divine Plan released in her an impetus which never
faltered. In 1916 she journeyed with Grace Ober to the “far Northeast.” She taught also with Marion Jack and, after 1920, with
Elizabeth Greenleaf. St. John’s, Brockville, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver—all were cities in which rehire unto a
gardener,” she brought forth “grosoth through the outpourings of the cloud of guidance . . . heaping u piles of crops and
harvests.” The Spiritual Assembly of Vancouver was the direct result of her stay in July, 1926; “it would take an Angel Gabriel to
blare forth her work!”
Yet she was never content for a moment. The merciful God alone can estimate
our failure,” she wrote. But only He could estimate, as well, the triuiuph of her dauntless spirit over every handicap. Of all the tributes,
the Master’s pierces us with sweetest emphasis: “. . . Thy Lord shall strengthen thee in a ‘matter, whereby the Queens of the
world will envy thy happy state, throughout all times and ages. Because, verily, the Love of God is as a glorious Crown
upon thy head, the brilliant jewels of which are glittering forth unto all horizons. Its brilliancy, transparency and
effulgence shall appear in future centuries when the signs of God will be spread and the Word of God will encompass
the heart of all the people of the earth!”
V.
The current of her existence knew no ebb, but mounted strongly from the first vital contact with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, through all the years of
His world-creating Mission, beneath the pain and oppression of His passing, into the full tide of the Guardianship.’2 And for almost
two decades she was to serve Shoghi Effendi with that same eager, steadfast con-

centration which always singled her out above her generation. “Nothing is too great to suffer for him, no daily discipline, no effort or
sacrifice, no surrender of all that is upon this earth. . .
So in August, 1935, arrested by his appeal to the American believers to turn toward Europe, and preceded by her daughter and dear
relatives, Ruh-anguiz and Jeanne Bolles, she with her husband left America. It was to be a brief visit. In reality, she did not return for
two years; she did not return until her prayer, uttered in 1934—”there has revived in me life’s deepest yearning, to ‘tread that Path
white with the bones of the slain!’ “—had found a burning answer.
No faintest suspicion, however, of Róhiyyih Khfnum’s destiny, nor of that “sacred tie” which was to crown her “signal services,”
interrupted the vigor with which she pressed her teaching in Germany, Belgium, and France. Already to her eyes the Old World had
become a veritable graveyard. “It is appalling to be among so many dead, ‘moving dust,’ we see them here.
The mental, moral, and spiritual atmospheric pressure is stifling . . . for the dark forces completely envelop the world, seeking to enter
every mind and cloud or crush it.
Coming over here and working in Europe is like being borne along on a stream, almost without volition, entirely without plan,
10 National Offices: Member of the Executive Board

of Bahá’i Temple Unity for three years, 191s-20, and
of the National Spiritual Assembly for three years,
1924, 1927, and 1928, also serving as alternate member in 1925. Chairman, 1927, and Secretary, 1928
and 1929, of the National Teaching Committee; and
officer or member for Canada of the National and/or
Regional Teaching Committees from the first organization in 1920 through 1930, as well as 1932 and
1937. Member of Star of the West Foundation,
1919, 1920; contributing editor for BabEl Magazine 1932-34. Green Acre Program Committee, 1928,
1932. History of the Cause in America Committee,
1928, 1933-1938. Member of Unity Band prior to
1910 (to correspond with Persian Bahá’is). Donor of
Tarbiyar School scholarship for several years from
1910. Committee for “Compilation on Most Great
Peace,” 1918.
Montreal (incomplete) : Member of Local Spiritual Assembly from formation in 1922 to November, 1939. On Teaching and Publicity
Committees for many years. Active supporter of Youth and Racial Amity work. (Honorary president of Negro Club of Montreal,
1927).
Evelyn Kemp.
See her poem, Orientatioss, for a proof of the transition achieved in her seven-months’ pilgrimage of 1923-1924. Star of the West,
Vol. XV., p. 101.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

through the directing hand of the Guardian. How he is combing the world for his
jewels—before the end!”
Sometimes alone, sometimes with others of her family, she pursued this goal, seeking to recognize and free, from a besetting lethargy,
those hearts known only to Bahá’u’llah. She taught first in certain German centers, acquiring in Munich and Stuttgart an admiration
for this “profoundly interesting country,” and its people which was to be immensely strengthened when, in August, 1936, she returned
for the Esslingen Summer School and to make, at Shoghi Effendi’s request, a “grand tour” of the German Bahâ’i communities. Thus
she was part of that thrilling final session at Esslingen: “all international barriers were broken down and there was a oneness of spirit,
a joyous companionship . . which reached a climax with the reading of the Guardian’s cablegram containing his passionate appeal to
America
She worked intensively in Brussels, too, from October, 1935, until in the following April she visited Lyon to assist Mirzá Ezzatollah
Zabih, “the Persian Bahá’i in whose home our beloved Keith passed from this world.” Characteristically, she had left Brussels for a
few days at Christmas to attend the Sixth Annual Conference of Bahâ’i Students in Paris, “because they gave me the opportunity to
speak on the activities of the young American Bahâ’is “ For France she still retained that heavenly gift with which the Master had
endowed her; as in the immortal early years, again for several months in 1909, so now during this and later sojourns, “elle fortiflait les
a
Bahâ’is en leur croyance et attirait d’autres âmes la Cause par le dynamisme de sa foi, par la clarté de son esprit.”5
Yet brilliantly as she shone in every field, all was echpsed the spring of 1936, April to June, in the city of Lyon. The outer facts are
recorded with surpassing modesty: Meetings held every Thursday for a group of ten or fifteen; a special meeting begun for the study
of Bahâ’i Administration, for which “Lyon was virgin soil;” the first Nineteen- Day Feast, “perhaps ever held in France;” a study
group initiated for young people;
.“ and through the medium of the Law of God for this age, their understanding and

faith grew stronger and deeper Thus she wrote of Lyon; but what, on the other hand, did Lyon write of her?
“Un simple regard de May Maxwell et toute son âme apparaissait dans sa beauté limpide, sa püreté, son amour. De ce premier regard
découla la force neuve et vive qui éveilla Lyon au grand Message. . . Elle pouvait parler des heures—mais on désirait l’entendre
pendant des années; car le visage de son enseignement sacré était une joie perpétuelle pour le coeur, un souffle vivfiant pour l’esprit,
un repos, un allegment! Douée du don céleste le plus rare au monde, le diapason de son âme vibrait harnionieusement avec les âmes
qu’elle touchait méme pour la premiere fois. Sa fraicheur et sa jeunesse lui faisaient manifester des joies avec la spontanéité d’une
a
enfant. Se trouvant un jour mon laboratoire, je lui montrais des amibes au microscope, ces animaux unicellulaires les plus simples
de Ia creation. Elle s’écria avec ravissement; ‘oh! que je suis contente! j’ai vu les deux extrêmités de la creation: le Maitre, et puis le
premier echelon de Ia vie animée.’ . . . Le consequence de son influence historique sur la France . . fut la creation du groupe lyonnais en
1936; guide par elle, ce dernier a son tour, fonda celui d’Orleans en 1938, puis d’Hyères en 1939.
Car Madame M. Maxwell ne vit pas dans le coeur de ses enf ants a l’etat simplement de souvenir, de pensée ou de sentiment; elle vit

a l’etat actif par eux. Seules, les années a venir rendront un témoignage exact et equitable de la portée profonde et durable de son
...

oeuvre spirituelle.”4
What more could the pen speak? Such praise bears an eternal witness, distilling to future centuries the fragrance of her deeds. And this
treasure, too, she raised up in Lyon! “Such thrilling reports I have from Lucienne would compensate a thousand woes! .. . With all her
learning, she understands the language of the heart and spirit, and is the first of her generation among the French thus to respond with
her whole being to the Blessed Beauty!”
VI.
She prayed for martyrdom in the Holy Shrines, and her Lord in His mercy gave her

13 Laura Dreyfus-Barney.
‘ Lucienne Migette.

IN MEMORIAM

two replies, and her feet walked no other path from the day of her daughter’s marriage. Sublime, unguessed event! How far our empty
concepts are surpassed; her sensibilities escape us; the winging gratitude, the pain, its surcease, the heart’s ineffable and boundless
joy! Should we say only this— her home was Haifa? She never greeted Rflhiyyih Khánum again, from May of 1937; nor did she again
experience, after five months of blessed visit, the Guardian’s immediate, revitalizing force. Yet in a deeper sense she lived there, hour
by hour to her last day.
“There was a time that I agonized with a mother’s weakness and instinctive protection over the terrific deprivation in all her outer
human ways, and the austere discipline of the life of my child. It is she herself (combined with a ray of common sense of my own),
who taught me the spartan spirit of that Persian mother who threw back the head of her martyred son to his executioner.
And as I have witnessed, from year to year, the profound and mystic change in Rflhiyyih Khánum. . . . I have marvelled at the grace of
God and His delicate and perfect handiwork
The depths of consciousness to which her life, “so rich, eventful, incomparably blessed,” had gradually accustomed her, came to exert
upon her American friends, from the first moment of return in September, 1937, an elusive, all-compelling, wonderful effect. She
moved among us then, a spirit of purest light, a symbol of faithfulness, a fountain of celestial power. “Her wisdom and devotion were
like newly-discovered springs of sweet water.”15 To be near her was to have one’s soul forever altered.
In December and January, 1940, she travelled and taught with Mr. Maxwell in New York, Englewood, Washington, and Philadelphia.
On New Year’s Eve with Mason Remey, they celebrated together his confirmation in Paris, forty years before. Her earthly book
approached its close; there remained but one brief, triumphant chapter.
South America had grown real to her in 1928 through Frances Stewart, whom she tenderly regarded as its “soul,” and for
twelve years these two nourished a relation which strengthened each in service to this vast continent. She did not think to go there,
however, until the Guardian’s dynamic call had stirred the American community to settle its countries with pioneers, and attract its
nationals at home through brilliant teaching. She was immediately captivated. “Her constant topic of conversation was the Cause in
South America. Her questions to me were inexhaustible. . . . Never can I forget the light that illumined her face as I told her stories of
the individual friends. . . . Her spirit was as that of a ‘little child’ in her enthusiasm, and South America gradually grew to be to her a
‘field, white with the harvest.’ “10 . This she mentioned to her daughter. “You can well imagine my astonishment when a cable
instantly came back in which the Guardian said he ‘heartily approved winter visit to Buenos Aires.’
She lost no time; securing the consent of her husband and physician, she sailed January 24, 1940, on the 5.5. Brazil with her
“precious niece,” Jeanne Bolles. The voyage, the climate, the splendid personal contacts, the new and handsome cities of Rio de
Janeiro, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires—all these elated her. She was able to teach “one lovely woman on the boat, the wife of a
distinguished army man.” In Rio de Janeiro, with the aid of Leonora Holsapple who had come from Bahia, she arranged two teas at
her hotel, the Gloria, one for nineteen guests, while a third meeting was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Worley. She spoke also
to the president of the Homeopathic College. Yet despite these two weeks of exhilarating success, she was eager to reach Buenos
Aires; “she seemed to press forward every minute of the way from Rio. . .
They arrived on February 2 7th, after one- day stops in Santos and Montevideo. “I am thrilled to be here in Buenos Aires,” she wrote,
“a strong, beautiful modern city, and an interesting combination of North and South America, with an enchanting climate and
delightful people....””As we drove through the streets, precious Aunt May was like a girl of sixteen in her joyous
Elizabeth Greenleaf.
Frances Stewart.
Jeanne Bolle,.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

enthusiasm. . . . She leaned out of the taxi and exclaimed words of delight 18
On the night of February 29th they dined alone in her room at City Hotel, in thought transported to Haifa through Ruhiyyih Khánum’s
poignant account of the burial on Mt. Carmel of the Master’s illustrious mother and brother. And she received by telephone the first
Bahá’i welcome to Buenos Aires; her mood was radiant. But the next morning a terrible pain came high in her breast, and though the
doctor reassured them both, by afternoon “the Will of God took her from our midst 15
It was a long vigil which Jeanne kept, “like an angel from Heaven,” without replies to her cables from Friday to Sunday. But she was
not alone, for the Kevorkians and Arsen Poghaharion, Syrian Bahá’is, were in Buenos Aires, and they were soon joined by Ehzabeth
Nourse, Wilfrid Barton, and Simon Rosenzweig from Montevideo. Together on March 3rd they gave her temporary rest in the English
cemetery. “SimOn writes that it was an experience to wrench any heart when all the conditions were considered, and a great mystery
“Priceless honor (of a) martyr’s death!” Such was the Guardian’s imperishable tribute, and to Mr. Maxwell he cabled, “Her tomb
designed by yourself, erected by me, (on) spot she fought, fell gloriously, will become historic centre pioneer Bahá’i activsty.”
They buried her then at Quilmes, a “befitting spot” discovered by patient search of Jeanne and Wilfrid Barton. At noon of March 13th,
sped by the prayers of eleven believers of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Syria, and the United States; and by the Master’s
thrilling chant, recorded so long ago and now first voiced in South America for His own “beloved handmaid”— her precious form
sought its eternal resting- place. While in her home in Montreal at the same hour, a memorial was held by cherished friends.
Yet May Maxwell lives—adorable, rarest spirit! And her children around the world have given up their weeping, to follow her in the
“resistless march.”
***

ines look down. Martha, May, and Keith! Their shining traces will cheer us through whatever trials may come; the promise of their aid
stands guard above our destinies.
MARION HOLLEv
May 9, 1940.
NOTE: Words italicized in the body of this account are ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s, referring directly to Mrs. Maxwell or addressed to her,
except for four fragments from the Tablet to Canada in which she is also mentioned. All quoted words not otherwise identified are
from her own letters. Deepest gratitude goes to her family and friends for instant and unstinting help: Rfliyyih Khánum, Ruhanquiz
Bolles, Sutherland Maxwell, Agnes Alexander, Kathrine Baldwin, Helen Bishop, Louise Bosch, Ella Cooper, Laura DreyfusBarney,
Rowland Estall, Nellie S. French, Marzieh Gail, Elizabeth Greenleaf, Mariam Haney, Ernest Harrison, Emogene Hoagg, Horace
Holley, Marie Hopper, Mabel Ives, Evelyn Kemp, Ali-Kuh Khán, Edward and Carrie Kinney, Margery McCormick, Carrie Marsh,
Lucienne Migette, Julia Ransom Miller, Montreal Spiritual Assembly and Alberta Sims, Hamideh Nabil, Harlan Ober, Edwinna
Powell, Charles Mason Remey, Sigurd Russell, Anne Savage, Philip Sprague, Frances Benedict Stewart, Juliet Thompson, and Muriel
Warnicker.
MARION HOLLEv
A TRIBUTE TO LUA GETSINGER
Montreal, Canada.
May 25, 1916.
“Lua has ascended to the Supreme Concourse”—those are the words I heard. Fot hours I have seen Lua, the woman, the child, all love
and tenderness, dying far away— alone. Far from the land where she sowed the seed from the Atlantic to the Pacific— from the land
where she arose like the dawning star heralding the light of BahI’u’lláh in those days when the Occident lay frozen in the grasp of
materialism—and far from all those who should have loved her and cherished her as a priceless gift from God. I could only see her
frail form, her lovely, sensitive face, her pleading child’s eyes. I
From some rampart of heaven three hero-

iS Jeanne Bolles.

IN MEMORIAM

could only hear the cry of her soul, her yearning for sacrifice in the Path of God. Without home, money, or any earthly
hope or refuge—after her years of suffering, service and sacrifice she attained her supreme desire and lay, at last, a
martyr!
Then I saw no longer the bruised and broken reed trodden and crushed to earth, whose fragrance shall perfume all
regions. I saw the victorious Lua, majestic in her death—the Lua who shall live through all ages—who shall shine from
the horizon of eternity upon the world when all the veils which have hidden her today from mortal eyes have been
burned away. As Kurat-ulAyn was the Trumpet of the Dawn in the Orient in the Day of Bahá’u’lláh, so Lua Aurora
shall wave forever and ever the Banner of the Dawn in the Day of the Covenant. Even as her age and generation knew
her not, seeing only her mortal frailties—so future ages and cycles will love her—adore her—venerate her blessed
name—and strive to walk in the path of her utter servitude, severance, and sacrifice. The passion of Divine love that
consumed her heart shall light the hearts of mankind forever and forever.
Great and wonderful were her qualities— in her own person she bore the sins and weaknesses of us all, and redeeming
herself she redeemed us. She broke the path through the untrod forest: like the grasshoppers, she cast her soul and body
into the stream and perished making the bridge by which we cross: she was a Niobe all her days, washing our sins in
her tears: she was burned to cauterize our wounds. ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ said that when one soul should arise and become
severed from all else save God, that soul would open the way for all to attain. I believe that the last time Lua left her
Beloved ‘Abdu’lBahâ she died to all save God and took the “step of the soul” by which the spirit of truth and reality
dawned in the Cause in America. In fulfillment of His Holy Words, the light broke forth in Boston in the autumn of
1915: its rays were reflected in some souls throughout America and other parts of the Occident, so that at that time the
believers began to enter on a new era of spiritual consciousness, and here and there the fire of Divine Love and the
reality of unity became manifest. The outcome was

the bursting into the realm of possibility— the building of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the outer sign of the appearance of the inner
spiritual temple.
Those who were present at the Holy Convention realized that the reality of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh had at last appeared in America,
and on that day when the Divine Outpourings reached their height, many realized that the Spiritual Temple had come into being. Is it
possible that on that day Lua attained the utmost longing of her soul? That in the laying of that first stone the mystery of sacrifice
became revealed and her death was the consummation of her life?
MAY MAXWELL.
MARTHA L. ROOT
“And the Queen”, said Martha Root, “met me at the stairs. I saw her standing there, a queen indeed, with her flowing black velvet
dress and strands of marvelous pearls.
We had tea in her inner library.”
I thought as I gazed at that small blue- clad figure eagerly sitting forward on her chair in my simple living-room, that this same
beloved “Martha” who was now relating to me the fairy story of her adventures was identical with the one whom the Queen of
Roumania had welcomed five times to her palace. There could be no other. Martha’s love had shown out upon and drawn the Queen,
as it now did me.
“Whosoever has lost himself has found the universe and the inhabitants thereof,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said. How literally true this had
proved to be for Martha Root! She had become a personage to whom the great scholars of the different countries had hstened with
respect, for whom the palace doors of many rulers had opened. But the woman who had talked intimately with Thomas Masaryk, and
Eduard Bene who had had audience with King Faisal of ‘Iraq; who had four times visited Prince Paul and Princess Olga of
Yugoslavia; who said of King Haakon, “This spiritually lovable King of Norway who will never talk about himself . . . made me very
happy”; who was the intimate of Queen Marie—to mention some of the illustrious names—made no display of learning, nor did she
depend on

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Miss Martha L. Root
Famous International Bahi’i Teacher
“Thou art really a herald of the Kingdom and a harbinger of the Covenant and doest self-sacrifice. Thou showest
kindness to all nations; thou art sowing a seed that shall in the long run give rise to thousands of harvests; thou art
planting a tree that shall till eternity put forth leaves, blossoms and fruits, and whose shadow shall day by day grow in
magnitude.” Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

dress or personal appearance. The true love is regal in its freedom from self-consciousness and fear; the true wisdom is
unabashed in the presence of learning, and it was in these ways that she found congeniality with the great of the five
continents which she had traveled.
Whoever you were, her loving interest was her introduction to you. There was no one, high or low, who had not felt
that. Moreover she had a message for you, a Message from a King, the Greatest of All. There was a quiet stateliness in
her manner, an element of ceremony. “Make every meeting an occasion,” she instructed me. “Give

something always, if only a flower, some candy or fruit. Pray that they will accept from you the Greater Gift.”
Who was Martha Root? What was the light her past threw upon such a career? She was born August 10, 1872 at
Richwood, Ohio, of pioneer American stock. Her f amily moved to Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, a town to which
Martha’s homing instincts always turned in her later travels. She graduated from Oberlin and attended the University of
Chicago. She was a school teacher, then a newspaper woman. One day after a chance meeting with a Bahá’i tray-

pict211.jpg

IN MEMORIAM

eler in a restaurant in Pittsburgh, she heard the Message of Bahá’u’lláh. At that moment the “Concourse on high,”
passed down its chalices of pure light. The star of Martha’s destiny began to rise. A signal to that star was to use her
connection with the press to call together a mass meeting of four hundred in the Schenley Hotel in Pittsburgh to hear
‘Abdu’l-Bahá speak in His journey from east to west in 1912.
In 1919 in answer to ‘Ahdu’l-Bahá’s call to American believers to scatter and spread the Faith of Bahi’u’lláh, Martha,
after a white moment of decision, embarked upon her world journeys as an ambassador of the Oneness of Mankind. On
the ship bound for South America she called the people together and informed them of the nature of her mission. In her
subsequent travels in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, Russia happened to be the only country she did not visit. The
spirit of her world embracing love vibrated over the wires of radio stations from Capetown to Oslo. Sheaves of
newspaper clippings brought back her words to us from remote ports. A steady stream of articles appeared in which the
flash of her insight into people and circumstances transported us to Belgrade, Athens, Stockholm, to Reykjavik (capital
of Iceland), Antwerp or Adrianople. In tran she continued her researches into the life of Tahirih, heroic woman pioneer
and martyr in the time of the Mb, with whom the soul of Martha seemed mysteriously linked.
Her sense of Mission is illustrated by the fact that she carried with her a collection of photographs of the various rulers
to whom Bahã’u’lláh had addressed His Epistles. Among these were the Czar of Russia, Napoleon III, Pope Pius IX,
Nãsiri’d-Din Shah, Queen Victoria—it was a young picture of the Queen in accordance with the history of the times.
The spirit of Martha’s going forth was like that of Mdi, the youth who, in the time of Bahã’u’llãh volunteered to deliver
the Tablet to the Shah of Persia knowing that he would suffer death at the hands of an antagonistic government. The
spirit of renunciation expressed itself, now, in this modern apostle of Bahá’u’lláh in subtle ways comparable in degree.
She had become the embodiment of a love which

does not passively wait, but which goes forth with a wholehearted reckless spending of personality, of time, of strength. There was the
bleak daily discipline of a meticulous economy, the dedication of moments of exhaustion to the service of her Cause: her undeviating
back-breaking obedience to the star she followed. In 1935, for example, we find her writing from Sweden that although very ill that
fact must not impede progress in teaching the Cause of God. Her health shaken, she returned for one of her occasional visits to
America in 1936, renewed her association with her beloved friends and family. Then in May, 1937, this brave heart again “took sail.”
I suppose there were many of us across the United States who had a troubling sense of finality as we caught through train windows the
last tender flash of Martha’s blue eyes. Her boat left San Francisco May 2 0th, docked for a few hours in Honolulu, then sailed for
Japan. With the captain’s cooperation she lectured on the boat. “I spoke for an hour,” she said, “and questions and answers followed
for an hour. There were ten religions and ten nations represented. .
There were several young Japanese professors present returning from postgraduate studies in Europe. Who can tell how far
reaching are the words of truth? She arrived in Tokio June 3rd for a month of brilliant teaching activity, then moved on to
Shanghai early in that fateful July of the Japanese bombardment. She escaped under gunfire with other Americans to Manila on the
night of the earthquakes. After about four months of intensive teaching she embarked on a small Oriental steamer for Bombay,
arriving there from Ceylon October 15th.
The fifteen months of Martha’s stay in India were the crowning triumph of her efforts, a sustained splendor of achievement. The
Bahâ’is of India and Burma wrote to our 1938 Convention:
“The most outstanding feature in the year under report has been the teaching activities of our beloved sister Miss Martha L. Root. This
star servant of Bahâ’u’lláh toured from Bombay to Mandalay, and from Srinagar to Colombo. Wherever she went, she delivered the
message of Bahá’u’lláh in

THE BAHA’I WORLD

her own convincing way, and published the divine Cause amongst all the educated people of this great continent. . . . In Karachi she
attended the 10th Convention of the Bahá’is of India and Burma and probably did the greatest service of her life. . . . She stayed in that
town for three months and got the book Ta’hirih, the Pure, printed and mailed the world over. . . . In Simla she graced the first Bahá’i
Summer School with her presence and drew down the blessings of God on this institution. . . . Miss Martha Root has opened the whole
of India for us, and it now devolves upon us to utilize these openings and produce the best of results.” After her final three months’
tour of the Northern India Universities where her addresses had been enthusiastically received by thousands of progressive youth, she
returned to Bombay. A gathering of the friends saw her off for Australia on the steamship Straithard December 29, 1938.
After visiting Australia and New Zealand Martha Root was on her way home in the spring of 1939. At Honolulu, on that island
between two hemispheres, she was obliged to leave the boat because of illness. It was here after an illness of months that the soul of
Martha undertook the journey “from earth to heaven.” The date was September 28, 1939. The Guardian, whose words had continually
cheered her heart with his tender concern, cabled the National Spiritual
Assembly:
“Martha’s unnumbered admirers throughout Bahá’i world lament with me (the) earthly extinction (of) her heroic life. Concourse on
high acclaim her elevation (to) rightful position (in) galaxy (of) Bahá’i immortals. Posterity will establish her as foremost Hand which
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s will has raised up (in) first Bahá’i century. Present generation (of) her fellow-believers recognize her (to be the) first,
finest fruit (which the Formative Age (of the) Faith (of) Bahá’u’lláh has yet produced. Advise holding befitting memorial gathering
(in) Temple (to) honor one whose acts shed imperishable lustre (on) American Bahá’i community. Impelled (to) share with National
Assembly expenses (of) erection (of) monument (in) symbolic spot, (the) meeting-place (of) East (and) West, to both

(of) which she unsparingly dedicated (the) full force (of her) mighty energies.
In a letter dated October 20, 1939, addressed to Roy C. Wilhelm, treasurer, the Guardian, through his secretary, refers to the passing of
Miss Martha L. Root.
“The very sad and indeed distressing news of the passing away of our beloved Martha was a great shock to the Guardian, who feels
unutterably sorry at this heavy blow sustained by the Cause. Her departure constitutes the heaviest blow which the teaching force not
only in America but throughout the entire Bahá’i world has sustained since the passing of our beloved Master. May the memory of the
distinguished services it had been her unique privilege to render in so many fields and over such a long and uninterrupted period of
years serve as a source of continued inspiration to the present-day and future generations of Bahã’i teachers, to whom she will indeed
ever be the very embodiment of those teaching qualities which only a few Bahá’i teachers, whether in the East or the West, can claim
to have attained.
“To you, and to all the dear American friends who are now so profoundly deploring beloved Martha’s passing, the Guardian feels
moved to convey the assurances of his deepest and most loving sympathy in your great bereavement. May Bahá’u’lláh comfort your
grief-stricken hearts, and cause this calamity to further cement the unity, deepen the devotion and increase the resourcefulness of the
American believers, and in particular those dear pioneers who are so indefatigably laboring in foreign and distant fields.”
In the Guardian’s hand: “The passing of dearest Martha and the circumstances of her severe and painful illness have brought profound
sorrow, but I rejoice at the glory and joy that must be hers and which she fully deserves in the Abhã Paradise.”
“Sometimes I have asked myself,” Martha Root had said, musing upon the life of
Táhirih, “was Táhirih great enough instantly to say, ‘0 God, I give my life to establish this Faith among mankind!’ or did she, too,
need to be trained by the In-

IN MEMORIAM

finite God to long to give her hfe as a martyr to serve this new universal Revelation?” That that longing did come to fill Martha’s
whole being can be the only explanation of her remarkable career. As she pioneered further into the realms of the spirit a ‘Will greater
than her own resolve moved her. She became a lamp carrying a Light. Or you might say the abnegation of her very self was
comparable to the crushing of the rose in the process of attarmaking: the rare attar of a divine love drifted through every doorway and
thrilled every heart.
As we bid farewell to her famihar, loved presence among us—we, all the world—let us echo her own words to her beloved friends in
India: “I shall not say ‘Good-bye,’ I couldn’t—it hurts my heart so! But we shall say: Alláh-u-Abhá’! Always, Allahu-Abhã’.”
Dons McKAy.
Con OF THE LETTER OF HER HIGHNESS PRINCESS OLGA OF JuGosLAvIA
Belgrade, March 7th, 1940.
Dear Mrs. Ilie:
I was deeply touched by your kind sympathy on the death of my uncle and thank you very much for sharing in it. He seemed too
young to leave us and had been rejoicing to settle down in Greece once more. It is Strange that neither he nor my beloved Father were
destined to do so.
I am deeply distressed to hear of the death of good Miss Martha Root, as I had no idea of it. We always enjoyed her visits in the past.
She was so kind and gentle and a real worker for Peace. I am sure she will be sadly missed in her work.
Thanking you again for your kind thought in my bereavement,
I remain

Sincerely yours,

MARTHA THE BLESSED By T. L. VASWANI

Here, in my quiet retreat the “Krishta Kunj,” comes to me the news that Miss Martha L. Root has passed on!

But a year ago she was here in Hyderabad
—a guest of our spiritual assembly, the Sat- sang. She came with the Bahá’i message— essentially our own—of the unity of races, of
the brotherhood of religions, of a new world order based on peace and love,
In her advanced age—she was almost 70
—she went through her daily work in the spirit of service and self-sacrifice! To many in many lands she gave the message of her great
Guru — ‘Abdu’l-Bahi. The Message glowed not alone with a great ideal but, also, with the beauty of the life. It was a dedicated life.
My dear loving brother, Mr. Isfandiar K. B. Bakhtiari, who acted as her secretary in Sind, writes to me in the course of a letter from
Karachi— “I need not say how much I am grieved
at the passing away of our spiritual mother, Miss Martha L. Root. A month ago I got the news from Iran: and I was eagerly waiting to
hear from America to know of the exact day on which she departed this world.
“I have learnt from Iran of the Guardian’s telegram to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, stating the Guardian’s feelings on
receipt of the news of her passing away so soon.”
Mr. Bakhtiari kindly enclosed a copy of a letter which he recently received from her when she was at Honolulu. She went so far to
give the Message of her Master. In the course of her letter she writes:
“I have been here [in Honolulu, Hawaii] since June 7th; have been very ill and only gaining very slowly. Please pray
the Abmad Tablet for me, all of you! I pray for you. Deepest, tenderest love for ever to you all in
India.”
The letter reflects the tender, beautiful love of her radiant heart.
On receiving the news from my Iranian brother, Mr. Isfandiar K. B. Bakhtiari, I wrote the
following:
OLGA. “Let not your sweet loving hearts be troubled. She lives in the Lord she adored and served with all her mind and heart and
soul.
“There is no death! The stars sink but to rise again upon a fairer shore: and she, dear siSter of my heart, goes to greet kindred spirits
and shine for evermore,

THE BAHA’f WORLD
“Sister Martha Root! Thou art not dead! Thou hast but gone before! And still to me is near thy soul, radiant, immortal, pure.”
It may be hoped arrangements will soon be made for a commemoration meeting in the Hall of Bahá’i Spiritual Assembly, Karachi.
Nobly, bravely, she played her part. Beautiful was her devotion to her Guru, and beautiful her faith in the power of prayer. To Alláh-u-
Abhá she dedicated her life: in Alláh-u-Abhá she now abides. Her hying spirit has passed the gates of the grave. And many in many
lands will call her Blessed!
MARTHA ROOT DIES IN HONOLULU
BAHA’I LECTURER WELL KNOwN IN
PASADENA
Word has just been received from Honolulu of the passing of Miss Martha Root in that city where for some months she has been
detained by illness. Miss Root will be remembered in Pasadena especially for her very interesting lectures on her experiences in
teaching the way to peace in universities throughout the world, and for her very enthusiastic broadcasts on the subject of Esperanto,
which language she had acquired through intimate association with Miss Zamenhof, daughter of its inventor.
ADVANCED BAHA’i PLAN
For more than 20 years Miss Root has been devoting her life to the advancement of the Bahá’i plan for universal peace and she is
equally as well known in the Orient as in the Occident. Modest and simple in her manner, with a moving earnestness and loving selfsacrifice, she has gone her way attracting everyone where she went by her ardent and loving devotion to the cause of peace as
adumbrated in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
It was she who met and transformed the life of Her Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania, who did not hesitate to make public declaration
of her acceptance of the Bahá’i faith. It was she whose appeal to the youth of India and Burma a year ago brought about a real
stampede for information in all the universities in those countries. It was

she who went into the heart of Iran (Persia), meeting with thousands of people all over the country, who have reached out beyond the
confines of religious fanaticism, have seen the human race as one family and the spiritual revelations of the past and present as one
continuous unfolding of the eternal Truth of God which now is given to the world in all the fullness of a universal conception.
PAID OWN EXPENSES
Traveling alone, more frequently than not in third class accommodations, defraying her own expenses by her writing, for she was a
journalist of note, she felt no sacrifice too great, no effort too strenuous, no privation too rigorous to impede her progress or dampen
her ardor.
Miss Root was lecturing in China when the siege of Shanghai necessitated the evacuation of the city and she with many other
Americans was forced to leave at a moment’s notice for Manila. Arrived there she immediately began her work when the earthquake
and subsequent fire consumed what very scant supply of clothing she had been able to carry from China. As soon as possible she took
passage on a small Oriental steamer, third class for Bombay, and there she resumed her work. She visited all India and then went to
Australia and New Zealand and she was just returning to America from there when she was obliged to leave the steamer at Honolulu
because of illness.
CARRSED PEACE BANNER
Commenting on her life today, a friend writes:
“Miss Root’s passing will be mourned throughout the world and a day for general commemoration of her beautiful life will be
observed in the near future. Like the disciples of old she carried the Bahá’i banner of peace and reconciliation into the very heart of
religious fanaticism and prejudice, breaking down the barriers which have divided the human race, teaching unity and not uniformity,
consultation and not competition, loving all, serving all, sacrificing for all, knowing no difference of color, race or creed. The world
has produced no greater soul.”

MRS. THORNBURGH-CROPPER
Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper was the first Bahá’i in England and one of the first West- tern people to recognise the Revelation of
Bahá’u’lláh. She received the name “Maryam Khánum” from ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ. Mrs. Basil Hall writes: “She put her car at the Master’s
disposal during His visits to London. I can see her tall, graceful figure with her serene angel face shining beneath a crown of silver
hair, her blue eyes, and the soft blend of blues and purples in her dress, gracious to all, and ready to be of constant service to our
exalted Guest.”
In a letter to Lady Blomfield, now published in The Chosen Highway, Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper tells how she became aware of the
new Revelation. “Early in 1900 I received a letter from Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, my life long friend from California, telling me of a
wonderful new religious teaching she had contacted. She said that she felt it would be of great interest to me,

I
and that when she came to London, she would tell me all about it. A short time later I was searching in the encyclopedia for some
information about King David, about whom I had had an argument. In turning over the pages, my eye was caught by a name “Báb.” . . .
There was something so moving in this story of a martyr for His faith, that so moved me that I went to the British Museum to search
for further information regarding Him and His teaching.”
Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper ace omp an i e d Mrs. Hearst to ‘Akká in 1902, and later made another pilgrimage in 1906, both times being
received by the Master. Of her first encounter with Him she says: “Someone went before us with a small piece of candle which cast
strange shadows on the walls of this silent place. Suddenly the light caught a form, that at first seemed a vision of mist and hght. It
was the Master the candle light had revealed to us. His white

IN MEMORIAM

A

Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper,
One of the First Bahá’is of the West

pict212.jpg

THE BAHA’! WORLD

robe, and silver flowing hair, and shining blue eyes, gave the impression of a spirit, rather than of a human being. We tried to tell Him
how deeply grateful we were at His receiving us. “No” he answered, “you are kind to come.” This was spoken in a very careful
English. Then He smiled, and we recognized the Light which He possessed in the radiance which moved over His fine and noble face.
It was an amazing experience. We four visitors from the ‘Western world felt that our voyage, with all its accompanying
inconveniences was a small price to pay for such treasure as we received from the spirit and words of the Master Whom we had
crossed mountains and seas and nations to meet. This began our work ‘to spread the teaching,’ to ‘mention the Name of Bahá’u’lláh,
and acquaint the world with the Message’.”
To many Bahá’is of the present generation Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper was unknown personally. The infirmity of her declining years
prevented her from active association with the friends, but she was known as a staunch and loyal servant, and it was a delight to hear
from Lady Blomfield the story of how she sent an envoy to the great Tolstoy.
She passed away on March 15th, 1938.
The following account is written by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous.
Nearly forty years ago (1902) the late Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper in company with a group of friends made the pilgrimage to Haifa. It
was during a casual conversation with an acquaintance at an hotel that she first heard of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Some weeks later after making independent inquiries and carefully considering the real purport of the account of this remarkable
Personage, she decided to take the journey with the intimate friends who had been fired by her enthusiasm.
They first went to Alexandria where they managed to secure accommodation on a steamer which would call at ‘Akká, the ancient
seaport of Syria. This was a notoriously rough sea passage at the best of times but on the day of their disembarkation it was necessary
for the ship to lower boats as she could not make the port.
One can imagine the daring adventure for

these ladies accoutred in the voluminous apparel of that day when they had to make the tricky descent into a rowing boat which had
been brought alongside the ship on the crest of an accommodating wave! Except for a soaking wet trip to the pier the party were none
the worse for their experiences.
They stayed the night at ‘Akká and the next day drove about a dozen miles to Haifa in a lumbering landau drawn by high- spirited
Arabian horses.
At this period of his life ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was virtually a prisoner in His large greyish stone house in Haifa. Although there was no
visible guard enforcing this incarceration it was believed that He was on parole not to leave the premises without permission from
Turkish officials.
Several members of His family lived with him and when the travellers arrived they were graciously received by the ladies of the
household who showed them into a spacious room furnished only with a few small tables and upholstered seats against the walls.
Armchairs were specially brought for the Western visitors. Then coffee and a variety of sweet meats were served.
They had not long to wait before a turbaned figure clad in flowing white robes appeared in the doorway. It was the Master.
It would be difficult to describe the effect created by the Master’s presence. As He sat there the light from an opposite narrow window
focused upon His countenance revealing the finely modelled manly features and the large arresting grey blue eyes. In those eyes were
mysterious depths; a glow of luminous inner power holding the secrets of a great soul.
With the assistance of one of His daughters who spoke French, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá first welcomed His guests and then began to discourse
upon the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
This interview lasted about an hour.
When the time came for leave-taking, the Master rose and made His way across the room with the light, noiseless step more like that
of a supernatural being than of a man. They watched Him as He lingered awhile in the courtyard among His flowers in the brilliant
sunshine—and then finally passed on to His private quarters for rest and meditation.

IN MEMORIAM

The friends returned the next day at ‘Abdu’l-Bahã’s invitation and had the privilege of sitting at His table. A simple repast was served,
consisting of beautifully cooked rice and diced meat, besides numerous little dishes of condiments and followed by sweet meats and
fresh fruit.
During most of the meal the Master gave His audience further and more detailed accounts of the Bahá’i Cause.
Before the visitors left, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá bade them spread the Word among their people. He also made a certain prophetic
pronouncement, the general trend of which has in a large measure come to pass in the world’s history. The gist of His words is as
follows:
“There will be a great struggle among the nations for material gain; abysmal darkness will envelope the nations for nearly half a
century before the Light comes to show them the true way to spiritual development.”
When this group of friends returned to Europe they told those interested of their visits to the Master and gave out what they had
gleaned from the teachings of Bahã’u’llãh.
In 1906 Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper again went to Haifa. On this occasion she was able to gain a more comprehensive understanding of
the Message. There were present several interpreters with a working knowledge of English who could produce more complete
translations.
From that period onwards, willing helpers in Paris, London and in America not only gave material assistance but their unremitting
labour in furthering the Cause. Many meetings of believers began to be held regularly in the great capitals of the world.
The growth of the Bahá’i Movement together with records dealing with the Master’s visits abroad has been fully covered in pamphlets
and books.
Over a period of many years, Mrs. Thorn- burgh-Cropper gave unstinted help to the Cause and kept in close touch with ‘Abdu’lBahã
and His family, not forgetting the younger generation who were completing their education in England. The latter always found in her
a sympathetic generous friend who would never spare herself to assist them in their problems.

SITARIH KHANUM
(SARA, LADY BLOMFIELD)
A Brief Account of Her Life and Work by Her Daughter
MAn BASIL HALL
She, whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá named “Sitarih Khánum” passed away peacefully on the last day of the year 1939, at the age of eighty. In
the overwhelming sorrow of parting from a wonderful personality and a deeply loved mother, it is hard to rejoice in the gladness that
is hers, but that must be the predominant note in this account of her beautiful life by one who knew and loved her so well. For I can
remember, from the earliest days, her valiant spirit meeting sadness and difficulties with radiant acquiescence and invincible faith. It
was as if she knew what rare privilege awaited her, since she it was who welcomed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to her home when he came to
England. She was one of those “Waiting Servants” who, down the ages, have recognized and acclaimed the Messengers of God in
their Day.
How ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came to London, and my mother’s part in welcoming Him, how she first heard of the Bahá’i Revelation, the
prelude to this wonderful visit, is fully told by herself in her book The Chosen Highway, which she completed on the eve of her
passing.
I can see her, eager, vital, full of sublime enthusiasm, never losing a word or a movement of the Master’s, fully realising that this visit
was an event which belonged to the world.
At this time she had the beauty of a mature soul. The moulding of her face was lovely, and she remained beautiful to the last. Her
facial expressions, ever changing, reflected the spiritual harmony within. Her dress, not fashionable in the ordinary sense, was
distinctive and individual, without being strange. She wore garments with long flowing lines which made her seem taller than her
natural height, and she was as upright always in her outward stature as she was in her soul. Her favourite color was blue, and she
would wear it with her grey or black dresses, in a scarf or a veil which she sometimes bound about her head. I can see her, her eyes
shining, welcoming the

THE BAHA’i WORLD

pilgrim guests to the presence of the Master.
“Isn’t it wonderful!” she would exclaim. “I’t it wonderful?” and her hands would emphasize her words in an emphatic movement,
difficult to describe because it was never the same. In after years she would say “Isn’t it wonderful?” of any triumph of the Cause, or
of some shining event in the spiritual life of mankind, and often the response would be dull and uncomprehending. Those who heard
her could not always rise to her selfless level of rejoicing. At those disappointing moments, a shadow of pity would come into her eyes
for the one who could not share her gladness.
At the outbreak of war we were in Switzerland, but soon came to Paris, where my mother, my sister Ellinor and I helped as V.A.D.’s
under the French Red Cross in the Haden Guest Unit at the Hospital Hotel Majestic.
Any kind of suffering touched my mother

profoundly, but the sight of young men maimed for life, and the new and horrible experiences she had to endure during the dressing of
their wounds, her mental agony reflecting their pain, tortured her beyond words. After that first heart-rending morning in the wards,
we were silent as we walked back to the Hotel D’Jena for luncheon. We imagined ourselves unable to touch any food. But my
mother’s courage and strength of mind prevailed. She said quietly:
“We must eat, or we shall be ill ourselves. Then we shall not be able to help.”
The hospital unit moved from Paris in March, 1915, and we returned to London in April. During the rest of the War, my mother
helped in various hospitals, was a member of a number of Committees, and kept open house for the Anzacs who were recovering from
their wounds. She never neglected the sparsely attended Bahã’i Meetings, which were held when and where circumstances permitted,
and kept in touch

Lady Blomfield, “Sitãrih Khánum,” Pioneer Bahá’i of England

pict213.jpg

IN MEMORIAM

with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Haifa, and the friends abroad whenever correspondence was possible.
When the War was over we intended to go to Haifa, but were prevented from going, to my mother’s lasting regret, by some domestic
affairs at home.
I shall never forget the day news came of the passing of the Master. The Guardian was in London at the time, and his grief was heartbreaking to witness. My mother travelled with him to Haifa, and, I believe her companionship and help were of service to him,
stricken with overwhelming sorrow as he was.
When she had been there some weeks, Munirih Khánum, the widow of ‘Abdu’lBahá, in a letter to my husband explaining some point
of teaching for which he had asked an interpretation, said:
“We are all very glad to have the honour- able lady, Sitarih Khánum, Lady Blomfield in our midst. Her presence gives us much joy.
We look upon her, not only as a friend, but as one of our own dear family.”
While she was staying at Haifa, she gathered together some of the notes from which she compiled The Chosen Highway. She also
wrote a letter which was published as a pamphlet, called The Passing of Abdn’lBa/id. The rest of the material for The Chosen
Highway was garnered from witnesses of the early days of the Revelation during her second visit to Palestine, eight years later.
Before her first visit to Haifa, and in the intervening period between that and her second visit, my mother spent some years at Geneva.
She attempted to inculcate the principles of the Bahá’i Faith in a way which showed her discrimination and wisdom perhaps more
markedly than in any other work she had done for the Cause.
The problem my mother had to face was this. How could the attention of people working in the League be attracted? How could those
who were not already interested be brought in? How could the influence of the Cause be widened in the city where it is so much
needed?
Divine guidance showed her the way. She called her spiritual campaign the movement for the World’s Supreme Peace mean-

ing spiritual, as well as political Peace. Under its auspices she gathered together weekly at her hotel, as many as a hundred people at a
time, to hear speakers of high intention and thought from all over the world. Pioneers of non-sectarian philanthropic movements
would explain their work. These meetings were attended by people of many races and creeds. The subject of each address would
illustrate one principle of Bahá’i teaching, which my mother would explain from the Chair. Occasionally a meeting would be
addressed by a Bahá’i teacher of international repute. The whole series constituted a moral synthesis the full expression of which
could be found by the earnest seeker only in the Revelation of Baha’u’llah.
“Who is this Persian Prophet you quote so much?” individuals would ask, in the quiet conversations my mother had with them after
the meetings. She would tell them, and thus the seed was sown. These conferences were much appreciated as the attendance showed.
Busy people have no time to go to meetings which do not interest them. Each would write his or her name and address in a book
which my mother kept for further “contacts” She would spend hours writing to them of the Cause, and answering the questions which
came in return. She had a leaflet printed in English and French, which she sent to all the Delegates, the result of which she kept in a
record of those who sympathised with her aims, or promised active support of the principles.
At this time she formed two sincere friendships. One was with Eglantyne Jebb, the Founder of the Save the Children Fund, whom she
was privileged to help in securing the famous “Declaration of Geneva” for the salvation of the world’s starving and refugee children.
The other was with Gertrude Eaton,1 the fearless international worker for the amelioration of the lot of the world’s prisoners. Gertrude
Eaton had travelled all over Europe visiting prisons and exposing to the League and thus to the world the abuses of those systems
which disgraced civilisation. She was one of the speakers at a conference
1 Miss Gertrude Eaton psssed away two weeke after her friend, Lady l3lomfield, having spent the last few days in Lady Blomfield’s house.—Ed.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

for the World’s Supreme Peace. Sir Jagadis Bose, the great Indian scientist, was another.
The names and addresses of all those who signed my Mother’s leaflet are being kept by the Bahá’is of the British Isles for future use
in spreading the Cause. In this way my mother’s work at Geneva will continue to have its effect, for those to whom she spoke or wrote
to of the Bahá’i Revelation will assuredly hear more.
As a result of this an invitation came to the “Bahá’i National Assembly” to become a Corporate Member of the League of Na— tions
Union, which invitation was accepted with the reservation that no connection with Politics was desired. They wished only to be
associated with the Religions and Ethics Activities.
“The Bahá’i National Assembly” has now been formally elected a Corporate Member of the “League of Nations Union.”
After her second visit to Haifa in 1930, my mother returned home to the house we were sharing in Hampstead. During the last ten
years we have had many joyful meetings of the friends, and have had the pleasure of entertaining many Bahá’i travellers from all parts
of the world. My mother worked assiduously at her book, and after some heartbreaking setbacks, which need not be described she at
last finished The Chosen Highway before she passed on. She had given it into the hands of David Hofman, to be published by the
Bahá’i Publishing Trust, and had asked Ilasan Balyuzi to write a foreword.
When going through my beloved mother’s papers I was amazed to find how much she had written, not as professional writers express
their thoughts in a more or less orderly sequence of filed manuscripts, but on odd pieces of note paper, in engagement books, or
diaries, as if she had to write, but did not imagine anyone would consider what she had written worth publication. Some were
accounts of dreams and visions she had experienced, some the effulgence of her beautiful soul, like the song of a bird, irrepressible,
ecstatic. Here is a poem I found, the otily one she ever wrote, as far as I know:
Ah! Who can understand that which I dream?
And the unheard desires, which without end,

Like tumultuous waves, tumble deliriously
Terrible and at the same time sweet as honey
In my soul, immense as the sky!
A dream which came to my soul, heavens high,
Vastness reflecting,
Brought desires like waves lashed by the wind
In wild delirium breaking.
Terrible, monstrous now, now soft as the zephyrs breathing.
My soul has penetrated far beyond the Choir Through clouds of opal to the blue dwelling
of causes!
She saw there the Ineffable, and of all these things
She has made an Idol, and has set it in my heart.
My beloved mother was not ill long. There is a strange significance in the fact that during the last days when she
seemed to be recovering, she refused all food, which was the only remedy that would have preserved her life. She must
have known that the time had come for her to enter the radiant Kingdom to which she so truly belonged. Afterwards I
read again her account of the Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and these words met my eyes: “He lay down again, and as some
food was offered him, he remarked in a clear and distinct voice: ‘You wish me to take some food, and I am going?’ He
gave them a beautiful look. His face was so calm, his expression so serene, they thought him asleep. He had gone from
the gaze of his loved ones.”
I was not with her at the end, though I had visited the nursing home twice that day. They told me her passing was
iieaceful. “A beautiful death,” they said.
In faith I know that she is rejoicing in the presence of the Master and the friends she loved so dearly. I know that she is
radiant in the Kingdom of God. I know that her devoted service to the Cause, which was never for one moment
separated in her heart from the Cause of the Eternal Christ, has gained her a high place in the Celestial Garden, and I
know that her love is still shining on the friends and dear ones she has left on earth.
I will end with a beautiful prayer, which I found so faintly written in pencil, on such

IN MEMORIAM

Rahmatu’lláh ‘Alá’i of Iran
Rahmatu’lláh ‘Alã’i was one of the well-known
Bahá’is of Iran. He traveled extensively throughout his country promoting the interests of the
Faith, teaching and inspiring his fellow-workers.
His willing spirit and example will be greatly missed by the believers of I ran.

The coffin bearing the remains of Rahmatu’lláh ‘Alá’i of Tihran being borne to the Bahá’i cemetery. December 3rd,
1939.

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THE BAHA’i WORLD

an old piece of paper, that it must have been written long ago and may be taken as the theme of her beautiful and saintly life:
O God! My Beloved!
All my affairs are in Thy hands. Be Thou the Mover of my actions, The Lode Star of my soul,
The Voice that crieth in my inmost being, The object of my heart’s adoration! I praise Thee that Thou hast enabled me To turn my
face unto Thee,
That Thou hast set my soul ablaze With remembrance of Thee!
GRACE ROBARTS OBER
By MABEL RICE-WRAY IvEs
It is not a simple task, nor an easy one, to attempt to portray the life and influence of so rare a soul as Grace Robarts Ober, whose
triumphant and dramatic ascension to the Supreme World thrilled the hearts of all those who filled to overflowing the Foundation Hall
of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár at Wilmette, Ill., during the historic Bahá’i Convention of 1938.
It was Saturday afternoon, May 1st. For three days the delegates and friends had been grappling with perplexing problems which were
shaking the Cause in America to its very foundations. That morning the Guardian’s cable announcing the passing of the beloved Holy
Mother had shocked the friends into a deep awareness of cosmic events, and increased the sense of individual responsibility, now that
that glorious and infinitely patient being had been withdrawn from the human plane.
The long-awaited and stimulating accounts of teaching activities by the various workers in the vineyards of God were in full swing,
and, finally, the Convention Chairman, Mr. Harlan Ober, called his wife to the platform to make her report on her teaching activities
in Louisville, Ky., from which city she had just come, and on her work in Toronto, Canada, where she had spent wonderful and
fruitful months in the preceding fall. As she stood before the assemblage one sensed an almost unearthly radiance flowing from her.
She looked unbelievably young and fresh and beautiful, as if she had quaffed

from the Fountain of eternal youth, as, in fact, she had indeed. And when she spoke a Power poured through her which
was not of this world. There was a resonance and a ring in her voice which swept her audience to spiritual heights.
Through her poured a mighty challenge and a resounding call for pioneer teachers to arise and take the Cause of
Bahá’u’lláh to all parts of America. She also emphasized the great need for the establishment of summer schools for
small children.
As she finished her talk she grasped the table with her left hand, and raising her right arm as high as her fingers could
reach, in a characteristic gesture of victory or f are- well, she cried out in a triumphant voice, (or was it, perhaps, a call
for help to a Higher World) “Yá-Bahã’u’l-Abhá!” Then she sank into a chair on the platform. A faintness seemed to
come over her. A Bahi’i physician in the audience hastened to the platform and assisted her from the room. It was
necessary to carry her the latter half of the distance. In a very few moments word was brought that she was very ill, and
healing prayers were requested.
That great audience joined in supplication for her recovery. There was an evident deep spiritual vibration in the hall as
though divine Presences were assembled unseen.
The reports continued under another chairman as Mr. Ober had followed his wife to the ante-room. Again another
request for prayers for her was voiced, and again that loving group of friends besought the favor of God on her behalf.
As one soul they entreated His mercy and assistance. Within a very few moments a member of the National Spiritual
Assembly coming to the platform announced the ascension of her beloved spirit, and asked that all should join in
prayers for the departed. So, with breaking hearts, all that large assemblage joined in supplication for her progress
throughout all the Worlds of God, as the divine Words revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for those who had ascended were
reverently read in her behalf. She whom they had known so long and so well, whom they had loved and reverenced in
her so-near-perfect life, was no longer with them in her outer form, but many of the friends reported afterwards

IN MEMORIAM

their clear consciousness of her presence in the room—a radiant, released presence, infinitely happy and shining.
And then it was evident that something had happened of immortal import. In that unity of spirit only to be forged in such a fire of
divine love the friends had indeed become “as one soul in many bodies.” Wounded hearts were healed, and hearts perhaps a little hard
were melted, and in that melting had become fused and made one. It was as if in the so-glorious passing of that beloved one, the very
essence of her life, the very attar of her matchless being had been distilled and flowed into the hearts of the deeply moved friends, and
a healing love been born. Each looked about with new eyes and saw new loveliness revealed in every face. It was a veritable rebirth.
The walls of separateness were demolished. The shell which wraps in awful isolation each soul, was broken. A new and deeper Unity
was born. The sacrifice had been accepted.

Thus she ascended, borne upon the wings of the prayers of her friends. A fitting and triumphant ending for a life of as
nearly complete selflessness as the writer has ever seen.
Grace Robarts was born in Thorold, Ont., Canada, of the late Sarah E. Wilson and the Rev. Thomas Tempest Robarts, a
canon in the Anglican Church. She was a graduate of Bishop Strachan School in Toronto, and, later, of Pratt Institute in
Brooklyn, N. Y. Later she was one of the three founders of the co-educational “Camp Lanier” situated on the
Piscataqua River in Eliot, Me. Before her marriage to Mr. Harlan Ober in 1912 she had a distinguished career as a
teacher of Household Arts in a Canadian college, and there and elsewhere she was the means of helping many young
people to find themselves and to express themselves successfully in the supreme art of living.
As a little child she told her mother one day that she knew she had come into the world with a gift which she felt in
some

Grace Robarts Ober

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THE BAHA’I WORLD

way was for women. During her young and formative years she frequently accompanied her father on his errands of
mercy about his parish, and it was perhaps from these experiences that she developed the habit, so extraordinarily a part
of her throughout her whole life, of considering the welfare of everyone but herself; of continually giving, from
morning till night, of friendship, service, inspiration, material benefits to all those with whom she came in contact. She
was unique in that there was no such word as “stranger” in her vocabulary. She was, to an amazing degree, a friend to
all the world. Wherever she was, in a public conveyance, in a public gathering, at a summer resort— people were just
people—her people, and she held out the hand of friendship to them wherever she felt moved to do so. From the tramp
in the street to the men and women in the high places of the earth, she felt completely at home with all, and emulated
her Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in always addressing the higher self of each one. She seemed unconscious of anything but
the highest in each soul. If a person had “ten bad qualities and only one good one” she instinctively saw only the one
and called to it. Her normal attitude was that of exalting everyone but herself. Her characteristic gesture, that one which
all who knew ‘Abdu’l-Bahi recall as His, was that of raising the arm with an upward fling as if calling the soul to the
highest. Many came to her with their personal problems and heart-aches, and each went away with a new courage and
an increased knowledge of how to meet life on a higher level. How often one heard the remark of some summer-guest
at Green Acre:
“Oh, Green Acre is wonderful, and the heart of Green Acre is the Ober Farm. There one finds the deep spiritual
sustenance.” And so, all summer long, came the friends, morning, noon and night, out to the old farm-house, which her
art had transformed into a colorful and restful home—a home for the soul as well as for the body. Everyone who came
she met with radiant cheer and enthusiasm. Each one felt that he or she had come to his home of dreams where love
dwelt continually and warmed the heart, and each one was made to feel that it was his home— the home of love and
unity. The secret of

the remarkable atmosphere lay in the fact that she considered her home as not hers but the home of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As she so often
expressed it—she felt as though she were merely the servant in the house.
During the months of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s stay in America in 1912 Mrs. Ober (Grace Robarts) had the honor of being indeed the “servant”
in His home in whatever city He was staying. He chose her to go ahead and secure an apartment for Him and have it in readiness upon
His arrival. Then she would care for His home as a housekeeper and hostess while He and His secretaries, and those Persians who had
the privilege of serving Him in various capacities, remained there. She kept the home immaculate, and always ready for the constant
stream of guests from morning to night, Bahá’is and inquirers and souls in difficulty to whom ‘Abdu’l-Baha was always a loving
Father. It was during one of the New York City visits of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that He suggested her marriage to Harlan Ober. Gaining the
consent of these two devoted believers, who in His consummate wisdom He had drawn together, He, on the following day, July 17,
1912, married them in the morning, according to the Bahá’i marriage.
This infinite bounty of being chosen for each other and joined in marriage by the Center of the Covenant Himself was a unique favor
bestowed upon these two souls alone, out of all America.
After they had been joined in a divine and eternal relationship by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá He requested Howard Colby Ives, a Unitarian
minister, deeply attracted to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but not, as yet, a confirmed Bahã’i, to perform the legal ceremony.
That this marriage was indeed blessed in the annals of the Faith in America thousands will testify. Although no physical children
resulted from this union many, many spiritual children have been brought to birth. That their home might be a complete home Mr. and
Mrs. Ober adopted three children who grew and thrived in that spiritual atmosphere of love which they provided so unstintedly.
In 1920 Mrs. Ober accompanied her husband to the Holy Land to visit ‘Abdu’lBahá. They visited and spoke in many coun

IN MEMORIAM

1c59

Háji Ghulám-Ridá
Háji Ghulám-Ridá, surnamed Amin-Amin, was one of the outstanding believers of Iran. Over a period of many years
he rendered the Faith notable services, giving of his time and means unstintingly for the progress of the Cause in the
land of its birth. He was greatly trusted by both ‘Abdu’lBahã and Shoghi Effendi who often confided important affairs
to his care. His help and support will be greatly missed by his fellow workers.

The body of 11á3 I Ghulám-Ridá, surnamed AminAmin, being removed from his home in Tihran,
December 23rd, 1939.
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THE BAHA’I WORLD

tries on their way home, especially in Germany where they were assisted to render historic services. While in England they met
Shoghi Rabbani, as he was then called, and though none at that time, nor even he himself, was aware of his great destiny, Grace Ober,
through a divine prescience, became conscious of the loftiness of his being, and was given a glimpse of his station.
The writer was with her almost constantly for a long period immediately after her return to the United States, and on a number of
occasions she spoke of the mysterious greatness of this youth, the grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, then a student in Oxford University. She
said: ttj am almost afraid to voice it, but I know that he is greater than anyone on earth except ‘Abdu’l-Bahã.” Then when the Will and
Covenant of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã was read she was perhaps one of the first ones in the Western world to acclaim inwardly and outwardly the
station of Guardianship.
To her thousands of friends and fellow- believers Grace Robarts Ober is still intensely alive. Many of them have turned to her with
their problems asking that she supplicate for them to the Lord of the Worlds, just as they did when she was outwardly among them.
They feel her radiant presence in many of their gatherings.
The following cablegrams were received from the Guardian at the time of her ascension.
Received May 3rd, 1938
To the National Spiritual Assembly:
(I am) Profoundly grieved (over the) great loss sustained (in the) teaching field through (the) passing (of the) distinguished worker,
(our) beloved Grace Ober. Advise (the) delegates to pay worthy tribute (to) her glowing spirit (and) eminent services. (I am) joining
them (in) fervent prayers.

(signed) SHOGHI

Received May 4th, 1938
To Harlan Ober:
(My) Heart (is) overflowing (with) grief (and) sympathy (over the) dramatic ending (of a) noble life. (I) Feel proud

(of) your dear wife’s unforgettable services. Praying fervently for her departed soul.
Love
(signed) SH0GHI
In a letter from the Guardian received a few weeks later came these words:
“The dramatic passing of your well-beloved wife has certainly served to deepen considerably in the friends the urge to consecrate
themselves more firmly than ever to the service of the Cause. They might all well emulate the noble example which she has set before
them throughout her rich career as a Bahã’i and endeavor to follow in her footsteps and to strive to live up to the high standard of
Bahã’i service and conduct which she always maintained.”
PAULINE KNORLOCH HANNEN
Pauline Knobloch Hannen, one of the earliest American Bahã’is, ascended to her eternal home October 4th, 1939, and was attended in
her funeral obsequies by relatives and many sorrowing friends. A spiritual light, she maintained through life a prayerful attitude in
word and deed and hers was the honor of being the means of attraction to the Faith of all her immediate family. These included her
mother, Amalie Knobloch, her husband, the late Joseph H. Hannen, her two sisters, Fannie A. and Alma Knobloch, internationally
known teachers, and of course her two noble sons.
About 1903 she heard the Great Message, given most directly, according to the custom of those days. Greatly agitated, she became a
believer in three days; and then came the task of guiding her family, who were dismayed in view of what they thought her loss of
sanity, but were convinced by her penetrating arguments.
During her married life, which ended in 1919, her activities were inseparable from those of her husband. These two rare souls were
united in service, teaching every rank, color, class and creed, amid rural scenes and in many cities, in Washington, where they resided,
from the lowly prisoners in jail to the social leaders. How healing to the sick; how consoling to the distressed; how enlightening to
children and to those of mature years; how harmonizing an influence;

IN MEMORIAM

how self-sacrificing; how ceaselessly active! Their southern origin, freedom from prejudice, warmth of heart and
knowledge of the Word of God, admirably fitted them for the stupendous and glorious task of harmonizing the races,
assigned them by the Master. They visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Holy Shrines in 1909, receiving many teachings and
instructions, which were published in the little pamphlet, ‘A/Jul Lights. They reverently entered the Sacred Shrines.
The memorial meeting held in the early days in their home for their revered mother, Mrs. Amalie Knobloch, brought
such a confirmation that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, writing about it in a Tablet stated, “That meeting caused comment in the
Supreme Concourse.” He further wrote a visiting Tablet for the departed. During his stay in America in 1912 He spent
an evening in the home of the Hannens, improving the occasion to teach those who attended, largely of the colored
race, many wonderful lessons, taking as His subject “Isfandiar,” the very wonderful colored attendant of Bahá’u’lláh,
whose fidelity and heroism were subjects of high eulogy.
The sudden passing of “Brother Joseph,” as he was lovingly called by his many Bahâ’i friends, was accepted by his
widow with sweet resignation that could be born only of the Spirit. She bravely set out to earn her own living, holding
one place and then another, meeting the adjustments and changes of life with admirable poise, yet not failing to
improve every opportunity to teach the wonders of the Day of God. She was looked upon with reverence in her own
family; was a loving mother to her children and grand-children; and hardly less a comfort to her many spiritual
children, and to any who sought the solace and wisdom of her spiritual life. She knew the heavenly Teachings and
stated them with simplicity, clarity, sincerity and power which carried conviction to all who cared to listen.
Over a long period of years she suffered physical pain, but was not given to complaint. She was ever inclined to help;
to overlook the faults of others; to teach them the sweetness of humility by example; to forget her own trials in the joy
of serving others. She had the joy of seeing her loved ones well placed and leading useful and

fruitful lives before her own passing. They could always count upon her prayers as a powerful aid.
Her passing while she slept, was as sudden, though not so tragic, as that of her distinguished husband many years ago.
The grief of those who loved her, at this inevitable separation, is in a measure assuaged by thoughts of the joyous
reunion of these two souls, in the realm of Light, “Under the shadow of the Favor of their Lord.” In a Tablet written
them jointly by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá just a short time previous to the accident which deprived Brother Joseph of mortal life,
He said to them, prophetically, “Your future is very brilliant.”

Louis G. GREGORY.

SHAHNAZ KHANUM
(MRS. LOUISE R. WAITE)
On June 2nd, 1939, the following cablegram arrived in Los Angeles, California, from Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of
the Bahá’i World Religion. It was addressed to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of that city:
“Passing of Shãhnaz, beloved pioneer, deeply lamented. Record (of her) outstanding services imperishable. Reward
assured. Ardent prayers.”
Sháhnaz Khánum, Mrs. Louise R. Waite, quietly had passed away in her sleep from natural causes on Saturday, May
27th, 1939. No illness preceded her death. Like the nightingale of which she loved to write, she had spread her wings
and flown away.
Sháhnaz was indeed a “beloved pioneer” in the Bahá’i Faith. Before her marriage to Edgar F. Waite, April 15, 1902,
she was known as Louise Spencer and lived in Chicago, Illinois, a fortunate and glorious residence for her. She was
geographically near, therefore, when the first mention of Bahá’u’lláh was made in America, at the World’s Fair held in
Chicago, in 1893. Furthermore, she was still resident in Chicago, when, on June 5, 1894, Thornton Chase, the first
American Bahá’i, learned of the Bahã’i Faith. That Shãhnaz was also spiritually not far away is proven by the fact that
it was but a few years thereafter that she heard of and accepted this latest Revelation of God.

THE BAHA’t WORLD

In the year 1902, one finds Mrs. Waite, as Louise Spencer, receiving her first communication from the great Center of
the Covenant of the Faith, His Holiness ‘Abdu’lBahá. In this message ‘Abdu’l-Bahá outlined for her the purpose of the
Cause of God:
0 maid-servant of God! Strive with all thy powers in diffusing the spirit of real union among the people, so that all who
are on earth become one family, loving, united, agreed, bound by the bonds of love and united with all harmony in all
things and conditions; this is the greatest happiness of the human race in the world of possibilities.”
It was in that same year of 1902, that Sháhnaz, in her capacity of poet-composer of songs, began to send her verse to
‘Abdu’lBahã, a vitally important step for the development of her genius. Regarding one of these compositions ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá wrote to her: “My heart was attracted by its eloquent sense. I prayed to God to make thee utter more beautiful
compositions than this. Thus thou mayest be the first to praise the

Beauty of El Abhã and the first utterer of His Name among the women
That this prayer of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá received a most potent answer there is no doubt whatever. God, alone, assists. Mrs.
Waite afterwards produced many beautiful songs which have been sung in Bahá’i gatherings around the world. They
have been translated into Iranian poetry. They are sung from the kindergarten to the University in the ever-growing
associations of the friends of God.
All lovers of poetry will find a point of deepest interest in an excerpt from still another communication to Mrs. Waite
from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “How many poets have come to this world who have written elegies and eulogies in the utmost of
eloquence and excellence, but because the meanings were the realities of the world of nature, the effect was produced
in the material world and the material world is limited, hence the effects of those meanings are limited. But thou art a
composer of poetry which touches Divine

Leroy loas and Shãhnax Waite
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IN MEMORIAM

Realities and Significances, therefore they are of the mysteries of the Kingdom and the meanings of the Kingdom are unlimited. The
poetry of the renowned is perused in the material meetings, but thy poetry will forever be read in the Spiritual Meetings. .
When Louise Spencer became Mrs. Waite, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to her: “Whe relationship, union and concord exist between the two”
(husband and wife), “from a physical and spiritual standpoint, that is real Union, therefore everlasting. But if the union is merely from
the physical point of view unquestionably it is temporal and at the end separation is inevitable.”
Together with Edgar, her husband, Sháhnaz endeavored to fulfil still further ideals in marriage enunciated for them by the Center of
God’s Covenant: “eternal connection and ideal relationship, spiritual and physical association of thoughts and conceptions of life must
exist between them, so that in all the grades of existence and all the worlds of God this union may continue forever and ever for this
Real Union is a Splendor of the Love of God. . .
The only child of Edgar and Sháhnaz, a daughter, died early in life. Was it not this death that inspired Mrs. Waite to write songs for
children, and kept a very tender attitude towards them in her mind? But the marriage of Sháhnaz and Edgar was a partnership of
service. Mr. Waite valued the exceptional capacities of his wife as a writer and a Bahã’i teacher and, by his unselfish assumption of
many daily tasks in addition to his own work, released her for service in that larger field. Thus the great Bahá’i World Religion was
brought to the attention of many souls. Mr. Waite preceded his wife by eight years, going on into the spiritual realms of God in 1931.
From the year 1902, until her receipt, after His passing in 1921, of three messages from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which were found in His
effects and forwarded to her, Mrs. Waite was able to treasure forty-one missives from that great Spiritual Source. In regard to such
productions from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Pen, He is quoted by Mrs. Waite as explaining:
“Know thou that all the promises of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã are true and His instructions

are inspirations of the Holy Spirit and received as suggestions from Bahá’u’lláh. Be assured what I have said will come to pass.”
Among such missives received by Sháhnaz are elucidations on music; reincarnation; cremation (the Bahá’i attitude towards same),
and, as above in part noted, regarding poetry and marriage.
Sháhnaz had the great bounty not only of being near ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Chicago, in 1912, when He visited North America, but also of
making the pilgrimage to the Most Holy Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh at ‘Akkã, and to that of the Bãb, His wondrous Forerunner- Prophet, on
the side of Mount Carmel, at Haifa, Palestine. She made this trip and landed in Palestine in October 1909, but a year after ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá was released from the prison of ‘Akká by the dethronement of Sulçán ‘Abdu’l-Hamid, in 1908, when religious prisoners were
set free.
As has been noted, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ascended in 1921. His great Will and Testament was opened and read thereafter in Palestine. This
momentous and sacred Will appointed the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, as Interpreter of the Word of God and head of the Universal
House of Justice for life. These two institutions head the Bahã’i Administrative Order, established by both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá.
Firm in the Covenant, Mrs. Waite faithfully turned to the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, and the Bahã’i Administration. She and Edgar
had moved to Los Angeles, California, from Chicago. She served faithfully on the Spiritual Assembly of that city, when elected by the
Bahá’i Community to that office.
Mrs. Waite held membership in many clubs; she belonged to writers’ organizations for women. She was very active over a long
period.
Among her writings her Advanced Lessons in the Bahd’i Faith are approved by both the Guardian and the National Spiritual
Assembly and are awaiting publication. Published work of her’s includes Bahd’I Hymns of Peace and Praise, Songs For
Children; The Man in the Moon (a musical fantasy); Songs of America. She wrote for The Star of the West; Bahá’I
Magazine; THE BAHA’i WORLD; various magazines;

THE BAHA’T WORLD

and contributed many poems to the Hollywood Daily Citizen-News.
Sháhnaz was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, daughter of James Dunn and Virginia (Moody) Robinson. She received her secular
education at a girl’s college at Staunton, Virginia.
“Abdu’l-Bahá said to me in ‘Akká,” wrote Mrs. Waite, “Many have started out upon this journey and never arrived and many have
arrived hut have never attained to the meeting, but you have attained, and as you are with Me today, so shall you be throughout all the
worlds of God.” Bahá’is know that where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is there will be the majestic Bahã’u’lláh, likewise the Prophet Muhammad,
and the Spirit of God, Jesus Christ, and Moses, likewise all the Prophets and saints of God. As Mrs. Waite wrote of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
promise to her:
“0 glorious promise of immortal bliss.”
WILLARD P. HATCH.
SORAYA CHAMBERLAIN
(MRS. ISABEL FRASER
CHAMBERLAIN)
Isabel Fraser, later to become Isabel Fraser Chamberlain, and named Soraya Chamberlain by those who loved her, was born in San
Francisco, California, March 7th, 1871. “Her parents, Daniel Fraser and Isabella Ross Fraser were Scotch and came to California in
the eighteen sixties and were married in San Francisco,” according to her brother.
To become a lover of God and thus become a lover of all humanity, realizing mankind as His creation, is a tremendous forward step in
the progress of the soul. Mrs. Chamberlain believed implicitly that this requires the help of God through His Manifestations, Who
appear successively every 500 to 1,000 years.
After having been graduated from the old Los Angeles Normal School in the class of 1893, Soraya’s brother states, “she was a school
teacher in various places in California for several years” and then began writing for San Francisco, New York, London and Paris
newspapers. It is clear that she was becoming international in her thinking. In 1909, she was ready. According to her friends, Bert and
Lillian Randall, it was in that year

that “Ma Longu” gave her the Glad Tidings of the Manifestation of God, Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahã’i World Religion. “She
accepted it at once, but she visited ‘Ma Longu’ every night for two or three months before she became conversant with it.”
The majestic Bahã’u’lláh, still nominally a religious prisoner of the oppressor Sultan ‘Abdu’l-Hamid, had passed away in the Mansion
of Bahji, a mile or so north-east of ‘Akká, Palestine, in 1892. When Soraya Chamberlain attained the joy of “pleasing God and
entering His Cause,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Perfect Exemplar of the Bahâ’i Faith and the Center of Its Covenant, was like a full Moon of
Light reflected from Bahá’u’lláh. He had been released from Turkish imprisonment at ‘Akká in 1908, had journeyed to Europe and to
America in 1912- 1913, and had returned to Ramleh, Egypt, a suburb of Alexandria. There it was that Soraya took her compilation of
His talks for His inspection. (This compilation was published in book form under the title Divine Philosophy of ‘Abdn’l-
BahcL) There she was privileged to have many pleasant interviews with Him. There it was that He pointed in the early evening to a
star, which she identified as Venus, and told her to be like that star and she would attain to the Kingdom (of God).
A few years later, the Randalls think it was in 1919-20, Soraya visited the Shrine of the Bãb, Prophet-Herald of Bahá’u’lláh, on Mount
Carmel, and again conversed with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Her treasured keepsakes were an old-type Edison record of a Supplication by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, hair of both Bahá’u’llãh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahã and thirty-three English sovereigns received from the Latter.
In 1921 ‘Abdu’l-Bahã ascended. Soraya lived through the world-wide grief this caused both Bahâ’is and many who did not profess the
Faith. She recognized fully the glorious comfort in His Words, as quoted by the First Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, in The
Dispensation of Bahd’u’lldh, as follows:
‘Fear not,’ are His (‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s) reassuring words foreshadowing the rise of the Administrative Order as established by His Will,
‘fear not if this Branch be severed from this material world and cast aside its leaves, nay, the leaves thereof shall flourish, for this

IN MEMORIAM

Branch will grow after it is cut off from this world below, it shall reach the loftiest pinnacles of glory, and it shall bear such fruits as
will perfume the world with their fragrance.’ “ These words Mrs. Chamberlain accepted.
A happy recollection is one of seeing her taking nine autographed copies of her compilation, one of which she gave to each of the nine
members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Los Angeles, California.
In February, 1939, Isabel Fraser Chamberlain ascended. Miss Clara ‘Weir, a Bahá’i of Los Angeles, went to call upon her friend
Soraya Chamberlain one day and found her so ill that she was unable to care for herself. Her appearance shocked Miss Weir, who
immediately called an ambulance and had Soraya taken to a hospital. In a few days she passed away. Miss ‘Weir afterwards wrote of
her: “Mr. Abraham Gump, Art Dealer of San Francisco, has given a donation to the State School for the Blind in Soraya’s name. At
the time of her death she

was planning to visit Shoghi Effendi. It was her desire to serve the Cause in Scotland. He said that Scotland was the land of Joseph
and that the Scotch plaid represented Joseph’s coat. It was also her intention to go to India, where she has friends, and to Iran. . .
At her brother’s request, the body of Soraya Chamberlain was shipped to Oakland, California. Her soul? As to the soul, Bahá’u’lláh
has written: “Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the people
of the world . . . The Maids of Heaven, inmates of the loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of God and His chosen
ones will seek its companionship. With them that soul will freely converse, and will recount unto them that which it hath been made to
endure in the path of God, the Lord of all worlds.”
A cable about Soraya from the Guardian is unavailable.

Soraya Fraser Chamberlain

WILLARD P. HATCH.

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THE BAHA’i WORLD

MARIE B. MOORE
This devoted servant of the Faith of Bahã’u’lláh was confirmed after her marriage to the late Clarence Moore who had been one of the
small group of believers at Paris some thirty-five years ago and had made pilgrimage to ‘Akká while the Master was still imprisoned.
For more than twenty years Mrs. Moore was actively associated with the work of the New York Bahá’i community and for more than
ten years had contributed invaluable services to the development of the Publishing. and Editorial Committees of the National Spiritual
Assembly. A member of the Spiritual Assembly of the New York Babá’is for many years, she served that body as Recording
Secretary, Treasurer and Historian. In the latter capacity Mrs. Moore gathered together and arranged chronologically a vast amount of
material constituting the archives of the local Assembly and covering some forty years of Bahá’i history in the City of the Covenant.
For several years, and until compelled by ill health to abandon this activity, she served as Manager of the Publishing Committee. Later
she perfected the method of assuring accuracy and uniformity in the publishing of Bahá’i books, more particularly the successive
volumes of THE BANAl WORLD.
The other and more incidental services rendered the Faith and her fellow-Bahã’is by this radiant and steadfast soul were constant and
uninterrupted year after year. The entire community of believers could testify to her deeds. Above all, not less important than her
administrative and literary achievements, Mrs. Moore manifested a firm and inward calm, a poised justice and unvarying good will,
which made her a true witness to the evolving spirit of the Faith of Bahâ’u’llãh during the years of ordeal and test which followed the
Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921.
The funeral service held in her honor at the New York Bahá’i Center was significant in that her associates at the School of the Society
for Ethical Culture combined with the Bahã’is in grateful appreciation and sincere personal grief. The annals of the Faith, moreover,
are enriched by the following letter written by Shoghi Effendi, the first part

through his Secretary, the balance in his own hand: “It deeply grieved him, however, to hear of the passing away of dear Mrs. Marie
Moore, knowing full well the quality of the loss your Committee (i.e., Publishing Committee) has sustained through her untimely
departure. Her services, so steadfastly and conscientiously rendered, will ever be remembered with deep gratitude by the friends, and
particularly by those like you (this letter was addressed to Mrs. C. R. Wood, Secretary of the Committee) who have had the great
pleasure of working so closely with her in the publishing field. . .
“I truly and deeply deplore the passing of our very dear Bahá’i sister, Mrs. Moore. Her splendid spirit, her incessant activities, her
magnificent accomplishments, her exemplary fidelity, will be gratefully remembered by the rising generation. I will specially pray for
the repose and progress of her soul in the Great Beyond.—Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi.”
Finally, we note that of her children, one, Mrs. Emilie Kalantar, has long been an active worker in the Faith and with her husband was
among those who first arose to volunteer their services as a pioneer after the Guardian’s clarion call was heard in America. Thus dear
Marie Moore indirectly continues to serve the Cause she loved so well.
ROBERT S. ABBOTT
THE BAHA’i WORLD records with sorrow the passing of Robert S. Abbott whose membership in the Bahá’i Community of Chicago
covered a period of some years during which time, whenever his health permitted, he associated with great sincerity and devotion with
the Bahá’i friends and spared no effort to promulgate the Bahã’i Faith, especially the Principle of the Oneness of Humanity, the justice
of which he felt so profoundly.
The Chicago Defender, the foremost publication in this country devoted to the interests of the Negro race and to the principles of
justice and righteousness has this to say of its beloved and respected editor through the pen of Lucius C. Harper:
The dean of Negro journalism is dead. Even his contemporaries who often doubted the wisdom of his course in life will not deny him
that honorable title in death. He

IN MEMORIAM

hewed through the forest of doubt and despair with an honest heart and a determined spirit. He gained victory by fighting uphill,
almost all the way He loved life and its vexing problems. Courage for the fray was never lacking.
Robert S. Abbott divided Life into four dynamic words . . . Love, Ideals, Faith and Energy. He worked them threadbare on the road to
success. He swept aside doubters, scoffers . . . padded his ears against the broadcast of “It Can’t Be Done,” and built an everlasting
monument to his long and tiresome labor . . . The Chicago Defender.
He educated his race to demand their rights as men. He brought them out of the swamps of shackles and discouragement into the
promised land of hope and liberty. The South despised him for his courage, and with death threats forbade him to return to the land of
his birth. He knew no defeat. Even death to him was a victory over pain.
Robert S. Abbott was a man of one idea, which is all that the brain of any man of action can ever hold. He was not an idle philosopher,
and therefore believed he had a mission in the world, and that he must early get at his work, and never rest day or night, till that work
should be done. He was the Toussaint L’Ouverture of journalism; not a good type for the peace of the world that thrived under the
motto: “Some men up and others down,” but a type that here and there, down through the ages has been needful to kindle a flame that
should burn the malicious institutions and ancient wrongs in the crucible of a race’s awakening wrath.
His early life as a journalist and abolitionist against wrong was one of toil, poverty and hardship. His natural instincts were never
warped, or wrinkled or numbed by learning. His mind was strong for the love of his race; his sense of justice keen and his sympathies
so deep that they were even able to withstand a higher education. He never lost the common touch; he was a militant defender of the
lowly. He believed in his race and in God.
He was not narrow, fanatical and selfish. He was like all men with vision who deeply impress the generation in which they live. Had
he been narrow and selfish in his strug gle

to lift his race in those days of storm, strife and poverty, he would have asked himself the question: “What’s the use?” and the answer
would have brought an easy life and a peaceful death.
When he sought to raise the black man to the level of the white man, he was branded a radical. The radical of today is the conservative
of tomorrow and other martyrs take up the work through other nights, and the dumb and stupid world plants its weary feet upon the
slippery sand soaked by the sweat of their brow and the world moves
on.
Lucky are the sons of black men when such martyrs and faithful servants to a race as Robert S. Abbott are born upon earth. Above
their neglected cradles sing the morning stars and around their humble homes, hushed and expectant, await the early breezes that shall
drive away the fog and mist before the rising sun so a race of men, bruised by shackles, can see clear to progress and achieve.
Farewell, “Chief,” you have pointed to a star . . . may it give hght to our weary feet along the pathway to hope as it did to you in your
yesteryears of hardships.
The Chicago Defender of March 9th devotes almost its entire issue to the life his—

Robert S. Abbott
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THE BAHA’i WORLD

tory of this remarkable man, showing his struggles in the interest of his brothers and paying worthy tribute to the
accomplishments and ideals which he had achieved. Describing the services which were performed at the time of his
burial it cites the long list of prominent people who gathered to pay homage to Mr. Abbott and mentions among those
who officiated in the service Mr. Albert Windust, chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Chicago, of
which Bahá’i Community Mr. Abbott was a member.
MRS. MARGARET CAMPBELL
Mrs. Margaret Campbell, Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Los Angeles, California, was born
March 24th, 1882, at St. Louis, Missouri. She died at a time estimated to have been before dawn on Monday, June 26th,
1939, having been killed in her room in a Hollywood boarding house.
Mrs. Campbell lived in Hollywood, legally

a part of the city of Los Angeles. Because of the startling tragedy of her death, and because she was the secretary of the
Spiritual Assembly of the local Bahá’i Community, the name of the Bahá’i Faith was blazoned and broadcast
throughout the country.
In the effort of some of the reporters to create the bizarre and the extraordinary to add interest to their articles, there
was considerable misrepresentation of the worldwide religion of Bahá’u’lláh. This misstatement of news gave way
almost at once in at least one afternoon paper, the Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express, to a printing of the true
facts in regard to the Bahá’i Faith, as furnished by the local Bahá’i Spiritual Assembly.
The funeral of Mrs. Campbell was conducted by the Troupers, an actors’ organization to which Mrs. Campbell
belonged, in connection with the Spiritual Assembly of the BahI’is of Los Angeles. The funeral parlors were crowded
with people. Later a man going from the services, was overheard

Mrs. Margaret Campbell
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IN MEMORIAM

on the street-car speaking to those with him. He intimated, it is said, that he had attended the funeral expecting to hear or see
something peculiar (probably in the way of ritual), but insisted that he had never before learned so much about religion in so short a
time, as he had learned in listening to the Bahá’i services. These have little of set form, as the Bahá’i Faith has no ecclesiastical order.
“0 SON OF MAN!” writes Bahá’u’lláh as the speaking Mirror of the Word of God for this age, “My calamity is My providence,
outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy. . .
Again He writes, “0 SON OF THE SUPREME! I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve?
From the hour of her death until her body was discovered by her landlady in the evening of the day following, Mrs. Campbell’s
sudden fulfillment of the above verses was unknown to the Bahã’i friends. It was, in

fact, due to the insistence of the Bahã’is of nearby Huntington Park, who were trying to reach Mrs. Campbell by telephone, that her
death was discovered.
Mrs. Campbell had apparently died without a struggle and at once. It is doubtful if she suffered any pain. Suddenly, and completely
unawares, she was transferred in spirit to another world. She died at a time when she had reached the height of her endeavors to serve
the glorious world religion of Bahâ’u’llah, as heralded by the Báb. That very night she had returned home from having conducted a
course for those interested in the Bahá’i Faith. Behind her had unrolled twenty-seven years of acquaintance with the religion of God as
unfolding for this era of the “coming of age of humanity.” She had first heard of the Causein St. Louis, Mo., in 1912.
As secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Los Angeles, California, a very active and rapidly expanding Bahá’i
Community, Mrs. Campbell was busy indeed

Howard M. Kinney
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THE BAHA’t WORLD

with her official correspondence and other administrative duties for the Faith. This service she rejoiced in, and for it had expressed her
gratitude.
Mrs. Caroline Stafford, now of Los Angeles, founded the “United Mothers’ World Peace Movement, Inc.,” in 1934. When she held
meetings in Los Angeles, she, as a friend of Mrs. Campbell’s, invited her and other Bahá’is to address audiences on the subject of
their Faith. She asked them also to take a prominent part on the program in what was to be the culminating success for her
organization, namely, the Conference it held at the Ambassador Hotel, in Los Angeles, November 7-15, 1937. Many of the audience
must have realized that the Bahá’i principles were the sine qua non of world peace.
Mrs. Campbell took an active part in local Bahá’i radio broadcasting, being acquainted with the teacher of this art in the City College
night school, and attending there with the members of the Bahã’i class who were preparing to broadcast, many for the first time,
publicly.
Mrs. Campbell at all times made all of her capacities available for the service of the Bahá’i Faith. She also made opportunities for
others to speak.
But a few days before her death, Mrs. Campbell had had the pleasure of receiving an answer from the sacred Guardian, Shoghi
Effendi, to a communication signed by many Los Angeles Bahâ’is at a Bahã’i Feast and forwarded to him through her, as an
expression of their loyal devotion. In this answer, through the Guardian’s secretary, Mrs. Campbell had been mentioned in terms of
spiritual love.
Not many months before that, Mrs. Campbell had been made radiant by receiving most unexpectedly, as she said, from the Guardian,
a Bahã’i rosary which had once belonged to the “Most Exalted Leaf,” to whose memory she was greatly attached.
Mrs. Campbell certainly demonstrated by her strenuous work for the Bah’â’i Faith, both her belief in its divine Principles, and her
confidence in their unique power gradually to transform both herself and others to a greater nearness to God. “Is not this the very
essence of their purpose for the mdi-

vidual?” she might well ask, and add, “To the world they will bring eventually an enduring peace.”
It seems clear that Margaret Campbell would wish to tell her friends not to grieve; that all is well with her; and, likewise, would urge
them to redoubled efforts for the New World Order, Divine in origin and nature, which is so steadily evolving at the present time from
that Administrative Order which the Bahá’i World Religion upholds. She would feel this to be their best tribute to their friendship for
her. And as the watchword for their ever-growing unity, would not Margaret Campbell recall to the friends the Words of Bahâ’u’lláh:
“0 BRETHREN!
“Be forbearing one with another and set not your affections on things below. Pride not yourselves in your glory, and be not ashamed
of abasement. By My beauty! I have created all things from dust, and to dust will I return them again.”
WJLLARD P. HATCH.
HOWARD M. KINNEY
Howard Martindale Kinney was born in New York City February 28, 1905, and died October 14, 1938; thus he lived thirty- three
years as a follower of Bahá’u’lláh, for he was born a Bahá’i.
In 1909 he made the visit to ‘AkkI and
Haifa with his father and mother, Mr. and
Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, and his brother
Sanford. Other pilgrims in the party were
Miss Juliet Thompson and Mrs. Alice Bedee. During this visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahi gave a new
name to every member of the Kinney family, and of the children He said to the parents, “They are My children, not yours.”
‘Abdu’lBahâ gave His name to Howard Kinney, calling him ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
He was educated at Trinity School in New York, and at the age of eighteen he went into business with his father. A few years later he
married.
MARGARET KLEBS
Miss Margaret Klebs was born in Prussia, June 22, 1862. She belonged to a distinguished and cultured German family. During her
younger years of development and

IN MEMORIAM

training she always expressed a desire for independence, and after completing her education she decided to make her
own living. Very soon thereafter Miss Klebs journeyed to the United States and became a naturalized American citizen.
As a young and talented vocal teacher (having studied for some years with the best masters of music in Europe) her
recognized ability and rare gift of teaching won for her great success in her profession.
She first heard of the Bahã’i Message from Miss Sarah Farmer, the founder of Green Acre, where the Bahá’i Summer
colony is located. It was Miss Klebs’ privilege to be constantly associated with Miss Farmer in the early days of the
founding of the Faith in that Center. The years that passed did not bring unmindfulness; on the contrary Miss Klebs
never failed to value this association and to speak of it with great tenderness.
For many successive years Miss Kiebs returned to Green Acre to spend the summer after the strenuous work of the
winter in Augusta, Georgia. It is impossible to forget the picture of her, year after year, as she served the lowly and the
renowned in her simple, almost primitive, little cottage in Green Acre. The material and spiritual Feasts held there will
ever be remembered by those who were fortunate enough to participate and who sensed the fineness of her spirit, her
pure spirit, her generous spirit.

In both places, in her winter home in Georgia and in Green Acre, she served the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh faithfully. She
was the first Bahã’i in Augusta, the first to proclaim the Bahi’i Teachings in that city, both in private and before the
public, often arranging public and group meetings for the traveling teachers. She was widely known, having spread the
Bahá’i Message in the city and to distinguished visitors to the city. Many very beautiful spiritual gatherings were held
in her studio. A harvest, we believe, will be gathered from the seeds of Truth she has sown, for she served generously
and selflessly.
During the years when her income was commensurate with her ability, her “earning years,” she gave joyously and
liberally to the Bahá’i Cause, for she lived in and for this Faith, and she gave her heart and soul to it and remained firm
and steadfast to the end.
Through the last years of her life she suffered intensely, indeed her trials and difficulties were almost beyond
endurance. They attested, however, to her nearness to the Realities, for she became a truly “ripened soul”; ripened by
the Holy Spirit.
Not by words but by deeds do we measure the worth of a soul. Miss Klebs never spoke of her charities, she never
heralded her magnificent and generous services to those in distress, she never spoke of her “works” performed in the
Cause of Bahá’ Th

last resting place of Margaret Klebs, Sunset Cemetery, North Augusta, S. C.
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THE BAHA’T WORLD

u’lláh, but some of us know how at all times she lived very simply, and that during late years when her income was so
greatly reduced because of general economic conditions, she sacrificed every personal comfort, that even under these
conditions she might still serve the Cause she loved so devotedly. Those who knew her well can testify to her sincerity
and loyalty.
Radiantly happy must have been her free spirit when she passed into the life eternal January 9, 1939. Mrs. J. N.
Jackson, mother of Daisy Moore Jackson (Miss Klebs’ first student of voice and her first Bahá’i child) gave her a
beautiful resting place in Sunset Cemetery, North Augusta, the Spiritual Assembly arranged the funeral and services
and the Green Acre Bahá’is gave the blanket of flowers which covered her coffin.
To a Bahã’i who had lost a relative, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “The dress was destroyed, but the one who wore the dress is
living.
It is certain that if any bird flies from

an empty desert to a rose-garden, he finds there his real happiness.”
MARIAM HANEY.
JOSEPH G. BRAY
Joseph Grandin Bray passed from service in this life on a joyful anniversary, May 23, 1939, in San Francisco, having surmounted for
two years a physical illness which, the more intensely it attacked, seemed but to redouble his perseverance and optimism in teaching.
His was a spirit which steadfastly mounted to its zenith, until in the last earthly months it demonstrated beyond question of doubt the
absolute triumph of effort, faithfulness, and long-sustained devotion to God.
Mr. Bray was born in Los Angeles on October 6, 1887. From his earliest years he evinced an eagerness for knowledge which neither
the disappointment at having to forego university, nor the pressure of commercial pursuits could ever quench. He had a keen
appreciation of the arts, especially of

Joseph G. Bray
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IN MEMORIAM

literature and music, was lively in his interest in contemporary trends of thought, and carried the deepest concern for
the activities and fate of his brothers, whom he conceived as the entire human race.
Although a Presbyterian, Mr. Bray was never orthodox. In 1911 he first heard and accepted almost at once the Bahá’i
Teachings, from Miss Ramona Allen to whom he was married in 1916. During those years he met ‘Abdu’l-Bahi in San
Francisco, attended the meetings in the Goodall home, and after his marriage, with his wife gathered a group of their
young friends for frequent study groups and Feasts. During the arrangements for the International Bahã’i Congress at
the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915, he contributed notably through his professional experience in printing and
publishing, by preparing the handsome programs for that occasion. In the next decade he shared in administrative
development, was three times elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of San Francisco (from 1923 to 1927), served as
its corresponding secretary and on Publicity and Service Committees. He participated also in the pioneer days of the
Summer School at Geyserville, as a teacher in his later years, as a student always whose enthusiasm and gay good
fellowship, in the memory of others present, can never be dissociated from Geyserville history.
All of this was preparatory, however. The key to undeviating effort and service he did not discover until middle life
when, after the dissolution of a second marriage to Mrs. Lou Kenton and certain harassing business difficulties, his
attention was caught and focused upon the teaching needs so forcibly proclaimed by Shoghi Effendi.
From 1934 he was constantly engaged in teaching, informally among his friends and professional associates,
consistently in fireside groups, in pioneer areas throughout California, and as an untiring Committee worker. He was
chairman of the San Francisco Teaching Committee for three years, of the Extension Committee for two years, and was
member of the Regional Teaching Committee from 1937-39. Under his chairmanship and through great personal
tenacity and sacrifice, extension work was systematically organized in San Jose, Palo Alto, Sacra mento

and San Rafael, resulting in the f ormation of the Sacramento Local Spiritual Assembly, April 21, 1938. In that same
year he spoke on a teaching circuit of the San Joaquin Valley.
His last endeavor, and one of the most strenuous, was to arrange a Regional Conference in Sacramento in the spring of
1939, which, meeting in the very room consecrated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ’s presence more than twenty-five years earlier,
seemed to achieve again the radiance of His person and the high realization of Bahá’i promise for a stricken world.
That he did complete this work despite mortal illness, in the city associated with his young manhood, his first
participation in the Cause at the time of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã’s visit, and his most intensive labor on its behalf, was surely a
gift bestowed by Bahá’u’lláh upon one who was faithful.
Joseph Bray passed away at the age of fifty-two, leaving two children, Barbara and Allen. He was buried as a Bahá’i at
Cypress Lawn, just south of San Francisco. His spirit is not forgotten by those whom he taught with such kindly
wisdom, nor by those whom he encouraged that they might also teach. “Blessed is the man that bath turned his face
towards God, and walked steadfastly in His love, until his soul bath winged its flight unto God, the Sovereign Lord of
all, the Most Powerful, the Ever- Forgiving, the All-Merciful.”
M. H. (MARION HOLLEv).
GEORGIE BROWN WILES
September 2, 1899—July 20, 1939
Mrs. Georgie Brown Wiles was born near Nashville, Tennessee. Her family had always been leaders in the community,
and had taken an active part in the Methodist Church.
After receiving the usual school training, she took advanced work and prepared herself for the teaching profession. She
attended at various times Martin College, State Teacher’s College and Peabody College, all in the State of Tennessee.
In 1923 she was married to Mr. J. S. Wiles of Nashville. They had one son, Joseph, who now at the age of fifteen
years, considers

THE BAHA’I WORLD

himself a Bahá’i, and who has expressed the intention of becoming a member of the Bahá’i Community when he has
reached the age of twenty-one.
Three times the opportunity for learning of the BahI’i Teachings knocked at the door of Mrs. Wiles’ consciousness. It
was not until the summer of 1930, however, when her niece, Mrs. Evelyn Bivins, asked her to go to the Bahá’i Summer
School at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine, that she really listened and knew that we were living in a New Age, a New
Dispensation.
Her stay in Green Acre was the most momentous period of her life for here she started to travel the Path paved by
Bahá’u’llãh. At her first Bahá’i meeting in this wonderful Center she had a most unusual experience, one which made a
profound impression on both mind and heart for she, a southern white woman, was introduced to the speaker, and this
speaker was a colored man. “Gracious, we are from the south,” she thought, and was unsuccessful

in her effort to conceal her confusion. Naturally she had known well many colored persons and regarded many with
fondness. and respect, but never before had she met one who was well educated. Of the splendid and interesting lesson
the speaker was giving, she did not hear very much, but was cross- questioning herself on the racial traditions handed
down to her. She asked herself finally in what way she could consider herself superior for she could see the speaker had
a trained mind, he was refined and a gentleman, and probably, she thought, “he is more willing to serve God than I
am.” Thoroughly humbled, after the lesson she tried to make amends for her attitude, and asked permission to drive this
speaker home in her car and stopped to talk about the Bahá’i Cause. For the rest of her life Mrs. Wiles tried to mend the
breach between the races and to put into practice the principle of the Oneness of Mankind, one of the fundamental
teachings of the Bahá’i Cause.
She was open-minded and searching for

Georgie Brown Wiles
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IN MEMORIAM

Truth, and while in Green Acre accepted the Bahã’I Teachings, became a confirmed believer and attended her first
Bahá”i Unity Feast.
When she returned to her home in Nashville, Tennessee, she started immediately to teach the Bahá’i Cause and to share
all that she had gathered. She was among the first active Bahá’is in that city and her name will always be associated
with its Bahá’i history. However, she remained there only for short periods at different times for she traveled
throughout the south, stopping in various centers particularly in Florida where she spent much time in teaching and
serving the Bahá’i Cause in every way possible. Each year she traveled back and forth from the north to the south, and
from the south to the north, covering miles of territory and scattering the seeds of the Bahá’i Message far and wide. She
always stood firmly for her Faith no matter how severe the criticism or ridicule.
Later she heard of the newly organized

Bahá’i Summer School at Louhelen Ranch in Michigan and was so overjoyed that she and her son traveled there and were the first
guests of the first session, and they attended every summer thereafter until her death.
The nine years of her Bahá’i life—from 193 0 until she passed to the life eternal, the life of light and happiness, in 1939—were years
of beautiful Bahá’i service. She devoted herself and all she had to the Cause of Bahá’u’llfh, and might well be classed with the
successful and confirmed Bahá’i traveling teachers.
Bahá’u’lláh’s teaching that “Whoso bath been re-born in this Day, shall never die,” is indeed a precious promise and most comforting.
“Verily, we are God’s and to Him shall
we return.” MAR5AM HANEY.
GRACE KRUG
Grace Krug first heard of the Bahã’i Revelation about 1904 or 1905. Immediately attracted by the Teachings, she eagerly studied the
meagre writings available at that

: .i::
Grace Krug
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THE BAHA’I WORLD

time. Only a few years later, while feasting on the splendours of an Alpine sunrise during a mountain ascent in the
Tyrolean Alps, did the Splendour of the Sun of Truth also dawn upon her. From that moment on, her zeal in studying
and her enthusiasm in spreading the Glad Tidings knew no limits. The violent opposition of her husband only spurred
her to greater efforts. That Dr. Florian Krug, who eventually became a confirmed Bahá’i, should have been the one to
close, with loving tenderness, the eyelids of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the time of His passing, is eloquent proof of her
unflinching steadfastness and of the confirmations bestowed upon those who stand firm.
Hardly a week passed in those early days without a Bahá’i meeting of some sort in her home. Teachers too numerous to
mention spread the Glad Tidings to the large gatherings she brought together for that purpose.
During ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to America in 1912 she drank deeply of the Divine Outpourings available to the thirsty in
that bountiful day. It was on June 2, 1912, after speaking in her home, that ‘Abdu’l-Bahi summoned Carl Krug to ride
home with Him. Seated in the taxicab, He instructed Carl to write what He was about to say. Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:
“You must be very grateful to your mother—you must appreciate her greatly—you do not realize her station now or
what a great honor she has bestowed on your household. She will be one of the famous women of America. You must
appreciate and love her very much. All will know of her servitude.”
After ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s departure her teaching activities took on even a greater zeal, if that were possible.
In 1920 came the long-awaited opportunity to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahã in Haifa, Palestine. Together with her husband, Dr.
Krug, she escorted a large party of friends to that Holy Spot. A year in Europe, and then another visit to ‘Abdu’l-Rahá,
in 1921, shortly before His passing. As though in preparation of what He knew was to come, the Master showered love
and attention on both Grace Krug and her husband. After that tragic event of November 28, 1921, she made a flying
trip back to America to bring

photographs of the funeral and excerpts of the Master’s Will.
Soon she traveled to Europe again where her husband’s failing health called. Shortly after His passing, she returned to America to
once more take an active part in the teaching work of the New York City and Tea- neck, New Jersey, Bahá’i Communities. It can be
truly said that her entire life was now devoted to serving the Cause.
Gradually her own health failed, forcing her increasing retirement at Chester, New York. Her visits to New York City and Tea- neck
became fewer. Her faithful companion, Anne Fockke, who had returned from Europe with her, spared no effort, but she failed
steadily, until, by the summer of 1939, she was a completely bedridden invalid.
At about 9:30 in the evening of Saturday, December 30, 1939, a Divine Wisdom ended the earthly activities of a teaching career that
only future years will accurately assay.
Bahá’u’lláh said: “I have made death to thee as glad tidings. . . . Every soul that walketh humbly with its God, in this Day, and cleaveth
unto Him, shall find itself invested with the honor and glory of all goodly names and stations.”
WILLIAM M. MILLER
Mr. William M. Miller was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1875, and in 1909 emigrated with his wife and family of three children to
Western Australia.
He spent the first fifteen years there in doing pioneer work on the land in the South West. In 1913, a fourth child was born there, and
his eldest daughter died at the age of eighteen in 1922.
After varied experiences of bush life, he found it necessary on account of the children’s education to come to town. He was fortunate
in finding employment with a firm in Perth in the same line of business he had followed in Glasgow, which he still held at his death.
A few weeks before leaving for the city, I had a letter from my nephew in Scotland in which he mentioned having recently met Dr.
John Esslemont, and recalled him to my memory. In the course of the letter he

IN MEMORIAM

William M. Miller
Pioneer Bahá’i, Perth, Australia. Ascended to
Abhâ Kingdom, Oct. 23, 1939.

mentioned that “John” had now become a Bahã’i, and was anxious for him to study the Teachings. As there was a
connection by marriage between the Esslemont family and my nephew’s father, the two young men were very friendly.
I also had met Dr. John several times before I left Scotland in my childhood. That letter seemed quite an ordinary one,
yet it was the pivot on which later events turned the whole course of the lives of my husband, self and family.
Always searching for Truth, Mr. Miller had passed from the teaching of the Baptist Church, in which he was brought
up, to wider fields of investigation, and when quite young read books on all religions and cults. He quite grieved his
parents by casting off the trammels of orthodox religion, and really in his heart had accepted the oneness of mankind
before he ever heard the word “Bahã’i.”

On the very first Sunday after our arrival in Perth, my husband picked up the local paper to scan the Church notices,
and was much surprised to see an announcement of a Bahá’i meeting in Perth. Remembering the name from my
nephew’s letter, he suggested that we go and investigate for ourselves.
We went, and there for the first time came in contact with those wonderful pioneers of the Cause, Mr. and Mrs. Hyde
Dunn. This was very soon after their first arrival in Western Australia. They were then accompanied by Miss Effie
Baher, and later Miss Martha Root joined them on her arrival from China.
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Dunn asked any who cared to enquire into the Teachings to come and looh at the
literature on the table, and my husband and I went forward. The first noticeable book in front of me was Bahá’u’lldh
and the New

C

I
pict228.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

An old and prominent believer of Egypt who served the Cause in the country of his adoption for many years. He was
originally from Shiráz, Iran. His death will deprive his fellow-believers
of a most able and devoted co-worker.

Era by Dr. J. E. Esslemont. Mr. Dunn was standing close to me and I turned to him and said, “Did you know Dr.
Esslemont? I knew him when he was a boy.” Mr. Dunn replied, “No, I never met him, but oh, how I love him.” He
clasped our hands, and called his wife, and his dear sweet love thrilled us through and through. You can guess how we
talked, and I told him of my nephew’s letter which had really been the cause of our coming.
Indeed “blessed are they who follow Guidance” for had we not been guided straight to the Light of Bahá’u’lláh? My
husband was a member of the first Spiritual Assembly formed in Perth, V. A. Ever since, he has striven to further the
Cause of Bahã’u’lláh by every means in his power; in his

home and in his daily work, he lived the life, and made his home a haven to people of any race, class or creed, who needed a helping
hand which he had means to give.
In January last, Mr. Miller had the honor of presiding at Miss Martha Root’s last lecture in Perth. At the end, when thanking him, she
turned her sweet face to his and said, “We may not meet again till we meet in the Abhá Kingdom.” We did not think then the meeting
was so close.
Our beloved Martha passed on September 28th, and Mr. Miller very suddenly after an hour’s illness on October 23rd, 1939.
“I have made death a messenger of joy to thee.
Wherefore dost thou grieve?”
ANNIE 0. MSLLER

Abu’l-Qásim Gulastánih
Died in Cairo, July 10th, 1939
pict229.jpg

IN MEMORIAM

One of the oldest Bahá’is of Haifa, he suffered a tragic death at the time of the disturbances in Palestine, falling an
innocent victim to the political strife rife in that country during 1938 and 1939. On his way home one day he was
passing the gate of the house of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when he noticed a party of the militia pursuing a fleeing man. Being
aged and helpless and so close to the garden of his beloved Master’s home, he thought to take refuge there and
unwisely began to run towards the entrance, but the militia, having no way of knowing he was not the fellow of the
terrorist they were pursuing, shot them both down, so that he died at the entrance to that home he bad entered so many
times as a faithful and welcome believer.

Habib Miskar
Killed in Haifa, March 6th, 1939
pict230.jpg

THE BAHA’L WORLD

MUUAMMAD SULAYMAN
The death of Mul3ammad Sulaymân of Ismá’iliyyih, who was a prominent member of the Faith in Egypt, marked a step forward in the
relation of the Bahf’i Community to the Egyptian Government. He left instructions that he was to be buried as a Bahâ’i, not as a
Moslem, and after the Bahá’i ceremony had been held and the family and friends of the deceased wished to inter him in the
cemetery—the only cemetery being the Moslem one—they were met by the flat refusal of the Mul3ammadan priests to permit the
interment of a Bahá’i in Moslem ground. This refusal, while it marked the recognition by the Moslem clergy of the Bahã’i Faith as a
religion independent and quite distinct from that of the Muhammadan, caused the Bahá’is the greatest distress and inconvenience.
Where else could the dead man be buried? In the meantime angry crowds began to gather about the funeral cortege and the danger of
riots became so great that the police had

to rescue the body and return it to the house of the deceased. However, the populace, aroused by their clergy, continued to mill around
the house, and it was impossible to remove the dead man to any cemetery for burial. Time becoming pressing, the police were at last
forced, in the night, unescorted, to remove the body to the borders of the desert and inter it in the wilderness. The humiliation that the
remains of this devoted Bahá’i was subjected to has proved the means for further exalting his Faith, as the National Assembly of the
Bahf’is of Egypt have made an appeal to the Government to grant Bahã’is a separate burial ground, thus recognizing them as a distinct
religion entitled to their own ceremonies and institutions.
ISMA’IL-AQA
The Gardener of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Died
in Haifa, 1939
This old and faithful gardener for more than forty years offered his services to the

Mukiammad Sulaymán
pict231.jpg

IN MEMORIAM

Bahá’i Faith in Haifa. He tended, the latter part of his life, the garden of tAbdu’l-Bahã, and his tremendous devotion to
the Master attracted His love and confidence. In “The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá” the few last conversations the Master
held with this old and trusted servant are recorded, as well as the attempt which, after the death of his beloved ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá, Ismá’il-Aqá made upon his own life: “It was Ismá’il-Aqá who had been the Master’s gardener for well nigh
thirty years who, in the first week after his bereavement, driven by hopeless grief, quietly disposed of all his
belongings, made his will, went to the Master’s sister and craved her pardon for any misdeeds he had committed. He
then delivered the key of the garden to a trusted servant of the Household and, taking with him means whereby to end
his life at his beloved Master’s Tomb, walked up the Mountain to

that sacred place, three times circled round it and would have succeeded in taking his life had it not been for the opportune arrival of a
friend, who reached him in time to prevent the accomplishment of his tragic intention.” He had, however, seriously cut his throat and
very narrowly escaped death. He had left his home in Sisán, Iran, to journey to the Holy Land and spend his life in service to his Faith.
‘ABDU’L-HUSAYN IQBAL
Died Paris, France, February 9th, 1940
A son of the well known Bahá’i of the near East. usayn Iqbál, and nephew of the equally well known Bahã’i of the ‘West, Dr. Zia
Baghdádi, died recently from an accident whilst serving the Faith in France. His active support will be greatly missed by his fellow
Bahã’is in that country.

Ismá’il-Aqá
The Gardener of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
pict232.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

APRIL, 1938—APRIL, 1940
IN MEMORIAM
Death pro Jfereth unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of
gladness. It con f erreth the gift of everlasting life.
—BAHA’U’LLAH.

Mrs. Laura L. Drum, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Elizabeth Stein, Lima, Ohio.
Mr. J. B. Gordon Hall, Fernandina, Florida.
Mr. James Coe, former member, Racine, Wisconsin.
Mrs. Hanna Matthisen, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Rosa V. Winterburn, Ventura, Calif.
Mrs. Grace Ober, Beverly, Mass.
Mrs. Evelyn Kamerzel, New Haven, Conn.
Mrs. Mathilde Gale, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Blanche Alonzo, New York, N. Y.
Mr. William H. Winn, Toronto, Canada.
Mrs. Ellah Agnes Rice-Wray, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mrs. Mabel Jennings, Seattle, Wash.

Mrs. Carol Johnson, Cleveland, Ohio.
Mrs. Ella Filkins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. Charles Johnson, Mauston, Wisconsin.
Miss Dorothy A. Fleu, St. Paul, Minn.
Mr. Frank J. Phelps, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Howard Kinney, New York, N. Y.
Mr. George S. Hopper, Washington, D. C.
Mr. John L. Shonts, Milwaukee, Wis.
Mr. Charles Walline, Kenosha, Wis.
Mrs. Emma Lindstrom, Kenosha, Wis.
Mr. B. Frank Bierly, Seattle, Wash.
Mr. Mark Grass, Omaha, Neb.
Mr. Edward Angell, Atlanta, Mich.
Mrs. Nettie L. Napier, Nashville, Tenn.
Mrs. E. B. Zimmermann, Milwaukee, Wis.

‘Abdu’l-usayn Iqbál

pict233.jpg

IN MEMORIAM

Mrs. Anna Eliza Ripley, Milwaukee, Wis.
Mr. J. F. Blazek, Sr., San Francisco, Calif.
Miss Margaret Klebs, Augusta, Ga.
Miss Frances Starr, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Mrs. Isabel Chamberlain, Oakland, Calif.
Mrs. Charlotte Dixon, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Alletta B. Martin, Long Beach, Calif.
Mrs. Olga Niemeier, Milwaukee, Wis.
Mr. Otto Heyden, Green Bay, Wis.
Mr. Otto Schneekloth, Muskegon, Mich.
Mrs. Molly Mosber, Foster, Quebec, Can.
Mrs. Janette Niles, Miami, Florida.
Mrs. Gladys Eldora Husted, Muskegon, Michigan.
Mrs. Nellie King, Teaneck, N. J.
Mr. Greenville Talbott, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Marion L. Vernon, Jacksonville, Florida.
Mrs. Corinne Westerman, Peoria, Ill.
Mrs. Elma Miessler, Lima, Ohio.
Mrs. Cora Lyon Houston-Brown, San Antonio, Texas.
Mr. Will C. Allen, Berkeley, Calif.
Mr. Omar Wolfe, Racine, Wis.
Mr. Mathew A. White, Phoenix, Arizona.
Mrs. Elizabeth Rudisile, Bellingham, Wash.
Mr. Henry Grasmere, Montclair, N. J.
Mrs. Shahnaz Waite, Los Angeles, Calif.
Miss Emma Reed, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. Doris Richards, Yonkers, N. Y.
Mrs. Marie B. Moore, New York, N. Y.
Mr. Joseph G. Bray, San Francisco, Calif.
Mrs. Margaret Campbell, Los Angeles, Calif.
Miss Lillian James, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Georgie Wiles, Nashville, Tenn.
Mrs. Walter Covington, New York, N. Y.
Mr. William Patzer, Waterbury, Conn.
Dr. William Young Allen, Berkeley, Calif.
Miss Martha L. Root, Honolulu, H. T.

Mr. George Burbank, Flint, Mich.
Mrs. Pauline Hannen, Cabin John, Md.
Mrs. Carrie C. Peterson, Lead, S. Dak.
Mrs. J. H. Thurber, Dexter, Mich.
Mrs. J. 0. Whicker, Barston, Calif.
Mrs. Carol Falin, Jacksonville, Ill.
Mrs. Charles Davies, Jacksonville, Ill.
Mrs. Gertrude Christine, Louisville, Ky.
Mr. Clarence Cline, Glendale, Calif.
Mr. Hans Silver, Racine, Wisconsin
Mr. C. Joe Wallace, Denver, Colorado
Mr. John Landus, Chicago, Illinois
Mrs. Ada C. Divine, Ithaca, N. Y.
Mr. Jim Stone, Fernandina, Fla.
Mrs. Mary B. Martin, Cleveland, Ohio
Dr. Jeanette Matilsky, Portland, Ore.
Mrs. May Ruth Graham, Circleville, Ohio.
Mrs. Mabel Hune, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mrs. Sutherland Maxwell, Montreal, Canada
Miss Julia Threlkeld, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mrs. Florence Price, Colorado Springs, Cob.
Mr. Robert S. Abbott, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Janet French, Montreal, Canada
Mrs. Alfredo Warsaw, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Charles Matthews, Seattle, Wash.
Mrs. Myron Potter, Cleveland, Ohio
Mr. Lester J. Kaley, Binghamton, N. Y.
Mr. Walter L. Bacon, Jacksonville, Fla.
Mrs. Harry Prutting, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mrs. Grace Krug, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Lura Ackerman, Montclair, N. J.
Mr. Magnus Poulson, Racine, Wisconsin
Mrs. Cora Reed, Lansing, Mich.
Mrs. Fannie Gadson Tombs, Augusta, Ga.
Dr. Elizabeth Ambrose, Washington, D. C.
Dr. Clara Sterling, Chicago, Ill.
Mr. J. H. Pacquin, San Francisco, Calif.
Mr. George E. Ostburg, Boston, Mass.
pict234.jpg
PART THREE
pict235.jpg
BAHkI DIRECTORY, 1939-1940
96 OF THE BAHA’i ERA
1.
BAHA’I NATIONAL SPIRITUAL
ASSEMBLIES
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Australia and New Zealand, Care of Miss Hilda Brooks, Box 447 D,
Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Egypt,
Shari’ Ginenet El Kawa 9 Shari’ Farouk, CAIRO, EGTPT.
Telegraphic Address: Bahabureau, Cairo.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Great Britain and Ireland, Bahá’i Center, 46 Bloomsbury Street, London,
W. C. 1, ENGLAND.
Telegraphic Address: National Asgarzadih, London.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of India and Burma, P. 0. Box 14, Simla, INDIA,
Telegraphic Address: Bahá’i, Simla.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahi’is of ‘Iraq,
P. 0. Box 5, Baghdad, ‘IRAQ.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran,
Care of Mirzá ‘Ali-Akbar Furátan, Khiaban-i-Mehdieh, No. 2002, Tihran, IRAN. Telegraphic Address: Rawbani,
Pársiyán, Tihran.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada, Office of the Secretary, 536 Sheridan
Road, WILMETTE, ILL.
Telegraphic Address: Bahã’i, New York.
International Baha’i Bureau.
No. 23 Ave. de Champel, Geneva, SWITZERLAND.
Telegraphic Address: Baha’i, GeneTa.

THE BAHA’! WORLD

2.
COUNTRIES WHERE BAHA’tS ARE RESIDENT
This list has been compiled by the International Bahd’i Bureau of Geneva, Switzerland. Omissions, errors and changes
should be reported immediately to the Bureau, address International Bahd’I Bureau, No. 23 Ave. de Champel.
Denotes Local Spiritual Assembly.

AisyssINsA—
Present address not known.
AFGHANISTAN—
Kabul: Mr. Nabili.
ALBAN5A—
Korçë: Mr. Ref o Chapiri, Spitali Shtetit (State Hospital)
Shijax: Mr. Sulejam Male, Specialist i Avikultures (M’Institutin Kom. Zooteknik) Xhaf-Zetaj.
Tirane: Mr. Osman Preza, Toger.
ARGENTINA—
Buenos Aires: Sr. Salvador Tormo, Sarandi
140, piso 7.
AUSTRALIA—
OAdelaide, S. A.: Mr. H. Fitzner, Box
447D, G.P.O.
Booleroo Center, S. A.: Mr. D. A. Brooks,
Broken Hill, N. S. VT.: Mrs. Fraser-Paterson, Box 1S1A.
Gladstone, S. A.: Mr. and Mrs. M. Appleton. Harvey, W. A.: Mrs. C. Chinn, Udoc Road. Hobart, Tasmania: Miss
Gretta Lamprill,
64 St. Georges Terrace, Battery Point. Lake McQuarrie, N. S. W.: Mrs. Amy Wilkins, c/o Mr. Max Stemler, Spear’s
Point.
Melbourne: Mrs. F. Wheeler, Box L1237, Elizabeth Street P. 0.
Mt. Helena, VT. A.: Mrs. Bunney.
*Perth, W. A.: Mrs. A. 0. Miller, 73 Berwick St., Victoria Park.
Sydney, N. S. W.: Miss Gladys Moody, c/o Bahá’i Center, Kembla Bldg., Margaret Street.
Victoria: Mr. T. Dowson, Dennington; Mr. L. Hancock, Newbridge.
Yaninee, S. A.: Mr. and Mrs. C. Ruhe.

AUSTRIA—
*Vienna: Herr Franz Pollinger, Ramperstorfergasse 2 5/4.
BELGIUM—
Antwerp: Mme. Steinmann, 53 Ave. Van Peet.
BoLIvIA—
La Paz: Madame A. Cravioto, the Mexican
Embassy.
BRAZIL—
Bahia: Miss Leonora Holsapple, Avenida Oceanica 16.
Rio de Janeiro: Mr. and Mrs. Worley, c/o
M. McCormick Co., Anoite Building.
BULGARIA—
Bourgas: Mr. Nichola Vassilef, Ul. Struma
31.
Brenitza-Beloslatinska: Mr. Bentcho Christoff.
Dragoman-Gare: Mr. C1risto Knijarof ChefDu-Duvane.
Elhova: Dr. Christo Tchervenkof, Mayor.
Plovdiv-Gare: Mr. and Mrs. Lucca Konstantinoff, Philopova. Dr. Anghelova, Gladston Prodojinia.
Sofia: Miss Marion Jack, Union Palace Hotel.
Striklovo: Mr. Dimitri Angueloff, Russenka. Varna: Mr. Nicholas Avramof, UI. Polkovnik, Suychtark.
BURMA (See India and Burma) — CANADA (see United States and Canada) — CAucAsUs—
Bákfl.
CHILE—
Santiago: Sra. Elisa Espinosa, Casilla 2782.

BAHA’I DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

CHINA—
Hong Kong: Mr. C. S. Liu, 767 Nathan
Road, Kowloon.
Shanghai: Mr. H. Ouskouli, Box 551.
COSTA RICA—
San José: Mrs. Amelia Ford, c/o United
States Consul
CUBA—
Havana: Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Marangella, Calle 8 entre 1 y 3, Reparto Miramar
CZECHOSLOVAKIA—
Praha II: Mr. Vuk Echtner, c/o Bruckner,
U Pujcovny 2.
DENMARK—
Aarhus: Mr. Stefan Barta, Samsogade, 44 III Copenhagen: Miss Johanne Sorensen, Skovlaeet 4, Hellerup b/Kopenhagen.
ECUADOR—
Quito: Mr. J. Stearns, c/o United States Consul.
EGYPT—
*Alexandria: P. 0. Box 1865.
Assiut: Mr. ‘All Sálib.
Beni-Suef: Mr. Fathi Kamál.
*Cairo: P. 0. Box 13, Daher.
Damietta: Mr. Fu’ád Zaynu’l-’Abidin,
A.I.P.A.
Dessouk: Mr. Sa’ad Sãlim Nuayr, Chief Clerk of the Prison.
*Ismáiliyyih: Mr. Khalil ‘Ayãd, Imprimerie Suez Canal Co.
Kafru’z-Zayát: Mr. Siyyid Farahát, Agricultural Bank.
Kantara: Mr. Muhammad ‘Avaydá, Customs Dept.
Kawmu’s-Sa’áyidih: Mr. klasan Mubammadtiasan.
Luxor: Mr. Abu’l-Futüh M. Battãh.
Mahaallatu’l-Kubrá: Mr. ‘Abdu’l-Hamid Zaki.
Manürih: Mr. Mikhá’il Sa’ad, Broadcasting Section.
‘Port Said: 3 Kawala Street.
Rashid: Mr. Mikhá’il Yüsuf, Station Master.
Shibinu’l-Kawm: Mr. Ibráhim Stefanos.
Suez: Mr. Nashid Bassilios, Train Guard,
E.S.R.

Tanta: Mr. Ibráhim ‘Abdu’l-Masih, State Telegraphs.
EL SALVADOR—
San Salvador: Mr. John Eichenauer, Jr.,
c/o United States Consul.
FINLAND—
Helsinki: Mr. V. Rissanen, P. B. 13.
FRANCE—
Grenoble: Mr. Nahvi Massouda, Maison des Etudiants.
Hyères: Mme. L. Acard, Le Closfleuri, La Poterie (Yard).
Lyon: Mlle. Lucienne Migette, 12 Rue St. Polycarpe (Rhône).
Marseille: Mme. Marie Soghomonian, 17 Ch. St. Tronc, Ste. Marguerite.
Orleans: Mile. M. Gascoin, 22 Rue de Ia Bretonnerie (Loiret).
‘Paris: Mr. C. N. Kennedy, 104 Ave. de Versailles.
Versailles: Dr. Ayádi, 5 Rue Alexis Foucolt.
GERMANY—
*Berlin: Herr Theo Lehne, Dallgow-Doberitz, Parkstr. 24.
Dresden A 24: Herr Paul KOhIer, FeldschlOsschenstr. 22.
‘Esslingen: Frau Liesl Rommel, Keplerstr.
10.
Frankfurt a/M.: Fräulein Edith Horn, Burnitzstr. 8.
Geislingen/Steige: Herr u. Frau Hans Kraiss, Altenstadt, Oleweg 22.
GOppingen: Frau Anna Schoch, Ulrichstr.
24.
Graal: Herr K. Klitzing, Haus Gertrud.
*Hamburg 24: Fräulein Anna Bostelmann, Uhlandstr. 43.
*Heidelberg: Fräulein Friedl Bleck, Mozartstr. 9a.
Heilbronn: Frau Marie Ott, Rabeweg 4. Heppenheim: Herr Hans G. Schmidt, Postschliessfach 41.
Karlsruhe-Riippur-Gartenstadt: Frau Marta Brauns, Resedenweg 70.
Leipzig C-i: Frau Lina Benke, Antonstr. 21.
Munich: Herr A. Grassl, Lindwurmstrasse
67.
Neckargemund b/Heidelberg: Herr Dr. u. Frau H. Grossman, GOringstr. 37.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

* Rostock-Warnemunde: Fräulein Charlotte Walcker, Schillerstr. 23.
*Stuttgart: Herr Albrecht Nagel, Schlossstr.
68.
Warnemunde: Frau Charlotte Schwedler, Personalbahnhof.
Zuffenhausen/Wttbg.: Frau Anna Marie Schweizer, Karlstr. 26.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND—
Ahascragh: Dr. George Townshend, Ahascragh Rectory, County Galway.
Berkshire: Mrs. Rosalind Vance, Sowberry Court, Moulsford-on-Thames.
Birmingham: Mr. J. L. Marshall, 67 Nansen Rd., Alum Rock.
Blackburn: Mrs. G. Cooper, Feniscowles Old Hall, Pleasington.
Bournemouth: Miss Grace Challis, Rizwan, Broadstone, Dorset.
*Bradford: Miss Joan Wilkinson, 20 Southey P1.
Brighton 1: Mr. and Mrs. J. Lee, 94 St. James St.
Bristol: Mrs. ‘Weeks, 66 The Crescent, Henleaze.
Bucks: Mrs. I. Slade, Mallards Court, Stokenchurch.
Cheltenham: Mrs. Ginman, 2 All Saints Terrace, Hewlett Rd.
Exeter: Mr. H. Farroukh, Mardon Hall.
Hants: Miss T. McWilliams, 17 Princes Rd., Petersileld.
*London: Mr. Uasan Balyuzi, 46 Blooms- bury St., W. C. 1.
*Manchester 4: Mr. Alfred Sugar, Bahá’i Centre, 39 High St.
Norfolk: Miss Olive and Mrs. Stokley, Mundford, Thetford.
Northampton: Miss M. Hofman, Martwell.
Nottingham: Miss Esther Richardson, Epworth, Fernleigh Ave., Mapperley.
Stratford-on-Avon: Mrs. Stanley Howlett, Flat 8, over Hepworth’s, High St.
Surrey: Miss Betty Haynes, 7 Park Lawn Ave., Epsom.
‘Torquay: Mrs. Constance Langdon-Davies, 6 Huxham’s Cross, Dartington, Devon.
Worcester: Mrs. Harrison, 2 Blanquette Ave., Droitwich Rd.
York: Mr. and Mrs. R. Pegg, 87 Fifth Ave.

GUATEMALA—
Guatemala: Mr. Gerrard Sluter, 7A Ave. 5 63.
HAITI—
Port au Prince: Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell, c/o
American Consulate.
HOLLAND—
Bussum: Mr. Arnold Van Ogtrop, 32 Grt. Hertoginnelaan.
Gelderland: Herrn and Frau Eugen Epple, Brummen, A 494 II.
Haarlem: Fräulein Käthe Braun, 15 Spruit En Bosch Straat.
The Hague: Mr. and Mrs. Max Greeven, Parkilat Marlot 25.
HoNDuses—
Tegucegalpa: Mr. Antonio Roca, c/o United States Consul.
HUNGARY—
Budapest: Miss Renée Felbermann, I Lisznyai u. 15.
Gyor: Mrs. George Steiner, Apättr. u. 8.
ICELAND—
Reykjavik: Miss Holmfridur Arnadottir, no. 8 Vonarstrceti.
IND5A AND BURMA—
Aligarh: Dr. M. S. Burney, Sháhpárá.
Amritsar: Mr. Ghulám Muhammad Sini, 160/163 Parja St., Háthi Darwázá.
*Bombay: P. 0. Box 470. Bulandshahr (U. P.): Mr. S. Irtiçla Husayn,
Government High School.
*Calcutta: P. 0. Box 8940.
Cawnpore: Shaykh Faqir Muhammad Muqri, Conghi Mohal, Baconganj.
Chapra (Saran): Mr. Ahmad-’AlI.
Chittagong: Mr. Amiru’l-Islám, Andarkilláh, Islámkutir.
‘Daidanaw: Mr. Ko Ba Séin, Kaugyángoon (Hanthiwãddy),
*Delhi: Mr. S. Nadir usayn, Nadir Iron Works, Lal Kuán.
Eimi (Burma): Dr. ‘Abdu’l Latif, Civil Hospital.
Hyderabad (Deccan): Prof. ‘Abdu’l-Aziz, Osmania Training College.
Jaipur: Dr. K. K. BhargaTa, Bhatton St.

BAHA’i DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

‘Karachi: Bahá’i Hall, Pires St., Bunder Road Extension.
Kawlin (U. Burma): Mr. Khuda Bakhsh.
Lahore: Prof. Pritam Singh, M.A., 39 Tern- pie Rd.
Madras: Mr. Isáq Pahlwán, Chowk, Triplicane.
*Mandalay: Miss Hia Hla, Palm Lodge, Gondan Quarter.
Mogaung (Burma): Dr. M. ‘Azim Khán, Civil Hospital.
*Pna: P. 0. Box 8.
Rahimyárkhán (Baháwalpur State) : Mr. Muitamrnad Is5áq, Science Master.
°Rangoon: P. 0. Box 299.
Shadikhan (Attock): Dr. ‘Abdu’l Qádir.
Simla: Mr. ‘Abdu’i Kabir Khán, Govt. of India Press.
Sirsa (Hissar): Dr. ‘Abdu’l Shakür, Sabzi Mandi.
Siwáni (Hissar) : Mr. Sami’ul klasan Zaydi, Station Master.
South India: Mr. A. Rangáswámi Ayer, Retired Deputy Nazir, Vyganellore, Kulitalái.
Sprinagar (Kashmir): Mr. Muhammad ‘Abdu’lláh, Vakil, High Court, Kashgari Mosque, Fatehkudal.
Surat: Mr. N. R. Vakil, Khapátia Chaklá. Tawnggyi (Burma): Mr. ‘Abdu’l Rashid,
Yawarná Rd.
Yamethin (Burma): Mr. M. A. ‘Aziz, Station Master, Sinthi, P. 0. Tatkon.
IRAN—
fran (see sub-section 5, “Bahá’i Admhuistrative Divisions in Iran”).
‘Adhyábih: Mr. ‘All Faraj, c/o P. 0. Box 5, Baghdad.
*Avathiq: Mr. Bayyün Ismã’il, c/o P. 0. Box 5, Baghdad.
*Baghdad: Mr. Kámil ‘Abbas, c/o P. 0. Box 5, Baghdad.
Huvaydar & Ya’qübiyyih: c/o P. 0. Box 5, Baghdad.
Mosul: Mr. Abmad M. usayn Maliah, Nineveh St.
ITALY—
Florence: Signora Campani, Viale Duca di Genova, 24.

Livorno: R. Mouzun, Allievo Ufficiale, R. Academia Navale.
Rome: General R. Piola Caselli, Via G. B. De Rossi, No. 15 Rome.
JAPAN—
Kyoto: Mr. Tokujiro Toni, c/o Kyoto School for the Blind.
Tokyo: Mrs. Yuriko Furukawa, 501 Zchome Sendagaya Shibuya-ku. Mr. Daiun Inouye, 175 Tairacho, Meguro-ku.
Yamaguchi ken: Mr. H. S. Fughita, Yanai.
JuGosLAvsA—
Belgrade: Mrs. Draga Ilié, 41 Kralya Milutina.
Mixsco—
°México City: Mr. Pedro Espinosa, Bucareli
65, Banjos 2.
Guadalajora Jalisco: Miss Marie Luz Espinosa, c/o Mr. Pedro Espinosa, Bucareli 65, Banjos 2, Mexico City.
NEW ZEALAND—
*Auckland: Miss Margaret Stevenson, 3 Cowie Road, Parnell.
Thames: Miss M. Borrows, Broad St.
Wellington: Mr. J. R. Roy, Box 1042,
G.P.O.
Yaninee: Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne.
NIcARAGUA—
Managua: Mr. Matthew Kaszab, c/o United States Consul.
NORWAY—
Kristiansund: Fru Aagat Krantz-Romsli, Vaagevej 7, N. Norway.
Oslo: Miss Johanna Schubarth, Prof. Dahl’s gt. I.
PALESTINE AND TRANSJORDANIA—
*‘Adasiyyih: P. 0. Box 11, Samakh.
‘Akka: Mr. ‘Abdu’l-Rahmán Jarrah.
Haifa: P. 0. Box 23.
Hebron: Mr. M. ‘Abdu’l-Latif.
Jaff a: Mr. Mansür A. Irani.
Majdal: Mr. Mibah Murád.
Náblus: Mirzá Badi ‘Bushrá’i.
Amman: H. Ruhi, Department of Land and Surveys.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Salt, Transjordania: Mr. Hasan H. Ráhi, Salt Secondary School.
PANAMA—
Ancon: Mrs. L. Caswell, P. 0. Box 1296 (Canal Zone).

PERU—

Eve Nicklin.

POLAND—

Warsaw: Miss L. Zamenhof. Her street was destroyed.
Bielsko: Mrs. Bianka Haas, Kolejowa 11.
Wysniowec-na-Wolyniu: Mr. Vasyl Dorosenko skt. P. 20.
RUMANIA—
Bucharest: Comitetul Bahâ’I stn. Dr. Istrate
10.
RussIA—
Leningrad: Isabel Grinevskaya, Prospect Nahimson, No. 10, log. 32.
SAN DOMINGO—
Cuidad Trujillo: Miss Margaret Lentz, c/o
United States Consul.
SOUTH AFRICA—
Cape Town: Mrs. Tucker, Three Anchor
Bay.
Pretoria: Mrs. F. A. Carey, 220 Johann St. Southern Rhodesia: Mr. and Mrs. Jack Dee,
Salisbury.
SDAN—
Khartoum: ‘Abdu’l-IIamid Yüsuf, 22 Rue Sirdár.
SWEDEN—
Rämmen: Fru Rudd-Palmgren, Villa östervick.
Skara: Mr. Eric Borgren, Editor.
Stockholm: Mr. Sundquist, Brankyr Kagatan 101.
SWITZERLAND—
Genéve: International Bahá’i Bureau, No. 23 Ave. de Champel.
Halse-Wolfhalden: Mr. Fritz Semle, Kinderheim Morgensonne.

Kilchberg, b/Zurich: Mrs. Gladys Vautier, Monchhofstr. 32.
Monte S/Mendrisio Ticino: E. Mundwyler. Zurich: Mr. Leo Bernhard, Entlisbergstr. 40.
SYRIA—
*Aleppo: Post Box 445.
Beirut: P. 0. Box 774.
*Damascus: Mr. usayn tkbal, P. B. 80.
Mashqara (Lebanon): Mr. Zaynu’l’-Abidin Baghdádi.
TUNISIA—
‘Tunis: c/o Mr. M. Buchucha, 115 Rue ElMarr.
TURKEY—
Adana: Miss Z. Naci, c/o American Hospital, B.P. 15.
Istanbul: Dr. Sarkis Tomasyan, (öz-Yenidokan) Ergenekon Caddesi, No. 89, Pangalti.
Mr. M. A. Agáh, Shahenshah Pahlavi
Caddesi 45, Istanbul.
Izmir: Mr. Hakki Nomer, c/o Halim Alanyali, B.P. 345.
Kadikoy: Mr. Abbas Huseng, Moda Caddesi No. 169.
Uskudar: Mr. Mehemet Ibrahim DjaFerzad, Pasha Limani, Susuz Bag No. 13.

TURKISTAN—

‘Ishqábãd.

UNITED STATES AND CANADA (see sub-section 4)—
URUGUAY—
Montevideo: Sr. Simon Rosenzweig, Calle Cobb 2622 dep. 1.
VENEZUELA—
Caracas: Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala, c/o British Consul.
Meranda: Miss P. Rhodes, c/o Mr. G. Q. Miro Chaco Edo, Avenida de Principaldel Country Club.
WEST INDIEs, BRITISH—
Jamaica: Mr. and Mrs. John B. Shaw, Ba East St. Kingston.

%0

Thirty-first Annual Convention, United States and Canada.
pict236.jpg

THE BAHA’t WORLD

3.
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES OF THE
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
BAHA’iS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

Mr. Allen B. McDaniel, Chairman.
Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Vice-Chairman.
Mr. Horace Holley, Secretary.
Mr. Louis G. Gregory, Recording Secretary.
Mr. Roy C. Wilhelm, Treasurer.

Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher, Assistant Treasurer.
Mrs. Amelia E. Collins.
Mr. Leroy Joas.
Mr. Harlan Ober.

Office of the Secretary, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Ill.
COMMITTEES OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITuAL ASSEMBLY

AcCOUNTANT—
Mr. A. F. Matthisen.
ANNUAL SOUVENIR OF ‘AEDU’L-BAHA— Mr. William deForge, Chairman.
Mr. Andrew Jochim.
Miss Jean Silver.
Mr. Bernard Gottlieb.
Miss Ophelia B. Crum.
Mr. Norman Smith.
Mr. Carl Krug.
Miss Bertha Herklotz.
ARCHIVES AND HIsTORY—
Mr. Edwin W. Mattoon, Chairman.
Mrs. Carl Scheffier, Secretary, 1821 Lincoln St., Evanston, Ill.
Miss Julia Sobel.
Miss Sophie Loeding.
Mr. Wm. S. Pulley.
Mr. Hasan Hassan.
BAHA’i ExHIBITs—
Mr. Allen B. McDaniel, Chairman, Waterford, Va.
Mr. Carl Scheffier.
Mrs. Mary Collison.
Mr. R. C. Collison.
BAHA’i NEws—
Mr. Harlan Ober, Secretary.
Mr. Allen B. McDaniel.
Mr. Horace Holley.

BAHA’I NEws SERvIcE— Mrs. Edna Eastman.
Mrs. A. F. Matthisen.
Miss Edna True.
Miss Virginia Russell.
Mrs. Clarence LaRocque.
Mrs. Hazel Rawitsch.
Mr. Melvin Rawitsch.
Mrs. Edna Eastman Atkins.
THE BAHA’I WORLD, VOLUME Vill—EDITORIAL—

Mrs. S. W. French, Chairman, Road, San Marino, Calif.
Mrs. Ruth Brandt.
Mrs. Marzieh Carpenter Gale.
Mr. Wm. Kenneth Christian.
Mrs. Helen Bishop.
Mr. Louis G. Gregory.
Mrs. Mariam Haney.
Miss Florence Mattoon.
Mrs. Victoria Bedikian, Photograph Editor.
BRAILLE TRANscRIPTIoNs— Mrs. Samuel Rodman, Chairman, 24 Ross St., Batavia, N. Y.
Miss Ella G. Quant.
Miss Hilda Stauss.
Mr. A. C. Engelder.
Mrs. Lothar Schurgast.
Mrs. H. C. Bolton.
Mrs. H. W. Pettibone.
Mrs. S. W. French.
Mrs. Amadee Gibson.

786 Chester

BAHA’f DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

CHILD EDUCATION—
Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Chairman, 615 West
Elm St., Lima, Ohio.
Mrs. Violet Tuttle.
Mrs. Florida Sanford.
Miss Elcore Georgenson.
Mr. Harry E. Ford.
Mrs. Robert Lewis.
Miss June Miller.
Mrs. Amy Brady Dwelly.
Mrs. Peggy True.
CONTACTS—
Miss Lucy Marshall, Chairman, 20 Broderick
St., San Francisco, Calif.
Mrs. Emery Hall.
Mrs. Stanley Kemp.
Miss Charlotte Lindenburg.
Mrs. Peggy True.
Mrs. Vera Eisenhart.
Mrs. Ethel Furbush.
Miss Velma Vetter.
Miss Ethel Revell.
EDITORIAL—
Mrs. Mabel Paine, Chairman, 606 W. Penn.
Ave., Urbana, Ill.
Miss Elizabeth Hackley.
Mrs. Esther Harding.
INDEX—
Mr. Bishop Brown, Chairman, Box 9, Ingomar, Pa.
Miss Alice N. Parker.
Mrs. Ruth Randall-Brown.
Mr. Kenneth Chapin.
INTER-AMERICA—
Mrs. E. R. Mathews, Chairman, Box 1064,
Colorado Springs, Cob.
Miss Myrtle Dodge, Acting Secretary, 2139 Pacific Ave., San Francisco, Cahf.
Mrs. Sarah Kenny.
Mr. E. R. Mathews.
Mrs. Amelia Collins.
Mr. Leroy loas.
Mrs. Helen Bishop.
AssociATE MEMBERS—
Mrs. A. E. Stewart.
Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher.
Mr. Pedro Espinosa.
Miss Roan Orloff.

Miss Gertrude Gewertz.
Mr. Edmund Miessler.
Mrs. Annie K. Lewis.
Mr. A. Y. Seto.
Mrs. Sarah Witt.
Mr. George W. Henderson.
LEGAL—
Mr. George 0. Latimer, Chairman, 1927
N. E. 40th Ave., Portland, Ore. Miss Elsie Austin.
Mr. Horace Holley.
LIBRARY—
Mrs. S. H. Sims, Chairman, Leroy Apts.,
Red Bank, N. J.
Miss Florence King.
Miss Beryl Edgecomb.
PUBLIsHING—
Mr. Horace Holley, Chairman.
Mr. Roy C. Wilhelm.
Miss Bertha L. Herklotz.
Mr. William deForge.
Mr. George 0. Latimer.
PUBLISHING STAFF—
Mrs. Clara R. Wood, Manager, 135 E. 50th
St., New York, N. Y.
Mr. J. T. Wood.
Mrs. Emma F. Smith, Western Division, 6732 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, Calif.
RACE UNITY—
Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Chairman, 615 W. Elm
St., Lima, Ohio.
Mr. Louis G. Gregory.
Mrs. Fred Mortenson.
Miss Margaret Kunz.
Mr. Clarence Niss.
RADIO—
Mrs. Florence Morton, Chairman, 5 Wheeler
Ave., Worcester, Mass.
Mrs. Wendell E. Bacon.
Mr. Wendell E. Bacon.
Mrs. Shirley Warde.
Mrs. Nancy Bowditch.
Mrs. Olivia Kelsey.
Mrs. Marguerite Reimer Sears.
REVIEWING—
Dr. Genevieve L. Coy, Chairman, 117 W.
10th St., New York, N. Y.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Mrs. Helen Lielnors.
Mrs. Patrick Quinlan.
Miss Helen Campbell.
STUDY OUTLINE—
Mrs. Alice S. Cox, Chairman, 1109 W. Gift
Ave., Peoria, Ill.
Mr. Harry Jay.
TEACHING—
Mr. Leroy Toas, Chairman.
Miss Charlotte M. Linfoot, Secretary, 156 Nova Drive, Piedmont, Calif.
Mr. George 0. Latimer.
Mrs. Amelia Collins.
Mr. N. F. Ward.
Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews.
Mrs. Joyce Lyons Dahl.
Miss Marion Holley.
Mrs. Isobel Belyea.
AssOCIATE MEMBERS—
Mrs. Mamie L. Seto.
Mr. Charles Reimer.
Mrs. Marion Little.
Mrs. Mary Collison.
Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher.
Miss Lydia J. Martin.
REGIONAL TEACHING—MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, VERMONT, MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT,
RHODE ISLAND— Mrs. Amelia Bowman, Secretary, Salmon
Falls, N. H.
Mrs. Florence Morton.
Mrs. Elsa Isaacs.
Mrs. H. Chamberlain.
Mr. Charles Paul.
Mr. Duncan MacAlear.
Miss Lou Keller.
Miss Marjorie Wheeler.
UPPER NEW YORK STATE—
Mr. R. C. Collison, Secretary, 681 Castle St.,
Geneva, N. Y.
Mrs. Marguerite Firoozi.
Mr. A. D. Heist.
Mrs. Morris M. Bush.
Mrs. Minnie Sen.
Miss Ida Noyes.
NEW JERSEY, EASTERN PENNSYLvANIA— Mr. Curtis Kelsey, Secretary, 499 Grenville
Ave., West Englewood, N. I.

Mr. Arthur Foster.
Mrs. Dorothy Graf.
Mr. Archie G. Tichenor.
Mrs. Ida Huff.
Mr. S. H. Sims.
MARYLAND, DELAWARE, VIRGINIA, WEST VIRGINIA—
Mrs. F. Woodward Hipsley, Secretary, 4512
Wentworth Road, Baltimore, Md.
Mr. C. Mason Remey.
Mr. Stanwood Cobb.
Mrs. H. C. Langrall.
Mr. Samuel Green.
TENNESSEE, KENTUCKY, GEORGIA, MIssIs5IPPI, LoUISIANA—
Miss Nellie J. Roche, Secretary, 713 Nashville Trust Bldg., Nashville, Tenn.
Mr. Winston Evans.
Mrs. Georgie Wiles.
Dr. Marie Kershaw.
Mrs. Terah Smith.
Miss Virginia Taylor.
Mr. George W. Henderson.
Mrs. Andrew J. Allison.
Mrs. George Creech.
ALABAMA, FLORIDA—
Mrs. Maxwell Buffin, Secretary, 49 5. E. 6th
St., Miami, Fla.
Mrs. Frances Guy.
Miss Winifred Richards.
Mr. Frederick Babo.
Mrs. F. L. Drye.
OHIo, INDIANA, WESTERN PENNSYLvANIA— Mrs. Florence Reeb, Secretary, 2 512 Bryden
Road, Bexley, Ohio.
Mr. Frank Warner.
Mrs. Helen McCoy.
Mrs. Mary Elmore.
Mr. Lothar Schurgast.
WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN, ILLINOIS— Mrs. Margery McCormick, Secretary, 503
Chestnut St., Winnetka, Ill.
Mr. Charles Reimer.
Miss Pearle U. Easterbrook.
Mrs. Ruth Cornell.
Mrs. Bertha H. Kirkpatrick.
Mrs. Oscar Ketels.

BAHA’I DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

KANSAS, MIssouRI—
Opal Howell, Secretary, 1302 E. 36th St.,
Kansas City, Mo.
Mrs. V. S. Amos.
Mr. Paul H. Brown.
Mrs. Paul H. Brown.
Mr. J. B. Becktel.
Mr. J. 3. Williams.
Miss Velma Vetter.
CALIFORNIA, ARIZONA, NEVADA— Mrs. Valeria Thornton, Secretary, 506 N.
Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Mrs. Miriam Bugbee.
Mrs. Edna Johnson.
Miss Virginia Orbison.
Miss Gladys Linfoot.
Mr. John Quinn.
Miss Emmalu Wever.
OREGON, WASHINGTON, IDAHO, BRITIsH COLUMBIA—
Miss Doris Foye, Secretary, Box 228, Seattle,
Wash.
Mrs. Louis Speno.
Mrs. Alta Kruger.
QUEBEC, NEW BRUNSWICK, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, NEWFOUNDLAND, NOVA SCOTIA— Mrs. Emeric Sala,
Secretary, 194 Riverside Drive, St. Lambert, P. Q.
Mrs. Grace Geary.
Mrs. John De Mille.
Mr. John De Mille.
Mr. Ernest Harrison.
Mr. Fred Ascah.
TEMPLE GUIDES—
Mrs. Mary Haggard, Chairman, 2439 Beechwood Lane, Wilmette, Ill.
Miss Edna True.
Mr. Carl Scheffler.
TEMPLE LIBRARIAN AND SALES— Mr. Harry E. Walrath, Chairman, 4639 Beacon St., Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Flora Ernst.
Miss Gertrude Buikema.
TEMPLE PROGRAM—
Mr. Monroe loas, Chairman.
Mrs. Marguerite Ullrich, Secretary, 904 Hayes Ave., Oak Park, Ill.

Mrs. V. Hilpert.
Mr. John McHenry.
Miss Sophie Loeding.
Mr. R. D. Pettet.
Mr. John Haggard.
UNIVERsAL AUXILIARY LANGUAGE— Mrs. Della Quinlan, Chairman, 12 8 Remsen
St., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mr. James Morton.
Miss Roan Orloff.
Mrs. Luella Beecher.
Mr. Hugh Rouse.
Mr. C. Rouse.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERs— Dr. C. R. Witt.
Mrs. Elsa Chaslon.
Miss Lucy Marshall.
Mrs. Anna Kincaid.
Mr. A. E. Regal.
Mrs. Mabelle Davis.
WORLD ORDER MAGAZINE EDITORIAL STAFF—
Mr. Stanwood Cobb.
Mrs. Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick. Mr. Horace Holley, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Ill.
CONTRIBUTING EDIToRs— Mrs. Alice Simmons Cox.
Dr. Genevieve L. Coy.
Mr. G. A. Shook.
Mr. Dale S. Cole.
Mrs. Marzieh Carpenter Gale.
Mrs. Marcia Atwater.
Mrs. Annamarie Kunz Honnold.
Mr. Hasan M. Balyuzi.
Mrs. Shirin Fozdar.
Mrs. MaX Greeven.
YOUTH—
Miss Margaret Kunz, Chairman, 714 V.
Iowa St., Urbana, Ill.
Mrs. Annamarie Kunz Honnold, Editor. Mrs. Mae Dyer, Business Manager. Miss Betty Shook, International Corres pondent,
Norton, Mass.
Miss Fayrook loas, Regional Secretary for the West, 12 Tenth Ave., San Mateo, Calif.
Mr. Joseph Noyes, Regional Secretary for the East, 43 Davis St., Binghamton, N. Y.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Miss Florence Mattoon.
Miss Pan Zia-Wairath.
Miss Betty Scheffler.
Mr. Robert Gaines.
AssoCIATE MEMBERS—
Mr. Clarence LaRocque.
Mr. John Eichenauer, Jr.
Mr. Charles McAllister.
Miss Taormina Irani.
Miss Margaret Mosher.
Mr. Chester Davison.
Miss Barbara Rutledge.
SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM FOR SEASON— Green Acre—Eliot, Maine.
Mrs. Harold Bowman, Chairman.
Miss Marjorie Wheeler, Secretary, 84 Pleasant St., Worcester, Mass.
Miss Lorna Tasker.

Mr. Harold Bowman.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Ford.
Mr. Harlan Ober.
Mr. Howard McAusland. Green Acre Youth Week— Miss Ida Noyes, Chairman.
Miss Betty Shook, Secretary, Norton,
Mass.
Miss Hazel Bowman.
Miss Deane Raitt.
Miss Jane Carton.
Miss Zabelle Ogasapian.
Mr. Lucien McComb.
Central States—Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan.
Mr. L. W. Eggleston, Chairman.
Mrs. Walter Holsinger, Secretary, 3319 Berwyn Ave., Chicago, Ill.
Mr. Carl Scheffier.
Mr. Edmund Miessler.

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada, for the years 193 9-1940.
pict237.jpg

BAHA’I DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

Mr. Clarence Niss.
Mrs. Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
Miss Flora Hottes.
Mrs. Florence Holsinger.
Mrs. Dorothy Graf.
Mrs. Helen Eggleston.
Mr. Wm. Kenneth Christian.
Miss Garreta Busey.
Mrs. Dorothy Baker.
Pacific States—Geyserville, California. Mr. John D. Bosch, Chairman.
Mr. Leroy Joas, Vice-Chairman.
Mr. N. F. Ward, Secretary, 2330 Rose St., Berkeley, Calif.
Mrs. Ella G. Cooper.
Mrs. Amelia E. Collins.
Mr. George 0. Latimer.
Miss Charlotte Linfoot.
Mrs. Joy Allen.
Mr. Mark Tohey.
Mr. Irvin Somerhalder.
Geyserville Maintenance Committee— Mr. George 0. Latimer, Chairman.

Mr. Leroy loas, Secretary, 12 Tenth Ave., San Mateo, Calif.
Mr. Charles Bishop.
Mr. N. F. Ward.
Mr. John Bosch.
Mrs. Amelia E. Collins.
GREEN ACRE ARTS AND CRAFTS— Miss Agnes O’Neil, Chairman.
Mrs. Harold B. Bowditch.
Mrs. Harold Bowman.
Mrs. Ivy Edwards.
GREEN ACRE PLAyS AND PAGEANTS— Mrs. Harold B. Bowditch, Chairman.
Mr. Raphael Pumpelly.
Mrs. Magda Polivanov.
Mr. Max Miller.
Dr. Ambrose.
Mr. Philip Sprague.
Miss Peggy Crandall.
Mr. Lionel Loveday.

4.
LOCAL BAHA’I SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES,
GROUPS AND ISOLATED BELIEVERS
IN THE UNITED STATES AND
CANADA
BAHA’i ASSEMBLIES

ARIzoNA—
Glendale: Miss Donna Braden, Box 172
Phoenix: Mrs. Marietta Wilson, Box 4053
CALTFORNtA—
Berkeley: Miss Helen B. Rutledge, 2828 Stuart St.
Geyserville: Mrs. Edith Whitton
Glendale: Mrs. Zuna S. Larson, 461 West Vine St.
Huntington Park: Mrs. Hazel Jackson, R. 1, Box 762
Los Angeles: Mrs. Mary Hotchkiss Bode, 963 Dohany Dr.
Oakland: Miss Gladys Linfoot, 156 Nova Drive, Piedmont
Pasadena: Miss Emmalu Wever, 402 Waldo Ave.

Sacramento: Miss Elizabeth L. Duffy, 1821 M. St.
San Francisco: Miss Myrtle Dodge, 2139 Pacific Ave.
CANADA—
BRI-nSH COLUMBIA—
Vancouver: Miss Mae McKenna, 1530 13th Ave. West
NEW BRUNSWICK—
Moncton: Mr. W. F. Byrne, 234 Dominion St.
ONTARIO—
Toronto: Miss Elsie Beecroft, 44 Chestnut Park
QUEBEC—
St. Lambert: Mr. E. V. Harrison, 30 Staynor
Ave.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

CoLoRADo—
Colorado Springs: Mrs. Gladys Roberts, 915
North Hancock Ave.
Denver: Mr. Ned Meyer, 3441 West 34th Ave.
CONNECTICUT—
New Haven: Mrs. Elsa Isaacs, 559 Whalley
Ave.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA—
Washington: Mrs. Mariam Haney, 1763 Columbia Rd.
FLORIDA—
Jacksonville: Miss Kathryn L. Vernon, 707 Post St.
Miami: Mrs. Dorothy Logelin, Box 1975 St. Augustine: Mrs. Frances A. Shaw, 139
Central Ave.
GEORGIA—
Augusta: Mrs. C. T. Sego, Bransford Rd.
HAWAII—
Honolulu: Mrs. Elma Adolphson, 712 17th Ave.
Maui: Mrs. Mary T. Fantom, Sprecklesville
ILLINOIs—
Chicago: Mrs. H. E. Walrath, 4639 Beacon St.
Evanston: Miss Virginia Russell, 2622 Prairie Ave.
Maywood: Mrs. Gladys Amerson, 1413 Washington Blvd., Box 123
Park Ridge: Mrs. j. H. Redson, 612 South Washington St.
Peoria: Miss Zoe Meyer, 102 Alice Ave.
Springfield: Mrs. Anna K. Jurgens, 1136 North 4th St.
Urbana: Mr. H. J. Snider, 506 W. Penn. Ave.
Wilmette: Mrs. David Camelon, 125 Fourth St.
Winnetka: Mrs. Willis S. Hilpert, 455 Chestnut St.
INDIANA—
Indianapolis: Mrs. Helen Patterson, 2725 Station St.
South Bend: Mrs. Sarah M. Russell, 1031 Lincoln Way West

KANsAS—
Topeka: Miss Fern Latimer, 701 West 5th St.
MAINE—
Eliot: Mrs. Dorothy Cress
MARyLAND—
Baltimore: Miss Mildred Elmer, 3302 Clifton Ave.
Cabin John: Mrs. Margaret R. Patzer, Box 133
MAssACHUSETTs—
Boston: Mrs. M. C. Oglesby, 30 Holyoke St.
Springfield: Mrs. R. A. Bates, 99 Princeton St.
Worcester: Miss Fanny M. Holmes, 103 ‘Webster St.
MICHIGAN—
Detroit: Mrs. George K. True, 104 Moran Rd., Grosse Pointe.
Flint: Miss Elizabeth J. Phelps, Box 355 Grand Rapids: Miss Cora C. Edge, 1865
Plainfield Ave.
Lansing: Mr. George Angell, R. 3, Box 540
Muskegon: Mrs. Iva Smack, 132 Allen Ave.
MINNEsoTA—
Minneapolis: Mrs. Helen W. Frink, 1216 Nicollet Ave.
St. Paul: Mr. Kenneth K. Kadrie, 2021 Randolph St.
Msssousu—
Kansas City: Miss Velma Vetter, 2815 Forest St.
MONTANA—
Helena: Mr. Charles Adams, 106 South Main St.
NEW JERsEY—
Jersey City: Mr. Arthur Foster, 41 Tonnele
Ave.
Montclair: Miss Anna E. Van Blarcom, 19 Walnut Crescent
Newark: Mrs. F. W. Clark, 21 Milford Ave.
Teaneck: Mrs. Ethel Crane, 116 Cane St.- Bogota.

BAHA’I DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

NEW MEXICO—
Albuquerque: Mrs. Amy Brady Dwelly, Box 185
NEW YoRK—
Binghamton: Miss Ida L. Noyes, 43 Davis St.
Buffalo: Mrs. Morris S. Bush, 406 ‘West Utica St.
Geneva: Mrs. Marguerite Firoozi, 22 De Lancey Dr.
Jamestown: Mr. John Stearns, 518 E. 6th St.
New York City: Miss Bertha Herklotz, Bahá’i Center, 119 1W. 57th St.
Rochester: Mrs. P. R. Meinhard, 335 ‘Wilmot Rd.
Yonkers: Miss Muriel Stilson, 10 Halcyon Place
OHIo—
Cincinnati: Miss Hilda Stauss, 3640 Epworth Ave., Westwood
Cleveland: Mrs. Dale S. Cole, 3174 Corydon Rd., Cleveland Heights
Columbus: Mrs. Margarete Acebo, Box 102, Galena
Dayton: Miss Kathryn Alio, 259 Louie St. East Cleveland: Prof. William Sandoz, 1770
Delmont Ave.
Lima: Mr. Floyd B. Spahr, 504 Orena Ave.
Toledo: Mr. William Thiele, 402 Rocking- ham St.
OKLAHOMA—
Oklahoma City: Mrs. A. P. Entzminger,
423 N. E. Tenth St.

OREGON—
Portland: Mr. J. W. Latimer, 1927 N. E. 40th Ave.
PENNsyLvANIA—
Philadelphia: Miss Jessie E. Revell, 2531 North 19th St.
Pittsburgh: Mrs. Bishop Brown, Lindsay Lane, Ingomar.
Scranton: Mrs. Zenobia Dorsey, 1312 Linden St.
TENNESSEE—
Knoxville: Mrs. Lessie McMichael, Reid Hotel
Nashville: Miss Nellie J. Roche, 713 Nashville Trust Bldg.
WA5HJNGvON—
Monroe: Mrs. Levina Sprau, Box 277 Richmond Highlands: Mr. B. W. Schneider,
Box 15
Seattle: Miss Doris Foye, Box 228
Spokane: Mrs. Margaret Stange, 207 Mohawk Bldg.
WIsCoNsIN—
Eagle River: Mrs. Joyce Schiddel
Kenosha: Mr. Louis J. Voelz, 6108 Sheridan Rd.
Milwaukee: Mrs. Jeanette Clark, 1814-A North Oakland Ave.
Racine: Mr. Harold R. Olsen, 1332 Russet St.
Wauwatosa: Mr. Emil Gross, 7044 Maple Terrace

BAHA’! GROUPS
ALABAMA—
Tuskegee Institute: Mrs. Fannie McEngc
ARKANSAS—
Pine Bluffs: Miss Lydia J. Martin, Arkansas
State College
CALIFORNIA—
Atascadero: Mr. and Mrs. V. E. Oldsen
Burbank: Mrs. Shirley Warde, 927 Lima St., Magnolia Park
Clearlake Highlands: Mrs. Flora M. Clark, Box 47

Knightsen: Mrs. Helen R. Somerhalder Long Beach: Mr. Alexander Kisch, 701 East
3rd St.
Pine Knot: Mrs. Frances L. Welles, Box 215 San Diego: Miss Mary Lillian Fenn, 1744
Second Ave.
Santa Barbara: Mrs. Marie Lowell, 226 East Padre St.
Santa Rosa: Mrs. Juanita Storch, 4770 Sonoma Highway
CONNECTICUT—
Rockville: Miss G. Palmer, 148 Grove St.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

Stafford Springs: Mrs. Alice R. Taylor, 10 Westford Ave.
West Haven: Mrs. J. H. Steed, Sr., SOS Main St.

FLORIDA—
Orlando: Mrs. C.
GEORGJA—
Atlanta: Miss M. per St. N. E.

IDAHO—
Boise: Mrs. Ethel Thompson, R. 1
ILLINOJ5—
Rockford: Mr. Edward L. Fernald, 607 Empire Bldg.
Waukegan: Mrs. G. E. Terry, 1522 Melrose Ave.
MASSACHUSETTS—
Monson: Mrs. Wendell E. Bacon.
Provincetown: Miss Diantha Crisp, Bradford St.
Three Rivers: Mrs. Harold A. Chamberlin, 11 Maple Terrace
MICHIGAN—
Ann Arbor : Mrs. William M. Parker, 1601
Pontiac St.
Marysville: Mrs. Oscar Ketels
Roseville: Mrs. Arthur Page, 18450 Hazel- wood Ave.
MINNESOTA—
Duluth: Mrs. Annie Berridge, 923 9th St.
MONTANA—
Butte: Mrs. Evalina Caldwell, 1345 Hobson St.

NEBRASKA—
Omaha: Mrs. Eunice M. Baker, 530 Medical Arts Bldg.

NEW JERsEY—
Asbury Park: Miss Jane Durand, 1305 Comstock St.
Atlantic City: Mrs. Sara Terry Taylor, 25 N. Ohio St.
NEW YosiK—
Albany: Miss Zeah Holden, 48 Terrace Ave.
Ithaca: Mrs. Clayton Crandall, 241 Cayuga St.
Syracuse: Miss Lois W. Clark, 714 James St.
OHIo—
Bexley: Miss Charlotte Lindenberg, 2512 Bryden Rd.
Circleville: Mrs. W. W. Robinson, 315 5. Pickaway St.
SOUTH DAKOTA—
Lead: Mrs. Ethel C. Ayer, 826 West Main St.

TEXAS—
San Antonio: Mrs. C. W. Nichols, 317 East
Myrtle St.
VIRGINIA—
South Arlington: Miss Feny E. Paulson, 614
23rd St.
WIscONsIN—
Green Bay: Miss Florence Delamy, 1101
South Webster Ave.
Madison: Mrs. Joel Stebbins, Observatory Hill.

REGISTERED ISOLATED BELIEVERS
ALABAMA—
Decatur: Miss Martha Fettig, c/o Dr. J. Hamil, Bank St.
ALASKA—
Anchorage: Miss Honor Kempton, General Delivery.
Fairbanks: Miss Janet Whitenack.
Juneau: Miss Betty Becker, Baranoff Hotel.

ARIZONA—
Buckeye: Mrs. Edith Edgar.
Coolidge: Mrs. C. H. Albers, Box 1166; Mrs. Laura C. Robarts, Box 645; Dr. I. A. Ircadia, General Delivery.
Jerome: Mrs. Robert Phillips, United Verde Hospital.
Kingman: Mr. William Stratton, Box 751.

NEW HAMPSHIRE—
Hinsdale: Mrs. Lorne L. Kendrick, North- field St.
Frank Newton, Box 1468 Salmon Falls: Mr. Harold Bowman, Jr.
Doris Ebbert, 1049 Juni

BAHA’i DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

Payson: Mrs. H. B. Davis; Mrs. Nina Seibert.
Prescott: Mrs. Letitia Main, Pioneers Home.
Tucson: Mrs. Jonathan Gordon, 514 N. Highland Ave.; Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Frink, Box 2464.
ARKANSAS—
Camden: Miss Mattie R. Stewart, 505 Shot St.
El Dorado: Mr. and Mrs. N. S. Edens, R. 1, Box 64.
Hot Springs: Miss Reszi Sunshine, 100 Exchange St.
Pine Bluff: Miss Lydia J. Martin, c/o Arkansas State College.
CALIFORNIA—
Alma: Miss Julia Culver, Chemeketa Park; Mr. and Mrs. L. N. Ball, Chemeketa Park.
Antioch: Mrs. Frank R. Michael, 515 Second St.
Bakersfield: Mrs. Sylvia A. Dewey, 1231 Monterey St.; Mrs. Edna Tillyer, 1231 Monterey St.
Barstow: Mrs. Jennie D. Wicker, Box 563.
Burlingame: Mr. and Mrs. George Kuhlman, 33 Channing Rd.; Mrs. Chas. Campbell,
815 Fairfield St.
Pebble Beach: Mrs. John O’Shea.
Chula Vista: Miss Ferne Adams, 773 Second Ave.
Claremont: Mrs. Ama Perron, 101 0 Berkeley St.
El Monte: Mr. D. J. Adams, Jr., 624 McGirk Ave., R. 2.
Escondido: Mrs. Carl Steinhauser, Box 300.
Exeter: Miss Myriam F. Partridge, 19 Clarence St.
Fort Bragg: Mrs. Anna H. B. Hale, Box 550.
Glen Ellen: Mrs. 0. M. Small, Box 57.
Hinkley: Miss Doris Goodrick, R. 1.
Lakeport: Mrs. Clark Rood.
La Mesa: Mrs. Inga Dake, 9140 Johnson Dr.
Lindsay: Mr. James Dodson, Box 854.
Manhattan Beach: Mrs. Lyda Conover, 216 Poinsetta Ave.
Mariposa: Mrs. Inglis J. Carre, General Delivery
Modesto: Mrs. Griffin Jackson, 115 Poplar Ave.
Oakley: Mrs. Max F. Schober, R. 1, Box
129.

Oceano: Mrs. Helen M. Murphy, Box 214. Palo Alto: Mrs. Arthur L. Dahl, Jr., 2150
Byron St.
Paradise: Mr. Robert L. Gulick, Sr.
Riverside: Mrs. Margery W. Dixon, 3021 Lime St.; Mr. and Mrs. Albert Ackerman, 4264 9th St.
Salinas: Mrs. F. Brubaker, 311 ‘/2 Pajaro St. San Bernardino: Miss Anna Bell McBee, 1240
Perris St.
Santa Clara: Mrs. John Honn, 1374 Idaho St.
Santa Maria: Mrs. Ethel Rahbar, 115 West Cook St.
Santa Paula: Mrs. C. E. Carpenter, 415 North 6th St.
Soquel: Mrs. Howard Bowen, Box 90.
St. Helena: Mrs. Emma H. Harmon.
Templeton: Mr. Ole Hove, Box 43.
Turlock: Mrs. Maude Fisher, 591 Geer Road, R. 2.
Whittier: Miss Jane Coulter; Mrs. Ann Burch, 102 W. Broadway.
Woodlake: Mrs. Estelle Wacaser.
Yuba City: Miss Ada L. Chandon, 778 Olive St.
EASTERN CANADA— NovA SCOTIA.—.
Halifax: Mrs. Beulah Proctor, 31 Elm St.; Mr. and Mrs. Grenville Wade, Box 231.
ONTARIO—
Parran Point: Dr. Anna D. Sheets.
West Gravenhurst: Mrs. Caroline Lehmann.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND—
Charlottestown: Mr. Chas. N. Murray, 140 Water St.
WESTERN CANADA— ALBERTA—
Calgary: Miss Doris Skinner, 303 6th St., W.
Taber: Miss Elizabeth Conlon.
Vermillion: Mrs. J. M. Pine.
BRITISH COLUMBIA—
Armstrong: Mrs. F. S. Collin; Austin F. L. Colhn, Box 49; Mrs. G. E. Joyce; Mr. John A. Dixon.
Kasloops: Miss Lorraine Wooten, 190 Seymour W.
Victoria: Miss Audrey Applegate, 326 Arnold Ave.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

MANITOBA—
Winnipeg: Mr. Rowland Estall, Box 121; Miss Lillian Tomlinson, Box 121.
SASKATCHEWAN—
Carmichael: Mr. Edward D. Harris.
COLORADO—
Cripple Creek: Mrs. Gladys Frink, General
Delivery.
Delta: Miss Pearl ‘Ward, K. 2, Box 173.
Dillon: Mr. Frank Bibby.
CONNECTICUT—
Clinton: Mr. Charles and Miss Edith Boyd, Harbor View.
Danbury: Mr. Donald Kinney, R. 4.
Greenwich: Miss Nellie Hope Lloyd, The Maples.
South Glastonbury: M. and Mrs. Herta Porter Hebel, The Pines.
DELAWARE—
Wilmington: Mrs. Louise Murray Salter, Broome St.; Mr. and Mrs. Elahi Kalantar, 813 N. Clayton.
FLORIDA—
Bristol: Mrs. Virginia B. Harrell; Mr. William Durham; Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Parker, R. 1; Mr. M. C. Burkett; Mr. Franklin N. Parker.
Clearwater: Mr. F. G. Hale, 504 Seminole St.
Dania: Mr. and Mrs. Willis White, Box 602.
Fernandino: Mr. Jim Stone, Box 423; Mrs. Anna Nagle; Miss Grace C. Nagle, 10 South St.; Mr. Gus Smith; Miss Elsie Stiles.
Gainesville: Miss Bessie M. Garrison, 715 Columbia St.
Hollywood: Miss Mary Rycroft, 1727 17th St.; Mrs. Amelie W. Bodmer, c/o Hollywood Beach Trailer Park; Mrs. Mae Fisher, c/o
Hollywood Beach Trailer Park.
Lakeland: Mr. and Mrs. Byron S. Lane, 708 N. Iowa Ave.; Mr. Edward Lane.
Miami: Mrs. Beatrice M. Bailey, 196 5. E. 14th Lane.
Okochobee: Mrs. A. J. Sanderfur.
Ruskin: Mrs. Cora L. Jones, Box 27.
Williston: Miss Josie Pinson, Box 2.
GEORGIA—
Griffin: Mrs. Lucia Slade Drake, 545 S. Hill

Savannah: Mrs. L. C. Haskell, 211 E. Victory Drive.
IDAHO—
Coeur d’Alene: Mr. J. F. Behrens, 2111
Sherman Ave., R. 4.
ILLINOIs—
Alton: Miss Ida L. Dixon, 1229 Alby.
Aurora: Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Brainerd, 532 Wilder.
Batavia: Mrs. Margot McNamar Johnson, 175 First St.
Centralia: Miss Beulah Magruder, c/o St Mary’s Hospital.
Freeport: Dr. David and Misses Ella and Lillian Bokhof, 518 West Galena Ave.
Magnolia: Mrs. Lucy B. Swindler, R. F. D.
Mattoon: Miss Bertha B. Newby, 1618 Charleston.
Morrison: Mrs. Glen 0. Whistler, R. F. D.
Orangeville: Mr. John G. Leiser, Box 226.
Ottawa: Miss Frances A. Muffler, Ryburn Memorial Hospital.
Quincy: Miss Helen Greeman, 1100 Payson Ave.
Serena: Mr. William E. Muffler, R. 1; Mrs. Gertrude Muffler, R. 1.
Western Springs: Mrs. Eolah S. Bartley, 4301 Lawn Ave.; Mrs. Bernice Schreiber.
4240 Western Ave.
Wheaton: Glenn R. Ray, Box 352.
INDIANA—
Rockville: Mrs. May L. Hatch, R. 4.
Wolcott: Mrs. R. W. Patrick, Box 193.
Winamac: Mr. Robert J. Sevier, R. 4.
IOWA—
Cedar Rapids: Mr. Hassan M. De Hook, 729
First Ave., W.
Correctionville: Mrs. Sophie L. Hayes, Box
307.
Davenport: Miss A. Zella Smull, 2073
Brady St.; Miss Carrie F. Ridenour, 2075/3
Brady St.; Mrs. H. C. Friend, 1415 Main
St.
Des Moines: Miss Grace M. Decker, Chamberlain Hotel.
KENTUCKY—
Cave City: Mr. Edwin R. White, c/o J. H.
White.

St.

BAHA’:I DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

LOUISIANA—
Covington: Mrs. Marion M. Little, Box 61; Mrs. J. Louie Smith, 517 Hancock St.; Mrs. Harvey Ellis, 1921 Jahncke
Ave.
New Orleans: Miss Pearl Berk, c/o Y. W. C. A.; Mrs. Dorothy Logelin; Mr. Frederick Babo.
MAINE—
Augusta: Mr. Thomas B. Guy, 317 Water St.
Bangor: Miss Mildred Varnum, 517 Somerset.
Gardiner: Mr. Fred L. Kelly.
Lovell: Mrs. Everett Heald.
North Fryeberg: Mrs. Rebecca Dixon, c/o Dr. Charles, R. F. D.
Wells: Miss Martha Woodsum.
West Boothbay Harbor: Rev. Willis A. Moore, D.D.
MARYLAND—
Salisbury: Mr. and Mrs. L. W. c/o Mr. 0. 5. Winfree.
MAssAcHusETvs—
Bernardstown: Mrs. Etta B. Felter, Church St., Box 155.
Hampden: Miss Mary Isham, R. 2.
Norton: Dr. and Mrs. Glenn Shook.
Salem: Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Crowley, 18 Mt. Vernon; Mrs. Annie B. Walker, 18 Mt. Vernon.
Weymouth: Mrs. Dorothy Miller, 188 Summer St.
MIcHIGAN—
Cheboygan: Mrs. Florence Bauer, 366 Young St.
Coloma: Mrs. Naivete C. Stevens, R. 2, Box 160.
Custer: Mr. Lewis E. Burgess.
Dexter: Mrs. Jean Hunter Thurber, 112 Ann Arbor St.
Edmore: Mr. Earl H. Kaley, R. 3.
Fruitport: Mrs. Frazier, R. 1, Box 138.
Greenville: Miss Alma E. Albertson, R. 2; Mr. John M. Irish, 422 W. Cass.
Idlewild: Mrs. Helen Zenobia Thompson, Box 56.
Kalamazoo: Mrs. Mary Dickerman, 2026 5. Burdick.

Lawrence: Mrs. John F. Hay, R. 2.
Olivet: Mrs. J. E. Kirkpatrick.
Owasso: Dr. Elizabeth Dickerman.
Pentwater: Mr. Clarence Wilder, R. 1; Mr. and Mrs. De Witt Wickham, R. 1.
Watervliet: Mrs. Grace Woods, c/o J. H. Norman.
MINNE50vA—
Moorehead: Mrs. C. B. Hill, 119 8th St., S.
Preston: Miss Frances Moore, 220 ‘/2 1st Ave., S. W.
Msssssssppx—
Greenwood: Mrs. H. W. Bivins, 1000 Parkway.
Gulf port: Mr. Carl Shaunessy, Jr., Box 437.
MIssouRI—
Jefferson: Mr. Bruce Beck, K. 1., Box 178.
St. Louis: Mr. Wm. C. Hudson, 2013 De
KaIb St.; Mr. Frank Zykan, 1517A Picker
St.; Madame Aurelia Bethlen, 4349 Olive
St.; Miss Nayan F. Hartfield, 4221 West
Pine Blvd.
MONTANA—
Great Falls: Miss Amelia Rose Belzer, 626
5th Ave.
Winifred: Mr. John H. Wilcott.
NEBRASKA—
Lincoln: Mrs. Eva M. Fulton, 1942 Euclid.
Waterbury: Mrs. Henry Luehr, K. 1, Box

43.

NEvADA—

Reno: Miss Helen Grilling, Box 88A, Hoskins Lane.
NEW HAMPSHIRE—
Pittsfield: Mrs. Harry Taylor.
NEW JERsEY—
Colts Neck: Mr. Chas. E. and Mrs. Edith
Boyd, Lynncrest Farm.
Marlton: Mrs. J. Margaret Aducat, R. 3.
Morristown: Mrs. Wm. H. Hoar, 26 Maple Ave.; Miss Dorothy Hoar, 26 Maple Ave.; Mrs. E. D. Houze, 142
Speedwell Ave.

Hammon,

THE BAHA’i WORLD

Tuckerton: Mrs. Edyth Ridden, Canton Hotel, Box 3.
NEW MExIco—
Las Vegas: Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Bressett,
Montezuma Route.
Santa Rosa: Mr. and Mrs. Leon Hutchins, c/o Ford Agency.
NEW YORK—
Batavia: Mrs. M. R. Rodman, 24 Ross St.
Bronxville: Mrs. Mary Magdalen Wilkin, 29 Brookside Circle.
Dunkirk: Miss C. H. Philippbaar, 727 Washington Ave.
Eden: Mrs. John McLaren, State ad.; Mrs. Emely Gene Kappus; Fred Kappus, Jr.
Elmira: Mrs. S. P. Fox, 106 Elm St.
Larchmont: Miss Edith Back, 11 Division
St.; Mrs. J. E. Mills, 5 Highwood Way;
Mrs. Gertrude Atkinson, 9 Seton Rd.;
Mrs. Luda Dabrowski, 12 Bronson Ave.;
Chas. Sidney Atkinson, 9 Seton Rd.
Lima: Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Tollis, Lake Ave.
Little Falls: Mr. and Mrs. Harry E. Ford, Fairfield Rd.
Long Island: Mrs. Daisy Lundstrom, 243 Saxon Ave., Bayshore.
Morrisville: Mr. Kenneth Christian, c/o State School of Agriculture.
Mt. Kisco: Mrs. W. Howard Cox II, R. 2. New Rochelle: Miss Harriette C. Cosh, 15
Lawn Ave.; Miss Gladys Fox, 11 Howe Ave.
Penn Yan: Mr. and Mrs. Stuart A. Cody, R. 6; Mr. Stuart J. Cody, R. 6.
Potsdam: Miss Gretchen Westervelt, 16 Garden St.
Rochester: Mrs. Glenda Cody, 185 Alexander St.; Mr. Howard Cody, 185 Alexander St.
Stratford: Mrs. Emily Gustin.
Trumansburg: Mrs. Sally R. Reynolds, R. 1.
Utica: Mrs. A. E. Stewart, 1645 Kemble St.
Warners: Mrs. A. B. Chase; Miss Mary Young, c/o Mrs. A. B. Chase.
NORTH CAROLINA—
Canton: Mr. Milton W. Zim.
Kannapolis: Mrs. C. I. Lefler, Box 852.

Lenoir: Mr. Chas. Thomas Graham, 215 N. Church St.
Raleigh: Mrs. Sarah Martin Eason, 705 S.
Blount St.; Mr. and Mrs. Harry E. Payne,
511 5. Blount St.; Miss Elizabeth S. Bailey,
511 5. Blount St.
Tryon: Mrs. Olga K. Mills, Box 572.
NORTH DAKOTA—
Bismarck: Mrs. Charlotte M. Wright, c/o Room 2, 1st National Bank Bldg.; Mrs. Marguerite Bruegger, c/o Bahã’i Center.
Pillsbury: Mr. Hasen Abas.
OHIO—
Bethseda: Mrs. Cora M. Jenkins, Box 204.
Bryan: Miss Alice A. Motter, 603 South Beach St.
Bucyrus: Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Pettit, 412 River St.
Eaton: Miss Alice M. Button, Vine and Israel St.
Fremont: Dr. and Mrs. W. B. Cooper, 1013 Croghan St.
Loveland: Mr. Rudolph Stauss, R. 3.
Springfield: Mr. Richard and Mrs. A. J. Davison, 479 Park Place; Mrs. Albert Dorrida, 479 Park Place.
OREGON—
Grants Pass: Mr. and Mrs. Roy C. Herrick,
R. 3, Box 1023.
Merlin: Mr. and Mrs. Fred W. Duckett.
Talent: Mr. Walter Krug.
Timber: Mrs. Della Mae Robertson.
PENNsyLvANIA—
Cambridge Springs: Miss Lucy M. Wilson,
341 Venango Ave.
Cheney: Prof. W. McKinley Menchan.
Easton: Mrs. Lauretta N. Moore, 117 5. 5th St.
Needmore: Mrs. Thelma Ranck.
Union City: Mrs. John Steves, 40 South St.
Warfordsburg: Mrs. Myrtle S. Ranck.
RHODE IsLAND—
Newport: Dr. Ali Kuli Khan, 55 Bellevue St.; Madame Florence Khan, 55 Bellevue St.; Miss Hamedeh Nabil Khan, 55 Bellevue St.

BAHA’i DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

Pawtucket: Mrs. Helen F. Wilson, 75 Dunnell Ave.
Providence: Mr. and Mrs. Don T. McNally,
183 Benefit St.; Miss Elena Marsella, 2
Harvard Ave.; Mr. Josef A. Lorenzo, 330
Broadway.
SOUTH CAROLINA—
Charleston: Mr. C. W. Westendorfi.
Columbia: Mrs. Edward Moore, 1215 Marion St.
Greenville: Dr. and Mrs. W. T. Bidwell, 1700 Main St., R. 5.
SOUTH DAKOTA —
Watertown: Miss Agnes Leo, Box 14.
TENNEssEE—
Sweetwater: Mrs. Alice R. Taylor, Box 1.
TExAS—
Austin: Miss Anna Reinke, 4410 Avenue C; Miss Ura Swann, 1603 /2 Rio Grande.
Brownsville: Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Hamilton, Nel-Roy Apts.
Dallas: Mrs. Christman Schoen, 321 Appian Way; Mrs. Ouida McClay, 4303 Swiss Ave.
Denton: Miss M. B. Herrick, 1512 N. Locust St.
El Paso: Miss Myriam R. Grabler, c/o Kress Company.
Fort Sam Houston: Mr. Howard R. Hurl- but, Artillery Post 205.
Fort Worth: Mrs. Roy Curby, 1604 Elizabeth Blvd.
Houston: Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Mowry, 122¼ Pineview Place; Mrs. Dwight J. Edson, 3409 Palm St.
Lubbock: Mr. and Mrs. Carl Henninger, 2111 18th St.; Mr. James Henninger,
2111 18th St.
Winterhaven: Mr. and Mrs. Leslie R. Hawthorn.

VERMONT—
Rutland: Miss Neysa Grace Bissell, 168 Grove St.
VIRGINIA—
Cartersville: Mrs. A. D. Taite, R. 2, Box 39.
Darlington Heights: Mrs. A. T. Johns.
Grottoes: Mrs. John Minor Echols, R. 1, Box 49.
Holland: Mr. and Mrs. William Moore.
Petersburg: Mrs. E. A. Fields, 208-A Halifax St.
WASHINGTON—
Bellingham: Mrs. Elizabeth Rudisile, R. 3, Box 674.
Bremerton: Mrs. Mary P. Remey, R. 2, Box
470.
Chelan: Mrs. Charlotte C. Gillen; Mrs. June Harris, Box 333.
Ephrata: Mrs. Myrtle Tegtmeier.
Ferndale: Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Swope.
Lowell: Mrs. J. D. Smith, Box 44.
Olympia: Mr. Arthur M. Jones, 2422 Columbia St.
Omak: Mr. J. D. Hilts.
Tacoma: Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Wilson, R. 1, Box 356.
Wenatchee: Miss Martha Esberg, 210 N. Wenatchee Ave.
WIscoNsIN—
Baraboo: Mrs. D. C. Harris, 527 7th Ave.
Berlin: Mr. and Mrs. L. M. Kraege, 1031 Kossuth St.
Greenbush: Mrs. James Parker Hall.
Manitowoc: Mrs. Clarence C. Creager, 2413 Washington St.; Mrs. Harry Mory, 1026 21st St.
Menominee: Miss Virginia Nd, Tainger Annex.
Mosinee: Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Drews, R. 2.
Oconto: Mrs. Francis LaFortune.
WYoMING—

UTAH—
Salt Lake City: Mrs. Marguerite Sears, 2667
Beverly St.; Mr. Lloyd Byars, 3535 S. 23rd East.

Laramie: Mr. and Mrs. Raphael Lillywhite,
408 Garfield St.; Miss Theresa Lillywhite,
408 Garfield St.; Mrs. Ada M. Fadner, 565
North 4th St.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

5.
BAHA’t ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS
IN IRAN

I. DISTRICT: TIHRAN
1. TIHRAN, 2. Hasanábád, 3. ChishmihSháhi, 4. Ja’farábád, 5. ‘Aliyábád, 6. Isrná’ilábád, 7. Sharifábâd, 8.
‘Abdu’lláhábád, 9. Maqsüdábád, 10. Jalaliyyih, 11. Karnáliyyih, 12. Qal’ih-Nay, 13. Hadrati-’Abdu’l-’Azim, 14.
Khániyábád, 15. Kabirábád, 16. iyá’ábád, 17. ‘Adlábád, 18. Muzaffariyyih, 19. Sálür, 20. Chiháraqi, 21. Varárnin, 22.
Tajin (?), 23. Palasht, 24. Quihak, 25. Tajrish, 26. Qal ‘ih-Sa’ádatiyyih, 27. Kalák, 28. GarmDarrih, 29. Ridáábld, 30.
QaI’ih-HaSanKhán, 31. Jawqin, 32. Fashandak, 33. Shahrak, 34. Awrázán, 35. Shafjakhánaj, 36. Justán, 37. Karkabód,
38. Gatihdih,
39. Shahr-i-Qurn.
II. DISTRICT: ABADIH
1. ABADIH, 2. Tsfandábád, 3. Iqild, 4.
Idrisábád, 5. Bahman, 6. Bavânát, 7.
Chinãr, 8. Khurrarni, 9. Dihbid, 10.
Dirgiiük, 11. Sugjaád, 12. ‘Aliyábád-iSuflá, 13. Firágiiih, 14. Küshkak, 15.
Najafábád-i-Suflá, 16. Hirnmatábád, 17.
Vazirabad, 18. ‘Abbásãbád-i-Bahrnan, 19.
‘Abbásãbád-i-FIáj-’Ali-Khán, 20. Sivinj -
i-Bavánát, 21. Bazrn-i-Bavánát, 22. Munji-Bavánãt, 23. Mazáyjãn-i-Bavánát, 24.
Suryán-i-Bavinát, 25. Sürrnaq, 26. Chiri-Bavánát, 27. Sarvistán-i-Bavánát, 28.
Firüzi.
III. DISTRICT: KASHAN
1. KASHAN, 2. Arnirán, 3. Nãshábád,
4. Yazdil, 5. Mashkán, 6. Vádiqán, 7. Naráq, 8. Jásb, 9. Jawshiqán, 10. Qamsar,
11. Mázgán, 12. Barzuk, 13. Abiyánih,
14. Qazáán, 15. Rabát-i-Turk, 16. Arán,
17. Girágán-i-Jásb, 18. Mirq.
IV. DISTRICT: KIRMAN
1. KIRMAN, 2. Rafsinj an, 3. Bandar‘Abbás, 4. Sirjãn, 5. Barn, 6. Anár, 7.
Rãvat, 8. Khurrarnábãd, 9. Zarand, 10.
Chatrüd, 11. Bághayn, 12. Rábur, 13.
Hátak, 14. Jibál-i-Báriz, 15. Jiruft, 16.
Nüq, 17. Pãriz, 18. Dãvarán, 19. Qanát i-Ghassán

20. Qaryatu’l-’Arab, 21. Khabraqtá, 22. Bandar-i-Langah, 23. Kühanban, 24. Langar, 25. Hasanãbád, 26.
Hurrnuzdábád, 27. Jópár, 28. Tüq, 29. Párin.
V. DISTRICT: QAZvfN AND ZANJAN
1. QAZVIN, 2. Qadirnábid, 3. Arninábad, 4. Nu1ratabád, 5. Muhamrnadábád,
6. Shahristan, 7. Gulkin, 8. ‘Ali—Ridáabad, 9. Kulah-Darrih, 10. Ishtihard, 11. Sirüs, 12. Riadbar, 13. Sarkhan, 14.
Zanj an.
VI. DISTRICT: ADHIRBAYJAN
1. TABRIZ, 2. Milan, 3. Uskó, 4.
Bávayl-i-’Ulya, 5. Bávayl-i-Suflá, 6. tlkhichi, 7. Mamaqán, 8. Gávgán, 9. Dihkharqan, 10. Shishaván, 11. ‘Ajabshe’r,
12. Mihrábád, 13. Hirawabad, 14. Ruvusht, 15. Munáb, 16. Maragiiih, 17.
‘Alaviyan, 18. Khurrnazad, 19. Aqjahdizaj, 20. Malik-Kandi, 21. Qijii&, 22.
Miyánduáb, 23. Qurah-Chál, 24. Nawn z1ó, 25. Savujbulagh, 26. Rida’iyyih,
27. Qahrarnan1i, 28. Shahpür, 29. Khóy,
30. Vishlaq, 31. Pirkand’i, 32. Ivavuqli,
33. Julfá, 34. Marand, 35. Zunüz, 36.
Kundulaj, 37. Yagán, 38. Kharnnah,
39. Shabastar, 40. Saysán, 41. Matanaq,
42. Diznáb, 43. Bábákandi, 44. Miynaj,
45. Saráb, 46. Qadiján, 47. Ardabil, 48.
Hirawabad-i-Khalkhal, 49. Khójin, 50.
Al-i-Háshirn, 51. Ahar, 52. Saddadan,
53. Girdülqán, 54. K.hanbaghi, 55.
QávshCiq, 56. Qarah-Shiran.
VII. DISTRICT: YAZD
1. YAZD, 2. Ardakán, 3. Arnirabad, 4.
usaynabad, 5. ‘Izzabad, 6. ‘Aliyabad.
7. Sharafábd, 8. Mihdiyabad-i-Rustaq,
9. ‘Asrabád, 10. Marlyarnabad, 11.
Küchihbayk, 12. Khurrarnsháh, 13.
Mihdiyabad-i-urnah, 14. Taft, 15.
Nirsiyabád, 16. Nasrabad-i-Pishkuh, 17,
Khudabad-i-PishkiSh, 18. Manshad, 19.
Hurrnuzak, 20. Marvast, 21. Dahaj, 22.
Qasirnabad, 23. Maybud, 24. Hasanábád

BAHA’I DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

i-Qutbábád, 25. Abmadábád-i-Ardakán,
26. Sadrabád, 27. Iláhábád, 28. Nusratábad, 29. Mahmidábád, 30. Abrandábãd,
31. Kasnaviyyih, 32. Na’imábád, 33.
Rahmatábád, 34. Muhammaclábád-i Cháhak 35. Hasanábád-i-HsImah, 36.
Khavidak, 37. Pahraj, 38. Saryazd, 39.
Mihriz, 40. Havazm, 41. Gávafshád, 42.
Hanzá’, 43. Hidish, 44. Banádak-i-Sádát,
45. Khayrábád, 46. Mazra’ih-SaydMirzã, 47. Biyábánák, 48. Anárak, 49.
Shahr-i-Bábak, 50. Hirát, 51. Hirábarjan, 52. Ahristán, 53. Mubárakah, 54.
Faráshâ, 55. Shamsi, 56. Sanhivid, 57.
Shüruk, 58. Chãvurchiy-i-Shahr-i-Bábak,
59. Qanát-i-Nüh-i-Shahr-i-Bábak, 60.
Givar-i-Manshád, 61. Yakhdãn-i-Bulük,
62. Bafró.
VIII. DISTRICT: ISFAHAN
1. ISFAHAN, 2. Najafábád, 3. Ardistán,
4. Zavárih, 5. Burájin, 6. Qahfirukh, 7.
Dastjird-i-Imámzádih, 8. Sámán, 9.
Diháqãn, 10. Jaz, 11. Dizaj, 12. Khólinjan, 13. Isgandazi, 14. Afs, 15. Tirán,

16. Muhammadiyyih, 17. Kishih, 18. Rustam, 19. Müsiyábád, 20. Mihdiyábád,
21. Katá, 22. Dihaq, 23. Rurd-i-Sufla,
24. Dürchah, 25. KhurzsIq, 26. Laftuván,
27. Shaydán, 28. Qal’ih-Sháh, 29. Shahrak, 30. Tá1!thünchih, 31. Damanü (?),
32. Varnámkhãs, 33. Sidih-Linján, 34. Bághbahádurán, 35. Chádigán, 36. Adjan, 37. Qóchanak-Faridan, 38. Chaygán,
39. Shahridá, 40. Ná’in, 41. Chamgawdân, 42. Riz, 43. Hamgin, 44. Shahr-i-Kurd, 45. Másinan, 46. Tiran-iGardan, 47. Mághdharan,
48. San’án, 49. Kamiram, 50. Tushiz, 51. Farádminih,
52. Jarquviyyih, 53. Sanâdgán, 54. Dumanih, 55. Adirjan, 56. Sürinján, 57. Qadarkhan, 58. Vishigan, 59. Marasán, 60. Nikan.
IX. DISTRICT: FAR5
1. SHIRAZ, 2. Nayriz, 3. Sarvistán, 4.
Dáriyán, 5. Sa’di, 6. Qulat, 7. Zakhirz,
8. Zarqan, 9. Kinárih-Marvdasht, 10.
‘Imãdábád-i-Marvdasht. 11. Küshak-iMarvdasht, 12. Fáráq, 13. Shamsãbád-i Member

of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma and of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bombay bidding
farewell to Martha Root after her lengthy tour
of India and Burma.

pict238.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the British Isles, 1939-1940.

Burzu, 14. Fathibâd, 15. Shamsábád-iTakht, 16. Jahrum, 17. B6shihr, 18. Dáráb, 19. Kázirón, 20. Fassã (?), 21.
Baydá, 22. Qasr-i-Marvdasht, 23. Khayrãbád-i-Bayçlá, 24. Ibráhimãbád-i-Bayclá, 25. Qal’ih-Naw-i-Bayã, 26. Q4simábád- i-Bayçlá,
27. Milyün.
X. DtsTiucT: HAMADAN
1. HAMADAN, 2. Maláyir, 3. Jüráb, 4.
Avarzamán, 5. Tüysargãn, 6. Nahávand,
7. Amzájird, 8. Bahir, 9. Láhjin, 10.
usaynábád, 11. Uqchuló, 12. Chupuqlü, 13. Qurvah-Kurdistán, 14. SariQamish, 15. Mirzakandi, 16. Uchtappih,
17. Jamshidábád, 18. Uqbuláq, 19.
Latgá, 20. Qiziljahkand, 21. Qarahbuláq,
22. Khánbághi, 23. Kajah-Gunbad, 24.
Issibuliq, 25. Sirishãbád, 26. Nadirsháh,
27. Akinlá, 28. Pirtáj.
XI. DISTRICT: QA’INAT
1. BIRJAND, 2. Kundur, 3. Isqarár, 4.
Bidisag, 5. Nawfirist, 6. Sarchãh, 7.
Asiyábán, 8. Durukhsh, 9. Dastjird, 10.
Samülábád, 11. Süd, 12. Nawkand, 13.
Khüsf, 14. Tufáb, 15. Khuvanyak, 16.
Sikán, 17. Qal’ih-Küh, 18. Zirk, 19.
Nük, 20. Nawzád, 21. Khán.
XII. DISTRICT: ‘IRAQ
1. ‘IRAQ, 2. SultánIbád, 3. Khalajábád,

4. Gulpáyigán, 5. Sháhábád, 6. Mashhad,
7. Husaynábád, 8. Varqi, 9. Amirih.
XIII. DISTRICT: GILAN
1. RASHT, 2. Bandar-i-Pahlavi, 3. Gháziyán, 4. Láhiján, 5. LangarUd, 6. Rüclsar,
7. Shahvár, 8. Diyá’bar, 9. Siyáhkal, 10. Sangar, 11. Rüdbár, 12. Minjil.
XIV. DISTRICT: KHÔZISTAN
1. AHVAZ, 2. Shüshtar, 3. Dizfül, 4. Abãdán, 5. Khurramshahr, 6. Qusvih (?), 7. Manyühi, 8. Silihábãd, 9. Masjidi-Sulaymán, 10.
Haftgil, 11. TMChishmih, 12. Bahbahãn, 13. Rámhurmuz, 14. Cham-Khalf-’fsá, 15. Safáiyyih, 16. Fayliyyih, 17. Chamtang, 18.
Chihil-Masni, 19. Jabrábâd, 20. Hindijan, 21. Kurrihpá, 22. Chamtangü, 23. Chamsha’bán.
XV. DISTRICT: KIRMANAn
1. KIRMANSHAH, 2. KhurramIbád, 3.
Burüjird, 4. Sanandaj, 5. Sunqur, 6.
Karand, 7. Sháhábád, 8. Qasr, 9. Dinvar.
XVI. DISTRICT: KHURASAN
1. MASHHAD, 2. Sharifábád, 3. Sarakhs, 4. Kalát, 5. Bulãn, 6. Chahchaha, 7. Nasrábád-i-Jám, 8. Turbat-iJam, 9. ayyibát, 10.
Bãkharz, 11. Iusaynábád, 12. Qüchán, 13. Bãjgirán,

I

I
I
pict239.jpg

BAHA’i DIRECTORY, 1939-1940

The Bahá’i Community of Adelaide, South Australia, with the local Bahã’i Youth Group.

14. Shirván, 15. Muhammadábád-i-Darigaz, 16. Lutfábád, 17. Bujnürd, 18. Jájarm, 19. Ruvin, 20. Isfará’in, 21.
Qarlyiy-i-Amand-Turkaman-Sahrá, 22. Shahr-i-Mirãvih, 23. Nishãbur (Ridvan), 24. Ma’mári, 25. Farrukh, 26.
Dastgird, 27. Ishaqábãd, 28. RiThábád, 29. Sarvaláyat, 30. Ma’dan, 31. Sabzavár,
32. Sádkhar, 33. Küshk-Bágh, 34. Rabáçi-Gaz, 35. Zarqán, 36. Safiyábád, 37. Ja’farábád, 38. Juvin, 39. Káhmish, 40.
Dávarzan, 41. Turbat-i-Haydariyyih, 42. Pitraw, 43. Zãvih, 44. Marghzár, 45. Dawlatábád, 46. Gulbé, 47. Rashtkhár,
48. Khurq, 49. Murtadaviyyih, 50. D4giiãbid, (Fur6gh), 51. Hasanábád, 52. Mihnah, 53. Khayribád, 54. Miyándihi, 55.
Shamsábád, 56. ‘All, 57. Zahirábid, 58. ‘Abdu’libid, 59. Azghand, 60. Furshah, 6!. Nay, 62. Yünis, 63. Hisir,
64. Nimaq, 65. Katahtalkh, 66. Qarichah, 67. Kashmar, 68. Maghin, 69. Khalilibid, 70. Shafi’ibid, 71. jáymind,
72. Kikhk, 73. Shahr-Gunibid, 74. Rawshanivand, 75. Firdaws, 76. Bãghis tin

77. Busçiq, 78. Sihqal’ih, 79. Burón,
80. Gazin, 81. Sariyin, 82. Sarand, 83.
Bijistin, 84. Bushruviyyih, 85. Khayru’lQuri, 86. Tabas, 87. Bighdihak, 88.
Zihidin, 89. Zibul, 90. Mirjivah, 91.
Khish, 92. Sarivin, 93. Irinshahr.
XVII. DISTRICT: SANGSAR
1. SANGSAR, 2. Shahmirzid, 3. Shahrod, 4. Aftar, 5. Simnin, 6. Dimghin.
XVIII. DISTRICT: SARI
1. SARI, 2. Mahfurdzak, 3. Arati, 4. Chilih-Zamin, 5. Shihi, 6. KafshgarKulih, 7. Amirih, 8. RawshankOh, 9. ival, 10. Ashraf-
KOhbin.
XIX. DISTRICT: BANDAR-I-GAZ
1. BANDAR-I-GAZ, 2. Bandar-i-Shih,
3. Gurgin, 4. Gunbad-QibOs, 5. Gumish-Tappih, 6. Dasht-i-Gurgin.
XX. DISTRICT: BABUL
1. BABUL, 2. ‘Arabkhayl, 3. Bahnamir,
4. 1ayi’kali, 5. Bandar-i-Mashhadsar, 6.
Bandar-i-FiraydOn-Kinir, 7. NOr, 8.
Tikur, 9. Amul, 10. KipOrchil.

—
//
*4

k

pict240.jpg

712 THE BAHA’t WORLD
6.
DIRECTORY OF LEADING ASSEMBLIES IN BAHA’i ADMINISTRATIVE
DIVISIONS
OF iRAN: YEAR 95
Central Secretary,
No. Division Assembly Central Assembly Address of Secretary Cable Address
1 T1fáhán I1fáhán Mul3ammad-’Ali- Tijárat Khániy-i- Paymân
Faydi Paymán Rawbni
2 Adhirbáyján Tabriz ‘Abbãs Fur&tan Tijárat Khániy-i- Sipah-báng
Barádarán-i-Salimi Furütan
3 Abãdih Abádih Khalil-i-Thábit c/o Dr. Badi’u’llãh Doctorãgáh
Agáh
4 Bandar-i-Jaz Bandar-i-Jaz ‘All Maq6dl c/o Muhammad Sangi Sangi
5 Bãbul Bãbul Dr. Furügii ]lisári Dr. Fur4gjj Bisári Doctorfurigh
Bisári
6 Khurásán Mashhad ‘Azlzu’lláh Báng-i-Sipah, Sipahbáng
Sulaymánl Aqáy-i-Sulaymãnl Sulaymáni
7 Kházistãn Ahváz usayn-i-Haqjó Shirkat-i-BIstanl Shirkat
Bistánl
8 Záhidán Záhidãn Ghulám-Ridá- Shirkat-i-Sahãmiy-i- Suhayli
Samimi BaMchistán
9 Sangsar Sangsar Chirágij-.’Aliy-i- Chirágh-’Ally-i- Tibyáni
Tibyãnl Tibyánl
10 San San Amánu’llah Idániy-i-Máliyyih Millyyih
]3ihrózi Bihr6zi
11 Tihrán Tihran ‘Ali-Akbar Tijárat Khãniy-i- Rawhánl
Furütan Párslyán
12 ‘Iraq ‘Iraq Faraju’llah Saráy-i-Gulshan Gulshan
Dirakhshan Dirakhshán
13 Fans Shiráz Dr. Nasru’llah Khiyaban-i-Daryüsh Khlyábán-i Badr Dáryásh
14 Qá’inát Birjand Ghulám-Ilusayn- Ghulám-usayn-i- Riçlváni
i-Thábiti Thábiti
15 Qazvin & Qazvin Muhammad-i- c/o Dr. As’ad Doctor As’ad
Zanj art TaslimI
16 Káshán Kashan ‘Abdur’Ridá ‘Abdur’Rida Fur4ghl ‘Abdur’RicIá
Furiaghl FurAghI
17 Kirmán Kirman Shahriyar-i- Saráy-i-Vakil Sarayvakil
Aryáni
18 Kirmãn- Kirmanshah Ya’qiab-i-Nusrat c/o Dr. Uabib Doctorliabib
shahan Mu’ayyad Mu’ayyad
19 Gilan Rasht ‘Atá’u’Ilãh Davãkhániy-i- Ittiádlyyih
Samandarl Ittihádlyyih
20 Nayrlz Nayriz Mahmiad-i- Mahalliy-i-Pahlavi Mahallih
Izadl Pahlavi
21 Hamadán Hamadán Miasá Ibsani Saray-i-Safar Khan Saráy
Safarhhan
22 Yazd Yazd Muhammad- Tijarat Khaniy-i- Tijarat Khanih
Ilusayn-i- Paymán Payman
Mihdavi

BAHA’f BIBLIOGRAPHY 713
7.
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF BAHA’U’LLAH’S BEST-KNOWN WRITINGS
Alvá5-i-Laylatu’l_Quds. Lawh-i-Ibn-i-Dhi’b (Epistle to the Son of
Al-i-Qullu’l-Khayr. the Wolf).
Az-Bágh-i-flahi. Lawb-i-Ittihád.
Báz-Av-u-Bidih-Jámj. Lawh-i-Jamál.
Bishãrát (Glad-Tidings). Lawh-i-Karim.
Chihár-Vádi (Four Valleys). Lawb-i-Karmil.
Ghulámu’l-Khuld. Lawh-i-Kullu’t-Ta’am.
Haft-Vãdi (Seven Valleys). Lawb-i-Malikih (Tablet to Queen Victoria).
Halih-Halih-Yá-Bis}iãrat. Lawh-i-Malik-i-Rüs (Tablet to the Czar of
klór-i-’Ujáb. Russia).
Hurüfát-i-’Alljrs. Lawh-i-Malláhu’l-Quds (Tablet of the Holy
Ishráqát (Effulgences). Mariner).
Kalimát-i-Firdawsiyyih (Words of Paradise). Lawh-i-Manikchi-Sáhib.
Kalimát-i-Maknünih (Hidden Words). Lawh-i-Maqsád.
Kitáb-i-’Ahd (Book of Covenant). Lawh-i-Maryam.
Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book). Lawh-i-Mawlód.
Kitáb-i-Badl’. Lawh-i-Mubáhilih.
Kitáb-i-fqan (Book of Certitude). Lawh-i-Násir.
Kitáb-i-Sultán (Tablet to the Shah of Per- Lawh-i-Nápulyón I (First Tablet to Napo sia) leon III).
Lawh-i-’Abdu’l-’AzizVa.Vukala Lawh-i-Nápulyün II (Second Tablet to Na Law -i-’Abdu’lVahhab. poleon III).
Lawisi!Abudu’r.Razzaq. Law-i-Nuqtih.
Lawh-i-Ahbab. Lawh-i-Páp (Tablet to the Pope).
Lawh-i-Alimad (Tablet of Abmad). Lawh-i-Pisar-’Amm.
Lawl2-i-Amvaj. Lawh-i-Qiná’.
Lawh-i-Anta’l-Kafj. Lawh-i-Quds.
Lawi-i-Aqdas. Lawb-i-Raf 1’.
Lawh-i-Ashraf. Lawls-i-Ra’js (Tablet to Ra’is).
Lawl?-i-’AshiqvaMa’shuq. Law5-i-Raqsha’.
Lawh-i-Ayiy-i-Nür. Lawli-i-Rasül.
Lawh-i-Bahá. Lawh-i-Rüh.
Law-i-Baqa. Lawh-i-Ru’yá.
Lawb-i-Basicatu’l-Haqiqih. Lawki-i-Sahâb.
Lawh-i-Bismiijh. Lawh-i-Saltnán I.
Lawh-i-Bulbulu’l-Firaq. Lawb-i-Salmán II.
Lawh-i-Burhán. Lawh-i-Sámsán.
Law5-i-Dunya (Tablet of the World). Lawh-i-Sayyah.
Lawki-i-Fitnih. Law5-i-Shaykh-Fani.
Lawh-i-Ghulámu’l-Khuld. Lawh-i-Tawhjd.
Lawh-i-Habib. Lawh-i-Tibb.
Lawh-i-Haft-Pursish. Lawl-i-Tuqá.
Law-i-IIaqq. Lawh-i-Yslsuf.
Lawki-i-Hawdaj. Lawh-i-Zaynu’l-Muqarrabin.
Lawh-i-Hikmat (Tablet of Wisdom). Lawh-i-Ziyárih.
Lawh-i-Hirtjk. Madinatu’r-Ridá.
Lawl.s-i-üriyyih. Mad inatu’t-Tawhid.
Law-i-usayn. Mathnavi.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Munajáthiy-i-iyám.
Qad-Ihtaraqa’l-Mukhlión.
QaØdiy-i-Varqá’iyyih.
Rashh-i-’Amá.
Ridvánu’l-’Adl.
Riclvánu’l-Tqrár.
Sahifiy-i-Shaçiyyih.
Saláf-i-Mayyit (Prayer for the Dead).
Sáqi-Az-Ghayb-i-Baqá.
Shikkar-Shikan-Shavand.
Subhána-Rabbiya’l-A’lá.
Subhanaka-Yá-Hó.
Sáratu-’lláh.
Süriy-i-A5zán.
Süriy-i-Amin.
Sáriy-i-Amr.
Süriy-i-Atráb.
Süriy-i-Aiáb.
Süriy-i-Asmá’.
Süriy-i-Bayân.
Süriy-i-Burhán.
Süriy-i-Damm.
Sáriy-i-Dhahili.
Sáriy-i-Dhib.
Süriy-i-Dhikr.
Sáriy-i-Facll.
Süriy-i-Fat.
Süriy-i-Fu’ãd.
Süriy-i-Ghun
Süriy-i-IIajj I.
Sáriy-i-1ajj II.
Süriy-i-Haykal.
Süriy-i-ifg.

Silriy-i-Hijr.
Süriy-i-’IbácL
Süriy-i-Ism.
Sáriy-i-Ismuna’l-Mursil.
Süriy-i-Javád.
Süriy-i-Khitáb.
Süriy-i-Ma’áni.
Sñriy-i-Man’.
Süriy-i-Mulük.
Süriy-i-Nidá.
Siriy-i-Nu.
Sáriy-i-Qadir.
Süriy-i-Qahir.
Sáriy-i-Qalam.
Sóriy-i-Qamis.
Süriy-i-abr.
Sáriy-i-Sultán.
Süriy-i-Vafá.
Sáriy-i-Ziyárih.
Siiriy-i-Zubur.
S6riy-i-Zühür.
Tafsir-i-Hü.
Tafsir-i-ur6fat-i-Muqayça’ih.
Tafsir-i-Süriy-i-Va’sh-ams.
Tajalliyát (Revelations).
Tarázát (Ornaments).
Ziyárat-Nãmih (The Visiting Tablet).
Ziyárat-Námiy-i-Awliyá.
ZIyárat-Námiy-i-Bábu’l-Báb va Quddós.
ZIyãrat-Námiy-i-Bayt.
Ziyárat-Nãmiy-i-Maryam.
Ziyarat-Námiy-i-Siyyidu’-Shuhadá.

LIST OF THE BAB’S BEST-KNOWN WORKS

1. The Iranian Bayãn.
2. The Arabic Bayán.
3. The Qayyámu’l-Asmá’.
4. The Sahifatu’l-aramayn.
5. The Dalá’il-i-Sab’ih.
6. Commentary on the Sórih of Kawthar.
7. Commentary on the Sürih of Va’1-’Ar.
8. The Kitáb-i-Asmá’.
9. Saifiy-i-Makhdhümiyyih.
10. aifiy-i-Ja’fariyyih.
11. Ziyarat-i-Sháh-’Abdu’l-’A4m.
12. Kitáb-i-Panj-Sha’n.
13. Sahifiy-i-Raçlav’yyih.
14. Risaliy-i-’Adliyyih.

15. Risiliy-i-Fiqhiyyih.
16. RisIliy-i-Dhahabiyyih.
17. Kitábu’r-Riih.
18. Suriy-i-Tawlid.
19. Lawh-i-HurMãt.
20. Tafsir-i-Nubuvvat-i-KháPh.
21. Risaliy-i-Furá’-i-’Adliyyih.
22. Kha1á’ly-i-Sab’ih.
23. Epistles to Mubammad Shah and Háj i Mirzá Aqási.
N. B.—The Báb Himself states in one passage of the Iranian Bayán that His writings comprise no less than 500,000
verses.

(Tablet of the Branch).

8.

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

II
BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.

The books and pamphlets in this section have been published under Bahd’I auspices or
approved by a recognized Bahd’I body.
BAHA’j PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA
Published and Distributed by the Publishing Committee of the
National Spiritual Assembly, P. 0. Box 348, Grand Central Annex, New York, N. Y., with the exception of the older
publications (marked by an asterisk ‘p),
which are now out of print.

BOOKS ABOUT THE BAHA’I FAITH Bahd’I Proofs, The, by Mirzã Abu’l-Fadl of
Gulpáyigan. The best-known book of

this great Oriental scholar, philosopher and disciple of Baha’u’llah translated into English. It presents the truth of the
Ba-

(a) Books About the Bahá’j 23. Bahá’j Publications in Croatian.

Faith.
24. Bahá’j Publications in Polish.
(b) Writings of the Báb.

(c) Writings of Bahá’u’llah. 25. Baha’i Publications in Icelandic.

(d) Writings of ‘Abdu’l-
26.
Baha. Bahá’i Publications in Oriental Lan (e

Writings of Shoghi Effendi. guages.

(f) Prayers. (a) Iranian.

(g) Bahá’i Literature in (b) Urdu.

Pamphlet
(c) Arabic.
Form.
(h) Compilations. (d) Turkish.

(i) Outlines and Guides for (e) Burmese.

Study Classes. (f) Chinese.

2. Bahá’i Publications of (g) Hebrew.

England.
3. (h) Tartar.
Bahá’i Publications

of India and Burma.
4. (i) Gujrati.
Bahá’j Publications

in French.
Bahá’i Publications
(j) Japanese.

in Italian.
(k) Armenian.
Bahá’j Publications

in Dutch.
(1) Tamil.
Bahá’j Publications

in Danish. Bahá’i Publications
(m) Kurdish.
in

Swedish.
(n) Sindhi.
Bahá’i Publications in

Portuguese.
(o) Bengali.
Bahá’i Publications in

Bahá’i Publications in (p) Hindi.

Esperanto.
(q) Abyssinian.
Bahá’i Publications

in Russian.
27. Bahá’i Literature in Braille (for the
Bahá’i Publications in

German.
Blind).
Bahá’i Publications in

Bulgarian.
28. Bahá’i Periodicals.
Bahá’i Publications

in Rumanian.
29. References to the Bahá’i Faith in Books
Baha’i Publications in

Czech.
and Pamphlets by Non-Baha’i Authors.
Bahá’i Publications in

Serbian.
30. References to the Bahá’i Faith in Maga
Bahá’i Publications in
Hungarian.
Bahá’i Publications in Greek. zines by Non-Baha’i Writers.
Bahá’j Publications 3 1.
References to the Bahá’i Faith by Ba i
Maori.
há’is in Non-Bahá’i Publications.
BahI’i Publications in

Spanish.
32.
Bahá’i Publications References to the Bahá’i Faith in Spe (a

THE BAHA’! WORLD

hã’i Revelation from manifold points of view, and also contains a biographical outline of the lives of the Báb,
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. 288 pp. Crown 8vo., 4V2 x 6’/2. Bound in blue cloth.
Bahd’I Revelation, The, by Thornton Chase. This book contains a most excellent compilation of the teachings of
Bahá’u’lláh, gathered from various translations and arranged so as to be consecutive as to subjects. A clear account of
the evolution of spiritual consciousness showing the oneness of purpose of all the great religions of the world, and
culminating today in the fulfillment of all the religions of the past. 182 pp. Crown 8vo., 5’/2 x 8. Bound in green cloth.
Bahd’i: Spirit of the Age, The, by Horace Holley. Presenting the Bahã’i Movement and teachings as the synthesis of
all modern movements. 212 pp. Crown 8vo., 6 x 8. Bound in blue cloth.
l3aha”I World, The (April 1926-April 1928). Volume Two. A biennial record giving a comprehensive account of the
activities of the Bahá’i Cause throughout the world. Contains many interesting illustrations showing the universal
growth of this movement. 304 pp. 7 x 10. Bound in blue cloth.
Bahd’i World, The (April 1928-April 1930). Volume Three. The third volume in the biennial series of Bahã’i records
continuing recent historical developments of the Cause throughout the world. Besides the many excellent illustrations,
this volume contains a reproduction of a hand- illuminated Tablet of Bahá’u’llãh in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s handwriting. 378
pp., 7 x
10. Bound in red cloth.
Bahd’I World, The (April 1930-April 1932). Volume Four. In addition to a comprehensive report of Bahá’i activities
during this two-year period, the fourth volume in this series of publications devotes generous space to the presentation
of the World Order of Bahi’u’lláh through the present-day Administration of the Bahã’i Faith. The frontispiece is a
facsimile of appreciation of the teachings written by the Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania. 548 pp., 7 x 10. Bound in
blue cloth.

Bahd’I World, The (April 1932-April 1934). Volume Five. This volume presents the further spread of the Bahã’i
Faith and establishment of the World Order of Bahã’u’llãh. The frontispiece, a photograph of Bahiyyih Khânum, and
the loving tributes to her memory form a special feature of this volume. 712 pp., 7 x 10. Bound in brown cloth.
Baha”I World, The (April 1934-April 1936). Volume VI records Bahá’i activities for the two years ending April 1,
1936. In addition to many beautiful illustrations, there are two frontispieces; one a photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, sent
from Haifa, especially for this volume, and the other a facsimile of a further appreciation of the teachings, written by
the Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania. Two maps showing Bahá’i Centers in Iran and in the United States. 772 pp., 7
x 10. Bound in green cloth.
Bahd’I World, The (April 1936-April 1938). Volume VII of the biennial international record. This volume contains
891 pages, including two colored frontispieces, inset map and 137 photographs, and records the growth of the Faith
throughout the world during this period.
Bahd’I Year Book (April 1925-April 1926). Volume I, a record of current activities with articles on various Bahá’i
institutions, newly translated teachings, photographs, etc. Bound in green cloth. 174 pp., 7 x 10. For Volume II, see
The Baha”I World.
‘Bahd’Iism—the Modern Social Religion, by Horace Holley. Mitchell Kennerley, New York, 1913.
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, by J. E. Esslemont. An authoritative and comprehensive survey of Bahá’i history
and the teachings as related to present religious, scientific and social conditions in Europe and America, with many
quotations from the writings. New edition. 308 pp. Post 8vo., 5 x 7. Bound in green cloth. In paper.
Coming of the Glory, by Florence E.
Pinchon. An interesting narrative giving
the spirit and the principles of the Bahã’i
Movement. 144 pp., Post 8vo., 4z x
6 ‘/2. Bound in blue cloth.

BAHA’f BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dawn-Breakers, The. Nabil’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahã’i Revelation translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi. 736
pp., 6’/2 x 93/4. 200 pp. of illustrations. Reproductions of twenty tablets written by the Báb. Standard edition bound in green leather.
Limited edition bound in morocco.
Translation of French Foot-Notes in The Dawn-Breakers, by Emily M. Perigord. Bound in paper.
Do’a: The Call to Prayer, by Ruth Ellis Moffett. A study of the mystical science of prayer and meditation, with a compilation of
prayers chosen from a number of religions. 126 pp. Bound in paper.
::.Lessons on the Bahd’I Revelation, by W. Hooper Harris.
‘Life and Teachings of ‘Abbe5 Effendi, The, by Myron H. Phelps. Published by Putnam & Sons.
Life Eternal, compiled by Mary Rumsey Movius. Selections from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Baha on immortality and
the life of the soul. 178 pp. Bound in cloth.
My Pilgrimage to the Land of Desire, by Marie A. Watson. The story of Mrs. Watson’s visit to Haifa in 1921, with an interesting
account of her healing by ‘Abdu’l-Baha. 24 pp., 6 x 94. Paper cover.
Mysticism am! the Bahd’I Revelation, by Rflhi Afnln. An essay which analyzes in the light of the teachings of Bahã’u’llah the
mystical tradition of the soul’s union with God: demonstrating that the Prophet or Manifestation is the intermediary between God and
man. 80 pp.
°New Day, The, by Charles Mason Remey. Bahá’i Publishing Society. Chicago, 1919.
*New Revelation: Its Marvelous Message, The, by Nathan Ward Fitzgerald. Tacoma, 1905.
* Oriental Rose, The, by Mary Hanford Ford. A vivid presentation of historical aspects of the Bahá’j Movement. 214 pp. Post 8vo.,

5’/2 x 7¼. Bound in blue cloth.
‘Peace of the World, The, by Charles Mason Remey. Baha’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1919.
Portals to Freedom, by Howard Colby Ives. The author recounts personal experiences

in meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during 1912 and describes the spiritual power released through the Bahá’i Faith for the development of
human personality in this age. Illustrated with photographs. 256 pp. Bound in cloth.
Promise of All Ages, The, by Christophil. An important contribution to the literature expounding the significance of the Bahá’i
Faith. The author traces the true spiritual content of religion through the Dispensations of the past, to culminate in the World Order
revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. Originally published in London, England. American edition, 254 pp. Bound in cloth.
Religions of the Empire. Edited by W. Loftus Hare. (Published by Duckworth, London.) The addresses delivered by representatives
of the several religions invited to participate in the conference on Some Living Religions within the British Empire held at the
Imperial Institute, London, England, from September 22 to October 3, 1924. Includes the two papers read on the Bahá’i Cause. Bound
in red cloth. 519 pp. Royal Svo., 6V2 x 9¼.
Security for a Failing World, by Stanwood Cobb. A careful and scholarly diagnosis of the social problems of modern civilization,
with an exposition of the spiritual education afforded by the Bahá’i Faith and its culmination in a World Order by which alone
universal peace can be secured. 202 pp. Bound in cloth.
*Social Principles, The, by Horace Holley. Laurence J. Gomme, New York, 1915.
Traveller’s Narrative, A, translated into English by Edward G. Browne, M.A., M.B. Written to illustrate the Episode of the Báb.
448 pp. New edition from original plates in the possession of Cambridge University Press. Bound in blue cloth.
* Truth of It, The, by Arthur Pillsbury Dodge. Mutual Publishing Company, New York, 1901.

Unity Triumphant, by Elizabeth Herrick. The Revelation of Bahá’u’llah as the fulfillment of Christianity, with extensive quotations
and bibliography. 226 pp. Royal 8vo., 6 ‘/2 x 9. Bound in red cloth.
Universal Religion, The, by Hippolyte Dreyfus. An introductory work on the Bahá’i Cause by a French Orientalist, who has

THE BAHA’I WORLD

translated many of the writings of Bahã’u’lláh. 176 pp. Crown 8vo., 5’/a x 8. Bound in black cloth.
‘Whence Comes the Light? by Loulie A. Mathews. The author gives a clear understanding in this brief outline of the approach to
the Bahá’i Cause and the noble grandeur of its founders. The quotations from Bahã’i writings throw light upon every phase of life. 84
pp., 5 x 6. Bound in paper.
A World Faith. Studies in the Teachings of Bahã’u’lláh developed by ten different contributors to a symposium published in World
Order Magazine. 68 pp. Paper covers.
(b) WRITINGS OF THE BAB
The Rib’s Address to the Letters of the Living. These sublime words are reproduced in pamphlet form from a hand-lettered copy
of pp. 92-94 of The Dawn-Breakers. 12 pp. (See Bahá’i Literature in French.)
(c) WRITINGS OF BAHA’U’LLAH
Bahd’i Scriptures. Compiled by Horace Holley, Brentano’s, New York, 1923. Bahá’i

Publishing Committee, New York, 1929. Book of Certitude, The (Kitáb-i-fqán), revealed by Bahã’u’lláh. Translated by Shoghi
Effendi. Bahá’i Publishing Committee, 1931. This work reveals the oneness of all the Prophets and their significance as the expression
of the Will of God. 55/s x 85/s. Bound in blue cloth.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, translated by Julie Chanler. A work written by Bahâ’u’lláh in His last years, addressed to the son of
a prominent Persian who had been a savage enemy of the Cause. This Tablet recapitulates many teachings Bahâ’u’llãh had revealed in
earlier works. 140 pp. Royal 8vo., 6¼ x 9/4. Bound in blue cloth and white parchment.
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahd’u’lla’h, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work consists of selections from Tablets. 354
pp. Bound in dark blue fabrikoid; also in dark blue cloth.
Hidden Words, translated by Shoghi Effendi. The essence of the teachings of all the Prophets. 54 pp., l6mo., 14¼ x 16¼. Three
editions: black leather, blue cloth, and paper cover.

Bahã’i friends gathered to bid farewell to Mr. Nabili on the occasion of his departure for Kabul, Afghánistán, on a
teaching trip.

pict241.jpg

BAHA’I BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works of Baha”u’lla’h, ed. A. H. Tumansky, St. Petersburg, 1892.
Kita’b-i-Aqdas, ed. A. H. Tumansky, Memoires de l’Academie Impériale de St. Petersburg 1899 VIII serie vol. III, No. 6.
Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. This suppreme book of devotions is issued in the same
style as the Gleanings. 348 pp. Bound in fabrikoid.
‘Seven Valleys. Translated by ‘Ali-KuliThan. Bahi’i Publishing Society, Chicago.
The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys. Two treatises revealed by Bahá’u’lláh on the nature of spiritual evolution. Translated
by ‘Ali-Kuli Khan, N.D. 60 pp. Bound in fabrikoid. Also in paper.
‘Source of Spiritual Qualities, The. Four page leaflet. Bahá’i Publishing Committee, 1924.
‘Sziratu’l-Haykal. Translated from the Arabic by Antun Uaddád. Bahã’I Publishing Society, Chicago, 1900.
Tablets of Bahd’u’lla’h (Tarázát, The Tablet of the World, Kalimát, Tajalliyát, Bishárat, Ishráqãt), social and spiritual principles of
the new age. 138 pp., 6% x 10. Bound in blue cloth.
Tablets of Baha”u’lla’h and ‘Abdu’l-Baha! to the Greatest Holy Leaf.
Three Obligatory Daily Prayers. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 14 pp. Paper cover.
Three Tablets of Baha”u’lla’h (Tablet of the Branch, Kitáb-i-’Ahd, Lawh-i-Aqdas), the appointment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã as the
interpreter of the teachings of Bahi’u’lláh, the Testament of Bahá’u’lláh, and His message to the Christians. 168 pp. Post 8vo., 5¼ x
7/2. Bound in paper.
(d) WRITINGS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHA
*‘AbdulBaha’ on Divine Philosophy (compiled by Isabel F. Chamberlain). Tudor Press, Boston, 1916.
‘Abdu’l-Bahd in London, edited by Eric Hammond. A record of public and private addresses delivered in 1911. 134 pp. Post 8vo.,
S x 7%. Paper binding.
‘Abdu’l-Bahd in New York. Bahá’i Assembly, New York, 1922. A new edition containing selected addresses delivered at
Columbia University and various churches and at public meetings by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

while in New York. Also Tablets written to the New York Spiritual Assembly by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Bound in sapphire
blue paper 4% x 6%.
America’s Spiritual Mission. Teaching Tablets revealed to American Bahá’is by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during 1916-1917. 54
pp. Self cover.
Baha”I Peace Program, The. A compilation containing a letter from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá pertaining to a plan of peace and a
letter to Dr. Forel entitled “God and His Universe,” a scientific statement of the laws governing the world and showing
the necessity of absolute harmony in the relations of all mankind united under one spiritual law. Bound in blue leather
with gold stamping. Also bound in green paper with dark green stamping.
Ba/nil Scriptures. Compiled by Horace Holley, Brentano’s, New York, 1923. Bahã’i Publishing Committee, New
York, 1929.
‘Definition of Love, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Received at New York, December 7, 1902.
Divine Secret for Human Civilization, by Josephine D. Storey. A charmingly bound book, compiled from the words of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, showing the relation of the Twelve Basic Principles of the Bahã’i Cause to the foundation of the new
world order of the future. 96 pp., 16 mo., 4% x 6. Bound in white parchment stamped in gold. Also bound in paper.
Foundations of World Unity, The. Selected addresses delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Universities, Churches,
Synagogues, Peace Societies and similar public meetings during His journey through America in 1912. 112 pp. Royal
8vo., 6 x 9. Paper covers.
*Letter from St. Jean D’Acre, A. The Unity Press, 1906.
“letter of Love” from Abdu’l-Bahd ‘Abha’s to the Beloved in America. Bahã’i Publishing Society, 1902.
::-Letter and Tablet to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace: The Hague. Bahá’i Publishing Society, Chicago,
1920.
*Letters to the Friends in Persia. Bahá’i Publishing Society, Chicago, January 21, 1906.
Mysterious Forces of Civilization. A work addressed to the people of I ran nearly forty years ago to show the way to
true

THE BAHA’I WORLD

progress. 132 pp. Royal 8vo., 63/4 x 94.
Bound in black cloth.
*Prayers and Tablets. 1906.
*The Prison, a one-page leaflet.
*Proinulgation of Universal Peace, edited by Howard MacNutt. Public addresses delivered throughout the United States and
Canada in 1912. This work contains ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ’s spiritual message to the American people, whom he summoned to establish the
“Most Great Peace” which is the consummation of the ideals of all religionists, scientists and humanitarians. 232 pp. Imperial 8vo.,
6’/2 x 93%. Bound in black cloth in two volumes.
Promulgation of Universal Peace. New edition, issued in 1939, in which the two volumes have been bound together as one.
Reality of Man, The. A compilation from the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explaining the relations of mind, soul and spirit. Compiled by
Horace Holley. Bound in dark red paper. Size 42 x 63%.
‘Reality of Religion—Tablet of Abdu’lBaha’, The. Four-page leaflet. Bahá’I Publishing Committee, 1924.
Some Answered Questions, edited by Laura Clifford Barney. An expression of fundamental spiritual and philosophic problems,
350 pp. Royal 8vo., 6Y2 x 9¼. Bound in black cloth.
* Supplication, a one-page leaflet.

‘Tablct on Universal Peace, a letter written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1919 to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace.
* Tablet to the Beloved of God in America. Translated by ‘Ali-Kuli-Khán. Cambridge, Mass., January 3, 1906.

Tablet to the Beloved of God of the Occident. Translated by Abmad 1sf áhánl (Ahmad Sohráb), Washington, D. C., September 8,
1906.
Tablets by ‘Abdu’l-Bahd Abbds to the House of Justice of Chicago, to the Ladies’ Assembly of Teaching, and others.
Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahd, compiled by Albert R. ‘Windust. Intimate letters written in reply to questions addressed by individuals and
groups. Three volumes. Volume one and three (new edition) bound in blue cloth. Volume two bound in black cloth.
‘Tablets to the East and West. Translated by Al3mad Ifáháni (Abmad Sohráb).

The Bahã’i Assembly of Washington,
D. C., 1908.
* Tablets Containing Instructions. Translated by M. A. E. Washington, D. C., August 29, 1906.
* Tablets Containing General Instructions.
Translated by Ahmad IsfáhánI (Alsmad
Sohráb). The Bahã’I Association of
Washington, D. C., 1907.
‘Tablets to Japan. Compiled by Agnes Alexander. New York, 1928.
* Tablets to Some American Believers in the Year 1900. The Board of Council, New York, 1901.

* Tablets from rAbdulBahd ‘Abba’s to F. E. Wrestling Brewster. Bahá’i Publishing Society, 1902.

The Garden of the Heart. A compilation of passages on nature from Bahã’i Sacred Writings and from the Bible, selected by
Frances Esty. Bound in colored linen.
* Unveiling of the Divine Plan. Translated by Ahmad Sohráb. Tudor Press, Boston,
1919.
‘Utterances of Two Young Men. Board of Council, New York, 1901.
* Visiting Tablets for Martyrs Who Suffered in Persia. Translated by ‘Ali-Kuli Khán. Bahá’I Board of Council, New York,
1901.
* Will and Testament of rAbdulBahd, The. National Spiritual Assembly, 1925.

Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd. Selected passages which constitute the Administrative Order of the Bahá’I Faith, the
establishment of the Guardianship, the interpretation of the institutions of local, national and international Houses of Justice. These
excerpts are accompanied by passages from the Writings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh which reveal the continuity of the Faith, and by
passages from the communications of Shoghi Effendi explaining the significance of the Will and Testament itself. A pamphlet,
uniform in size and appearance with the series of World Order letters of Shoghi Effendi.
Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd. Edited by Lady Blomfield. Previously published under the title of Paris Talks, a brief but
comprehensive presentation of His Message. 172 pp. Post 8vo., 5 x 75,4, paper covers. Bound in green cloth.

BAHA’I BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wisdom Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd. Chicago, Bahá’i News Service.
*

Woman’s Great Station. An address given in New York in 1912.
(e) WRITINGS OF SHOGH.I EFFENDI
*Bahdi Administration. A work compiled by the National Spiritual Assembly to present the original sources of instruction on the
duties and responsibilities of believers, in their relations to the local, national and international bodies of the Cause. Part One, Excerpts
from the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; Part Two, Letters from Shoghi Effendi to the American National Spiritual Assembly
and the body of American believers from January 21, 1922, to October 18, 1927; Part Three, Declaration of Trust by the National
Spiritual Assembly; Index. 155 pp. Royal 8vo., 6 x 9¼. Bound in blue cloth. Bahá’i Publishing Committee, New York, 1928.
*Bahdj Administration (Second edition). The letters written by Shoghi Effendi to the American Bahá’i community, from January,
1922, to July, 1932, in his capacity of Guardian of the Baha’j Cause, to encourage, guide and instruct the believers in carrying out the
provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá concerning the organic development of the Bahá’i community. This volume
constitutes the authoritative interpretation of that Will and of Bahá’u’llah’s teachings on the subject of the principles determining the
character of the Faith as an evolving religious society. These letters, which define the institutions of local, national and international
Bahá’i administrative bodies forming the nucleus of the new world order of Bahá’u’lláh, include communications explaining the new
world order and clarifying the problems of the post-war years. The volume also contains excerpts from ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Will, and an
Appendix consisting of the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly, and By-Laws for local Spiritual
Assemblies. 286 pp. Bound in cloth.
* Letters from Shoghi Effendi, selections from letters written by the grandson of

‘Abdu’l-Baha, appointed Guardian of the Cause by Him, regarding details of administering the affairs of the Movement. (The
complete letters to October 18, 1927, are included in Bahd’I Administration.) Bahá’i Publishing Committee. New York, March,
1929.
World Order of Baha”u’lla’h, The. A letter from Shoghi Effendi, dated February 27, 1929, clarifying the Will and Testament of
‘Abdu’l-Baha and the source of the Bahá’i Administrative Order. Bahá’i Publishing Committee. New York, March, 1929.
World Order of Bahd’u’lldh, The: Further Considerations. This letter, written March 21, 1930, continues the theme of the
Administrative Order as the nucleus and pattern of the future world civilization. Bahá’i Publishing Committee. New York, 1930.
The Goal of a New World Order. In this communication (dated November 28, 1931) the Guardian analyzes the existing
international political, economic and social problems, points to the signs of impending chaos, and emphasizes the guiding principles of
world order established by Bahá’u’lláh. The goal of world federation is upheld, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prophecy of the failure of the
present civilization is called to the attention of Bahá’js. 32 pp. Paper covers.
The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahd’u’lldh. The Guardian’s letter (dated March 21, 1932) referring to the spiritual importance
of America in the new world order, the progressive character of divine Revelation, the station of the Báb, the release of spiritual forces
for human regeneration, and the non-political character of the Bahá’i Faith. 24 pp. Paper covers.
America and the Most Great Peace. A letter addressed to American Bahâ’is, dated April 21, 1933. This communication
summarizes the forty years of American Bahã’i History (1893-1933), and develops in greater detail than in the preceding letter, the
responsibility laid upon America in the divine plan for the establishment of universal peace. 28 pp. Paper covers.
The Dispensation of Baha”u’lla’h. A letter addressed to the Bahá’is of the West, dated

THE BAHA’T WORLD

February 7, 1934. In this letter the Guardian of the Bahá’i Faith clarifies, with numerous quotations from Bahã’i sacred
writings, the spiritual station and mission of Bahá’u’llãh, the Bãb, ‘Abdu’lBahá, and the nature of the World Order
which Bahâ’u’lláh established. In this statement, prepared by the one authorized in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament
to be the sole interpreter of Bahá’i writings, students of the Cause possess the first complete and authentic outline and
summary of the Bahâ’i Faith in its development from the Announcement of the Báb in 1844 to the Administrative
Order defined by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the era following His departure from this world in 1921. 66 pp. Bound in cloth and
also bound in blue paper.
The Unfoldment of World Civilization. By The Guardian of the Faith. A letter dated March 11, 1936, giving an analysis
of the death of the old order and the birth of the new. 46 pp. Paper covers.
The World Order of Bahd’u’lldh. This volume reprints the Guardian’s successive general letters from February 27,
1939, to March 11, 1936, and represents the Bahá’i attitude toward current world problems as well as the Bahi’I
Teaching on rehgious and social matters. 234 pp. Index.
The World Religion. A brief outline of the aims, teachings and history of the Bahá’i Faith.
The Advent of Divine Justice. A general letter addressed to the American Bahâ’is in December 25, 1938, outlining the
personal and collective requisites for success in carrying out their mission of spreading the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh
throughout the earth. 77 pages. Bound in fabrikoid and also paper.
(f) PRAYERS
Prayers and Meditations by Baha”u’lláh, translated by Shoghi Effendi. In this great work the Guardian has made
available, in the realm of devotional literature, a spiritual treasure comparable only to the Gleanings from the Writings
of Babe’u’lldh which consists of Tablets. 347 pages. Index. Bound in blue fabrikoid.

*Baha”I Prayers. The Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. A large collection of prayers, newly compiled, to meet the needs of the
spiritual life of today. 210 pp. 16 mo., 3% x 6. Bound in blue cloth and also bound in blue paper.
‘Bahd’I Prayers by Bahd’u’lla’h and ‘Abdu’lBabe. 16 pp., 354 x 5. Gray paper cover.
*Prayers, Tablets, Instructions, etc., gathered by American visitors in ‘Akká, 1900.
* Prayers Revealed by Baha”u’lla’h. Containing also prayers revealed by ‘Abdu’lBahá. 108 pp., 3 x 51/2. Black paper cover.

Babd’I Prayers. Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. 34 pp. Paper covers.
Prayers Revealed by Bahd’u’lla’h, The Bdb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahd, translated by Shoghi Effendi. 24 pages, pocket size, linen
cover.
Three Obligatory Daily Prayers, translated by Shoghi Effendi. Paper cover.
(g) BAHA’T LITERATURE IN
PAMPHLET FORM
‘Abdu’l-Baha”s First Days in America, intimate and beautiful glimpses of the Master, from the diary of Juliet Thompson. 40 pp.
Printed by The Roycrofters. Paper cover.
‘Addresses, by Jindb-i-Fa’q’il. Booklets. S Nos. Translated by Ahmad Sohrâb. Seattle, 1921.
* Addresses delivered before the New York and Chicago Assemblies, by ‘Abdu’lKarim Effendi. Translated by Alimad Sohráb.
Persian-American Publishing Co., Los Angeles, 1924.
*‘Akka’ Lights, by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hannen.
Assurance of Immortality, a compilation on immortality. Four pages.
* 191 6, a calendar compiled from the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

*Baha”I Congress, April 29-May 2, 1916, a combination program and compilation, Chicago, Ill.
* Studies in Jewish Mysticism.

Bahd’i Benediction, The. Music and words by Louise R. Waite.
*Bahd’i Calendar for 1932. Consisting of twelve sheets of colored cardboard stock, one for each month, with Bahâ’i dates,

BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY

feasts, anniversaries and quotations in addition to the monthly calendar. Compiled and arranged by Doris Holley. 9 x
12.
*Baha’I Census. United States Government pamphlet showing the registration of the Bahá’is as an organized religious
body.
‘Baha”I Faith, The, by a Methodist Layman, questions and answers suggested by personal experience.
Bahd’I Faith, The, by Horace Holley. An explanation of the nature of the worldwide Bahá’i community.
Baha”I House of Worship, The. A brief description of the Bahá’i Temple at ‘Wilmette, Illinois, quoting words of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the spiritual significance of Bahá’i Houses of Worship, with an outline of Bahá’i history and
‘Abdu’lBahá’s summary of Bahá’i teachings. Illustrated. 8 pp.
*Baha?i Hymnal, words and music by Louise R. Waite. Paper.
*Bahdi Indexes, by Charles Mason Remey. Newport, R. I., 1923.
‘Baha”I Manuscripts, by Charles Mason Remey. Newport, R. I., 1923.
‘Baha”I Martyrdovis in Persia in the Year 1903 A. D., by Uaii Mirzá Haydar-’Ali. Translated by Yünis Khán. Bahá’i
Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
*Bahdi Movement, The. Articles originally published in Vedic Magazine of Lahore.
J. L. Zuahlen, Vesey, 1916.
‘Bahd’I Movement, The: Its Spiritual Dynamic, by Albert Vail, reprint of a magazine article.
Bahd’I Movement, The. A pamphlet outlining the history and aims of the Cause, with a statement on Bahá’i
Administration and many quotations from the Writings.
‘Bahd’I Movement in Its Social Economic Aspect, The, by Helen Campbell. Bahã’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1915.
Bahd’I Movement, The, by Charles Mason Remey. Washington, D. C., 1912.
‘Baha”I Persecutions in Persia, reprint of letter written to the Shah of Persia, RicH
Shah Pahlavi, July, 1926, by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the
United States and Canada.
Bahd’I Procedure. Compiled by the National

Spiritual Assembly. A compilation and codification of secondary administrative material. 80 loose leaf sheets, with Index.
‘Bahd’I Religion, The, a reprint of the two Bahi’i papers presented at the Conference on Some Living Religions within the British
Empire. Paper, 24 pp.
‘Bahd’I Revelation, The, by Thornton Chase. Bahá’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1909.
‘Baha”I Revelation and Reconstruction, The, by Charles Mason Remey. Baha’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1919.
‘Bahd’I Teachings, by Charles Mason Remey. (Seven bound pamphlets.) Washington,
D. C., 1917.
Baha”I Teachings On Universal Peace, The, a statement submitted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the
United States and Canada to the United States Government in 1934 and to the Government of the Dominion of Canada in 1935.
*Bahaullah and His Message, by J. E. Esslemont, briefly outlining the spiritual message of the New Day.
*Bef ore Abraham Was I Am, by Thornton Chase, an explantion of the Station of the Prophet.
‘Bird’s Eye View of the World in the Year 2000, a reprint of article by Orrol Harper in The Bahd’I Magazine.
‘Brief Account of My Visit to ‘A/nra, A, by Mary L. Lucas. Baha’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1905.
‘Brilliant Proof, The, by Mirzá Abu’l-Fadl of Gulpáyigan, a refutation of an attack on the Cause by a Protestant missionary.
Contains both English and Iranian text.
*Call of God, The, by George Latimer, the significance of the return of the Messenger.
* Chapter on Strikes, a supplement to “Some Answered Questions.”
Christians, Jews and Muhammadans, a reprint of Address by ‘Abdu’l-Raha at Temple Emmanu’el, San Francisco, in 1912.
*Compilation, No 9, available in: English, Esperanto, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Hungarian, Yiddish.
* Constructive Principles of the Bahd’I Movement, by Charles Mason Remey. Bahã’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1917.
*Daily Lessons Received at ‘Ak/zd—1908, by

THE BAHA’! WORLD

Helen S. Goodall and Ella G. Cooper.
Bahã’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1908.
‘Dawn of Knowledge and the Most Great Peace, by Paul Kingston Dealy. The Bahá’i Cause and ancient prophecy.
Declaration of Trust, and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahd’Is of the United States and Canada,
with amendments adopted to April 1, 1933. The legal instrument defining the nature and functions of the institutions existing in the
American Bahá’i community, with the By-Laws approved for use by Local Spiritual Assemblies. (Reprinted from Bahci’I
Administration.) 24 pp., 6 x 9. Paper covers.
‘Divine Revelation, the Basis of Civilization, by Antun Haddád. Board of Council, New York, 1902.
‘Early Pilgrimage, An, 1898, by May Maxwell. Bahá’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1917.
Economics as Social Creation, by Horace Holley. 32 pp.
‘-Episodes in My Life, by Munirih Khánum. Translated by Al3mad Sohráb. Persian- American Publishing Co., Los Angeles, 1924.
First Obligation, The, by Lady Blomfield.
* Flowers Culled from the Rose Garden of ‘Alt/rd by Three Pilgrims in 1908.

* From the World’s Greatest Prisoner to His Prison Friends, by Israel Fraser-Chamberlain. Tudor Press, Boston, 1916.

*God and His Manifestations (compiled by Mrs. J. W. Gift), an outline for the study of such Bahá’i topics as the need of a
Manifestation, the signs of His appearance, His influence upon civilization, the proofs of His cause, etc. Paper covers.
Green Acre, a reprint of articles published in The Bahd’I Magazine.
* Heavenly Feast, A, by Charles and Mariam Haney.

* Heavenly Vista, A, by Louis G. Gregory. Homo culture, by Stanwood Cobb.

Image of God, The, reprint of Address by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Annual Convention of National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People in 1912 at Chicago.
Index to Baha”I News. A key to the contents of Baha”l News from December,

1924, to November, 1933: No. 1 to
No. 79. Paper cover, mimeographed,
58 pp.
Index to Bahd’l News. A key to the contents of Bahd’l News from 1934 to 1936:
No. 80 to No. 104. Paper cover, mimeographed, 25 pp.
*In Spirit and in Truth, by A. S. Agnew.
‘Knoc/z and It Shall Be Opened Unto You,
by Roy and M. 3. M.
*J Memoriam (Miss Lillian F. Kappers and Dr. Sarah Clock), by Dr. Susan I. Moody, Union Press, Camp Karachi.
*In Galilee, by Thornton Chase. An interesting account of a visit to Haifa in 1907.
*Knowing God Through Love, by Abu’lFadl. Farewell address. Bahá’i Assembly, Washington.
Laboratory of Life, The, by Louise D. Boyle. On the reconciliation of science and religion.
.:-Lectures by Jindb-i-Fddil, a series of lectures by a scholar appointed by ‘Abdu’lBahá to teach the principles of the
Bahá’i Cause in America. Vols. 2, 3, 4, and S only.
Lessons in Religion, by Shaykh Mubammad‘All Qi’ini, prepared especially for children. Translated by Edith Ráiyyih
Sanderson.
*Letter from Honolulu, by Charles Mason Remey. Privately printed. Feb. 17, 1917.
‘Letter written on behalf of the eeFriend5 of 1sf dha’n, Persia, to the American Believers, by Mirzá ‘Abdu’l-Ilusayn.
‘FLight of the World, by a group of Pilgrims. The Tudor Press, Boston, 1920.
Manifestation, The, by Albert P. Entzminger. On the relations of the Prophet to God and to mankind.
°Martinists’ Report, by M. Gabriel Sasi. An address concerning the Bahá’i Religion delivered at the Paris Exposition of
1900.
*Martyrdoins in Persia in 1903, by Ijãj I Mirzá Haydar-’Al’s, relating the circumstances in which seventy Persian
Bahá’Is were martyred.
°Map Showing Travels of the Bdb and Baha”u’lla’h. Drawn by 3. F. Clevenger, 1927, 11’/zxl4’/z.
* Maxims of Bahd’Iism, by Ançun Haddád. Board of Council, New York.

BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY

°Message of the Kin gdoin of God, The, by James F. Brittingham. 1907.
*Message from ‘Akka’, Antun Haddãd.
Most Great Peace, The, by Marion Holley.
*Notes Taken at ‘Akka’, by Corinne True. Bahá’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
‘Observations of a Bahd’I Traveler, by Charles Mason Remey. Washington, D. C., 1914.
Oneness of Mankind, The. Selections from words of Bahá’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ on interracial amity, compiled by
Louis G. Gregory and Mariam Haney. 64 pp., paper cover.
Oneness of Mankind, The, by Hussein Rabbani. An exposition of the Bahá’i teachings on the unity of races. 24 pp. Self
cover.
°Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, The, by Lady Blomfield and Shoghi Effendi.
Principles of the Bahd’I Faith. The new edition of the little blue “No. 9” Compilation.
Path to God, The, by Dorothy Baker. An explanation of the Bahá’i teachings on the spiritual development caused by
turning to the Manifestation of God. 24 pp. Self cover.
Radiant Acquiescence, by Orcella Rexford. The principle of non-resistance applied to personal life.
°Races of Men—Many or One, The, compiled by Louis G. Gregory. 40 pp., paper covers.
°Rays from the Sun of Truth, Ida Finch.
Religion and the New Age, by A. G. B., a brief introduction to the Bahá’I teachings.
‘Revelation of Baha”u’lldh, The, Isabella D. Brittingham. Bahá’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1902.
‘Spirit of World Unity, The, selections from words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America on religious, racial and scientific
subjects. 24 pp. Paper covers.
-Spiritual Opportunities of the Bahd’Is of the United States and Canada, selections from words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The
National Spiritual Assembly.
Star of the West, November, 192 5, Peace
Number.
‘Station of Manifestation, by Antun kladdad.

* Table Talks. Regarding Reincarnation and other subjects.
‘Table Talks at ‘Akkd, by ‘Abdu’l-Baha ‘Abbás, by Arthur S. Agnew. Baha’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
Table Talks with ‘Abdu’l-Bahd, by Mr. and Mrs. George Winterburn. Bahã’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1908.
* Tablets to Japan, a collection of letters written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha to Japanese and to Americans serving the Cause in Japan.
Foreword by Agnes Alexander.
°Through Warring Countries to the Mountain of God, by Charles Mason Remey. Private printing.
°True Gardener, The (from notes by L.H.C.B.). Rangoon Standard Press, 1930.
*Ten Days in the Light of ‘Akka!, by Julia
M. Grundy. Bahá’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
Tests: Their Spiritual Value, by Mamie L. Seto. The Bahá’i teachings on trouble and difficulty.
* Twelve articles introductory to the study of the Bahd’I teachings, by Charles Mason Remey.

* Unity Through Love, by Howard MacNutt.

° Universal Consciousness of the Bahd’i Religion, by Charles Mason Remey.

* Universal Principles of the Babel Movement. Persian-American Bulletin, Washington, D. C., 1912.

* Visit to CAbbds Ejfendi in 1899, by Margaret B. Peake. Grier Press, Chicago, 1911.

* What Is a Bahd’l? by Dr. J. E. Esslemont. American edition published by Louis Bourgeois, Chicago, 1921.
What Is the Bahcl’I Faith? A brief explanation by the late Dr. J. E. Esslemont, author of “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.”
Available in many languages.
What Went Ye Out For to See? by Thornton Chase, a letter written in reply to an inquiry from a Christian.
°Whence? Why? Whither? Man! Things! Other Things! by Arthur Pillsbury Dodge. Arid Press, Westwood, Mass., 1907.
::-World Economy of Baha”u’lldh, The, by Horace Holley. Bahá’i Publishing Committee, 1931. The Bahá’i explanation of
current world depression and unrest, with

THE BAHA’I WORLD

a summary of the principles revealed by Bahá’u’llãh to make possible international order, peace and social justice. 32 pp. Paper
covers.
(h) COMPILATIONS
*Bahá’I Cause. Eight-page pamphlet prepared by the National Teaching Committee. Bahá’i Publishing Society, 1924.
*Baha”I Calendar. Daily excerpts from the writings of Bahã’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Privately printed in Honolulu, New York
and other cities.
*Baha”I House of Worship. Description of the BahJ’I Temple with Illustrations. By Charles Mason Remey. Bahá’i
Publishing Society, Chicago, 1917.
*Bahd’I Hymns and Poems, by Louise R. Waite. Bahá’I Publishing Society, Chicago, 1904, New York, 1927.
*Baha”I Message. Compiled by Horace Holley, Chicago, 1920.
Bahá’i Scriptures. Compiled by Horace
Holley, Brentano’s, New York, 1923.
Bahá’i Publishing Committee, New York,
1929.
Bahd’I Temple. Reprint of press comments and Temple symbolism. Published by Louis Bourgeois, Chicago, 1921.
*Compilation. Concerning the Most Great Peace. Tudor Press, Boston, 1918.
:- Compilation No. 9. Available in different languages.

*Compilation of Utterances from the Pen of ‘Abdu’l-BahcI Regarding His Station. 19 pp. November 26, 1906.
* Divine Pearls. Compiled by Victoria Bedikian.

*Dream of God, The. By Albert Durrant Watson. A poem. Bahâ’i Publishing Society. Chicago, 1922.
Foundations of World Unity. Compiled by Horace Holley, New York, 1927.
Garden of the Heart, The. Compiled by Frances Esty.
*God and His Manifestaticms. Compiled by Mrs. M. H. Gift.
*God’s Heroes. By Laura Clifford Barney. A drama. Lippincott, London and Philadelphia, 1910.
*Hymns of Peace and Praise. By Louise R. Waite. Chicago, 1910.

‘Mashriqu’l-Adhka’r. By Charles Mason Remey. Five preliminary sketches. Privately printed.
*Mashriqu’l.Adhka’r. By Charles Mason Remey. (Bahá’i House of Worship.) Privately printed.
*Mashriqu’l.Adhkdr and the Bahd’I Movement. By Jean Masson. Bahã’i Publishing Society, Chicago, 1921.
* Most Great Peace, The. From the utterances of Bahá’u’llãh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Tudor Press, Boston, 1916.
Oneness of Mankind, The. A compilation of the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Mariam Haney and Louis Gregory,
to assist the progress of interracial amity, 1927.
*prayers Revealed by Bahd’u’lldb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Boston, 1923.
‘Prospectus of a Series of Five Lectures upon the Bahd’I Movement, by Charles Mason Remey.
* Racial Amity. Compiled by M. H. and M.M.

* Thoughts That Build. By Rev. J. Storer. Macmillan Co., New York, 1924.
* Universal Principles of the Baha”I Movement—Social, Economic, Governmental. Persian-American Bulletin, 1912.
* Views of Haifa, ‘Akka’, Mt. Carmel and Other Places. Bahá’I Publishing Society, Chicago.
(i) OUTLINES AND GUIDES FOR BAHA’f STUDY CLASSES
Bahd’I Lesson Outline for Children. A series of thirty-six lessons in four sections, for teachers holding Bahá’i study and
discussion classes for children. The course has been planned for weekly classes over a period of nine months. Complete series (four
sections).
Baha”I Study Course. An invaluable aid for individual students of the Teachings, and for Bahá’I Communities and Groups who
desire to follow a definite course of study. The Course may be obtained with or without the three books needed for reference. Study
Course with Bahá’u’lla’h and the New Era, Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd and Foundations of World Unity.
*Bahd’I Teachings Concerning Christ. Corn-

BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY

piled by the Outline Bureau of the National Teaching Committee, 1928-1929.
*Baha’I Teachings on Economics. A compilation prepared by the National Teaching Committee. 16 pp.
The Dispensation of Bahd’u’lldh. Compiled by Study Outline Committee. A study outline. 14 pp.
* Material and Divine Civilization. Compiled by the Outline Bureau of the National Teaching Committee, 1930.

‘Outlines for Study of Scriptures, compiled by the Outline Bureau of the National Bahi’i classes and meetings, compiled by Louis
G. Gregory. Mimeographed.
* Questions and Topics for Discussion in Bahá’i classes and meetings, compiled by Louis G. Gregory. Mimeographed.

Study Guide for The Dawn-Breakers. An aid for classes and individuals in making a careful study of this historical work.
Study Outline for Kitcib-i-fqa’n. (Book of Certitude.)
Study Outline on Public Speaking. Mimeographed.
°Study of Outlines of Science, compiled by the Outline Bureau of the National Bahi’i Teaching Committee. Mimeographed.
Study Outline on the Essential Principles of Creative Writing. Mimeographed.
Twenty Lessons in Bahd’I Administration. 28 pp.
Twenty Lessons in the Bahd’I Revelation. A valuable supplement to the Bahá’i Study Course and for the individual research of
advanced Bahá’i students.
Conditions of Existence: Servitude, Pro phet 2.

hood, Deity, by H. Emogene Hoagg. A course for advanced students in the mysteries of the three kingdoms of reality.
Deepening the Spiritual Life, by Horace Holley. Passages for meditation and discussion, arranged for six lessons, under
subjects of: God’s Will for Man: The Purpose of Creation; The Soul: its Capacity to Know and Love God; Practice in
Attainment of the Spiritual Life; Character the Foundation of Spiritual Effort; True Self-Realization: The Principle of
Trustworthiness; Social Personality: The Pillars of Civilization. This Outline can be used by individuals or by groups.
Fundamentals of Bahci’I Membership, by Study Outline Committee, 1939-1940. This Outline is designed for classes
arranged by Spiritual Assemblies to prepare apphcant for admission into the Bahá’i Community, but is also adapted for
completing and clarifying the knowledge of those already members of the Faith.
The World Order of Bahd’u’lldh, Horace Holley. Based on the volume of this name containing the Guardian’s Letters
and on the excerpts from the Master’s Will and Testament, available in pamphlet form. This outline planned for use by
Bahá’i study classes and individual believers already familiar with the Guardian’s book but desiring further knowledge
of its most important topics.
Comprehensive Study Outline for Children, in three parts. Creation, Progressive Revelation, Bahã’i World. Twenty-five
lessons. For children in intermediate and upper grades.

BAHA’t PUBLICATIONS OF ENGLAND

‘‘Abdu’l-Bahd in London. Addresses delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His visit in London, with description of His life
and activities.
Bahd’I Faith, The, by G. Palgrave Simpson.
Bahd’I: Spirit of the Age, The, by Horace Holley. (See list one.) Published by Kegan, Paul.
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, by J. E. Esslemont. (See list one.) Published by George Allen & Unwin, Ltd.
Brief Account of the Bahd’I Movement, by Ethel J. Rosenberg. Published by Burn- side, Ltd.
Coming of eeThe Glory,” The, by Florence E. Pinchon. Published by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd.,
London.
Drama of the Kingdom, The, by Mrs. Basil Hall, London, 1933.
God’s Heroes, by Laura Clifford Barney. (See list one.)
Hidden Words of Bahd’u’lldh. (See list one.)

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Views of the first Bahá’i Summer School of (ran
held in the vicinity of Tihrin in 1939.

Life and Teachings of ‘Abbds Effendi, The, by Myron H. Phelps. Published by Putnam & Sons.
Meditations of a Bahd’i Christian, by E. T. Hall. C. E. Bennett & Co., Manchester, 1912.

Holley. Published by Sidgwick & Jackson. 1912.
Mysterious Forces of Civilization, The. (See list one.)
Paris Talks. (See list one, “The Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã.”) Pubhshed by G. Bell &

Modern Social Religion, The, by Horace

Son.

pict242.jpg

pict243.jpg
pict244.jpg

BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY

Passing of ‘Abdul-Bahd, The. (See list one.) Promise of All Ages, The, by “Christophil.”
Published by Simpkin, Marshall, Ltd., 1934.
Universal Religion, The, by Hippolyte Dreyfus, an introductory work on the Bahã’i Cause by a French orientalist who
has translated many of the writings of Baháu’ll ah.
Universal Religion, The, by E. T. Hall. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the British Isles, 1927.
Unity Triumphant, by Elizabeth Herriek. The Revelation of Bahã’u’lláh as the fulfillment of Christianity, with
extensive quotations and bibliography. Published by Kegan, Paul.
*Reconciliation of Races and Religions, The,
by Thomas Kelly Cheyne, Dr. Lit., D.D. Religions of the Empire, edited by W. Loftus Hare. Published by Duckworth
(London). Addresses delivered by representa— tives of the several religions invited to participate in the Conference on
Some

Living Religions Within the British Empire, held at the Imperial Institute, London, England, from September 22 to October 3, 1924.
Includes two papers read on the Bahá’i Cause. 519 pp. Cloth cover.
Some Answered Questions. (See list one.) Published by Kegan, Paul.
Traveller’s Narrative, A. The Episode of The Báb translated by Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., F.B.A., M.R.A.S. Cambridge University
Press.
* What Is a Bahd’I? by J. E. Esslemont, a reprint of chapter three of his larger work. Published by Burnside, Ltd.
Wise Man from The East, A, by Felicia R. Scatchard. The Unity Press. London, 1912.
* Year with the Bahci’Is in India and Burma, A, by Sidney Sprague. The Priory Press, London, 1908.

Chosen Highway, The. (manuscript)
Heart of the Gospel, The, by G. Townshend. London, 1939.
Baha”u’lldh, by H. Bâlyiizi, London, 1939.

3.
BAHA’I PUBLICATIONS OF INDIA
AND BURMA

Tdhirih the Pure, by Martha L. Root, a study of the great Bahá’i heroine by one who traveled to the places in Iran
which
4.

are consecrated to her memory. Miss Root’s book was completed in India and published in that country.

BAHA’I PUBLICATIONS IN FRENCH

Bahd’u’lldh et l’Ere nouvelle. Genève, 1932. Du Rêgne de Dieu et de l’Agneau, par Gabriel Sacy. 12 Juin, 1902
(brochure).
Essai sur le Bahci’iisme, son Histoire, sa Porte ’e sociale, par Hippolyte Dreyfus. 2ème edition. Librairie Ernest
Leroux, Paris, 1934.
Le Baydn Arabe, traduit par A. L. M. Nicolas. Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris.
Le Baydn Persan, traduit par A. L. M. Nicolas. Librairie Geuthner, Paris. 4 volumes:
1911 a 1914.
Le But d’un Nouvel Ordre Mondial, lettre de Shoghi Effendi. Traduction de Lion

Karakeya. Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1936 (brochure).
L’Economie Mondiale de Bahd’u’lldh, par Horace Holley. Traduction de Gabriel des Hons. 2ème edition. Paris, 1936
(brochure).
Le Livre des Sept Preuves, translated by A. L. M. Nicolas, Paris, 1902.
Le Machreqou’l-Azkar, d’Achqabad, par Hippolyte Dreyfus. Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1909
(brochure).
L’EpItre au Fils du Loup, par Bahá’u’llih. Traduction française par Hippolyte Dreyf us. Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Baha”I Prayers (in manuscript).
Dispensation of Bahá’u’lla’h (manuscript).
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahd’u’lldh (manuscript).
Les Leçons tie Saint-Jean d’Acre (Some Answered Questions). Recueillies par Laura Clifford Barney. Traduction
francaise par Hippolyte Dreyfus.
‘Les Préceptes clu Bahd’Iisme, traduit par H. Dreyfus et H. ChirazI. 1906.
Le Vrai Bahd’I. Le cinquiême Chapitre de Bahá’u’lltIh and The New Era. Traduction par Edward Roscoe Mathews
(brochure).
L’Oeuvre de Bahd’u’lldh, traduction française par Hippolyte Dreyfus: Tome I:

La très sainte Tablette.—Les Paroles
cachées.—Les Sept Vallées du Voyage vers
Dieu.—La Lettre sur le Bayán. Tome II:
Le Temple de Dieu.—Les Lettres aux
Souverains. Tome III: Le Livre de la
Certitude (Kitabou’l-Iqan). Librairie
Ernest Leroux, Paris.
*Paroles Cache’s, 1905.
Tabiette tie Bahd’u’lldh, écrite a Adrianople pour un des Croyants de Qazvin (brochure).
Trois Lettres il des Persans, par ‘Abdu’lBahá, Juin-Juillet, 1907 (brochure).
Vers l’Apogée tie la Race Humaine, lettre de Shoghi Effendi traduite de l’anglais. Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1936
(brochure).
5.

BAHA’ PUBLICATIONS IN ITALIAN

Bahd’u’lldh e Ia Nuova Era. Translation of J. E. Esslemont’s book.
‘Che Cosa e ii Movimento Bahd’I?” (Leaflet.)
Discorsi di ‘Abdu’l-Bahd (Paris Talks).
I Principii Bahd’I. Booklet translation of the

6.

Bahá’i Principles as given by ‘Abdu’lBahá at various times, taken from Paris Talks and other sources. 1925. Florence.
Parole Velate (Hidden Words). Florence, 1926.
Same Answered Questions (in preparation).

BAHA’i PUBLICATIONS IN DUTCH
Alegmeene Beginselen der Bahd’I Beweging. De Verborgen Woorden (Hidden Words),
Amsterdam, 1914. Rotterdam, 1932.
‘Bahd’u’lIáh and the New Era.” Rotter- Pamphlets and Leaflets in Dutch Taal pubdam, 1933. lished in Pretoria, S. A.
Kitáb-i-Iqán. Rotterdam, 1937.
7.
BAHA’ PUBLICATIONS IN DANISH

Bahd’u’lláh ag hans Buds Jrab (Bahá’u’lláh and His Message), by J. E. Esslemont. Translated into Danish by Johanne
Sorensen. Copenhagen. December, 1926.
“Baha”u’lldh and the New Era.” Nyt Nor- disk Forlag. Copenhagen, 1932.

Hvad er Baha”I Bevagelsen (What is the Bahá’i Movement?), by J. E. Esslemont. Translated into Danish by Johanne
SOrensen. Copenhagen. April, 1926.
Kita’b-i-Iqtin (manuscript).
Hidden Words (in manuscript).

8.
BAHA’t PUBLICATIONS IN SWEDISH

Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, 1932.

Kita’b-i-Iqa’n. Helsingfors, 1936.

BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY

9.
BAHA’i PUBLICATIONS IN PORTUGUESE
A Major Paz. Santos, 1922.
Paris Talks. Para, Brazil, 1923.
Que é 0 Movimento Bahd’I (pamphlet).
Principles of Baha”I Faith (pamphlet 9).
Some Answered Questions (manuscript). Hidden Words (manuscript).
BAHA’i PUBLICATIONS IN ALBANIAN
Fjale Ti! Fshehura (Hidden Words), New Kita’b-i-lqa’n, Tirane, 1932.
York. Detyrat e Domosdoshe Besnikvet Bahd’I,
Baha”u’lla’b and the New Era, Tirane, 1933. 1932. Libri i Beses, Tirane, 1932.
11.
BAHA’I PUBLICATIONS IN ESPERANTO

Bahá’u’lláh: Kaiitaj vortoj, ella perso lingvo tradukis Lutfu’lláh S. Ilakim, John E. Esslemont, London, Brita
Esperantista Asocio, jaro ne indikata, g0, 39 pp.
Kasitaj vortoj, el la angla lingvo tradukis Vasily J. Erosenko, Japanujo, loko kaj jaro ne indikataj, 8°, 23 pp.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Bahaj (Bahaaj!) instruoj, loko kaj jaro ne indikataj, 8°, 16 pp. Kompilajo, vortoj de Bahã’u’llah kaj
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Wandsbek, Germany, Bahaa Esperanto-Eldonejo, jaro ne indikata, 8°, 16 pp.
Esslemont, Dr. J. E.: Baha”u’lla’h kaj la nova epoko, el la angla originalo tradukita de Lidja Zamenhof, Weinheim
(Germany), Bahá’i Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1930, 8°, 191 pp.
Religio kaj Scienco laut la lumo de ía Bahaja (bahaa!) rivelajo, London, Brita Esperantista Asocio, 1919, 8°, 28 pp.
Baha”u’lldh kaj Lia Misio, Hamburg, Esperanto Komitato de la Bahaa Movado. 1926, 8°, 22 pp.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: La esenco de la Bahaismo, Wandsbek, Bahaa EsperantoEldonejo, 1929, 8°, 8 pp.
Historio, instruoj kaj valoro de la Baha”Imovado. Hamburg, Esperanto Komitato de Ia Bahaa-movado, 1925, 8°, 8 pp.

Kliemke, Dr. Ernst: Bahaismo kaj politiko, la stata idealo laft Ia instruoj de Bahá’u’Iláh, Wandsbek, Germany, Bahaa
Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1929, 8°, 8 pp.
Mühlschlegel, Adelbert: Parolado en ía dua Bahaa kunveno dum la XVIIIa Universala Kongreso de Esperanto en
Genevo, Stuttgart, 1925, 8°, 4 pp.
Root, Martha: Bahaaj sciencaj pruvoj de vivo post morto. Praha, 1927, 8°, 7 pp. Bahaaj pruvoj di vivo post morto,
Wandsbek, Germany, Bahaa Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1928, 8°, 8 pp.
S.S.: La Historio de l’Bahaj’a (Bahaa!) Movado, Universala Fido, esperantigita de William W. Mann, London, the
Priory Press, 1907, 8°, 24 pp.
Lidja Zamenhof: Homo, Dio, Prof eto, Weinheim, Bahaa Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1931, 8°, 8 pp.
Kio cstas ía Bahaa movado? Genf. 1925, 8°, 8 pp.
Kio estas ía Bahaa movado? Wandsbek, jaro ne indikata, 8°, 4 pp.
La Nova Tago. La internacia bahaa esperanto-gazeto. Weinheim (Germany), Ba— baa Esperanto-Eldonejo. Quarterly
since
1925.
Paris Talks of Abdu’l-Baha. Weinheim, Baden, 1932.

Bahd’u’lldh E La Nova Era, por Dr. 3. E. Esslemont. Officinas Graphicas de Fonseca Filho & Co., Rua Cruzeiro de S.
Francisco No. 16, Bahia, Brazil.
Kita’b-i-Iqdn (manuscript).

10.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

Bahá’i literature and magazines please address Dr. Hermann Grossmann, Neckargemund b/Heidelberg, Goringstr. 37.
GerBAHA’t PUBLICATIONS IN RUSSIAN
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era. Printed in Kitdb-i-fqdn. Riga, Pils iela 14, 1933.
Latvia, 1930. Tablet from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Bákü, 1909.
Lessons in Religion, by Shaykh Muhammad- Talk about Bahd’i Faith. Bákü.
‘Au Qã’ini. ‘Ishqibãd, 1912. Talk of ‘Abdu’l-BahcI in New York. ‘Ishqá Bahd’u’lla’h by Isabel
Grinevskaya. Lenin- bad, 1922.
grad, 1912. Tablet to the Hague, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahã. Lon Bah’Iyyat by M. Blanovsky. Moscow, 1914. don, 1922.
Hidden Words of Bahd’u’lldh. Riga, 1934. No. 9. (Compilation.) New York, N. Y.
Some Answered Questions (manuscript).
13.
BAHA’I PUBLICATIONS IN GERMAN

Bahá’u’lláh: Tablett von Ishra’qát, Tablett von Tardzdt, Worte des Paradieses, Tablett von Tajalliydt, Frohe
Botsehaften. Aus dem Englischen von A. Braun und E. Ruoff. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der Bahá’iVereinigung. 1912, 8°,
73 p.
Bahi’u’lláh: Frohe Botsehaf ten, Worte des Paradieses, Tablett Tardzat, Tablett TajallIydt, Tablett Ishrdqdt. Nach
der Englischen Uebersetzung von ‘Ali-Kuli Khan, Deutsch von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des
Deutschen Bahá’iBundes, 1921, 8°, 123 p.
Bahã’u’lláh: Verborgene Worte, Worte der Weisheit und Gebete. Nach der Engliscben von A. Braun and
E. Ruoff. Stuttgart, Verlag der Bahâ’i-Vereinigung, 1916, 8°, 104 p.
Bahã’u’llãh: Verborgene Worte, Worte der Weisheit und Gebete. Nach der Englischen Uebersetzung von
Shoghi Effendi, Deutsch von Alice Schwarz und W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des
Deutschen Bahã’i-Bundes, 1924, 8°, 109 p.
Bahã’u’llih: Das heilige Tablett, geoffenbart in Baghdad. Aus dem Englischen von W.
Herrigel. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der Babi’i-Vereinigung, 1911, 8°, 8 p.
Bahá’u’lláh: Das Tablett voin Zweig. Aus

dem Englischen von Fr. Schweizer. Herausgegeben von den Bahá’is in Zuffenhausen.
Ohne Jahr, 8°, 8 p.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Evangelium der Liebe und des Friedens für unsere Zeit (Ansprachen in Paris). Aus dem
Englischen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der Bahã’iVereinigung. 1914, 8° 172 p.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Anspraehen, gehalten im Herbst 1911 in Paris. Aust dem Englischen von W. Herrigel.
Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bahá’i-Bundes, 1921, 8°, 196 p.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Beantwortete Fragen. Nach der Englischen Ausgabe von L. Clifford Barney, Deutsch von W.
Herrigel. Stuttgart. Verlag des Deutschen Bahâ’i-Bundes G.m. b. H. 1929, 8°, VIII und 392 p.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Eine Botsehaft an die Juden. Aus dem Englischen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, im
Selbstverlag der Bahá’iVereinigung. 1913, 8°, 15 p.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Tabelle (Tablets) allgerneiner Belehrung. Deutsch von Fanny Knobloch. 1906, ohne
Angabe des Ones, 8°, 12 p.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Tabelle (Tablets) an die Geliebten Gottes des Abendlandes. Deutscb von Fanny A.
Knobloch. 1906, ohne Angabe des Ortes, 8° 8 p.

Kitdb-i-iqdn (manuscript).
Some Answered Questions (in manuscript).

For information on German and Esperanto many.

BAHA’f BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baha!’lperlen (Worte von Bahá’u’llah und ‘Abdu’l-Bahá). Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutsehen Bahá’i-Bundes, 1921, 8°,
16 p.
‘Abdu’l-Baha: Religion and Philosophie, 1911, Paris.
Shoghi Effendi: Die Weltordn’ung von Bahcl’u’lldh. Aus dern Englisehen. Herausgegeben vom Deutschen Bahá’i-
Nationairat, Stuttgart, Marz 1930, 8°, 15 p.
Shoghi Effendi: An die Geliebten des Herrn and an die Dienerinnen des Barinherzigen in der ganzen Welt. Aus dem
Englischen. Herausgegeben vom Deutschen Bahá’iNationalrat, Stuttgart, April 1930 (vervielfältigt), Folio, 17 p.
Bahiyyih Khánum: Brief an die Freande Gottes and an die Dienerinnen des Barnsherzigen im Abendland. Aus dem
Englischen von A. Schwarz. Ohne Angabe des Ortes und des Jahres. 8°, 4 p.
Blomfield, Sitárih, und Shoghi Effendi: Das Hinseheiden ‘Abda’l-Baha”s. Ohne Angabe des Ortes und des Jahres, 8°,
32 p.
Brittingham, Isabella, D.: Die O/fenbarang von Baha”a’lldh. Aus dem Englischen von ‘W. Herrigel. Stuttgart,
Selbstverlag der Bahá’i-Vereinigung, 1910, 8°, 47 p.
Carpenter, Marion: Majnán and Layld. Nach Bahá’u’llah’s Erzahlung in den “Sieben Talern.” Deutsch von E. M. Gr.
und Dr. H. Cr. Wandsbek, Weltgemeinsehaft 1926, 8°, 8 p.
Chase, Thornton: Die Babd’Ioffenbarang. Aus dem Englischen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen
Bahá’iBundes, 1925, 8°, XVI + 168 p.
Chase, Thornton: Eke Abraham war, war Ich. Aus dem Englischen von W. Herrigel.
Stuttgart, Verlag der Bahá’iVereinigung. Ohne Jahr, 8°, 8 p.
Dreyfus, Dr. Hippolyte: Einheits-1{eligion. Ihre Wirkung auf Staat, Erziehung, Sozialpolitik, Frauenrechte und auf die
emzelne Personlichkeit. Deutsch von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bahá’i-Bundes, 1920, 8°, 40 p.
Dreyfus, Dr. Hippolyte: BdbIsinns and Bahd’isinns. Deutsch von Margarete Platte. Frankfurt n.M. Neuer Frankfurter
Verlag G.m.b.H., 1909, 8°, 61 p.
Esslemont, Dr. John E.: Bahd’n’lldh and das Neae Zeitalter. Deutsch von H. K. und

W. H. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bahá’i-Bundes, 1927, 8°, VIII H— 431 p.
Esslemont, Dr. John E.: Was ist em Bahd’I? Aus dem Englischen ubersetzt und herausgegeben von der Bahá’i-
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Esslingen. Ohne Jahr. (vervielfältigt), 4°, 20 p.
Esslemont, Dr. John E.: Der Weg rain Fri eden. Sonderdruclt des Kapitels X aus “Bahá’u’llah und das Neue Zeitalter.”
Herausgegeben von der Bahá’i -Arbeitsgemeinschaft Esslingen. Ohne Jahr, 8°, 8 p.
Fadl, Mirzá Abu’l: Geschichte and Wakeheitsbeweise der Baha”I-Religion. Naeh der Englischen
Uebersetzung von ‘AllQuli-Khán, Deutsch von W. H. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bahá’i-Bundes
G.m.b.H. 1919, 8°, XXIV + 295 p.
FadI, Mirzá Abu’l: Gliinzendey Beweis (Burhane LIme). Aus dem Englischen von Fr. Schweizer. Herausgegeben von
der Bahá’i -Vereinigung Zuffenhausen, ohne Jahr, 8°, 45 p.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Die soziale Frage and ihre Losang ins Sinne der Bahd’ILebre. Stuttgart, Verlag des
Deutsehen Bahá’l-Bundes, 1923, 8°, 12 p.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Die Bahd’I-Be-. we gang, ibre Geschichte, Lehren and Bedeatang. Herausgegeben von der
Baha’iBewegung. Hamburg, 1926, 8°, 8 p.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Das Wesen der Bahd’i-Lehre. Ohne Angabe des Ortes und des Jahres. 8°, 8 p.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Bahd’I-Erziehang. Wandsbek, Weltgemeinschaft, Deutscher Zweig, 1924, 8°, 8 p.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Rosen giirtleinLehrstanden. Lehrproben zur Bahá’i-Erziehung. Herausgegeben von der
Weltgemeinschaft, Wandsbek, ohne Jahr, 8°, 12 p.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Chanan. Eine ErzIhlung aus unserer Zeit. Wandsbek,
1927, 8°, 8 p.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Am Morgen einer neaen Zeit, Verlag Strecker und Schroder. Stuttgart, 1932.
W. H.: Universaler Friede, Universale Religion. Die Bahá’i-Bewegung, ihr Zweck und Ziel. Stuttgart,
Selbstverlag der Bahá’i-Vereinigung. 1915, 8°, 30 p.
Hartmann, Pauline: Bahd’I-Weltansc/saaang.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Verlag des Geistigen Nationalrats der Deutschen Bahã’i. E. V., 8°, 24 p.
W. H.: Die Ba/s cI’i-B ewegung irn Allgerneinen und ihre gross en W/irlzungen in Indien. Stuttgart, Verlag des
Deutschen Bahã’i-Bundes, 1922, 8°, 56 p.
W. H.: Die Zeichen unserer Zeit irn Lichte der Bibel und der Bahd’I-Lehre. Stuttgart, Verlag der Bahã’i-Vereinigung.
1916, 8°, 16 p.
Holley, Horace: Die Wellwirtschaft von Baha”u’lldh. Aus dem Englischen. 30 p. Geneva, 1934.
Kliemke, Dr. Ernst (Heinrich Nienkamp):
Bahd’i-Lehre und Politik. Das Staatsideal nach den Lehren Bahá’u’lláh’s. Ohne Angabe des Ortes und des Jahres. 8°, 8
p.
Maxwell, May: Jos, der Schiiferknabe, ‘Abdu’l-Bahd nacherziihlt. Aus dem Englischen von Dr. H. Gr. Wandsbek,
Weltgemeinschaft, Deutscher Zweig, 1924, 8°, 8 p.
Muhlschlegel, Adelbert: Melodrarn urn dritten Deutschen Bahd’i-Kongress 80. Ohne Angabe des Ortes, September,
1924, 8°, 8 p.
Muhlschlegel, Adelbert: Ridva’n 81, Pest- spiel. Stuttgart, Bahá’i-Bund, Deutscher Zweig, 1925, 8°, 8 p.
Najmajer, Marie von: Qurratu’l-’Ayn. Em Bild aus Persiens Neuzeit. Wien, 1894.
Phelps, Myron H.: ‘Abdu’l-Bahd ‘Abbas, Leben und Lebren. Aus dem Englischen von W. H. Stuttgart, Verlag des
Deutschen Bahá’i-Bundes, 1922, 8°, 248 p.
Remey, Charles Mason: Das neue Zeitalter. Die Bahá’i-Offenbarung. Deutsch von
W. H., Verlag des Deutschen Bahã’iBundes, Stuttgart, 1923, 8°, 32 p.
Remey, Charles Mason: Binheit. Die Offenbarung des Bahá’u’liáh. Deutsch von Fanny A. Knobloch. Ohne Angabe des
Ortes und des Jahres. 8°, 8 p.
Rosenberg, Ethel J.: Die Bahd’I-Lehre, deren ethische und soziale Begriffe. Aus dem Engiischen von Fr. Schweizer.
Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der Bahá’i-Vereinigung, 1908, 8°, 8 p.
5. 5.: Pin Jahr unter den Bahd’I in Indien und Birrna. Aus dem Englischen von W. H Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der
Bahã’iVereinigung, ohne Jahr, 8°, 46 p.
S. S.: Die Geschichte der Bahd’I-Bewegung.

Aus dem Englischen von W. H. Stuttgart Selbstverlag der Bahá’i-Vereinigung, 1913, Zweite auflage, 1913, 8°, 22 p. A Dritte auflage,
1919, 8°, 22 p.
Schwarz, Alice: Die universale Weltreligion. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bahá’iBundes, 1919, 8°, 35 p.
Wright, A. H.: Bdb und seine Secte in Persien, Leipzig.
Religiose Lichtblicke. Einige Erlauterungen zur Bahá’i-Bewegung. Aus dem Französischen von Albert Renf tie. Stuttgart, Verlag
der Bahá’i-Vereinigung, 1916, 8°, 16 p. Erweiterte Auflage, Stuttgart, 1928, Verlag des Deutschen Bahá’i-Bundes, 8°, 24 p.
Die Ges chic/ste vorn kleinen Vogel und andere Erziihlungen aus dern Leben ‘Abdu’lBa/sd’s. Wandsbek,
Weltgemeinschaft, Deutscher Zweig, 1925, 8°, 8 p.
Aus Leben und Lehre des Bahd’Isrnus. Hamburg, Bahá’i-Verlag, 1918, 8°, 42 p.
Die Bahd’i-Bewegung. Flugblatt. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bahá’i-Bundes, ohne Jahr, 8°, 4 p.
Was ist die Bahd’I-Bewegung. Flugblatt.
Ohne Angabe des Ortes und des Jahres.
(2 Ausgaben: Hamburg und Wien), 8°,
8 bezw. 10 p.
Die Bahd’I Lehre, 1933, Schmal 8°, 4 p.
An der Schwelle eines neues Zeitalters. Flugblatt. Stuttgart, W. H. Ohne Jahr. 8°, 10 p.
Bericht vorn ersten Deutschen Bahd’i-Kongress 1921. Herausgegeben von der Bahá’i - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Esslingen
(vervielfaltigt) 4°, 54 p.
Weihnachtsbeilage für Kinder. Dezember 1921. Beilage zur Sonne der Wahrheit,
8°, 8 p.
Treuhandschaftserklänmg und Satzung des Nationalen Geistigen Rates der Bahá’i in Deutschland und Oesterreich nebst Satzung des
Geistigen Rates der Bahã’i in Stuttgart. Herausgegeben vom Nationalen Geistigen Rat der Bahã’i in Deutschiand und Oesterreich e.
V., Stuttgart, 1935, 8°, 32 p.
Nabil’s Narrative: The Dawn-Breakers (in manuscript).
Dispensation of Bahd’u’lldh (in manuscript). Prayers and Meditations of Bahã’u’lláh
(manuscript)

BAHA’f BIBLIOGRAPHY 735
14.
BAHA’t PUBLICATIONS IN BULGARIAN
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, Sofia, 1932. Words of Wisdom (in manuscript)
Hidden Wurds, Sofia, 1937. Seven Valleys (in manuscript)
Kitdb-i-Iqdn (in manuscript).
15.
BAHA’f PUBLICATIONS IN RUMANIAN
Baha”u’lla’h and the New Era, Bucharest, Ce Esle Miscarea Bahd’I, Bucharest, 1934. 1934.
16.
BAHA’j PUBLICATIONS IN CZECH
Kitdb-i-lqdn (in manuscript). World Religion, Prague, 1937.
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, Prague, 1932. E. G. Höflin and Milos Wurm: jer Hnuti
Some Answered Questions (in manuscript). MIrového.
Bahajské Zjeveni (No. 9). Pamphlets, 1934.
17.
BAHA’t PUBLICATIONS IN SERBIAN
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, Belgrade, Kitdb-i-Iqdn (in manuscript).
1933. World Religion, Belgrade, 1937.
Hidden Words, Belgrade, 1936. World Economy of Bahd’u’lldh (in manu Boo of Prayers, Belgrade, 1936. script).
18.
BAHA’ PUBLICATIONS IN HUNGARIAN
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, Budapest, Hidden Words (in manuscript). 1933.
19.
BAHA’i PUBLICATIONS IN GREEK
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, Athens, 1934.
20.
BAHA’f PUBLICATIONS IN MAORI
Te Whakatikenga Pahai, Pamphlet by G. G. Paul, Auckland, New Zealand, 1933.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

21.
BAHA’ PUBLICATIONS IN SPANISH
Qué Salisteis A I/er? Dr. Carlos A. Stoppel’s translation of What Went Ye Out for to
See? by Thornton Chase. Published by La Sociedad Teosófica de Mendoza, Argentina, 1920.
Qué es el Movimiento Bahd’I. Booklet.

BAHA’f PUBLICATIONS IN NORWEGIAN
Bahd’u’lláh and the New Era, Oslo, 1935. World Religion, Oslo, 1937. Kitab-i-fqdn (manuscript).

Pamphlet.

23.

BAHA’i PUBLICATIONS IN CROATIAN
Some Answered Questions (in manuscript).

24.

BAHA’f PUBLICATIONS IN POLISH

Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era (manuscript). Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Bahá (manuscript).

The Hague Tablet (manuscript).
Some Answered Questions (manuscript).

25.

BAHA’ PUBLICATIONS IN ICELANDIC

Baha”u’lldh and the New Era, Reykjavik, 1939.

26.

BAHA’i PUBLICATIONS IN ORIENTAL
LANGUAGES

IRANIAN
Book. of Mubin, Tablets of Baha”u’lla’h, The. Bombay.
Book of Iqtiddr, Tablets of Baha”u’lla’h, The. Bombay.
Kalimát-i-MaJzninib (Hidden Words). Ishrdqát, Tara’zdt, TajallIya’t, The. Bombay.

Lawh-i-Ahmad, Táshkand.
Tablets from Baha”u’lla’h. Cairo.
Kitdb-i-fqdn, The. Cairo and Bombay.
Tablet of Bahd’u’lláh to the Shah of Persia. Cairo.
Tablets and Prayers from Bahd’u’lldh. Cairo. The Seven Valleys. Cairo and Bombay.

Baha”u’lla’h and the New Era, Bahia, 1934.
The Kitdb-i-fqa’n (in preparation).
Baha”u’lla’h y la Nueva Era.. Traduccion espaliola por Leonora Stirling Holsapple. Bahia, Brazil, 1933.

22.

BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY

Will and Test amen! of Bahd’u’lldh, The. ‘Ishqábád and Cairo.
Ad’Iyiy-i-HadratMahb (Book of Prayers). Cairo.
Some Answered Questions. London.
Lawi-i-Maqs1d.
Traveller’s Narrative, The. London and Táshkand, 1916. Bombay.
Prayers from rAbd,lBh Tihrán, 1930. MudunIyyih, The, by rAbdu,lBahá. Cairo and Bombay.
Natljatu’l-Baydn, compiled by Mirzá Na’im.
Tablet to the Shah of Persia. Cairo.
SIya’sIyyih, The, by ‘Abdu’l-Baha’. Bombay.
Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Bahd, The. Bombay and Cairo.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, The. Bahá’u’lláh. Cairo.
Addresses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd in Europe. Cairo.
Tablets of ‘Abdzt’l-Baha’, The. Vol. 1. Cairo.
Tablet to the Hague by ‘Abdu’l-Bahi. Cairo.
Tablets of rAbdul-Baha, The. Vol. 2. Cairo.
Addresses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahj. Cairo.
Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, The. Vol. 3, Cairo.
Tablet of rAbdul_Baha to Dr. Forel. Cairo.
Al-Fara”id, by MIrzã Abu’l-Fadl. Cairo.
Kashfu’l-Ghied’, compiled by Siyyid Mihdi Gulpáyigani. ‘Ishqábad.
Letters of MIrza’ Abu’l-Fadl. Cairo. Bahd’u’lla’h and the New Era. Haifa, 1932 History of the Martyrs of Yazd, The.
Cairo. Dald’ilu’l-’Ir fan, MIrzd IIaydar-AlI. Bombay.
Bihjatu’s-.Sud2r, MIrzá Iaydar-’AlI. Bombay.
Aydt-i-Mu’arrakhi, by MIrzá Abu’l-Fadl, China.
Risdliy-i-.Istidldliyyih, by Mirzá Abu’l-Fadl, Egypt.
IstidldlIyyiy.iAfshar. Bombay.
The Brilliant Proof, by MIrzá Abu’l-FadI. Tdrikh-i-JadId. Bombay.
Bahru’l-’Ir fan, by Muhammad Afshár, Bombay.
History of rahirih, The. Cairo.
Travels of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, The. Vol. 1 and 2, MIrzá MaI?mud Zarpáni. Bombay. Early Tablets of Bahd’u’lldh, The,
compiled by Baron Rosen, St. Petersburg. Memorials of the Faithful, ‘Abdu’l-Bahd. Haifa.
An-Niiru’l-AbhdFiMufawaddt - i - ‘Abdu’l Bahd

Table talks collected by Laura C. Barney. Kegan, Paul, London, 1908.
Mashriqu’l-Adhkar. Twenty-two page booklet written in fránian on the Bahá’j Temple. Published by the Bahá’I
Assembly of Washington, D. C.
HadIqatu’l-Baha’Iyyjh. Bombay, 1927. Kavdkibu’d-DurrIyyih. Cairo.
Irtibdt-i-Sharq va Gharb. Tihran, 1931.
Questions and Answers (Appendix to Kitdbi-Aqda’s). Tihrán.
Baha”Iism and Socialism. ‘Ishqábád.
Mundziratu’dDiniyyih. Cairo.
Durasu’d-DIya’nih (Lessons in Religion). Cairo and Tihrán.
Mat hnavI (NabIl’s chronological poem). Cairo.
Poems by Nayyir. Tihrán, 1930.
Istidla’liyyih, I and II, by Na’im, Tabrlz, 1911 and 1912.
Maga’liy-i-Baha’I. Delhi, 1915.
Poems, by Na’iin. TabrIz, Tihran, Cairo and Bombay.
The 19 Talks. Cairo.
Usil-i-TadrIs. Tihrán.
Bahd’Iism and Socialism. ‘Ishqábád.
Fard ‘it/u’d-.DInIyyih. Mashhad.
Tuhfiy-j-Tdhjrjh. Delhi, 1933.
The Passing of rAbdulBahd. Delhi, 1933.
The Bahd’I Calendar. Tihrán.
URDU
Translation of the Tablets to the World. Bombay.
Translation of Ishrdqdt, Bisha’rdt, Kalimdt, Tardzdt, TajallIydt, of BahcI’u’lldh. Agra, 1918.
Paydm-i-Sulh.
Seven Valleys, The. Bombay, 1929.
Bahd’I TdlIm (The Hague Tablet). Hyder-. abad, 1923.
Hidden Words, The. Bombay.
Why People of the World Could Not Know Their Promised One.
Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, The.
Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd, The.
Paygjhdm-i-Sulh. Agra.
Kitdb-i-Iqdn.
Al-Mi’ydru’s-SahIh. 1910.
Tablet to the Hague. Hyderabad, 1923.
Traveller’s Narrative, A. 1908.
‘Uriij-u-Nuza/. Rangoon, 1904.
Kitabu’z-zuhar.

THE BAHA’ WORLD

Al-Bald gu’l-MubIn. Agra.
Revelation of Bahd’u’lldh, by Mrs. I. D. Brittingham. Rangoon, 1902.
Java’b-i-QddIydnIhd. Rangoon, 1908.
Burhdn-i-arI. Agra.
Ihqa’qul-Haqq, by Mirzá Mal3mud Zarqáni. 1908 -9.
UsiU.-i-Bahd’I. Delhi.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, The. Delhi.
Dawr-i-Bahd’I.
Sharh-i-Aya’t.
Bahd’u’lla’h and the New Era. Lahore, 193 5.
Some Answered Questions (in press).
ARABIC
Kita’b-i-Aqdas. Bombay, Cairo, Persia. Ishrdqdt, TajallIya’t, Tara’za’t, and Kalima’t, The. Cairo.
The Dawn-Breakers. Nabil’s Narrative. Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ in Europe, The. Translation anonymous. Cairo.
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, by Dr. J. E. Esslemont. Cairo, 1930.
Some Answered Questions. Cairo, 1930. Baha”I Principles; Summary of Baha”i Teachings. Cairo, 1928.
Prayers from Bahd’u’lldh. Tabriz, 1911. Traveller’s Narrative, A.
Baha!’I Pearls, by Mirzá Abu’l-FaLl. Cairo, 1900.
Baha”I Proofs, by Mirzâ Abu’l-Facll. Cairo, 1925.
Tablet to the Hague.
Risa’liy_i-AmrIYYih, by Muafã. Cairo.
Kitdb-i-tqdn. Cairo, 1934.
TURKISH
Baha”u’lldh and ‘Abdu’l-Baha’. Bãki, 191$. Talk About the Bahd’I Faith. Bãkü. Talk in New York. Bákii, 1922,
‘tshqábád,
1916.
Bahd’I Hareketi. Istanbul, 1930. Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era. Istanbul, 1932.
BURMESE
Some Answered Questions. Mandalay, 1915.
Revelation of Bahd’u’lldh. Mandalay, 1907.
Hujjatu’lldhu’l-Bd1i_bih. Rangoon, 1927.
What Is the Bahd’I Movement. Rangoon.
DurasiAkhldqIyyih. Mandalay, 1930.
Huqiqu’linsdn4yyih. Mandalay, 1928.
MIzdnu’l-Furgdfl. Mandalay, 1908.
Dursu’d-DIydflih. Mandalay, 1922.

Tablet of Love. Mandalay, 1922.
Bahd’i Principles. Mandalay, 1919.
To Live the Life. Mandalay.
Shajaralu’l-Adya’n. Rangoon, 1909.
Su’al va Javdb.
‘Aqd’id-i-Baha”Iya’n.
The Bahd’I Short Thesis. Mandalay, 1913.
Niza’m-Ndmih. 1907.
Short History of the Cause, A. 1913.
Divine Laws.
Bahd’u’lla’h and the New Era. Mandalay,

1933.
Kitdb-i-fqa’n (manuscript).

CHINESE
Baha”u’lla’h and the New Era. Shanghai, 1931.
The Most Great Peace. Shanghai, 1931.
Light of the Age. Shanghai, 1926.
The Valuable Contribution of the Bahd’I Cause (I, II). Shanghai, 1932.
The Bahd’I Cause in China. Shanghai, Booklet 9.
Some Principles of the Bahd’I Faith.
Paris Talks. Shanghai, 1931.
Kitdb-i-Iqdn. Shanghai.
The Goal of a New World Order. Shanghai, 1931.
Some Answered Questions. Shanghai, 1940. Tablets of Baha”u’lla’h.
Hidden Words. Canton, 1937. Index to Some Answered Questions. Shanghai, 1933.
Prayers and Meditations of Baha”u’lla’h (in manuscript).
HEBREW
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era. Haifa, 1931.
TATAR
Va, dat, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ. Táshkand, 1918.
GUJRATI
Fardmin-Bahi, by Mirzã Abu’l-Facll. Bombay, 1921.
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era. Bombay, 1932.
JAPANESE
What Is Bahd’uism, by Dr. G. J. Augur. 1916.
A Letter to the Women of Japan, by Agnes B. Alexander. 1916.
Religkm of Love. 1917.

BAHA’f BIBLIOGRAPHY

BA’U’LLAH ET, L’EENOUVELLE
PAT
J, E, ISSLMONT, M. B, C* B., B. E. A.
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ESSLEMONT
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tNTERATTOAL BRA’1 GRWVE
French

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I3U
and the New Era” in the thirty-five

Reproductions of the title pages of “Bahá’u’lláh languages in which it has been printed.

German

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THE BAHA’f

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Hungarian
Czechoslovakian

BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY

:BAHA’ULLAH A NOVA ERA
N1, M (u. 13, F13 1
Trduztdo do Thglez

: :l
BAtIJA
Portuguese
I

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Serbian

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Russian

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Japanese

Rn’x;Avftc .1939

Icelandic

Greek

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BAHA’I BIBLIOGRAPHY 743

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Hebrew

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is tt

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Arabic

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Bengali

Turkish

Urdu

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Burmese
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DR. J B. ESSLEMOT
9VERS.TT FRA ENGELSK AV
JOHANNA SCHLJRARTH

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Kurdish

Bãhao- lláh.
ocli den nya tidsldern
J. B. Esslemont, M.B,C.H. B.RBE,A.
,ANNA RUDD-PALMGREN
versthteis För1ag, mmen

Norwegian

Swedish

BAHA’f BIBLIOGRAPHY
LUMNIJA. E PERNDIS
DHE KOHA E RE
(BMIA U JLAHu DH KOt-fA E R)
J. E. ESSLEMONT M. B., CH, B., P B. E, A.

Me ne Inroduccrn pre
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Albanian

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EN HET NIEUWE TIJDP3RK
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tMTGEQFVN DOOR
NJGH VAN 1NTM NV. T! ROITTNOAM N’, OPORCNT VAN DL NTERNAT, LANA I BLWEGING”

Chinese

Dutch

pict247.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The Most Great Peace, translated by Dr. Inouye. 1917.
Mashriqzt’l-Adhka’r, translated by Dr. Inouye. 1918.
The Bahd’I Revelation, translated by Dr. Inouye. 1920.
The Call, translated by T. Toni. 1920.
What Is the Baha”I Movement, translated by T. Inouye. 1929.
New Civilization, by K. Torikai. 1917.
Baha”u’lldh and the New Era. Tokyo, 1932.
Hidden Words. Tokyo, 1937.
ARMENIAN
Hidden Words (in manuscript).
What Is the Bahd’I Movement? 1933, Prag.
Pamphlet. 1920, Cairo.
Pamphlet. 1928, Istanbul.
Bahd’u’lla’h and the New Era. 1933, Aleppo.
Some Answered Questions (in manuscript).
Kitdb-i_Iqán (in manuscript).

TAMIL
The Revelation of Bahd’u’lláh, by I. Brittingham, translated by V. M. Swami. Rangoon, 1906.
KURDISH
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era. Baghdad, 1934.
SINDHI
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era. Karachi, 1938.

BENGALI

Baha”u’lla’h and the New Era. 1937.

HINDI

Bahd’u’lláh and the New Era. Lahore, 1939.
ABYSSINIAN (AMHARIC)
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era. Addis Ababa, 1935.
Pamphlet.

BAHA’ LITERATURE IN BRAILLE
(FOR THE BLIND)

Words of Wisdom.
A Letter to the Blind Women in Japan, by Agnes B. Alexander. Tokyo, 1917.
Seek. and it shall be given you, by Tokijiro Toni. Tokyo, 1917.
What Is the Bahd’I Movement? by T. Inouye. 1929.
La Bahaa Revelacio. 1929.
Goal of a New World Order.
Divine Philosophy.
The Hidden Words, by Bahá’u’Iláh.

Book of Prayers.
Seven Valleys, by Bahá’u’llãh.
The Kitdb.-i.-iqdn, by Bahá’u’lláh.
Ishra’qa’t, by Bahá’u’lláh.
Siiratu’l-Haykal, by Bahá’u’lláh.
Some Answered Questions, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (in part).
Bahá’u’lldh and the New Era. California. (English.)
Golden Age of the Cause of Bahd’u’lldh. Baha”I Economics.

BRAILLE-BAHA’I TRANSCRIPTIONS, 1935-1937

AMERICA
Bahd’u’lla’h a 19th Century Prophet and His Message, by Dr. Esslemont.
Bahd’I Peace Program.
Hidden Words and Words of Wisdom, by Bahá’u’lláh.
La Bahaa Revelacio, No. 9 (Esperanto).
BahcI’I Teachings on Economics.
Hidden Words, by Bahá’u’lláh.
Divine Philosophy of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd.

Revelation of Bahd’2t’lldh, by Mrs. Brittingham.
Golden Age of the Cause of Bahd’u’lldh, by Shoghi Effendi.
Baha”u’lla’h and His Message.
Observations of a Baha”I Traveller, by C. M. Remey.
Oneness of Mankind.
Compilation from the Utterances (not completed).

27.

BAHA’f BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hidden Words of Bahd’u’lldh and Words of Wisdom, by Bahá’u’lláh.
Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Bahd’I Prayers and Meditations of Bahd’u’l1db and Abdu’l-Bahd.
Hidden Words of Bahd’u’lldh and Words of Wisdom, by Bahã’u’Iláh.
The Goal of a New World Order, by Shoghi Elf endi.
Bahd’i Teachings on Economics.
Bahd’u’lldh Kaj la Nova Epoko, by Dr. Esslemont.
The Iqdn—The Book of Certitude, by Baháu’lláh.

The Reality of Man—A Compilation, by Horace Holley (not yet completed).
FRANCE
Essai sur le Bahd’uisme, by Hippolyte Drey fus.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Bahd’u’lldh Kaj la Nova Epoko, by Dr. Esslemont (in Esperanto).
JAPAN
Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, by Dr. Esslemont (in Japanese Braille).

28.

BAHA’i PERIODICALS

Bahd’I News. The bulletin of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’Is of the
United States and Canada. 536 Sheridan
Road, Wilmette, Illinois.
Bahd’I News Letter. The Bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt.
Bahd’I News Letter. The Bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of India and Burma.
Bahd’I News Letter. The Bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq.
Baha”I News Letter. The Bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Australia and New Zealand.
Bulletin, International Bahd’I. 19-A Avenue de Champel, Geneva, Switzerland.
Herald of the South, The. The Bahá’i magazine for New Zealand and Australia.
Address: P.O. Box 447D, Adelaide, Australia.

Kawkab-i-Hind: a monthly Indian Urdu Magazine. Edited and published in Delhi,
India, by Jinãb-i-”Mawlavi-Fãçlil” Siyyid
Mafu’l-I{aqq ‘Ilmi under the auspices
of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahã’is of India and Burma. Address:
Karol Bagh, Delhi, India.
News Letter from Bahd’Is of the British Isles. Sonne der Wahrheit, Organ des Deutschen Bahá’is. Stuttgart,
Verlag des Deutschen
Bahá’i-Bundes, monthly since March, 1921. 3. Alexanderstr., Stuttgart, Germany.
World Order. Official magazine of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Published monthly in New York. Editors, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, Alice Simmons Cox, Stanwood Cobb and Horace
Holley. Editorial office, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Illinois.
Bahd’i Youth (Quarterly).
29.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’i FAITH IN BOOKS
AND PAMPHLETS PUBLISHED UNDER
NON-BAHA’i AUSPICES

AMERICAN
Adams, Rev. Isaac: Persia by a Persian, 1900. Andrews, Fannie Fern: The Holy Land Under Mandate. Houghton
Muffin Company of Boston, 1931.

Annual Report, by Near East College Association, 1930-1931.
Atherton, Gertrude: Julia France and Her Times. Stokes & Co., New York, 1912.
Atkins, Gaius Glenn: Modern Religious Cults

THE BAHA’f WORLD

and Movements. Fleming Revell, New York, 1923.
Barrows, Rev. John Henry: The World’s Parliament of Religions. 2 Vols. The Parliament Publishing Co., Chicago,
1893.
Baudouin, Charles: Contemporary Studies. Fr. trans., E. and C. Paul. E. P. Dutton, New York, 1925.
Bell, Archie: The Spell of the Holy Land. The Page Co., Boston, 1915.
Benjamin, S. G. W.: Persia and the Persians. Ticknor & Co., Boston, 1886.
Bentwich, Norman: The Religious Foundations of Internationalism. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1933.
Bibesco, Princess G. V.: The Eight Paradises. English translation. E. P. Dutton, New York, 1923.
Chapman, John Jay, and His Letters, by M.
A. De Wolfe Howe. Houghton Muffin, Boston, 1937.
Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press, New York, 1935.
Cowles, Alton House: The Conquering Horseman. Christopher Publishing Co., 1923.
De Lorey, Eustache and Sladen, Douglas:
Queer Things About Persia. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1907.
Dodd, Edward M. and Rose Wilson Dodd:
Mecca and Beyond. Committee on United Study of Foreign Missions.
Donaldson, Dwight M., D.D., Ph.D.: The ShI’ite Religion. Luzac Co., London, W.C. 1, 1933.
Dos Passos, John: Between Journeys.
Edwards, Arthur Cecil: A Persian Caravan. Harper, New York, 1928.
Ehrenpreis, Marcus: The Soul of the East. Viking Press, New York, 1928.
Ellwood: Reconstruction of Religion.
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 7, Macmillan, New York, 1932.
Ferguson, Charles W.: The Confusion of Tongues. Doubleday, Doran and Co., Inc., Garden City, New York, 1928.
Gazvini, M. J.: A Brief History of Bahá’u’lldh, the Founder of the Bahd’I Religion. San Diego, Calif., 1914.
Gibbons, Herbert Adams: Wider Horizons. Century Co., New York, 1930.
Hammond, Eric: The Splendor of God. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, June, 1919.

Harmon, V. W.: Microcosm, Macrocosm. By the Author, Boston, 1915.
Harrison, Marguerite: There’s Always Tomorrow. Farrar and Rinehart, New York, 1935.
Harry, Myriam: A Springtide in Palestine. Houghton Muffin, Boston, 1924.
Higgins, Harold H.: Shadows to the Unseen. The Driftwood Press, Montpelier, Vt., 1937.
History of the Nineteenth Century Year by Year. 3 Vols. (See page 1131.) P. F. Collier & Son, New York, 1902.
Holmes, John Haynes: Palestine: Today and Tomorrow. Macmillan, New York, 1929.
Hoover, W. I. T.: Religionisms and Christianity. The Stratford Co., Boston, 1924.
Hubbard, Elbert: Selected Writings. Vol. X. Jessup, Henry Harris: Fifty_three Years
in Syria. Fleming Revell, New York, 1910.
Jewett, Mary: Reminiscences of My Life in Persia. Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, 1909.
Jordan, Rev. F. M: The Muhammad an World of To-day, 1929.
Kennedy, J. M.: The Religions and Philosophies of the East. Werner Laurie, London, 1911.
Keyserling, Hermann: Travel Diary of a Philosopher. Harcourt, Brace & Co., New York, 1925.
Kohn, Hans: A History of Nationalism in the East. Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1929.
Linton, Bishop J. H., D.D.: Persian Sketches. London.
Malcolm, Napier: Five Years in a Persian Town. E. P. Dutton, New York, 1907.
Martin, Alfred W.: Coin parative Religion and the Religion of the Future. Appleton Co., New York, 1926.
Matthews, J. B., and Duvall, Sylvanus M.:
Conflict or Co-operation, A Study Out. line. The American Committee, World Youth Peace Congress. New York,
1928.
Miller: Baha”Ism: Its Origin, History, Teachings. Fleming Revell Co., New York, 1931.
Miller, Herbert A.: The Beginnings of Tomorrow. F. A. Stokes, New York, 1932.
Miller, Janet: Camel-Bells of Ba1hddd. Houghton, N. Y., 1934.
Pemberton, L. B.: A Modern Pilgrimage to

BAHA’I BIBLIOGRAPHY

Palestine. Dorrance & Co., Philadelphia, 1925.
Randall, John Herman: A World Coinmunity. F. A. Stokes, New York, 1930.
Reinach, Salomon: A History of Religions. Religious Bodies, 1926: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 2
Vols. Washington, D. C., 1929.
Rudhyar, D.: Cycle of Culture and Sacrifice. Harbinson and Harbinson, Oceano, Calif.
Rudhyar, D.: Synthetic Drama As a Seed of Civilization. Harbinson and Harbinson, Oceano, Calif.
Rudhyar, Dane: The New World Religion. Article in American Astrology for November, 1939.
Sinclair, Upton: The Profits of Religion. Pasadena, 18.
Spear, R. E.: Missions and Modern History. 2 Vols.
Spengler, Oswald: The Decline of the West
—Perspectives of World History. Alfred Knopf, 1928.
Stark, Freya: Baghdad Sketches. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1938.
Titus, Murray T.: The Young Moslem Looks at Life. New York, Friendship Press.
Todd, A. J.: Theories of Social Progress. Macmillan & Co., New York, 1924.
Vail, Albert: Heroic Lives. Beacon Press, Boston, 1917.
Vaughan, John Gaines: Religion, a Comparative Study. Abingdon Press, Cincinnati, 1919.
Walstrum, Mary Price: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Reminiscences. Dorrance & Co., Philadelphia, 1935.
Watson, Albert Durant: Birth Through Death. McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 1920.
Watson, Albert Durant: The Poetical Works of. Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1924.
Watson, Albert Durant: The Twentieth Plane. George W. Jacobs & Co., Philadelphia, 1919.
Wells, Lady Dorothy: Beyond the Bosphorus. Wilson, Rev. S. G.: Baha”Ism and Its Claims.
Fleming Revell Co., New York, 1915. Wilson, Rev. S. G.: Persian Life and Customs. Fleming Revell Co., New York,
1895.

Knowledge. Grosset and Dunlap, New York, 1927.
World Fellowship, edited by Charles F. Weller. Liveright Publishing Co., 1935.
Zwemer, Samuel M.: Isla’m, a Challenge to Faith. New York, 1907.
ENGLISH
Ameer ‘All, The Right Honourable: The Spirit of Isldm. Published by Christophers, London, W.1.
Ashbee, C. R.: A Palestine Note Book. Doubleday Page, 1923.
Baedeker, Karl: Baedeker’s Palestine and Syria. Unwin, London, 1912.
Browne, Edward G.: Materials for the Study of the Ba’bI Religion. Cambridge University Press, 1918.
Browne, Edward G.: A Persian Anthology. Browne, Edward G.: History of Persian Literature in Modern Times.
Cambridge University Press, 1924.
Browne, Edward G.: A Literary History of Persia. 4 Vols. Cambridge, 1924.
Browne, Edward G.: A Traveller’s Narrative, Written to Illustrate the Episode of the RIb. 2 Vols., one in Persian.
Cambridge University Press, 1891.
Browne, Edward G.: The Persian Revolution. Cambridge, 1910.
Browne, Edward G.: Hastings’ Encyclopedia of Religkm and Ethics, II., 299-3 08.
Browne, Edward G.: A Year Among the Persians. Adam & Black, London, 1893.
Canney, A.: An Encyclopaedia of Religions. Routledge, London, 1921.
Carpenter, J. E.: Comparative Religion.
Cheyne, Thomas Kelley: The Reconciliation of Races and Religions. A. & C. Black, London, 1914.
Chirol, Valentine: The Middle Eastern Question.
Curzon, George: Persia and the Persian Question. 2 Vols. London, 1892.
Davis, Rev. J. Tyssul: A League of Religions. London, 1926.
Faiths and Fellowship, being the Proceedings of the World Congress of Faiths held in London, July 3rd-l7th, 1936;
pubhshed by J. M. Watkins, London, W.C.2.
Hastings, James: Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh,

Wood, Clement: The Outline of Man’s

1909.

THE BAHA’t WORLD

Hughes, Thomas Patrick, B.D., M.R.A.S.:
Dictionary of Isldm. Published by W. H.
Allen and Co., London, 1865. usayn (Mirzá of Hamadãn): The Tanki-Jadid. English translation by Edward G. Browne.
Cambridge University Press, 1893.
Jackson, A. V. Williams: Persia, Past and Present. Macmillan, London, 1906.
Lammens, H., Professor of Arabic at St. Joseph’s University, Beyrout: Isldm Beliefs and Institutions. Translated from
the French by E. Dennison Ross.
Markham, Clements R.: A General Sketch of the History of Persia. Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1874.
Maud, Constance E.: Sparks Among the Stubble. P. Allen & Co., 1924.
Mears, I. & L. E.: Creative Energy. John Murray, London, 1931.
Narimán, G. K.: Persia and Parsis. Bombay, 1925.
Oliphant, Lawrence: Haifa or Life in Modern Palestine. William Blackwood, Edinburgh and London, 1887.
O’Leary, DeLacy: Islam at the Cross Roads. Kegan, Paul, London, 1923.
Phelps, M. H.: Life and Teachings of ‘Abbds Effendi. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, London, 1912.
Pole, W. Tudor-: Private Dowding. John Watkins, London, 1917.
Pole, W. Tudor-: Some Deeper Aspects of the War. Taylor Bros., Bristol, 1914.
Religions of the Empire. Edited by William Hare. Duckworth, London, 1925.
Religious Systems of the World. Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., London, 1908.
Rice, C. Colliver: Persian Women and Their Ways. Seeley Service, London, 1923.
Samuel, Viscount: Belief and Action. Cassell & Co., Ltd., London, 1937.
Sheil, Lady: Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia. John Murray, London, 1856.
Skrine, Francis H. B.: Bahd’Ism, the Religion of Brotherhood, and Its Place in the Evolution of Creeds. Longmans,
Green, London, 1912.
Stores, Sir Ronald: Orientations. I. Nicholson and Watson, 1937.
Sykes, Sir Percy: Persia. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1922.

Sykes, P. M.: A History of Persia. 2 Vols. London, 1915.
Underhill, Evelyn: The Life of the Spirit and the Life Today. Wetheren & Co., London, 1925.
Ussher, John: Journey from London to Persepolis. London, 1865.
Watkins, J. M.: Faiths and Fellowship. Watson, Robert Grant: History of Persia.
Smith Elder, London, 1866.
Wilson, Sir Arnold Talbot: The Modern World. Ernest Benn, Ltd., London, 1932.
Wollaston, Arthur N.: The Sword of Isldm. John Murray, London, 1905.
Younghusband, Sir F.: The Gleam. John Murray, 1923.
Younghusband, Sir F.: Modern Mystics. John Murray, 1935.
Younghusband, Sir Francis: Faiths and Fellowship. Watkins, 1937.
FRENCH
Balteau, M. J.: Le Ba’b’Isme: Lecture fait par M. J. B. . . . ci la Séance du 22 Mai, 1896. Académie Nationale de
Reims, Reims, 1897.
Bibesco, Princesse: Les Huit Paradis. Paris, 1925, chez Bernard Grasset. Voyage en Perse comprenant
l’épisode du Báb et son martyre.
Dc Vaux, Baron Carra: Les Penseurs de l’Isla!m. Vol. 5. Geuthner, Paris, 1926.
Fagnan, M. E.: Revue Critique de l’Histoire et de Littérature, 1887.
Gobineau, Comte de: Les Religions et les Philosophies dans l’Asie Centrale. Paris, 1924 and 1928.
Huart, C.: La Religion de Bab. Paris, 1889. Lammens, Henri, S. J.: L’Isldm—Croyances
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Lammens, Henri, S. J.: La Sync. Vol. I. Imprimerie Cathol. Beirut, 1921.
La Palestine. Maison de Ia Bonne Presse, Paris, 1922.
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Moutet, Edouard: L’Isldm. Payot, Paris, 1923.
Nicolas, A. L. M.: Siyyid ‘All Mu1fmmmad

BAHA’i BIBLIOGRAPHY

dit Le Bib (Histoire). Dujarric & Co.,
Paris.
Nicolas, A. L. M.: Siyyid ‘All Mn4iammad dit Le Bdb (Dogme). Dujarric & Co., Paris, 1905.
Nicolas, A. L. M.: Essai sur le Shaylzhisme. Vol. 1. Shaykh Akimad-i-Absá’i. Paul Geuthner, Paris, 1910.
Nicolas, A. L. M.: Essai sur le Shaylehisme. Vol. 2. Siyyid Káim-i-Rashti. Paul Geuthner, Paris, 1914.
Nicolas, A. L. M.: Essai sur le Shaykhisme. Vol.. 3 La Doctrine. Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1911.
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Sacy, G.: 12 Juin, 1902 (pamphlet).
Schreiber, Emile: Cette Année ci Jerusalem, edit. 1933, Librairie Plon, 8, rue Garanciêre, Paris (p. 207).
Serena, Mme. C.: Hornines et Choses en

Perse.

GERMAN

Die Kultur der Gegenwart, herausgegeben von Paul Hinneberg, Teil I, Abteilung III,
1. I. Goldziher in: die Religionen des Orients. Leipzig, B. G. Teubner, 1923, pp. 138-141.
Clemen, C.: Die niehtehristliehen Kulturreligionen, Leipzig, B. G. Teubner, 1921. Vol. I, p. 7, Vol. II, p. 100-104.
Scheurlen, Paul: Die Selzten der Gegenwart, Stuttgart, Quellverlag der Ev. Gesellschaft, 1921, pp. 169-175.
Geheime Gesellsehaf ten, lierausgegeben von

P. Ch. Martens, Bad Schmiedeberg, Verlag
von F. E. Baumann, ohne Angabe des
Jahres, p. 272.
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28, 34.
Forel, August: Der Weg zur Kultur, Leipzig, Anzengruber-Verlag, 1924, pp. 132/33, 157, 163.
Forel, August: Kleine Philosophic für Jedermann, Dresden, Kaden & Co., 1928, pp. 24ff.
Forel, August: Der wahre Sozialismus der Zultunft, Berlin, Verlag Deutscher Arbeiter-Abstinenten-Bund, 1926, p. 14.
Forel, August: Testament, Lausanne, Edition de La Libre Pensée International, 1931, p. 13.
Aufstrebende Kultnrbewekungen, herausgegeben von Karl Dopf, Hamburg, Signal- Verlag, 1927, II Lieferung, pp. 3 5-
38.
Tolstoj und der Orient, herausgegeben von Paul Birnkoff, Zurich and Leipzig, Rotapfel-Verlag, 1925, pp. 86, 95-99,
120, 123, 262, 264, 265.
Schoenaich, General von: Paliistina, Halberstadt, H. Meyer’s Buchdruckerei, 1926, pp. 103-105.
Klotzel, C. Z.: Die Strasse der Zehntausend, Hamburg, Gebruder Enoch Verlag, 1925, pp. 195/96.
Faut, Adolf: Romantilz oder Reformation, Gotha, Leopold Klotz-Verlag, 1925, pp.
49f.
Rosen, Friedrich: Persien in lVort und Bild, Berlin, Franz Schneider-Verlag, 1926, pp. s 5/56.
Das Reich Gottes auf Erden, herausgegeben von Rudolf Burkert, Niemes, Druck von
A. Bienert, 1929, p. 27.
Graham, John W.: Der Glaube eines Quiikers, Leipzig, Quaker-Verlag, 1926, p. 48.
Strothmann, R.: Die Zwolfer-Schi’a, Leipzig, Otto Harrassowitz, 1926, pp. 54, 163.
Freda, Dr. Ludwig: Um den Sozialismus, Stuttgart, Herold-Verlag, 1921, p. 86.
Kriegsdienstverweigerer in vielen Landern, Bericht Uber die internationale Konferenz in Sonntagsberg (Oesterreich),
1928, p. 6.
Zustiinde im heutigen Persien, herausgegeben von Dr. Walter Schulz, Leipzig, Verlag von Karl W. Hirsemann, 1903,
pp. IV, V. + 210-214, 330.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

a”!
Bahá’is of Hobart, Tasmania.
Loti, Pierre: Aus Persiens Wunderwelt, Dresden, Carl Reissner, 1922, p. 102.
Ross, Cohn: Der Weg nach Osten, Leipzig,
F. A. Brockhaus, 1923, p. 166.
Die bisherigen Erfolge der Welt-Hilfssprache Esperanto auf der ganzen Welt, herausgegeben von Proelss und Sappi,
Graz, Paulus-Verlag, 1922, pp. 53, 70, 75.
Manifest der Internationalen Bewegung für christlichen Koinmunismus, Heppenheim. Verlag Neu-Sonnefelder-Jugend,
p. 10.
Kerr, Alfred: New York und London, Berlin, S. Fischer, 1923, p. 15.
Heydorn, Wilhelm: Nur Mensch sein, Hamburg, Verlag-Menschheitspartei, 1930, p.
38.
Wolff, Helmut: Pilgrim des neuen Zeitalters, Karlsruhe-Radolfzell, Eigenverlag, ohne Angabe des Jahres.
May, Karl: Im Reiche des Silbermen Lowen, vol. I, pp. 434, 448.
Religions zugehorigkeit in Baden, herausgegeben vom Badischen Statistischen Landesamt, Freiburg i.B., Herder u. Co.,
1928, p. 131.
Ailgemeines Konversations-Lexikon, Berlin, Verlag für Wissen und Bildung, 1928. Artikel: Bãbi, Baha’ismus.
Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 2. Auflage von 1866, vol. 12, p. 787. Artikel:
Persien.

-

;.q

i% ;-
*1 <V
.

Miss Martha Root with some of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Australia and New
Zealand, 1939.
7. Auflage 1924, Artikel: Bábi, Bahá’ismus.
Vambery, Hermann: Meine Wanderungen und Erlebnisse in Persien, Budapest, 1867.
Kremer, A. von: Geschichte der herrschenden Ideen des Isla’m, Leipzig, 1868.
Polak, Dr. Jakob: Persien, des Land und seine Bewohner, Leipzig, 1865.
Ethe, Dr. Hermann: Essays und Stwfien, Berlin, 1872.
Keyserling, Hermann, Graf: Reistagebuch eines Philosophen.
Stuebe, Prof. H.: Geschichte der Weltreligionen in: Die neue Volkshochschule, Leipzig, E. G. Weimann, 1925, vol. I,
p.
54. Artikel: der Bábismus.
Bell, G. L.: Durch die Wusten und Kulturstiitten Syriens.
Thielman, Baron Max von: Journey in the Caucasus, Persia and Turkey.
Najmajer, Marie von: Poems on Qurratu’l‘Ayn. Vienna, 1874.
Wege zum Fri ed en: Paul Riechert, Heide en Holstein, 1932.
Andreas, Dr. F. C. in: der Zeitschrift “Der Export,” Jahrg. 13, Nr. 24-29.
Andreas, Dr. F. C.: Die BdbIs in Persien. Leipzig, 1896, 8°, 68 p.
Zur Beek, Gottfried, in: Die Geheimnisse der

I::
pict248.jpg

pict249.jpg

BAHA’T BIBLIOGRAPHY

Weisen von Zion, herausgegeben von Gottfried zur Beck. Verlag “Auf Vorposten,” Charlottenburg 4, 1919.
Berliner Tagebl aft: Beriche des Konstantinopler Korrespondenten vom 10. Mai
1896 uber Scheich Dschemaleddin, den
Urheber der Ermordung Nasireddin
Schahs im Berliner Tageblatt vom 15. Mai
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Internationalen Bewegung für christlichen
Kommunismus, S. 10 (Erwahnung Bahã’u’lláh’s) Verlag Neu-Sonnefelder Jugend
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Forster, Friedrich Wilhelm, in: Welt politik und Weltgewissen. 1919.
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Goldziher, Ignaz, in: Vorlesungen uber den Islam. p. 295-305. Heidelberg, 1910.
Goldziher, Ignaz, in: Die Religionen des Orients in: Die Kultur der Gegenwart, herausgegeben von Paul Hinneberg,
Teil I, Abt. III, 1, I, p. 138-141. Leipzig,
B. G. Teubner, 1923 (zweite Auflage, zweiter Abdruck).
Grosch, Dr. phil. jur. et rer. pol. G., in:
Neugestaltung, Aphorismen zur Erneuerung der Kultur in: Jahrbuch für l7olkerrecht und Friedensbewegung,
herausgegeben von Dr. G. Grosch, II. Band Leipzig, Neuer Geist-Verlag 1924.
Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Artikel “Die Bahá’i-Bewegung” in Aufstrebende Kulturbewegungen und ibre Vorkdmpfer.
Herausgegeben von Karl Dopf, p. 35-38. Hamburg, Signal-Verlag, 1927.
Hayek, Max: “Der Bahá’ismus” in Vossiche Zeitung. vom 13, Juni, 1920.
Huart, Cl., in: Enzyklopadie des Islams von Houtsma. p. 566f., 569f., Leiden, 1911. Artikel: “Báb,” “Bábi.”
Huart, Cl.: Allgemeine Missionzeitschrift, 1894, p. 327; 1903, p. 242.
Huart, Cl.: Evangelisches Missions-Ma gazin, 1894, p. 12ff.
Ibrahim Beg, in: Zustande im heutigen Persien wie sic das Reisebuch Ibrahim Begs enthullt. S. IV, V, 210-14, 330.
Herausgegeben von Dr. Walter Schulz,

Leipzig. Verlag von Karl W. Hirsemann, 1903.
Jeremiis, D. Dr. Alfred, in: Allgemeine Religionsgeschichte. P. 109, Verlag R. Piper & Co., Munchen, 1924 (zweite Auflage).
Kaim, Dr. Julius Rudolf, in: Geist des Morgenlandes. P. 66f. Dessau, C. Dunnhaupt Verlag, 1927.
Kyber, Manfred, in: Okultismus neue Ausgabe.
Mader, Wilhelm, in: Mitteilungen aus der Karmelmission e.V. “Bericht vom Karmel.” Haifa, den 24. 7. 1921. Heft 5, p. 59.
Mann, Traugott, in: Orientalische Literaturzeitung. 1909, p. 22f. Besprechung uber Laura Clifford Barney: Abd’oul Bèha, Les
Leçons de St. Jean d’Acre. Felix E. Peiser, Leipzig.
Mann, Traugott, in: Orientalische Literaturzeitung. 1911, p. 35. Felix E. Peiser, Leipzig.
Meyer, Superintendent a.D.: Der Ba’bismus in Persien. P. 327-333. (Church at home and abroad, Vol. 14, Meyers Lexicon,
1924.)
Muralt, Dr. Alex v., in: August Ford. Schweizerkopfe Heft 4/5, p. 52. Zurich und Leipzig, Orell Füssli Verlag, 1931.
Noldeke, Theodor, in: Deutsche Rundschau, Band 1 8 “Orientalischer Sozialismus.” P. 284, 1879. In: Pazijlstischer
Zitantenschatz, Ludwigsburg, Verlag. “Friede durch Recht.” G.m.b.H., 1921.
Roemer, Dr. Hermann: Die BcibI-Bahd’I. Potsdam. Verlag der Deutschen Orient- Mission 1912, 8°, VII. 192 p.
Rasmussen, Dr. E. in: Zeitschrift für Religionspsychologie, “Der Baháismus” Band I, p. 383-389. Dr. Joh. Breslauer, Halle a.d.
Saale, 1908.
Richter, Julius: Der Isldm als Religion. 1927. Richter, J., in: Mission und Evangelisation
im Orient. P. 214-219. GUtersloh, 1908.
Relgis, Eugen, in: Wege zum Frieden, eine internationale Rundfrage. Heide i. HoIst., Verlag Paul Riechert, 1932.
Ritter, Prof. Dr. H., in: Der Islam, Jahrgang XIII, 1/2 p. 134. C. H. Becker und H. Ritter, 1923.
Roda Roda, in: Morgensunne, Morgenland. Pp. 44-5 4, Volksverband der Bucherfreunde, Wegweiser Verlag G.m.b.H., Berlin,
1922.

THE BAHA’f WORLD

Romer, Hermann, in: Die Propaganda für asiatiscbe Religionen im Abendland. P. 45 if., Basel, 1910.
Römer, Hermann, in: Fvangelisches Missions Magazin 1908, “Der Behaismus.” P. 91f.
Rosen, V.: Sendschreiben des Bahd’u’lldh. Petersburg, Akademie, 1908, Vol. I.
von Sigsfeld, Viktoria, in: Der Werdegang der Menschen des neuen Tages. Finsterlingen i/B. Oberlicht-Verlag.
Simon, Gottfried, in: Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart. “Bábismus,” “Baháismus,” Band I, von Alfr.
Bertholet, Herm. Hont, Faber, Stephen, herausgeg. von Herm. Gunkel, Leop. Zscharnach. Tubingen, Verlag J. C. B.
Mohr. Paul Siebert, 1927.
Spengler, Oswald, in: Der Untergang des Abendlandes.
Tisdall, D., in der Zeitschrift Reich Christi” (Dr. Lepsius-Potsdam). 1908. Artikel: “Der Islam in Persien,” p. 178f.
Tolstoj, Leo, in: Tolstoj und der Orient.
Herausgegeben von Paul Birnkoif. Pp.
86, 95-99, 120, 123, 262, 264, 265.
Zurich und Leipzig, Rotapfel-Verlag,
1925.
Warneck, D. Gustav, in: Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift XXI. Missionrundschau. P. 137, Gutersloh, 1894.
Wegener, Armin T., in: Am Kreuzweg der Welten. Pp. 183-199, 318f., 344. Berlin, Volksverband der Bucherfreunde,
Wegweiser-Verlag, G.m.b.H., 1930.
Welt-Missions-Konferenz, Edinburgh, 1910, in: erReich Christi” (Dr. Lepsius-Potsdam). 1911, Bericht der
Kommission IV, “Islim,” p. 1 if.
Wright, A. H., in: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft 1851. Ar-

tikel: “Báb und seine Sekte in Persien.”
p. 384f.
IRANIAN

Ndsikhu’t-Tavdri/zh, The. Nür-i-IaqIqat, The.

ICELANDIC

Thórdason Thórburger: Alphjodamdl og Ma’lleysur (International Languages and
Bad Languages), 1933.
LITHUANIAN
Salcius Matas: “Sveêiuose Pas 40 Tautu” (A Guest of Forty Nations). Vol. II,
chap. “The Bahã’i Sanctuary”; vol. III, pp. 174-77, chap. “Impressions of Bahã’is in Hamadán and Tihrán,” 1935.
RUMANIAN
Eugen Relgis: Cosmométapolis. Cultura Poporului B, dul Academici 2, Bucharest,
1935.
DANISH
Benedictsen, Aage Meyer: Yore Dages Persien, Copenhagen, 1903.
Christensen, Arthur: Hinsides det Kaspislte Hay, Copenhagen, 1918, pp. 127-143.
Christensen, Arthur: Det Gamle ag det nye Persien, Copenhagen, 1930.
Hagerups Konversationsle/rsikon, Copenhagen, 1920.
Illustreret Danslt KonversationslelzsiJzon, Copenhagen, 1933.
Salmonsens Konversationsleltsilzon, Copenhagen, 1894, 1915.
HUNGARIAN
Ligeti Paul: The Way Out of Chaos, Budapest.
30.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH IN MAGAZINES BY NON-BAHA’f
WRITERS
AMERICAN MAGAZINES
American Journal of Theology, January,
1902.
American Astrology, April, 1938. American Astrology, November, 1939.

Architectural Record, The, June, 1920.
Art World, March, 1917.
Asia, May, 1924.
Atlantic Monthly, September, 1926.
Bell Telephone News, February, 1937.

BAHA’I BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliotheca Sacra, January, 1915.
Book Buyer, June, 1901.
Chaff and Grain, Vol. I, No. 5, 1938.
Chambers’ Journal.
Crisis, The, May, 1912
Crisis, The, June, 1912.
Chicagoan, September, 1931.
Construction Methods, August, 1931.
Construction Methods, July, 1933.
Contempo’rary Review, August, 1869.
Contemporary Review, October, 1869
Contemporary Review, March, 1912.
Contemporary Review Advertiser, December, 1885.
Current History, December, 1925.
Current Literature, July, 1901.
Current Literature, September, 1911.
Current Literature, June, 1912.
Eclectic Magazine, February, 1886.
Eclectic Magazine, September, 1896.
Engineering News-Record, January 8, 1931.
Esoteric Christianity, February, 1915.
Everybody’s, December, 1911.
Everywoman, December, 1915.
Ever ywoman, December, 1916.
For/nightly Review, June, 1911.
For/nightly Review, April, 1912.
For/nightly Review, June, 1913.
Forum, July, 1925.
Friend’s Intelligencer, September, 1925.
Harper’s ‘Weekly, July, 1912.
Harper’s Magazine, October, 1937.
Hearst’s Magazine, July, 1912.
Highway Traveler, The, October-November, 1937.
Independent, April, 1912.
Independent, July, 1912.
Independent, September, 1912.
Independent, December, 1921.
Journal of the American Concrete Institute, March-April, 1934, and July, 1933. Detroit, Mich.
Journal of Air Law, January, 1934. Chicago.
Li/tel’s Living Age, August, 1869.
Literary Digest, May, 1912.
Literary Digest, August, 1920.
Literary Digest, December, 1921.
Magazine Digest, June, 1934.
Mentor, The, November, 1920.
Missionary Review, October, 1902.
Missionary Review, February, 1904.
Missionary Review, March, 1904.
Missionary Review, May, 1906.

Missionary Review, October, 1911.
Missionary Review, October, 1914.
Missionary Review, August, 1919.
Missionary Review, October, 1921.
Moslem World, October, 1931.
Nation (N. Y.), June 21, 1866.
National, December, 1908.
National, May, 1922.
National Geographic Magazine, December,
1938.
Nineteenth Century, February, 1915.
New York Times, February, 1913.
New York Times Book Review, August 1, 1920.
North American, April, 1901.
Nor/h American, June, 1912.
Open Court, June, 1904.
Open Court, August, 1915.
Open Court, October, 1915.
Open Court, November, 1915.
Open Court, August, 1916.
Open Court, October, 1916.
Open Court, November, 1916
Open Court, March, 1931.
Outlook, June, 1901.
Outlook, June, 1912.
Outlook, December, 1920.
Outlook, December, 1921.
Psychology Magazine, May, 1930.
Review of Reviews, February, 1901.
Review of Reviews, January, 1909.
Review of Reviews, June, 1912.
Review of Reviews, February, 1922.
Scientific American, August, 1920.
Sentinel, The, November 18, 1937.
Signs of the Times, April, 1938.
Spokesman, The (Negro), September, 1925.
Story Magazine, November, 1937.
Survey, April, 1912.
Dr. Tilden’s Health Review and Critique, October, 1938.
Time, July 20, 1931.
Unity, February, 1918.
Unity, December, 1921.
Unity, April, 1929.
U. S. Steel News, March, 1937.
Wilmette Life, July, 1936.
Wilmette Life, May, 1937.
Wilmette Life, September 14, 1933, Wilmette, Ill.
Winnetka Talks, October 1937.
Women’s Home Companion, November, 1938.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

World Observer, The, September, 1937.
World’s Work, July, 1912.
World’s Work, July, 1922.
World Unity, December, 1930.
World Unity, February, 1933.
ENGLISH MAGAZINES
Academy, The, March, 1895.
All the Year Around, July, 1869.
Arena, The, November, 1904.
Asiatic Quarterly Review, April, 1913.
Christian Commonwealth, January 1, 1913.
Christian Commonwealth, January 22, 1913.
Christian Commonwealth, January 29, 1913.
Christian Commonwealth, February 12, 1913.
Clifton Chronicle and Directory, January,
1913.
Edinburgh Evening News, January, 1913.
Illustrated Weekly of India, March 24, 1931.
Indian Review (Madras), August, 1914.
The Inquirer, May 16, 1931, London.
Inquirer and Christian Life, May 10, 1930.
International Psychic Gazette, Nos. 6 and 7.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XXI, 1889-1892.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, January, 1922.
London Budget, January, 1913.
Saturday Review, January, 1894.
Scots Pictorial, January, 1913.
Scottish Review, April, 1892.
Speaking of Women, July, 1936.
Spectator, The, April, 1892.
Sunday Herald, Woking, London, January 24, 1913.
Town and Country News, November 24, 1933, London.
Vedic Magazine (Lahore), Vol. 8, No. 9.
FRENCH MAGAZINES
Bulletin Mélanges Asiatique, Vol. IV. Bulletin de l’Académie Impériale de
Petersburg, Vols. VIII, IX.
Journal Asiatique, Vol. II.
Journal Asiatique, Vols. VII, VIII, 1866.
Journal Asiatique, Vol. X.
L’Année Philosophique, Vol. III, 1869.
L’Illustration, September 30, 1933.
Le Libre Echange, January, 1936, Paris.
L’en dehors, December, 1936, Orleans.

Havre.
Pax, July-August, 1938.
ReIla, March, 1937.
Revue Critique d’Histoire et de Littérature, April 18, 1887.
Revue de l’Histoire des Religions, Vol.
XVIII.
Revue Hebdoinadaire, 8 Fey. 1936: Mme. Alice Fernand-Halphen: Palestine d’Hier, Palestine d’Aujourd’hui. Lib.
Plon. 8, rue Garancière, Paris.
Revue du Monde Musulman, IX, 339-341. Revue Moderne, 1865-1866.
SWISS MAGAZINES
SifI Quarterly, March, 1928 (published in English).
NETHERLAND MAGAZINES
Wereld Kronick, April 7, 1934, Rotterdam.

RUSSIAN

Zapiski, by Baron Rosen, 1889.

GERMAN

Deutsche Rundschau, Vol. XVIII, 1879.
Journal of the German Oriental Society, Vol. V, 1851.
Oriental Literaturzeitung, 1909.
Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie, Vol. XXII, 337.
BELGIAN
Lumie’re et Liberté, November, 1935, Brussels.
Le Rouge et le Noir, November, 27, 1935, Brussels.
PORTUGUESE
Correio do Brasil, November 11, 1935, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, S. A.
RUMANIAN
Santier, 1934, Bucharest.
Cuvantul Liber, October 26, 1935, Bucha rest.

SPANISH

La Prensa, December 15, 1935, Buenos Aires, Argentina, S. A.
Tiempos Nuevos, January, 1936, Barcelona,
Spain.

Le Reveil Normand, January, 1936, Le

St.

BAHA’I BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pan, January 15, 1936, Buenos Aires, Argentina, S. A.
DANISH

Dansk Fidsskrift, August, 1903. Nordisk Tidsskrift, Fifth issue, 1911.

NORWEGIAN
Naturlagen, April, 1936.
MEXICAN
Pan-American Review, 1937.

31.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’i FAITH BY BAHA’iS IN NON-BAHA’f
PUBLICATIONS

Time and Tide, April 14, 1934, London. Kaisar-i-Hind, December 31, 1933. Bombay. Religious Education, September,
1932. Chicago.
The New Humanist, January-February, 1933. Chicago.
Forum, May, 1916. New York.
Forum, August, 1917. New York.
Literary Digest, November 20, 1931. New York.
New Orient, January, 1926. New York.
Open Court, July, 1931. Chicago.
The Religious Highway, April, 1933. Tokyo.

Oregon Mineralogist, January, 1934. Portland, Oregon.
Unity, February 19, 1934. Chicago.
San) l7artaman, September, 1933. Bombay.
The Quarterly Journal of Speech, March- April, 1934. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The China Critic, May 25, 1933. Shanghai. World Unity, April, 1932. New York. World Unity, November, 1933 (and
successive issues). New York.
The Gift and Art Shop, August, 1932. New York.
Women, March, April, 1936. Chicago.
32.

REFERENCES TO THE BAHA’I FAITH IN SPECIALIZED REFERENCE WORKS
(This section of the Bibliography is new, and it has not been possible before time of printing to make a complete
survey. All references found are noted, regardless of degree of accuracy.)

An Encyclopedia of Religion, E. P. Dutton and Co., 1921
Concordia Cyclopedia, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. 1927.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th edition.
Introduction to History of Religions, Ginn & Co., Boston, New York, Chicago, Lon- don. 1913.
Nelson’s Perpetual Loose-Leaf Encyclopedia, Thomas Nelson and Sons, New York.
New Century Dictionary, D. Appleton- Century Co., 1936.

Religious Bodies: 1926, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1926.
The Modern Encyclopedia, Wm. H. Wise and Co., New York, 1935.
The New International Year Book, Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1933, and in annual volumes since.
The New Lamed History, C. A. Nichols Publishing Co., Springfield, Mass., 1922.
The World Book Encyclopedia, The Quarrie Corp., Chicago. 1939.
Webster’s New International Dictionary (unabridged), G. and C. Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass., 1937.

III
TRANSLITERATION OF
ORIENTAL WORDS
FREQUENTLY USED IN BAHA’
LITERATURE
‘Abi Báb Farsakh Jshrãqát
‘AbIdib Bábi Fath-’AIi Ishtihãrd
‘Abbás Bábu’l-Báb Firdaws Islam
‘Abdu’i-Baha Baghdad Firdawsi Islamic
‘Abdu’l-Hamid Bahã Ismá’iliyyih
‘Abdu’l-Husayn Bahã’i Ganjih Istarábad
‘Abdu’iláh Bahá’u’lláh Giián ‘Izzat
Abha Rahiyyih Gui
Abu’i-Fadi Bahji Guiastán Jalál
‘Adasiyyih Baláchistán Gurgin Jamâdiyu’l-Avvai
Adhán Bandar-’Abbás Jamal
Adhirbayjan Báqir Uabib Jamái-i-Mubarak
Afnan Baqiyyatu’ilah IIadith Jam al-i-Qidam
Aghsan Rárfurüsh Uaclrat Jásb
‘Ahd Basrih Haji Jubbih
Abmad Bátám Ijãji Mirzá Aqási
Alysa’i Bayán IIájj Kaaba
Ahvaz Bayt Hamadan Ka’bih
Akbar Big Uasan Kad-Khudã
‘Akka Birjand aydar-’Ali Kalantar
‘Ala’ Bishárãt Haykai Kalim
‘All Bismi’llah Haziratu’l-Quds Kalimat
‘All-Muhammad Bukhárã Hijaz Kamál
Aliah-u-Abha Burüjird Himmat-Abad Karand
Aivali BUshihr ujjat Karbiiã
Alváh-i-Salatin Bushrá’i usayn Káshán
Ammn Bushrüyih Huvaydar Kashkól
Amir Kawmu’s-Sa’áyidih
Amir-Nizam Chihriq Ibrahim Kawthar
Amru’ilah 11 Kãzim
Amul Dalá’il-i-Sab’ih ‘Jim Kazimayn
Anzaii Dárüghih Imam Khalkhal
Aqa Dawlat-Abád Imam-Jum’ih Khan
Aqdas Dhablh Imám-Zádih Khãniqayn
‘Arabistan Duzdáb Iqán Khayli khüb
Asmá’ Iran Khurásãn
‘Avashiq Fará’id ‘Iraq Khuy
Ayadi Faran ‘Iraqi Kirmán
Azal Farmán ‘Iraq-i-’Ajam Kirmãnsháh
‘Azamat Farrash-Bashi 1sf áhán Kit ãb-i-’Ahd
‘Aziz Fárs ‘Isliqabad Kitáb-i-Aqdas

TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL WORDS 761
Kitáb-i-Asmá’ Muiiá Rafsinj an Suitanate
Kit âb-i-Badi’ MunIrih Rahim Suit anu’sh-Shuhadã’
Kitáb-i-lqán Muafá Rabmán Sunni
Kulâh Mustaghâth Rabmat Sunnites
Kurdistán Muaffari’d-Din Ra’is Süratu’l-Haykai
Ramadán Sirih
LãhIján Nabil Rasht S6riy-i-Damm
Hr Nabi1-i-A’am Rawbáni Sóriy-i-Ghun
Lawb Najaf Riciván Sáriy-i-Ra’Is
Luristán Najaf-Abãd RUbu’iiáh Sáriy-i-abr
Náqiçlin
Madrisih Nasir Sabzivár Tabriz
Mabbiabu’sh-huhada’ Násiri’Din Sadratu’i-Muntahá Tahirih
Mahd-i-’UTYã Navváb Sabibu’z-Zamãn Taj aiiiyát
Máh-Ká Naw-Ráz Saiifatu’l-UaramaYn Tãkur
Makimád Nayriz Sa’id Taqi
Maiáyir Nishábür Saisibil Tarázãt
Man-Yuhiruhu’1iáh Nuq;ih Samarqand Tarbiyat
Maqám Nor Sangsar Táshkand
Marághih Sari Tawhid
Marbabá Pahiavi ha’ban Thurayyi
Mary Párán Shah iihran
Masá’ii Shahid TOmãn
Mashhad Qádi Shahmirzád Turkistán
Mashiyyat Qadiyán ShahrOd
Mashriqu’1-Adkár Qahqahih Sharaf ‘uiamâ
Masjid Qã’im Shari’ali uromiyyih
Maydãn Qáj âr Shaykh ‘Uthmán
Mãzindarán Qaiyán Shaykh-abarsi —
Mihdi Qamar Shaykhu’l-Islám Vahid
Mihráb Qasr-i--Shirin Shi’ih VaIl
Milan Qawi Shiites Vali’Ahd
Mi’rãj QayyOm Shirâz
Mirzá QayyOinu’l-Asmã’ Shushtar Varqá
Vazir
Mishkin-Qaiam Qazvin Simnãn
Mu’adhdhin Qibiih Sisán
Mufti QUchán Sistán yaBaha’u’iAbhã
Mul?ammad QuddOs Siyáh-Chái Yayã
Mubatnmad-’Aii Qudrat Siyyid Yazd
Muharnmarih Qum SOfi
Mubarram Qur’ãn Suiaymán Zanján
Mujtahid Qurbmn Suiçãn Zarand
Mulk Qurratu’l-’Ayn Sulçán-Abád Zaynu’i—Muqarrabin

THE BAHA’I WORLD
GUIDE TO TRANSLITERATION AND
PRONUNCIATION OF THE
IRANIAN ALPHABET

i. . as (e) in best
1.. as (ee) in meet

ft. as (oo) in moon

The “1” added to the name of a town signifies ‘“belonging to.” means native of Shiráz.

Thus, Shiraz’i

NOTES ON THE PRONUNCIATION
OF IRANIAN WORDS
The emphasis in tránian words is more or less evenly distributed, each syllable being equally stressed as in French. For example, do
not say Talzriz or Tabarsi; stay as long on one syllable as on the next: Tabriz; Ta- bar-si. (While there are many exceptions to this
rule, it is the most generally correct method of treating the question of stress.)
A frequent mistake is the failure to distinguish between broad and flat “a’s.” This differentiation makes the language especially
musical and should be observed: in the word

Afnán, for example, pronounce the first “a” as in mat, and the second syllable to rhyme with on. Americans are apt to
pronounce short “a” plus “r” hke the verb form are; this is a mistake; “ar” should be pronounced as in the name of
Harry—cf. Tarbiyat.
The same differentiation should be observed in the case of long and short and long and short “u.” As the guide to the
transliteration indicates, short “i” is like “e” in best, and long “1” like “ee” in meet; for example, Ibráhim is pronounced
Eb-rá lb

a

dh
th

e

C
c
.1

m

zh

.ch

li

.5

r
ci
S

sh

a asin
account
a asin
arm

u...as (o) in aw asin
short mown
pict250.jpg

NOTES ON PRONUNCIATION OF IRANIAN

heem; Islam is Ess-lahm. Short “u” being like cc0 in short, and long being like “oo” in moon, the following would be pronounced:
Quddüs—Qod-dooss; Bãrfurósh— Bár-fo-roosh.
Pronounce “aw” to rhyme with oh, or mown; Naw-RsIz is No-Rooz.
The following consonants may be pronounced like z: dh, z, z, d.
The following consonants may be pronounced like ss: th, s, s.
Zh is pronounced hke the in pleasure. Kh is pronounced like “ch” in Scotch loch or German nacht. Do not pronounce it as “k.”
Westerners are as a rule incapable of pronouncing gh and “q”; a guttural French “r” will serve here; otherwise use hard “g” as in
good.
11 and h, approximately like the English aspirate “h,” should never be dropped.

Tihrán is Teh-ron; madrisih is mad-res-seh; Mihráb is Meh-rob.
In the case of double letters pronounce each separately: ‘Ab-bás.
The character transliterated (‘) represents a pause; it is not unlike the initial sound made in pronouncing such a word as
every. The word BahI’i is phonetically as follows:
“a” as in account; “a” as in father; (‘), pause; “i” as ee in meet.
The character transliterated (‘) may also be treated as a pause.
N.B. As Iranian often indicates no vowel sounds and as its pronunciation differs in different localities throughout Iran
and the Near East as well as among individuals in any given locality, a uniform system of transliteration such as the
above, which is in use by Bahá’i communities all over the world, is indispensable to the student.

Iv
DEFINITIONS OF
ORIENTAL TERMS USED IN
BAHA’i LITERATURE
‘Aba: Cloak or mantle.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Servant of Rahâ.
Adhán: Muslim call to prayer.
Adib: literally “the learned.”
Aghøn: literally “branches” Denotes sons and descendants of Bahâ’u’lláh.
Afnán: literally “twigs.” Denotes the relations of the Bab.
A.H.: “After Hijirah.” Date of Mubammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina, and basis of Muhammadan chronology.
Akbar: “Greater.”
‘Ama: literally “light cloud,” symbolizes the “First Invisible Substance.”
Amin: literally “the trusted.”
Amir: “Lord,” “prince,” “commander,” “governor.”
Aqá: “Master.” Title given by Bahã’u’lláh to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
A’am: “The greatest.”
Báb: “Gate.” Title assumed by Mirzâ ‘All- Muhammad, after the declaration of His Mission in Shiráz in May, 1844
A.D.
Bãbi: Follower of the Bab.
Badi’: literally “the wonderful.”
Bahá: “Glory,” “splendor,” “light.” Title by which Bahá’u’llah (Mirzá Iusayn-’Ali) is designated.
Bahá’i: Follower of Bahá’u’llah.
Bahji: literally “delight.” Denotes that part of the Plain of ‘Akka where the Shrine and the Mansion of Bahá’u’llãh are
situated.
Bani-Hãshim: The family from which Muhammad descended.
Baqiyyatu’llah: “Remnant of God”; title applied both to the Báb and to Bahá’u’lláh.
Bayán: “Utterance,” “explanation.” Title given by the Bab to His Revelation, particularly to His Books.

Big: Honorary title, lower title than Khãn.
Bishárat: literally “Glad-tidings.” Title of one of the Tablets of Baha’u’lláh.
Caravansarai: An inn for caravans.
Dârüghih: “High constable.”
Dawlih: “State,” “government.”
“Endowed with constancy”; a title given to Prophets who revealed a book and instituted religious laws.
Farmán: “Order,” “command,” “royal decree.”
Farrash: “Footman,” “lictor,” “attendant.”
Farrásh-Báshi: The head-farrash.
Farsakh: Unit of measurement. Its length differs in different parts of the country according to the nature of the ground,
the local interpretation of the term being the distance which a laden mule will walk in the hour, which varies from three
to four miles. Arabicised from the Iranian “par- sang,” and is supposed to be derived from pieces of stone (sang) placed
on the roadside.
“Fourth Heaven”: One of the stages of the invisible Realm.
“Guarded Tablet”: Denotes the Knowledge of God and of His Manifestation.
Uáji: A Mubammadan who has performed the pilgrimage to Mecca.
klaPratu’l-Quds: Baha’i Headquarters.
Hijirah: literally “migration.” The basis of
Mubammadan chronology. The date of
Mubammad’s migration from Mecca to
Medina.
Hówdah: A htter carried by a camel, mule, horse or elephant for traveling purposes.
Ii: “Clan.”

DEFINITIONS OF ORIENTAL TERMS

Imãm: Title of the twelve Shi’ih successors of Mubammad. Also applied to Muslim religious leaders.
Imám-Jum’ih: The leading imám in a town or city; chief of the mullás.
Imám-Zádih: Descendants of an imãm or his shrine.
fqan: literally “Certitude.” The title of Bahã’u’lláh’s epistle to the uncle of the Mb.
Ishráqát: literally “effulgences.” Title of one of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh.
Isráf 11: The Angel whose function is to sound the trumpet on the Day of Judgment.
Jãhiliyyih: The dark age of ignorance among the Arabs before the appearance of Muhammad.
Jamãl-i-Mubárak: literally “the Blessed Beauty,” applied by certain Bahá’is to Bahã’u’lláh.
Jamãl-i-Qidam: literally “the ancient Beauty.” Applied by certain Bahá’is to Bahá’u’lláh.
Jubbih: An outer coat.
Ka’bih: Ancient shrine at Mecca. Now recognized as the most holy shrine of Islam.
Kabir: literally “great.”
Kar-Khudá: Chief of a ward or parish in a town; head-man of a village.
Kalantar: “Mayor.”
Kalim: “One who discourses.”
Kalimãt: literally “words.” Title of one of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh.
Karbilá’i: A Mubammadan who has performed the pilgrimage to Karbilá.
Kawthar: A river in Paradise, whence all the other rivers derive their source.
Khán: “Prince,” “lord,” “nobleman,” “chieftain.”
Kitáb-i-Aqdas: literally “The Most Holy Book.” Title of Bahá’u’llãh’s Book of Laws.
Kuláh: The Iranian lambskin hat worn by government employees and civilians.
Madrisih: Religious college.
Man-Yuzhiruhu’lláh: “He Whom God will make manifest.” The title given by the Mb to the promised One.

Mashhadi: A Mubammadan who has performed the pilgrimage to Maslihad.
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár: literally “the dawning place of the praise of God.” Title dèsignating Bahá’i House of Worship.
Masjid: Mosque, temple, place of worship.
Maydán: A subdivision of a farsakh. A square or open place.
Mihdi: Title of the Manifestation expected by Islam.
Mi5rab: The principal place in a mosque where the imám prays with his face turned towards Mecca.
Mi’ráj: “Ascent,” used with reference to Muhammad’s ascension to heaven.
Mirzá: A contraction of Amir-Zádih, meaning son of Amir. When affixed to a name it signifies prince; when prefixed simply Mr.
Mishkin-Qalam: literally “the musk-scented pen.”
Mu’adhdhin: The one who sounds the Adhán, the Mulsammadan call to prayer.
Mujtahid: Mubammadan doctor-of-law. Most of the mujtahids of iran have received their diplomas from the most eminent jurists of
Karbilá and Najaf.
Mullá: Mubammadan priest.
Mustagháth: “He Who is invoked.” The numerical value of which has been assigned by the Mb as the limit of the time fixed for the
advent of the promised Manifestation.
Nabil: “Learned,” “noble.”
Naw-Rtz: “New Day.” Name applied to the Bahá’i New Year’s Day; according to the Iranian Calendar the day on which the sun
enters Aries.
Nuq;ih: “Point.”
Pahlaván: “Athlete,” “champion”; term applied to brave and muscular men.
Qádi: Judge; civil, criminal, and ecclesiastical.
Qã’im: “He Who shall arise.” Title designating the promised One of Islam.
Qalyán: A pipe for smoking through water.
Qiblih: The direction to which people turn in prayer: especially Mecca, the Qiblih of all Mubammadans.
Qurbmn: “Sacrifice.”

THE BAHA’! WORLD

Ridván: The name of the custodian of Paradise. Bahá’u’lláh uses it to denote Paradise itself.
Sadratu’l-Muntahá: the name of a tree planted by the Arabs in ancient times at the end of a road, to serve as a guide. As a symbol it
denotes the Manifestation of God in His Day.
Sáhibu’z-Zaman: “Lord of the Age”; one of the titles of the promised Qá’im.
Salsabil: A fountain in Paradise.
Samandar: literally “the phoenix.”
Sarkár-i-Aqá: literally the “Hnbl Master,” apphed by certain Bahá’is to ‘Abdu’lBahá.
“Seal of the Prophets”: One of the titles of Muhammad.
“Seventh Sphere”: The highest stage of the invisible Realm. Denotes also the Manifestation of Bahá’u’llãh.
Shahid: “Martyr.” Plural of martyr is Shuhadá.
Shaykhu’l-Tslãm: Head of religious court, appointed to every large city by the Shah.
Sirát: literally “bridge” or “path,” denotes the religion of God.

Siyyid: Descendant of the Prophet Mu5am- mad.
Sñrih: Name of the chapters of the Qur’án.
Tajalliyãt: literally “splendors.” Title of one of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh.
Tarazát: literally “ornaments.” Title of one of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh.
Tümán: A sum of money equivalent to a dollar.
‘Urvatu’l-Vuthqá: literally “the strongest handle,” symbolic of the Faith of God.
Vali-’Ahd: “Heir to the throne.”
Varaqiy-i-’Ulyã: literally “the most exalted Leaf,” applied to Bahiyyi}i Khánum, sister of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Varqá: literally “the dove.”
Viláyat: guardianship.
“White Path”: Symbolizes the Religion of God.
Zãdih: “Son.”
Zaynu’l-Muqarrabin: literally “the Ornament of the favored.”

PART FOUR
pict251.jpg
I
ARTICLES AND REVIEWS
1.

CONSTRUCTIVE RELIGION
B GEORGE TOWNSHEND

THAT mankind should attain its majority, that history should be crowned by a Golden Age when a great spiritual
Teacher would arise and found a universal religion that would flower in a universal civilization, is the common
predication of the World Faiths from the beginning.
The supreme prophets of mankind have appeared in lands separated by thousands of miles: in India and China and
Palestine and Persia and Arabia and elsewhere. They have appeared in periods separated by thousands of years:
Muhammad in 7th century A.D. described himself as the Seal of a prophetic line which is stated in the Bible to reach
back to the beginning of the world. They gave revelations which differed widely in degree and in range. But all alike
encouraged in mankind a forward looking attitude of hope and a belief in an informing destiny towards which all the
movements of history were being directed by God.
The witness of each to this consummation was independent and original. No one who studied the ancient record or
tradition would conclude that Jesus gathered the idea from Buddha or Confucius, or Confucius from Zarathustra or
from any other Prophet. Each evidently spoke out of his own immediate and certain knowledge, as if to him (being a
Seer) Eternity had already unfolded in the present what time would unfold to others in the future. He gave his forecast
from his own particular point of view and with his own particular emphasis. But it was always a prediction of one and
the same historical event; and this consensus of foreknowledge forms one of the indications that all the Founders of the
World Faiths shared

a common purpose and were working towards a single end. However different their revelations, the religion they taught was
fundamentally one, the law which they unfolded was one, the objective towards which they worked was one.
The impression which this prophecy has made on the imagination of humanity has been deep and lasting. It has never wholly faded
from men’s minds, and during recent decades it has been brought strongly back to the recollection of followers or students of many
faiths, all the world over.
A publication of the Confucian Association of New York in 1928 entitled “Confucianism for World Peace” includes the statement that
“with a view to enlightening future generations Confucius wrote a most important book entitled ‘The Spring and Autumn’ which is
now the foremost book of all Chinese Classics, dealing with international problems, codifying international laws and promoting
permanent international peace.
“Universal peace was the goal of Confucius. He divided the period of history mentioned in his book ‘The Spring and Autumn’ into
three stages, namely, the Stage of Disorder, the Advancement of Peace, and the Perfect Peace.
“In the first stage, the Stage of Disorder, primitive civilization was being evolved out of chaos and the social mind was still very rude. .
. . In the second stage, the Advancement of Peace, there was a distinction between all civilized countries and those of the barbarians;

the limit of civilization became broader and the friendship of nations closer. Those smaller nations could make their

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CONSTRUCTIVE RELIGION

voices heard. In the third stage, the Perfect Peace, there was no distinction at all. The barbarians became civilized and had the same
standing as any other people in the family of nations. The whole world became one unit. Righteousness prevailed.”
A High Priest of the Parsis, N. B. DhalIa, in a work called by the hopeful title “Our Perfecting World,” shows how modern progress
has vindicated the philosophy of history set forth by Zarathustra long ages since. “We hope to show,” he writes, “that our universe is
unfolding towards an aim and that the life of man imperfect in all its phases has throughout the period of human history been slowly
but steadily progressing towards perfection through the inexorable laws of cooperation with good and conflict with evil, which is the
message of hope Zarathustra brings to mankind.”
Buddha gave to his Movement not more than a thousand years of creative effort; or even half that time; but we are told “that a Buddha
named Metteyya should in the fullness of time arise is recorded in the Canon as a prophecy made by Gotama himself.” Commenting
on this a leading authority writes:
“When we watch the way in which Gotama Buddha and his followers met the errors and problems of their own day, recasting it may
be a yet more ancient body of doctrine to cope with present needs, can we doubt that if a Metteyya Buddha arose here and now he
would recast their Dhamma and instead of making converts to a Norm adapted to bygone conditions would evolve with travail of soul
a gospel and a philosophy built out of the knowledge and needs of today?”
The predictions contained in the Old Testament, in the Gospels, and in the Book of Revelation, with the still more specific particulars
given by Muhammad in the Qur’an or attributed to him by tradition, have been kept prominently before the public in Christendom and
in Islam for many years.
It is certainly more easy for the modern citizen of the world to comprehend the principles and the reality of these prophecies than it
was for men in former centuries. Long ago the faithful to whom this teaching was addressed accepted it wholeheartedly as

true because it was revealed by the spokesman of God. It spread before them a noble ideal of God’s power and of man’s brotherliness,
and they were spiritual enough to receive it with joy and to transmit it as a legacy of hope that would bring happiness to posterity. But
they were in no position to visualize its full and literal accomplishment. They had no knowledge of the vastness of the earth and the
number and variety of its inhabitants. They could not foresee how much mankind would have to learn before such a consummation
became practicable. With such primitive means of locomotion and communication as were at their disposal they could scarcely
imagine that a world-parliament or any form of world- administration would ever be made a working actuality.
We now occupy a position very different indeed. We are the heirs of the ages. We have reached the apex of history. World conditions
are ripe for the integration of a universal economy, and all the apparatus for the purpose is to our hand. The whole earth has been
explored and its peoples brought into close touch with one another. International organizations of all sorts, including a League of
Nations, have been created; and statesmen are busy on the task of promoting a further coordination of world-affairs.
But though the material developments so long foretold have taken shape before our eyes at last, the hopeful heavenward attitude of
soul which the Prophets sought to establish has not accompanied it. The simple faith with which the prophecy was received and
transmitted is not in evidence now when the prophecy has been fulfilled. The world situation which has been continuously taking
shape for many years has not at any point been approached as primarily a spiritual phenomenon. It has not been and is not today being
studied from the spiritual point of view as the handiwork of a beneficent God, the normal climax of an historical process outlined for
our instruction by spiritual men long ages ago. Men have not sought first to discover and to do God’s will nor have they asked before
all else for guidance from His wisdom.
Men’s unspiritual attitude in so grave a
‘Mrs. Risys Davis, Buddhism.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

crisis and their inability to identify the long heralded Event is indeed a strange phenomenon. It becomes more strange when it is
remembered that Christ many times with earnest solicitation warned men against their being taken unawares by the advent of the Day
of God and bade them, one and all, “Watch.” But however strange it be the fact remains that the nations have taken the crisis in hand
as a many-sided but merely secular problem. They trusted to their own ability to rationalize life in a manner suitable to modern
requirements. They were confident they could plan such structural changes as would meet all demands. Organized religion on its part
took no initiative in developing group consciousness into world- consciousness. The united moral and spiritual support of mankind
was not secured nor asked for in support of the young League of Nations. No effort was made to found a League of Religions; nor did
any one of the world-faiths succeed in concentrating the spiritual energies of all its members on the promotion everywhere of harmony
and goodwill. The task of unifying mankind and of building a world order was taken in hand by secularists, statesmen, scientists,
economists. None acted as remembering that the New Age was to be a New Dispensation; that it was to have its particular Prophet,
and that its outstanding distinction was not to be merely its material extent but principally its spiritual character.
The world-imbroglio imperfectly understood and superficially analyzed refused to yield to the treatment given to it. Men could not
discover what was their mistake. They were frustrated in every endeavor but they could not tell why. Persisting in their unspiritual
frame of mind they could find no remedy for the ills of the time. At last they concluded that no remedy existed and resorted to
measures of desperation.
Yet the nature of the error that had been made and that was the one sufficient cause of all failures is written plain in the lessons of
history. The precedents of former epochs show that to attempt to build a better world on a non-spiritual foundation is to challenge the
counsels of experience. To discard the aid of religion in constructing a new civilization is to reject one of the mightiest in-

struments of human progress. Down the ages, religion has proved itself a major influence in the integration and remodeling of the
social order. The greatest civilizations have been based on the rock of religious faith. Each was inaugurated by the power of a spiritual
teacher and is known to history by his name. Those who gave to humanity its religion are likewise the authors of its social progress
and the inspirers of its culture. Many influences have strengthened men’s tendency to form themselves into larger and larger groups
(to let the family or clan pass into the city, state or principality, and this again into the nation, and this into a commonwealth of
nations), but no influence has been stronger than the sympathetic bond of a common faith. The records of the past indicate that it is
easier for peoples to bridge differences of ancestry or culture or language than differences of belief. Social discontent may be held in
check and the disruption of society prevented so long as men share the same faith; and no feature in the present European crisis is
more sinister than the fact that for the first time in fifteen hundred years this common bond has been lost. Again and again in history
religion has awakened in strange and alien peoples a sense of brotherhood and has brought diverse nations together into one and the
same fold. It has shown itself to conduce to the healing of discords, the soothing of sedition and the preservation of discipline. It has
been cherished by wise rulers; and the most cynical as well as the most enlightented have acknowledged its salutary influence.
To lay aside the use of this vital constructive power and to undertake to handle such a crisis as the present without the aid of rehgion is
to fly in the face of the experience and the wisdom of the past and to be guilty of an act which has the appearance of complete
infatuation. For even if men postpone the creation of a comprehensive world order, the immediate and primary enterprise of uniting all
nations for the effective prohibition of war will tax every human resource and faculty to the uttermost. Without the vigorous use of all
moral and spiritual energies (as well as the merely intellectual

energies) the task can in the nature of things

CONSTRUCTIVE RELIGION

never be carried through. The stirring to new life of mankind’s higher susceptibilities and the re-awakening of compassion and
goodwill in the human heart, constitute the essential need of the hour: and this can only be accomplished by such an immense
religious impulse as was brought into the world in the early days of Islam or of Christianity.
Whence will such a religion arise and in what direction shall men look for it? Will it grow of itself in the soil of men’s hearts— will it
be invented—be pieced together out of the teaching of those ancient faiths that men have distorted to their own fancy and no longer
obey?
Would those great truths which have held the West in awe for 1900 years ever have availed but for the power of the Christ? Would the
Four Noble Truths have had many students or the Eightfold Paths many followers but for the charm and the inspiration of the Buddha?
Would the history of China from 700 B.C. have taken the shape it did and set long ago so illustrious an example to mankind but for
the radiant force of Confucius himself? No spiritual mind would suppose that God who in times of darkness has hitherto sent to
mankind His Light-bearers will desert humanity now. Nor that He will abandon His unvarying method of self-revelation. Nor that
those mighty minds of old, those spokesmen of His Purpose, were mistaken when they foretold the development of such a World-Age
as this and the Advent of a Master Spirit to teach and guide and lead the way.
Historically a new revelation is not given nor a new religion established save through the mediation of a Great Soul who claims for
himself the authority of a spokesman of Truth and becomes the overlord and directing genius of a Dispensation. If we are to trust the
clear witness of the Past, the deepest needs of men today cannot be met nor this frustration ended save by the arising of such a Master
Prophet to become the world center of a common devotion and the architect of a new world order. Not theories, nor precepts, nor
plans will bring deliverance to man; but the inspiration of a Leader endued with such beauty of character that he will win the love of
all human hearts and with

such spiritual power that he can overcome the unruly wills of men and unite all in a common obedience.
The supremacy of one who founded a Prophetic Era is a unique phenomenon worthy at all times of profound contemplation. But it
never demands such earnest attention as in an hour like the present when the reappearance of a High Prophet affords the nations their
only hope of deliverance and security.
In its origin and its nature, in its geographical extent and its temporal duration, in the course of its proress and the manner of its
exercise it is different from any other dominion shown forth in history. It is won by means wholly different from those resorted to by
an earthly sovereign or conqueror; it is based upon a different foundation, is built throughout of different materials, and it attains a
completeness and perfection which cannot even be distantly approached by the utmost rigor of legal restraint or of physical force. It is
possessed of a unique vitality. Treachery cannot destroy it. It grows through opposition and it is re-animated through persecution. The
energies which it manifests in governing the children of men and the responsive effort which it draws forth from them are alike
unparalleled in human relations. In distant ages when travel and communication were difficult and hazardous the great world- faiths
whether from India or Arabia, from Persia or from Palestine spread their influence far across desert and mountain and brought alien
and widely separated nations and races into the fellowship of a single obedience. The domains of Christ and Muhammad reached out
over a wider area than the victories of Alexander the Great or the imperial sway of Ancient Rome. Buddha holds to this day one-third
of the human race in allegiance to him. Nor is it in extent only but in duration also that the sovereignty of the heavenly Teacher
transcends that of the earthly conqueror; for the haughtiest mortal dynasty sinks eclipsed by the quiet power of a Ruler whose
dominion counts its age by centuries and millenniums.
So complete is this ascendency that it extends over both social and aesthetic life, touching to new activity, poetry and paint-

THE BAHA’i WORLD

ing, sculpture and architecture, and remolding institutions, customs and laws. It penetrates the very heart and soul of
man, transforming his mental outlook and his ideals, and exerts over him so strange a lordship that he pays the lowliest
homage to its dictates and accepts as absolute its imperatives. Nor in this obedience does he find himself the least
abased but rather exalted and empowered. For it is religion which inspires his love for beauty, goodness and truth and
which is the main support of that principle of justice on which society depends for ordered existence.
We see around us in every continent evidence of the enduring might of the Prophets of the distant past; and the remains
of their creative work continues to this day, wonderful even in its age and decay. Throughout the West is spread that
proud and opulent civilization which calls itself after the name of the lowly Teacher of Galilee. In Christ’s honor we
build our shrines and from His simple words we derive our highest ideals of conduct; we live under the protection of
institutions and a social system founded and maintained by the impulse of His revelation; and we are nurtured in a
culture which owes whatever is best in it to the inspiration of His genius.
By our side stands another civilization, sunk in decrepitude, which 1,300 years ago arose in an ohscure region among
backward and savage tribes and spread rapidly across Africa and Asia, stretching from Spain to Tobolsk and Turkestan,
uniting diverse peoples under the influence of a single belief and a single law, and establishing a brilliant intellectual
culture to which the Christian West owes a debt that it is only now beginning in some degree to understand.
Our Scriptures bear witness to the creative might of the Prophet whom the Lord Christ succeeded and tell of the glory
of Moses who took an enslaved and dispirited people, delivered them from their bonds, started them on a career of
conquest and welded them into a nation which created its own civilization, made a distinctive contribution to human
progress and developed a sense of nationhood so vigorous that the misfortunes of two thousand years have not been
able to impair it. And to this day the Hebrew

people scattered throughout the globe count the law of Moses more sacred than any other and revere His name above
every other name save God’s alone.
We turn to India and see there how a great Revelation, or series of Revelations, coming down from a remote and
mysterious Past, has built up a social system which after all these centuries remains in essentials unmodified as one of
the most enduring fabrics that humanity has ever devised. The religion of India has produced unnumbered saints, sages,
warriors and poets. The depth and beauty of its spiritual thought, the richness and the splendor of its achievement in art
(in painting, in sculpture, in architecture and in literature) are still the admiration of the scholar and the inspiration of
the mystic.
The Mauryan Empire of the Buddhist king Asoka is claimed by historians to be the only instance on record in which a
great nation sought to combine in one related system the development of political institutions and the realization of the
spiritual life.
In the time of Confucius ten of the leading nations of China held a conference for disarmament. More than two
centuries before Christ they had so far realized their Prophet’s principles that the component states of their country
resigned their independent sovereignty and formed themselves into a single governmental system. And so enduring was
this pacific ideal that after more than 2,000 years when the Empire was superseded by a Republic the Emperor of China
was the only national monarch who in his full dress carried no sword.
Yet the beneficence of religion as shown in history is but a fragment of what it might have been had men ever in any
land wholeheartedly obeyed the revealed will of God and by faithfully keeping the Covenant which the Prophet
brought had they earned the prosperity and happiness which was promised by it. But they did not. No Advent has ever
been acclaimed by a responsive and grateful generation. The sovereignty of all the Prophets throughout all
Dispensations has been challenged, evaded or openly repudiated, and the religions they taught have been
misunderstood, misrepresented, sophisticated and perverted out of recog

CONSTRUCTIVE RELIGION

nition. Every such act of disobedience has under the law of compensation entailed the forfeiture of some prospective
benefit—of some deliverance from error or misery, of some social amelioration or advance in knowledge. The sum of
all these forfeitures is now incalculable and unimaginable by man. But between the lines of human history is written by
the finger of the Recording Angel the long sad catalogue of the blessings brought down from heaven by the Prophets to
man but foregone through his remissness.
At long last, the human race through the compassion of God and the merit of the Great Souls and true saints who have
been the real leaders of mankind has reached the time of its maturity and been brought to the dawn of the promised Day
of God. But how different might have been the history of mankind, how continuous and rapid their progress, how
happy their lot had they followed with a single heart the teaching of their Prophets and used the constructive potencies
of religion to the full.
Somber indeed is the story of cruelty and oppression and war and misery through which man has made his slow and
weary way to the height of his present attainment; and its sadness grows deeper when one perceives that the major part
of all this toil and suffering was brought down on man by nothing else than his rejection of God’s Prophets and his
rebellion against God’s Teachings.
Never was there in the dark abyss of

times gone by an epoch when the inspiration of a divine Messenger was more manifestly needed. Never at the advent of any
Prophet—of Mubammad or Christ or Moses or any other—was the human race confronted with difficulties so manifold or dangers so
terrible. Never was the futility of man’s efforts to attain security more disastrously demonstrated or more despairingly admitted.
The blessed and opportune tidings which the Bahá’is offer to a world perplexed is that the predictions of all scriptures have now been
fulfilled: the ultimate mission of all the great religions has been completed: the time has come under God for the establishment of a
universal civilization inaugurated and sustained by a universal religion; and the Leader, the Messenger, the Prophet whom God has
appointed to take command of men in this colossal task has appeared in the person of Bahá’u’lláh.
“The Revelation which from time immemorial hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God and the
most cherished Desire of His Messengers hath now by virtue of the pervasive will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been
revealed unto men. . . . Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred scriptures as the Day of God attest its
greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds
of the earth have likewise yearned to attain it.”—BAHA’U’LLAH.

2.

TRUTH AND WORLD UNITY B HORACE HOLLEY
HE chemist who obtains a healing remedy by the combination of elements knows well that he himself has created nothing. He has but
made it possible for certain powers inherent in the ingredients to work their beneficent force for the human system. The same elements
which, in one combination, will heal disease, may, in a different blending, produce a most destructive explosion. What the chemist
brings to his work is knowledge of the elements, but their vital powers and mysterious forces are part of the universal creation which
utterly transcends the will of man.
The greatest chemistry of all is that which deals with the union and order of human beings in the state of society. In human beings the
Creator has deposited powers and forces which, on the physical plane, represent the highest expression of elemental life, but which, on
the mental and spiritual planes, contain attributes raised as high above nature as electricity is raised above other forms of force.
History is our record of this most potent chemistry—the laboratory notebook in which is preserved the results of many social
experiments, some describing notable successes, others grimly depicting those wars, revolutions and other human explosions by which
societies have been utterly destroyed. The ingredient which all experience proves to be essential to the preservation of civilization is
mutual loyalty based upon the foundation of divine love. The ingredient invariably leading to social explosion is hate.
So sinister have become the influences making for hatred today that the time has surely come to learn the laws of that spiritual
chemistry which determines the outcome of all human relations. The world has become a laboratory in which the very powers of life
and death are being manipulated by the ignorant, the evil, and the insane.

The first principle of civilization is that no human being, however weak and lowly, can be regarded as a brute beast and outcast whose
fate is a matter of indifference to his fellow men. Even though latent and undeveloped, the attributes of man are divinely created, and
the abuse of human beings involves the sure movements of a guardian destiny. Nor can human association be founded on any social
structure admitting or compelling servitude to an arbitrary authority or effecting involuntary cooperation among the people.
Great emphasis has been given this fundamental matter of man’s spiritual endowment in the writings of Bahh’u’llhh. “Whatever is in
the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God, inasmuch
as within every atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the revelation of that Most Great Light.
To a supreme degree is this true of man, who, among all created beings, hath been invested with the robe of such gifts, and hath been
singled out for the glory of such distinction. For in him are potentially revealed all the attributes and names of God to a degree that no
other created being hath excelled or surpassed. . . . Man, the noblest and most perfect of all created things, excelleth them all in the
intensity of this revelation, and is a fuller expression of its glory.”
In the light of this truth, it seems evident that altogether too much power is attributed to those human organizations which employ
material might and ruthless coercion to attain their ends. At their very root lies a blight which sooner or later must carry death and
disintegration to their branches, their twig and their leaves. The following quotation indicates how fruitless are the ef‘Gleanings
From the Writings of Bahd’n’lla’h.

TRUTH AND WORLD UNITY

forts to establish the association of men on any other than a basis of spiritual truth:
“Economic distress ... together with political confusion, financial upheavals, religious restlessness and racial animosities, seem to have
conspired to add immeasurably to the burdens under which an impoverished, a war-weary world is groaning. Such has been the
cumulative effect of these crises, following one another with such bewildering rapidity, that the very foundations of society are
trembling. The world, to whichever continent we turn our gaze . . . is everywhere assailed by forces it can neither explain nor control. . . .
Humanity, whether viewed in the light of man’s individual conduct or of the existing relationships between organized communities
and nations, has, alas, strayed too far and suffered too great a decline to be redeemed through the unaided efforts of the best among its
recognized rulers and statesmen—however disinterested their motives, however concerted their action, however unsparing in their
zeal and devotion to its cause. No scheme which the calculations of the highest statesmanship may yet devise; no doctrine which the
most distinguished exponents of economic theory may hope to advance; no principle which the most ardent of moralists may strive to
inculcate, can provide, in the last resort, adequate foundations upon which the future of a distracted world can be built.”2
If social policy, devoid of the higher powers of love, and consequently incapable of inspiring unity and cooperation, can not construct
a true civilization, then has once and for all been demonstrated the vitality of our aspiration after truth. For it is evident that the
inherent nature of truth as law, apart from mere opinion, is that law must be obeyed. We determine whether a given principle is law or
mere opinion in two ways: by the reward that comes from obedience, and by the penalty involved in disobedience. Applying this test
to present- day civilization, no argument is needed to prove that the entire world staggers under severe blows and suffers under a dire
punishment that can not be attributed to any human power or source. It is the divine power of truth and love which has been left out-

side our social theories and overlooked as the essential ingredient in the life of man.
And yet this organized hatred appears to be so invincible, with its armaments hurling death from land, from sea, from air! ‘What forest
can resist the devouring flame that grows what it feeds on? Here, indeed, we stand in need of a faith so firm and so assured that it can
gaze clear-eyed upon this tragic array of destructive material power, and realize that it is impotent in comparison to truth. We need
that conscious, that understanding faith which knows, and knows once for all, that hatred is not a positive force, an independent
reality, but only the negative absence of love. Those who are lost in darkness fear the darkness and think it is an active evil, but
darkness becomes nothing when light appears.
The Bahã’i writings contain a passage which at this hour should be proclaimed to the far corners of the earth. This passage describes
how the light of spiritual truth is arising in our age to banish hatred and fear from the souls of men.
“In cycles gone by, though harmony was estabhshed, yet, owing to the absence of means, the unity of all mankind could not have been
achieved. Continents remained widely divided, nay even among the people of one and the same continent, association and interchange
of thought were well nigh impossible. Consequently, intercourse, understanding and unity amongst all the peoples and kindreds of the
earth were unattainable. In this day, however, means of communication have multiplied, and the five continents of the earth have
virtually merged into one.
In like manner, all the members of the human family, whether peoples or governments, cities or villages, have become increasingly
interdependent. For none is self- sufficiency any longer possible, inasmuch as political ties unite all peoples and nations, and the bonds
of trade and industry, of agriculture and education, are being strengthened every day. Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day be
achieved. Verily this is none other but one of the wonders of this wondrous age, this glorious century. Of this, past ages have been
deprived, for this century—the century of light—has been
Shoghi Effendi: The World Order of Bahd’u’lldh.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

endowed with unique and unprecedented glory, power and illumination.
“Behold how its light is now dawning upon the world’s darkened horizon. The first candle is unity in the political
realm, the early glimmerings of which can now be discerned. The second candle is unity of thought in world
undertakings, the consummation of which will ere long be witnessed. The third candle is unity in freedom which will
surely come to pass. The fourth candle is unity in religion which is the cornerstone of the foundation itself, and which,
by the power of God, will be revealed in all its splendor. The fifth candle is unity of nations—a unity which in this
century will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one
common fatherland. The sixth candle is unity of races, making of all that dwell on earth peoples and kindreds of one
race. The seventh candle is unity of language, that is, the choice of a universal tongue in which all peoples will be
instructed and converse. Each and every one of these will inevitably come to pass, inasmuch as the power of the
Kingdom of God will aid and assist in their realization.”a
The first principle of civilization has already been described as recognition of the spiritual nature of man. The second
principle is recognition of the truth that a human society capable of solving its problems is no mere casual or artificial
grouping of a large number of human beings, but the reflection and outworking of
a creative spirit. A civilization
which has come to its decline, and entered its death-struggle, abandons all its external and materialistic trappings of
false faith, and reaches up for a faith that is pure and sanctified from the stains of historical prejudice. When such a
renewal of faith can be found, it releases the spirit by which a new and higher civilization can be gradually attained.
The spirit that moves the minds and hearts today is a world spirit.

Its necessary creation is a world society, and the path leading to that world society is the sincere acceptance of the oneness of
mankind.
We of today live in a transitional age, the “forty years of wilderness” that lie between the old world and the new. The part each man
plays is determined by whether he looks forward or backward, whether he responds to materialism or spirituality, whether he is slave
to the darkness or the servant of the light. As has been so poignantly expressed:
“The whole of mankind is groaning, is dying to be led to unity, and to terminate its age-long martyrdom. And yet it stubbornly refuses
to embrace the light and acknowledge the sovereign authority of the one Power that can extricate it from its entanglements, and avert
the woeful calamity that threatens to engulf it.”4
There appear to be three distinct periods in this new stage of world unity; first, that in which the need of the larger unity is denied and
resisted; second, that when the need of unity is admitted, but substitutes for the true, organic unity are attempted; and third, the hour
when all resistance and subterfuge are abandoned, and the spirit of unity is at last awakened among men. We have already passed
through the first of these periods. At present we are still depending upon incomplete measures and half-hearted efforts. The signs are
not lacking, however, that many individuals have begun to respond to the new world spirit, and are spiritually ready to serve its
universal aim. For such, these words of Bahá’u’llhh will bring abundant confirmation: “Soon will the present-day order be rolled up,
and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth, and is the Knower of things unseen.”5
‘Abdu’l-BaIsã, Tablets. Quoted in The World Order of Bahd’n’lldh.
Sisoghi ElTendi: The World Order of Bahd’n’lldh.
a Gleanings From the Writings of Bahd’n’lldh.

our time.—SH0GHI EFEENIM.
towering grandeur and the tender beauty of the life of a Divine Manifestation cannot be comprehended by events
usually associated with a saintly life. Its immensity presents itself in that mysterious influence which it exerts over
countless lives
—an influence which functions not through a vehicle of social status and prestige, wealth, secular power and worldly
dominion; indeed, even not through a medium of mere superior knowledge and intellectual achievement.
The Divine Manifestation is the Archetype, and His life is the Supreme Pattern. His vision, not arrested by time and
space, encompasses the future as well as the past. He is the only and the necessary link between one period of social
evolution and the other. Without Him co-ordination is impossible. Furthermore, the Divine Manifestation quickens the
forces latent in humanity, and releases sweeping reservoirs of spiritual power.
In every respect, the nineteenth century is one of the most outstanding periods in the history of mankind. Science, in
this span of one hundred years, achieved tasks of stupendous consequences. Democracy and nationalism, ruthlessly
suppressed by the statesmen of Europe in 1815, vindicated their claims in one country after another. Modes of thought
underwent considerable change. The general outlook of human kind was transformed. We believe that this outburst

of revolution in every sphere of activity was caused by the dawn of springtime in the world of spirit. Through the
vibrations of their spiritual power, Bahá’u’lláh and his martyred predecessor, the youthful Bãb, imparted fresh energy
and new impulse to the material plane.
Mirzá usayn ‘All, later surnamed Bahá’ii’lláh, first saw light on November 12th, 1817. He was born in a family of
noble rank. His father, Mirzá Buzurg of Nor, held a responsible post in the ministerial circle of the Shah’s Court. As a
child, He showed remarkable faculties which endeared Him not only to His kinsmen and immediate entourage, but to
strangers as well. At His father’s death,. M’irzá Husayn ‘All was offered the post left vacant in the Court, but he
preferred to steer clear of the affairs of the State. The Grand Vizier, we are told, said that Mirzi Husayn ‘All was
intended for a work of greater magnitude, and the arena of government was too small a field for His capacities.
In those days, the nobility of tran cared little for the sciences and the arts of the learned. Beyond excellent calligraphy, a
knowledge of the sacred scriptures of Islam, and acquaintance with the works of such prominent figures in Persian
literature as ROmi, Sa’adi and Háfiz, they generally knew but little. There were notable exceptions of course, but that
would not invalidate our statement. Mirzá IIusayn ‘All was

BAHA’U’LLAH
B H. M. BALYUZI
The humanitarian and spiritual principles enunciated decades ago in the darkest East by
Bahd’u’lldh and moulded by Him into a coherent scheme are one after the other being taken by a
world unconscious of their source as the marks of progressive civilization. And the sense that
mankind has broken with the past and that the old guidance will not carry it through the
emergencies of the present has filled with uncertainty and dismay all thoughtful men save those
who have learned to find in the story of Bahd’u’lldh the meaning of all the prodigies and portents
of

THE BAHA’i WORLD

Library and reading room of the recently inaugurated
Bahá’i Center in Mexico City, Mexico, 1939.

more than an exception. Although untutored, He plunged freely and naturally into such discussions and talks that were
earmarked for the theologian and the scholar. Time and again He astounded the doctors of religion and the learned of
the land by His clear reasoning and His irrefutable logic. Oftentimes, a person encroaching upon precincts reserved to
others becomes presumptuous, arrogant and haughy. Mirzá Iusayn ‘All was modest, genial and forbearing.
This youthful scion of a house of nobility had an overwhelming passion for justice. No human association could be
claimed to rest on a sound basis, were justice non-existent in its foundations, as well as in its fabric. Mirzf Ilusayn ‘All
deserted the

Court to tend the oppressed and the aggrieved. Not for once did He hesitate to champion the cause of the poor and the
fallen who turned to Him for protection and support. None who deserved were refused. Thus passed His days of youth,
until the very virtues that made Him a haven and a refuge, and raised Him in the esteem of His fellow men, convinced
the bearer of a letter from the Bãb that this was the Exalted Person intended to receive that Message.
On May 23rd, 1844, a young merchant of Shiráz, revealed Himself to a seeker, as that Deliverer whom the world of
Islam anxiously awaited—an independent Manifestation of God, and the harbinger of a Greater Manifestation. He took
upon Him-

Ij:*i;1jjy
pict253.jpg

BA HA U ‘ LLAH

self the title of ‘Bib,’ meaning ‘Gate.’ His primary mission was to awaken the slumbering people of fran and warn the
heedless followers of the Faith of Muhammad, then, alas, laden with abuses. The Bib sent the same first believer, Mulli
Husayn, to the capital, entrusting him with a letter for an unnamed person high in heavenly rank. This emissary arrived
at Tihrin with the determination to let Providence guide him to his goal. For a while he searched indomitably, but in
vain. At last a visitor gave him the news of Mirzi Husayn ‘All of Nár. He knew instantly that he had realized the object
of his quest. Mirzi Ijusayn ‘All received the Bib’s epistle in due course, and accepted the Truth that it contained. Thus,
at the age of twenty-seven, the son of the
minister, who had abandoned the Court and its vanities, the brilliant nobleman whose knowledge, eloquence, and
lovable nature were exemplary, arrayed Himself on the side of a religious renaissance that was bound to excite the
hatred and the enmity of the ruling classes of the realm—the corrupted clergy and the degenerate officialdom.
Mirzi Husayn ‘All never met the Prophet of Shiriz, yet the Bib had the implicit assurance that the Nobleman of Nür
would ultimately wield the sceptre of supreme authority. It was the Bib who assigned Him the designation of
Bahi’u’llih—the Glory of God. One cannot fail to mark and underline the affection, the respect and the attachment
which the Bib evinced towards Bahi’u’llih, sentiments which found no par-

L
Lecture room of the recently inaugurated Bahi’i Center in Mexico City, Mexico, 1939.

pict254.jpg

THE BAHA’ WORLD

The Invitation issued by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’Is of Mexico City, Mexico, to be present at the
inauguration of the Bahá’i Center, the first of its kind in die Latin
American Republics.

allel in His regard for the rest of His able and devout followers.
Soon after His conversion, Bahá’u’lláh travelled to His native province on the shores of the Caspian Sea, to promote
the Message of the Báb. He was highly esteemed in Mázindarán, and therefore apt to arouse controversy in orthodox
camps. He challenged a clergyman of considerable local standing to refute His proofs, but the latter, finding himself
unequal to the task, evaded the issue.
Then occurred the Conference of Badasht in the middle part of 1848. The followers of the Báb, harassed and
persecuted, Witnessing their Master in prison and cruel detention, came to meet in a secluded part of Khurásán, and
examine the problems facing them as a community. There were the learned and confident Quddüs, the silvertongued and courageous poetess Qurratu’l_ ‘Ayn, heralds of a new order. Bahá’u’lláh, too, was there. He arrived with
dignified silence, and when the conference was at an end, His was the decisive and the indisputable word.
The Bábis had not yet fully grasped the significance of the Báb’s Revelation. Qurratu’l-’Ayn discarded her veil as a
token of new birth, and raised her voice in defiance of superstition, prejudice and inertia. Quddiis, deeply versed in
theology, and firm in his beliefs, could not sanction the advanced measures advocated by Quarratu’l‘Ayn. Now,
]3ahá’u’lláh threw the weight of His innate wisdom into the balance. The Báb, he told the assemblage, was the Founder
of a new Dispensation, and stood in the same heavenly lineage as Muhammad, Jesus and Moses. A few half-hearted
souls left dis Corporació

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Qisi4.L.asrvlep.ra Ia .ujôe 4. Ia Hism.n 4aJ.
S pr.p.w

Etxtco, ecpttembrc be 1939

l rsslbsute,
tbro sIfITSsa be los oulersg

rai ecrelada ri ug utn4xrb

NOTA—& dmrrollarl isis progam4 Iituario rnua4cal y is ,csv un hmch.

La gei.eralfgaciga 4. I. .JucacÔa.
La 4PCjfl 4. .aa Liag.a auxikar LJ.ivenal.
La cr..cson 44 Trd,.iiaaI Internaclon4 v La .oIucUn 4.,.. P..U.11.. .coa6mcg. y
SOC*IW
EstaUscer Ia P Uurcr.aI.
LA CAUSA BAHA’! ES UNIVERSAL
NO ES SECTARIA NO ES POUTICA.

BAHA’U’LLAH

gustedly, but the great majority were confirmed in their faith. When the Báb heard of the outcome of the Conference of
Badasht, His delight was immense.
From Badasht, Bahá’u’lláh returned to Tihrán. Later He visited Mullá usayn who had, with more than three hundred
Bábis, sought refuge in the shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mãzindarán. Mullá Husayn built a fortress around the shrine,
and was eventually joined by Quddfls. Now the infuriated clergy of Mázindarán stormed the Government to dispatch a
punitive expedition against that hounded band of innocent and God-fearing men. Troops marched and laid siege to the
fortress which sheltered the Bibis. Hearing the news, Bahã’u’llâh departed promptly for the Fort of Tabarsi, wishing to
share the calamities of His brethren in faith. Providence had deemed that the heroic defenders of Shaykh Tabarsi should
seal the covenant of the Bâb with their blood, and that Bahi’u’lláh should be preserved for a far greater purpose in days
to come. He was stopped on His way by the Governor’s men, and carried to the town of Amul. The clergy preached
death to the Bábis, and the mob thirsted for violence. In order to appease the feelings of the populace, the deputygovernor decided to inflict some kind of punishment on the members of Bahã’u’llâh’s retinue. Bahã’u’lláh offered
Himself in lieu of His friends, and voluntarily drew the wrath of the mob upon His own Person. He was bastinadoed.
On July 9th, 1850, the gracious and gentle Báb was shot to death at Tabriz. His chest that heaved not but in adoration of
God, was made the target of bullets. Not only did the Báb quaff of the cup of martyrdom, but His able and selfless
lieutenants were one by one hunted down with brutal hatred—Mullá Husayn, Quddüs, Vahid of Dáráb, the indomitable
ujjat, all murdered and gone. In the length and the breadth of I rim the Bâbis had no peace, no security, no right to life
itself. How long can a mutilated and agonized community bear and sustain the severe impact of continuous shocks!
Bahã’u’lláh’s arduous task had already begun. In Him were centred all those highest qualities, human and divine, that
went to make the Báb and Quddfls. On

Him, and Him alone, depended the fate of the Bábis. It was to Him that the Báb had sent His seals, pen and papers, a symbolic act of
untold significance.
In June 1851, Bahá’u’lláh left Tihrán on a journey to Mesopotamia. There the Bâbis lived in comparative safety, but were distracted
and forlorn. Bahi’u’lláh refortified their faith and gave them fresh hope. Then He returned to Tihrán. The Bábis presented, indeed, a
sad spectacle in this period of their short and eventful history. Their morale was impaired, and their energy sapped. The fickle and the
timid among them could see no redeeming hand, no prospect of emancipation. Two young men, driven to despair, decided to avenge
their Master and their martyred brethren. To them the source of persecution and tyranny seemed no other than the Sovereign — the
Shah, in whose hand was the power to give them justice. The Shah, they argued in their tormented minds, had not exercised his
sovereign authority in favour of their community, and therefore he had to pay the supreme penalty. So deranged were their faculties
that they did not put in their pistols the proper bullets for killing a man. On August 12th, 1852, they made their mad attempt, and,
naturally, failed. The Shah received only superficial injuries. The would-be murderers were not given the chance of a trial, and were
summarily dealt with. But the matter did not end there. The occasion was made an excuse for exterminating the followers of the Bãb.
Here at last, the Court and the clergy frenziedly declaimed, were the proofs of a deadly menace to the State.
Bahá’u’lláh was, at this moment, staying in a summer residence in the vicinity of the capital. His friends warned Him of the engulfing
tide. They offered to hide Him from the fury of His opponents. But He remained calm and composed, and the next day He rode
towards the camp of the Shah. Let us hear the rest in His own words:
“We had nothing to do with this odious deed, and Our innocence was indisputably proved before the tribunals. Nevertheless they
arrested Us, and brought Us to the prison in Tihran . . . on foot, in chains, and with bare head and feet, for a brutal

THE BAHA’i WORLD

fellow who was accompanying Us on horseback, snatched the hat from Our head, and many executioners and farráshes
hurried Us along with great speed and put Us for four months in a place the like of which has not been seen. In reality,
a dark and narrow cell were far better than the place where this Wronged One and His companions were confined.
When We entered the prisons, on arrival they conducted Us along a dismal corridor, and thence We descended three
steep stairs to the dungeon appointed for Us. The place was dark, and its inmates numbered nearly a hundred and fifty
—thieves, assassins and highway robbers. Holding such a crowd as this, it had yet no outlet, but the passage through
which we entered. The pen fails to describe this place and its putrid stench. Most of the company had neither clothes to
wear, nor mat to lie on. God knows what We endured in that gloomy and loathesome place! By day and by night, in
this prison We reflected on the condition of the Bábis and their doings and affairs, wondering how, notwithstanding
their greatness of soul, nobility, and intelligence, they could be capable of such a deed as this audacious attempt on the
life of the Sovereign. Then did this Wronged One determine that, on leaving this prison, He would arise with the
utmost endeavour for the regeneration of these souls. One night, in a dream, this all-glorious word was heard from all
sides: ‘Verily We will aid Thee to triumph by Thyself and Thy pen. Grieve not for that which hath befallen Thee, and
have no fear. Truly Thou art of them that are secure. Ere long shall the Lord send forth and reveal the treasures of the
earth, men who shall give Thee the victory by Thyself and by Thy Name wherewith the Lord hath revived the hearts of
them that know’.” (The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.)
It was in the dungeon-prison of Tihran that Bahá’u’lláh came to be the recipient of Divine Revelation. God, in His
infinite Grace, gave the world a Universal Manifestation of His Absolute Qualities and Attributes. The promise of the
Báb, nay, the promise of all the Prophets of the past, was fulfilled. The time, however, was not yet ripe for a public
declaration. Eleven more

years had to elapse before Bahá’u’lláh would announce His Manifestation to human kind.
After four months of unspeakable sufferings, Bahá’u’llah was released from prison, and exiled from Iran. His property was
confiscated. Nothing was left to Him of His worldly wealth. Those four months were a terrible nightmare. Hundreds of Bábis were
done to death, after being subjected to excruciating tortures. The beautiful poetess, Qurratu’l-’Ayn was one of the victims. Another
martyr was that gallant and zealous youth, Sulaymán Khán. They bored holes in his body and filled them with burning candles. Thus
they paraded him in the streets, with a howling mob jeering at his heels. Yet he showed no signs of distress. Reviled by one of his
tormentors, he answered with these lines:
“Clasping in one hand the wine-cup, in one hand the Loved One’s hair;
Thus my doom would I envisage
dancing through the market-square.”
Such was the fortitude of the Bábis and such was the magnitude of their sacrifice.
On January 12th, 1853, Bahá’u’lláh left Tihran, never to return. The Russian minister had invited Him to go to Russia where he would
be assured of a free and unmolested life. Bahá’u’llah declined the invitation, and chose Mesopotamia, the present- day ‘Iraq, as His
destination. With Him were the members of His family. The winter was severe, the route was over high mountains covered with deep
snow, and the means of comfort were scant. Deprived of His earthly goods, Bahá’u’lláh could not provide such facilities as would
lessen the toils and hardships of that long and arduous journey. Travelling under those adverse conditions was agony, and the pace
was necessarily slow.
As Bahá’u’lláh neared the frontier, a period drew to its close. Were the people of Iran aware of the great loss they sustained? Steeped
in ignorance, sunk in bigotry, and blinded by prejudice, theirs was not to see and know. And thus Bahã’u’llah passed out of their
midst. He who was once loved and respected, by rich and poor, high and low, prince and peasant alike, was now deserted

BAHA’U’LLAH

and exiled by the same people on whom He had lavished mercy, love, justice and charity at all times. Persia lost the
presence of Bahã’u’lláh, but could His spirit ever be absent from that or any other land?
In the “Epilogue” to Nabil’s Narrative,’ Shoghi Effendi thus describes those tempestuous days culminating in
Bahá’u’lláh’s exile: “Never had the fortunes of the Faith proclaimed by the Báb sunk to a lower ebb than when
Bahá’u’lláh was banished from His native land to ‘Iraq. The cause for which the Báb had given His life, for which
Bahá’u’lláh had toiled and suffered, seemed to be on the very verge of extinction. Its force appeared to have been
spent, its resistance irretrievably broken. Discouragements and disasters, each more devastating in its effect than the
preceding one, had succeeded one another with bewildering rapidity, sapping its vitality and dimming the hopes of its
stoutest supporters.”
Bahá’u’lláh arrived at Baghdad in March 1853. His physical strength was momentarily shattered. To a casual observer
He might have looked a man approaching His end. Indeed, the Shah and the clergy were confident that Bahá’u’lláh was
doomed to a lingering death and oblivion. Stunned by the staggering blows of their enemies, and disintegrated by
factional strifes, the Bábis could not, for the moment, observe His guiding hand. Yet, unknown to friend and foe, He
was the repository of Divine Revelation, robed with the mantel of Prophet- hood. He Himself gives us a vivid and
overpowering account of those hours when He became conscious of His Heavenly Mission:
“During the days when I was imprisoned in the land of Ta (Tihrán), although the galling weight of chains and the
loathesome atmosphere of the prison allowed Me little sleep, yet occasionally in My moments of slumber, I felt as if
something were pouring forth over My breast, even as a mighty torrent, which descending from the summit of a lofty
mountain, precipitates itself over the earth. All My limbs seemed to have been set aflame. At such moments My tongue
recited what mortal ears could not hear.” (The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.)
The Bab had clearly and in a most em-

phatic language foretold the proximity of the advent of “Him Whom God Will Make Manifest,” that World Educator who was to rear
and lead humanity in the “Day of Days.” At this period many an adventurer forwarded a claim to that Station. Thus a number of the
Bábis were divided into numerous parties, each supporting one of these self-appointed Messiahs. The nominal head of the Bábi
Community, Bahá’u’lláh’s halfbrother, Mirxá Yahã, entitled Subh-i-Azal or the “Morning of Eternity,” was incompetent to cope with
the forces of disruption. At the time when Bahá’u’llãh was in chains, Subh-i-Azal roamed the countryside, in disguise. In the garb of a
dervish, he reached Baghdad, after the arrival of Baha’u’lláh, having not raised so much as a finger in vindication of the Cause. It was
Bahá’u’llih who had exposed Himself to the fury of the court and the clergy.
Having recovered from the effects of His harsh imprisonment and painful journey, Baha’u’lláh arose to consolidate the shattered
Community of the Bab, but Subh-iAzal chose to obstruct His benevolent lead. So fierce became the opposition engineered by Azal,
that Baha’u’llah decided to retire from the scene of contention. One morning His household awoke to find Him gone. He sought an
abode in the mountains of Kurdistan. Such an incident is common to the lives of almost all of the Manifestations of God. Buddha left
His palace to commune with the eternal in the forests and caves of India. Jesus Christ went into the wilderness. Muhammad made His
way to the desert and the burning hills of Arabia.
Bahá’u’lláh’s self-imposed exile was a test. Were He to be the only Guide capable of pointing the right path to the Bábis, the passage
of time would prove it conclusively. And time did demonstrate that fact. This is how He writes of those days: “As this servant upon
His arrival in this land (Baghdad) became aware in part of events which would subsequently happen, We took our departure . . . to
deserts of solitude and spent two years in the wilderness of isolation. Many a night We were destitute of
1 A history of the early days of the Cause, written by Nabil of Zarand, and translated by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahã’i

Faith.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

food, and many a day the body found no rest. Notwithstanding these showering afflictions and successive calamities . . . We continued
in perfect happiness and exceeding joy. Our only purpose was to avoid being a cause of disagreement among the beloved ones, a
source of disturbance among the friends, the means of injury to anyone. We had no other intention or object whatever.” (The Book of
Certitude.)
Gradually the fame of Bahá’u’lIah spread around the district of Sulaymániyyih. None in the neighbourhood knew His identity, but all
were charmed by His kindliness and wisdom. Some mistook Him for an ad.. herent of a Süf I Order. Later, at Bahdád, a prominent Süf
i asked Him to compose a treatise on the journey of Man towards his Creator. Bahã’u’llah wrote The Seven Valleys. In that small
book He describes the stages that a seeker will have to traverse before reaching his destination, which is the recognition of the
Manifestation of God. It is a gem of mystical prose, unsurpassed in its beauty, simplicity and profundity.
In a widening circle, Baghdad came to hear of the wise hermit who had appeared in the northern confines of the country. They spoke
of His knowledge, piety and astonishing insight. The Bábis, bereft of the counsels of Bahá’u’llah, and sinking ever deeper into the
mires of conflict and disorder, longed for His Guidance, but knew not where to seek Him. No sooner had some of them heard of the
Sage of Sulaymániyyih, than they saw behind that veil, the very person of Bahá’u’llah, and dispatched emissaries to find Him and
implore His return. Bahã’u’llah was surprised to see that small band of Bibis, but He knew that He had to answer the call. This was the
voice of God, the plan of Providence. Time had shown His indispensability to the Community of the Báb.
His absence from Baghdad had lasted two years. This was the year 1 8 56. Henceforth His power, His word, and His command were
gladly welcomed by the Bábis. They had gone through a severe ordeal and had learned their lesson in the school of adversity. No
doubt opposition was still rife. Azal, himself a man of weak will, was held

aloft by a handful of the ambitious and the self-seeking, as a puppet leader. BahI’u’lláh exerted His utmost to protect
His half- brother from the seditious devices of these agitators, but Azal was of an inferior type. He disregarded the
sound advice of the One who was his true friend, and become more and more implicated in vain plottings.
Hitherto the believers in the Báb were recruited from the Shi’ih sect of Islam. Now, under the gis of Bahá’u’lláh, others
came to enlist. He recreated the withered lives of the Bábis. They were told not to resist by violence any encroachment
made on their liberties. In this manner He stemmed the tide of lawlessness that at one time seriously menaced the
integrity of the BábI Community.
It was in this period that Bahá’u’llah revealed The Hidden Words. Walking on the banks of the Tigris, He reflected on
the nearness of God, and the remoteness of Man; on the outpourings of God’s Grace and Love, and Man’s obstinate
refusal to drink of that never-ending fountain. The result was The Hidden Words written in a lucid and captivating
prose. In The Hidden Words the basic structure of Religion is disclosed—that everlasting foundation common to all
faiths.
It was also during His sojourn in Baghdad that Baha’u’llah penned the most momentous of His Writings, Kitdb-i-I’qdn,
or the Book of Certitude. In this work Bahá’u’llah offers a logical, illuminating and irrefutable explanation of the
enigmatic texts of the Scriptures of the past. Many have derided at revealed religion, because certain statements in the
holy books have seemed ludicrous and untenable. Some others have advocated a literal interpretation of these symbolic
writings, which has only fostered superstition and bigotry. Baha’u’llah breaks the seal and presents the prophecies and
symbolisms of the Scriptures in their true light.
The Cause of the Bab was once more ahve and healthy. The gloom of drift and anarchy had dispersed. From far and
wide the Bábis came to bask in the sunshine of Bahá’u’llah’s love and guidance. Savants and learned men brought their
intricate

BAHA’U’LLAh

problems and received solutions to their satisfaction. But the renown attending upon the name of Bahá’u’lláh, stirred
anew the feelings of envy and hatred. A number of the Shi’ih clergy assembled to determine a plan of action against the
Faith of the Bab and its revered Exponent. One should take note of the fact that Shaykh-i-Ansári, the most prominent of
them all, refused to participate in their deliberations. They commissioned one of their members to wait upon
Bahá’u’lláh and demand convincing proofs. This man did as he was bidden, and went back with a definite offer—
Bahá’u’llãh would bring forth any proof that the clergy might require, on condition that they would on their part pledge
themselves to accept His authority thereafter. Their emissary told them that he had witnessed nothing but truth and
righteousness in the words and the deeds of the Bábi Leader. Those men had come together, not to find truth, but to
oppose it. They rejected the offer, and brought pressure upon the Government of the Shah to adopt repressive measures.
So insistent became their pleading, cajoling and finally intimidating, that the Shah took fright and instructed his envoy
at Constantinople to approach the Turkish Government, and demand the removal of Bahi’u’lláh to a locality far from
the frontiers of Iran.
Negotiations were carried on for some time between the two States, and at last the Sulçan ordered the Governor of
Baghdad to dispatch Bahá’u’lláh to Constantinople. His enemies were jubilant, and His friends horrified and depressed.
Can we stretch our imaginations far enough to visualize the despondency and the heartaches of the Bábis in that month
of April 1863? Can we contemplate their sorrow?
Baha’u’llah moved to the garden of Riçlvan, outside the gates of Baghdad. The Bábis thronged there to see the last of
their Beloved, so cruelly torn from their midst. It was the twenty-first day of April. With tears in their eyes they
gathered around Him. He was calm, serene and unruffled. The hour had struck. To that company Baha’u’llah revealed
Himself—He was the Promised One in Whose path the Bab had sacrificed His life, “Him Whom God Will

Make Manifest,” the Shah Bahram, the Fifth Buddha, the Lord of Hosts, the Return of Christ, the Master of the Day of
Judgement. A deep silence fell upon the audience. Heads were bent as the immensity of that Declaration touched the
consciousness of men. Not a breath of dissent—one and all they threw themselves at His feet. Sadness had vanished;
joy, celestial joy, prevailed.
Bahá’u’lláh left for Constantinople on May 2nd, 1863, and arrived there three months later.
Why was He taken to the capital of the Ottoman Empire? Was He to stand a trial, was the Sul;an to investigate His
Cause in person? Was He to be led to prison and confinement? Such questions did undoubtedly assail the minds of His
people. Although they could find no convincing answer, and although the future looked dark and perilous, many of His
followers shared His exile with willing hearts.
From the Sublime Porte, Baha’u’llah solicited no favour. His only protest was His silence and calm resignation. Several
of the dignitaries of the capital called upon Him. To none He uttered a word of accusation. Around an oriental court in
the last century thrived malcontents and intriguers. While living in Baghdad, Baha’u’llah was approached by a number
of such persons who hoped to win the affection of the Bábis. He refused to meet them, and the few who gained
admittance into His presence, received no encouragement. In Constantinople, Baha’u’llah adhered to the same rule. His
Cause had not the remotest connection with sedition and plots, in fact the whole urge of His Teachings was absolutely
otherwise.
After four months at Constantinople came a further exile, this time to Adrianople. Again He and His companions had to
undergo the hardships of a winter journey without adequate means and provisions. Baha’u’llah was now a prisoner of
the Government of Turkey. It had no charge to level against Him, and yet it restrained the freedom of His movements.
At Adrianople Baha’u’llah issued an open and public announcement of His Revelation, and the Bábis, wherever they
were, sub-

THE BAHA’i WORLD

mitted to His God-given Authority. Henceforth they were styled Bahá’is. Azal, however, though outwardly subdued, was secretly
engaged in opposition. The account of his intrigues and base dealings makes sorry reading. He imagined that he was undermining
Bahá’u’lláh’s position; in fact he was bringing ruin upon himself. Time, that unfaltering test of right and wrong, eventually exposed
the hollowness of his contention, and the misery of his purpose. He introduced poison into Bahá’u’lláh’s food. Bahã’u’llãh’s life was
saved, but the effects of that deadly substance remained with Him to the end of His days. Having failed in his dastardly attempt, Azal
turned round and pointed an accusing finger at Bahã’u’lláh. It was his Brother, he alleged, who had poisoned the food, and then
accidentally partaken of
it. To-day, at the remove of more than half a century, we can pity the malefactor, and feel amused by his calumnies and presumptions.
At its time such vile conduct served to increase the rigors of Bahá’u’lláh’s life.
From Adrianople, and later from ‘Akká, Bahá’n’lláh addressed the rulers of the world in a series of Letters. To them He declared His
Divine Mission, and called them to serve peace and righteousness. The majestic sweep of His counsel and admonition revealed in
these Letters arrests the deepest attention of every earnest student of the Bahá’i Faith.
Here is a Prisoner judged and condemned by a conspiracy of tyrants, facing the concourse of sovereigns, nay, the generality of
mankind. Undaunted, He throws a bold challenge, not alone to His oppressors, not alone to ephemeral shadows of earthly might and
dominion, hut principally to those dark passions and motives which dare to intervene between man and the goal destined for him by
his Maker. Here, an Exile, wronged and betrayed, appears as the True and the Only Judge. Thus He writes to the Sulçán of
Turkey:
“Hearken, 0 King, to the speech of Him that speaketh the Truth, Him that doth not ask thee to recompense Him with the things God
hath chosen to bestow upon thee, Him who unerringly treadeth the straight Path. He it is Who summoneth thee unto God, thy

Lord, Who showeth thee the right course, the way that leadeth to true felicity, that haply thou mayest be of them with whom it shall be
well. . . . Allow not the abject to rule over and dominate them who are noble and worthy of honour, and suffer not the high-minded to be
at the mercy of the contemptible and worthless, for this is what We observed upon Our arrival at the city (Constantinople), and to it
We bear witness. We found among its inhabitants some who were possessed of an affluent fortune, and lived in the midst of excessive
riches, while others were in dire want and abject poverty. This ill beseemeth thy sovereignty, and is unworthy of thy rank.”
He foresaw the calamities that awaited the Ottoman Empire: “The day is approaching when the Land of Mystery (Adrianople) and
what is beside it shall be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the King, and commotions shall appear, and the voice of
lamentation shall be raised, and the evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides, and confusion shall spread by reason of that
which hath befallen these captives at the hands of the hosts of oppression. The course of things shall be altered, and conditions shall
wax so grievous, that the sands on. the desolate hills will moan, and the trees on the mountain will weep, and blood will flow out of all
things. Then wilt thou behold the people in sore distress.”
In the Tablet to the Shah He makes a weighty pronouncement on the absorbing question of the knowledge of the Prophet:
“0 King, verily I was as any one amongst mankind, slumbering upon My couch. The gales of the All-Glorious passed by Me, and
taught Me the knowledge of what hath been. This thing is not from Me but from One Who is mighty and All-Knowing. And He bade
Me proclaim betwixt the earth and the heaven, and for this bath there befallen Me that whereat the eyes of those who know overflow
with tears. I have not studied those sciences which men possess, nor have I entered the colleges; inquire of the city wherein I was, that
thou mayest be assured that I am not of those who speak falsely.”
Napoleon III gave the Letter sent to him a reception far from courteous. In a second Tablet revealed at ‘Akká in 1869, Bahã’

BAHA’TJ’LLAH

u’lláh warned him of his impending downfall: “Thy doings shall throw thy kingdom into confusion, sovereignty shall
pass from thy hands, to requite thee for thy deeds, and thus thou shalt find thyself in grievous loss. Convulsions shall
seize all people in yonder land, unless thou dost arise in this Cause and in his straight path follow the Spirit. Hath thy
pomp made thee vainglorious? By My life! It shall not endure, nay, it shall pass away, unless thou dost cling unto this
strong cord. We behold abasement hastening upon thy heels and thou art yet of them that are heedless.” In the same
Tablet, Bahá’u’lláh tells him, “0 King of Paris! Tell the priests not to ring the bells. By God, the True One, the most
glorious Bell hath appeared in the Temple of the most glorious Name, and the fingers of the Will of thy Lord, the High,
the Supreme, ring it in the world of eternal power through His most splendid Name.” Soon after, Napoleon suffered
defeat and captivity, and his Empire tottered to dust.
The Tablet to the Pope is of particular interest and concern to the Christian World:
“Rend asunder the veils,” Bahá’u’lláh writes to the Pontiff at Rome, “the Lord of Lords bath come in the shadow of the
clouds, and the matter bath been decided on the part of God, the Powerful, the Unconstrained. Disclose the splendours
of the authority of Thy Lord; then ascend into the Kingdom of names and attributes; thus doth the Supreme Pen
command thee, on the part of thy Lord, the Mighty, the Most Powerful. Verily He bath come from heaven another time,
as He came from it the first time; beware lest thou oppose Him as the Pharisees opposed (Him) without evidence or
proof.” He proceeds to recall the denial and the fierce rejection with which Jesus was hailed by the very people who
prayed to God to hasten the advent of the Messiah, and states the parallel in His own Revelation: “Look likewise at this
time; how many monks secluded themselves in churches in My Name; and when the appointed time was completed and
We disclosed to them perfection they did not know Me, while they called unto Me at eventide and at dawn. We see
them veiled from Myself by My Name. Verily this is naught but a marvel; say, beware lest celebration

preventeth you from the Celebrated, and worship from the Worshipped.”
To the Czar of Russia He writes: “Say, verily, I have not intended the mention of Myself, but that of God, were ye of
the just; nothing could be seen in Me but God and His Commands, were ye of those who reflect. Say, verily, I am the
One, Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were
adorned. Verily He bath testified for Me, and I testify for Him, and God is witness to what I say.”
The German Emperor is exhorted to ponder over the fate of Napoleon III: “Do thou remember the one whose power
transcended thy power and whose station excelled thy station. Where is he? Whither are gone the things he possessed.
Take warning and be not of them that are fast asleep. He it was who cast the Tablet of God behind him, when We made
known unto him what the hosts of tyranny had caused Us to suffer. Wherefore, disgrace assailed him from all sides,
and he went down to dust in great loss. Think deeply, 0 King, concerning him, and concerning them who, like unto
thee, have conquered cities and ruled over men.”
In Kitdb-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), He prophesied the ordeals of the German Empire: “0 banks of the Rhine!
We have seen you covered with gore, inasmuch as the swords of retribution were drawn against you; and so you shall
have another turn. And We hear the lamentations of Brlin, though she be to-day in conspicuous glory.”
Francis Joseph of Austria is reminded of his journey to the Holy Land: “0 thou Emperor of Austria! The Day-Spring of
the light of Primal Unity was in the Prison of ‘Akká when thou didst visit Al-Masjid-AlAqsá (Temple in Jerusalem),
but thou hast passed by without even inquiries about Him by Whom every house is honoured and exalted and every
high door is opened. We have been with thee under all aspects and found thee clinging to the branch and heedless of
the Root. Verily, thy Lord is a witness to what I say—We were overtaken by sorrows at seeing thee journeying for the
sake of Our Name and knowing Us not while We were before thy face.”

THE BAHA’I WORLD

To the Americas He declares: “0 rulers of America, and Presidents of the Republics! Hearken to the strains of the Dove, on the branch
of eternity, singing the melody ‘There is no God but Me, the Everlasting, the Forgiver, the Generous.’ Adorn the temple of dominion
with the embroidered garment of justice and virtue, and crown its head with the diadem of the celebration of your Lord, the creator of
heaven and earth. The Promised One has appeared in this exalted station, whereat all creation, both seen and unseen, smiled and
rejoiced. 0 concourse of statesmen! Hearken to that which is raised from the Day-Spring of Greatness that ‘There is no God but Me,
the Speaker, the All-Knowing.’ Assist with the hands of justice the broken-hearted, and crush the great oppressors with the scourges
of the commands of your Lord, the Powerful, the Wise.”
The Tablet to Queen Victoria epitomizes the Message lying at the core of His letters to the sovereigns of the world. Those—and
legions they are—who are confused and bewildered by the ferocity of the present-day political strife and international discord, cannot
afford to overlook this invaluable Document. To them it brings the answer which in vain they search for in all directions.
Addressing the Queen, Bahá’u’lláh writes:
“And we have heard that thou hast entrusted the reins of deliberation into the hands of the commonwealth. Thou hast done well, for
thereby the basis of the edifices of all affairs are made firm, and the hearts of those who are under thy shadow, both of high and low,
become tranquil. But it behooves them to be as trustees amongst the servants of God, and to regard themselves as guardians over
whosoever is in all the earth. This is that whereby they are admonished in this Tablet on the part of One Who is the Overseer and the
Wise. When anyone turns towards the assembly, let him turn his glance to the Supreme Horizon, and say, ‘0 God, I ask Thee by Thy
most splendid Name, to assist me unto that whereby the affairs of Thy servants may prosper, and Thy countries may flourish; verily,
Thou art powerful over all things.’ Blessed is he who entereth the assembly in the regard of God, and judgeth

betwixt man with pure justice; is he not of those who prosper? 0 ye leaders of assemblies, whether there or in some other country,
think of results and speak of that whereby the world and its conditions may be reformed, were ye of those who deliberate. Regard the
world as the human body which, though created whole and perfect, has been afflicted, through divers causes, with grave ills and
maladies. Not for one day did it rest, nay its sickness waxed more severe, as it fell under the treatment of unskilled physicians who
have spurred on the steed of their worldly desires and have erred grievously. And if at one time, through the care of an able physician,
a member of that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted as before. Thus informeth you the All Knowing, the All-Wise. And today We see it under the hands of those who are taken by the intoxication of the wine of deceits in such manner that they do not know
what is best for themselves, how much more, then, for this arduous and grave matter! And if one of them endeavour to better its
health, his intention will not be but to profit himself thereof, whether by name or effect, therefore he will not be able to heal it save to
a certain extent. And that which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the
world, is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one Common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the
power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error. And whenever this
most great Physician hath come and the light hath shone forth from the ancient Dawning- place, these false physicians have striven to
hinder and prevent Him, and become as clouds between Him and the world.”
After this clear analysis of the causes of unrest and affliction, Bahã’u’lláh speaks of the attempts made to frustrate His Divinelyordained task of regeneration, points at the ever-mounting burdens of armament, pleads the cause of the poor and the oppressed, and
utters a final warning to the rulers of men:
“Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye fast unto this the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your
own condition and that of your

BAHA’U’LLAH

dependents. Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and
dominions. . . . Be united, 0 Kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find
rest, if ye be of them that comprehend. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is
naught but manifest justice.”
The years of Bahá’u’lláh’s sojourn in Adrianople offer a vast field of historical research. In the fifth volume of the biennial
publication, THE BAHA’i WORLD, one can read an original and fascinating article on Adrianople and its connections with
Bahá’u’lláh, written by Miss Martha Root, the well-known international Bahá’i teacher. Miss Root went to Adrianople to search for
records of Bahi’u’lláh’s forced exile. She met individuals who remembered the days of the great “Bahá’i Beg,”1 and recalled His
generosity and benevolence. Furthermore, she located the ruins and the sites of the houses in which Bahá’u’lláh dwelt. Miss Root’s
excellent article is informative to a point, but studies of the subject in greater detail still await undertaking.
Mention has already been made of the opposition moulded and directed by Azal and a few adventurers gathered around him. He
resorted to many a tortuous device, and repeatedly failed to shake the allegiance which the Bábis had given to Bahi’u’lláh. Incensed
by his ill success, Azal determined to accuse his Half-Brother and life-long Benefactor of treacherous designs against the security of
the Ottoman Caliphate. His efforts bore him bitter fruit, for not only were Bahf’u’lláh and His people condemned to imprisonment in
the desolate barracks of ‘Akká, but Azal too was banished, to Cyprus
—to oblivion. He outlived Bahá’u’lláh, dragging on existence until the year 1912, impenitent to the end, a broken man, the victim of
his passions and selfish pursuits.
‘Akkã, St. Jean D’Acre of the Crusades that resisted the siege of Richard I of England, the city which defied Napoleon at a later age,
had fallen into disrepute at this period of its checkered history. Its air and water were foul and disease-laden. Proverb had it that a bird
Hying over ‘Akká would

fall dead. To its forbidding barracks were consigned the dangerous criminals of the Sul;án’s dominions—there to perish. ‘Abdu’l‘Aziz
of Turkey decreed the incarceration of Bahã’u’lláh, His family, and His entourage, in the citadel of ‘Akká. They were moved out of
Adrianople on August 12th, 1868, and arrived at ‘Akkã on the last day of the same month.
Bahá’u’llãh’s exile to Palestine, the Holy Land, was intended by His adversaries to be the final blow which, in their calculation, would
shatter His Faith and fortune. How significant will his exile seem, if we recall certain prophecies uttered in the past. ‘Abdu’l-Bahã, the
Son of Bahá’u’llãh, and the Expounder of His Message, thus speaks of this stupendous event: “When Bahã’u’llãh came to His prison
in the Holy Land, the wise men realized that the glad tidings which God gave through the tongue of the Prophets two or three
thousand years before, were again manifested, and that God was faithful to His promise; for to some of the Prophets He had revealed
and given the good news that “The Lord of Hosts should be manifested in the Holy Land.” All these promises were fulfilled; and it is
difficult to understand how Bahá’u’lláh could have been obliged to leave Persia, and to pitch His tent in this Holy Land, but for the
persecution of His enemies, His banishment and exile.”
The prisoners were about eighty in number: men, women and children, huddled in a few dirty and meagrely protected rooms. The food
provided by the authorities was inedible, and the water was polluted. Before long disease raged among them. All but five, who later
succumbed, were ill and helpless. Those five, among whom was ‘Abdu’lBahá, tended the rest, and pleaded in vain with the Governor
of the prison for medical succour. Four died, and their bodies could not be removed, because the soldiers required money to induce
them to carry out their duty. Bahá’u’lláh handed a carpet on which He slept to the wardens to sell and defray the expenses. Yet, the
remains of the dead did not receive a proper burial. Amidst their afflictions, the prisoners retained their
Bahá’u’lláh.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

serenity. They were happy because they were co-sharers in the sufferings of their Lord.
Another tragic event was the death of Mirzá Mihdi, entitled The Purest Branch, a younger son of Bahá’u’lláh.
For a long while the Bahá’is in I ran and elsewhere possessed no news of Bahá’u’lláh. Later it was made possible to establish
communications, and a number came to ‘Akka to find prison walls intervening between them and the One whose presence they
sought. Some had journeyed on foot over the mountains of Western Iran and the deserts of ‘Iraq and Syria. All that they were allowed
to see was the figure of Bahá’u’llih behind the bars from a distance beyond the third moat; only a wave of His hands, and they turned
homewards, grateful for the bounty conferred upon them. Others came in their wake, and took back the memory of that figure
appearing at the window—a treasure which they valued above everything in their varied lives.
Close confinement in the barracks lasted until October 1870. Military reinforcements had been sent to that part of the Empire, and the
Citadel of ‘Akká was in demand for their accommodation. Bahá’u’llãh and His family were conducted to a small house within the city
walls, and others were permitted to take residence in a caravanserai. One might imagine that release from strict bondage spelled relief.
However that was not the case. Enclosed within the barracks, Bahá’u’lláh and His followers had few contacts with the inhabitants of
‘Akka, but rumors of the ugliest kind regarding them had spread abroad. Ignorant of the real identity of Bahá’u’lláh, the townsmen
relegated Him and His people to the same category as the regular inmates of the prison of ‘Akká. Even worse, in their imagination,
they laid every odious act to the charge of the Bahá’is, whom they described as renegades from the True Faith, traitors to the august
person of the Sultan, plotters against the security of the land, ruffians who deserved the censure of the righteous. The Bahá’is were
ushered into such a charged atmosphere of undisguised hostility. Their task of conciliation was indeed herculean.

Notwithstanding the fierce prejudices which hailed them on every side, the Bahã’is succeeded before long in subduing the hatred of
the populace. Here was a war waged between the force of character and integrity, and turbulent passions born of ignorance. At the end
victory went to the side which had risen above the plane of conflict, and in submitting its will to a Higher Will, could free itself of fear
and distrust. It gradually dawned upon the officials and the leaders of religion that their Chief Prisoner was not an ordinary man, that
they had in their custody a Personage of superior gifts and powers. They became enamoured of His majestic bearing, of His amazing
knowledge of human affairs, of His disarming charity and forbearing nature. Their prisoner He was, but a time came when it was
almost impossible to realize the fact.
During the years of confinement in ‘Akka, besides many other Tablets, Bahá’u’llãh wrote Kitdb-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book),
and the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. The latter was addressed to a clergyman of Isfáhán, an inveterate enemy of the Faith, whose
schemings resulted in murder and persecution. Therein Bahá’u’lláh reiterates His challenge to His detractors. His Call is from God,
His trust is in God, and no earthly power can deter Him in his purpose. Kitdb-i-Aqdas contains laws, exhortations and admonitions.
There are laws that concern the individual, and laws that guard the well-being of society; laws that find immediate application, and
laws that await the establishment of the World Order.
Nine years elapsed before Bahá’u’lláh left the confines of the city walls. Although still a virtual prisoner, He moved out of ‘Akka, and
no obstacles were laid in His path. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gives us a graphic account of the circumstances of that significant event. Significant
indeed it was, as it verified a promise uttered by Bahá’u’lláh long before, while still incarcerated in the barracks. “Fear not,” He had
written, “these doors shall be opened, My tent shall be pitched on Mount Carmel, and the utmost joy shall be realized.”
Bahá’u’lláh was very fond of the country-

BAHA’U’LLAH

The first Mexican Bahá’is to visit their American co-workers. Taken at the Bahá’i Temple, Wilmette, Illinois, 1939, on
the occasion of the annual Convention.

pict255.jpg

THE BAHA’i WORLD

side, but, detained within the cheerless walls of ‘Akká, He was barred from the beauties of nature. A day came when
He said, “I have not gazed on verdure for nine years. The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of
bodies.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá heard of these words and understood that the time had arrived when it would be possible to end
the spell of imprisonment. Accordingly He went in search of a house in the plains, and having at last secured one, He
approached His Father and begged Him to take residence there. Bahã’u’lláh did not agree to leave ‘Akká. He was a
prisoner, He maintained, and not entitled to the freedom of His movements. A second and a third time ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
repeated His request to receive the same answer. Next, a prominent Arab Shaykh, who was very devoted to
Bahá’u’lláh, pleaded with Him: “God forbid! Who has the power to make you a prisoner? You have kept yourself in
prison.” At the end the Shaykh obtained His consent.
After two years at Mazra’ih, which was some four miles northwards of ‘Akki, He took His abode in the neighboring
Mansion of Bahji, and there He lived the remaining years of His hfe. Bahji, meaning “Dehght,” was a charming and
palatial house near the coast, and far enough from the drab surroundings of ‘Akká to be invested with rural beauty.
From the window of His room Bahã’u’lláh could watch the pure blue of the Mediterranean, the distant minarets of the
prison-city, and even further, beyond the bay, He could see the dim outline of the gentle slope of Mount Carmel. The
Mansion stands guard to-day over the adjoining shrine which harbors the mortal remains of Bahá’u’lláh. In its radius
one can experience that peace for which one’s soul has ever yearned.
Dr. J. E. Esslemont, the author of that immortal work, Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era, thus describes the hfe at Bahji:
“Having in His earlier years of hardship shown how to glorify God in a state of poverty and ignominy, Bahá’u’lláh in
His later years at Bahji showed how to glorify God in a state of honor and affluence. The offerings of hundreds of
thousands of devoted followers placed at His disposal large funds which He was called upon to administer. Although
His life at Bahj I has been described as truly regal,

in the highest sense of the word, yet it must not be imagined that it was characterized by material splendor or extravagance. The
Blessed Perfection1 and His family lived in very simple and modest fashion, and expenditure on selfish luxury was a thing unknown
in that household. Near His home the believers prepared a beautiful garden called Ridván, in which He spent many consecutive days
or even weeks sleeping at night in a httle cottage in the garden. Occasionally He went further afield. He made several visits to ‘Akká
and Haifa, and on more than one occasion pitched His tent on Mount Car- mel, as He had predicted when imprisoned in the barracks
at ‘Akká.”
Edward Granville Browne, of the University of Cambridge, visited Bahj I in April 1890. Back at home, he committed to paper the
impressions he had received: “So here at Bahji I was installed as a guest, in the very midst of all that Bábiism accounts most noble and
most holy; and here did I spend five most memorable days, during which I enjoyed unparalleled and unhopedf or opportunities of
holding intercourse with those who are the very fountain-heads of that mighty and wondrous spirit which works with invisible but
ever-increasing force for the transformation and quickening of a people who slumber in a sleep like unto death. It was, in truth, a
strange and moving experience, but one whereof I despair of conveying any save the feeblest impression. I might, indeed, strive to
describe in greater detail the faces and forms which surrounded me, the conversations to which I was privileged to listen, the solemn
melodious reading of the sacred books, the general sense of harmony and content which pervaded the place, and the fragrant shady
gardens whither in the afternoon we sometimes repaired; but all this was as naught in comparison with the spiritual atmosphere with
which I was encompassed. . . . The spirit which pervades the Bábis is such that it can hardly fail to affect most powerfully all subjected
to its influence. It may appall or attract. It cannot be ignored or disregarded. Let those who have not seen disbelieve me if they will;
but should that spirit once reveal itself to them, they will experience an
1 Bahá’u’lIáh.

BAHA’U’LLAH

emotion which they are not likely to forget.”
Edward Browne has left us a pen-portrait of Bahã’u’lláh. It is the only one of its kind in existence, and therefore of tremendous value
to the student of the Bahá”i Faith. To-day the visitor to Bahji can read this document, before venturing into Bahá’u’lláh’s chamber, as
it is exhibited on the wall. Thus one can try to recreate in one’s mind the interview granted to the English
Orientalist:
“My conductor paused for a moment while I removed my shoes. Then, with a quick movement of the hand, he withdrew, and, as I
passed, replaced the curtain; and I found myself in a large apartment, along the upper end of which ran a low divan, while on the side
opposite to the door were placed two or three chairs. Though I dimly suspected whither I was going, and whom I was to behold (for no
distinct intimation had been given to me), a second or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious
that the room was not untenanted. In the corner, where the divan met the wall, sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a
felt headdress of the kind called tãj by dervishes (but of unusual height and make), round the base of which was wound a small white
turban. The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s
very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face imphed an age which the jetblack hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose
presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for
in vain!
“A mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued: ‘Praise be to God that thou has attained! . . . Thou hast come to see a
prisoner and an exile. . . . We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer-up of strife
and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment. . . . That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers;

that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and
differences of race be annulled—what harm is there in this? . . . Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass
away, and tThe Most Great Peace’ shall come. . . . Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold? . . . Yet do
we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which
would conduce to the happiness of mankind? These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred
and one family. Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.’
“Such, so far as I can recall them, were the words which, besides many others, I heard from RaM. Let those who read them consider
well with themselves whether such doctrines merit death and bonds, and whether the world is more likely to gain or lose by their
diffusion.”2
The last years of Rahá’u’lláh’s life were devoted to writing and revealing innumerable Tablets, Epistles and Treatises on many and
varied subjects of spiritual and educative purport. He was relieved of such cares as His Supreme Station entailed, by the able
administration of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who shielded Him from the interference of the outside world and met and conversed with the officials
of the Government, inquirers and the learned, admitting into the presence of Bahá’u’lláh only those who had genuine problems to
resolve. Thus Bahi’u’lláh could direct His time entirely to the spiritual nurture of His followers and of earnest souls who sought His
counsel and unfailing guidance.
Here we should pause to examine in brief the Writings which flowed unceasingly from the creative pen of Bahá’u’lláh. That erudite
BahI’i scholar and teacher, Mirzã Abu’1-Facll5 of Gulpáygãn,4 classifies them
‘From the lotroduction to A Traveller’s Narrative.
1844-1914.
Town in Iran.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

into four categories, namely, laws and ordinances; meditations, communes and prayers; interpretations of the sacred scriptures of the
past; and, finally, discourses and exordiums. Of the first category he writes:
“Some of them contain laws and regulations whereby the rights and interests of all the nations of the world can be perpetuated, for
these statutes are so enacted that they meet the necessities of every land and country, and are acceptable to every man of intelligence.
In this universality they resemble the laws of nature, which secure the progress and development of all peoples; and they will bring
about universal union and harmony.”1 Some of the principal Works of the Author of the Bahá’i Faith have been mentioned in
previous pages, and it is impossible to tabulate the rest in this hmited account of His life. Bahá’u’lláh states that the volume of His
revealed word totals the scriptures of the Manifestations preceding Him. We ought to remember the incalculable advantage which the
Writings of Bahá’u’lláh possess in relation to the Holy Books of former times. Their originals are extant and well preserved, and
future generations will be spared the crushing responsibility of deciding the authenticity of Works ascribed to the Prophet.
Bahá’u’lláh left His human temple on the 28th of May, 1892. A telegram bore the news to the Sultan of Turkey: “The Sun of Bahá has
set.” Yet It shines dazzhngly in the full meridian. Its energizing and life- bestowing rays continue to revivify the hearts and minds of
men, to penetrate the dark clouds of superstition, bigotry and prejudice, to disperse the heavy and oppressive fogs of despair and
disillusionment, to shed light upon the baffling problems which bewilder a fatigued and storm-tossed humanity. Man has essayed to
dim Its brilliance, to deny Its potency, to abjure Its gifts, to disparage Its claims—futile and bootless attempts, for the signal proof of
the Sun remains the Sun itself.

More than forty years separate us from the days when Bahá’u’llhh lived amongst men. The Faith which He proclaimed marches from
triumph to triumph, and the resplendent Edifice which He raised stands to offer certitude and peace to a distracted world.
In His Will and Testament, Bahá’u’llah made His eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of His Covenant with all men, and the
authorized Expounder of His Text.
“Although the Supreme Horizon is devoid of the vanities of the world, yet in the Treasury of Trust and Resignation, We have placed a
priceless and unequalled inheritance for the heirs. We have not placed (therein) a treasure, neither have We added to the pain. . . . 0,
people of the world! I enjoin you to that which is the means of the elevation of your station. Hold to the virtue of God and grasp the
hem of that which is just . . . say: 0 servants, make not the cause of order to be the cause of confusion, and make not the reason of union
to be the occasion of discord! It is hoped that the people of Bahá will look towards the blessed Word: ‘Say, all are from the Presence
of God’; and this exalted Word resembles water for eztinguishing the fire of hatred and animosity which is deposited in all minds and
hearts. The different creeds will attain the light of real union through this simple Word.”
This is an attempt to catch the Ocean in a diminutive cup, to gaze at the Orb through plain glass. Far, very far from man’s effort, must
be an adequate portrayal of a Manifestation of the qualities and attributes of Almighty God. And here we deal with the Life of One
Whose advent implies the “Coming of age of the entire human race,” and under Whose dominion the earth will become one
fatherland.

The Bahd’i Proofs.

4.

SIGNAL event in Bahá’i annals was the convoking of the First International Bahá’i Congress in the spring of 1915 in the city of San
Francisco.
Although initiated by the San Francisco Bahá’i Assembly, the Congress was under the official auspices of the Panama-Pacific
International Exposition.
The delegates assembled from various sections of the United States, Canada, and Hawaii. The World War, unfortunately, prevented
any representation from abroad, but many peace and educational organizations of other countries sent congratulatory communications
indicating their participation in spirit.
By reason of the general interest in the subject of Universal Peace, the evening sessions, held in the Exposition Auditorium in San
Francisco’s Civic Center, drew large audiences not only from visitors to the Exposition but also from residents of the San Francisco
Bay area.
The speakers, who had been selected by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá because of their long and eminent service in the Bahá’i field, were men of note
in their chosen professions and in the business life of their respective communities.
The Congress was convened on the 19th of April and adjourned on the 2 5th; but the culminating episode of the week was the official
reception on April 24th—International Bahd’I Congress Day—tendered by the Ezposition Directorate, and the presentation of a
commemorative medallion, in recognition of the Bahá’i program for Universal Peace.
—DR. FREDERICK W. D’EvELYN.
Festival Hall, scene of the exercises, was set like a gem amidst the lavishly planted South Gardens of the Exposition. The myriads of
sweet-scented flowers in their witchery of color, the masses of exotic shrubbery, the cool fountains and pools, the avenues of palms,
the trees of many lands, the velvety green hills of the Presidio, and the mountains beyond the sparkling blue waters of the bay, made a
picture of incomparable beauty in the bright California sunshine on that memorable morning.
The delegates and friends were met by a deputation from the Exposition Directorate and escorted to the meeting-place.
Impressive, though brief, were the ceremonies that followed—the presentation and acceptance of a “symbol,” the bonds of mutual
understanding and goodwill strengthened—and the first International Bahd’i Congress Day had passed into history.
But so inseparably linked with the Exposition had been the days of the Congress, and so compatible with Bahá’i aspirations were the
motivating aims of the Exposition builders, there is due them—and here proffered—an appreciative acknowledgment of their highminded objectives and enviable accomplishment. Perhaps no encomium more felicitous could be set forth than the oft-quoted
interpretation from the pen of the distinguished architect, Louis Christian Mullgardt, F.A.I.A., member of the Architectural
Commission of the Exposition:
“Millions of people from all parts of the world have made pilgrimage to this realm of phantasy, but many thousands more are

INTERNATIONAL BAHA’I CONGRESS DAY AT
THE PANAMA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL
EXPOSITION
The Bahd’I Movement—A universal movement having for its purpose the bestowal of economic,
social and spiritual unity upon the world of humanity.

THE BAHA’T WORLD

Festival Hall
Panama-Pacific International Exposition
San Francisco, 1915
Scene of Ceremonies Honoring the
First International Bahã’i Congress

k

Photographed and prepared for reprodurtion by Gabriel Moulin, San Franrisco, California.
pict256.jpg

BAHA’I CONGRESS DAY

on their way, determined to bask in the radiance of Good Will toward All Mankind, which this Mecca of Peace,
Enlightenment, Beauty, and Inspiration for a better and greater future gives forth. Its purposeful in-

fluence is destined to serve perpetually a beneficent cause in the furtherance of unified international humanitarianism
after the ephemeral vision of this Phantom Kingdom has vanished.”

INTERNATIONAL BAHA’I CONGRESS DAY
PANAMA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION
CEREMONIES
FESTIVAL HALL, EXPOSITION GROUNDS SATURDAY MORNING,
APRIL 24, 1915, AT 10 O’CLOCK
President of the Congress Dr. Frederick W. D’Evelyn
EXEcUtIvE COMMITTEE OF THE CoNGREss
Dr. Frederick W. D’Evelyn, Chairman
Mrs. Helen S. Goodall
Mrs. Ella Goodall Cooper
Mrs. Georgia Grayson Ralston
Mr. William C. Ralston, Secretary
Miss Bijou S. Straun, Assistant Secretary and Reporter
Chairman of the Day Mr. Charles Mason Remey of Washington, D. C.
(Hon. John A. Britton
Representing the Exposition Directorate Hon. A. W. Scott, Jr.

The Chairman: Members and Friends of the First International Bahá’i Congress:
We have assembled this morning by invitation of the President and Directors of the Panama-Pacific International
Exposition, who have honored us by designating this as

“International Bahã’i Congress Day” in their official program. The Honorable John A. Britton and the Honorable A. W.
Scott, Jr., representing the Exposition Directorate, are here to welcome us.
I have the honor to present the Honorable John A. Britton.

PRESENTATION ADDRESS
HON. JOHN A. BRITTON

One of the particularly pleasant things we Directors have to do is to recognize true worth wherever we find it to exist.
It may be accepted as a truism that those who are building foundations for the betterment of the human race, and
dealing with the social and economic problems that confront the world, are doing quite as much for the perpetuation of
the betterment of

mankind as do those who construct their monuments of steel, of granite, or of marble.
We of the Exposition “family” havç been hard at work for the past three or four years erecting on these beautiful
grounds monuments that represent the handiwork of man in the arts, the crafts and the sciences. These we have builded
not so much for their artistic and architectural beauty as for their

THE BAHA’i WORLD

lasting effects upon the human race; primarily, however, to direct the attention of those who will gather here, from the four corners of
the earth, to the educational advantages, for the masses, to be derived from an exposition like this; and, more especially still, for the
benefits to be gained from the coming together of groups such as yours, whose whole-souled purpose, as I read it, is the unification
and solidarity of the peoples of the world; and, further, to produce an effect far-reaching, not for today, but for all time to come.
Here on the peaceful western shores of the United States looking out into what might be termed the vast eternity across the Pacific to
the Orient, we are mindful, and very mindful, of the horrible devastation that this day is witnessing in the Old World, where
civilizations of many centuries’ duration are being wiped away, where men are clutching at one another’s throats and destroying the
last vestiges of that love of humanity which should concern us all.
And to you who represent that great propaganda of peace—that peace which the Master of the world, whoever He may be to each of
us, has enjoined upon us as a necessary part of true education, true refinement, and true growth within this universe
—to you who have that solemn duty in hand, and who so seriously and full-mindedly and intelligently are seeking to impress it upon
your fellow-men—to you, we of the Exposition “family” extend a welcome into our “family,” inasmuch as we are trying in our
modest way, on this western rim, to be the proponents of every endeavor that contributes toward the elevating and betterment of
mankind.
We have lived and worked in vain, ladies

and gentlemen, if the marvels you will see in this Exposition—our palaces, our gardens, our illustrative sculptures, our exhibits—are
to count for naught but the mere passing of a dream; and if they shall not accomplish the helpfulness to mankind that we expect, then
we shall have labored absolutely in vain.
But I have that faith in the intelligence of the human race, and in the ultimate goodness to be achieved by earnest and diligent work,
that what we have been doing, and what you are striving to do, that the seed sown, and the foundation laid, such as you have laid, will
some day—it may not be for years—evolve that supertype of men and women who will have but one ideal in life: that the race which
is come shall be a better one than ours because of your efforts to make it so.
Therefore, in that recognition which we desire to give for your universal efforts, I have the proud privilege and honor, on behalf of the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, of presenting to you a symbol’ of that appreciation. And let me say to you, in all
honesty and candor of mind, that of the many times I, in my official capacity, have given recognition to those who have participated in
our affairs, none has ever afforded me the extreme pleasure that is mine today in conferring it upon you who represent so much to
humanity.
The Chairman: I feel, friends, that everyone here has been profoundly moved by the wholehearted manner in which we have been
welcomed and honored by Mr. Britton on behalf of the Exposition Company.
The response will be made by the President of the Congress.
I present Dr. Frederick W. D’Evelyn.

ADDRESS OF ACCEPTANCE
Dx. FREDERICK W. D’EvELYN

Were I to yield to the instinctive promptings of the moment I would dismiss this meeting that we might disperse in
silence, cherishing the words Director Britton has uttered. That which comes from the heart goes to the heart, and I
know I voice but feebly the thoughts of all present when I

say that a sympathetic chord has been touched in the heart of each one of us. Your words, Director Britton, shall re-echo over a greater
arena than you can imagine.
On behalf of the Bahá’is here assembled, and of the Bahá’is throughout the world, on
1 The Exposition commemorative medallion.

BAHA’ CONGRESS DAY

Bronze Medallion
Presented to the
First International Bahá’I Congress

Phoeographecl and prepared for reproduction by Gabriel Moulin, San Francisco, California.
pict257.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

behalf of that humanity which is looking upward, I accept this “symbol” with deep appreciation and sincere gratitude.
I regret my inability to amplify the text Director Britton has so aptly outlined for us. But the more frequently we visit this Exposition,
the more persistently and irresistibly will the truth be borne home that its dominant appeal is for a recognition of the intercommunion
and the interdependence of the peoples of the world.
Today these facts are crystallized with an urgency and a significance before which speech itself is dumb, and silence is the only tribute
it appears meet to offer. This simple ceremony, so interpreted, carries with it a relationship to the oncoming future that we, bound by
the fretted limitations of the present, seem reluctant even to concede.
Within a few days our western eyes will be privileged to gaze upon that hallowed relic, the Liberty Bell, whose sounding notes awoke
the dawn of the natal day of this nation.
Time has enshrined those memories as a sacred heritage. No one people, however, expresses the fulness of humanity.
Symbolic of a broader measure is this humble “bronze,” the token of the birthmark divinity has predestined to herald, not merely the
birth and the growth of a nation, but that universal manhood which a unified humanity alone can consummate.
Thus dedicated, this token shall start upon its mission.
It will travel to the land of the cradle song where shepherds watched their flocks by night. Carmel will learn of it. Nazareth will hear
of it. And, as the courier speeds onward, the rippling waves of the “Tideless Sea” shall sound in his ears, and his feet shall be
moistened with the dews of Lebanon.
It will halt—aye, halt in the Most Great Prison,’ and there in its triumph the forty years of servitude will become as a dream in the
night.
It will voyage to India, where the mysterious Parsi, the haughty Brabman, the devout Buddhist, will become one as they harken to its
tidings.
To China, to Japan, to Africa, to the Isles of the sea, to far-away ‘Ishqábád, it will be even as a star to the caravan.

To the broken brotherhood of Europe, to the Slav and the Teuton, the Muslim and the Allies, it will bespeak a better and a brighter
day, a kindlier and a nobler kinship.
And, Sir, when at last its mission shall have been completed, it will return—to rest beneath that dome where humanity, unified, shall
make mention of God: the Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr.2
The Liberty Bell in its mission sounded the liberty of a nation. This token in its larger mission heralds the freedom of a world. That
may seem an assertion too broad, a pronouncement too great; but it could not be otherwise, for its bears the Bahá’i message of unity—
not that human beings are equal, but that the crown of humanity is vouchsafed to all alike. In that birthmark there is nothing inferior,
nothing superior. It is the reality of man, the reality that is the throne of the divine Manifestation.
To every man it is granted to look within himself and to see that reality powerful, mighty, supreme.
The Bahá’i teaching is that such is man’s right of self-appraisement; moreover, to allow that right to his fellow-man is to admit the
possession of a common reality which connotes the divinity of unity and the unity of divinity.
Seek not, accept not, any compromise for this attitude, and there is established at once and forever that relationship which shall annul
geographical boundaries, technical barriers, racial prejudices, tribal theologies, and the many expedients that have been and are
deterrents of human solidarity.
This is the Bahá’i message in the concrete. In the oneness of unity, in the divinity of reality, it shall make for the healing of the
nations.
I know you rejoice with us, Director Britton, that on this occasion we are able to send forth, from the “City of the Golden Gate,” this
token, the symbol of that unity which shall be effective when the reality of man shall have been acknowledged as the throne of the
divine Manifestation. This is the sole
1 ‘Akki, Palestine.
a The Bahá’i Universal House of Worship being erected in Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A.

BAHA’! CONGRESS DAY

resource of the world; the honor and continuity thereof depend upon it.
Director Britton, it is impossible to convey to you how keenly we value your f avorable comparison of our “title deeds” in the
recognition you have conferred upon us. In our parallel endeavors toward the enduring betterment of the human race I pray we may
not fall short of your high estimate.
The Chairman: Friends, as we have now become members of the Exposition “family,” I trust that while fully sensible of the honor

we shall not be forgetful of the responsibilities.
The acceptance of the commemorative medallion by our President brought to a close the formal part of these
ceremonies. I should like, however, to call upon Mrs. Mary Hanford Ford to address us informally. As a Bahã’i, Mrs.
Ford has for many years tirelessly served our Cause. She is a well-known art critic and lecturer, and is visiting the
Exposition in a professional capacity.
I take special pleasure in presenting Mrs. Ford of New York City.

THE SPIRIT OF THE EXPOSITION
Mns. MARY HANFORD FORD

I cannot tell you how it thrills me to stand before you in this wonderful moment and try to accentuate a little the suggestion made in
the inspiring words already spoken, as to why we should be gathered in this beautiful place, which today is the most beautiful in
America, and I am not sure but that it is the most beautiful in the world!
I came to this Exposition from long wanderings on the other side of the water, where I had studied the masterpieces of art and
sculpture, and had stood under the arches of famous cathedrals, and had asked myself:
Is there anything left to be done in the realm of architecture? Then I remembered that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in speaking of the divine
civilization that is to be, had said there would be a new art and a new architecture
—a fusion of all the beauty of the past, but new.
Now, what do I find here? A new architecture—a blending of ancient styles, but new; for the Byzantine and the Romanesque, the
Gothic and the Moorish, have clasped hands with the classic Greek and Roman, and have been transmuted into forms of such beauty
as to convey to every observer an inkling of the glories of the architecture of the future.
Let me ask you: Is not the very creation of this magnificent Exposition—by a city that only nine years ago had been razed to the
ground by earthquake and fire—the most convincing evidence of the mighty
spiritual force that is today undeniably penetrating and transforming all the physical forces of life? I know of no greater miracle than
that a city which had been destroyed should within nine years create the most enchanting spectacle of the entire world!
For a moment let us reflect upon our vaunted modern progress and what it means.
The rapid and momentous changes of the last sixty or seventy years perhaps find their beginning in the Cause we represent. We of the
West pride ourselves on our advanced theories, on our democracy, on our governmental reforms, on our insistence upon equal rights
for men and women. We believe that these are western ideas and we say to the East: Why do you not learn from us? Why are you
sleeping in your dreams of the past? Why do you not awaken and emulate our energy?
Yet as long ago as 1844, when there was no discussion of brotherhood, nor any movement for equal suffrage, a young Persian, known
as the Báb, began to preach in the city of Shiráz—think of ill—to Muliammadans who in their fanatical prejudice believed that there
was only one true religion, and that Mu5ammad was the only true Prophet of God. The Báb announced to them the dawn of a New
Day, and exhorted them to prepare for the advent of a divine Messenger who would be the founder of a new civilization. He taught
them that Religion is one, that the different religions

THE BAHA’I WORLD

have sprung from the same Source; that mankind is one; that men and women should be regarded as equal; that the women of Persia,
who for centuries had been enslaved, should come out of their seclusion, take off their veils, and demand and be entitled to the same
prerogatives possessed by the men.
Is it any wonder that they could not comprehend Him? Is it any wonder that He was persecuted? When we study His dramatic and
astonishing career, and consider His youth, we marvel how He dared do it.
The Báb was but twenty-five years of age when He began His ministry. In those days there was no wireless, no telegraphic system, no
railway. Nevertheless, during the six years preceding His martyrdom, His words had spread throughout the length and breadth of
Persia, and the soil of that country was drenched with the blood of thousands of His adherents who had suffered death rather than deny
their faith.
Whenever I speak of progress and the equality of men and women I am impelled to relate the story of the first martyr in the path of
equal suffrage, who was the most notable feminine disciple of the Báb— the immortal poetess Qurratu’l-’Ayn. Lovely beyond
compare, one of the most gifted and brilliant women of Persia, she removed her veil and publicly went about expounding the dottrines
of the Báb. It is easy to understand how this heresy alarmed the Mullás, and they remonstrated and pleaded with her; but failing in
their attempt to dissuade her from pursuing such an unorthodox course they then threatened her with death. Scornfully she defied
them. Finally they determined to do away with her, and secretly one night she was taken to a garden in the suburbs of the city and
strangled. Her body was hastily thrown into a dry well and covered with stones to conceal the crime. Today that spot is sacred to the
memory of Qurratu’l-’Ayn, not only on account of the beauty of her face, her rare intellectual attainments, the fervor of her eloquence,
and the nobility of her character, but perchance because of the peculiar signification of her name—Consolation of the Eyes—and
pilgrims walk many miles to her burial-place, believing that their ailments, especially if their eyes be afflicted or

blinded, will be healed as they pray near the dust of her grave.
But I must not dwell upon the tragic tale of this heroic woman.
Nor shall I recount the details of the appearance of Bahá’u’llah as the Promised One of the Báb, since the main incidents of His life
are doubtless familiar to you. His was a message of peace and brotherhood:
Ye are all leaves of one tree and drops of one sea.
This handful of dust, the world, is one home: let it be in unity.
Bahá’u’llah passed away in 1892 after forty years of exile, imprisonment and bitter persecution, but notwithstanding prison walls His
declaration had been made to the world. You will recall it was from the prison fortress of ‘Akká that He had sent the now famous
Epistles to the Kings to the crowned heads and rulers of the earth, admonishing them to be concerned with the welfare of their
subjects, to free from their fetters the slaves and the oppressed, to adopt justice for their standard, and to estabhsh the Most Great
Peace.
Have you ever pondered over the many surprising political upheavals that occurred in the nineteenth century? Do you think it was an
accident that in 1861 the Czar emancipated the serfs? That from 1861 to 1865 the United States was in the throes of the Civil War,
which resulted in slavery being abolished and forever prohibited within our boundaries? Do you think it was an accident that in 1848
began that long and tremendous struggle terminating in the freedom and unity of Italy? Remember, too, that Persia—tyrannized and
tormented Persia—secured a constitution in 1907; that Turkey in 1908 won a constitutional government; and China, that stronghold of
the oldest regime, is now a republic!
What lies behind these happenings?
Friends, there is always a reason for such stupendous events. Do we not find it in the successive counsels of the Báb, Bahã’u’lláh, and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá? Their utterances, subjectively, have quickened the heart of humanity.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, while visiting in America a few years ago, commented on the fact

BAHA’I CONGRESS DAY

Frederick W. D’Evelyn, M.B.C.M. (Edin.)
Member of the Ways and Means Committee of the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition
President of the First International Bahi’i Congress

that between 1860 and 1865 we had instituted a splendid reform when we knocked the shackles from chattel slavery. But in this day
there is need for another vital reform: we must destroy industrial slavery.
Does not that thought naturally ally us with this unique Exposition which so palpably portrays the progress of the age?
You have seen at the Scott Street entrance the huge Fountain of Energy symbolizing the victory of man’s directed strength over the
difficulties of nature. Opposite, and dominating the Esplanade, rises the slender shaft designed by the architect Symmes Richardson—
the Column of Progress’— surmounted by the figure of the Adventurous Bowman shooting across the Pacific to the shores of the
Orient. What is it the archer typifies? Is it not the incredible wireless that is permeating the universe, not alone by the outer medium of
the ether, but

by the mysterious inner mechanism of mind to mind, and heart to heart, and unquestionably uniting mankind despite the war?
Before you leave these grounds I wish you would walk through the Peristyle Promenade of the Palace of Fine Arts. The masterarchitect of that ensemble, Bernard K. May- beck, undoubtedly was inspired, for the edifice he created, while classic Roman-Greek in
simplicity, is at the same time altogether original in conception—a peerless temple of unrivaled loveliness. In its stately Colonnade
hovers the breath of the cloisters of old— the exquisite cloisters of Italy, the heavenly inclosure of Monreale in Sicily. You will sense
the quiet converse of Plato’s Academy, the wisdom of Confucius, the purity of Zoroaster. You will call to mind the Moorish and
Christian civilizations of the eleventh and twelfth centuries that produced
1 Sculptors: Hernion A. MacNeil and Isidor Konti.

C

I,
pict258.jpg

THE BAHA’f WORLD

such noble mosques and cathedrals. Ah, you will hear, also, the wise and lovable St. Francis of Assisi bidding his listeners be happy
rejoicing in the Lord.
You will pause under the majestic Dome of the Rotunda for that whispering of the Muse which presages the world of tomorrow, and
you will envisage our continent transformed into a garden like unto the haunting charm of this “Dream City.”
As you wend your way, meditatively, round the crescent of the Colonnade, you will fancy you hear voices—voices of the New Day—
gently but insistently summoning you to that universal love which is eternal. Your hearts will be strangely stirred and will overflow
with that love which must create beauty because it is so joyous, so glad to give, so sensitive it cannot tolerate injustice, or misery that
can be relieved; and you will yearn to see your fellow-beings released from the bonds of poverty and from the menace of war.
Friends, in view of the discouraging in-

ternational outlook, you may think such idealism is not translatable into actuality. But let us not despair. Do we not
know that portentous changes are destined for this era of awakening? May we not, then, look confidently to the Day
when the promises of the Prophets shall be fulfilled and the children of men dwell together in brotherhood and peace?
In that Day, when love which is born of the Infinite shall hold sway, the inhumanities of man shall be swept away, and
Justice shall reign supreme upon this earth!
The Chairman: We are grateful to Mrs. Ford for her inspirational and instructive discourse.
Another friend, a member of the national Bahá’l Executive Board, who has come from Boston to attend this Congress,
will favor us with a few words.
It is a distinct privilege to present our esteemed and genial co-worker, Mr. William H. Randall.

THE ‘tCITY OF PEACE”—A SYMBOL OF UNITY MR. WILLIAM H. RANDALL

This gracious reception has deeply touched us and I am extremely glad for the opportunity to express to Mr. Britton
and Mr. Scott how greatly we appreciate their having taken us right into the heart of this matchless Exposition, and I
assure them we bring to that heart the love of humanity and the highest vision with which God has endowed us.
Even before we had arrived in San Francisco we knew we were to enter the melting-pot of the East and the West
whence all emerge as brothers, for as we boarded the ferry at the Oakland pier and gazed across the bay we beheld the
greeting: CALIFORNIA WELCOMES THE WORLD’— a
paean of brotherhood!
As I strolled in the Exposition gardens an hour ago it seemed to me that Aladdin must have stood out there with his
lamp and just wished that there should immediately appear the most marvelous city the world has ever seen, the acme
of structural symmetry and scientific perfection.

This “Jewel City” is a universal city, as every nation has contributed to its development. In addition, it reflects the sacrifice and the
love of San Francisco and California for humanity, because in a time of war you have steadfastly toiled to build this amazing “City of
Peace” that it might herald to the wide world the peace in the hearts of the American people, and exemplify the blessings of peace.
Furthermore, this magical “City of Light” has been reared upon the shores of the greatest ocean—the ocean named for peace!
Assuredly the Golden Gate is the hope of humanity.
The contribution that the nations have to offer one another is not their commercialism. It is the wealth of their spiritual culture.
Prejudice—religious, social and racial—has apparently choked the arteries of the body of humanity, impeding the stream of that
1 The greeting, in enormous electrically lighted letters, placed by the Exposition Company high on tbe Union Ferry Station, facing the
incoming boats.

BAHA’I CONGRESS DAY

love and wisdom which flow from the Great Power of all.
The Bahá’is are seeking to break down these barriers—every barrier of prejudice, every race hatred, every religious
misunderstanding—that through the organism of humanity may course the love and the bounty that the Creator has in store for us. If
we but lift our eyes and our hearts we shall receive the gift.
Over sixty years ago Bahá’u’llah, arising in Persia in a time of moral decadence and corruption, restored to man that gift whereby he
may become acquainted with the knowledge of God. As a matter of fact, he has never been deprived of that gift, it being the bestowal
of every Prophet. It is the very continuity of prophetic vision; but man has not received it, persisting in his isolation from God,
although God has not been isolated from man.
I do not intend to make a speech, hut briefly I should like to emphasize the necessity for unity. A simple illustration will suffice.
Every kingdom of existence is governed by the law of unity, and thrives and grows and reveals its hidden secrets in conformity with
this law.
There are no eight-hour labor days for the sun. The sun has no night—it keeps right on shining! It shines because it loves to shine, and
there is neither effort nor complaint. Has anyone ever heard of a sunbeam making a complaint? As every atom of the sun is in affinity
with every other atom, there is absolute unity, and the whole sheds a radiance that is a perfect conflagration!
The sun pours out this energy, imparting life to every world dependent upon it. And that is precisely what God is doing for us even
though we be unaware of His magnanimity.
If we could only understand unity, we should be aflame with love, and there would be no sickness, no poverty, no conflict, as we
should be harnessed solely to the divine energy and our activities would be tantamount to our joys.
Nature knows unity. The stones know it. Are we not better than the stones? Yet we have separated ourselves from the very principle
and power that would enable us to
attain that unity which would assure us the joys of life.
God did not make this earth and a few stars and then cease from His labors. He has made worlds within worlds, mysteries within
mysteries, and the key that will unlock these worlds and these mysteries, and disclose to us the knowledge of earth and of heaven, is
the key of unity.
Unity—the very core of the Bahá’i Revelation! From that core, even as rays from the sun, the light of this New Day radiates to the
entire race—the hght of the basic principles upon which unity depends: the solidarity or oneness of mankind, and the fundamental
oneness of Religion.
God in His singleness did not create a universe that could be other than one. If we rise to this vision, if we cease being centered in self
and turn our eyes to that sublime center which is God, we shall realize that we were intended to be a brotherhood, not antagonistic
races, colors, or nations. Is it more commendable to love the nation we call our nation, or to love humanity from which all nations
emanate and in which all nations merge?
As I have stated, the gift of the knowledge of God has been the beneficence of every Prophet, but man has wittingly ignored it, feeling
he could do better “going it alone,” that his individual interest outweighed that for which God had pre-determined him. But when we
awaken to the cosmic vision and acquire a race-deep consciousness, we discover that submission to the law of God entails benefits
transcending any conception of which the human mind is capable.
Three years ago when ‘Abdu’l-Bahã visited California He spoke of San Francisco as being a city of singular freedom. How fitting,
then, that it should be the setting for the First International Bahá’i Congress.
Freedom — the initial step toward the emancipation of self and the race; freedom from every prejudice, every limitation! Only thus may
we amalgamate and become a coherent whole.
Bahá’u’llâh has given us the knowledge of God, the knowledge of unity, and the ability to express this unity in action. Consequently,
in every country, the Bahã’is in

THE BAHA’I WORLD

little groups are striving for the welfare and unity of their fellow men, and by such means the Bahá’i Movement is fast
encircling the globe.
The secret of this success is the love of service, for when we begin to serve we begin to contact the Divine power that is
patiently waiting to mold us into the image and likeness of God in which we were created.

In closing, may I say that the Bahá’i Movement is not a new religion. It is the spirit of all religions, “a new statement
and a new demonstration of the power of God which is working for the education and the uplift of humanity.”
The Chairman: The concluding remarks on this never-to-be-forgotten occasion will be intrusted to our President, Dr.
D’Evelyn.

CONCLUSION
B DR. FREDERICK W. D’EVELYN

On behalf of the First International Bahá’i Congress and of the San Francisco Bahã’i Assembly, I desire to thank the
honorable John A. Britton and the Honorable
A. W. Scott, Jr., for their part in these ceremonies, as representatives of the Exposition Company, also for the cordial
and unfailing cooperation accorded us by their offices during the period of preparation.
In truth, this is a day never to be forgotten.
It is no small boon that while Europe is at war the Bahá’is are permitted to fore- gather in this “City of Peace” in the
name of human brotherhood.
Our meeting has been but for a fleeting hour, yet its fragrance will forever linger as a precious memory. Its inner
significances,

as the years roll on, will constantly unfold, and the unity we exult in today shall be the heritage of countless generations
to come.
Ere long the beauty of the wondrous palaces that now surround us will vanish; their being will become placeless, their
story a recessional.
The seasons will repeat themselves. The tides of the ocean will ebb and flow through the portals of the Golden Gate.
The days will dawn and the nights descend, and the peoples will depart and go their way.
But in this favored land there shall abide the spirit of unity, for we have the assurance that the seeds sown in this new
springtide shall in the fulness of time bring forth their blessed fruit.

ALLAH-u-AI5HA!
5.

BAHA’I MESSAGE TO THE
UNIVERSITIES OF NORTHERN INDIA
Br MARTHA L. RooT

LAHORE.—I began the tour of the Universities of Northern India, on October 5th, 1938 at Lahore, where I delivered
my first lecture in the Dyal Singh College, to an audience of 1,000 students and the staff. Arrangements were made by
the Professor of English Literature for a lecture to his English classes. Students were enthusiastic and demanded
booklets. Another lecture, arranged by the Professor of Comparative Religions, was delivered to an audience of 200
students who asked me to speak on “Inner Teaching of the Bahá’i Faith.”
The following day I lectured in the S. D. College on The BahcI’I Faith and World Peace. A journalist, a correspondent
of a daily paper, was eager to procure the Dawn Breakers and THE BAHA’I WoRLn for his library. On October 7th, I
delivered my first of the inaugurated series of public lectures in the New Sikh National College; this was attended by
200 students, members of the staff, and representatives of two standard dailies of India. Articles appeared in English as
well as vernacular dailies, and I was visited by the representative of The Statesman, who displayed immense interest
and said that he heard of the Bahá’i Faith first from an American woman journalist who had stayed in Lahore for a
year. This young man got an article printed in the Sunday edition of the Statesman, which has a circulation of 55,000.
AM1UT5AR.—I spoke at noon, October 10th, in Khalsa College to 700 students. The Principal of the College
presided. Later he showed us their prayer hall and explained the religious training the students were receiving. At two
o’clock in the afternoon 600 students were present when I spoke in Hindu Sabha College. Principal K. L. Bhatia was
the chairman. He said in his closing remarks that their college is not orthodox, but is open to students of all faiths and
he

recommended that the students study well these teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. I am happy to say that fifty college girl students were
present in the audience. That was the greatest number of girls that I had in any coeducational university lecture in Northern India.
JULLUNDUK.—On October 11th I delivered a lecture in the Dyanand AngloVedic College to a combined audience of students and
lecturers numbering 850. As in every college and university during the tour there was a rush for booklets and of course we put several
books in their library. After tea, the Principal took us to the Women’s Affiliated College, where I had the joy of addressing them. Then
we took again two tongas (a kind of jaunting cart where the driver faces forward and the passenger faces backwards) and came to the
railway station.
LUDHXANA.—On the morning of October 12th I lectured in the Ludhiana Government College to 425 men and 25 girl students. The
Principal, Dr. A. C. C. Harvey, presided, and in his remarks encouraged the students to study the New Faith. From one of the
professors we got a card of introduction to the Registrar of the Delhi University.
PATIALA.—Reaching Patiala on October 13th we met the Director of Public Instruction, who arranged for a lecture in the “Scouts
Camp” that same day, the subject being Scouts and Peace. More than 100 boys were present, all received booklets. An article was
sent out to the press of India.
On October 14th I spoke in the Mohendra College, Patiala, on What Is Culture? to an audience of 350 students. The next day I had
an audience with the young Maharaj a of Patiala, who said he had heard about the Bahã’i Faith but had not studied it. The Maharaja,
who is a Sikh, asked many ques 809

I
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The tenth annual convention of the Bahá’is of India and Burma held in Karachi, 1938. Miss Martha Root is seated in
the center.

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MESSAGE TO UNIVERSITIES OF NORTHERN INDIA

tions about the Cause, and wanted to know if in becoming a Bahá’i, one has to give up one’s own religion. We met
several of the officials of his government. We gave books to the Maharaj ah and his officials and to the college.
DELHI.—Delhi is the capital of India at the present time and it has been the capital of this great country from time
immemorial. We were welcomed at the Delhi station by the local Bahá’is. It was the Feast Day (October 16th) and we
gave a feast in the afternoon to the Bahá’is of Delhi.
On the morning of the 18th of October I spoke in the Hindu College Auditorium before 95 0 students and members of
the staff on What Is Culture? giving, of course, the Bahá’i teachings for culture. (Every lecture in India has been a
Bahá’i lecture whatever the subject, the theme is always one—The teachings of the Bahd’I Faith.) This University is a
federated university of five colleges. Hindu College and the other colleges where I spoke were all parts of the
University, so that really it was three university lectures which I gave on October 18th. The Principal spoke of the great
poets and culture of Iran where in the 19th century Bahá’u’lláh came. “His teachings also are very poetic and this
movement is well worth studying,” were his concluding remarks.
At 2:15 P.M. on the same day I lectured in the Indraprasta Girls College to 180 girl students. The Professor of English
said that she had read many books on the Faith. After resting for an hour in the Principal’s room, I went to the Delhi
University buildings, where the Registrar had arranged for a meeting of professors of philosophy, Iran- ian and English.
The professors at the tea asked many questions. We gave booklets to the gathered professors and books to the
University library. This gathering opened the doors to other lectures and I could have given a number of other lectures
in the colleges and schools of Delhi if I could have remained longer.
That evening, October 18th, at 10 P.M. I broadcast over the All-India Radio, which goes to every part of India and
Ceylon and nearly all nearby countries. I gave two copies of the book Tdhirih to the officials.

The next day I lectured at Ramjas College to the staff and students; 350 students were present. A résumé of my lecture was sent to the
United Press Association by the Principal. The same evening, October 19th, I gave an address in the Anglo Arabic College to the four
classes in philosophy. This is a Muslim institution and has 275 boy students.
Immediately after this lecture, I went to great Arya Samaj Hall, one of the largest halls in Delhi, where I gave a public lecture on a
Peace Message to a Warring World. A member of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma spoke on the history of
the Bahá’i Faith in the Urdu language. Literature was given to 300 people.
The next day, October 2 0th, being the Birthday of the Bab, at 9 A.M. the Bahá’is of Delhi gave a beautiful Bahá’i feast in the home of
one of the believers. The same afternoon I spoke in the Ramjas Intermediate College to a gathering of 110 pupils. The Principal asked
me to speak directly on the subject What Is the Bahd’I Faith? The same evening we left for Aligarh.
ALSGARH.—We reached Aligarh late that night, October 2 0th. Aligarh interested us so much because our beloved Guardian, Shoghi
Effendi, has said that the Banner of Bahá’u’lláh will be raised in India from Aligarh. One of the Bahá’is of Aligarh had arranged three
lectures for us, one before the Bar Association, which includes all the leading lawyers of Aligarh—some fifty members; another in the
Muslim Girls’ College, which is a part of Aligarh University, and a public lecture in the Lyall library hall on Monday, October 24th.
We called upon one of the great professors of the University who had been most friendly to other Bahá’i speakers. We had come to
Aligarh at a most inauspicious time. The University was closed, there was some communal disturbance in the city and it was the
beginning of the Mohammadan Fast. Consequently no public lectures could be arranged in the University. However, we visited the
University and met the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and spoke of the Teachings and visited the University library to see what Bahá’i books
they have. We called upon the Professor of Iranian, whom I had met before. Then on

THE BAHA’i WORLD

the afternoon of the same day I began with lectures. I spoke at four o’clock before the lawyers of Aligarh, in the library of tbe
courthouse. Books were placed in the Law Library.
The next afternoon, October 23rd, I spoke in the home of the University Professor of history and economics, who is known all over
India as a scholar, and one who has the deepest insight into the knowledge of Sflfiism. The Professor had visited [ran and been the
guest of Bahá’is.
Next day, October 24th, although it was a great Hindu festival and holiday, all schools being closed for three days, I spoke in the
morning in the Lyall Library to more than 100 people, including three Principals of schools and members of their staff. A number of
students from the Aligarh University were present. That very evening I spoke in the Lyall library hall to an audience of 800 people. A
number returned disappointed because of the lack of room. I spoke on How we may work for Universal Peace, giving the
principles of Bahá’u’lláh, and a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahf’is of India spoke on the history of the Faith.
Booklets were given out generously, and three or four Bahá’i books were placed in each library.
AGRA.—October 26: Our first visit to the Taj Mahal, the building which I had been waiting all my life to see. I think the Bahá’i
Temple in Chicago and the Taj Mahal are the two most beautiful buildings I have ever looked upon; but our Bahã’i Temple is the
more beautiful of the two. The Bahã’i Temple is filled with the Holy Spirit, one can feel the living pressure of the infinite unknowable
God in that majestic House of Worship. On the other hand, the Taj Mahal, named after the queen wife—Mumtaz Mahal—is her tomb,
the most lovely resting place any woman on this earth ever had; and on either side are great and imposing buildings—one a mosque in
which people may worship God and the other a rest house in which the travellers may rest. The whole plan is spiritual and appealing,
but the Bahá’i Temple in Chicago with its new unsurpassed and unparalleled architecture is the “Dawning Place of Prayer” for

religionists of the whole world and the whole Heavenly House is reared to the Glory of God.
I had time to go only once to this lovely Taj Mahal, for I had come to search out and meet the university people of Agra. That evening
we met people and arranged the program of events.
On October 27th my first lecture in the Dyal Bagh Colony was in the Men’s College of the Radhaswami Educational Institute, to
several hundred students. The Principal of the College presided. He said in his introduction that their late leader, Sir Sahibji Maharaj,
had met several Bahá’is and was very friendly to the Movement. He also said that other Bahf’i lecturers had spoken in this Colony. I
gave a lecture that same afternoon in the Girls’ College in the Colony, where 350 students are enrolled. The Principal, Miss Gladys R.
Clive, presided. She urged the pupils to study the Bahá’i books that I had presented to the library and she herself came to call upon me
and we had a long talk in the evening. Also that same afternoon Prof. Shyama Charan of Agra College called and brought his friend,
Prof. P. M. Bhambhani, professor of philosophy. These two men arranged my lecture in Agra College for the following evening under
the auspices of the Philosophical Society. Preceding that lecture Prof. Shayama Charan who is the president of the Theosophical
Society of Agra, gave a tea in his home for us to meet his family and several professors and theosophists. Then we all went to the
lecture together where an audience of 200 students awaited us.
Prof. Shayama Charan who was asked to preside said at the close of the lecture:”You are the quietest audience I have yet seen in our
college and it shows that the lecturer spoke straight to your hearts.” He further said, “Our women hold us back because they are very
conservative and orthodox. We want freedom and we do not get it; our women wish freedom and we do not give it to them. We cannot
be free until our women are free.” Prof. Bhambhani also spoke to the students at the close of the lecture: “The words of this Bahi’i
message are so precious, let their teachings sink deep into your heart.”

MESSAGE TO UNIVERSITIES OF NORTHERN INDIA

The next morning a few students came to ask questions. One young student who had never before heard about the Cause had a long
series of questions written down and he asked each one of them. He was so earnest and went away with happiness in his heart.
Another student came to see us— an Iranian but born in India. He will come to the United States in April to study in Columbia
University. We gave a tea that afternoon to a few of these professors who at tea said that they were very eager to get books and study
the Bahá’i teachings.
LucxNow.—We reached Lucknow, a city of 300,000 souls, on October 3 1st. We went first to the professor of sociology in Lucknow University, a very important university in the United Provinces of India. This professor was Dr. R. Mukerjee who last summer
had given a course of eight lectures in the University of Chicago. He arranged for me to speak on Culture and World Peace to 300
students and some members of the staff. Dr. Mukerjee presided. In his summing up he said that it was refreshing to remember that
once again an Asiatic mystic, Bahá’u’llah, as Buddha and Christ of old, gave to the distracted modern economic world the idea of
peace and brotherhood. It was not the economic interdependence of nations, as Norman Angell and Keynes thought, nor the mere fury
of destruction of modern weapons of war that would lead the world to peace.
“Economic blocks between dictator-ridden and democratic countries foster racial antagonisms today. Dictators, though they know that
victors and vanquished will equally perish, still hanker after aggression to maintain their authority at home. True world peace can
come only through re-education, the appraisal of the spiritual treasures of different peoples and nations which are embedded in their
art and literature. This will promote international understanding and, perhaps, Esperanto as an international auxiliary language will be
helpful.
“However, the more significant re-education will come through the spiritual discipline of the individual. It is the cultivation of the
cosmic consciousness that personality, though focused in individuality, transcends the barriers of country and culture and is

one with universal humanity, deified as God, which may engender the right peace attitude in the youths of all nations. Nothing more
and nothing less than the cultivation of this mystic sense can develop that sense of the oneness of humanity, which is the best
guarantee of the brotherhood of nations.”
This Lucknow University has one of the best university libraries I have seen in India. They have one copy of volume five of the
BAHA’i WORLD. The magazine World Order is in their library; professors and students praise it very much.
Prof. Mukerjee came to tea with me in the hotel and gave me an excellent interview which I think I can use in the next BAHA’i
WORLD. He gave me a letter of introduction to Miss Shannon, Principal of the Isabella Thoburn College for Girls, which is also a
part of Lueknow University. This college has the distinction of having the only international relations club in all India. I spoke in this
college at the chapel hour on November 3rd to 250 girls. I have spoken of Tahirih, too, as well as the Bahá’i principles and placed the
book Tdhirih, the Pure, Irdn’s Greatest Woman in every library in men’s colleges and in girls’ colleges. We had a wonderful
supply of Bahá’i literature in Hindi, Urdu and English and sometimes in universities 500 or 600 booklets are given out at one lecture.
There is such a rush to capture a booklet that we had to say that the booklets on the speakers’ table would be sent to the library and
any student interested could get a copy.
CAwNPORE.—We arrived in Cawnpore on November 3rd and on November 4th we arranged to speak in two colleges. At the S. D.
College of Commerce I spoke to 700 students on the New Solution of the Economic Problem. The Principal, L. C. Tan- don, who
presided, said in his concluding remarks that this Bahá’i solution of the economic problem was very practical. The idea of the central
store house, to which a part of society’s wealth would come through graduated taxation, or through voluntary contributions, was a
very fine idea. If such a central store house could be established in every village, he was sure that 90 per cent of the educational
problem would be solved.
At the Balika Vidyala Intermediate Col

THE BAHA’i WORLD

lege for Girls I spoke to 250 girls on “The Higher Values in Culture.”
ALLAHABAD.—We reached Allahabad on November 5th. The university here has more than 2,000 students.
Allahabad is also a great centre of the Theosophists and on November 6th I spoke before the Theosophical Society in
Besant Hall. The audience was composed entirely of professors and students from the University. Dr. M. Hafiz Syed,
Professor of Oriental languages in the University, a friend whom I had met at the Indore Religious Conference,
presided. They had already arranged a public lecture for me in their large Theosophieal Hall for the following evening,
November 7th, on thq subject The Bahd’I Faith—Its International Fellowship. At this lecture the former Vice-
Chancellor, Pandit Iqbal Narain Gurtu, a great scholar and a leading Theosophist in India, presided. In summing up he
deplored the hatred let loose in the world through divisions based on religion, nationality, race and class. “When
differences of religion appear remember that any faith that works for unity in religion is on the right path.” In talking of
religion he meant the higher spirit underlying true religion and not the outer form.
November 7th and 8th were holidays for the University. However, some students from the Muslim Hostel of the
University, where 75 young men reside, invited Prof. Pritam Singh, Mr. S. H. Koreishi and myself to come to their
hostel and speak to them on The Bahd’I Faith. They also put notices into the newspaper inviting the public. Prof.
Pritam Singh spoke on history of the Cause, Mr. Koreishi on the Bahá’i principles, particularly in their relation to
Islam, and I spoke on the progress of the Faith in the five continents. Our Chairman, Mr. M. Naimur Rahmán, lecturer
in Arabic and Persian in Allahabad University, in his closing remarks, to our astonishment said that he was about as old
as we are (spiritually) because the first time he heard of the Bahá’i Faith was in June, 1910, in Lahore! Again by
coincidence and a very happy one, he had heard a Bahã’i, Miss Stoddard, give a Bahá’i lecture. He said, “I was shy; I
wondered if I would even be admitted to such a lecture, but instead of being afraid, I was

truly thrilled because I had heard something new. I had already studied much about Islam and other rehgions. Here was a new
universal religion. My interest has not flagged in all these years! Two years later, I had the privilege of hearing an Iranian Bahá’i, the
late Prof. M. R. Shirázi of Karachi, and just in those months I had been reading a great deal about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s travels in the United
States. After that I heard one Bahá’i lecture in Madras and one in Benares. Two years later Prof. Pritam Singh came to Allahabad and
I arranged for his Bahá’i lecture in the Oriental department of this university.”
“Inmn is certainly hke a rubber ball. It has been attacked so many times but it always rebounds and today it is going strong. During
the middle of the nineteenth century when every king in Iran was at his lowest, that country did indeed require somebody to help it
and the Báb appeared as a John the Baptist of Iran. His Message, passed down from prophet to prophet, is only one in the long chain. I
advise you to read the very interesting book, “The Dawn Breakers,” which fortunately our library possesses. I urge you to read it as
students and as Muslims. Whether or not we believe in any prophet after Muhammad, let us hear and learn all we can, and then come
to our conclusions.”
Then on November 9th at 6 P.M. I had the big lecture open to all the students of the University. The event took place in the law
College Hall and the Dean of the Law Department of the University, Prof. A. P. Dube, presided. Four hundred students filled the hall
and in the front seats were the girl students. It was a wonderful audience and they listened with deep interest. The Chairman in his
closing remarks said to the students that these spiritual ideals of the Bahã’i Faith had fired all our thoughts, and that he as a professor
of international law, where all subjects now center in war, had listened today to a great presentation of peace. He said the question is
how we may live up to these ideals; it is a question of character, how we can act up to these higher impulses; but if we really live
them, we shall become so broad that after a few years we shall accept truth from whatsoever quarter it

MESSAGE TO UNIVERSITIES OF NORTHERN INDIA

comes.” He urged them to think about what they had heard and make up their minds as to what they wish to do in the
future. Books were placed in the library. The rush for the pamphlets was such a stampede that the booklets had to be
thrown to them from the platform.
The representative of The Leader of
Allahabad, a paper with a circulation of
15,000 and the most important in the whole
United Provinces, was present and wrote an
excellent article which appeared November
12th.
BENARE5.—We reached Benares in the morning of November 10th. It is a city of 150,000 and its university is one of
the largest; it has 3,400 students. Our program here was as follows:
On the afternoon of November 11th I spoke at the Women’s College of the University of Benares, the event being
under the auspices of the Literary and Debating Union of this college. The President of this union, a young woman
professor from Karachi, Miss T. L. Wadhwani, who had heard me in her home city during the summer vacation,
arranged this lecture. Members of the staff and 150 students were present.
The next day, Bahã’u’lláh’s Birthday, November 12th, was a most happy day. I lectured at 11 A.M. in Queen’s
Government Technical Intermediate College for Boys. Principal B. Sonjiv Dad presided. The entire teaching staff and
600 students were present.
Immediately after that lecture we went to the home of Dr. Bhagwan Das, one of the great scholars of comparative
religions in Benares and a well-known author. He said to us among other things in an interview:
“I have great admiration for the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahã. They are teachings of the very highest
order. I believe these two great teachers belong to that spiritual race which is perpetually trying to keep the forces of
darkness from engulfing mankind. All who are well-wishers of their fellow men must cooperate with the Bahá’I Faith
to the best of their ability. My only suggestion is that the followers of this Bahâ’i Movement work out a scheme of
social organization which will make it possible for this high ethical teaching to be regarded as

practical and practicable.” Dr. Bhagwan Das is a Theosophist.
From his house I went on to speak before the students of the great Hindu University. Principal S. C. De presided. Five
hundred students were present. There was a tremendous rush for the literature
The next day, Sunday, November 13th, I lectured in the Theosophical Society Hall of Benares. Immediately after that
lecture we called upon Principal Rewa Rao, a Theosophist, who had travelled all around the world with the
Krishnamurti, and he asked me to speak to the young men of the Theosophical National Boys’ College the next
morning at 9.45. This I did and in his closing speech Principal Rao said: “Now we can never blush with shame that we
have never heard of this great Bahf’i Movement which has come out of the East. We have had a very clear exposition
of it, leaving us richer. Let us ponder well and derive what benefit we can.”
PAvNA.—We came to Patna, a city of 160,000 people in Bihar Province, on November 14th and I spoke the next
morning in the Patna University to more than 350 students. This institution has 600 students including 40 girls. Prof.
Gyan Chand presided and in summing up one of his statements was the following:
“In these times without cheer, this lecture on World Order and World Peace comes as an inspiring message. The
more we have of the Bahf’i Faith the better. These principles are truths of fundamental importance; the students of
economics are not used to having things put in the way they have been today. This is a new strain in economics, but its
bearing on economic problems is profound and far-reaching. If we could put these principles into practice— namely
that there should be work for all and all should work and there should be a living wage for all—we should have a
different and a better world to hve in.”
Afterwards at a tea which this professor and his wife gave to enable a few friends to meet us, Professor Chand said that
H. G. Wells also had predicted a world chaos before a world order. He added, “The Bahá’i Faith is a great movement
working for international peace and goodwill. Its achieve-

THE BAHA’i WORLD

ments are creditable and it holds out a great promise for the future. I wish it all success.”
On the evening of November 15th I lectured in the Brahmo Samaj Hall. Every seat was taken. Dr. Sen presided. He had
been the representative of the Brahmo Samaj at the All-Faiths’ Conference in Cambridge in 1938. In summing up Dr.
Sen said: “In these lectures and in parliaments of religions people try to get in touch with each other, try to understand
each other and this is of inestimable value. The form of a spiritual culture may take on a national form, but its
international fundamentals are the same.” The audience was composed of many university students and several
professors. Prof. D. N. Sen arose and said that the Gospel of Bahá’u’lláh had been presented to them eight years ago in
Bihar National College where he was principal, when Miss Root consecrated the new College Hall. Her inaugural
speech in that hall formally opened on that day had been on the Bahá’i principles. He added, “The second meeting in
Patna makes me very glad. These promises of Bahá’u’lláh are truly a great message of brotherhood.”
That same afternoon I spoke before 600 students and professors in Bihar National College—in the same hall where I
had given the Bahá’i lecture on its formal opening day eight years before. Prof. B. M. K. Sinha, professor of English
literature, presided. Prof. D. H. Sen sat on the platform and spoke at the close of the lecture, saying that he had met
people interested in this great Bahã’i Movement and that he is always happy to meet them. He also stated: “The
vanguards everywhere are pressing forward to a universal religion.” His nephew, a young professor in the same
college, in his speech of thanks said: “We in India are struggling for the equality of our women in the near future. We
are trying to do away with prejudice and develop along spiritual lines as Bahâ’u’lláh wished us to do.”
CALcUTTA.—We reached Calcutta on the morning of November 17th and in the afternoon I spoke on The Bahd’i
Faith and Theosophy in the Theosophical Hall. Having spent November 18th in arranging lectures, on the 19th of
November I spoke before 500 people at the Brahmo Samaj Cen tenar

celebrations. There is a very warm friendship between Brahmo Samaj and Bahá’i brothers and sisters. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that Brahmo
Samaj is doing a great work in India, and Shoghi Effendi has told us to work with Brahmo Samaj. (The students from Brahmo Samaj
come to the United States often to study in Unitarian theological schools.)
Sunday, November 2 0th, we had a beautiful meeting in Bahá’i Hall, which was crowded. I spoke on the tour to the Northern
universities and colleges of India and what the professors and students said about these new teachings. I should say also that each day
in Calcutta friends came and inquirers called to ask about the Bahá’i Teachings. November 21st was spent in arranging lectures. On
Tuesday, November 2 2nd, I gave a public lecture under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, when Prof. Tulsi Das Khar,
Honorary Secretary of the Bengal Federation of the Theosophical Societies, presided. He stressed that the next step the world must
take is towards internationalism and unity of all humanity. He added: ttj do not say that the Bahã’i Movement is the only movement
that will bring it. The Theosophical Society and the Rama Krishna Mission will also help. The religion of the world must be a
universal religion, and if we do not establish internationalism we shall be wiped out by international war and other people will achieve
it. The Theosophical Movement is a part of the Bahá’i Movement; they must advance together to the same goal, and can be helpful
one to the other.” I remember so well ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words. He said that the Theosophists are our friends, and truly in every part of
the world I have found them true friends.
On November 23rd, a Feast Day, we had a large and lovely meeting and dinner in Bahá’i Hall. On November 24th friends called upon
us most of the day and in the evening at Bahá’i Hall. I spoke to the teaching committee on the subject Teaching the Bahd’I
Faith.
On November 25th I spoke at the ladies’ conference of the Brahmo Samaj Centenary to 300 women. Mrs. Hemlata Tagore, niece of
the poet Rabindranath Tagore, presided and was also the interpreter of my lecture. They asked me to include in my lecture how

MESSAGE TO UNIVERSITIES OF NORTHERN INDIA

I first heard of the Bahá’i Faith and what Bahá’i women throughout the world are doing. Mrs. Tagore also spoke fervently of the
Bahã’i Faith and said that she had sometimes translated the words of Bahã’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and printed them in her Bengali
magazine Ban glalthi. I gave her the
Tdhirih book and Bahd’u’lldh and the New Era in Bengali. She is a great English scholar too. Her address is 60/B Mirzapur
Street, Calcutta. That same afternoon Her Highness Maharani Sucharu Devi spoke very beautifully and two nieces of Dr. Tagore gave
short addresses. A loud speaker made it possible for several hundred men outside in the garden to hear these speeches.
Saturday, November 2 6th, I delivered a lecture in the Indian Research Institute Hall to a mixed audience of professors, members of
the Institute, an ulama, a number of students and some of the Bahf’i youth. The Chairman, Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, professor of Indian
history in Calcutta University, in his closing remarks said that the silence had been supreme, the audience had been spellbound, and
that the audience though not large was composed of many thoughtful scholars who had listened to every word. He said he was glad to
find that America was changing and it was time for Bahá’is and a Temple of Peace. He also said:
“America is noted for such gigantic things and now it is a great attainment that the United States has a Temple of Peace in Chicago
where all the Bibles of the world are read. I hope the day is not far distant in India when we shall do as the Americans have done.” He
added that what had appealed to him most in these Bahá’i principles was work for all and all must work, and that work in the spirit of
service is as worship in the sight of God. Religion must be made practical.”
Dr. Satish Chandra Seal (Hon. General Secretary of the Institute) also spoke, saying that he hoped Bahá’is from the United States and
all other countries will come to Calcutta in mid-December, 1939, and take part, when under the auspices of this Indian Research
Institute the third Cultural Conference and the Second Convention of Religions will take place. He added, too, the words, “I hope and
pray there will be many new adherents of

the Bahá’i Faith all around the world and here also.” He wishes to have an exchange between their magazine and World Order, the
Bahã’i Magazine.
On November 27th in the evening a great meeting was held in Arya Samaj Mandir, where more than 500 people were present. The
Chairman, Rev. Pandit Ayodhya Prashad, Vedic missionary of the Arya Samaj, I had met before in 1930. Since then, in 1933, he has
made a trip to the United States representing the Arya Samaj of India in the Chicago Fellowship of Faiths. He told me that he had
spoken in the Bahâ’i Temple at Wilmette on The Message of Lord Bahd and had met many of my Baha’i friends in Chicago and in
New York.
I spoke on the Principles and Progress of the Baha”I Faith. Prof. Pritam Singh interpreted in the Hindustani language and gave
an address on the History of the Bahd’I Faith. Then the Rev. Prashad, a most eloquent speaker whose lips were touched with the
fire of truth, spoke for one hour and told them what he had seen of the Bahá’i religion at first hand in the United States.
December 1st I had the great privilege of lecturing in the University of Calcutta. This is the oldest and largest university in India, fifty
colleges being affiliated with it. Fifteen hundred students are studying for their M.A. degree here and I spoke to them. The Darbhanga
Hall was filled. Sir S. Radhakrishnan, perhaps the greatest professor in India, who teaches one-half the year in Calcutta University and
one-half the year in Oxford University, arranged this lecture. I knew him. He wrote to the Registrar:
“I urge you to have this lecture, Culture and World Peace, it will be very beneficial to students.” Sir Radhakrishnan said he would
preside but he was called to Madras by telegram. Dr. K. D. Nag, a very eloquent and distinguished lecturer of the university who had
just returned that week from a lecturing tour around the world, was chosen as chairman.
Dr. Nag introduced me as a Bahá’i and told them I would speak on the cultural principles of this universal religion, and he spoke very
beautifully of the Cause. There was deep, serious interest and in his closing remarks Dr. Nag said that here in India souls

THE BAHA’! WORLD

are prepared for this great Bahá’i Message; that when in this humble city, Calcutta, in 1880 a small pamphlet was published about the
reconciliation of religions, it was the first trace of the study of comparative religions. The Brahmo Samaj (The Community of God)
sounded a note of synthesis . . . it stood for more than understanding, for real reverence for all religions, and was a great champion of
womanhood. Raj a Ram Mohun Roya (1772-1833) here in the Middle East linked the Near and Far East, he built a synthesis. All
during the nineteenth century India has been preparing her soul for reconciliation. India will always stand by this great Bahi’i Faith.
And India has been doing pioneering work for all Asia.”
On December 2nd I lectured in City College (affiliated with the University) to 800 boys and 14 girls. After the speech was

over the principal said to Mr. Sistani, the Bahá’i who survived the terrific rush for booklets: “I congratulate you on
having come out of the hall with your arms and legs still intact.” All were so eager for literature that one boy asked the
Bahá’i, “Please to send more booklets to be given to the boys who could not get any.” Three hundred more were sent to
them.
I started for Bombay on December 14th. A program of lectures will be arranged there by the loved Bombay believers.
The cherished devoted brothers and sisters of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma are coming to
Bombay December 26th to hold a meeting, and specially, too, to bid me farewell and go with the Bombay friends to see
me off on the steamship Straithard, which will sail from Bombay December 29th for Australia.

1L,A prière est le chemin direct pour approcher Dieu. Queue soit constituée de pur langage spirituel jailli
spontanément de l’âme, soit de paroles humaines, quelle soit action, dIe demeure l’effort par excellence pour trouver le
contact divin, la station Ia plus exaltante pour l’âme avide de s’élever vers son Créateur.
Sans consideration de sa forme ni de son but, elle est “le langage de l’esprit” et du coeur (parole d’Abdu’l-Bahâ) qui,
montant par ie canal du Saint-Esprit et an travers de Ia Manifestation divine, atteint Dieu.
Toute Ia creation prie en fait. Le Maitre nous dit que “la plupart des creatures le font sans le savoir.” En effet, les
creatures autres que les hommes conscients prient inconsciemment selon leurs facultes; c’es-t presque une prièrereflexe: une rose baignee par les rayons solaires et arrosée d’une pluie bienfaisante s’épanouit gracieusement en
couleurs, émettant en retour un subtil parfum; ii s’elève comme une Iouange, une action de grace vers celui qui l’a
provoqué. La rose, inconsciente creature, prisonnière de sa sphere étroite d’activite, remercie Dieu de Ses dons-le soleil
et I’eau-par sa beaute et son parfum. Sans intelligence, sans volonté, elle accomplit son destin: adorer 1e Créateur par
son épanouissement. Elle ne peut éviter de l’accomplir, elle n’est pas libre; et si elle ne s’épnouit, elle meurt.
A l’homme, être mystérieux si essentiellement different de tout le reste de Ia creation, être conscient et libre, intelligent,
doue de comprehension et pourvu d’une si large sphere d’activite, est conféré un semblable destin dans un degre plus
élevé, destin a accomplir consciemment et volontairement. L’homme ne peut jamais connaitre le degre de profondeur
de sa prière, sa valeur; mais elle peut être consciente, volontaire, joyeuse,

désintéressee, reconnaissante, en un mot, porter tous les attributs dont ii est riche par les dons spéciaux reçus du
Créateur.
Au point de vue subjectif, on peut faire deux grandes divisions: la prière individuelle et Ia prière collective.
Individuelle, elle affecte autant d’aspects divers que d’individus et parmi chaque mdividu, présente autant de genres
que de sujets.
Dans ses objectifs varies, elle demande, elle supplie, elle remercie, elle glorifie, elle donne.
Elle s’exhale en pensées, en meditations, en paroles, en actions, en emotions spirituelles, etc.
Pour l’homme aussi, il existe une prière inconsciente; I’artiste livre tout entier a son art sans penser a Dieu l’Auteur
de tous les arts, Le loue sans s’en douter par son admiration; le savant même matérialiste qui étudie Ia nature,
s’émerveille des phénomenes, mentionne l’oeuvre sans nommer son Créateur et méme s’il le nie.
Ceux qui ne prient pas volontairement mettent quand méme a jour des oeuvres de valeur par le fruit de leur travail;
c’est une loi: un effort a toujours de la valeur et ces découvertes sont susceptibles d’amener du bien pour tous. Mais la
veritable prière est consciente. C’est celle qui admire, qui aime et s’inclmne en travaillant devant le Créateur de tout et
de tous. Alors, comme Ia rose qui s’étale, l’homme réfléchit en adoration vers son Père, les splendeurs qu’iI a recuesde
Lui.
L’homme doit employer les deux formes de prières suivant les cas. La forme mdividuelle est aujourd’hui ordonnée par
Bahá’u’llah pour I’evolution particuliere de chaque âme; on peut concevoir plusieurs raisons IL cette ordonnance: 10
Peut-être a cause des degres d’évolution différents de chaque mdividu; chacun prie suivant ses capacités, ses

6.

ESSAT SUR LES DIFFERENTES FORMES DE
PRIFRES
B LuCIEN L. MIGETTE
La riêre est reune conversation avec Dieu,” dit ‘Abdn’l-Bahd

Annual gathering of Bahâ’is at the commemoration service for Thornton Chase, the first believer of America.
Inglewood, California, September 30th, 1939.
r
i

ij.s

I

pict260.jpg

DIFFERENTES FORMES DE PRIERES

connaissances, son état intérieur, les buts qu’il se propose; chacun emploie le moyen particulier propre a l’élever le mieux.
2° Peut-être a cause des cristallisations inévitables qu’entraient la prière en cornmun; dans cette
circonstance, on est en effet oblige d’adopter une formule déterminée, purement humaine
jusqu’ici et touj ours la même. C’est une priêre cristallisée; elle vit moms qu’une inspiration
spontanée jaillie du coeur; Ia priêre, relation avec 1’Essence de Ia vie, doit être essentiellement
vivante et presque créée a l’instant ots on l’exhale. Les prières révélées par les Manifestations
divines ont seules ce don de conserver leur esprit vivant.
3° Enfin, a cause des désaccords et querelles provoqués par les goflts individuels. Chaque être,
touché plus spécialement par une I orme qui lui convient desire l’imposer; ces aspects prennent
alors tellement d’importance que les querelles effacent l’efficacité des priêres.
“Ii vous a été ordonné de prier seuls et le commandement de reunion est abrogé sauf dans la
prière des morts,” dit Bahá’u’llâh.
Comment expliquer cette exception? Dcvant le mystêre de l’au-dela oü nous n’avons aucune
entrée tant que nous sommes de ce mondc, nous sommes forces de nous arrêter muets, ignorants,
réconciliés par le chagrin d’une perte commune; il n’est plus question de connaissances, de
préférences, de supériorités; tous égaux dans notre ignorance, il ne nous reste plus que
I’alternative d’une supplication commune, indéterminée mais plus puissante par notre union, afin
que la miséricorde divine entoure I’être cher qui disparait.
Dans quel état devons-nous nous récueillir pour une conversation avec Dieu? Dans une détente,
un apaisement, un détachement les plus parfaits possibles. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá nous décrit cet état:
“c’est Ic langage de l’esprit qui parle a Dieu; quand dans Ia prière, nous sommes libérés de toutes
les choses extéricures et nous tournons vers Dieu, alors, c’est comme si, en nos coeurs, nous
entendions la voix de Dieu. Nous parlous sans paroles, nous communiquons, nous conversons
avec Dieu et entendons Ia réponse chacun de nous, quand il atteint un état vraiment spirituel, pcut entendre la voix de
...

Dieu.”

(Extrait d’une conversation avec ‘Abdu’lBahâ relatée par Miss Ethel Rosenberg.)
Un tel état d’abandon et de spontanéité nécessite pour se rapprocher de la perfection, ‘a solitude. Parfois, l’élan de
l’âme peut devenir tel que Ic corps lui-même le traduit par un geste involontaire. La priêre pour être profonde et
complete, doit être libre et elle ne peut l’être que dans la solitude.
Au point de vue objectif, on emploie toutes les formes abstraites et concretes, pensées et actions.
La prière prcnd un nom different suivant le but a atteindre: Ia supplication demande
secours physique ou moral, ou Ia force de vaincre une nature défectueuse; on peut désirer simplement se plonger dans
Ia mer de bonté pour. rafraichir son âme. Parfois, c’est la recherche d’une inspiration pour résoudre un probleme
difficile, cas de conduite embarrassant. Parfois encore, c’est I’effort de toutes nos facultés mentales pour dévoiler et
assimiler les mystêres caches de la creation; c’est ici le stade de la meditation.
Ces diverses priêrcs pensées sont indispensables a notre evolution spirituelle; celles qui glorifient Dieu sont justes bien
qu’Il n’en soit aucunement affecté en bien ni en mal dans Sa Majesté immuable et connue de Lui seul.
Celles qui supplient Ic Tout-Puissant sont normales. Dieu connait certes nos besoins, mais Ii nous a laissé dans le choix
motive de nos priêres, une certaine liberté:
nous pouvons aussi bien demander Ia sagesse que Ia richesse, souvenons-nous de Ia priêre de Salomon. II faut exposer
ses voeux; Dieu les voit et Ii sait les meilleures choses pour nous, niais peut-être, ce geste volontaire de notre part est-il
nécessaire pour mieux apprécier la faveur d’être exaucé.
La meditation est la concentration de I’esprit sur divers sujets, suivie de réflexion.
Par Ia concentration en soi-même, puis la réflexion, on connait ses faiblesses; par sa connaissance, on peut se modifier,
dévoiler ce germe spirituel enfoui en nous, se dépouiller des défauts qui l’empêchent de se manifester et par cet effort,
glorifier le don divin.
Dans un autre domaine, c’est aussi en meditant que I’on conçoit les oeuvres d’art, que l’on ébauche intuitivement les
hypotheses

THE BAHA’I WORLD

grandioses qui verront plus tard leurs verifications dans des realisations pratiques. Ce genre de meditation s’elève au
rang tIe prière si l’idee de servir Dieu et nos frères la domine.
Par la meditation encore, nous approchons les mystères divins et nous pouvons les percer avec Ia permission de Dieu.
Mahomet a dit:
“la prière est une echelle par laquelle l’hornme peut monter au ciel.”
En nous existe toute une richesse inconnue; elle y est enfouie et ne se decouvre que peu a peu par l’evolution.
Bahã’u’lláh, dans la tablette des Sept Vallees nous declare: “rendons grace a Celui qui a grave les antiques mystéres
sur la tablette de l’homme. “Ailleurs: “o Ills de l’existence, J’ai place sur Wi l’essence de Ma lumière, aie confiance en
dIe et en rien d’autre . . .“ puis: “Je t’ai cree riche . . . Je t’ai I ait noble . . .“ et encore: “tourne ton regard en toi-même, afin de
Me trouver au-dedans de toi, Puissant, Omnipotent Supreme.” et enfin: “0 mon serviteur, tu es comme l’epee de Ia
trempe Ia plus rare et du plus pur eclat enfermee en un sombre fourreau ce qui fait que sa qualite demeure cachee a
son artisan même. Sors du fourreau du moi et du desir, afin que ton eclat resplendisse et se manifeste au monde
entier.” Et c’est seulement dans la meditation que l’on arrive a pressentir les grandes verites spirituelles. Bahá’u’lláh
ajoute: “la langue est impuissante a decrire les splendeurs des dernières vallees. La plume n’y parviendra jamais, seule
l’ame peut les dire a l’ame et le coeur au coeur.”
Dans tous ces cas, l’homme emploie tantôt ses propres paroles, tantôt une prière revelee. Jamais, dans aucune
revelation du passe par- venue jusqu’à nous, une telle variete et richesse de prières ne fut repandue sur le monde. S’il
acceptait, certes en un clein d’oeil, il pourrait guerir toutes ses maladies. On conçoit sans peine quoiqu’
incompletement, combien elles doivent etre parfaites dans leurs formes et dans leurs buts. A la sincerite du suppliant
s’ajoute alors la puissance du Verbe divin revele. Et l’homme, sans en comprendre en son ampleur toute l’auguste
puissance potentielle, comme un enf ant jouant avec un levier immense, voit s’accomplir sous ses yeux le deploiement
de leur inexorable et prodigieuse action.

Mais aujourd’hui le monde ne connait pas encore toutes ces prières; incidemment, un cas peut demeurer imprevu; que
l’âme se soulève alors d’une facon spontanee, avec ses propres paroles, avec ses aspirations; toutes les formes de
prières, Dieu les accueille et les benit; mais pour que ces prières soient directes et portent rapidement leurs fruits, il ne
faut jamais omettre de les Lui adresser au travers de Sa Divine Manifestation, canal mysterieux cree dans ce but par
Lui-Même. Sans doute est-ce là le secret des fruits plus ou moms grands que nous en recueillons, dans un delai plus ou
moms rapide.
La prière en actions est multiple; d’une simple aumône faite a un mendiant, elle s’eleve jusqu’au sacrifice de sa vie
dans le chemin de lumière. L’action est la forme plus ou moms materialisee de la prière; faire l’aumône c’est prier pour
soulager le pauvre; travailler c’est prier pour le progrès; reconforter le desespere c’est prier pour son bonheur; soigner
le malade, c’est prier pour sa sante; enseigner les verites divines, c’est prier pour que les êtres connaissent vraiment
Dieu.
Chacun des actes de Ia vie peut devenir prière si le croyant l’effectue en l’associant a son amour de Dieu. Telle idee
jaillie du cerveau de l’homme peut se realiser pratiquement en prière s’il le desire. L’artiste realise la beaute, Ic savant
Ia science; si la creation de l’oeuvre d’art, si la decouverte scientifique sont effectuees pour louer Dieu, elles de
viennent prières. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá dit: “dans la Cause bahaie, les arts, les sciences et tous les metiers sont consideres
comme adoration.”
Certaines prières en forme d’action prouvent la sincerite des prières verbales ou pensees, elles en sont l’indispensable
suite. Si nous prions pour nous corriger d’un defaut, par exemple l’avarice, ot est la sincerite de notre desir de
changer si cette supplication n’est pas immediatement suivie par un acte de charite? Si nous priions par cette double
voix chaque fois que cela est possible, combien nos progrés seraient rapides; la forme concrete confirmant la forme
abstraité porterait les plus belles benedictions et les plus beaux fruits. Supposons un professeur enseignant les verites
divines; ii prie pour eclairer les etres, ii leur prete quelques lectures; puis, comme un moucheron, s’en va voler bien vite
vers d’autres et recommence;

DIFFERENTES FORMES DE PRIERES

le résultat ne peut étre maximum; en effet, ii doit certes prier en paroles, prêter des lectures, mais aussi expliquer
patiemment et commenter, saisir toutes occasions de leur rendre service, les soigner peut-étre; s’il est loin d’eux, ii doit
correspondre, s’il Ic peut, voyager vers eux; peut-être ainsi sa prière sera-t-elle complete en toutes ses formes. Dans les
paroles de sagesse, Bahá’u’lláh nous dit: “Ia vérité des paroles est éprouvée par les actes,” et ces mots peuvent
s’appliquer a Ia prière.
Une autre forme très haute, si haute qu’elle est choisie par les Sources de lumière divine est Ia souffrance. Le sacrifice
de soi est la prière ardente, parfaite, efficace par excellence; elle est Ia reddition complete de son étre pour sauver
l’humanité. N’est-ce pas une longue et tragique supplication que les vies de ces grands Etres cruellement torturés au
point de vue physique et spirituel, cette acceptation, cette recherche même des calamités les plus terribles avec joie,
avec amour, tandis qu’Ils ont encore la force et la maitrise de proclamer la Révélation des vérités régénératrices du
monde? Quels exemples de force Ils nous donnent pour supporter a notre tour dans Leur chemin, un peu de cette
souffrance. Endurer les railleries, les vexations, les humiliations des méchants, comme supporter les tortures physiques
au nom de la vérité est peut-être pour nous humains Ia forme la plus puissante de Ia prière, mais sans doute aussi Ia
plus laborieuse; ne sonce pas en effet grace a ces héros de la premiere heure, a leur sacrifice complet et instantanément
consenti que nous devons aujourd’hui cette lumiere dispensatrice déjà largement répandue par le monde?
II est permis de prier en tous lieux, car Dieu entend toujours Ses enfants. Il n’est pas indispensable de se rendre chaque
fois dans le Temple. Cependant ii y eut toujours des temples destinés a l’adoration de l’Etre Supreme. Et aujourd’hui
encore, Bahá’u’llah ordonne: “certes, un Mashriqu’l-Adhkár est toute maison consacrée a Ma Mention dans les villes
et les villages.”
Les temples du passé furent conçus suivant les esprits, les cultures par des hommes plus ou moms inspires. La plupart
des formes d’adoration fut imposées aux croyants par des prêtres, prières individuelles et céré monie

collectives. Et ii existe dans toute yule importante beaucoup d’eglises de toutes les confessions. Pour Ia premiere fois
dans l’histoire du monde oü nous évoluons, un temple est construit destine a ouvrir ses portes a toutes les priêres
quelque soit Ia source de la foi qui les inspire. Un seul Temple suffira donc, une unique maison de Dieu dans chaque
yule. Dans son enceinte immense et vide, chaque ètre élèvera son âme librement inspirée vers le Créateur, sans
obligation dogmatique imposée; Ia forme rituelle est supprimée et tous les suppliants sont égaux. “Ii vous est interdit de
monter dans les mimbars,” a dit Bahá’u’lláh, “celui qui voudra lire pour vous les versets de son Seigneur, qu’il s’assoit
parmi vous et qu’iI mentionne Dieu.” Dieu Seul en effet connait la valeur de chaque prière et peut Ia juger. Le conseil
d’un homme sage et éclairé est judicieux, mais ii n’est pas convenable que l’un d’entre les croyants s’éleve au-dessus
de ses frères pour leur imposer ses goflts personnels même s’il est plus évolué qu’eux.
Mèlant Ia prière a nos actes ou plutôt faisant de notre vie en tous ses aspects un hommage a Dieu, I’humanité
construira autour du temple ses dépendances pour les oeuvres sociales. Ainsi jamais le croyant ne pourra séparer
I’action de la pensée. Constamment vivantes dans de solides corps de ciment, les institutions lui approndront a incarner
visiblement sa pensée abstraite. Ce que les hommes ont conçus comme oeuvres humanitaires et bienfaisantes
aujourd’hui imparfaites, insuffisantes, tâtonnantes, deviendront par la volonté et l’aide de Dieu Lui-Même,
splendidement efficaces. Car ces actes seront considérés maintenant comme des prières.
Telle est Ia nouvelle forme collective de Ia prière pour l’humanité future. En tout ce qui concerne l’intérCt général,
sans aucun doute est-il permis de l’employer. Un seul homme priant pour la paix du monde peut-il l’obtenir? Non, mais
tous les hommes unis seront sGrs d’être exaucés. L’union, de leurs supplicâtions dégagera une force inouie qui
rejaillira sur eux en lumière, leur dévoilant les vrais moyens de rapprocher les peuples. Le Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, Maison
unique d’adoration ne peut-il également retentir de l’ensemble des chants de louange de la terre

THE BAHA’! WORLD

entiére vers son Créateur? La glorification et la mention de Dieu doit se faire au-dessus de toute idee, toute opinion, en
union cornplète de coeur et d’esprit; devant Lui tout s’incline; l’idée supreme de Son existence peut a die seule
dominer a ce point l’humanité qu’enfin harmonisée pour un instant, die devienne une seule celiule rythmant de souffle
de vie.
Enfin un homme isolé ne peut entreprendre une oeuvre sociale; tous sont mdispensables a ce travail; alors seulement
us seront forts, ils réussiront a supprimer les détresses, maladies, pauvretés, desespoirs du monde. Les oeuvres sociales
doivent devenir des prières collectives. C’est une bénédiction divine que Dieu nous ait trace par la Plume tout-puissante
de Bahâ’u’lláh, un plan parfait en cette matière.
En effet, gagnés par la pitié pour les êtres pauvres, malheureux, les hommes ont déjà entrepris bien des ameliorations
pour les grands, pour les petits les deshérités; mais ii y a trop de petites oeuvres dispersées; temps et argent ne donnent
pas encore leur maximum de rendement; ii est nécessaire de réaliser la fusion de toutes ces entreprises partielles.
Lesquelles y consentiront? Aucune, si cc n’est que Dieu l’ordonne, si ce n’est que Dieu décréte que toute oeuvre
sociale est une priére.
On pourrait s’inquiéter et penser: que de formes multiples, quelle est donc la meilleure? Estce-la prière individuelle et
parmi ses aspects Ia pensée personnelle, la priére révélée, l’action charitable? Est-ce la prière collective? l’adoration
dans le temple, l’oeuvre sociale? Est-ce la consecration de ses efforts a l’art ou a la science? Il n’y a pas de degre
dans ces formes; comment séparer cc qui devrait être l’ecoulement naturel de notre vie? Par les fibres de tout notre étre,
par toutes nos facultés, ne pouvons-nous vivre dans cc chemin chaque jour? Ne pouvonsnous, par une division
harmonieuse de notre temps, aides de l’inspiration du Saint-Esprit vivre tous les genres de prières suivant les
circonstances? Puisqu’il sufflt de l’effort et du désir de servir, pourquoi ne pas trans forme

nos pensées, nos actes en cet esprit? Toute pensée belle ou bonne peut devenir prière. D’après ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, toute
mauvaise pensée produit des calamités (revolutions, guerres) toute bonne pensée produit donc un événement heureux.
II n’est pas nécessaire de consacrer des heures a la forme abstraite ‘Abdu’l-Bahá nous dit: “priez sans lasser vos âmes,
mais pour les rafraichir.” Accomplissons notre travail de chaque jour avec l’esprit de louange; a chaque occasion de
rencontre avec un maiheureux, remercions la Providence divine de semer sur notre chemin l’opportunité de la prière en
action. Consacrons une petite partie de notre temps aux oeuvres sociales. Ainsi comprise, la vie nouvelle ne doit pas
nous apparaitre remplie de difficultés insurmontables; die ne nécessite pas un bouleversement complet de nos
habitudes.
La priêre ne rend ni grave, ni monotone, ni ascétique. Donnant Ic meulleur contact avec Ia Source de vie, die n’est ni
triste ni douloureuse; son role au contraire est de tuer toute faiblesse et toute souffrance.
L’essentiel est de demeurer bien equilibré dans nos travaux, nous souvenant que nous sommes seulement des etres
humains lirnités; c’est une erreur de rechercher bien loin des actions difficiles, eclatantes, disproportionnées avec notre
temps et nos forces, croyant par cc fait accomplir de magnifiques prières. Ne cherchons pas les miracles; ils ne se
produisent qu’en dehors de nos désirs. Parfois, un acte excessivement simple est accompli obscurement, mais d’un seul
élan du coeur, presque sans refiexion; soudain, cet humble geste prend une repercussion immense, produit un
enchainement d’evènements sans proportions avec Ic point initial et si importants que l’homme, ne pouvant suivre le
cheminement de forces qu’il ne connait pas encore . . . crie au miracle. C’est autour de soi qu’il faut regarder, a chaque
instant avec simplicité. Les actions humbles et obscures sont des prières au meme titre que les actions d’eclat.
La plus belle parole d’Abdu’l-Bahá pour terminer: “Que mon service soit tel que. Tu puisses l’accepter.”

7.

CRISIS OF THE WORLD PSYCHE B WILFRID BARTON
HE realization that man, both as to his inner spiritual life and as to the external social order in which he lives, is undergoing a
tremendous transformation, is fast becoming a commonplace. The rapidly accelerating tempo of this change in the present hour leads
many of our best thinkers to conclude that mankind is standing upon the brink of a world cataclysm marking a supreme crisis in this
change. Everyone who is, to some degree at least, aware of what is going on in the world today and of the forces activating it will
admit the plausibility of this line of thinking. As for those who do not, they are unlikely to be susceptible to the point of view
advanced in this article. For it is an accepted fact that those ideas which are current among the more sensitive members of society
require a period of time, perhaps several generations, before being absorbed by the masses. This, in general, appears to be the way in
which the ideological evolution of the race has taken place. The present essay, therefore, is addressed primarily to those individuals
who have the keen awareness of the present—that type of human being which, in perhaps the most accurate use of the word, may be
termed modern.
Though it is generally recognized by people who have a keen awareness of the present that our world is facing a crisis, what lies
beyond this crisis is as yet an unknown void. At this point the perspicacity of these leading thinkers, be they philosophers, scientists,
statesmen, or what not, comes to an end. Not one of them knows the answer.
Is it surprising under these circusustances, with humanity ready to step off into the abyss, that the minds of an ever-increasing
proportion of the population should be turned into a turmoil, beset with uncertainty, fear and despair? C. G. Jung, one of the world’s
leading psychologists and psychiatrists, makes the following arresting statement: “We are living undeniably in

a period of the greatest restlessness, nervous tension, confusion and disorientation of outlook. Among my patients from many
countries, all of them educated persons, there is a considerable number who came to see me, not because they were suffering from a
neurosis, but because they could find no meaning in life or were torturing themselves with questions which neither present- day
philosophy nor religion could answer. Some of them perhaps thought that I knew of a magic formula, but I was soon forced to tell
them that I, too, had no answer to give.”1
It is this uncertainty and hopelessness, felt today by the more sensitive members of society and ultisuately and inevitably by the whole
mass of the population, which constitutes one of the surest signs of the dangerously critical state of man’s collective spiritual life.
Unless a remedy be found, man’s inner life will be destroyed, reflecting itself outwardly, and to the same degree, in the destruction of
the society which he has built up.
What are the causes underlying this inner turmoil to which the collective psyche, so to speak, is subject? Mr. Jung, unlike Mr. Freud
and Mr. Adler with their emphasis upon the sexual factor and the urge to power respectively, claims that these troubles are intimately
associated with the religious needs of man. “This ‘psychological’ interest of the present time,” he says, “shows that man expects
something from psychic life which he has not received from the outer world; something which our religions, doubtless, ought to
contain, but no longer do contain—at least for the modern man.”2 And again he says, “Among all my patients in the second half of
life—that is to say, over thirty-five—there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was
‘C. G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul. Pp. 266, 267.
2 Idem, p. 237.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of them fell ill because he had lost that which the living
religions of every age have given to their followers, and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.
This of course has nothing whatever to do with a particular creed or membership of a church.”3 And then again— “It seems to me,
that, side by side with the decline of religious life, the neuroses grow noticeably more frequent.”4
It is because the present-day religions are inadequate to cope with the innate religious needs of modern man that the psychic balance
has been upset. Religion, whose function it has always been to endue man’s life with direction, meaning, and purpose, has ceased, in
any of its recognized contemporary forms, to exert an appreciable influence upon the progress of the world. Quite to the contrary—
religion, through its corruption with superstition and human conceptions, and its entanglement in mundane and materialistic interests,
has become a cause of human degradation. Intelligent and sensitive minds perceive this, and there is a consequent and ever-increasing
dissociation of the lives of such individuals—the truly moderns—from organized religion. In the case of those who have not openly
broken with the church, their loyalty remains either lukewarm or fanatical. In no case does the church today adequately satisfy man’s
spiritual needs. The version of religion which it offers has not the power to make over the individual soul, much less the world he
inhabits.
DECL5NE ov THE CHURCH
Within the bounds of the major religious systems at the present time, as has just been intimated, the decline of power has manifested
itself in fanaticism, on the one hand, and in lukewarmness and indifference on the other. The former attitude applies chiefly to the
orthodox branches of present-day religious bodies, whether Jewish, Muhammadan, or Christian, Protestant or Catholic. The latter
attitude applies to the so-called liberal religionists. The fanaticism of the orthodox religionist consists, of course, in his rigid
adherence, in complete disregard of the dictates of reason and established

scientific truth, to a literal interpretation of the scriptures of his particular religion. The lukewarmness of the liberalist’s belief arises
from the inroads made upon his faith by the prodigious advance of scientific knowledge chiefly within the last century. Science has
gradually knocked one prop after another from under his religious creed, reducing it to little more than a shadow of its former self.
Progress in the scientific realm has also helped to open wide the door of individual interpretation, which has perhaps liberated the
human mind from a blind and servile subjection to dogmatism but has also robbed religion of that authority from above which is its
mainstay. The liberalist attitude, under existing conditions, tends more and more to take the God out of religion and to reduce religion
to the status of a purely human philosophy. It is not surprising, therefore, that such a diluted form of faith is incapable of satisfying the
spiritual needs of the individual and of building a new social order.
But since the characteristically modern man has for the most part left the Church because his spiritual needs have not been satisfied
there, the religious aspect of his nature has poured itself into other channels. The “psychological” interest of the present time which
Jung mentions is one of the forms which this expression has taken. Not merely in scientific psychology, however, but in all manner of
psychic and occult phenomena does this spiritual element seek satisfaction. To what, for example, may we attribute the origin and
popularity of such movements as Astrology, Theosophy, Christian Science, New Thought, Rosicrucianism, Buchmanism,
Spiritualism, The Great I Am and countless others? There is no doubt but that these movements provide outlets for vital psychic needs
which can no longer be satisfactorily met within the Church. Thus the vogue of such movements is at once an indication of the effete
condition of organized religion and of an increased capacity on the part of man for a higher measure of spiritual truth and
understanding. A new age has dawned for the human psyche. New spiritual needs have become realized. And
Idem, p. 264.
Idem, p. 266.

CRISIS OF THE WORLD PSYCHE

the world spirit of man is seeking in any number of ways to satisfy these new-found needs.
Under the same heading as the spiritual movements just mentioned may be classed those types of mysticism, the aberrant offshoots of
revealed religion, which, not recognizing the necessity of a prophetic intermediary, seek directly and by divers methods to realize in
the individual soui unity with the Divine Essence. These, too, may be regarded as attempts of the human soul to fulfill its spiritual
needs through other than the established channels of organized religion.
PHILOSOPHIC MATERIALISM
Then we turn to philosophy. Like mysticism, philosophy also attempts to solve man’s spiritual problem, the main distinction being
that whereas in mysticism the approach is through intuition, in philosophy reason is the determining factor. Though philosophy exists
as a discipline separate and distinct from religion and may therefore, like those forms of mysticism just referred to, be regarded as a
substitute for or alternative to religion (in the sense of prophetic revelation), both fields are nevertheless closely related and have,
down through the ages, constantly interacted upon each other. When religion is a potent force in society, philosophy tends to be
infused with its influence. On the other hand, a decline of religious power is accompanied by a corresponding increase of materialism
in philosophic thought. Thus the philosophy of a given period is a good index of the religious temper of the age. In our own time the
dying out of faith in God is attended with a powerful trend toward a purely materialistic philosophy. Humanism has taken precedence
over deism as the fashionable philosophy of modern man. Recognizing no higher authority than that of the individual conscience, the
modern tendency is characteristically amoral and hedonistic. The inevitable outcome is havoc and chaos as far as man’s spiritual life is
concerned.
It is in the political realm, however, in the movements associated with the intensification of the spirit of nationalism on the one hand
and in the Communist movement on the other, that the materialism permeat in

modern thought has received its most forceful expression. By reason of the fact that these movements do not consist simply in their
materialistic premises but in the projection of these ideas into the plane of action in the outer world, their influence is all the more farreaching and pernicious. In the passionate devotion and loyalty which they command they are absorbing the psychic energies of the
continually-augmenting body of their followers, thereby threatening to completely destroy and supplant the influence of religion in the
world. On the one hand, the trend toward an intolerant and self-contained nationalism, though apparently reconciling itself with
established religion and even, in some cases, upheld by its exponents, in reality foster the evils of violent racial and political prejudices
so destructive of human solidarity and world peace and naturally quite antithetical to the aim and purpose of religion itself. On the
other hand, Communism, far from making any pretense at preserving moral values, claims openly to be based upon a purely atheistic
and thoroughgoing materialism.
THE SPIRITUAL CRISIS
To sum up, then, the spiritual crisis of modern man is to be understood in terms of a profound disturbance of the religious
consciousness of mankind. This disturbance reflects itself on the right hand in the predicament of orthodox religion with its fanatical
adherence to literal scriptural interpretation and man-made dogma in opposition to science. On the far left is the atheistic- materialistic
group representing the complete revolt from religion. Midway between these two extremes lie the vast number of spiritual movements
more or less religious in character, representing that liberalist frame of mind, which, while dissociating itself from orthodox religion,
seeks nevertheless to preserve by human invention those idealistic elements which a downright materialism lacks.
Of all three of these types of spiritual consciousness, however — the orthodox, atheist, and middle-of-the-road liberalist— it may be
said that they possess in common the inability to cope adequately with the

THE BAHA’i WORLD

spiritual problem of modern man. The orthodox religionist, through his failure to reconcile his dogmas with natural science, has lost
the support of a vast number of intelligent and perhaps, under normal conditions, genuinely religious persons. The atheistic class,
since it confines its attention to the material world, either ignores or denies the existence of a specifically spiritual problem, and
therefore offers nothing to a solution. Such an attitude, moreover, if consistently applied, can have only one outcome—the subjection
of the nature of the man to its animal propensities. For when we subtract God from human life, there is nothing left to distinguish it
substantially from that of the animal. And finally the liberalist, no matter with which one of the above-mentioned spiritual cults or
groups he may be associated, since his faith, such as it may be, rests upon a basis of humanism rather than of divine authority, loses
the dynamic force which only a God-inspired religion has shown itself capable of imparting. In attempting to straddle the fence
between religion and materialism the liberalist can subscribe positively and wholeheartedly to neither. The inevitable result is both an
impotent faith and a psychic void waiting, and indeed requiring, to be filled. What, then, is the way out of this dilemma?
REVIVAL OF RELIGION
Nothing short of a revival of the religious consciousness of mankind would seem capable of resolving the problem. Equally plausible
is the idea that such a revival can come about only through the appearance of a Prophet or Manifestation of God with a new revelation
of Divine Truth directly applicable to present conditions. Every great spiritual rebirth of human society traces its origin to the
teachings of a Prophet of God. Other revivals of a more or less religious or spiritual character there have been, to be sure, apparently
stemming from purely human origins. But these movements, at best, constitute a rediscovery of certain verities implicit in the words
of the Prophets and can not of themselves lay claim to any novelty. At their worst they represent a gross perversion and corruption of
those same

teachings. The human mind, when it attempts to create in the realm of religious or spiritual values, and no matter whether the
approach be through philosophy or mysticism, necessarily impresses upon the products of its labors the character of its own inherent
limitations. That is to say, man can know only what he imagines, not God. The effort of man to solve such questions unaided by God
creates a vicious circle from which there is no escape—unless we wish to consider the maze of imagination an escape. That is why a
solution of man’s spiritual problem from any purely human source is impossible.
It should therefore be clear that man, being innately limited, can not create his own spiritual life but must depend for it upon some
unlimited Source. The most he can do in this respect is to pass judgment upon moral values which are already presented to his
consciousness. But the presentation itself is an act of grace from this higher Source. Being ignorant, man must have One to educate
him. Being helpless, he must rely upon the assistance of an All- Powerful One. But direct access to God, as we see, is impossible.
Consequently it is to the Prophets, who are the Manifestations of God, that man must go for guidance, for the knowledge of God, and
for the basis of his spiritual life. The Prophet or Manifestation of God is, by definition, a unique order of human being chosen by God
to be the source of enlightenment and progress for the race. Historically the appearance of a Manifestation of God has always
coincided with a rebirth of the spiritual life of the society in which He appeared. Such a rebirth is necessary in the world today, and
one is forced to conclude that only the appearance of a Manifestation of God can bring it. For the religions of the past, as we have
seen, are decadent; their force is spent. It is due to their weakness that the psychic energies of mankind have been driven into all sorts
of barren or destructive channels precipitating the present profound crisis. Only a new Revelation can restore this life that has been
lost, build a new consciousness and a new world order. Only the “return” of a Christ can resuedy the ills from which humanity now
suffers.

CRISIS OF THE WORLD PSYCHE

BAHA’U’LLAH
The answer which the Bahã’is have to offer to this question is that this remedy is at hand. Bahã’u’lláh, founder of the Bahã’i Faith,
they regard as God’s chosen Manifestation for this Day and as the sole instrument for the spiritual rehabilitation of human society.
They believe that only through a complete and thoroughgoing reliance upon God is it possible to attain spiritual health, poise, and
development. Reliance upon God is indeed the essence of the teachings of all the prophets of the past. But whenever, at any stage in
history, this reality underlying all religion becomes obscured by false, man-made conceptions and its true meaning disregarded and
forgotten, a re-statement of Divine Truth becomes necessary. God sends another Manifestation to earth. His teaching renews the
spiritual life of man and provides all the requisite means and agencies for his further development. It sets the standard by which alone
the proper course for the life and progress of the human psyche can be determined.
This, therefore, is the message of the Bahá’i Faith—that in these troubled times, when the light of religion has become darkened and is
threatened with complete extinction, God has not left His creatures without the means of extricating themselves from this danger but,
on the contrary has, through the Manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh (i.e., the Glory of God), breathed a new Spirit into the world capable of
entirely dispelling this darkness and of transforming the world into a veritable paradise. The Bahá’is recognize in the convulsions now
agitating human society the beginnings of that period of intense suffering and tribulation which must necessarily precede the
establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. They consider that the Prophets of the past have referred directly to this period when
speaking of “the latter days” and “the time of the end.” By these and other terms numerous references have been made to it, not only
in the Hebraic Scriptures but in the Christian and Muhammadan writings as well. For example, in the book of Zephaniah the following
passage is recorded concerning it: “The great day of Jehovah is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice

of the day of Jehovah; the mighty man crieth there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness
and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the
fortified cities, and against the high battlements. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they
have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung. Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will
make an end, yea, a terrible end of all them that dwell in the land.” The Prophet Joel says, “for the day of Jehovah is great and very
terrible; and who can abide it?” Bahá’u’lláh, reiterating these sentiments, utters the following words: “The days are approaching their
end, and yet the peoples of the earth are seen sunk in grievous heedlessness, and lost in manifest error.” “Say; 0 concourse of the
heedless! I swear by God! The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath
your feet, saying:
‘Taste ye what your hands have wrought!’” “The time for the destruction of the world and its people bath arrived. He Who is the Preexistent is come, that He may bestow everlasting life, and grant eternal preservation, and confer that which is conducive to true
living.”5
The fortunes of mankind, impelled by the inexorable forces of Destiny, are being rapidly driven to the point where nothing on earth
will avail man or offer him the promise of security. If all his temporal attachments are cut from him one by one, upon what may he
then rely save God? No inference could be more clear or simple than this. The final hour, as promised in all the prophetic books, has
not yet struck. Its full implications we can not even at present realize. But no one with that keen awareness of the present already
referred to can deny that such an “end” is the goal toward which all the forces of the contemporary world are moving. No doubt the
Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi, p. 68.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

general run of mankind, in their heedlessness and sense of self-sufficiency, will ignore these prophetic warnings until the last hour is
upon them—and then it may be too late. But for those of us who, we may thank God, have not fallen heir to this delusion and have
realized our dependence and helplessness, would it not be well for us to sever ourselves from dependence upon earthly things and to
fix our hearts upon that which alone is imperishable—the love of God? To do this, of course, we must turn to the Manifestation of
God. The voice of God, represented by the pen of Bahâ’u’lláh, speaks to man in the following words: “0 My Servant! Free thyself
from the fetters of this world, and loose thy soul from the prison of self. Seize thy chance, for it will come to thee no more.”6 “0 ye
that are bereft of understanding! A severe trial pursueth

you, and will suddenly overtake you. Bestir yourselves, that haply it may pass and inflict no harm upon you.”7 “Cl the yourselves, 0
people, with the garment of assurance, in order that He may protect you from the dart of doubts and superstitions, and that ye may be
of those who are assured in those days wherein none shall ever be assured and no one shall be firmly established in the Cause, except
by severing himself from all that is possessed by the people and turning unto the Holy and Radiant Outlook. . . . Say, in that Day there is
no refuge for any one save the Command of God, and no salvation for any soul but God.”8
Hidden Words (Persian) —No. 40.
Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi, p. 68.
Bahá’u’llih—Tablet of the Branch (Bshâ’i Scriptures, p. 257).

8.
THE NEW CITIZENSHIP
B BEATRICE IRWIN

CITIZENSHIP, like all other institutions, is in process of revaluation. History shows that humanity has a tendency to
group itself around both ideas and ideals. The former relate to material development, the latter to moral and spiritual
progress. Citizenship partakes of the nature of both, and one may say it came into existence when masses of mankind
graduated from nomadic and tribal into community methods of living.
Out of these conditions, grew the idea of the relationship of the unit to the whole; of the man who would subordinate
his personal interests and welfare to that of the community. The citizen, then, was one who through ability and
unselfishness built up those cities of antiquity which have bequeathed their rich legacies of education, culture and
morality to our day.
The molds of citizenship have varied, like the molds of religion, to meet the needs of the times and lands that have
given them birth, and the authority to impose themselves on world consciousness by reason of their excellence.
For purposes of the present discussion, we will glance back no further than to those periods in Egyptian civilization
when under leadership of the high priests and the Pharaohs a pattern of citizenship was evolved which was dominated
by spiritual ideals. (1500-1300 B.C.). Their aim was to cultivate man, even beyond morality, into a mysterious realm of
kinship with the Power “that rules the planets and stars in their courses”! Egypt was inspired for many centuries by her
priests and king astronomers, who between them influenced the mind of the people, and left the seals of their faith to
posterity, in the shape of those temple ruins that are still reckoned among the wonders of the world.
At a later date, Greece and Rome contributed their share. The former stressed philosophic and aesthetic, the latter civic

values. In Greece, the most honored citizen was the philosopher, artist, or orator. Such men and women (for women
had a high station in the Greek democracy) educated the masses through their orations in public places, and through
festivals in which philosophy and beauty were honored. The building of such cities as Athens, Ephesus, etc., also
accorded to their artists an exalted station of enduring reverence, and such cities were magnets of enlightenment to a
semi-barbaric world.
Rome swung the glory of citizenship to another angle, for though the orator was still valued, it was the successful
soldier, senator, and Roman matron who held first place, impressing their martial, judicial and domestic prestiges upon
the public. The specialized idealism of these patterns were well adapted to times, in which travel and communication
were so restricted, but they were only stepping-stones in the march of progress.
Then came the tidal waves of three great movements of world significance—the Crusades, Chivalry, and the
Renaissance! From the tenth to the sixteenth centuries their influence inspired citizenship on broader lines, which was
the logical result of the intermingling of races, creeds and classes that their accomplishment had involved. This fourth
pattern again exalting the individual, rather than the State, demanded fresh feats of personal courage and skill,
combined with a broader mental scope that included the beginnings of a racial and cultural tolerance hitherto unknown.
The citizen of value, was one who was aware of the fine possibilities of human relationship as expressed through art,
religion and travel. For at this point, travel and inter-communication became a vital factor in citizenship. Up to this
date, the institution was still limited to aristocratic conceptions. But the conflagration of the French Revolution, and the
declaration of American Independence again expanded the mold, dis 831

I-
I
-

L
r
‘ ‘4
The feast of the New Year being celebrated by the Bahá’Is of Miami, Florida, on “Naw-Rüz,” March 21st, 1939.

pict261.jpg

THE NEW CITIZENSHIP

‘V
A Group of South American Bahã’i Pioneers
Seated (left to right) Mrs. Caswell and Mrs. Oliver, Panama. Standing (left to right) Mr. Wantok, first Panamaian to
accept the Faith. Mr. Eichenauer, San Salvador.
Mr. Kaszab, Nicaragua.

carding many constitutional traditions and class restrictions. This departure created an interim ideal of human rights,
which was voiced in “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” Out of this historic slogan, has grown our sixth and modern pattern
of citizenship. Humanitarian freedom and equality are its keynotes, coupled with the abolition of

prejudice of all kinds. But as these keynotes are being challenged, the structure of citizenship in all lands is tottering,
and calling for new standards of security.
If humanitarian freedom is insufficient, then what can meet the needs of this grim hour in which the destiny of a planet
rocks in the balance?

‘

• IA
I

S

:4
V
S
pict262.jpg
pict263.jpg

THE BAHA’i WORLD

It seems that through the ages citizenship has been only a progressive course of education for the race, directed,
enjoyed, betrayed, and superseded by evolution’s decree! For some, this decree constitutes both the horror and the
wonder of civilization, but for others it represents the rhythmic law of God, as expressed through prophets who come at
stated intervals to bring us new designs for living. These are controversial points outside the scope of the present
article, but it is obvious that humanity is struggling through blood and tears to define a seventh pattern of citizenship
which shall ameliorate its present ills. There is every indication that the new pattern is not to be after the manner of any
one land, but fashioned to meet the need of all lands. It is to be a world-citizenship which has stepped up from
humanitarian into spiritual ideals. This new freedom will be forged by the vastly expanded good will of the human unit.
Such an achievement demands more spiritual investigation and tolerance than has yet been practiced. With pain man
has renounced many physical, mental and moral limitations, and now we stand at a transcendant moment in history,
when the patriotism of lands is being expanded into a patriotism of humanity, when man is progressing from selfconsciousness into that scientific recognition of a unity of life that means soul_consciousness. This state demands the
re-birth of both faith and free will, and it is the urgent problem that the present chaos is solving.
The goal of this seventh pattern of citizenship has been summed up as follows by the Persian prophet, Bahá’u’lláh
(1863- 1892),
“Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country but let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.”
“Ye are all the leaves of one tree, the drops of one sea.”
The coming of this great soul was heralded in 1844 in Persia, by one who became known to his followers as the “Báb.”
And for announcing himself as the fore-runner of “one whom God would make manifest,” the

“Báb,” after being branded as a heretic by the priests, received a mock trial and was shot to death in the public square
of Tabriz.
At a later date, Bahá’u’lláh addressed letters to the Shah and the crowned heads of Europe, warning them that if they
did not curb the growing corruptions of their countries and adopt His teachings of reform, that they would reap the
whirlwind of disillusion in which the world finds itself today. The nine principles underlying the new pattern of
citizenship proclaimed by Bahá’u’llãh contain the seeds of a spiritual democracy, and though the instruction of them
permeates the best thought of our day we must not forget that they originated as long ago as 1866 and that for these
principles Bahã’u’llih forfeited His large fortune and estates, and endured forty years of imprisonment, in Oriental
prisons.
These facts give authority to His claim that He is the next in the succession of the prophets, and the promised
Manifestation of God for this day. The basic principles:
1. Recognition of the oneness of mankind.
2. Independent investigation of reality.
3. Universal religious tolerance.
4. Union of science with religion.
5. Equality of the sexes in education and opportunity.
6. Abolition of prejudices of creed, caste and color.
7. Use of a universal auxiliary language.
8. Foundation of international Parliaments.
9. Abolition of war and foundation of universal peace.
From an analysis of these objectives, it is obvious that the world citizen of the near future must demand more of
himself as well as others. A greater mental independence, freedom from traditional outlook, the establishment of
universal institutions representative of all lands, and a broader and more loving communication with his fellow
creatures, form the requisites of his capacity to fulfill the call of Bahá’u’lláh, Who has said—
“I come to found a race of men, not
slaves.”

9.

THE ONENESS OF RELIGION
BY DORIS MCKAY

I.

THE VOICE OF THE ANCIENT OF DAYS

PRIMITIVE man, for all his limitations knew awe, a quality which modern man has lost: primitive man, his intellect still
unawakened, had the gift of wonder. He wondered at the sense of Presence that came with dawns, high winds, incoming tides, birth
and death. There was a Force more powerful than his own hands, more fleet than his running footsteps. There was a spirit that decreed
light and darkness, and knew the secret of fire before man stumbled upon it. Man, groping in intellectual half- light, personalized this
force. Animism and pantheism were the results of his deductions from cause and effect.
Then the Voice of the Ancient of Days began to make Itself heard. It did not speak out of a cloud for all to fall face-downward and die
in their terror, but to one man at a time. Here and there throughout the darkness of history some man heard God and told what He had
said. To Zoroaster, Ahura-Mazda, (the Glory of God) said:
“My Name is I am . . . I am the Keeper, I am the Creator and Maintainer; I am the Discerner; I am the Most Beneficent Spirit!”
And to Moses the Voice said,
“I Am That I Am. Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am (Jehovah) hath sent me unto you . . . This is My Name forever,
and this is My memorial unto all generations.”
In another part of the world the Voice raised again through Krishna has been brought down to us in the Bhagavad Gita;
“Know thou this, 0 Prince, that whenever the world declineth in virtue and righteousness; and vice and injustice mount the throne—
then come I, the Lord, and revisit My world in visible form, and mingle as a man with men, and by my influence and teachings do I
destroy the evil and in-

justice, and reestablish virtue and righteousness. Many times have I thus appeared; many times hereafter shall I come again.”
So faith in an Ancient Being became a legend, not in one part of the world but in many. There came to be an accumulated literature of
the sayings of this Voice, a passed along tradition of His ways of coming.
It is man’s tragedy that, even as the untrained intellects of the growing race had proved inadequate in dealing with the idea of God in
Nature, so did superstitions and half-tnsths creep into their interpretations of the words and situations which God had left. One was a
regional difficulty: God’s revelation to a selected people was “final,” a culmination of all the remarks of God, until some prophetic
time when the prophet, Himself, the Holy One, should come again in person. Another was the superstition that the prophet became
God: the belief in the Incarnation. This had its reason in the fact that the Unknown Beneficent Power had borrowed, as it were, the
personality of Him Who seemed to speak. The Power possessed Him, used Him, acted in Him like electricity in a dynamo, said “I
Am,” but still was not identified with Him Whom God manifested. The people called God Him instead of It after they had seen one or
another of the Men of God—true, the Ancient of Days had indeed personified, and the appellation would have been correct had they
clearly understood that “He” meant God speaking on the human throne, and that He spoke while the throne kept silence. “For I
spake not from myself” said Jesus, ‘tbut the Father that bath sent me, He bath given me a commandment, what I should
say, and what I should speak.”
The tendency to fallacy was heightened by the fact that it was but seldom that religion was renewed. As whole centuries

THE BAHA’i WORLD

rolled around since the phenomenon of the appearance of God in a human temple had occurred, men would forget, or
develop strange distortive dogmas, more especially since the ancient holy books were hoarded by the priests, and the
knowledge of reading belonged but to a few. We know that the people before the coming of Abraham, and Moses, and
Christ, and Muhammad, had relapsed again into forms of paganism, imagining an incarnation of the Divine Being in
the life about them and in the idols that they built with their own hands of materials from the mineral and vegetable
worlds. With the Voice obscured by time, there has seemed little innate in man’s individual intelligence capable of
coping with the fact called God.
Up until Mubammad every prophet had to deal with these decadent paganistic practices. Mu5ammad’s teachings made
possible the investigation of natural laws and the rise of science by freeing His followers from a fear of natural forces,
thus also dealing a death blow to animism. Forgetfulness of the Almighty in our day expresses itself in a higher form of
pantheism consistent with the conceptions of the Greeks in the time of Plato and certain Muhammadan and Christian
mystics in the worship or enhancement of the Self, called the God Within, as defined by a diluted form of Godincarnation
—an identification vigorously disclaimed by the founders of the world’s religions for themselves, let alone for their
followers. Those with such a belief are referred to by Bahá’u’lláh as “those who have joined partners with God.”
Mu5ammad calling for witness the stars in their courses played upon the primitive sensitiveness of His desert
followers. Today we have learned how to make telescopes but we have lost touch with the stars. A device called the
seismograph has robbed even the earthquake of our wonder. Those who are not aware of the Hour would call this the
midnight of the Day of God. Yet, God or not—God is in the very fiber of human consciousness the world over. Man
holds to some kind of a belief in God or he despairs. But the effectiveness of this Godconsciousness is lacking as the
near wreckage of a civilization warns us. It is because

our bond with the essential Wisdom is broken—as is our bond with nature. It is as if some Secret of Being had become obscured; or as
if a Spring had been hidden beneath leaves while the pilgrims fainted with thirst.
The marvel of it is that in our day of machines and machine-personalities the Ancient Beauty has come and has spoken again in
unmistakable accents. The same signs of Godhead are there; the same significant Appearance, through Bahá’u’lláh; the same assertion
that God has spoken through a chosen Messenger, and the Messenger’s testimony to that truth; there are the same authoritative
statements in regard to the social adjustments which fit the age; the same poetry and mystery and power; the same sacrifice of the
material welfare of the Messenger as an earnest of His sincerity in His Mission.
“Let thine ear be attentive,” Bahã’u’lláh admonishes us, ‘(to the Voice of the Ancient of Days, crying to thee from the Kingdom of His
all-glorious Name. He it is Who is now proclaiming from the realms above, and within the inmost essence of all created things: ‘I
truly am God, there is none other God hut Me. I am He Who, from everlasting hath been the Source of all sovereignty
and tower, He Who shall continue, throughout eternity, to exercise His kingship and extend His protection unto all
created things. My proof is the greatness of My might and My sovereignty that embraceth the whole of creation.’
The declaration of the renewal of religion in this age cannot be set aside as superstition. The scientific method of ascertaining truth
looks at effects: it marks the evidence of evolution whether in progressive social theory, or in the maturing of human character. The
religions of the past have found a lasting place in modern man’s innermost soul by one means alone—by their fruits. The young tree
of the new appearance of religion in our own day is radiant with bloom. It has stood resilient and unbroken before the winds of such
tests as would have uprooted a lesser organism. It bids fair to spread its foliage over all mankind and to nourish the multitude upon its
wonderful fruits.

THE ONENESS OF RELIGION

II.
THE COMING OF REVELATION

Followers of Muhammad celebrate an event which they call “The Night of Power and Excellence” commemorative of the time when a
Voice from heaven is said to have informed Muhammad of His prophetic mission. Every world religion has its equivalent tradition, its
“night of power and excellence.”
It is as if, at the beginning of each religious cycle, a Miracle Play has been, not acted, but lived. The theme, the order, and the
characters are familiar—only the setting is each time new. There is an unnatural darkness before the curtain is thrown back:
the time of darkness is of a tribe or of a world. Then the sequence. Someone (a f ore- runner, a crier in the wilderness) has had
foreknowledge of a Promised One, a Messiah. There is a gifted and eloquent Youth; He becomes aware of His destiny; begins to
teach, and to attract and glorify His disciples. Inevitably He is feared and persecuted by the world, which angrily tries to shake free of
His insistent voice. After His going, somehow a nucleus remains to keep alive His Teachings until that ‘Word takes hold in a poition
of the world.
Perhaps the most breathless moment of this Drama is at the coming of Revelation— that moment when the Ancient of Days speaks to
His chosen Messenger. Our human imagination lingers among the records of the ancient manuscripts. The Man chosen of God has
been shaken as knowledge of His mission has overtaken Him. He cannot believe it is true; but it is true. An intimation deepens into
certainty. He is to receive direct inspiration beyond the ability of even His own mind to encompass. God-possessed, He is to hear
words not His own issuing from His lips. For this Youth has become host to the Ancient Beauty, with Whom He shall henceforth be
consciously identified, Whose bidding He shall unquestioningly obey, for Whom all His human qualities shall be crucified. Forever
He shall leave His own pursuits and become a Shepherd of humanity.
The Zoroastrian Gathas tell us that Zoroaster (who is believed by modern Parsis

to have lived about 1600 B.C.) was awakened to His mission by a succession of seven visions. Then one night (so the legend goes) the
Bactrian peasants, who had been praying for help to the Supreme Being, saw a mountain suddenly burst into flame. Since a boy in His
teens, Zoroaster (Zaratrustra) had lived in solitude in the lonely mountain retreats. Now in His flowing white robes He stood unscathed
in the midst of the flames. Lit by the heavenly fire, they saw the Prophet descend from the mountain, bearing in one hand the sacred
fire and in the other a rod, or wand, of cypress wood. We are not told what occurred on the mountain or what transpired in the heart of
Zoroaster that He should have stepped from the life of a recluse right into the world, with the Word of God upon His lips, but to this
initial experience we have reference in Zoroaster’s own words:
“When first I received and became wise with Thy words,
When obedience came to me with the good mind—
Verily, 0 Wise Lord, I believed Thee
to be
The Supreme Benevolent Providence.”
Obedience to the vision took the forM of acceptance of the divine Task as the next stanzas indicate—
“And though the task be difficult,
Though woe may come to me— Thy message which Thou declarest to
be best
I shall proclaim to all mankind.”
The Old Testament account of the coming of Revelation to Moses’ is as follows:
“The angel of the Eternal appeared to him in a flame of fire rising out of a thornbush. When he looked, there was the thornbush ablaze
with fire yet not consumed! ‘I will step aside,’ said Moses, ‘and see this marvel, why the thornbush is not yet burned up.’
‘Moffatt translation.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

God called to him out of the thornbush saying, ‘Moses, Moses!’ He answered ‘Here I am!’ And He said, ‘Do not come close; remove
your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ He said ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’”
The Ancient of Days, the I AM, according to the legend, outlined to Moses His Will for the rescue of the Israelites. Twice Moses
spoke from His human plane, said “but,”— “But suppose they will not believe Me, or
listen to what I say; suppose they say, ‘Eternal never appeared to you.’ “
The Eternal showed Him two miracles and told Him what to do. Still hesitating Moses said, “But, Lord, I am no speaker, I have never
been and am not now, not even since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; I am slow of speech. I have no command of words.”
And the Ancient of Days said to Moses (and we can see the Bush blazing higher with these words) :—
“W/,o gives man his month? Who makes
one man deaf or dumb, who gives him his sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Eternal? Go then, I will
be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”
Moses still could not accept this, so the Eternal sent Aaron, of easy speech, with Him, and together they accomplished the release of
the Israelites from the Egyptians.
John, clad in his garment of camel’s hair, preached to the people, “There cometh after me He that is mightier than I, the latchet of
whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.”
When Jesus came from Galilee He asked John to baptize him. When the ceremony was completed and Jesus came out of the water
“the heavens were opened unto Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming unto Him; and lo, a voice out of
the heavens saying ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”
After His forty days of prayer and struggle in the wilderness, Jesus returned “in the power of the Spirit” to Gahlee and to His own
town of Nazareth. Calling for the book of Isaiah He stood up in the synagogue and read:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor:
He hath sent Me to proclaim release to captives,
And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, To proclaim the acceptable year of the
Lord.”
Closing the book He said “Today hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears.”
We have a closer picture of the coming of Revelation to Muhammad. Mount Hira, near Mecca, has been described as “a huge, barren
rock, torn by clifts and hollow ravines, standing out solitary in the full white glare of the desert sun.” This Rock or Mount was the
Sinai of Muhammad. No bush grew there to burn before His eyes while the Voice spoke, but here the celestial Visitor sought Him. He
heard a Voice say “Cry” (recite). “What shall I cry?” Muhammad answered; and the Voice said “Cry in the Name of thy Lord.” He
thought He saw a vast, shadowy Presence and He fled down from the Mount toward Mecca.2
It is said that the people of the market place then saw Muhammad grow thin and
ill. Shadowed by the superstitions of His time He thought He was possessed of a devil. Khadija, His wife, told Him that an angel had
spoken. According to tradition she believed in Him before He believed in Himself. He went back and forth torn between the Mount
and the town. One night He could bear it no more—He would hurl Himself from the cliff. But the angel, inexorable and mighty, stood
there between Him and His suicidal leap, and the Voice spoke: “Thou art the Messenger of God, and I am Gabriel.” Worn out in body
and mind, the story tells us that Muhammad again sought refuge in His Home, in Khadija. She wrapped His shivering human form in
her cloak. But they were not alone even in the sanctuary of the familiar home, for the Presence of the Ancient of Days was there, as on
the Mount. “0 Thou, Who art wrapped,” said the Voice, “rise up and preach, and magnify thy Lord, and thy raia The word Qur’an
translated means literally, the
Crying.
THE ONENESS OF RELIGION

ment purify, and patiently wait for thy Lord.”
Old Waraka, learned in prophecy, was the first to hear this from Khadija. “By the Lord,” said the aged man, “He
speaketh the truth. It is the beginning of Prophecy, and the great Law will soon come upon Him, as it did upon Moses.”
The Voice of Divine Inspiration spoke to Bahá’u’llah far from the scenes of natural beauty that were a setting for the
coming of Revelation to His Predecessors. He had been thrown with other followers of the Báb into a felon’s dungeon
in Tihran. The prison, called the Siyáh-Chál (Black Pit), was fantastic in its horror. Chained by the neck to another
prisoner, His feet in stocks, in icy darkness and in filth, Bahá’u’lláh waited weary weeks for release or death. We have
His written testimony that the Spirit of Revelation penetrated to Him in this Gethsemane. He recounts that although the
galling weight of the chains and loathsome atmosphere of the prison allowed Him but little sleep, still there were
moments of slumber when He felt as if something were pouring like a mighty torrent over His breast. It was as if this
celestial torrent were descending from the summit of a mountain to precipitate itself over the earth. “All My limbs
seemed to have been set aflame,” declared Bahá’u’lláh. “At such moments my tongue recited what mortal ears could
not hear.”
Then, as Bahá’u’llah bears witness in His Epistle to the Son of the Wolf: “One night in a dream this all-glorious word
was heard from all sides: ‘Verily, We will aid Thee to triumph by Thyself and by Thy pen. Grieve not for that which
bath befallen ‘Thee and have no fear. Truly Thou art of Them that are secure. Ere long shall the Lord send forth and
reveal the treasures of the earth. Men will give Thee the victory by Thyself and by Thy Nasise, whereby the Lord bath
revived the hearts of them that know!’”
In His Discourse of the Temple we find a like reference. “But when I saw myself at the culmination of calamity, I heard
from above my head the most wonderful and melodious voice, and when I turned I witnessed a Maiden (symbol of
spiritual be-

stowal), of the celebration of the Name of My Lord, suspended in the air on a level with my head. . . . Then with her finger she pointed
to My head, and addressed all those in heaven and earth saying: By God, this is the Beloved of the universe, but ye do not understand!
This is the Beauty of God among you, and His Dominion within you, if ye are of those who know! This is the Mystery of God, His
Treasure, the Command of God and His Glory, to those who are in the Kingdom of power and creation—. if ye are of those who
reason!”
In other references we find further ekorts to describe for us those moments of “Power and Excellence”:
“God is My witness, 0 people! I was asleep on My couch, when lo, the Breeze of God wafting over Me aroused Me from My slumber,
His quickening Spirit revived Me and My tongue was loosed to voice His Call.
“Whenever I chose to hold My peace and be still, lo, the voice of the Holy Spirit, standing on My right hand aroused Me, and the
Supreme Spirit appeared before My face, and Gabriel over-shadowed Me, and the Spirit of Glory stirred within My bosom, bidding
Me arise and break My silence.”
Finally, we find Bahá’u’lláh in a rhapsody of evanescence before the Adored One:
“i have no will but Thy Will, 0 My Lord, and cherish no desire except Thy Desire. From My pen floweth only the
summons which Thine own exalted Pen hath voiced, and My tongue uttereth naught save what the Most Great Spirit
hath Itself proclaimed in the kingdom of Thine eternity. I am
stirred by nothing else except the winds of Thy will, and breathe no word except the words which, by Thy leave and
Thine inspiration, I am led to pronounce.”
The statements of Bahá’u’lláh set down within the last century have stepped outside the category of tradition. Critics of the source
records of religion cannot say this is mere religious lore passed on and modified by generations of followers. Here is no mythology. In
the literature of the Bahá’i Faith we have instead first-hand utterance through an inspired Pen of the mystery of the infusion of a
human soul with the Spirit

THE BAHA’I WORLD

of Revelation. Was it true experience or delirium? Sufficient it is to those who call themselves Bahá’is that the divine Power and the
Ancient Wisdom should have re maine

vested in Bahá’u’lláh for a quarter of a century of unbroken Revelation, filling no less than a hundred volumes with the
creative, living Wbrd.
III.
THE VEHICLES OF GRACE
The study of Comparative Religion impresses us with the fact of mystery. There are mysteries in every religion, and usually they are
the same mysteries. One comes to admit that the Prophets, separated from each other by hundreds of years and speaking often from a
relative isolation, have expounded the same doctrines as if they had been read from one Book. The conclusion is that there is an
ancient Truth in the world that is beyond the intellectual comprehension of man. To the Founders of the world’s religious systems
alone was given an understanding, not acquired, because that would have been impossible, but innate. This knowledge was a state of
consciousness which set them above the rest of creation. Degrees of intellectual and spiritual perception are noticeable among the
grades of mankind: the prophetic consciousness was in the highest degree, the absolute. Therefore They knew and understood truths
so profound that man’s relatively limited comprehension gives up before them. These then are the mysteries.
Chief among the mysterious allusions of the sacred books is that to the emanation of a spirit or state of super-being from the Supreme
Power. This is known to us as the Holy Spirit. Associating this consciousness with religious experience William James says: “it adds
to life an enchantment which is not . . . logically deducible from anything else. It is,” he says, “an added dimension of emotion.”
Religious teachings pivot around the distribution of this divine uplifting grace.
In the Gathas of Zoroaster a Being emerges: Sraosha, or Srosh.’ Ahura Mazda, the Supreme Being, has other helpers, “the immortal
Benefactors,” who are the personification of His own attributes and bestowals (the “good principle,” omnipresence, prosperity, the
earth, health, immortality), hut Srosh was “the righteous,” “the beautiful,”

“the Sword-bearer,” “the embodiment of the sacred Word.” He was referred to also as “he who walks teaching the religion around the
world.” His presence was so tangible that he was referred to as a celestial person by Zoroaster. He is the angel who stands between
God and man, the “great teacher of the good religion, who instructed the prophet in it.”
In the later Books, Christian, Muhammadan, Bahá’i, Srosh was Gabriel—and the “angel of the Lord” was named Gabriel also in the
Old Testament. He it was who appeared to Daniel, to Zacharias, to Mary, to St. John. It was to Gabriel that Muhammad bore witness
in testifying to the divine source of His revelation:
“One mighty in power, endued with understanding, taught it him: and he appeared in the highest part of the horizon. Afterwards he
approached the prophet and near unto him until he was at the distance of two bows’-length from him or yet nearer; and he revealed
unto his servant that which he revealed. . . . He also saw him in the lotetree beyond which there is no passing; near it is the garden of the
eternal abode.”2
Bahá’u’lláh mentioned the heavenly visitant in this wise: “Wher I chose to hold My peace and be still, lo, the voice of the Holy Ghost,
standing on My right hand aroused Me, and the Supreme Spirit appeared before My face, and Gabriel over-shadowed Me, and the
Spirit of Glory stirred within My bosom, bidding Me to arise and break My silence.”3
The names for the spirit of Revelation used thus in the same connection leads to the supposition that Gabriel (Srosh) was a
personification of the Holy Spirit, the sacred and hidden Word, the primal and supreme
The Sacred Language, Writings and Religion of
De Parsis, p. 307, Martin Haug, 1907.
2 Qur’ãn Sura LIII, Sales translation.
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahã’u’llfh, p. 103.

THE ONENESS OF RELIGION

intermediary between God and man. “As the pure mirror receives light from the sun and transmits this bounty to others,” said ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá, “so the Holy Spirit is the mediator of the Holy Light from the Sun of Reality, which it gives to sanctified realities. . . . Every time
it appears the world is renewed and a new cycle is founded.”4
Because the Prophet, or Manifestation of God was the focus of this periodic flashing of a divine Ray, He too became a mediator, a
Vehicle of Grace. Through Him the vitality and sweetness of a spiritual springtime is poured forth upon the world. Of the Christ Spirit
(and it is an eternal Spirit) ‘Abdu’lBahá said, “The Christ is the central point of the Holy Spirit: He is born of the Holy Spirit; he is
raised up by the Holy Spirit; he is the descendant of the Holy Spirit.”5 The pure and brilliant mirrors—the susceptibilities of the
divinely endowed Messengers
—blazed forth in the full glory of the heavenly effulgence and reflected it to the world of humanity. It was never a light from a
personality, no matter how exalted, that shone upon the world, but the Light from the Supreme Apex.
Srosh, and Gabriel, manifestations of Spirit from a plane of unearthly splendor, have been captured for man’s imagination by the
poetic imagery of Those Who knew their presence. We see the flashing of their swords, and the Glory of God shining around them,
and the swift passage of their wings. So, also, do we visualize the personality of the Manifestation. Our love for His attributes is an
emotion that makes Him a rallying point for the diverse humanity who are His followers. He is the Magnet around which the
fragments of blue steel which are the hearts of His disciples group themselves in concentric circles: near or far. But that majesty that
we worship, that divine patience amid the cruelest persecution, that tender and melting love, the ocean-like surge of His utterance, the
power blended with sweetness, is of God. It is God’s Self. Compared with the stupendous glory of the Manifestation, the person is as
another “Gabriel”—personiflcation, another Sign of a hidden Mystery. Bahá’u’llãh provides us with an explanation in His Tablet of
Manifestation:°

“In every world He appears according to the capacity of that world . . . So . . . in (the world of) bodies, in the world of names and
attributes, . . . He appears unto them in His form, so that He, their Lord, may direct them, and draw them nearer to the seat of His
Command, and cause them to attain to that which was ordained to them.
“Consider a goldsmith: verily he makes a ring, and although he is its maker, yet he adorns his finger with it. Likewise God, the
Exalted, appears in the clothing of His creatures. This is through His favor so that His servants may not flee from Him, but that they
may approach Him and rest in His Presence, hear His wonderful melodies and be benefited by that which proceeds from His mouth,
and by that which He reveals unto them from the heaven of His Will.
“Verily, were God, the Exalted, to appear in His (proper) grade and form no one could ever approach Him, or endure to be near Him
Not that the Man does not exist. He has a two-fold nature, the physical and the spiritual; a double station. Bahã’u’llãh, discoursing on
this distinction, quotes the words of Mu5ammad to exemplify the dual functioning.7 In regard to the first station, that representing the
Manifestation of God, Muhammad said, “Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with God. I am He, Himself, and He is I,
Myself, except that I am that I am, and He is that He is.” But from His second and human station Muhammad declared, “I am but a
man like you.” This is reminiscent of the paradox of Christ’s statements: “The Father and I are one;” “My teaching is not mine but His
Who sent me.” So the Man, suffering, adoring, poignantly awake, racked between earth and heaven, prayed—sometimes in ecstasy,
sometimes in agony of spirit to that Unseen but Evident Power to Which we also pray.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá further elucidating the mystery of the Manifestation informs us that the Holy Realities of the Manifestations of God
have two spiritual positions: “One is
‘Abdss’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 165.
Some Answered Questions, p. 135.
o Bshá’i Scriptures, pp. 206-207.
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahã’u’lláh, pp.
66, 67.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

the place of manifestation, which can be compared to the position of the globe of the sun, and the other is the resplendency of the
manifestation which is like its light and radiance.” In the first of these positions He is the “light-holder.” For example, Moses is
described in the Pentateuch as “a Man with whom the Eternal had intercourse face to face, unequalled for all the signal acts which the
Eternal sent Him to perform in the land of Egypt . . . as well as for all the mighty deeds and awful power which Moses displayed in the
sight of all Israel.”5
In the Gathas the individuahty of Zoroaster (Zarathushtra) stands forth as the light holder:
“The Holy Zarathushtra — who first thought what was good; who was the first priest of the sacred fire; the first warrior, the first
plougher of the ground; who first knew and first taught the Word of holiness, and obedience to the Word; who had a revelation of the
Lord; in whose birth and growth the waters and the plants, rejoiced, cried out, “Hail!”9
“Now hath God been gracious unto believers,” declared Muhammad, “when He raised up among them an apostle of their own nation,
who would recite His signs unto them and purify them.”°
Jesus emphasized the truth that the Prophet is an intermediary between God and man, an actual conveyer of the divine light.
Especially is to be noted His teaching in John where He exhorts His followers to “Remain in Me . . . I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who remains in Me as I in him bears rich fruit (because apart from Me you can do nothing) .“‘ He was the
Iv
central figure in a succession, or chain, of mediators of grace from the Supreme Being, that is to say, the Holy Spirit had descended on
Him (“like a dove”), and He, in turn, had transmitted the divine meanings; now He advanced the doctrine which will eventually
liberate the souls of men: that the power of the Holy Spirit can be passed on for the exaltation of those disciples who are on fire with
His love. They will be enabled then, in their turn, to reflect the adorable attributes of the Christ Spirit, and become tributaries and
channels of that same Spirit.
Bahá’u’lláh, the latest Manifestation of the Divine Spirit, teaches us that God has “focused the radiance of all His names and
attributes” upon the reality of man, and “made it a mirror of His own Self.” These energies, He asserts, lie latent within man, “even as
the flame is hidden within the candle.” The candle cannot light itself. It must be ignited from the Divine Fire. For the accomplishment
of this supreme attainment (to summarize our argument) Bahá’u’lláh teaches, “there must be manifested a Being, an Essence, who will
act as a Manifestation and a Vehicle for the transmission of the grace of the Divinity Itself, the Sovereign Lord of all. Through the
teachings of this Day Star of Truth every man will advance and develop until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all the
potential forces with which his inmost self hath been endowed. It is for this very purpose that in every age and dispensation the
Prophets of God and His chosen Ones have appeared amongst men, and have evinced such a power as is born of God and such might
as only the Eternal can reveal.”12

THERE IS BUT ONE GOD

According to the Qur’ánic story of Abraham this happened: “What,” said Abraham to the Chaldeans, “are these images
to which ye are so entirely devoted?”
The Chaldeans, answering as man does even today when his faith is challenged, answered, “We found our fathers
worshipping them.”
“Verily,” said Abraham, “both you and your fathers have been in manifest error.

Verily, your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth: it is He Who bath created them, and I am one of those who bear witness
thereof. . . . By God,” declared the youth, “I will surely devise a plot against
8 Deuteronomy, XXXIV, 10-12, Moffstt translation. Seven Great Bibles, Alfred W. Msrtin.
Sale’s Koran, Sura Ill.
t5Jobn XV, 4-10.
Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llSh, pp.
67-68.

THE ONENESS OF RELIGION

your idols . . . after ye shall have turned your backs!”
Archeologists have commented on the whiteness of the moonlight on the site of the ancient city of Ur. The shrines of the Moon-god
Nannar, and the Moon-goddess Nm-Gal were in the heart of that city occupying a large place. They say that the Moon-gods were
surrounded by the images, in human form, of the countless minor gods of their retinue. “He went into the temple,” said Muhammad,
“where the idols stood, and he broke them all in pieces except the biggest of them that they might lay the blame on that.”
When Abraham was accused before the assembly, he said, rAsIr them, if they can speak.”
“Verily, thou knowest,” protested the Chaldeans, “that these speak not.”
“Do ye therefore worship, besides God, that which cannot profit ye at all, neither can it hurt you? Fie upon you,” cried Abraham, “and
upon that which ye worship besides God:”
The presence of the one true God haunts the Old Testament. The story in Exodus tells us that Jehovah had given Moses “two tables of
testimony, tables of stone written with the finger of God.” The first of the laws that He had revealed for the Israelites had been this:
“Ye shall have no gods but Me. You shall not carve any idols for yourselves the shape of anything in heaven or above or on the earth
below or in the sea. You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Eternal, your God, am a jealous God. . .
But when Moses, hastened by Jehovah, descended the mountain with the tablets written on both sides in His hands, what did He hear?
There was such an outcry that Joshua (who attended Moses) thought there was war in the camp. But Moses recognized the answering
cries of ritual! it was a chorus of men’s voices singing; when He came near enough to see the camp He saw the people dancing around
the image of a golden calf.
Moses, fresh from the presence of the Ancient of Days upon the mountain, with His awful admonitions ringing in His ears above the
din of the idolatry, threw down the precious tablets, breaking them, and

hurled Himself upon the image of the calf. The legend says that He both melted it and ground it to powder. He put the powder into
water and made the idolators drink it down. Then standing at the entrance to the camp He shouted in His leader’s voice: “Who is for
the Eternal? Come over to Me
Is it for us to quibble over the details and historic authenticity of these tales of the one true God? We are not historians: rather are we
tracing a trend in religious thought, a concept. There was a tendency to fetish worship and idolatry which was a pull back to man’s
primitive past, a pull away from evolution. Inspired Leaders arose with a God-given wisdom, a God-power, whose mission it was to
combat the retrogressive tendency. According to the literature of all religions, Hindu, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Christian, Muhammadan,
the prophets dominated men while they could, spoke of reward and punishment, led them onward in accordance with a destiny, called
their souls back from primordial slime. There was a creative social Principle at work, a• coordinative Center set up like a Sun, Man’s
sin then (as now) was to turn away from that Center.
The effect of the teachings and influence of the Hebraic sequence of prophets and administrators was that when Jesus came He did not
have to spend His precious months of teaching on the breaking up of the worship of actual graven images. Unique among the peoples
of that time the Hebrews were not idolators. Jesus was free to attack through His teachings a more subtle infidelity to the one true
God. He threw the money-changers out of the temple; He searched the hearts for the hidden altar to Baal; He distinguished between
the quick and the dead—family could be an idol, possessions and power, old ways of hying, individualism. Those things from which
man could not unrivet his gaze when the Christ- call sounded were the idols. Because of those happenings, mysteriously hinted at in
the ancient manuscripts which comprise the Old Testament, there were ready in the time of Christ a few, a nucleus, who were ready to
cast away the Christ-defined idolatry and to carry the new tablets of the one God
1 Ssara XXI, Sale’s translation.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

(those writ on the heart) out into the border territory. Many listened. Then, all too soon, as the years passed into centuries the apostolic
channels became clogged with doctrine, and the subtle idols (self in its guises) crept back into their niches.
“And Jehovah said unto Moses. Hew Me two tablets of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon the tablets the words that were
on the first tablets that thou breakest.”
Again God was merciful. He sent Another, and Another, and Another. He made new covenants. He revealed through new versions of
the Mother Book, new vistas leading to the Promised Land—that Land which is called the Kingdom of God.
Suddenly, dramatically, in the seventh century after the appearance of the Christ in Palestine, the one true God established Himself in
an out-territory, among the tribes of Arabia.
Arabia was then—and promised ever to be—a veritable stronghold of idol worship in its crudest form. The Ishmaelites (so- named
from their belief in a descent from Abraham through Ishmael) had fallen early into those mistakes which the Israelites had made.
Centuries of recession had piled one upon another. The dust of the desert itself was not equal to the gloomy dust of superstition that
stifled the souls of those people. The story of the coming of Multammad is Hebraic in its masterful splendor and abruptness. With
words that cut like knives Muhammad managed to carve the consciousness of the one God into those resistant minds. We find
ourselves incredibly transplanted to the earlier legend. It was as if Jehovah, Himself, the Eternal, after finding His chosen ones bereft
of hearing in the Hour of Christ had turned back His attention upon the earlier and more primitive line.
In 629 Muhammad came back to the Temple of Abraham and Ishmael, this time a conqueror of such power that He had but to appear
before the gates of Mecca for that city to capitulate. Of all the populace He killed but four and these were executed in just punishment
for their misdeeds. But Muhammad was bent upon the destruction of another community, that of the gods in the temple of His
forefathers. Followed by

His ten thousand soldiers He came to the Kaaba. Had the gods there possessed a mind or soul instead of being the inanimate things
that they were, they would have known the spelling of their ultimate doom nearly twenty years before. It was at that time that the
angelic Voice on Mt. Hira had said to Muhammad, ‘try in the Name of thy Lord!” In the years that had followed Muhammad had
declared His mission, suffered His period of persecution, had fled (in 622) out of Mecca at night and on His black horse to the City of
Yathrib—soon to be called Medina, the City of the Prophet. He had then set up a temporal rule in Medina and administered the Law of
God. Always He had taught the one God: “Your God is one God; there is no God but He, the Most Merciful. In the creation of the
heaven and the earth, and the alternation of the day and night, and in the ship which saileth on the sea laden with what is profitable to
mankind; and in the rain-water which God sendeth from heaven, quickening again the dead earth and the animals of all sorts which
cover its surface; and in the change of the winds and the clouds balanced between heaven and earth—are signs to people of
understanding. Yet, some men take idols beside God and love them with the love due to God.”2
Now the Meccans had treacherously broken their years of truth and the climax for the gods was no longer to be withheld.
There in the Kaaba the gods waited, Hobal, carved in red agate, the gold and silver gazelles, the images of Abraham and Ishmael.
Ranged around these were three hundred sixty idols, one for each day of the lunar year, nature fetishes. As in His story of His ancestor
Abraham, He struck the idols down—and this is a matter of record:
while an idolatrous populace sighed He broke every one of the images, and with each crashing blow He shouted: “Truth is come, and
falsehood is fled away. Verily, falsehood is evanescent!” With the images went every pagan rite. It was a deathblow to a whole vast
system of idolatry. From the desert the tribes began giving themselves up to Him; enlisting under the banner of the one God.
2 Sura IL

THE ONENESS OF RELIGION

An exhibit of Bahã’i books placed on view at the Dean Hobbs Blanchard Memorial Library in Santa Paula, California.
The librarian, Mrs. Gladys Kennedy, cooperated in making this display possible, which included recent Bahã’i books
published in the U. S., pictures of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Temple, some texts in Persian and Arabic, enhanced in
attractiveness
by flowers and Persian art objects. The exhibit attracted much attention.

THE DOCtRINE OF “DTVSNE UNrrv”
The demolition of the images was a deed performed in the world of material things. It was a vigorous lesson in the root doctrine of
Mul3ammad’s teachings: that of the “Divine Unity.” Readers of this series will recognize a recurrence of our theme in the following
statement by a present-day adherent of the Prophet.3
“For thousands, for millions of years, there has been but one truth in the world. God, the Incomprehensible, the Unrecognizable, has
sent it to mankind. Throughout the entire existence of the world, through all peoples and all cultures, through all times and all
countries, there has been a steady procession of prophets, of holy ones, commanded by God to preach the primitive truth to humanity. .
. . Their message was the same at all times. Faith in the prophets is the cornerstone of Islam.”

Another Muhammadan writer4 carries the conception of unity farther: “God is one

and so are His creatures. Unity springs from a belief in the Oneness of the Creator which spreads out and inspires everything in
creation.”
The doctrine of Divine Unity can be resolved into precepts which are basic also in the Teachings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, 1. The
Unity of the Essence, 2. The belief in a succession of prophets, 3. The essential brotherhood of mankind. A more searching definition
of polytheism was in the making. The belief in the actual incarnation of the God-essence in the person of the Prophet had crept out of
Egypt and Greece and Rome into Christianity. Muhammad protested against an idolizing of Jesus and Mary. He guarded His followers
against a deifying of Himself. For to consider the prophets other than channels for the knowledge of God, to differentiate between
them, worship-

Book Exhibit

“Muhammad, Essad Bey, 1936.
‘Muhammad, the Prophet, Sindar ‘All Shah.
pict264.jpg

THE BAHA’i WORLD

ing one while rejecting others was to expose one’s lack of comprehension of the true implications of Unity. It was defined as
polytheism then: so is it now.
In our own day, Bahi’u’lláh, latest manifestation of the one true God, bears witness to His own dissociation, as a personality, with the
Unknowable Essence: “Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His Essence and reveal it unto men. He is,
and hath ever been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived. From His retreat of Glory His voice is
ever proclaiming:
‘Verily I am God, there is none other God besides Me, the All-Knowing, the All- Wise.’” But God moves Him entirely, as
an instrument in His Hand: “As a token of His mercy . . . and as a proof of His loving kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day
Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified beings to be
identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath
hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself.”
Explaining the Divine Unity again He says: “Inasmuch as these Birds of the celestial Throne are all sent down from the heaven of the
Will of God, and as they all arise to proclaim His irresistible Faith, they, therefore, are regarded as one soul and the same person. For
they all drink

from the one Cup of the love of God, and all partake of the fruit of the same Tree of Oneness.”
“All is from God,” therefore all humanity: “Through each and everyone of the verses which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed,
the doors of love and unity have been unlocked and flung open to the face of men. We have erewhile declared—and Our Word is the
truth: ‘Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.’ “ “0 contending peoples and kindreds of the
earth! Set your faces toward unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. . . . There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples
of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. .
The one God recognized, we are ready to attack, with His help, the inner idolatry which is so firmly set up in the hearts of a forgetful
world. “Arise, 0 people,” the Voice of the One God has called again in ringing tones, “and by the power of God’s might, resolve to
gain the victory over your own selves, that haply the whole world may be freed from the gods of its idle fancies— gods that have
inflicted such loss upon, and are responsible for the misery of, their wretched worshipers. These idols form the obstacle that impeded
man in his efforts to advance in the path of perfection. We cherish the hope that the Hand of Divine Power lend its assistance to
mankind, and deliver it from its state of grievous abasement.”

10.

THE WELL OF HAPPINESS
B GEORGE TOWNSHEND

I.
[4 APPINESS is our birthright: it is ours to take to hold to possess in perpetuity. If it seem hidden from us it is not
hidden by distance but by nearness. We do not have to go questing for it through the wide earth nor through the
immensity of the heavens. It is in our midst. It is closer to us than breathing. It is buried in our own heart’s- deep, deep
in the heart’s inmost recesses; and there it dwells waiting to be recognized, to be discovered.
Every one can be happy and ought to be. God expects it and enjoins it. Every Revelation comes as Glad Tidings,
bidding man be glad and giving him cause to be. Every Prophet has found men wandering in sadness and misery and
has rebuked them for
it. He has called them away from the things that produce unhappiness from anxiety and worry and cupidity, from fear
of the future, from anticipation of evil, from lack of hope and faith. He has opened to them a way of escape, promised
them deliverance from evil, and the attainment, by God’s grace, of a happiness that will satisfy and endure. Now in our
time the Prophet of the New Age into which we are entering, Bahã’u’lláh, gives once again the ancient glad tidings—
tidings of a happiness poured forth from heaven on all men everywhere in even greater abundance, yes in far, far
greater abundance than ever in the history of the past—a happiness the bright and eager intensity of which can only be
measured if at all by the bitterness of our need and by the extremity of our humiliation and our suffering. Exultation
and victory ring in every sentence of his proclamation of the All-Glorious Advent of God. The ancient promise, He
cries, is fulfilled.
God’s mercy and generosity have overcome at last the apathy and dullness of His creatures. His Name has conquered
the earth. He has exposed to man’s knowledge

the futility and the stupidity of strife. The long power of delusion is broken. The reign of violence and misery is doomed. The time has
come for man to attain a new understanding, new ideals, a new life which will deliver him permanently from the glooms and
superstitions of ignorance and will make possible that serene divine happiness which he was created to enjoy. The earth (throughout
its entire length and breadth) ought now to be filled with songs of praise and thanksgiving; and the only reason it is not so is that the
opacity of man’s pride has shut out from his knowledge the light of the joy of heaven that is beating upon him.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught that one of the nine marks by which the True Messenger of God was to be identified was His being “a joy bringer
and the herald of the kingdom of happiness.” Bahá’u’lláh in the midst of dire afflictions showed forth a spirit of serenity and
acceptance radiating in others that deep steadfast joy that filled His own heart. He taught men to thinh of God as a God of Bliss—as
one “by whose name the sea of joys moveth and fragrances of happiness are wafted.” He bade men if they wished for happiness to
pray for it to God.
“Vouchsafe me of Thy bounty that which will brighten my eyes and gladden my heart. ...““Grant me the joy of beholding Thy eternal
Being, 0 Thou who dwellest in my inmost heart....””Send down upon me the fragrant breezes of Thy joy.”
He bade men receive His message as a summons to happiness. “0 Son of Spirit! with the joyful tidings of light I hail thee:
rejoice! . . . The spirit of holiness beareth unto thee joyful tidings of reunion; wherefore dost thou grieve? 0 Son of man! Rejoice in the
gladness of thine heart, that thou mayest be worthy to meet Me and to mirror Forth My Beauty.”

THE BAHA’f WORLD

‘Abdu’l-Bahá brought to the world the message of the New Revelation as Glad Tidings. “If,” He would say, “this does not make you
happy, what is there that will make you happy?” A man ought to be happy because if he were not he could not be in the frame of mind
to receive the bounties poured forth from on high.
When He gave a direction to the English Bahá’is for the keeping of the day of the Báb, “the day of the dawning of the heaven of
Guidance,” His words were: “Be happy— be happy—be full of Joy!” On another occasion He said, “The people must be so attracted
to you that they will exclaim, ‘What happiness exists among you!’ and will see in your faces the lights of the Kingdom; then in
wonderment they will turn to you and seek the cause of your happiness.” 1
When asked to describe how true believers ought to live, His first direction was that they should cause no one any unhappiness; and
He closed His adjuration with a kindred thought—”Be a cause of healing for every sick one, a comforter for every sorrowful one, a
pleasant water for every thirsty one, a star to every horizon, a light for every lamp, a herald to every one who yearns for the Kingdom
of God.”
In the days of persecution in Persia so great a spirit of happiness pervaded the Bahá’is that it was said one could not take tea with them
without wishing to join their society; and so strong was their personal influence that their enemies believed them to be possessed of
some unholy magic by which they won the hearts of men to believe in the new doctrine. We have for so long sought happiness by
secular or even pagan ways that although these are leading us to a dead end, we find it hard to admit that we have been traveling
altogether in the wrong direction. Religion (for all the honors we instinctively pay it) has in the hands of traditionalists and formalists
proved itself so impotent, a cause of so much division and discord, that when once again for the first time in hundreds and hundreds of
years a Divine Prophet stands in our midst and in the name of God offers deliverance and peace of heart and blessedness we can
hardly believe our eyes or our ears.

We refuse to recognize that a clue to the most precious of all lost secrets has been put into our hands and that the mystery of a perfect
love has been opened to us. The very lavishness and immensity of the gift bewilders us, almost stupefies us; as though a beggar had
asked a crust and was given a kingdom. The timeliness of the gift still further enhances its value and magnifies our astonishment.
Religion has become more and more discredited. Its results have not seemed at all worth its disciplines. Its views on life have grown
antiquated and do not fit nor illumine modern conditions of society. Those who appeared as the protagonists of religion have not stood
out as models of happiness or broad sympathies: they have not been able to give men any clear guidance in the moral mazes of
modern existence nor to impart comfort or strength in the frustrations that beset our efforts at stabilizing the social order.
Men have found many excuses for letting their faith grow cold and their religious sense become atrophied by disuse. Ordinary every
day human life has become so varied, so rich, so full of change and of movement and of novelty that it seems to be quite full and
satisfying in itself and to stand in no need of religion. Men find full employment and room for intense and engrossing activities in
purely secular and mundane interests. Never have they acquired so much to gratify their pride; never have they been so equipped to
refine and elaborate their pleasures. They sought happiness altogether in the material things that lay to their hand.
And to large extent—they found it!
God is kind and generous. He has made it easier for man to be happy than to be unhappy. He has scattered some kind or other of
pleasantness for us everywhere. No one can miss it all! Songs of celestial delight, fragrances from the Gardens of Paradise, rays of
some beatific Beauty are borne to earth on all the winds of heaven and cause some echo, however brief, some reflection, dim or faint;
or find some home in the hearts of men wherein to rest. We sharpened our intellects, cast away our superstitions and obscurations of
the past, un‘Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 213.

THE WELL OF HAPPINESS

earthed the secrets of nature, appropriated her powers and extended our control over the world about us in a manner in
which our ancestors even a century ago would never have imagined to be possible. Never had so complex and so
forceful a civilization been reared upon the face of the earth. And if we were compelled to feel there was something
incomplete and insecure about it all; if we realized the tiger and the ape in us had not been outgrown, and if we saw that
in spite of ourselves we were sinking back to the primitive ways of the jungle; nevertheless no earlier generation of
men had found so much in the world to amuse and divert and flatter and gratify them, or to prove so clearly their
supremacy over all the lower forms of creation. If all civilized beings were not supermen they were assuredly
superanimals and had at command a thousand kinds of intellectual entertainment which were peculiarly human and
their own. Men explored the resources of humanism and bathed their souls and their sense in its delights. Intellectuals
discounted that part of our tradition which is derived from Israel and emphasized more and more that which has come
down to us from Greece. They turned not their hearts only but their minds, too, from their religious inheritance to an
inheritance that was definitely not religious but artistic and literary. The Greeks carved statues of their gods which
remain to this day models of taste and skill and are the envy and admiration of the world: but those gods were assuredly
not made to be worshipped. The Greeks reared the Parthenon and countless temples, which are in their kind
masterpieces as perfect as their works of sculpture. But these temples do not suggest the unseen world; they do not
carry with them an air of mystery, of awe, of exultation. Contrast them with a Christian cathedral—with that sense of
distance, with that sublimity and aspiration which the soaring lives of Gothic awake in the spectator’s soul—and the
limitation of the Greek architect at once is betrayed. A Greek temple with its flat lines is of the earth, earthy: “A table
on four legs: a dull thing” as William Morris is said to have exclaimed of the Parthenon: and he was no belittler of the
beauty of the past.

No one would disparage the glory that was Greece nor yet the splendor that was Rome. All the encomiums passed upon them recently
by scholars are no doubt as just as they are enthusiastic. But the most significant thing about the revival of Greek influence is that its
champions attribute that revival to the fact that the Greek world was non-religious and purely humanistic and that its affinity which
connects our age with theirs lies in the common hmitations of both. In neither does the spiritual seek to find expression. Revelation
was unknown to the Greeks and is inacceptable to the modern:
hence they say in our outlook on life we are akin.
One of the greatest authorities on Greek humanism, Professor R. W. Livingstone, a brilliant and charming writer, puts the point quite
clearly in his book Greek. Genius and Its Meaning to Us. “Let us sum up,” he says, “the reasons of our approximation to Greece.
First is Greek humanism. . . . The Greek sat himself to answer the question how with no revelation from God to guide him . . . man should
hve. It has been a tendency in our own age either to deny that heaven has revealed to us in any way how we ought to behave or to find
such a revelation in human nature itself. In either case we are thrown back on ourselves and obliged to seek our guide there. That is
why the influence of Greece has grown so much. The Greeks are the only people who have conceived the problem similarly; their
answer the only one that has yet been made.”
That is very clear. But who will affirm that the masterpieces inspired by the Christian religion are less splendid than those of Greek
humanism? Who will deny that Christian literature and art, in all its branches, the work of men as various as Michael Angelo and
Milton, and Dante and da Vinci, has a beauty and a power and a richness and a majesty even superior to that of Greeks—and to what
is this due but manifestly and confessedly to a spiritual revelation?
Whatever masterpieces of humanistic art and craftsmanship the Greeks may have left us, did they bequeath to posterity any secret of
happiness—of a happiness that really sat-

THE BAHA’i WORLD

isfies leaving no hunger, a happiness that endures producing no satiety and not ending at the last in something that is not happiness?
And those academicians who drank deeply of the fountain of Greek wisdom, have they been able to save us from this self—
stultification of intellectualism?
Is there to be found in Greek literature or art anything comparable to that high noble courageous invincible joy that vibrates in a book
which formally is by no means a Greeklike masterpiece of artistic skill or genius—the New Testament?
It was the Greeks who handed down to us the story of the Skeleton at the Feast and told how before the banquet closed a servant
would bring in a skeleton and bid the guests “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die.” It was the Greeks who said no man
should be called happy till his death, and they certainly did not promise him much happiness beyond it. Not to live long, they thought,
was best; those whom the gods loved died young. The most wonderful and famous of their literary works gave no message of glory
and hope and triumph, but were tragedies, written frequently around themes of a sombre, terrifying and even gruesome cast.
Scholars have remarked that an undertone of sadness seemed to run through the great hterature of Greece. The reason is that it is
humanistic—and nothing more. For when humanism thinks deeply, it thinks sadly. Our English Renaissance was not so secular as was
the culture of ancient Greece:
far from it. England was a Christian country with a Christian tradition and the Authorized Version was produced at the same time as
The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale. But the accent of its Renaissance was on the human not the spiritual side, and Shakespeare in
this was a true exponent of it. Broad as his sympathies were, if there be any character he could not have understood nor have put
sympathetically into a drama, it is such a one as Shelley. You will find many notes in Shakespeare’s singing; but not the note of the
poetry of Blake. Shakespeare’s world was far from being as Revelationless as that of ancient Greece; but the mystical aspect of things
is not brought into his picture.

He, too, when he thought deeply, thought sadly. His greatest works are not his comedies, brilliant as these are. Even in these there is a
shadow: not only in The Merchant of Venice but even in the gayest of all, Twelfth Night and As You Li/re It, and still more in
The Tempest (Poor Prospero:
at the end he must bury his art—not carry it on to happier fulfilment!) But his greatest works were his tragedies and his fame rests on
them.
How mighty and vigorous, how confident, adventurous, and triumphant was the England of those days, the England of Queen
Elizabeth! Yet that eager and self- sufficient age did not through its most eloquent spokesman speak the fullest happiness. Could any
illustration show more conclusively the inadequacy of humanism to meet the needs of humanity?
However gay, delightful, praiseworthy the happiness that humanism fathers, it must in the nature of things be qualified. It cannot be
complete. Humanism can only bid us make the best of things—to look on the bright side and take the rough with the smooth. But
sorrow and suffering cannot be ignored or evaded. They will insistently intrude themselves. It is not the stoic who has overcome the
world and is able to bequeath his joy to others when he is gone. No, sorrow and suffering must be faced and included within the
scheme of happiness: there is no device by which they can be left on the outside of life and induced to remain there! And if this
alternation of shadow and light, this chequered and inconstant happiness be the best that life can give; if our well-being be the sport of
circumstance and the plaything of fate, then indeed one can hardly escape from pessimism. The birds of the air who neither have to
sow nor reap are happier than we!
It is rehgion which teaches us that pessimism is utterly wrong; that pessimism is the product of a circumscribed and limited
experience. It is religion which for the first time opens up to man’s vision the height and depth, the range and the reality of God’s
munificence to His creatures.
God has created for man other sources of pleasure and happiness which lie beyond those of reason and the senses; He has cre

THE WELL OF HAPPINESS

ated solaces, delights, raptures which arise out of the activity of higher powers, higher faculties, and belong to man’s
moral nature, to the inmost and most real sphere of his being. The sphere of conscience, of the sense of right and
wrong, of spiritual perception, has been affirmed by God and is felt instinctively by man to be of greater value and
dignity, to be farther from earth and nearer to heaven, than the realm of sensibility or ratiocination; and the content,
Of a surety God is Joy! This is the creed, the experience, the message of religion. Not only high poets through their
intuition, but the seers, the saints, the prophets, one and all, have recognized this all-explanatory, this all-animating
truth. The hopes and dreams of suffering, longing mankind have been as a mirror reflecting a great reality. There is—
there is a Being whose name is Bliss—changeless, throned above vicissitude and all shadow, without beginning or
ending, the Eternal One, the Master of all Life, radiant, beautiful, beloved!
Had they not known this Being, the Founders of the Religions could never have thought or spoken or endeavored as
they did:
they would have had no message of comfort to give to sorrowing mankind and they could not have promised that all
tears would be wiped away and only happiness would remain. Christ Himself possessed inalienably this joy; and the
immortal prospect which He held before those who died in the faith was that of sharing in eternity the joy of God. One
of His express gifts to His disciples on earth was joy. “These things I have spoken unto you that my joy may be within
you and your joy complete.” He said that the joy of the true believer was so great that for joy he would sell all he had to
gain the object of his love! And He assured His disciples that nothing would ever take this joy away from them. The
disciples are described as being filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. Paul described the Kingdom of God as “joy in the
Holy Ghost,” and bade those to whom he wrote to “Rejoice in the Lord,” and “evermore to give thanks.” The New
Testament not only in the Gospels but from the

the tranquility, the happiness, the ecstasy that attach to it (like too its pains) are more deeply set and more vital than those which derive
from the lower ranges of man’s consciousness. The common every day experience of every mortal being bears witness to this truth;
and the long, glorious story of those who in every age have labored to advance civilization, to promote moral progress, to establish the
practice of true religion, is rich in proofs of it.
II.
Acts to the Apocalypse is alive with the spirit of a pervading and inviolable joy.
Not in the New Testament only but in the higher reaches of the Old Testament the same song of happiness is heard: “Rejoice in the
Lord, 0 ye righteous: for praise is comely for the righteous.” “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God.”2
Had not the early Christians been animated with an invincible confidence and an amazing power of attraction they could never have
overcome indifference and persecution and won the hearts of the world to submission to Christ.
One striking proof of this spirit meets one in the early works of Christian art. This art was largely a sepulchral art, found in the
catacombs or associated with death and often with martyrdom; and it was produced in time of tribulation and struggle. Yet images of
sorrow and suffering are systematically excluded from it, nor is there in it any expression of bitterness or complaint. Pictures such as
that of Daniel unharmed among the lions or the three children unscathed amid the flames, are the sole indication of the dreadful
persecutions raging at the time. There are few representations of martyrdom, and none (as it seems) till a late date. Instead, one finds
emblems of beauty and happiness—pictures of the miracles of mercy, sweet emblems of immortality, and even joyous images
borrowed from the mythology of the pagans.
Centuries passed away before this brave and tender note ceased to be dominant in
1Ps. 33.1.
2 Isa. 61.10.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

Christian art and another and very different mood took its place.
In distant India long before the time of Christ the Gita had borne witness to their Eternal Joy and had opened to men the way to realize
it.
“For persons free from desire or hatred, for the persons who have controlled their mind and who have realized the Self every where is
found the bliss of Brahman.”
And again, “To persons who have known the Self, the bliss of Brahman lies everywhere.”
Buddha uttered statements similar to those of Christ on His possession and His gift of happiness. He said of Himself that He “lived in
the pure land of eternal bliss even while he was still in the body and he preached the law of religion to you and the whole world that
you and your brethren may attain the same peace and the same happiness.”
He set forth five meditations through the use of which the devotee might reach the land of bliss, the first of love, the second of pity
“the third of joy in which you think of the prosperity of others and rejoice with their rejoicings.”
Buddha taught insistently that misery and fear were caused by error, and that knowledge of truth conferred a complete and undying
joy even here on earth.
“There is misery in the world of •birth and death: there is much misery and pain. But greater than all the misery is the bliss of truth. . . .
Blessed is he who has become an embodiment of truth and loving kindness. He conquers though he may be wounded; he is glorious
and happy, although he may suffer. . .
“This is the sign that a man follows the right path: Uprightness is his delight and he sees danger in the least of the things which he
should avoid. He trains himself in the commands of morality, he encompasseth himself with holiness in word and deed. . . . mindful and
self-possessed, he is altogether happy.” And again: “A brother who with firm determination walks in the noble path is sure to come
forth in the light, sure to reach up to the higher wisdom, sure to attain to the highest bliss of enlightenment.”

But all the Founders of Religion have taught that the way to truth and the joy of truth is narrow and difficult. The Divine Being who is
the Soul of Bliss is hard to find, hard to attain to. Objects of earthly ambition are not gained without perseverance and labor: how
much more effort will then be needed to achieve this blissful union which is the most precious and the final goal of all human
endeavor! This divine joy is closely hidden, jealously concealed from the casual observation of man
—but it is not hidden by distance. On the contrary it lies close at hand and if it cannot be seen, this is because it is so very near. Not
only is it, as the poet said of God, “nearer to us than breathing, closer than hands and feet” (that would be wonderful enough) ; but it is
nearer to us than we are to ourselves. There is in human nature always a possibility that a man’s superstition or self-illusion will hang
a veil between himself and his heart so that he will be in blank ignorance of that which lies at the center of his own being.
“Their superstitions have become veils between them and their own hearts and kept them from the path of God, the Exalted, the
Great.”
The psychological make-up of a man may be likened to a figure consisting of three or four concentric circles, the outer representing
his body and the senses, the next representing the mental realm, the next the moral realm, and the innermost circle standing for the
realm of the spiritual which is the essential part of man, the heart of his heart, and soul of his soul. It is possible for a man to live and
move and spend his whole existence in the outer fringes of his being, to shut away from his experience the finer activities of thought
and feeling and to have his nobler and most vital faculties misused. He may occupy his time in this or that pursuit yet never effect an
entry into the sphere of conscience of faith or of spirit.
Such men, said Christ, are dead. Though they walk about and work and wield earthly influence, though they govern a province or
preside at a Sanhedrin, they are only rational animals, men in an embryonic stage, unfit to be dignified by the title “man” in the
fullness of its meaning. Such men can-

THE WELL OF HAPPINESS

I
0:

Mme. Draga Illic with a group of friends in Belgrade, Jugoslavia taken in June, 1939.

not be happy. Their minds are operating in a sphere where a stable and satisfying happiness is not to be had. They are
unconscious of that finer and inner realm of being in which happiness is to be sought and found. Not to such men but to
His disciples did Jesus leave His peace and His joy.
This communion with God through which a man finds Bliss is a communion of love, a meeting of like with like.
“I have breathed within thee a breath of my own spirit, that thou mayest be my lover.”
When the veils of illusion which hide a man’s own heart from himself are drawn aside, when after purgation he comes
to himself and attains self-knowledge and sees himself as he truly is then at the same moment and by the same act of
knowledge he beholds there in his own heart His Father who has patiently awaited His son’s return.
Only through this act of self-completion, through this conclusion of the journey which begins in the kingdom of the
senses and leads inward through the kingdom of the moral to end in that of the spiritual, does real happiness become
possible. Now for the first time a man’s whole being can be integrated, and a harmony of all his faculties be
established. Through his union with the Divine Spirit he has found the

secret of the unifying of his own being. He who is the Breath of Joy becomes the animating principle of his existence. He knows the
Peace of God.
This union with God is the only happiness which the Prophets one and all affirm as worthy of the name. It does not belong to the
accidents of life and is in no degree the product of imagination or illusion. It is independent of all contingencies. It rests on direct
perception, on immediate union between the creature and his Creator. It is shared with God in its essence and is therefore imperishable
and secure. The world did not give it and the world cannot take it away. Afflictions may add to its strength and intensity, as winds will
blow a glowing fire to a flame; but they cannot violate it. It does not deny the other and lesser pleasures which God in His generosity
has bestowed upon His creatures. It does not subsist on their mortification. It is compatible with them all. It does not demand
asceticism. The ministry of Jesus began with a marriage feast and his enemies accused Him of being a gluttonous man and a wine bibher. The Great Ones of the Bahã’i Revelation lived, so far as conditions permitted, normal human lives. As sons and brothers, as
husbands and fathers, and friends and men of business and affairs, they set examples which men may look to as they follow

P
/

‘IA
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THE BAHA’f WORLD

the ordinary course of social life. RaM’u’lláh expressly discouraged ascetic habits:
“take what God has given you,” He said. He permitted men by definite injunction to enjoy the comforts and comelinesses and even the
luxuries of life so long as these did not wean their hearts from servitude to God and the informing spirit of sacrifice. The ordinary
pleasures of life, material and intellectual, are to be taken as they come, neither being sought nor avoided but left to fall into their
appropriate places.
There is only one peace of mind, one joy, one happiness which in itself deserves to be an object of contemplation and desire. The
Great Prophets are not content merely to bear witness to the reality of this, or to describe its nature. They do more; they bear it into the
world as a gift; they bring it within men’s reach, urge and encourage them to seek for it till they find it. The imperative which they lay
on men: “Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven . . .“ is not a mere counsel of perfection, not (God forbid) an
unkind command to seek a goal which men cannot attain (—will God mock His creatures?) It is a promise of success. “Seek and ye
shall find: knock and it shall be opened to you”;

which is as if He said, “You have only to strive and you will attain.”
“The heavens of Thy mercy and the oceans of Thy bounty are so vast Thou hast never disappointed those who will come to Thee.”
The poet does much when he testifies that God is Joy and when he with inspired vision paints scenes of elysian beatitude that await
the aspiring soul of man. The High-Prophet does yet more. He opens not a vision, but the truth itself. He brings the truth down into the
world among men. He imparts to those ready to receive it the power to know the truth and become one with it.
Tragically every Prophet in religious history has found only a very few persons ready to accept Him and faithfully to follow out His
directions. Neither in His hf etime nor in the life-time of the religion which He founds, though this be centuries long, are there many
disciples who will really put His commandments to the test, will persevere in whole hearted and exact obedience and continue in spite
of discouragements in the way He has marked out till they reach the goal. Spiritual lassitude, moral compromise, the substitution of
the formal for the essential, have been the rule

H
aAr j
A group of country Bahá’is. Booleroo Centre, So. Australia.
pict266.jpg

THE WELL OF HAPPINESS

in the history of all religions. In consequence the general effect of the teaching of the Prophets has only been a fraction of what it
might have been. The possibilities of religion, as affirmed by those to whom the religions owe their origin, have never been
developed. The proportion of informed and determined followers to the total population was never considerable enough to produce
large historic results. There never have been many who sought their happiness in the spiritual sphere and found that road to inward
bliss which their Prophet had trodden and had left open wide for them to walk in. The efforts of men and nations, even too often of
churches, have been bent in other directions and their energies have been spent on less immaterial objects. In consequence human
history all the world over has been darkened with troubles and vicissitudes that need never have been, and has never been blessed with
the hope, the vision, the sense of proportion, or with anything better than the least suggestion of the well being and happiness which
the Prophet had brought within human reach.
Not only the facts of history but the recorded forecasts of the Prophets in their life time bear witness to this. Moses and Jesus both
foresaw the failures and the sufferings of their followers. No Scripture seems to show such premonitions of future disasters and
calamities or contains so many and such grave warnings of faithlessness and of tribulation to come as the Gospel. But even in our own
Age Bahá’u’llah Himself warned men of dire retribution at hand.
“0 Ye Peoples of the World! Know verily that an unforeseen calamity is following you and that grievous retribution awaiteth you.
Think not the deeds ye have committed have been blotted from My sight.” But if the great world never yet has grasped or perceived its
blessings and if the Prophets have foreseen and foretold these ineptitudes and failures, the Prophets with one consent from the first to
the last, from the mythic times of Adam to the present era have assured mankind in no uncertain tones that this frustration and misery
would not last forever. The day would come when the religious and social conviction of mankind would be changed, when the

reality of spiritual happiness would be appreciated if not by the whole human race at least by great and prevailing multitudes and when
it would become the possession not of a very, very few but of very many.
From the beginning, the date of this Event has been fixed by the providence of the Creator. From the beginning, the certainty of its
future advent has been foretold to man in every Revelation. A symbolic reference to it is recorded in the first chapter of the Bible,
when the seventh or final day of creation is shown as different from all the earlier days, as distinctively the Day of completeness and
of divine rest, the Day of God. Only one Prophet—among all the Prophets—has not foretold this future Day of Fulfillment and
Happiness: Bahá’u’llah. His pronouncement is more triumphant and happy far than that of any who preceded Him—for His Glad
Tidings is that the Promised Day of Happiness has come! God has come in the plenitude of His power and the Lord of Bliss has
established His kingdom on earth. At last God’s love for His creatures has prevailed over man’s resistance. God’s Name has
conquered the earth. Man is to lift his eyes from mundane levels and to look up towards heavenly places. His consciousness is to
expand. The fires of love are to be kindled in his heart and spiritual impulses are to stir and move his soul. He is to become aware of
the spiritual realms that have lain unexplored in the recesses of his own heart and mind. He is to turn his eyes within, upon himself,
and to find God Himself standing there powerful, mighty, supreme—the Lord of Joy.
Today is the end of man’s long journey. The prodigal after his wanderings and his humiliations has come to himself. He knows at last
what he is; and whence he came. He has returned to the Father who has left His own Home and come to meet the beloved on the way.
It is the Day of Reunion; the Day of God’s fulfillment, the Day of Joy. And that Blissful Being with whom man is now joined again, is
found not to have absented Himself from man, not to have hidden Himself, in the heights nor in the depths, but to have been at hand
radiant and glorious in the recesses of man’s own spiritual being.

11.
BAHA’IS AND WAR
B DAVID FTOFMAN

HE Bahá’i attitude to war is of immediate importance to the English Bahá’i community, and particularly to those
individual members who are liable for military service under the new conscription laws passed by Parliament this year.
Upon this fundamental matter the Guardian’s interpretation was clear and practical.
“It is still his firm conviction that the believers, while expressing their readiness to unreservedly obey any directions
that the authorities may issue concerning national service in time of war, should also, and while there is yet no outbreak
of hostilities, appeal to the government for exemption from active military service in a combatant capacity, stressing
the fact that in doing so they are not prompted by any selfish considerations but by the sole and supreme motive of
upholding the Teachings of their Faith, which make it a moral obligation for them to desist from any act that would
involve them in direct warfare with their fellow-humans of any other race or nation.”
“There are many other avenues through which the believers can assist in times of war by enlisting in services of a noncombatant nature—services that do not involve the direct shedding of blood—such as ambulance work, anti-air raid
precaution service, office and administrative works, and it is for such types of national service that they should
volunteer.”
“It is immaterial whether such activity would still expose them to dangers, either at home or in the front, since their
desire is not to protect their lives, but to desist from any acts of wilful murder.”
“The friends should consider it their conscientious duty, as loyal members of the Faith, to apply for such exemption,
even though there may be slight prospect of their obtaining the consent and approval of the authorities to their petition.
It is most essential that in times of such national excitement and emergency as those through which

so many countries in the world are now passing that the believers should not allow themselves to be carried away by
the passions agitating the masses, and act in a manner that would make them deviate from the path of wisdom and
moderation, and lead them to violate, however reluctantly and indirectly, the spirit as well as the letter of the
Teachings.”
(Letter from Shoghi Effendi, June 4th, 1939.)
The National Spiritual Assembly took this matter up vigorously with the friends and ascertained the channels provided
by the government though which we could follow the Guardian’s instructions. As a first step many of the believers
volunteered for national defense work before the outbreak of war, and are now engaged in those services. It was found
that the Government would not entertain applications for exemption until the country was at war (except in the case of
conscripts—conscription was introduced a few months before war broke out) and was planning to consider individual
applications by specially constituted tribunals. It does not entertain applications from a body or community, but judges
each case on individual merit from the personal statement of the applicant.
A point arose here which required compromise by the friends. Bahã’is are not conscientious objectors; we do not object
to the use of force, in fact we uphold it as the servant of justice, neither do we oppose our individual consciences to the
requirements of the state; we ask for exemption from combatant military service, and if this is not granted will obey the
government. This attitude is apparently unique. The government provides for appeals only on the grounds of
conscientious objection, and therefore, if the believers are to appeal and uphold the principles of the Faith they must
register as conscientious objectors, in

BAHA’tS AND WAR

spite of the fact that they cannot really be so called. There are three categories for registering, the third being the one applicable to
Bahá’is objection to combatant service but readiness to undertake non-combatant service.
In urging the friends to apply in the way required, the National Spiritual Assembly wrote as follows: “It is our sacred duty to act in
obedience and unreserved loyalty to the Government of the land. On this point the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh, the voice of the Master, and the
ruling of the Guardian, are most emphatic. The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh does not countenance sedition, political intrigue, or partisan
denunciation. We must keep clear of ALL political or partisan controversy. We must also, as loyal servants of Bahâ’u’lláh, remain
faithful to the path He has laid down for us, which is clearly illumined by the Guardian’s instruction. We may well be thankful that the
opportunity is given us to serve our country and our Faith at the same time.”
Shortly after the outbreak of war, a young believer from Bradford, Philip Hams- worth, having registered in accordance with the
request of the National Spiritual Assembly, was summoned to appear before a tribunal in Leeds. The following is an account of the
proceedings as accurately as I remember them; it was written down shortly after leaving the Court.
“Peter ‘Wilkinson and Mr. Hurst were there and we heard the proceedings in about a dozen cases. Hardly any of the applicants were
clear or definite as to what their consciences demanded, and certainly had very little conception of their relationship to society. When
Philip was called the Judge asked me to step up, and who and what I was. I said, “Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’is of the British Isles.” A minute or two were spent in writing it down correctly and spelling ‘Bahá’i.’ They had never heard of
it.
To me:
“What is Bahã’i?”
“It’s a world religion, sir.”
“Is it Christian?”
“We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son

“We believe that all the revealed religions are the Word of God.”
“What do you think of Buddha?”
“His Revelation is the Word of God.”
“Confucius?”
“A very wise man.”
“Muhammad?”
“He is the Prophet of God.”
“It’s a sort of comprehensive omnibus” (slightly amused but kindly).
“No sir. An independent world religion. Its central theme is the oneness of mankind.”
“When was it founded?”
“The original declaration was made in
1844.”
“Is this name Indian?”
“No sir; Persian.”
“Is it a Persian religion?”
“No sir, it’s a world religion for all mankind.”
“The Founder was Persian?”
“Yes sir.”
To Philip:
“What do you object to?”
“I seek exemption from combatant military service, as it is inconsistent with the teaching of Bahi’u’lláh to kill my fellow men.”
“Do you recognise any duty to the State?”
“Yes, of course. We are commanded to obey our governments.”
“Well, this seems an opportunity of obeying by accepting military service.”
“I’m obeying the government by registering as a conscientious objector.”
“Supposing you were in Germany?”
“There are Bahã’is in Germany. They are suppressed and some of them are in the army.”
“There you are then.”
“The Government allows me to apply for exemption.”
To me:
“Have you a branch in Bradford?” “Yes sir.”
“How many members?” “About seventeen.”
“Your Faith recognises civil authority?” “Yes”
“It asks you to obey the law?”
“Yes.”

of God.”
“Then it is Christian?”

“It does not ask you to refuse military service?”
“It asks us to uphold certain principles
“Naturally.”
“One of these is to refrain from killing our fellow men, by seeking exemption from combatant military service. ‘We are
ready to serve in any non-combatant capacity.”
“Suppose exemption is refused?”
“Then we are in the same position as anyone else.”
“Do you believe in transmigration?”
“No, sir.”
To Philip:
“Are your parents of the same religion as you?”
“Not yet.”
“You hope they will be?”

“Yes, they are very interested.”
“How long have you known about this?”
“Just over a year.”
“What have you done about it?”
“I investigated the teachings, declared myself a Bahá’i, and am trying to propagate the Faith. I was an absolute pacifist
before.”
“You were absolute?” (with some astonishment)
“Yes. I had to give up many of my ideas to conform with Bahá’i teaching.”
The tribunal was unanimous in granting exemption from combatant service, and made the applicant liable for noncombatant service.
The local newspapers contained various accounts, one having a large headline which read: “Persian Religion Modifies
Man’s Pacifism.”

THE BAHA’I WORLD

U N pasteur américain de l’Eglise Unitaire, Monsieur Howard Colby Ives, a écrit un livre intitule “Portes de Ia
Liberté.” J’ai eu la joie et l’honneur de traduire en français ce livre, qui est compose, pour une bonne moitié, de
citations des écrits de Bahâ’u’llâh, le Fondateur de la Foi Bahá’ie, et de discours d’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Son Fils. Le dosage
de ces citations, mêlées au récit de l’expérienee personnelle de Monsieur Ives, m’a paru très heureux, et propre a faire
connaitre les préeeptes Bahá’is, sans effaroucher des l’abord les âmes non initiées aux idees mystiques.
Dans son livre, Monsieur Ives évoque souvent l’image d’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, tout en nous racontant avee beaucoup
d’humilite et de sensibilité les différentes occasions qu’il a eues de Le voir, de L’entendre, et de s’entretenir avec Lui,
au cours des huit mois que le Maître passa en Amérique, d’Avril a Décembre 1912.
‘Abdu’l-Bahâ n’était pas seulement le Fils de Bahá’u’llah par les liens du sang, mais II était aussi Son Fils spirituel. A
Lui seul Bahá’u’llah avait conféré Ic droit de cornmenter et d’expliquer les préceptes de la Religion nouvelle. ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá les diffusa dans le monde, an cours de Ses nombreux voyages, et, cc qui est plus remarquable, Ii les mit en
pratique pendant toute Sa vie.
L’Auteur declare maintes fois qu’il est impossible de décrire l’indescriptible, c’est dire Ic rayonnement de l’âme d’
‘Abdu’lRahá, Ic fluide magnétique qui émanait de Sa personne, l’impression qu’il donnait d’appartenir a un monde
supérieur, très eloigné de notre égocentrisme humain. Cependant, Ii pénétrait jusqu’aux replis les plus secrets du coeur
des hommes, et, en Sa presence, sans confession, sans parler Ia méme langue, dans Ic silence, on se sentait parfaitement
compris et deviné, et comme submerge par les effluves de Son amour.
Mais ces evocations de l’être parfait in-

came dans ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ, et le récit des différentes étapes de l’évolution religieuse de Monsieur Ives ne suffiraient
peut-être pas a provoquer dans l’âme du lecteur une emotion durable, et a faire naitre l’espoir qu’une Lumière
nouvelle s’est levee sur le monde.
‘Abdu’l-Bahâ, dans une volonte continuelle d’humilité, s’efface Lui-mCme, disparait, se dissout pour ainsi dire, dans Ia
gloire rayonnante de Son Père Bahâ’u’lláh, Ic Fondateur de Ia Foi Bahâ’i, Ia “Manifestation de Dieu,” le “Messager
Divin,” qui, a notre époque, vint apporter aux hommes une nouvelle Revelation.
Helas! pourquoi suffit-il de prononcer ces mots, pour provoquer les haussements d’epaules et les sourires des
incroyants, et, cc qui est plus grave, les protestations, objections, susceptibilites et doutes d’âmes croyantes et sincêres,
mais appartenant a d’autres cultes, et se reclamant d’une autre Revelation divine?
Je veux tenter aujourd’hui un timide essai de réponse a ces objections.
Bahâ’u’llâh ne cesse de proclamer l’unite fondamentale de toutes les Religions. FIles ont une base identique: Dieu.
Comment croire, en effet, que Notre Pêre qui est aux cieux, et dont nos faibles facultes ne nous permettent même pas
de concevoir l’essence, comment croire qu’Il puisse être different pour les Juifs, les Boudhistes, les Chretiens, les
Mahometans et les Bahâ’is? Ce serait faire preuve d’un orgueil contraire a l’esprit vraiment religieux.
Ce qui diffCre, nous Ic savons, c’est le Nom de la Manifestation Divine, Ic Nom du Messager de Dieu qui vient
apporter aux hommes une nouvelle Revelation.
Bahá’u’llâh est Ic Dernier Venu (jusqu’ici) de ces Messagers de Dieu; Ii est le Dernier anneau dans Ia longue chaine
des Prophetes de Revelation. Refuser d’entrer en contact avec un anneau de Ia chaine, c’est la rompre.

12.
CONFERENCE DANS UN CERCLE
BAHA’i A PARIS
LE 19 MARS 1939
B MADAME J. MONTEFIORE

THE BAHA’i WORLD

/
Mme. Jeanne Montefiore

Nier l’Autorité Divine dont se réclame Bahà’u’lláh, serait nier, en méme temps, l’Autorité Divine de tous les Prophetes qui L’ont
•••

précédé.
a
J’entends bien les protestations; chacun reste fidéle sa propre tradition et au Prophete de sa propre Révélation.
Les Israelites disent: ‘tNous avons Moise et la Thora.”
“Nous avons le Christ et les Evangiles,” disent les Chrétiens.
Envisageons, si vous le voulez bien, quel pourrait étre (je ne dis pas quel est) mais quel pourrait étre le point de vue israelite et le point
de vue chrétien en presence de la Revelation de Bahã’u’lláh.
Pour commencer par Ia tradition la plus ancienne, par le JudaIsme, trouvons-nous des points de rapprochement entre les Juifs et les
Bahã’is? Oui, plusieurs, et de trés importants.
Israel, a côté d’un particularisme evident et indeniable, a des traditions tout a fait marquees d’universalisme. Ceci n’est pas
assex connu, mais dans les textes les plus anciens, les plus rituels, et non pas seulement dans les priéres modernes
ajoutées de nos jours, on trouve des priéres pour tons ies peu pies. L’accueil hospitalier de l’etranger est un
commandement de Dieu aux Israelites. Ils ont aussi la comprehension instinctive des souIfrances des exiles, peut-étre
par le souvenir atavique de l’esclavage d’Egypte. En somme, aucun exclusivisme. Or, l’universalisme est une des
principales caractéristiques de la Revelation de Bahâ’u’lláh.
Mais les Bahã’is vont plus loin qu’Israel dans le sens de l’universalité, ce qui ne peut nous étonner, puisque cette
Revelation correspond a une étape plus avancée dans l’evolution de l’Humanité. Pour les Bahã’is, ii n’y a plus de
Peuple élu de Dieu. L’homme, enf ant de Dien, place dans l’Univers, devient citoyen du monde, et frére, non pas
seulement en paroles, mais en action, veritablement frére de tous les autres hommes. On pourrait comparer cette
evolution de Bahã’iisme, par rapport au Judaism, a un fleuve

(A
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CONFERENCE DANS UN CERCLE BAHA’I

qui s’élargit a son estuaire, et s’approfondit en s’élargissant.
Une autre idée enracinée dans tous les coeurs Juifs, est l’idée d’unité; les Juifs adorent le Dieu Un sans aucun
intermédiaire humain. C’est aussi vers l’Unité que tendant tous les préceptes de Bahá’u’lláh. Mais, comme le prouvera
Ia suite de cette causerie, les Bahã’is vont aussi plus loin que les Juifs dans l’idée d’Unité, car us l’appliquent a tous
les domaines de la vie, et pas seulement au domaine religieux.
Enfin, troisiême point, les Israelites ne peuvent accepter de dogme qui soit contraire a la raison, Bahá’u’lláh
recommande de
jours faire passer d’abord la croyance que l’on veut adopter par le crible de la raison, car ce qui ne serait pas en
harmonie avec la science et la raison, ne serait plus de la religion, mais bien de la superstition. Ii a ainsi réconcilié la
science et la religion. Car toutes les superstitions étant éliminées de la Religion de Bahá’u’lláh, les hommes de science
n’y voient plus aucune discordance, et les personnes d’esprit religieux sont encouragées par les préceptes Bahá’is a
étudier les sciences, et a examiner le fond des problêmes religieux avec un sens critique.
Cependant, les Israelites orthodoxes, et même ceux qui ne le sont pas, objectent que les commandements de Dieu
apportés par Moise et contenus dans la Thora, renferment toute la vérité et toute la morale du monde. “Pourquoi,”
disent-ils, “y ajouter un nouye 1 element?”
A cela, il y a plusieurs réponses a donner, et la premiere s’applique également aux préceptes du Christ; c’est que ces
commandements admirables, répétés dans toutes les religions successives, n’ont pas été écoutés, les hommes ne leur
ont pas obéi.
De plus, les religions n’échappent pas a Ia loi d’evolution. Ce qui n’evolue pas dégénère. Ceux qui ont étudié les
religions y voient trois phases: le printemps spirituel, la periode d’apogée, puis le déchn. Non pas que toute religion ne
rènferme un fond éternel de Vérité Divine, mais elle finit par perdre de son dynamisme, de sa force d’expansion, et a
besoin d’être reviviflée et de reprendre de la vitalité. La stagnation entraine la paralysie. Nous en avons un triste
exemple dans la tiedeur des Israelites con-

temporains, tiedeur qui, heureusement, n’est pas generale, mais très fréquente, et qui n’est pas incompatible avec un
certain attachement aux traditions ancestrales. Seulement, alors, c’est plutôt la lettre que l’esprit qui survivrait, et il n’y
aurait plus de religion vivante.
Enfln, les temps nouveaux peuvent amener des besoins spirituels nouveaux, et c’est pour cela, que malgré les fautes
accumulées, malgré l’insouciance et l’ignorance des hommes, Dieu, dans Sa Clémence, ne se lasse pas de leur envoyer
des Messagers pour les ramener a Lui.
La Religion de Bahã’u’llih me semble devoir apporter reconciliation, apaisement et joie aux coeurs Israelites si souvent
ulcérés. Car, cette fois, on ne leur demande ni abandon, ni reniement, ni trahison. Ii a été dit au Congrès des Religions
de Calcutta:
“Il est aussi impossible de changer de religion que de changer de mere.” Et quand cette mere, comme c’est le cas pour
Israel, est persécutée, ensanglantée, douleureuse, on sent encore davantage combien on l’aime, et la force des liens qui
vous unisent a elle. Ce n’est pas tant d’une conversion au Bahá’iisme qu’il s’agit, que d’une conversion plus haute,
plus complete a la Cause de Dieu, qu’Israël, infldele a sa vocation, n’a pas servi dans les temps modernes avec toute
la ferveur et la chaleur desirables. Tout croyant sincere, dépourvu de préjugés, doit pouvoir s’enrôler dans l’armée qui
combat pour la Cause de Dieu, et surtout les Israelites, toujours assoiffés d’idéal et de progrès.
En raison même de ses traditions d’universalité et d’unitê, Israel doit pouvoir adhérer avec élan au mouvement mondial
de la Foi Bahá’ie qui, au nom de Dieu, prodame la fraternité de tous les hommes, sans distinction de nationalité, de
croyance, de race ni de classe, et les unit tous dans une paix supreme et dans l’amour du Dieu Un.
Ici, je vous demande la permission d’ouvrir une petite parenthese. Nous parlions tout a l’heure de la nécessité
d’évoluer. Ce besoin s’est fait sentir dans toutes les religions, et il eh est résulté le Judaisme liberal, le Protestantisme
liberal, le Catholicisme social. Le mouvement Bahá’i va plus loin: il marque un progrès décisif dans l’evolution
religieuse des temps modernes, car il supprime toutes

THE BAHA’J WORLD

les cloisons étanches, unifie tous les élans, et englobe le monde entier dans son champ d’action.
Le Plan de Bahá’u’llah, en effet, n’applique pas les Commandements Divins aux seuls problèmes spirituels et religieux,
mais aussi a tOus les domaines de l’activite humaine:
Education, Politique, Economic politique, etc., etc. Ccci se dit en trois mots et en une minute, mais les repercussions
d’une telle chose sont incalculables et susceptibles de provoquer dans Ic monde une revolution bienfaisante.
Ce n’est pas sans base realiste et pratique que l’idéal Bahá’i prend son essor. La structure de Plan de Bahá’u’llah est
extrémement solide et s’appuie sur une organisation administrative qui commence a fonctionner dans Ic monde, sous
l’impulsion de Shoghi Effendi, arrière petit-Ills de Bahá’u’llah, petit-Ills d’ ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Celui-ci, avant de mourir en
1921, avait désigne son petit-Ills comme devant être Ic Gardien de Ia Cause Bahá’ie.
Fermons maintenant Ia parenthese, et cxaminons, si vous le voulez bien, quel pourrait être Ic point de vue chretien en
presence de Ia Révélation de Bahá’u’lláh.
Dam un cercle Bahá’i, nous avons entendu récemment un Père Dominicain qui admirait profondement tous les
préceptes de Bahá’u’lláh, et croyait qu’on pouvait espérer voir Sc realiser un jour “union dc tous les croyants du
Royaume de Dieu. C’est un point de vue assex exceptionnel chez les Chretiens. En général, si “on pane devant un
Chrétien des préceptes de Bahá’u’llah et de Sa Révélation—ce qui arrive rarement du reste—le Chrétien s’écrie: “Le
Christ a tout dit. Comment admettre ou méme concevoir une Révélation supérieure aux Evangiles? c’est impossible.”
Et les Bahá’is répondent: “Nous sommes parfaitement d’accord, mais le monde seraitii dans l’état oü nous le voyons si
les préceptes du Christ avaient été mis en pratique?”
Il ne vient jamais a l’idée des Bahá’is d’opposer les unes aux autres les différentes “Manifestations de Dieu,” car Elles
n’ont pas de personnalite propre, Elles se confondent avec l’Essence Divine. Ii n’y a pas rivahite mais succession et
continuité dans les

Révélations differentes, et celle d’une époque développe Ia Révélation d’un époque précédente.
Ce qu’il faut savoir, c’est que la Religion de Bahá’u’llah englobe toute la doctrine chretienne, comme aussi tous les
préceptes de Moise, et tout cc qu’il y a d’essentiel, de veritable inspiration divine dans toutes les religions. Elle élimine
simplement les elements apportés par les hommes, au cours des siècles, et qui peuvent avoir altére Ia pureté des
commandements de Dieu.
Ce dont il s’agit, a l’aurore de cette ère nouvelle inaugurée par Ia Révélation de Bahá’u’lIah, c’est de mettre en
pratique ces divins préceptes, qu’ils ne soient plus lettre morte, afin que l’humanite cesse de glisser vers le precipice
avec une vitesse accélerée.
Dieu a dit aux hommes par la voix de Moise: “Aime ton prochain comme toimême!” Ce commandement a-t-iI éte
écouté?
Dieu a dit aux hommes par la voix du Christ: “Aimezv les uns les autres comme je vous ai aimés!” Ce commandement
a-t-il été suivi?
La confusion haineuse et sanglante de notre monde est sane réponse suffisante.
La vraie fraternite nous a été commandee, mais oil existe-t-eIle autrement que dans les paroles et les écrits? Oü la
voyons-nous mise en action? Les Chrétiens d’Amérique ont-ils des sentiments de fraternité pour les négres?
Nous-mêmes qui, en Europe, parlons beaucoup de fraternite, comment pouvonsnous tolérer ces taudis effroyables qui
existent dans tous les grands centres, a côté des manifestations du luxe et du plaisir?
Enfin, pour passer du general au particuher, sont-ils inspires par des sentiments de fraternite ceux qui disent: “Nous ne
potsvons secourir les refugies d’Ahlemagne et d’Autriche, non parce qu’ils sont des Juifs, mais par cc qu’ils sont
Allemands ou Autrichiens?” Nous ne pouvons aider 1es réfugies Espagnols parce qu’ils sont des Rouges, et que cela
choquerait nos opinions politiques? Non, de quclque côté que nous nous tournions, nous voyons le manque d’elan
fraternel. C’est pourquoi nous devons reconnaitre que nous avons bien besoin de cc Dernier Venu des Messagers
divins, de Bahá’

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u’lláh qui est apparu en Perse ii y a quatre vints ans, environ, et qui a montré aux hommes les préjugés qui les
empoisonnent. Ii est venu les exhorter encore une fois a aimer Dicu et is s’aimer les uns les autres, en faisant tomber
les barrières qui les séparent, et dans tous les domaines. Avouons-le, les religions précédentes, an lieu d’abattre
barrières, les ont élevées et multipliées, et Ic nationalisme efiréné qui se déchaine dans le monde actuellement, les a
encore rehaussees.
‘Abdu’l-Bahis a dit de Ia religion: “Si la religion devait être une cause de discorde et d’hostilite parmi les hommes, il
vaudrait mieux pour le monde qu’il n’y eüt pas de religion.”
Cependant, les Chrétiens ne peuvent voir en Bahis’u’llâh un simple réformateur comme Luther ou Calvin.
Le Mouvement Bahá’i ne peut ètre non plus compare is celui de St. Francois d’Assise qui, au douzièmc et au treizième
siècles, a tenté de rendre aux doctrines de l’Evangile leur pureté primitive. Bahis’u’llah n’a pas seulemente exhorté les
hommes is mettre en pratique les préceptes anciens; Sa Revelation renferme des éléments nouveaux essentiels au salut
du monde, et qui n’existaient pas dans les Révélations précédentes. Monsieur Ives cite des discours d’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahis
qui font ressortir ces éléments nouveaux, tout particulièrement intéressants. Je voudrais vous indiquer le plus important,
et vous dire quelques mots sur ceux qui concernent le domaine social: par exemple, les lois du man- age et du divorce
revisées. II est naturel que les hommes d’aujourd’hui aient besoin d’autres lois que ceux d’il y a trois mille ans.
Bahis’u’llah estime que le divorce est nécessaire dans Ia société actuelle, pour réparer les erreurs frequentes et le
mauvais choix des hommes et des femmes qui se marient sans comprendre l’importance de leurs actes, et qu’on ne peut
condamner is vivre dans la dis— corde et l’hostilite. Si l’accord, l’unité et l’harmonie manquent dans un ménage, Ia
Loi de Dieu est transgressée, car Dieu veut l’amour et l’unité.
Mais, d’autre part, Ia conception Bahá’ie du manage est telle, qu’un vrai manage Bahá’i (comme aussi, du reste, le vrai

manage israelite ou chrétien) aboutit rarement au divorce.
II ne s’agit plus cette union de convenances, qui caractérisait les manages des deux derniers siècles; ni de cette liaison
legalisee qu’est devenu Ic manage moderne en Amerique et en Europe. Le manage Bahis’i attache autant d’importance
is l’union spirituelle qu’is l’attirance physique. L’union devient complete par la fusion de deux âmes embrasees par
l’Amour de Dieu, et ces manages-his n’aboutissent ni is la separation ni au divorce, ils créent des liens indissolubles.
Une autre loi montre combien Bahâ’u’llish, inspire par Dicu, fut un précurseur: ii y a quatre vingts ans, en Perse, Pays
d’Orient, Il proclama l’egalite de l’homme et de Ia femme. Or, rappelons-nous que méme en France, is ha fin du siècle
dernier, cette égahite n’existait pas, Ia femme ne recevait pas la même instruction quel’homme. Encore is l’heure
actuelle, dans certains pays d’Orient (n’oubhions pas que le Plan de Bahá’u’llah est mondial), la femme est une bête de
somme et une esclave; méme en Espagne, pays d’Europe, Ia femme du peuple n’est ni aifranchie ni instruite.
Toujours is Ia Mème époque, Bahis’u’llish declara que l’instruction devait ètre donee is tous, et non seulement
I’instruction intellec— tuelle, mais aussi celle de l’âme. Malgré les progrès, ceci est encore bien loin d’être realise.
Voici maintenant cet élément nouveau essentiel de la Revelation de Bahis’u’lláh, dont je vous parlais tout is l’heure, et
qui, is lui seul, devrait suffire is provoquer l’adhésion des croyants du monde entier: c’est que cette Religion n’exclut
aucun Prophète du Passé, aucune race, aucune croyance, aucun peuple.
Les Bahis’is voient Ia Vérité Divine dans toutes les religions. Nos prèjugés nous aveuglent is tel point que nous
concevons diflicilement cette idée: Dieu est ha Vérite, et Dieu est dans toutes les religions. Pour les Bahis’is il ne s’agit
plus ties religions, mais bien de La Religion de Dieu, accessible is tous les hommes de bonne volonte, quelles que
soient leurs traditions particuhières, ou le culte qu’ils pratiquent. Ce Message est envoyé is l’Humanite is l’époque de
sa ma-

THE BAHA’I WORLD
turité, oü la race humaine est capable de supporter une nourriture plus forte et plus pure. Les buts qui, jusque-là, avaient
seulement été indiqués ou entrevus, doivent maintenant être atteints, Si l’homn,e veut mériter de s’appeler homme.
Depuis l’origine, les commandements de Dieu ont appelé les hommes a la sainteté.
“Soyez saints pour votre Dieu, Je suis l’Eternel votre Dieu,” est-il dit dans le Schema, priire fondamentale des
Israelites.
“Soyez parfaits comme votre Pêre au ciel est parfait,” disent les Evangiles.
Comment les hommes ont-ils interprété ces commandements? L’idéal de sainteté a été réalisé par quelques hommes et
quelques femmes qui jalonnent les siêcles ecoules, et qui les éclairent. Les autres hommes ont quelquefois persécuté ou
ignore ces saints, mais, le plus souvent, ils les ont respectés, admires et vénérés. Ont-ils jamais essayé sérieusement de
les imiter? Je crois que non, et, chose curieuse et attristante, l’Humanité, pourtant ivre d’orgueil en general, a montré
sur ce point-là une modestie regrettable. Elle n’a pas cru en sa propre perfectibilité, elle a manqué d’elan vers la
saintetC et refuse l’effort vers la perfection.
Après Molse, aprés le Christ, Bahá’u’llãh vient dire a cette humanité déprimée, que ces buts qui lui semblent
inaccessibles ne le sont pas, et qu’ils doivent être atteints a l’epoque nit nous sommes.
Pour les Bahá’is, c’est a dire pour quelques millions d’êtres humains disséminés dans le monde entier, ces appels a la
sainteté prennent le caractêre d’un ordre imperatif, adressé a des initiés de la vie spirituelle, a une sorte de premiere
legion dans l’armée qui combat pour la Cause de Dieu.
Ii est impressionnant de remarquer avec quelle insistance les mots eVous devez” reviennent sous Ia plume et sur les
lèvres de Baha’u’lláh et d’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, lorsqu’ils s’adressent aux croyants, a des adeptes de la Foi Bahã’i. ceyous
dryer.” C’est pourquoi on peut se dire Juif ou Chrétien sans observer tous les préceptes de Moise ou de Christ, mais on
ne peut s’intituler un yen- table Bahá’i sans être au moms engage, par la volonté de l’amour, du renoncement et de
l’humilite dans la voie étroite de Ia sainteté.

C’est aussi pour cela qu’il est difficile et rare d’être un veritable Bahâ’i.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recommande cependant de ne pas s’hyptoniser sur le sentiment de sa propre non-valeur. Pour accomplir
sur Ia terre Sa mission d’homme, il suffit “de marcher humblement devant son Dieu” (comme il est dit dans les
Ecritures) et de chercher, en se renoncant soi-même, a se conformer a la Volonté Divine. Une modes- tie exagérée
pent devenir une sorte de subtile lâcheté, une maniêre de se dérober aux devoirs qui nous incombent.
Ce que Dieu ne pouvait exiger de l’Humanité dans son enfance, Ii l’exige, par la voix de Bahá’u’lláh, de l’Humanité
arrivée a sa matunité. Monsieur Ives nous raconte une scene trés frappante; ‘Abdu’l-Bahã, qui mi parlait d’ordinaire
trés simplement, lui a dir une fois d’une voix prophétique et tonitruante: “En ce Jour, de grandes choses, de trés grandes
choses doivent s’accomplir!”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, comme je vous le disais, n’a pas seulement expliqué, interprété et diffuse les préceptes de Son Père, Il
les a aussi mis constamment en pratique dans Sa propre vie. Dans Son enfance, II avait partagé l’exil de Bahá’u’lláh,
puis ses quarante années d’emprisonnement et de torture dans Ia prison forteresse de St. Jean d’Acre. Pendant ces
quarante ans, tons deux n’ont cessé de donner aux autres et d’eprouver eux-mêmes l’impression d’une parfaite liberté,
tant il est vrai que la seule prison est la prison du “Moi” nit nous enferme notre égoisme.
‘Abdu’l-Bahã a montré ce que peut être un homme libéré des chaines redoutables qui nous lient, depouillé des voiles
qui nous aveuglent et nous empechent de discerner les Vérités Divines, “le Soleil de la Réalité.”
L’humilité est la base, le “leit-motif” des enseignements de Bahá’u’lláh. Là encore, vous pourriez objecter: “Rien de
nouveau!” En effet, dans l’Ancien Testament, le Livre de Job tout entier est une lecon d’humilité, et dans les versets
inspires d’Esai, comme dans les chants immortels des Psaumes, les hommes sont exhortés a l’humilité. Le Christ a mis
I’accent sur le renoncement, le sacrifice, l’humilité exaltée jusqu’a la servitude. Dans les Evangiles, “les Humbles sont
les héritiers de la terre” et le lavage des pieds

CONFERENCE DANS UN CERCLE BAHA’i

du Jeudi Saint est le symbole concret de cette exaltation de Ia servitude.
Dieu demande uniformément la même chose aux hommes dans toutes les religions, car chez les Boudhistes et les
Mahométans, le renoncement et le sacrifice de soi sont également exaltés.
Quel accent particulier les enseignements de Bahá’u’lláh mettent-ils sur l’humilité et la servitude? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
commentant les préceptes de Son Père, présente la servitude non seulement comme desirable, mais comme s’imposant
a tous les hommes que veulent mériter de s’appeler des hommes, et ne pas être ravalés au rang de l’animal.
Dans “les Leçons de St. Jean d’Acre” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explique qu’on ne peut envisager que trois sortes d’existence:
Divinité, Prophête ou serviteur. L’homme ne peut aspirer a l’Essence divine. Ii ne peut prétendre a l’état de Prophéte,
puisqu’un Oint du Seigneur n’apparait que tous les mille ans environ. Seul l’etat de serviteur lui est accessible, et le
conduit a la grandeur— “Servir!” n’est ce pas l’élan secret de tous les coeurs humains? On s’en aperçoit lorsque
survient une catastrophe: guerre, famine, épidemie, inondation, et que l’homme, se depouillant, sous le choc, de sa
cuirasse d’égoisme, se rue avec enthousiasme au secours de son prochain.
Evidemment, cet élan s’épuise trop vite, et, dans les longues épreuves, nous voyons revenir le long cortege des désirs
personnels.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá était imprégné d’humilité, malgré l’autorité et la majesté qui se dégageaient de Sa personne. Ii se
montrait toujours parfaitement courtois, méme en presence d’un interlocuteur incompréhensif ou hostile.
Si la courtoisie s’en est allée de notre monde c’est qu’elle est, je crois, fille de l’humilité et que nous sommes pétris
d’orgueil. Voila ce qui explique ces explosions si fréquentes d’indignation et de colère, lorsqu’on exprime devant nous
des opinions religieuses ou politiques qui ne sont pas les nôtres. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá avait trop de vraie humilité pour se
départir de Sa courtoisie. Son nom même veut dire: “Serviteur de la Gloire” et la Gloire, c’était Son Père Bahá’u’llãh.
Il ne voulait pas d’autre titre.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá et rien d’autre” disait-Il. En Amérique, Il a refuse tous les postes et titres honorifiques qu’on Lui offrait.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá est un serviteur.” Telle fut Sa réponse.
L’esprit de servitude et l’humilité sont les joyaux de l’âme, mais ne trouvent leur éclat que dans l’amour. L’Amour de
Dieu se traduisant en amour pour le prochain, voila Ia Lumière indispensable qui éclaire toutes les religions et illumine
celle de Bahá’u’lláh.
Madame Dreyfus-Barnay a expliqué, au cours d’un causerie dans un cercle Bahã’i, quelles étaient les trois
caractéristiques principales de la Révélation de Bahá’u’lláh, l’universalité, l’union et la Paix supreme, que Bahá’u’lláh
appelle “La Plus Grande Paix” et qui est bien autre chose que la cessation de la guerre.
Ces trois points, Universalité, Union, et Paix supreme sont des résultats, des effets de la Religion de Dieu, mais ne
peuvent se réaliser que par l’Amour.
Comment ‘Abdu’l-Bahã concevait-Il cet Amour? Ici, je dois vous raconter une réponse qu’Il a faite, et qui est trés
familiére aux Bahá’is. On Lui demandait: “Comment se fait-il que les personnes qui se sont trouvées en votre presence
aient des visages rayonnants?” Et Ii répondit avec ce sourire sublime et ce mouvement ascendant des mains qu’on ne
pouvait oublier, parait-il, quand on les avait vus: “Je crois que c’est par ce que, sur tous les visages, je vois la Face de
mon Divin Père.”
Voilà une réponse qui mérite d’être méditee et approfondie. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá voyait le refiet de Dieu sur loin les visages!
Il nous est peut-étre arrivé de voir fugitivement ce refiet divin sur le pur visage d’un petit enfant, ou sur le front d’un
mourant deja presque retourné au Scm de Dieu, ou encore sur le visage d’un saint, si nous avons eu le bonheur d’en
connaitre. Mais serions-nous capables de voir ce refiet divin sur le visage du criminal, de la prodstuée, du matérialiste,
sur toutes ces figures soucieuses ou avilies que nous croisons dans la rue? Hélas, non! On frémit de honte en mesurant
la distance qui nous sépare d’un tel point de vue, et, pourtant, si ce point de vue se généralisait, ii transformerait toutes

THE BAHA’i WORLD

les relations entre les hommes, et apporterait peutétre la solution de bien des problèmes.
Monsieur Ives, nous expliquant ainsi le titre mystique de son livre, s’écrie: “L’Amour est Ia Porte de Ia Liberte,” non
seulement pour celui qui aime, mais aussi pour celni qui est l’objet de cet amour. ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ, imprCgné de l’amour
de Dieu, avait ce pouvoir qu’ont les saints de transformer les âmes, II avait le don de les libérer de leurs chaines, et, de
là, les visages rayonnants.
Est-ce le seul privilege d’un ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ, on d’un saint, de parvenir a ces sommets radieux?
Le Maitre affirme que cette vie supérieure est accessible a tous les hommes, a vous, a moi, a la condition d’avoir la
volonté du perfectionnement, du renoncement, et de demander humblement l’assistance de Dieu, qui jamais ne se lasse
d’envoyer aux hommes des guides et des éducateurs, pour les sontenir dans cette ascension difficile. Cet appel vivifiant
ouvre des horizons nouveaux a l’humanite.
Pour que se realise le Plan grandiose de Bahâ’u’lláh, ii faut envisager un type humain dont nous n’avons encore vu que
des exemplaires exceptionnels, chez les héros et chez les saints. Ici se pose un problème angoissant, d’un intérét vital
pour l’avenir des hommes. Le Plan de Bahá’u’lláh seraitii une utopie?
Est-il inconcevable que le bon exemple se propage comme les ondes dans une mare ott l’on jette un caillou? En
répondant “Oui, c’est inconcevable!” nous serions criminels et présomptueux, car ii ne faut douter ni de Ia puissance de
Dieu, ni de la bonne volonté des hommes. Nous admettons la force de propagation du mauvais exemple, qui se répand
avec la rapidite de la peste, et qui en a Ia virulence. Alors, pourquoi douter de la force d’expansion du bon exemple?
Les Bahá’is ont pour mission de généraliser Ia sainteté dans le monde, et d’activer les sentiments de vraie fraternité
entre les hommes. Comme le dit excellemment Monsieur Ives: “Les préceptes de Bahã’u’llâh tendent a orienter
l’attention des hommes vers Ia conscience de leur propre responsabilité.”
Depuis qu’on connait mieux Ia force du sub-conscient, on pent affirmer que méme

nos pensées réagissent sur notre entourage. Si nous pensons d’un manière constructive, charitable et optimiste, nous
émettons des fluides bienfaisants; an contraire, en pensant d’un manière destructive et en nourrissant des griefs, nous
nuisons a notre entourage.
II y a en ce moment dans le monde un symptôme consolant: devant la coalition des forces diaboliques (une des plus
terribles peut-être qui se soit encore dechainée dans l’humanite) nous voyons se former une mobilisation secrete des
forces spirituelles dont Ia puissance croit sans cesse. Les croyants du monde entier (et même les incroyants aux idées
généreuses et charitables) se sentant menaces dans leur foi et leur ideal, comprennent enfin I’évidente fraternité qui
devrait les unir, et l’on entend des voix qui s’appellent dans Ia tempéte.
Les Bahâ’Is reconnaissent là le travail de 1’Esprit Saint, Ferment divin qui agit parmi les hommes, et a leur insu,
depuis que Baha’u’lláh, ii y a quatre vingts ans, a proclamé Sa mission. En effet, chose frappante et indéniable, ces
voix qui s’appellent dans la tempéte, sont bien souvent des voix de Bahá’is sans le savoir.
Voici un exemple entre cent: dans un journal anglais vient de paraitre un article signé d’un nom inconnu en France, Sir
Edward Villers, et que je puis résumer ainsi:
“Le monde est trés malade, l’Angleterre autant que le reste du monde. On cherche en vain Ia cause de la maladie. Or,
cette cause est Ia peur. Nous sommes malades de peur, parce que nous avons quitté le Rocher de notre saint qui est
Dieu. Nous ne met- tons plus notre confiance en Lui. Ii s’agit maintenant de ne plus avoir peur, de retrouver la foi en
Dieu, et d’esperer en Lui, tout en faisant notre devoir d’hommes, et on luttant bravement sur Ia terre. En pensant et
agissant ainsi, nous deviendrons invincibles individuellement, et ensuite nationalement.”
Si nous abordons le domaine de Ia littérature et de Ia philosophie, nons voyons le grand pensenr anglais, Aldous
Huxley, dont nn des derniers Iivres traduit en francais est intitnlé “La Fin et les Moyens.” Etndiant l’actuelle
catastrophe hnmaine, ii préconise le reméde Bahâ’i par excellence; former des groupes de plus en plus nombrenx
d’hommes

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et de femmes détachés d’eux-mémes, et qui, par le renoncement, ne cherchent pas seulement a assurer leur propre
salut dans Ia vie future, mais Ic saint de leurs frères ici-bas.
Kayserling, le philosophe balte allemand, voit le monde actuel en proie aux convulsions de l’enfantement, et donne ce
titre p1cm d’espoir a l’un de ses livres: “Le Monde Qui Nait.” Lui non plus ne propose pas d’autre reméde au mal dont
nous souffrons, que l’amélioration de l’individu.
Enfin, cette Société des Nations dont la faillite est une telle dCsillusion, une telle blessure pour les coeurs optimistes,
nous pourrions considerer son effondrement de plus haut, et nous y trouverions peut-être quelque consolation.
Lorsque les hommes veulent sortir de l’orniere sanglante oü us se débattent, ils ne réussissent pas toujours la premiere,
ni Ia deuxieme, ni méme la troisième fois. Napoleon avait déjà en l’idée d’une Fédération des Etats d’Europe.—”Et
pourquoi pas?” disonsnous maintenant, “puisqu’en Amérique c’est chose réalisée.” Après l’essai de Napoleon, la
tentative actuelle a encore échoue. Mais plus tard, si les commandements de Dieu sont appliqués avec le Plan de
Bahá’u’lláh aux questions de politique et d’économie politique, plus tard, si les nations se dépouillent de leur Cgoisme
national et font passer les intéréts de l’humanité avant leurs intéréts économiques particuliers, plus tard se formera une
Société des Nations du Monde qui pourra vivre et durer.
Seulement nous ne la verrons pas! Et c’est cela qui est dur! Nous qui sommes

dans le cyclone, nous ne verrons pas l’apaisement! Notre seule consolation est de croire a. cette future Paix Supreme,
et d’y travailler sans défaillance, chacun dans le domaine qui nous est propre.
Chaque année, et maintenant presque de mois en mois et de semaine en semaine, nous voyons l’Humanité s’enfoncer
plus profondément dans un tunnel dont la sortie est invisible. Nous ne discernons pas la Lumière qui est an bout du
tunnel, et nous avons peur des tCnébres qui s’épaississent.
Mais cette Lumière, nous savons qu’elle existe, ne l’oublions jamais, pensons-y toujours, nous qui probablement ne
verrons pas Ia sortie du tunnel! Cette Lurnière, c’est la Venue du Royaume de Dieu, pour laquelle les hommes
n’ontjamais cessé de prier, et que tons les Prophétes de Dieu ont annoncée.
Nous ne sommes jamais humbles pour évaluer l’importance infime du moment oü nous vivons. Si nous placions ce
moment dans le temps et dans l’espace, et dans l’Univers de Dieu, nous arriverions probablement a trouver la
sérénité de l’astronome, et Ia force d’Cme de saint.
Pour conclure, j’évoquerai la voix mCme d’ ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
En 1912, deux ans avant la guerre mondiale, quelqu’un se lamentait devant Lui de Ia détresse du monde, détresse qui
n’a cessé d’augmenter depuis lors, d’une manière effarante.
Voici Sa réponse: “Ne soyez pas troubles:
quels que soient les événements a venir, rien n’arrivera jamais qui ne hate l’avCnement du Royaume de Dieu. Sa
volonte est supreme.”

The members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’Is of Karachi, India, bidding farewell to Miss Martha Root on the
occasion of her
departure for Australia and New Zealand.

p
I,

pict268.jpg

13.

REJOICE, 0 ISRAEL
B ALICE SIMMONS Cox
THERE is one ideal of human behavior which is destined to be of common interest and special appeal to many people of all races,
classes and creeds in our present era. Even now, from the ranks of capitalist and laborer, Oriental and Occidental, Protestant and
Catholic, Jew and Gentile are arising men and women aflame with new intent to establish upon earth a civilization conceived in the
spirit of universal love and dedicated to the ideal that all men are created to live as brothers.
As this dream of spiritual world conquest calls to its banner an increasing number of heroes, the lines of the opposition accordingly
tighten, to concentrate forces in desperate struggle to check the advance of human solidarity. Cries of the conflict go up from all parts
of the globe—a civil insurrection or augmented race persecution being signs in one area, an international feud or discontent with
political or religious tyranny bearing testimony in another. It is a time of universal fermentation, and of reconsideration of
fundamental values. “A titanic, a spiritual struggle, unparalleled in its magnitude yet unspeakably glorious in its ultimate
consequences, is being waged,” states Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’i Faith. “‘We stand on the threshold of an age whose
convulsions proclaim alike the death pangs of an old order and the birth-pangs of the new.”1 “The long ages of infancy and childhood,
through which the human race had to pass, have receded into the background. . . . Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark
of the stage which society is now approaching.” 2
This Bahi’i vision is a magnificent one. So strangely reminiscent is it of the words of poets and prophets spoken long ago that the
human mind might naturally pause to wonder if once again men are following a will-o’-the-wisp of imagination and desire. Embracing
as it does the assurance of uni vers

1 peace, the reconciliation of science and religion, a just distribution of this world’s material goods, a common auxiliary language,
higher education for both men and women in things of mind and spirit, a more nearly perfect expression of the inherent capacities of
every human soul and international cooperation in world affairs according to divine plan, it seems in this hour an unattainable goal.
Yet the message of Bahã’u’lláh to the people of this age is intrinsically this: that the day of which Isaiah sang and St. John dreamed on
the Isle of Patmos, the day of the coming of the spirit of holiness to the earth, is at hand.
To the people of Israel Bahá’u’lláh, the new Prophet of world order, has given a special benediction and announced the reason for
great rejoicing. Their long tribulations are nearing an end. The movement for the establishment of a national home in Palestine is an
early sign of their return to that happy station of a chosen people, when by the manifestation of illumined lives, reflecting the Will, the
Knowledge and the Love of the Supreme Creator, they will proclaim to all the world: “Behold your God!” Before long the children of
Abraham shall be exalted, their dispersion changed into “blissful gathering together” and “those who are hated shall become the
beloved of the world.”3
“The time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the Holy
Scriptures, have all been fulfilled,” Bahã’u’lláh testifies.4 Alike, for those modernists who have cast away faith in ancient prophecies
of all kind, even to the central belief in a Messiah and restoration of Palestine, and for the orthodox hearts who, in the face of
frustration, still cling to the scriptural
Unfoldment of World Civilization, p. 170.
2ldem., p. 202.
‘From a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Gleanings, p. 12.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

word, He gives the glad message: “Call out to Zion, 0 Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes
is come! His All-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His All-encompassing splendor is revealed. Beware lest ye hesitate or halt.
Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God.”5
ISRAEL’S VIsIoN OF PEACE
In order that we may see the picture in its proper perspective with historic background and modern setting, let us recall that vision of
Isaiah, which in similar tone was revealed to other prophets: “He (the Lord) shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many
people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more
Long did Israel preserve this life-giving vision in its heart, finding therein not only comfort, but a conviction of purpose and of
destiny. The sons and daughters of later Talmud years were taught also to turn to the same vitalizing ideal phrased in the challenging
words: “In God’s eyes the man stands high who makes peace between men; between husband and wife, between father and children,
between masters and servants, between neighbor and neighbor. But he stands highest who establishes peace among the nations.”
Our picture is not a complete one unless We push back further into the centuries, even to the days of Abraham, that We may view the
magnificent sweep of the spiritual drama of Israel as it unfolded through forty centuries. According to the Biblical narrative, now so
pregnant with meaning when seen in the light of Bahâ’u’llih’s Revelation, God spoke to Abraham, His Prophet: “Lift up Thine eyes,
and look from the place where Thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward and westward: For all the land which Thou seest, to
Thee will I give it, and to Thy seed forever. And I will make Thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of
the earth, then shall Thy seed also be numbered. . . . I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be Thou perfect. And I will make a
covenant

between Me and Thee, and will multiply Thee exceedingly. . . . As for Me, behold My covenant is with Thee, and Thou shalt be a father
of many nations. . . . And I will make Thee exceedingly fruitful, and kings shall come out of Thee. And I will establish My covenant
between Me and Thee, and Thy seed after Thee, in Their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto Thee, and to
Thy seed after Thee. . . . Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore, Thou, and Thy seed after Thee, in their generations.”7
The Hebrew people are trying today to keep that Covenant. There is of this perhaps no greater evidence than the hope of resurrecting
once more the spirit of an illustrious heritage, which at the zenith attracted to Jerusalem even the sages of Greece, but which after the
division of the united kingdom and through centuries of separation on foreign soils found its pristine splendor dimmed. Whatever may
have been the spiritual backslidings of this unusual and chosen people, in whatever way their faith may have felt the taint of that
misinterpretation which in due time corrupts the pure message revealed to any people by a Prophet of God, however discouraged
Jewry may have been at times, it has persistently refused on the whole to be entirely separated from the belief in special destiny and
the age-long dream of righteousness, brotherly association and peace, the dawn of which Abraham foretold. So long as this ideal, born
in their souls through the spirit of Abraham and brought into expression within narrow confines of the Holy Land by Moses and a
succession of lesser prophets, so long as it remains short of complete realization—will there be Jews who continue to look f or- ward
with undaunted faith to their final deliverance as a people?
EMANCWATION FAILs
For that one hundred years prior to about 1875 enlightened Jews, those who had come in contact with western learning, believed that
they had found their Messianic age in the great measure of emancipation accorded to them by nations of the Christian World.
5tdem., p. 16.
o Isaiah, 2:4.
‘Genesis, 13:14—16; 17:1—9.

REJOICE, 0 ISRAEL

Tragic was their disappointment when experience revealed to them that they had not won freedom. Hatred and
prejudice smouldered still. Assimilation and reformation both were but partially successful. The liberal Jew who had
sacrificed nearly every vestige of his rich traditional culture and faith, found himself at the door of brotherhood with the
door closed in his face. The way back home could not be found, for faith in what his forefathers cherished he had little
by little denied, that he might sooner end his exile.
No man sees with more intelligent criticism the situation of Israel today than the thinking Jew himself. Perhaps this is,
together with the hope of renaissance in Palestine, a sign of approaching victory. The wise men of the ages have
counseled always, “Man, know thyself.” If out of humility, and by search, a deeply energizing vision may be born, the
descendants of Abraham can find joy once more. It was with the vision of a future Messiah and a future national state
at peace with the world that Israel survived, whether in the brilliance of liberal Muhammadan Spain or in the darkness
of the Ghetto. Persecution could not dim her hope as long as a flame gave any life to ancient forms. But when
corruption from a world losing faith in God and forgetful of His Plan for all men touched this point of the Torah, when
assimilation and baptism and reform desecrated the historic Holy of Holies in the recent century, Israel joined some
other nations in the march of quick disintegration. Not that baptism or longing for economic and social security, or
even the influence of western thought should have corrupted the Hebrew soul had Christianity been able to give the full
spirit of the Christ in return for priority of loyalty to traditional understanding of the Law and the Prophets, but the
nations of the west have themselves too long forfeited a profound love for God to be able to offer true fellowship, not
to say true spiritual compensation. The spirit that had moved upon the waters of human life in every renaissance of
progress from the time of Abraham to that of Jesus, that voice which later spoke through Muhammad and inspired a
civilization of great brilliance, has been

stilled by waywardness in the majority of men. And so it was that many Israelites trying at last at the desperate hour to become one
with other men through sacrifice of name and pride and traditional wealth found little reward for the soul.
If the remarkable efforts now centered in the rebuilding of Palestine meet a failure due to hostility of neighbor peoples, lack of
international justice, or failure within the heart of Israel itself, students of the Hebrew fold fear that Israel faces a strange form of
living death. They do not yet know Bahá’u’lláh’s message of gladness in rebirth, whereby they could be certain of success. They have
not yet heard that even now in Persia where Bahá’u’lláh first spoke there are communities of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and
Muhammadans living together in understanding, love and peace. They do not yet know that in the future without sacrifice of the
eternal values of their rich past — their literature, their language or their inspiration—they may be one with a world community of
nations, where unity rules the essentials of common intercourse and diversity gives beauty to the whole.
“The Jews are faced with something much worse than mere assimilation or race death,” believes one of their most erudite leaders,
Maurice Samuel. “They are moving, precisely at a time when their lot threatens to become ‘harder than ever before, toward the mass
imbecility which characterizes the world spirit of our time.”8
At that precise time when a multitude of diverse opinions and little unity marked the mind of Israel and a passionate desire for a better
life took hundreds of Jews into the Gentile world, where neither by faith or religious form, manner or wish, they could be definitely
known from the Christian, persecution broke out anew and with special vehemence where assimilation had been most complete. It is
this persecution which is awakening Jews everywhere to the hope that may lie in returning to the folk ethos of their own people.
Therein they desire to win at last, in brave loyalty to Judaism, the admiration, if not the love, of liberal nations and what is even more
important, hope to renew within themselves, through asso8 Lewisolin, Ludwig, Rebirth, p. 318.

THE BAHA’T WORLD

ciation with historic sources of land and literature, the spirit that made Israel of old a chosen people of God.
“The appearance of Zionism on the modern scene is half a miracle,” writes Milton Steinberg, seeming to sense in some measure the
hand of Providence in the late-hour activity. “So far,” he continues, “it has worked surprisingly well. Should it fail in the end, the odds
are that Israel is lost, its culture doomed, the personality of the individual Jew fated to protracted, if not permanent, maladjustment. . . .
It infuses the drabness of Jewish existence with a spirit of adventure. It affords a dramatic purpose analogous to older dreams of a
Messianic restoration. . . . It has opened new vistas of hope.”9 To the assiduous research and the illumined thinking of future historians
must be left the last word concerning the detailed factors of causation in the continued existence of Israel as a people and the even
more phenomenal rebirth which began at the close of the nineteenth century under the leadership of such heralds of change as Moses
Hess, Leon Pinsker, Theodor Herzl, Aaron David Gordon and Aachad Ha’am. It is clear now, however, that if faithfulness to tradition
and to ritualistic forms and to an indomitable conviction of a brilliant future kept Israel homogenous and lent some elements to the
prolonged survival, so also, and perhaps with greater urgency, all anti-Semitic oppression influenced Jewry to remain one body.
Recent persecution in middle Europe, on the basis of nationality and race rather than of religion, has served to renew Jewish solidarity
when it was approaching final collapse. “It is not impossible that we might be wholly absorbed by the surrounding population if we
were ever permitted to live in peace for the full space of two generations,” wrote Herzl. “We never are.”10
“To what kind of a community do we bear witness when we call ourselves Jews? What means this journey of ours through abyss?”
questioned the eloquent pen of Martin Buber. “Shall we fall into oblivion through the mist of the millennium or does some primal
force bear us onward to a fulfillment? What does it mean that we will to persist, not only as human beings, human spirit and human
seed, but in defiance of

the ages, in defiance of time itself — as Jews?”
Bahá’u’lláh’s interpretation of past and present and His forecast of the future can perhaps be understood by consideration of the
following four topics, which taken together reveal the cause of Jewish rebirth to be under the direction of God:
1) The return of the Jews to Palestine was actually foreseen by Biblical prophets.
It is of this, testifies Bahi’u’llih, that Jeremiah wrote: “And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have
driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. . . . Behold I will bring them from the north
country and gather them from the coasts of the earth.
Therefore they shall come and sing in the heart of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine,
and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden. . . . And there is hope in thine end,
saith the Lord, for thy children shall come again to their own border.”
In view of the present knowledge of historic events, the truth of the prophecies begins to clear, even to the conception of Israel being
saved from complete spiritual dispersion by a new purification through God’s Will—a Will that ruled sanctification be a factor in the
coming to birth of a spiritual order of maturity for mankind. In this light the sufferings of Jewish existence appear not too high a price
to pay for ultimate spiritual attainment.
2) The remarkable restoration of the Holy Land is not motivated to any extent by desire to fulfill prophecies, or even by belief that
prophecies would soon be fulfilled, but is propelled largely by forces beyond Jewish control. This suggests that the Unseen power of
God may be working out an ancient plan.
Although the first attempts for colonization of Palestine by Jews began before the opening of the twentieth century they were
‘Steinberg, Milton, The Making of the Modern Jew, p. 294.
‘° Lewisohn, o. cit., p. 28.

“Idem., p. 90.

REJOICE, 0 ISRAEL

not notably successful nor were they supported by the approval of the majority of enlightened Jews in the West. Furthermore,
numerous Jewish colonies were established in other regions than Palestine. This is highly significant for it indicates that the motivation
was chiefly the hope of bettering social and cultural and even economic conditions of living.
With the new tides set in motion by the World War three other forces appeared to hasten colonization and to concentrate Jewish
capacities in the promising Holy Land venture, which is now literally making the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose and the
wilderness and solitary place to be glad. One is the Balfour Declaration favoring “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for
the Jewish people ... it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing
non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”2 From this hour, it is
said, a new spirit came to animate the Jewish people. In 1922 the Council of the League of Nations ratified the selection of Great
Britain, a powerful nation long experienced in dealing with minority peoples, as the holder of the mandate of this former part of the
Turkish Empire. Third in time of influence have been the European governmental policies of expulsion, which not only force the most
thoroughly assimilated Jews in the world to seek residence elsewhere, but unwittingly encourage fulfillment of Palestinian destiny.
International attempts to help all refugees may have a similar effect with relation to the million or more Jews that the Holy Land may
yet gradually provide for.
3) The recent re-invigoration of the world Jewish community, with redirection of effort, which is in fact but one of the evidences of
world-wide upheaval and change, is caused by a new spiritual impetus from God. The forces of disturbance appearing in the world
in the eighteenth century and the new hopes offered by the nineteenth century included in their orbit of change the breaking of barriers
between Jewish and Aryan people, destroying the old status quo and affecting the life of
Israel as we have described. The Jewish emancipation, the subsequent disappointment and the dawn of revival within Israel, were thus
part of the larger unrest and transformation of which Bahá’u’lláh wrote many years before humanity realized the nature of the
tremendous extent of the change. “The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new
World Order,” He announced. “Mankind’s ordered life bath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous
System—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.”3
This new spirit in the world, as the rays of the eternal Sun of Life, is penetrating to the heart of Jew and Gentile alike. It brings the day
of judgment, it encourages the hopes for peace, it relights the fires of spiritual life in souls that are begging for progress.
It is the Sun of the Word of God, revealed to the peoples of the centuries by such Manifestations of God’s Will as Abraham, Moses,
Buddha, Zoroaster, and the Christ, that Word of Life which was before Abraham, in the beginning with God, the Creator, that
effulgence of the attributes of divinity. This sun is again shining today. In the early days of the Christian dispensation its light assisted
the Jews, though they knew it not, to retrieve a portion of their ancient glory in the environs of old Babylon, and in the days of
Muhammadan ascendancy to achieve notable intellectual attainments in spiritual contact with the Moors of Spain just prior to the
sweep of the Inquisition. And in such manner today it has touched the hearts and minds of many Jewish leaders with its radiance and,
though the effect may still be in the realms of the unconscious, it is nevertheless productive of new hope, courage and inspiration.
This brings us to our fourth point:
THE KING OF GLORY COMES
Bahâ’u’lláh (Glory of God), Himself claiming to be a Prophet of the Ancient Word of God, delegated to kindle the eternal fire in the
souls of men, fulfilling the prophecies of all the scriptures, is reflecting the
“ Hayes, Canton, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, p. 844.
as Gleaoiogs, p. 136.

THE BAHA’T WORLD

sun of God’s Will and Love to the world. He will unite by the power reflected through Him all streams of human progress in a great
ocean of understanding and brotherly cooperation. It is He who will redeem Israel.
The follower of Bahi’u’llah who is gladdened by His message, sees in His teachings a divine guidance suited to the needs of this age,
a divine assistance for deliverance from selfishness and greed, ignorance and prejudice, poverty and contention. In this dispensation is
the Covenant of Abraham fulfilled. God renewed that Covenant through a succession of prophets, expanding its domain of influence
with the growth of social communication and the enlarging of the circle of spiritual consciousness in the human race. Specifically and
primarily it was a Covenant with the Hebrew people, but in reality it was a compact whose participants were destined to increase until
Abraham’s spiritual seed should become “as the dust of the earth.” It has been an everlasting Covenant with a chosen people; also it
has been kept alive and fruitful for those nations brought into its horizon of influence through successive Revealers of God’s Word,
such as Jesus and Muhammad, who in their turn proclaimed the validity of the Jewish dispensation and foretold its ultimate fulfillment
in a universal brotherhood of men.
The Abraham of the spirit who left the idols of Chaldean materialism and imagination and tradition to sojourn and to teach in Palestine
was a Divine Messenger. He became the father of a great physical race that was to enjoy a special mission in history; He likewise
became the spiritual father from whom countless generations of Israelites of the spirit have come, for it is true that wherever men of
whatever race have acted with love for God and man they have been one as keepers of God’s eternal Covenant. Abraham, in another
and less understood manner, was forbear of a great line of prophets, their spiritual predecessor and their physical ancestor. Isaiah and
Jeremiah were Jews. Jesus, whose supreme spiritual genius gave Him sovereignty in the entire western world, was born of a Jewish
mother through the line of Isaac and David. Muhammad’s descent from Abraham can be traced to Ishmael, son of Abraham. The Báb,
in whom

Bahá’is recognize the Herald (or the Elijah) of the Bahá’i era, was a direct heir of the House of Hashim and descendant thus of the
Arabian Prophet and through Him, of Abraham. Bahá’u’lláh was heir of royal Persian blood coming from Zoroaster, ancient Prophet
of Iran; and also through His mother was a descendant of Abraham through Katura and Jesse. Literally, by the seed of Abraham have
the nations been blessed.
Through this seed of divine guidance will the dream of world brotherhood come true. Although practical commands of the Hebrew
Covenant were intended for the Jews alone, and such peoples as might join them in the Mosaic dispensation, the inner reality of that
Covenant, the specific spiritual teaching, was to remain the law forever because in its essence it is eternal, applicable to every age.
Each new prophet renewed its potency, recalled for His special people its meaning and its promise. Each prophet, including
Bahá’u’lláh who today as the Great Michael (Dan. 12) speaks for the whole of humanity, re-proclaimed Abraham’s revelation from
God: “I am the Almighty God:
walk before Me, and be Thou perfect.” Each Prophet abrogated those ordinances of His predecessor which were no longer adequate or
suitable to meet the needs of an evolving humanity.
ISRAEL’S MlsssoN
Under the guidance of this new universal Messenger, the “Desire of the nations,” the meaning of the service to be rendered by God’s
peculiar people in uniting humanity assumes magnitude even beyond their vision. It is true that each great religious order of the world
sees itself as a chosen vehicle not only for the most effective transmission of God’s spirit to men, but also God’s plan for universal
salvation in an eventual establishment of world harmony, justice and peace. Although the faithful believers in each of these groups
could not all be right in their understanding on this matter, the error may lie, not so much in their vision of a future civilization
motivated by religion, as in the desire which would exalt any one specific institutional name, rather than proclaim the spirit of love
which gave each birth under

REJOICE, 0 ISRAEL

whatever name was appropriate to the time. Inasmuch as this spirit of love becomes renewed and re-lived by all peoples, all will
become instruments of God’s purpose in building a Kingdom of Righteousness on earth, whether under a new name or an old. In this
program Israel will do her part. The return to Palestine is already effecting her regeneration as a nation with a positive and dynamic
attitude.
Seeing the importance of this function which Israel may serve in the world, Albert Einstein has written: “I am a national Jew in the
sense that I demand the preservation of the Jewish nationality, as of every other.
But my Zionism does not exclude cosmopolitan views. . . . I believe that every Jew has duties toward his co-religionists.
Through the return of the Jews to Palestine, and so to a normal and healthy economic hfe, Zionism involves a creative function, which
should enrich mankind at large.”
There seems, however, to be a more distinctive mission than this reserved for the Jews, which does not nullify, but enhances the
significance of the present restoration and aids the cause of world regeneration. From Old Testament wisdom we may learn that the
Jewish national home is to be the center of the new world civilization. Whatever of good Palestine will do for the Jews themselves as
one aid to rebirth in this transition era before that civilization is firmly established, whatever of worth the Jews may give to the world
as a creative nation once more, above all of this, and because of this perhaps, they are now laying the substructure of the world capital.
When the federation of nations is achieved, as Bahã’u’lláh assures us it will be, this people, capable of great mental accomplishment,
and of supreme love, self-sacrifice and forgiveness, will become the hosts of all the races and religions which were for so long
inhospitable to them. For it is in Palestine that Occident and Orient find their natural meeting ground; it is in Palestine from the
growing metropolis of Haifa-Acca today that the

vitalizing forces of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation radiate to all the earth; it is in the Holy Land, indicates Shoghi Effendi, where will be
established “the nerve center of a world civilization, the focus where the unifying forces of life will converge”; it is from this historic
place that the Branch of guidance in this Day of Jehovah will be the standard of the nations, and the prophecies of princely authority,
like unto that of David, be fulfilled.
Israel will complete the superstructure in Palestine when the universal impulse of creation, released through Bahá’u’lláh, becomes the
conscious living core of her own unity throughout the world, when through it she is once again at one with the primordial motives of
her being as a people illumined, when as Zion (at Jerusalem) rejoicing with Carmel (at Haifa) she may give of her talents to the
service of mankind. Because of the fact that co-eva1 with this evolution will come the spiritual maturity of other peoples, Israel will
find in the rising commonwealth of nations—the new Jerusalem
—that her problems of how to hve in a non- Jewish world has been solved, for her as a nation, or for all Jews who in foreign lands
prefer to move the way of ultimate assimilation. This, because the age in which we live will recognize “its new and living Word.”
Injustice and prejudice will vanish and the Jew, wherever he lives, will become known for his virtues. “Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken. . . . And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory. . . . Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of
the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.”14 Under the unclouded Sun of a new revelation, when religion once again
directs the conscious efforts of men, the new Jew will be received into a joyous international citizenship. His folk religion will have
been fully expanded to meet the radically changed needs of the time.
Then will there be singing on Mount Zion. 14 Isaiah, 62:4.

Some of the Bahá’is of Bombay, India gathered to bid farewell to their indefatigable fellow-worker, Miss Martha Root
on the occasion of
her departure for Australia and New Zealand. (Miss Root holds a bouquet of flowers.)

$ 1_

L
—
pict269.jpg

1 4.

IN THE late winter of 1932 an inspiring letter from Shoghi Effendi, the revered and beloved guardian of the Bahã’i Cause,
reached me in Brookline, Massachusetts, saying, “I trust that your health is sufficiently restored to enable you to resume with
enthusiasm and vigor your services to the Cause in Europe. Central and Southeastern Europe are the fields to which I would like you
to direct your attention.”
On April 13th, after saying goodbye to my beloved sister, Mrs. George Lewis Nelson, and all my friends, I sailed on the 5.5. Bremen
for France, and proceeded immediately to Geneva where I found pleasant hospitality and met persons of interest at Maison
Internationale. Attending some sessions of the League of Nations, frequenting the Bahá’i Bureau where activities were directed by
dear Mrs. Emogene Hoagg, and telling the Bahá’i Message, occupied the time while awaiting further instructions from Shoghi
Effendi. A letter soon arrived informing me of a new arrangement regarding his plans for the spread of the Faith. He had been able to
provide a sufficient number of teachers to take care of the work in Central and Southeastern Europe, and therefore I was instructed to
“Concentrate on North Germany and Holland. . . . Holland is a totally new country to the Cause, so it will be true pioneer service,” he
wrote.
This change of plan was very welcome as it would allow me to meet again some of the dear friends in Germany, made during a
previous teaching journey through that country in 1930.
As to Holland, the land of peace, glorious paintings, windmills, and tulips, I had no affiliations whatever. However, knowing that
Bahá’u’llah would “pave the way” for those in His service, high hopes arose that

assistance would be at hand, and soon doors began to open.
A most interesting Enghsh woman had a room near mine at Maison Internationale, Miss Mary Eaton, well known in European
countries through her compassionate prison reform achievements. She had heard much of the Bahá’i Cause through Lady Blomfield,
whose devotion to the Faith and to the establishment of the “New World Order” on earth, is well known in England.
Miss Eaton, upon hearing of the change in my immediate future plans, took a lively interest in introducing me, by letter, to a clever
young friend, Miss Hildtsant Kastner of Leipsig, the city selected as my first destination after leaving Geneva. This young lady spent
part of each year in Holland and therefore could inform me of all things, religious, social, or financial important to know, in order to
avoid awkward situations. This friendly aid along an unknown path was heartening, and dispelled all care as I started on my northern
journey—speaking of the Cause to groups of persons at Leipsig, Berlin, Rostock, and Hamburg—then on to Amsterdam, arriving July
27th.
As was my custom in foreign lands, I first sought the American Consul to make known my purpose in coming to Holland, toward
which he showed a kindly interest. Through his advice, it became possible to become a member of the only woman’s club in Holland,
the beautiful, centrally-placed Nederlandsche Vrouwenclub on Keizersgracht, which was bordered on either side with immense trees,
broadly branched, that added charm and grace to the reflections in the canal of the stately old houses.
Because the Vrouwenclub was closely associated with the Lyceum Club of London, to which I had belonged when living in
PIONEER INTRODUCTION OF THE BAHA’I
FAITH TO THE
NETHERLANDS
B LouIsE DRAKE WRIGHT

THE BAHA’I WORLD

England for several years, I was admitted to the club with no further questioning.
It soon became evident that staying in this well known place was helpful to my work in every respect as well as less expensive than
living in hotels.
Being a stranger with no letters of introduction to anyone in that country, and having come to present a totally unknown, all-inclusive
religious movement, made progress very slow.
However, before long I became acquainted with some kind and delightful young Quakers who, having heard that a world peace
movement was being introduced for the first time to Holland, came to the club several times and brought some of their acquaintances
to investigate the teachings of Bahâ’u’lláh and were much impressed with His ideas of bringing to pass the unity of mankind and the
establishment of world peace and federation of nations.
Eventually an invitation came to attend a meeting, held in the drawing room of one of these ladies, and I was cordially invited to give
to them the message I had come to Holland to deliver.
After I had finished speaking, all showed intelligent interest through the questions that were asked, and some of them wished to know
where Bahá’i books could be found and I directed them to Miss Lena de Beer’s delightful and choice little book shop on Lange
Voorhout, Tke Hague.
Several persons whom I met remonstrated with me, in a kindly manner, for bringing such a thought-inspiring movement to Holland at
that time of year, “when all people of capacity seek the country, the sea, the sand dunes, the forest, to rest completely from all serious
considerations of life.” They urged me to return to Holland when those who were internationally minded would have come back to
their winter activities.
In the spring of 1933, before I left America for a second attempt to promote knowledge of the Bahã’I Revelation in the Netherlands, a
letter from Shoghi Effendi arrived containing this encouraging and welcome message: The New Era is being translated into Dutch
and ere long will be printed. It will serve as a splendid ally to

you in your pioneering endeavors in that land.”
Shortly after this I was favored by receiving two letters of introduction to Holland which opened doors of opportunity
in many directions. One from the “National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of the United States and Canada” which
stated, “We learn that at the request of Skoghi Effendi you are going to Holland to render service to the Cause of
Bah4’u’llãh. As the country of Holland had important political ties with the United States in the days of New
Amsterdam, so we hope that spiritual bonds will join these two free, independent, and democratic countries for
common service to international peace and world order.” Mr. Horace Holley, the secretary, wrote and sent me several
names of internationally minded persons and societies that might be of service, particularly at The Hague.
There also came a letter of introduction to all librarians of the Netherlands from a much valued family friend of many
years standing, Dr. Herbert Putnam, the head of the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., who wrote that although
he was not personally affiliated with the Cause I was undertaking to proclaim, he had great respect for it.
Fortified by all this thoughtful assistance, I sailed away on the S.S. Ile de France, caught the “North Star Express” train
for Amsterdam, and was once more happily established at the Nederlandsche Vrouwenclub on March 2 7th.
After inquiry as to the manner of presenting a letter of introduction in Holland, the first venture was made in this
direction by telephoning to the head of the Universiteit Bibliothecaris, Prof. Dr. J. S. Theissen. Upon hearing that I
wished to present a book to his library concerning a world peace movement little known among his people, also that I
possessed a letter from Dr. Herbert Putnam, head of the Library of Congress of Washington, introducing me to the
librarians of Holland, he responded enthusiastically and in perfect English, “I know all about Dr. Putnam’s notable
library achievements. Will you not come to see me? Can you come now? I am at leisure.”
Taking the English edition of the book,

INTRODUCTION OF THE FAITH TO THE NETHERLANDS 879

then being published in the Dutch language by Nijgh & Von Ditmar, which I hoped to place in his library, and calling a taxicab, I was
soon in the presence of an elderly man of noble aspect, cultivated and courteous manner, to whom I offered my two letters of
introduction.
He sat opposite me at a large desk and listened with rapt attention to an outline of the history of the sacrificial lives of the three great
Founders of the Cause, of its principles and universal aims, of its world-wide expansion through the wealth of Bahá’i literature,
through the effect of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s extensive missionary journeys in Europe, England, and throughout the United States, from
Boston to San Francisco, and through its present day consolidation under the direction of Shoghi Effendi, who is the interpreter of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Word and is adjusting His laws of world unity to the needs of humanity through Bahá’i institutions that are functioning
all around the world.
From time to time, Dr. Theissen expressed his approval and interest in what was being said through exclamations such as “How
extraordinary! How timely these principles!” After which he telephoned to Miss
A. C. Gebhard, the director of the large public library on Keizersgracht, saying he had just been hstening to a world peace message in
which he felt she would be interested, and arranged for me to meet her at her library.
As I arose to depart, Dr. Theissen said, very quietly and earnestly, “That a movement so important, of which I have never even heard,
could have arisen, spread its influence throughout the world, flourished since the year 1844 and become established to an
acknowledged degree that warrants a letterhead such as that upon this letter of introduction, amazes me! (It was the letter from the
National Spiritual Assembly.) Thank you for bringing me so beautiful a message this morning. What may I do to assist in making it
known to Holland?”
Pausing a moment to consider this generous and unexpected offer, it occurred to me to ask if it would be possible for him to give me a
list of the names of the persons to whom so universal a movement would appeal.

This request was fully complied with in a few days, and upon the list were found names of the directors and members of peace
societies, heads of international bureaus, lecturers and writers, some of the librarians, Theosophists, Esperantists, and private persons
devoting their time and energies to the bettering of human conditions and furthering peace relations. In a good many cases the attitude
of mind to be encountered was given—religious, scientific, philosophical or atheistical. As the Bahá’i Revelation speaks to all phases
of hfe, this knowledge made an easier approach to strangers.
When I went to see Miss Gebhard at her library I found a woman of great sincerity and unusual capacity of heart and mind. After
hearing to some degree the principles and aims of the Cause, she asked if I would come with her a short distance to include a friend in
all that she was hearing, Miss Clara Nayers, head of the women’s department of the Rotterdam Bank, “one of Holland’s most brilliant
women, very influential in all kinds of progressive movements and clubs, and devoted to the education and advancement of women.”
Miss Nayers was ready to receive us and there followed a highly animated conversation during which Miss Nayers made known that
she specially desired to learn what solution for the economic problems Bahã’u’llah’s Teachings held.
I had taken with me Shoghi Effendi’s The Goal of the New World Order, and Mr. Horace Holley’s World Economy of
Bahd’u’lldh were given to her, and later she received The New Era.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament, proclaimed that after His own departure, a succession of Guardians would for a period of
one thousand years direct and administer the Bahá’i principles and teachings of Bahá’u’llah for the needs of an evolving mankind. He
named His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as the one who would first occupy this station of high service to humanity, to whom all the
believers must turn and whom they must obey as the inspired interpreter of the Word, the focal point through whose interpretation the
House of Justice will come into being, and the true federation of nations be established on earth,

THE BAHA’I WORLD

erected upon the pillars of divine love and justice.
This ‘Will and Testament is a document known as the most unique of its kind in all history. None of the past Divine Prophets has
safeguarded the pristine purity of His Revelation and its institutions by so definite an arrangement to protect its teachings from manmade interpretations which have in the past obscured the Word uttered by each Manifestation of God.
Our mighty Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, gives to the Bahã’i Faith the sign of its present vitality, the assurance of its steady advance; and
through. him shines the living flame of its celestial power, “As the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh takes shape and unfolds,”
before our vision.
When traveling in various countries, where Shoghi Effendi had sent me to make known the Faith, I became aware that there were in
the world sonie misguided persons, who were announcing the Bahá’i Cause, but for selfish purposes of their own, were denying the
need of Guardianship. This great error has caused confusion in certain places, and I began to look about me to ascertain if any of this
disloyalty had shown itself in Holland and prayed that I might find any who had been misled by so crippling an omission.
Presently I met separately and talked at length with six truth-seeking persons who, when taking their summer holiday in another
country, had there heard Bahã’i lectures wherein all information put forth concerning it ended in the death of the three great Founders.
This cessation of truth concerning its further progress left those who had heard the lectures with little inclination to investigate deeply
the Bahã’i literature, as it seemed to hold no more assurance of fulfillment on earth than the prophetic dispensations of the past had
displayed. The great ideals, principles and laws seemed to be left hanging in mid-air awaiting practical application from some master
builder.
Upon learning that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had appointed His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as His successor, the Guardian of the Faith and the
interpreter of the sacred writings, and that he was living at Haifa, Palestine, erecting an administrative structure applicable to the

entire world through which Bahâ’u’llãh’s design for a New World Order could become a reality, these earnest men and
women began to catch a glimmer of the future stupendous possibilities lying within Bahã’u’lláh’s Revelation.
During this second visit to Holland, through using my letters of introduction and through the kindness of those whom I
had previously known, I met and talked of the Cause with many delightful and thoughtful persons who showed varying
degrees of interest. Most of them were too much occupied with their own demanding undertakings to have time for
further investigation, although a few who were looking for the appearance of a new star in the East, approached the
Cause with great reverence and began to study the Teachings and inquire into their meaning.
The magnificent architecture of the Cause is too vast for anyone to grasp without deep and careful study of
Bahã’u’llãh’s great writings and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s interpretations of His Word. Lacking this, men are unable to grasp the
indispensable need of the Bahá’i plan for the establishment of a World Commonwealth, with laws that will solve the
entire range of human problems in this latter day—religious, national, social, racial, economic.
When spending the winters of 1906-7 in Alassio, Italy, I often met the late Professor Lewis Campbell, professor of
Greek in the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, for many years, who was an eminent pupil of Dr. Benjamin Jowett,
late master of Balliol College and Professor of Greek in the University of Oxford, also Doctor of Theology of the
University of Leyden, Holland.
Because of Professor Campbell’s profound spiritual and intellectual attainments he was highly honored as one who
spoke with truthful authority and his noted translations of Greek poetry endeared him to all. From him I first heard of
the Bahá’i Revelation, the significance of which had been indelibly impressed upon him by Dr. Jowett’s deep
convictions concerning it, and I wrote down some very telling sentences which Professor Campbell quoted from Dr.
Jowett’s words to him.

INTRODUCTION OF THE FAITH TO THE NETHERLANDS 881

“This Bahá’i Movement is the greatest light that has come into the world since the time of Jesus Christ. You must watch it and never
let it out of your sight. It is too great and too near for this generation to comprehend. The future alone can reveal its import.”
During conversations with Professor Campbell upon the vital importance of this recent outpouring of the Holy Spirit from God upon
mankind I became firmly convinced of its divine origin and high destiny.
Finding that there were a great many openings at The Hague for spreading the Bahá’i Faith and having been there a number of times
to meet inquirers as to its meaning, on May 4th I left Amsterdam and settled into a pleasant pension on Sophiallan No. 2, in that city.
Upon my list of names was that of the Countess von Herdt, known in many lands as a writer and promoter of peace relations, her
notable work for the advancement of youthful education and her able translations into various languages.
When I wrote asking if she would allow me to talk with her of the Bahá’i Peace Movement, an invitation to have tea at Bloemendaal
was the response, and upon arriving at her house I was welcomed by one whose face was alight with high purpose and attainment. She
opened the conversation by saying that long ago through her friendship with Dr. August Forel, the well-known scientist of
Switzerland, she had become much attached to Bahá’u’llah’s Cause. During years of correspondence he had tried to persuade her to
put aside the lesser peace societies and center her entire attention upon the universal peace Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, as she was in perfect
accord with His basic teachings. However, the work for peace that she had entered into had entirely engrossed her attention and
energies as it included an enormous correspondence that was world wide. As she spoke she opened the doors of a cabinet which
contained rows of letter folders completely filled.
It was a happiness to talk with one who had so great a knowledge of Bahá’u’llah and His Divine mission. I came from the Countess
von Herdt refreshed and grateful.

She kindly gave suggestions that assisted in making the Cause known.
I owe to Madame H. J. Romeijn, who devotes much time to furthering humanitarian and peace activities, a debt of
gratitude for her many kind attentions, friendship and helpful ideas as to spreading the Bahá’i teachings. She gave a
pleasant dinner party at her house, where I met Dr. Romeijn and their gifted daughter, Miss Jean Marie, and others who
desired to know more of Bahã’u’lláh’s great Message to the world.
Through my having an introduction to Miss M. L. Fledderus, director of the International Industrial Institute, a meeting
was arranged and I went to her at Scheveningen and found her to be a delightful and gifted person with comprehensive
outlook who immediately showed appreciation of the Bahá’i ideals. She was exceedingly helpful on several occasions
and showed sympathetic understanding of the difficulties to be encountered when introducing an unknown cause to
Holland.
She was deeply engaged in work that had to do with Herr Dr. Otto Neurath’s great activities and extraordinary
educational charts that make plain without words the industrial and other conditions of the world. So scientific and
convincing are these charts that the most ignorant of men can understand them immediately. Dr. Neurath seems to have
a mind similar to that of the late Sir Patrick Geddes, for years professor of botany at Edinburgh University, Scotland,
whose selflessness, originality and creative ability in aiding humanity amounted to genius. He loved and reverenced
‘Abdu’l-Bahf. When England was honored by ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s presence, Sir Patrick Geddes arranged for Him to
deliver addresses in Edinburgh, and he later visited Him at His home in Haifa.
What I had been told of Madame W. Wijnaendts Francken-Dyserinck’s capacities and work, attracted me some time
before I met her. She had established the Girl Scouts throughout Holland as well as the Soroptomist Clubs and took
part in international affairs and peace activities. Her name was upon that invaluable list provided me through Dr.
Theissen’s effort. She arranged by telephone to visit me and expressed much appreciation of what she heard of the
Cause

THE BAHA’I WORLD

and kindly asked what she might do to help make it known. She was about to start for America to attend the Century of Progress
Exhibition as one of the International Corps and was to deliver speeches to large audiences.
Madame Wijnaendts-Francken took notes as I tried to make known to her the chief aims of the Cause and upon seeing for the first
time a photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, a glow of surprised admiration swept over her face. The beauty of a picture of the Bahi’i Temple
then added to her interest and she exclaimed, “I now see what may be done for this cause. I will go to the Temple, write an article
about it which will come out in a Holland magazine, with reproductions of these photographs. Publishers always accept what I write
of interest when in foreign lands.”
Madame Jacob Ter Meulen, wife of the director of the library at the Peace Palace, came to see me in response to a note I had written
her husband telling him of the letter of introduction to Holland librarians that Dr. Herbert Putnam had given me.
Dr. Ter Meulen was ill and wished to see me as soon as his health permitted. Madame Ter Meulen told of their delightful friendship
with Dr. Putnam when they were staying in Washington, D. C., some years ago, and of the work Dr. Putnam and Dr. Ter Meulen had
done together in the library.
One afternoon Madame Ter Meulen asked me to meet a friend, Miss Dekker, who had, when making a visit in Philadelphia, the
United States, become much interested in the Bahá’i teaching through a woman whose name had escaped her memory but whom she
vividly remembered as a most lovable and remarkable person, and who had given her books about the Cause that were still in her
possession. Miss Dekker made me acquainted with an American woman, Mrs. Cornelius van der Hoogt, hying at The Hague, who
invited me to have tea. The conversation first centered about dear Miss Juliet Thompson of New York City, who had aroused her
interest in the Cause by taking her to bear an address given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahã at Ascension Church, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in
America in 1912.
Mrs. van der Hoogt spoke of the beloved Master with loving reverence and heard with

interest of the Administrative activities. When I arose to go she led me into another large room to see a graceful and beautiful portrait
of herself that Miss Thompson had painted.
As midsummer approached the cities were so deserted that I felt inchned to return before long to America. The directors of the
principal libraries in Amsterdam and at The Hague had hstened with courteous attention to Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation and accepted,
with expressions of pleasure, the Dutch edition of The New Era, also Bahá’i booklets, with promises to place them on the book
shelves where they would be accessible to the public.
On June 19th I sailed for home on the S.S. Ile de France.
As the winter of 1934 approached a letter from Shoghi Effendi arrived asking me to resume my work of “service to His Cause in
Holland.”
The first week in January found me ready and eager to carry out our beloved Guardian’s wishes and upon reaching The Hague my
work proceeded much as it had before, going from person to person and at times speaking to drawing room audiences, where the
Message received close attention and usually a few of those present asked to see me again to talk further about it.
Through correspondence I had promised to communicate with Madame WijnaendtsFrancken upon reaching The Hague, which I did,
and an invitation from her arrived asking me to dinner, that we might have opportunity to talk quietly of the Cause.
Shortly afterward she arranged to have me speak at her house to a number of her friends and there followed a happy tea party during
which I talked informally with a few at a time who wanted to ask questions, and all expressed satisfaction in having received so
universal a message.
In a few days I received a note from a man whom I had met at Madame WijnaendtsFrancken’s and who had shown keen interest in all
that he bad heard, which said, “With renewed thanks for a thought-provoking speech and conversation.”
Madame Wijnaendts-Francken fulfilled her promise and wrote an article about tb2

INTRODUCTION OF THE FAITH TO THE NETHERLANDS 883

The Bahá’i Summer School of Australia and New Zealand
Community Picnic held during the 1939 session at “Bolton Place,”
Yerrinbool, New South Wales.

Faith which was published by Nijgh & von Ditmer in Wereldlrroniek April 7th, 1934, illustrated as she had suggested with a
photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and of the two Bahá’i Temples in existence, one at ‘Ishqãbád, Russia, and another, now in construction,
near Chicago, the United States.
Sometimes when I had been speaking, surprising comments followed. One man after listening to a talk given in his friend’s house,
when introduced to me later in the afternoon, remarked with conviction and a humorous glance, “You were a brave woman to come to
a stubborn country like this, to introduce a new peace movement. We are the greatest arguers in the world. We argue all day and all
night, and for what? To learn the truth? Not at all! Each argues to prove to himself that his standpoint is correct and each feels himself
justified.”
Another man said he never made efforts to try to convince a Hollander of views other than those he already held, that he had

given it up long ago. These amusing remarks were made, I imagine, that I might not become disheartened.
Although there was no Bahá’i Assembly formed through my Holland endeavors, there was, however, what might be termed a network
of the knowledge of its existence and aims spread out. Many were intellectually glad to be informed of its history and principles. A
few caught the vision of its divine significance to all mankind as the fulliliment of the promise of all ages.
In April the Bahf’i Publishing Committee kindly responded to my request for books to present to the libraries, and when, just before
my return to America on April 2 1st, I delivered several books into the hands of each director of the libraries, they were welcomed
with words of cordial appreciation and interest.
The list of libraries in Holland where Bahã’i Literature is to be found is appended to this article.

LIST OF LIBRARIES IN HOLLAND
CONTAINING BAHA’I LITERATURE

Amsterdam
Amsterdam Gemente Universitait Bibli othecaris—Prof Dr. J. S. Theissen, Singel

1. Bahd’u’lldh and The New Era—By Dr.
Esslemont (Dutch translation).
2. Book of Certitxde — Kitdb-i-Iqdn —
Translated from Iranian by Shoghi
Effendi.

421.

pict270.jpg

THE BAHA’i WORLD

The “Rose Garden” children’s class held during the 1939 session of the
Bahá’i Summer School at “Bolton Place,” Yerrinbool, New South
Wales, Australia.

3. The Bahd’i World—A Biennial Inter nationa Record.
4. Dawn Breakers—Nabil’s Narrative—
Translated from franian by Shoghi
Effendi.
5. Promulgation of Universal Peace—Dis course of ‘Abdu’l-Bahâ during His
visit to the United States in 1912.
Openbare Leeszaal en Bibliotheck—Director, Miss Anna C. Gebhard, Keizersgracht
444.
1.

Baha”u’lla’h and The New Era—By Dr.
J. E. Esslemont (Dutch translation).
2. Bahd’i World (1930-32)—A Biennial International Record.
3. Some Answered Questions—By ‘Abdu’lBahá.
4. Divine Philosophy—From addresses delivered in Paris, 1910-11.
The Hague
Konimklijke Bibleotheck-Bibliothecares— Dr. Mohuysen, Lange Voorhout. Promulgation of Universal Peace—
Discourses of ‘Abdu’l—Bahã during His visit to the United States in 1912.
Some Answered Questions—By ‘Abdu’lBahá.
Bibliotheck von het Vredispalais—Bibliothecaris, Dr. Jacob Ter Meulen.

1. Bahd’u’lldh and The New Era—By Dr.
J. E. Esslemont (Dutch translation).
2. Book of Certitude — Kitdb-i-Iqdn— Translated from the Persian by Shoghi Effendi.
3. Dawn Breakers—Nabil’s Narrative— Translated from the Persian by Shoghi Effendi.
Dames Leeszaal en Bibliotheck—Lange Voorhout No. 3.
1. Bahd’u’lla’h and The New Era—By Dr. J. E. Esslemont.
2. Bahd’I Revelation—By Thornton Chase.
3. Promulgation of Universal Peace—Discourse by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His visit to the United States in 1912.
4. Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-BahcI—From addresses delivered in Paris, 1910-11.
5. The Baha”I World—A Biennial International Record.
Openbare Leeszaal en Bibliotheck—Bibliothecaris, Dr. H. E. Greve.
1. BahcI’u’lldh and The New Era—By Dr. J. E. Esslemont (Dutch translation).
2. Book of Certitude — Kitdb-i-IqtIn— Translated from Iranian by Shoghi Effendi.
3. Baha”i’, The Spirit of the Age—By Mr. Horace Holley.

- : ‘:— ;E* •

pict271.jpg

‘5.
AN INTERVIEW WITH
A. L. M. NICOLAS OF PARIS
TRANSLATOR OF MANY IMPORTANT WORKS OF THE BAB’ By EDITH SANDERSON

tV. L. M. Nicolas, after having passed the greater part of his life in Iran, now lives in a pleasant corner of Paris in
the rue George Sand, surrounded by his books and his souvenirs of the Orient. For some years the Bahâ’is of Paris have
entertained the most cordial relations with him and to him is due their gratitude and appreciation for the courtesy of the
following interview which was sought by Miss Edith Sanderson expressly for the Bahâ’i World. The interview took
place on February 7, 1939.
Quels furent vos debuts en Perse?
Je suis né ii Rasht Gilán, province de la rive occidentale de la Caspienne. Je ne parlais que le Persan et le Russe. Quand
je vms en France j ‘étais habille en cosaque.
Mes debuts en Iran (Perse) n’ont rien d’extraordinaire: ceux d’un jeune homme ardent, desireux de s’instruire.
Mon pére était premier interpréte de Ia Legation de France en Perse, poste que j’ai rempli également plus tard.
De queue facon vous êtes-vous trouvé en rapport avec les Bábis?
“Gobineau, arrivant a Ia Légation, trés imbu des préjugés diplomatiques, méprisant ses collaborateurs, entra en lutte
avec mon père au sujet d’un manuscrit achete par celui-ci a un courtier. Mon pére me fit a ce propos des remarques
qui m’orientèrent vers l’idée de verifier par moi-même Ic fond des choses. Dans ses papiers il laissa une critique de ce
livre de Gobineau: ‘Le Religions et les Philosophie dans l’Asie Centrale,’ qui m’incita a en rechercher et refuter les
erreurs, cet ouvrage ayant été écrit sans données suffissantes avec l’aide d’un Israiilite que Gobineau avait comme
professeur de persan et qui ne pouvait apprendre a son eleve que le peu qu’il savait de la secte. Je me documentai
largement, grace au secré tair

indigéne, Mirzâ Ebrahim, de Tihran, que je découvris étre Bahá’i et qui me mit en rapport avec les sectateurs.”
a a
Comment vous étes-vous interessé Ia Cause du Bâb, au Báb Lui-meme? Qu’est-ce qui vous a amene traduire Ses oeuvres? A
ecrire votre livre “Siyyid ‘Ali-Mu5am- mad, dit le Báb?”
“J’avais resolu de traduire Ic Bayán Persan. J’avoue que pendant les deux or trois ans que dura mon etude je fus souvent ebloui par les
explications que le Báb nous donne sur certains mystéres tels que la mort, la resurrection, le Sirat—ce pont qui surpasse l’enfer, fin
comme un cheveu, tranchant comme un rasoir, et que le croyant traverse avec la rapidite de l’eclair. Ces explications me plurent et je
m’enfoncai de plus en plus dans mes travaux. Ii ne me resta plus qu’à regretter d’avoir negligé la traduction de la majorité des écrits
sortis de Ia plume du Prophete.
“De méme, lisant le ‘Livre des Sept Preuves,’ que j’ai traduit, j’ai été séduit par Ia clarte du raisonnement du ]3áb. J’étais aide dans
mon travail par un jeune Persan et chaque jour nous allions l’apres midi nous promener hors de Ia ville en sortant par Ia porte du
Chimran. La pureté de l’air, la sérénité, Ia douceur de la temperature et, a certaines saisons, le parfum des acacias prédisposaient mon
âme a la paix et a Ia douceur. Les réflexions que je me faisais sur l’etrange livre que je traduisais m’envahirent d’une espèce
d’ivresse et je devins peu a peu profondement et uniquement Bábi.
*A. L. M. Nicolas, so long known by the worldwide Bah’i Community for his association in IrIn with some of the early followers of
the Báb, and his translations of His Writings into the French language, accorded to Miss Edith Sanderson in Paris just before his recent
demise, the interview which is here reproduced. This interview took place Feb. 7, 1939.

gg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Plus je me plongeais dans ces reflexions plus j’admirais la hauteur du genie de celui qui, ne a Shiriz, avait rêvé de
soulever le monde musulman, et l’explication du sens des mots de la croyance SMite m’entraina petit a petit a écrire
‘Siyyid ‘Ali-Muliammad, dit le Bib.’
“Je voulais naturellement parfaire mon ouvrage et cela m’amena a des recherches et a des conversations avec des
Bibis—de hit des Azalis et des Bahi’Is. Je trouvai devant moi une mine abondante et que je n’ai pas épuisée car il y a
des oeuvres du Bib que je n’ai pas affieurées.”
Comment vos publications ont-elles été d’abord accueillies?
“Je n’ai guère pu rendre compte.
“Un jeune Persan m’avait dit que les Bahi’is approuvaient mes travaux, mais que j’avais tort de traduire le Bayin, deja
abroge, plutôt que I’Iqin.

“Cette même remarque a ét faite par
M. Hippolyte Dreyfus dans un de ses ouvrages.
“Au cours de l’éte de 1906 j’ai rencontré M. Dreyfus en méme temps que Mme. Lacheney et Miss Laura Barney: ils
etaient les premiers Bahi’is francais et americains voyageant en Iran.
connu aussi le Professeur Browne de l’Université de Cambridge et dine avec lui a la Légation de France. C’était avant
sa visite a Bahi’u’llih a Baliji, près de SaintJean d’Acre (‘Akki). J’aurais pu le mettre en rapport avec des Bahi’is s’il
n’était resté silencieux a ce sujet.
“Au Suedois Christiansen j’ai présenté un Siyyid, ce qui lui a permis d’ecrire ses ‘Contes Persans.’
“Mes travaux sur l’oeuvre du Bib m’ont amené a être en contradiction avec le Baron Rosen qui avait publié des
extraits des oeuv A
L. M. Nicolas

pict272.jpg

AN INTERVIEW WITH A. L. M. NICOLAS

The First Bahá’i Summer School of India Held at Simla
In the center is Martha Root, beloved teacher of the Faith throughout East and West, who was touring India and Burma.

rages du Báb: le Baron Rosen considerait que si on changeait légèrement la signification des mots du Mb en le
traduisant on arrivait a mieux Ic faire comprendre. Ma connaissance complete de la langue persane me permettait de
trouver un sens éclatant de vérité dans Ia traduction intégrale des paroles du Báb.”
Pensez-vous que les enseignements du Mb s’adaptent aux temps modernes?
“Parfaitment, is la condition cependant que les Temps Modernes s’adaptent aux décisions du Mb.”
Croyez-vous is la portée mondiale de la Révélation du Mb?
“Je ne vois aucune raison is ce que le monde ne se soumette pas is la Révélation du Mb. ‘Il est difficile,’ dit le proverbe
français, ‘de satisfaire tout le monde et son

père.’ Mais la raison finit toujours par avoir raison.”
Miss Sanderson ajoute que “Les Bahá’is doivent beaucoup is l’oeuvre de M. A. L. M. Nicolas, car cet erudit is traduit en français les
écrits suivants du Mb, ce qui permet une étude plus approfondie de ce remarquable personnage et de sa révélation vivifiante:
Bayán Persan, 4 volumes.1 Bayán Arabe.2
Les Sept Preuves du Mb.3
M. Nicolas est connu aussi par les orientalistes pour ses ttEi sur le Cheikhisme,” en quatre fascicules.4
‘Chez Paul Geuthner, 13, rue Jacob, Paris 6e, France.
A Ia Libriaire Ernest Leroux, 206 Boulevard St.
Germain, Paris, 6e.
Chez Maisonneuve Frères, 3 rue Sabor, Paris.
Chez Paul Geuthoer, 13 rue Jacob, Paris 6e, France.

j
)—
pict273.jpg

1 6.

YUCATAN... 1939
BY LOULIE A. MATHEWS

HE chimes of New Orleans were ringing in the New Year as we boarded a steamer bound for Cuba. The Mississippi
river runs from New Orleans to the Delta, a distance of a hundred miles, before it empties into the sea. Old plantations
line its banks. Little life is stirring there today, but before the Civil War, these cotton fields formed part of Louisiana’s
wealth and teemed with life. Spirituals born of pain and gladness and faith in God were sung—songs that will pierce
the hearts of men for generations to come.
In Cuba we were obliged to transship, as Yucatan lies outside frequented steamship lines and only one boat a month
touches there. The coast of Yucatan is inhospitable in the extreme; sandbars stretch far out to sea forcing steamers to
anchor several miles off shore, while passengers must be brought in by means of small boats. Was it force of
circumstances, adventure or destiny that brought an ancient people to choose this land as the center of their religious
and intellectual life that existed for more than a thousand years? The ruins, vast in extent as well as beauty, have
brought forth sighs of admiration from the whole world, yet they are hidden away like jewels in a mine.
The land like the sea is fiat. Rivers run under ground and give no sign of their existence save for a luxurious vegetation.
Even while we sat on the wharf waiting for officials, the values of yesterday slipped away; waiting in the sunshine
appeared a normal occupation and the hours elongated so there was time left over. Every place has its tempo, staccato
or slow, measured or quick, and thus you learn to keep step with each and to be in tune with all.
Some time in the afternoon we drove into Merida, the only city of any considerable size in Yucatan. One can see how
charmingly planned the city had been, with three rows of trees on each side of wide streets, and planting of flowers and
shrubs along the

center. Once it must have been an oasis of fragrant beauty in a parched land. Now its grandeur is bowed in the dust.
Stately mansions copied from the French villas of the eighteenth century are loud in lamentation. Streaks of paint
blacken the walls, oval windows are without panes, while lawns are littered with stucco roses and cupids that have
fallen from ornate cornices. Whole blocks are boarded up. Once on a time fountains ran proud and free everywhere;
now all are silenced. What has brought about such a disastrous change? The answer lies in a shift of ownership that has
bankrupted the rich merchants, for Yucatan is the native habitat of a special type of cactus from which rope is made.
The control of this vastly important industry has become the property of the Mexican government and the income
derived from the plantations goes to Mexico. With the decline of private wealth, the clerical party has fallen on evil
days, and the churches like the manor houses are closed. One priest for a given number of miles is strictly enforced.
Our first visit was to interview Sr. Rube M. Romero, editor and owner of the only liberal newspaper in Yucatan. For his
daring he has been stoned and more than once had his equipment set on fire. He was most receptive to Bahã’i ideals
and listened to the Message with deep attention. He speaks no English and asked for the books in Spanish which he
said he would gladly review in his paper. He accepted and published in the Yucatan an article on The Bahã’i Religion,
placing it on the front page of his paper.
Next we visited the Chamber of Commerce where Sr. N. Sarlet, the chairman granted us an interview. He received us
with courtesy but was noncommital; his preoccupied manner was to become familiar to us while talking with
prominent men of the city, an attitude of listening with ap 888

YUCATAN... 1939

parent fear of hearing what might be said, a state of fear where no one dared make a decision, a great unwillingness to speak lest
words he used against you.
Chichen Itza was our ultimate destination, a four-hour ride from the city of Merida. The roads were incredibly bad: momentarily it
seemed as though the wheels would fly off and the whole motor shake to pieces. The chauffeur seemed pained by our apprehension;
he assured us that this was considered a fine road and expressed surprise that we could not enjoy it with serenity. Finally, we drew up
before the only inn at Chichen Itra, consisting of a main building surrounded by small adobe houses, each round and thatched. These
are the rooms for guests. Vistas of the Mayan city could be seen through the trees. The work of restoration has been going on for
almost a hundred years, and immediately after the war the Carnegie Institute sent a commission to complete the work. Though there
are innumerable mounds yet untouched, a group of buildings that must have formed the central pivot of the city, stands complete and
perfect. The architecture is surprising, combining many forms which they could not have possibly seen—the field of games might
have been built today, while the ceremonial altars are formed like a pyramid, the top gained by hundreds of steps etched into each of
its four sides, the plumed serpents having been carved to extend the entire length and form a balustrade as well as a symbolic
ornament.
The Temple of the Warriors, so named by the Carnegie commission has six columns of figures, elaborately dressed in robes of state,
very suggestive of a Greek Temple, while the tower for astronomical observations is round and might have been a mosque. As the
Spanish Fathers burned all Mayan records, little is known of the belief or even the customs of the people. No Rosetta stone has yet
been found to decipher the hieroglyphics written on the stones. Perhaps it is this fact that acts upon the imagination and gives one a
special zest to piece together the fragments that have been gleaned since the Spanish invasion.
There is a moment of supreme glory in every clime—the coming of the day—but

none, I believe, can surpass the sunrise of Yucatan. Its most dramatic feature is caused by the heavy dew that rains down each night
obscuring forest and glen and covering the ground until it looks as though a white sheet had been laid over it. The first shaft of
morning light penetrates the thatch with long fingers of light that swing around the crevices between the walls of adobe and the roof
turning the thatch into bright gold; showers of diamonds shake from the trees, while scarfs of mist float upward to be shot through
with iridescent colors from the sun. Sometimes whole sheets of dew lift from the grass and float off like a magic carpet that disappears
by the wand of the great magician. Jungle birds, wild with the joy of the coming day, try to reach the sun with their top notes and as
the curtains of mist part, one building after another rises to greet the dawn as they did thousands of years ago.
Even to this day, the proud descendants of the Mayans will not speak Spanish unless forced to, but they are glad to pick up English
words and are friendly with strangers. The rainy season had just come to an end when we arrived and an army of workmen were
repairing adobe walls that melt away each year from the excessive rain; even the heavy thatch must be changed every other year.
Mayans will not work under an overseer. A man we would speah of as foreman, is referred to as the oldest friend of the Chichen Itza
Inn, and it was this important person who extended to us his hospitality and invited us to a supper given to celebrate Twelfth Night.
We gladly accepted his invitation. His home, like that of his ancestors before him, was in the jungle. Each house is hidden securely by
miles of vegetation. It is only when the moon is overhead that it is safe to enter the jungle by night. The roads are rough and winding
and often obscured by mist which gives the privacy so dear to the heart of the Mayan people.
Twelfth Night fell at the full of the moon and the night turned clear and bright. Though dew was falling from myriad of leaves, we
could see bits of sky above and a brightness cast by the moon. A member of the family was sent to conduct us and from

THE BAHA’i WORLD

him we learned why there were no locks on the doors at Chichen Ttza. He replied in answer to our question that his
people had never learned to steal, “We do not want what belongs to others because we can use only that which
willingly comes to us.” I asked if there were any Mayan beliefs mixed with the Catholicism which they had practiced
since the Spanish conquest. “We still remember,” he replied, “some of the holy sayings of our ancestors and we keep
them alive from one generation to another.”
At length the flares came into view. Mayan houses consist of two rooms separated by a walled patio. Both poor and
rich sleep in hammocks that are taken down during the day and the space used for other purposes. The poor make their
hammocks of hemp and the well-to-do of raw silk with long knotted fringe that can be wrapped around for warmth.
One hammock lasts a lifetime and reduces the cumbersome apparel of night to its simplest equation. Fragrant boughs
are fastened over the entrance so that bad spirits cannot enter and the hard mud floors are swept and garnished with
wild flowers.
As we drove up, the tortilla, the staple food of the country, was being cooked. We were ushered into the room reserved
for ceremonials. Three boards had been placed across one side in order to form an altar. High up were streamers of
tissue paper representing the Three Wise Kings of the East on their visit to Bethlehem. The middle shelf was covered
by crude china dogs, guardians of the Mayan Law, reminding one of the symbol of China. The lowest altar was a
concession to the faith of the Spanish fathers, with the Madonna of Guadeloupe sewn on lace and surrounded by
homemade candles and wayside roses. Before these mixed symbols we sat down, one Englishman, two Spaniards and
myself. For a long time nothing was said. At length, the Spaniard nearest me said in a whisper, “What can one believe?
How much is true, how much false among the myths, the superstitions and the twice-told tales? Yet deep in the heart
lies a persistent belief that we are here for some high purpose, some great design of an Almighty Being.”
In the patio, noisy preparations were go-

ing forward, so we drew closer together that I might answer the question. The appearance of Bahã’u’lláh in this day is
the new chapter of evolution for mankind. An era begins with the appearance of a dynamic personality who founds a
new civilization. History attests this fact. The advent of the Prophet becomes the pivotal point of the spiritual seasons.
His coming is the springtime, His teaching the summer, and when the divine precepts penetrate the heart, the harvest
appears. Finally comes the winter season, when religion is handed down and accepted without question and without
ecstasy. Now mental concepts and discussion take the place of love. Limited minds construct dogmas; forms and
ceremonials become overweeningly important. Belief, no longer spontaneous, becomes rigid. The cold winds of dispute
blow over the land and the truth seeker knows not where to turn for guidance. In this dark hour comes the Illumined
One, He brings again the creative force that man has lost; knowledge of Him renews life and a new energy is apparent
in all things. As the spiritual light creates a higher vibration, old barriers crumble, governments fall, idols are
overthrown. In Bahá’u’lláh’s own words: “The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of
this most great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered life bath been revolutionized through the agency of this
unique, this wondrous System—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.” (From The Gleanings, page 136.)
Each religion that has preceded this dispensation, has believed that the Prophet sent to his people was The True One
and all others were false. Bahã’u’lláh’s teaching reverses these limitations—all have been sent down at stated intervals
and all have renewed religion. All have restated the fundamental verity of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of
man. All have advanced the body politic and have been an honor to mankind. But the outer laws are changed in
accordance with the exigencies of each age. Bahã’u’lláh, speaking of his own message, says: “I have no will but Thy
will, 0 my Lord, and cherish no desire except Thy desire. From my pen floweth only summons

YUCATAN... 1939

which thine exalted pen hath voiced and my tongue uttereth naught save what the Most Great Spirit hath itself proclaimed in the
kingdom of Thine eternity.” (From Prayers and Meditation, page 108.)
The choice lies with us—the will is free. If we wish, we can investigate truth for ourselves, we can learn the characteristics of a
Messenger of God and apply our knowledge. Pausing, I suggested that we should repeat the Greatest Name that this knowledge may
come to us. At the mention of this greatest of vibrations, the walls before us seemed to dissolve, the heart of the jungle lay bare. With
the inner eye, I beheld an ancient people coming from all directions, crowding near to hear the great Name of God. Even as the three
Kings journeyed from the East to greet the Lord of that day,

so we were journeying to the Mayan people to greet the Lord of this day. Old and new
—present and past—flowed together in that moment of eternity. One instant of reality shot from heaven to earth. When we returned to
the objective world, tears stood in the eyes of my new found friends. In halting phrases, each expressed his reactions. One said that
faith had been born again; another, that he had known in his heart the new message but did not know where to find it; the third felt that
the heritage of the ages was consummated in this day and that the world of the spirit had for a moment become a reality.
When we were called to join in the Mayan supper and celebrate the holiday, Twelfth Night, our hearts were light and joyous and
bound by a new allegiance.

Attendants and friends at the Bahá’i Summer School of Australia held at Yerrinbool, S.W. Australia, in January, 1939.
pict274.jpg

1. 7.

THE SCRIPTURES OF DIFFERENT FAITHS*
B PRITAM SINGH

STUDENT of comparative religion should be familiar with the scriptures of different historical faiths. He should know when they
were written or recorded, what were the main contents of those scriptures and what they teach. For such a student, it is not necessary
that he should go to the originals and study them in the languages in which these scriptures were revealed. If he were to do that, he
would have to study Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Pali and Persian (old and new) —all very difficult languages to learn. In these days he
can buy the translations in English or in the vernaculars and go through them and get into their spirit and not wrangle about the
interpretations of the texts. Such a study of course would be very fruitful and create a spirit of understanding and sympathy and enable
the student to arrive at truth for himself. He will learn about religion at first hand and not by hearsay.
It is with this object that I wish to present in the briefest possible manner an account of the scriptures of different faiths in the h9pe
that some, at any rate, will take up their study in their leisure time.
THE HINDU SCRIPTURES
Among the scriptures of the Hindu religion the most outstanding and the most comprehensive is the Ehagawad-Gita, which should be
considered as a text in Hinduism by a student of comparative religion. The Vedas, the Upanishads and the various schools of
philosophy are too technical and very difficult to master and can be studied at a later stage.
In all the sacred literature of India no book has exerted so profound and universal an influence on religious thought and life of
Hinduism in all its branches as BhagawadGita of Sri Krishna. It has rightly been

called the greatest philosophical poem in the literature of the world.
The Gita, which forms a part of the Mahabharata, is the most popular religious poem in Sanskrit literature. It is a book conveying
lessons of philosophy, religion and ethics and is available in every language and can be read in a short time. Its message is simple and
is within the reach of all and is universal in its scope. The main spirit of the Gita is that of the Upanishads; only there is a greater
emphasis on the religious side.
The date of its composition is not known, but it was probably written in 500 B.C. The philosophical background of the Gita as stated
above is taken from the Upanishands. The author of the Gita, however, made the impersonal and the absolute of the Upanishands into
a personal Ishwara. Then there are the teachings of the Sankhya, the Yoga and the Vedanta to be found in combination. These terms,
however, when they occur in the Gita do not represent the classical philosophic schools of thought, but reflective and meditative
methods of gaining salvation or union with God. For instance, though the Gita recognizes the distinction between Pursha and Prakriti,
yet it overcomes this dualism by saying that there is a spiritual fact behind this play of nature. Pursha or spirit is not an independent
reality, it is the spectator and not an actor. Prakriti or nature does everything.
Again the two doctrines, the theistic and the pantheistic, are mixed up with each other and follow each other and the two beliefs are
treated almost throughout as though there was indeed no difference between them. This change of emphasis from the speculative to
the practical, from the philosophical to the religious, is indeed mar This paper was read before the students of Hindu College in
Lahore, India.

THE SCRIPTURES OF DIFFERENT FAITHS

velous. “The central purpose of Gita,” in the words of Prof. Radhakrishnan, “is to solve the problem of life and stimulate right
conduct.” The Gita, therefore, is a system of speculation as well as a rule of life, an intellectual search for truth, as well as an attempt
to make the truth dynamic in the soul of man.
Above all the Gita harmonizes the different ideals of life and synthesizes them all and shows the exact place and value of each of
them. For instance, Gita recognizes two kinds of knowledge, that which seeks to understand the objective phenomena of existence and
that which grasps the ultimate principle behind the phenomena by means of intuition. The one is called Vigyan or science and the
other Gayair or knowledge, that is to say the integral knowledge of the common foundation of all existence. As a means of getting
the second kind of knowledge, the Gita recommends the Yogic discipline, of which the essential steps are purification of mind,
concentration and its identification with the real when we reach it. True Yoga, according to the Gita, is the control of senses and
indifference to the attractions of material objects. True Gayan or knowledge is the recognition of a self- existent eternal spirit in every
man. An equal emphasis is laid on Karma or action and on Bhakhti or devotion. As a matter of fact the Gita coordinates Gayan,
Karma and Bba/tti.
THE BUDDHISTIC SCRIPTURES
We shall next take up the Buddhistic Scriptures which are in the Pall language, as they were like the Vedas, reduced to writing long
after the founder of Buddhism had given them to his disciples. The Pali language is like the old Sanskrit.
Lord Buddha or the “Enlightened One” lived from 567 B.C. to 487 B.C. and his sayings and discourses were compiled and completed
two hundred and fifty years after his death and were reduced to writing in about 80 B.C. in Ceylon by his disciples after they had
sifted and sorted them in the various councils held from time to time. The present translations are largely from the Pali texts.
The Buddhist scriptures are known as

Tripitakas or Three Baskets and deal with the life and sayings of Buddha. They are known in Pali as Suttas. The part dealing with
the discipline of monks is known as Vinaya and that dealing with the Buddhistic doctrines, such as psychology, logic and ethics, is
known by the name of Abbidhamma. These constitute the Tripitakas or Three Baskets of Law.
The Buddhist thought evolved slowly, and consequently, it varied by slight degrees as the centuries passed by. Many schools of
thought have therefore arisen in the past, the most two important being the Mahayana (the Greater Vehicle), and Hinayana (the lesser
Vehicle) —a school that flourished in the North.
The teachings of Buddha as they have come down to us through the Pita/us may be briefly described as follows:
“Buddha taught that the seeker of salvation should be warned against the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, both
are unworthy and unprofitable.”
There is the Middle Way, following which, according to Lord Buddha, man arrives at peace of mind, knowledge, enlightenment and
attains to Nirvana or liberation. This Middle Way is the well known eightfold path of Buddha which has been described as follows:
The first step in the path is right belief, i.e., belief in the four fundamental principles enunciated by Buddha. He assumed that suffering
was universal; and that we must find out the cause of this suffering and try to remove it, and then he pointed out the way which is
known as the eightfold path of which right belief is the first step. Then follows the right resolution or the resolve to renounce all
sensual pleasures, to have malice towards none and to harm no living creature. Right speech means that one should abstain from
backbiting and slander, should not use harsh language nor tell lies, nor indulge in frivolous talk. Right conduct according to Buddha
would consist in being chaste and in not taking what does not belong to one and in not destroying life. All these steps are ethical of
course. Buddha also emphasizes the right means of subsistence, that is to say, that one should earn his living properly by giving up
wrong

THE BAHA’I WORLD

occupations and then he must make right effort which means that he should acquire all the good qualities he can and overcome all the
evil qualities. These are the steps to moral discipline, and in order to attain Nirvana or liberation one should undergo intellectual
processes also, such as overcoming sorrow, grief and pain by thinking and meditation, till one arrives at the last stage, the one of
absorption, which is a state which transcends pain as well as pleasure, and brings perfect bliss, which is Nirvana, or liberation
according to Buddha.
Rhys Davids says, “In depth of philosophic insight, in the method of Socratic questionings often adopted, in the earnest and elevated
tone of these discourses, one is often reminded of the dialogues of Plato, and the success of Buddha was due to the fact that he gave to
his disciples a’ simple rule of life and also gave them the yellow robe, the shaven head and the begging bowl and consequently
millions followed him.
Buddhism today, however, is in a static state and its scriptures are in a language which very few can understand. As a gospel of
renunciation and as a moral code, however, it remains unsurpassed. Buddha’s emphasis was on Dloarma or righteousness as the
driving principle of the universe and the supremacy of the individual effort, and perfection of the human personality by the extinction
of all desire and passion. He gave to the people at large the simple Dharma of love, justice and righteousness.
THF ZENuA AvE5TA
The scriptures of the Zoroastrians (the Parsis of India) of whom there are about a hundred thousand living in and near Bombay, are
known as Zenda Avesta or commentaries on the Avesta (Vesta means knowledge). The Avesta represents a long period of diverse
development spread over about one thousand years. The original Avesta is said to have consisted of 21 volumes, but the ravages of
Alexander the Great seem to have destroyed a large number of the old manuscripts. The various scattered manuscripts’ were later on
collected by the Sassanian Kings (third and fourth centuries A.D.). The language of these scriptures is old and extinct and very few
orien ta
scholars can understand them. The modern translations are in Pahlavi of course and the original has undergone many changes in the
course of time. The Gathas, or the words attributed to the Prophet Zoroaster, form part of the Zenda Avesta.
The Zenda Avesta, like the Bible, consists of many books and extends over a period of one thousand years as stated above. The
process of compilation was roughly as follows. The sayings of the Prophet Zoroaster and those who immediately followed him were
the first to be recorded. These records were then edited and elaborated by successive generations. The language originally was Gathic
Avestan. In course of time new explanations were added in a dialect known as the “Younger Avestan” or Zenda. The modern Zenda
Avesta is in the Pahlavi language which was the spoken language in the Sassanian times and is nearer to modern Iranian. The
languages and dialects of the Zenda Avesta are, however, all interrelated.
Gathas form the most important part of the Avesta and are “metrical sermons” attributed to Zoroaster himself and are regarded as
revelations. These were recorded more than three thousand years ago. Considering the age, it is really remarkable that such fine
literature should find birth in the primitive civilization of ancient Iran. The art of verse seems to have been very highly developed in
that age. One Gatha, however, is in prose which is a collection of prayers. The Yasna of which the Gathas form a part, is a book of
liturgy meant to be used in connection with the various ceremonies current among the Parsis. Besides the Yasna there is the
Vendidaci which means “law against the demons.” All these constitute the Zenda Avesta.
Subsequent to the invasion of Islam there were other books like Bundahislt and Zntnsht Namab in modern Iranian which tell us a
good deal about the life and teachings of Zoroaster. Not only the old manuscripts suffered at the hands of the Greeks, the
Mubammadans also destroyed many Zoroastrian books. The Zenda Avesta therefore which has come down to us is fragmentary and
mutilated and very much mixed up.
The Zoroastrian faith based on these scriptures is monotheistic in the main.

THE SCRIPTURES OF DIFFERENT FAITHS

Ahura Mazdah or Ormuzd as the Parsis call Him, signifies the “Wise Lord?” Before Zoroaster’s coming people worshipped many
kinds of spirits. He showed them that there was one Ahura (spirit) and he was Mazdah (the wise one). Justice and truth must be
rendered as his service by men of good speech, good thoughts and good deeds. It sounds paradoxical, that we should find two spirits
postulated, the good and the evil, thus giving a color of dualism to the teachings of Zoroaster. This dualism is not of coeternal spirits
however; because it maintains that the evil spirit will ultimately succumb to the good.
Zoroaster’s teaching therefore is monotheistic, behind which was a tendency to philosophic dualism based on moral grounds. It is
false to assume that Zoroaster taught the worship of the sun or any of the elements of nature. He took fire as a symbol of Divine
purity. In short, the ethical code laid down by Zoroaster stands very high. Purity is enjoined for the self which can be kept clean by
good speech, good thoughts and good deeds. The Parsis, however, lay more emphasis on external purity than on the internal.
Judaism and Zoroastrianism have many things that are common, but it appears no contacts existed between the Zoroastrians and the
Jews in the past. Both are non- proselytizing faiths, and in both there is the dualistic trend such as Satan and God, Evil and Good,
Virtue and Vice, Heaven and Hell, which runs through Christianity as well as Islam. As a matter of fact, Zenda Avesta passed in
course of ages through many hands and was colored with the ideas current in different times. Among others we may mention the
Magian, the Greek, the Hindu and the Muslim influences. At present the Zoroastrian faith is in a static condition and these scriptures
are of historical interest only.
THE HOLY BIBLE
The Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New. The Old Testament is composed of many books written in different times of the
world’s history. It contains some fables, to us incredible, and teachings that occasionally contradict each other. But,

for the Jews and for the Christians the Old Testament remains a book of splendor. It tells, in psalm, in laws and in prophecy, how man
has been seeking God through the ages. The Old Testament has rightly been called “History’s Psalm.”
The New Testament, on the other hand, centers around Jesus, though Jesus wrote none of it. The Apostles differing from each other in
intelligence wrote down what they thought Jesus had said and done. The Gospels show that Jesus Christ made very little reference to
the Old Testament, though He had fully imbibed its spirit. The Apostles really provided the frame for the picture of this Great Teacher
and they made it so well that the picture and the frame seemed to have merged into one. The New Testament that is in our hands today
was compiled from scores of writings in 397 A.D. at Carthage by a Council of learned Christians.
In studying the Old Testament, we should remember that all its tales were written hundreds of years after the events they purport to
describe. They are not history but are more like parables with a moral for the people of Israel. The Old Testament may be
conveniently divided into the Pentateuch, (five books) containing the ordinances of Jewish ethics and laws as taught by Moses, the old
books, the books of the prophets, and the chronicles of the kings of Israel, together with historical narrative and legend. These contain
many sublime religious truths expressed in song, prayer and prophecy. It is, however, in the Psalms of David that the Old Testament
finds its best expression. The essence of the Jewish religion lies in the immense stress which it lays on the moral life upon earth, as the
truest exemplification of our belief in and love of God.
We see the Semitic nomads, freed from the captivity of the Pharaohs of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, enter Canaan and
become the “chosen people” of their racial God, Jehovah, “who from a governor of a single family, becomes a tribal governor, then a
race governor; a friend of monarchy; the destroyer of monarchy; and lastly the inspirer of a prophecy about a Messiah following an
Exile and thus the disappointer of all Jewish hopes thus raised.”1 Once the
‘The Human Bible by Eric Robertson.

THE BAHA’I WORLD
Jews had made Palestine their home, they did not think of military conquest. The quest of righteousness became their chief passion
and their highest vision. As a matter of fact, Judaism inculcates a high ethical teaching. So much about the Old Testament.
The claim made for Jesus that He was the Messiah offended the Jewish divines and led to His crucifixion. Many legends have grown
around the person of Jesus and many miracles, such as healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and even raising the dead have been
attributed to him. The idea of a divine eternal Christ, however, came from non-Jewish sources, and it was St. Paul who connected it
with the idea of Jesus as Messiah and thus made Christianity appear different from Judaism. There has been a great divergence on
many points such as Trinity, Resurrection and Salvation through Christ, and the two religions have grown and developed along
different lines, the Jew remaining where he was before the Advent of Christ. This much however is common, that the Christian
Church has retained the Old Testament along with the New, thus demonstrating the continuity of two religions which had as a matter
of fact one source. Later it appears the Prophet of Arabia built Islam on the foundations laid down by the Prophets of Israel and
elaborated by the Apostles of Jesus Christ.
THE HOLY QuR’AN
There are very few among the Hindus who make a careful and a critical study of this sacred scripture of the Muslims. The present
writer assures the readers that such a study will be fruitful in results. In addition to familiarizing a Hindu with the technique and
terminology of the three Semitic faiths—Judaism, Christianity and Islam— the study of the Qur’ãn will produce in him a sympathy
for the Muslim point of view and also generate a tolerant attitude of mind for the followers of faiths different from his own.
Very good translations of this scripture are available in almost every language of the world, and by a rapid reader the book can be
gone through in a week or ten days at the most. The Muslims regard the Qur’án

as a revelation from God through the Prophet Mubammad (Peace be on Him) Who Himself was an unlettered person. The earlier
revelations such as those incorporated in the Old Testament and in the New were in the Hebrew language, but the Qur’án was revealed
in the Arabic language. As regards its style and diction, it is as simple and sublime as the previous revelations and with a little effort
can be read in the original also.
The Holy Qur’án was revealed piecemeal during a period of twenty-three years out of which the Prophet spent 13 years in Mecca and
1 0 years in Medina. Since the collection was made from various sources and mostly from the memories of the people, the
chronological order could not be observed and hence there is repetition in the verses of the Qur’án. There are altogether 114 chapters
called Sfirihs of which some are longer than others. Each chapter or Siirih is divided into sections which are not connected with each
other. And yet for the last thirteen centuries and more this scripture has inspired the lives of millions of Muslims all over the world.
The Qur’án is the fountain-head from which all the teachings of Islam are drawn and the book is regarded as an absolute and final
authority on almost everything by the people of Islam.
In addition to the Qur’án there is the IIadfth or tradition which signifies the precept and example of the Prophet and is regarded as a
secondary source of the Law of Islam. These traditions were collected after the death of the Prophet and have been handed down to us
through various channels, some authentic and others perhaps spurious.
The Qur’án enjoins a belief not only in what has been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, but also in the previous revelations as
embodied in the Torah and the Gospels, or the revelations vouchsafed to Moses and to Christ. As a matter of fact the Qur’ãn regards
the previous revelations as well as its own as of Divine origin and the Prophets that have gone before are regarded as true Prophets
from God. For example we read: “And verily we gave unto Moses the scripture and we caused a train of messengers to follow after
him, and we gave

THE SCRIPTURES OF DIFFERENT FAITHS

I

unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs (of Allah’s sovereignty), and we supported him with the holy spirit. It is ever so, that when there
cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant and some ye disbelieve and
some you slay.” (Sürih II, 87)
M. Muhammad ‘Ali in the introduction to an English translation of the Qur’án says:
“Revelation according to the Holy Qur’án, is not only universal hut also progressive.
A revelation was granted to each nation according to its requirements and in each age in accordance with the capacity of the people of
that age.”
This view is confirmed by what has been said in John XVI, 12-13. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
now. Howbeit when He the spirit of truth is come, He will guide you unto all truth.”
It is evident that the doctrine of the Qur’án is mainly based on the earlier scriptures revealed to Moses and Jesus and there

is a close resemblance in the teachings of these three faiths. Take for example the doctrines of the Unity of God, the
Day of Judgment, Heaven and Hell, Sin and Satan and the principle of punishment and reward
—all these occur and re-occur in the Old Testament and in the New as well as in the Qur’án. Many of the institutions,
such as that of prayer, fasting, charity, the observance of Sabbath, etc., are common to the three faiths. All three—Jews,
Christians and Muslims—are called the “People of the Book” and all subscribe to faith in a God and His Messengers.
The Qur’án makes mention of Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, David, and many other Biblical Prophets
and the accounts tally even in minor details. Read for example the Sórih of Joseph and you will see the whole story
narrated in the Old Testament also.
The function of a Prophet is to give the lead to the people among whom he appears, and considering the age and the
country where Muhammad proclaimed the Message,

?1!!1V !!Iflhs,j:’)
The recently inaugurated Bahá’i Fellowship House in Covington, Louisiana.

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THE BAHA’I WORLD

He had wonderful success. He faced opposition and was forced to teach a defensive warfare to the ignorant tribes of
Arabia. He took them out of the mire of superstition and taught them to fear God and obey His commandments. The
Qur’án was in fact a reminder for the Christians as well as the Jews, who had forgotten the teachings of their own
Prophets and had been led astray. What Christ did for the lost sheep of Israel, that Muhammad did for the wild tribes of
Arabia. The study of the Qur’án will drive home to us the gigantic work of reform taken up by Mu1ammad thirteen
hundred years ago. If for nothing else, then for the sake of knowing the great work that Muhammad did, every Hindu
should take up the study of this great and noble scripture. Here are a few verses from the Qur’án taken at random.
These speak for themselves.
“Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble- minded.”
ye who believe! Seek help in steadfastness and prayer. Lot Allah is with the steadfast.”
“Allah is the Protecting Friend of those who believe. He bringeth them out of darkness into light.”
“Allah hath blighted usury and made alms-giving fruitful. Allah loveth not the impious and guilty.”

“Deal justly, that is nearer to your duty.
Observe your duty to Allah.”
One could go on quoting passage after passage calling people to righteousness and to God and setting a high ethical
ideal for the people of that age. Every Hindu should take up the Qur’án and read it for himself and form his own
opinion about it. That is the least that is expected of a student who is interested in the fascinating study of religion.
THE BAHA’i Scnn’vunus
The scriptures of different faiths of which we have spoken above were all collected and collated long after they had
been revealed. This was of course due to the want of proper means of recording and reproducing at the time. The
scriptures of which we are going to speak now were recorded by the founder of the Bahá’i Faith Himself under the
shadow of the prison walls of ‘Akká (Palestine). From this prison llahá’u’llâh wrote letters to the crowned heads of the
world, to Queen Victoria, the Czar of all the Russias, the Presidents of the American Republics, Napoleon III of France,
to the Emperor of all Austria, the Kaiser of Germany, the Shah of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey, exhorting them to
desist from war and to be just and kind to their subjects. Among Baha’u’llah’s other works may be mentioned

Property in Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, which has recently been presented to the Faith as a training school for
Bahã’is in the inter-America teaching work.

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THE SCRIPTURES OF DIFFERENT FAITHS

Iqdn (Book of Certitude) which explains the functions of Prophets and the true significance of their messages. Hidden
Words and Seven Valleys are beautiful books which are worth studying. In the Alwahs or Tablets of Baha”u’lldh are
incorporated many exhortations and teachings, and besides these there is one book Al-A qdas which is in Arabic and
gives the Bahá’i Law in full detail.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’llah, is the interpreter of the words of His Father and His letters (Tablets) written to
His followers in all parts of the world have been collected, compiled and translated into English. Among the writings of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá we may mention the Mysterious Forces of Civilization, Some Answered Questions and Letters or
Makatibs. His discourses delivered in America and Europe, which He visited in 1912, have also been collected and
translated into English and these should be regarded as part of the Bahã’i writings.
“The Bahá’i revelation is the spirit of this age. It is the essence of all the highest ideals of this century. The Bahã’i
Cause is an inclusive movement; the teachings of all religions and societies are found here. Christians, Jews, Buddhists,
Muhammadans, Zoroastrians, Theosophists, Freemasons, et al., find their highest aims in this Cause. Socialists and
philosophers find their theories fully developed in this revelation.
“The Bahá’i message is a call to religious unity and not an invitation to a new religion, not a new path to immortality.
God forbid! It is the ancient path cleared of the debris of imaginations and superstitions of men, of the debris of strife
and misunder standin

and is again made a clear path to the sincere seeker, that he may enter therein in assurance, and find that the word of God is one word,
though the speakers were many.”
‘AEDU’L-BAHA.
Thus we see that the scriptures of the old historical faiths merely gave the message and called people to righteousness, they did not
give a comprehensive program of uniting the races, the nations and the religions of the world. The study of the Bahá’i Literature,
however, would open out a large vista for the student of comparative religion and reveal to him the fundamental spiritual fact that all
the different faiths had a Divine origin and were really one in essentials and in basic principles and that all the Prophets gave the same
teaching of love, of good will and of brotherhood and it will also reveal a new fact that we have not only to see unity in this diversity,
we have to make that unity an accomplished fact in real life. Unless Jews and Christians, Muslims and Hindus, Zoroastrians and
Buddhists come and sit on the same platform and live under one canopy and walk under the same banner and follow one Universal
Faith, the great teachers of religion and their scriptures would not achieve the real object of religion—viz., the unification of all
mankind. Every historical faith and its scriptures put forward a claim to be universal, but the followers of each invite others to their
own particular fold and make no attempt to bring about real unity so needed in the sphere of religion in an age like ours. The
comparative method of study of these scriptures would at least put us on the road to such a reconciliation.
900 THE BAHA’I WORLD

Exterior of Henderson Business College Memphis, Tennessee

The Founder, President Henderson, at his desk.

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18.

FAITH AND THE MAN
The Remarkable Story of Henderson Business College, a Baha”I Enterprise
BY Louts G. GREGORY
DURING the autumn of 1915, Prof. George V. Henderson, then in charge of the Business Department of Roger
‘Williams University, Nashville, Tenn., for the first time heard of the Bahá’i Faith. One of his friends had assured a
visiting worker that he was keenly interested in the true values of life and would assuredly give a ready response. This
expectation was realized. He was one of those rare souls who seemed just awaiting the message and so became aflame
with its truth instantly. He made arrangements for a Bahá’i lecture at his college and afterwards declared that during its
delivery the veils and clouds over all nations seemed for him to disappear. He arranged for other contacts and soon
became both a teacher and exemplar of the great message with its ideals and principles of the New Day. As may be
easily fancied, his enthusiasm because of his new discovery brought him many tests and trials, domestic, economic and
social. But nothing daunted by these, he resigned his position at the close of the school year and selected another city,
the metropolis of the state, Memphis, for pioneer work, and proceeded there on the strength of his faith. His aim was to
found a college of his own where he would be entirely free, not only to earn a living, but to teach the Religion he loved.
If his faith was abundant his capital was small, consisting of but $2.20 in cash and two second-hand typewriters. His
love and sincerity soon awakened others and in an incredibly short time he had gathered around him many of the
brightest youth of that city and had also won the cooperation of their elders. Yet the dual nature of his enterprise, not
only to teach business efficiency and methods, but also to train young and old in the Bahá’I Religion, aroused no little
opposition. Business rivals and sectarian leaders of the old order did not leave

him unscathed. But through many afflictions he adhered steadfastly to his aim.
During the sixth year of the school’s life, on a memorable evening, the entire faculty and student body united in a letter
to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Haifa, Palestine. That Holy One very graciously and happily answered, and in another letter, to the
friend who had given them the message, He thus wrote about Prof. Henderson:
“Thy letter that thou hast written in the beginning of December, 1920, has been received. Its contents contained very
good news, indicating that his honor, Prof. George ‘W. Henderson, has establised a Bahá’i College in one of the cities
of the South; that now that college has developed, and the students are studying the Divine Teachings and also the
necessary sciences and arts.
“That revered professor has been and will always be favored. The meetings which are formed at that college are
bestowed with an emanation from the meetings of the Supreme Concourse. Such are also the meetings for teaching the
children. These meetings are spreading eternal graces and are supported by the breathings of the Holy Spirit. His honor,
Prof. Henderson, has in reality arisen in the service of the Kingdom. The fruits of this service are eternal bounty and
everlasting life. Through the graces of God do I cherish this hope, that he at every moment will receive a new
confirmation.”
(Signed) ‘ABDU’L BAHA-ARnA5.
These noble Words have been indeed found creative and prophetic in the evolution of the college. It was a new sign of
confirmation when, about a decade later, these friends again united in a letter, this time to the Guardian of the Bahã’i
Faith, Shoghi Effendi, who in reply showered his love and encouragement upon them. What was an infant project
twenty-four years ago has obviously grown during the passing

THE BAHA’I WORLD

years. After a few years of struggle it was able to change its rented quarters for a ten-room structure of its own, whence, through its
unusual services to the city, state and nation, its influence and fame spread, and as a special sign of favor the city fathers, although it
was a private enterprise, made it tax exempt. Within the past year it has made its greatest step forward. The United States Government,
in connection with one of its welfare projects, found it necessary to exercise its right of eminent domain by taking over, in connection
with one of its welfare undertakings, a considerable section of the city, included in which were two colleges, this being one of them.
While this plan was pending, the other college, in view of the withdrawal of so many of its students, who felt the uncertainty and
upsetting conditions unfavorable to planning and work, found it necessary to close its doors. On the other hand, Henderson Business
College maintained its morale and discipline through it all, and through the prayers and guidance which have shaped its ends, has
gained a new plant and location in every way better than the old. It is now beautifully housed in two commodious buildings and a
large campus in the very heart of the best residential section of the city, a site which in that city a colored school could not occupy
without the consent of its white neighbors. The chapel of the college, devoted to Bahá’i service, is adorned with the Greatest Name, a
picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, another of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and still another with a symbol of the number Nine.
Bahá’i teachers and workers, ever welcome, receive a cordial hearing. The president himself is well equipped as a Bahá’i teacher and
attracts friends from the outside, as well as faculty and students. The acceptance of the Bahf’i Faith is of course for all a voluntary
matter. The respect, loyalty and reverence which the president commands, the influence which he wields among all classes, are
impressive to the visitor.
The Pittsburgh Courier, a weekly newspaper with a national circulation, under the appealing caption From Shoe-shine Boy to
College President, tells this story in part of this college and its founder:
“The story of how George W. Henderson, with $2.20 and a resolute determination, an iron will and undaunted faith, created what has
become the world’s largest business college for the colored youth in America, reads like that of Aladdin and his magic lamp.
“Firm in the conviction that the Negro’s social and economic plight is due largely to his inability to cope with the ever increasing
demands of present day business, and with the firm belief that man has the power to be what he wants to be, to get what he desires,
this genius, a Tennesseean by birth (Knoxville), in spite of poignant disappointments from individuals and sources from which he
might have expected support, has created and developed Henderson Business College—a $50,000 institution, with dormitory
accommodations, and a publishing and printing plant which turns out books, papers and commercial job work.
“Approximately eight hundred graduates and more than one thousand competent students have been recipients of the instruction in
this school, scores of whom are employed by the government and in public and private business. Negro insurance companies and other
commercial enterprises throughout the country draw largely upon this reputable institution for some of their most competent help.
“The record of Prof. Henderson—holder of many diplomas from various schools and colleges, working his way upward from that of
‘shoe-shine boy’ to the professorship of a college—should be definite inspiration to the Negro youth of the nation as positive proof
that ‘It can be done!’
“‘Up from Slavery’ is one thing; but up from nothing is another. For after one reviews the difficulties overcome by this institution, and
the rapidity with which it developed, he becomes mystified and marvels as he revels in the history of the achievements of Henderson
Business College, under the mystic guidance of its president and founder, George W. Henderson, ‘The man who would not quit.’”
Although Prof. Henderson leads a very active life, he yet finds time for meditation and prayer, and attributes all his success to his
discovery of the new world order of a new day and the Divine Favor which has

guided his humble efforts to serve humanity. As he is a teacher in the true sense, there is every sign that his influence
will widen with the coming years, causing many souls to enter the path of God. He has the distinction of being a
pioneer in two ways:
First, in developing this particular phase of

Negro education by the founding and development of a college. Secondly, by making its origin and foundation Bahá’i
and devoting his talents and resources to the spread of the Heavenly Teachings, he has a place in history which the
gladness of the world will some day acclaim.

FAITH AND THE MAN

19.

APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT
B RUHANIYYIH MOFFETT

]{EADERS in many fields of thought are becoming aware of the Glad Tidings of the Bahã’i Faith, the Spirit of the
New Age, which like unto leaven is slowly hut surely rising and bringing new life into mankind. Many scholars,
writers, scientists and leaders have expressed great appreciation and ardent interest in the Bahá’i Teachings of unity,
peace and good will.
There are being expressed in both the written and spoken word, in unprejudiced and scholarly presentation, something
of the basic principles of the Bahá’i Faith, its relation to other Faiths and the spiritual upliftment it gives to the whole
pattern of life.
It is interesting to note that since the removal of the headquarters of the Faith in the Western World to the vicinity of
the Bahá’i House of Worship in Wilmette in October, 1939, many significant statements by leaders of thought have
been made. Some of these have come to the desk of the writer.
Mrs. Charles S. Clark, President of the Conference of Club Presidents and Program Chairmen, which encourages
talented artists, musicians, dramatists and those who have a real message, is known and loved by artists from all over
the world. She is active on many boards and her broad interests include many organizations of underprivileged people
where her beautiful spirit sheds the fragrance of faith, courage and inspiration upon all. One of the sources of her
inspiration is the Bahâ’i House of Worship which she has visited several times. She writes:
“Something sublime in the architecture of the Bahá’i Temple affected me deeply. Something sublime also in the
devotion of the Bahi’is to the beauty of holiness, to the beauty and possibility of brotherhood, to the celestial beauty
and earthly necessity for that peace of Christ which passeth understanding.

“They are opening the East windows of their souls to eternal and renewing ideas which I wish could become dynamic
in all religion.”
Dr. Preston Bradley, Pastor of The People’s Church of Chicago of which he is the founder, is perhaps one of the best
known, brilliant and most beloved speakers before universities, colleges, clubs and churches, and his radio broadcasts
encircle the world. He is striving toward social regeneration by means of spiritual idealism practically applied. For
years he has watched the progress of the Bahâ’i Faith with deep interest, arranging tours of the Bahâ’i Temple and
sometimes quoting from the Creative Words of Bahã’u’lláh.
With deep appreciation and good wishes for the Bahá’i Faith, Dr. Preston Bradley wrote to the writer these sincere and
impressive words:
“As a resident of Chicago for a great many years, I have watched with interest the development and progress of the
Bahi’i Movement. I have known many whose lives were transformed because of their interest in this philosophy. The
universality and inclusiveness of its idealism appeal to me as something unique and necessary in the world.
“Any movement which has for its purpose the integration of mankind, tolerance, and working for universal peace and
international brotherhood, is needed today as never before.”
Mrs. Maude Roberts George, past President of the National Association of Negro Musicians and also past President of
the Chicago Music Association, and much loved and honored by artists of all races who know her, is deeply impressed
by the beauty of the idealism of the Bahá’i Faith, its wide inclusiveness and its emphasis on nobility of life. She wrote:

APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT

“The Bahá’i Faith is inspiring and impressive to our people. The earnestness of the followers and the high educational attainments of
the lecturers, impress the young people. The hope and guidance it brings to all peoples are reflected in the spirit of love and fellowship
which is felt in the meetings.
“I am grateful for the experience that I cherish when I was soloist in 1928 and was presented with one of the powerful books by the
Inter-racial Amity Committee. May the great Bahá’i work continue and bring peace and understanding to all mankind.”
The ideals of the new age are finding fresh expressions in unique forms. One of the interpreters of these new ideals a French
American, Dane Rudhyar, who is a most convincing and challenging interpreter of the latest as well as the oldest movements in music,
art, poetry and civilizations. He is a man of profound and penetrating, far- reaching vision whose works lead from the dark crystallized
and chaotic concepts of the past to a new spiritual order in music, in art, in words and in life.
That we may better understand this man who stands so courageously for the ideals of the new age and who is attracting nationwide
attention by expressing these ideals in creative art, let us look at his works for a moment. He is a pioneer in creative synthesis. His
music might be called cosmic, uplifting and interior and seems to stretch out into a new sense of space. In his search for the answer to
why sound is such a powerful element in expressing sacred emotions, he created new musical forms in many compositions for the
piano, orchestras and interpretations for the dance. His greatest orchestral compositions, expressing new spiritual urges, are “Soul
Fire,” a symphonic poem for which he received a $1,000 award from the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, “Ouranos,” “The
Surge of Fire” and “Desert Chants.”
For many years Dane Rudhyar has been deeply interested in the chant, believing it to be an expression of man’s search for God. His
compositions are many and masterful. He believes there are no absolute dissonances, even when two musical sounds have no apparent
affiliation. He perceives the resulting

sound may very well contain new elements of harmony that hitherto have been unknown, out of which new thought forms emerge.
Therefore, his music rather than being theme music, expresses the element of growth from within or it seems like a widening beam of
light. The same element of root forces at work struggling upward expresses itself in pure, clear color and symbolic form in his
paintings. He makes the intangibles, tangible and seems to release the pent up life forces in higher expressions.
In his published books and hundreds of articles the element of upward-struggling life-stuff is uppermost, while his motive is to open
new channels of understanding to tradition-bound souls. To hear him speak on the surging life force is not just another lecture but a
rare experience. His greatest concern is about the most vital problems of the age and he seeks to present through cultured activities a
high spiritual and yet practical approach to life and its problems by means of which the “living person” or higher self in us may be
made to act and to transfigure our lives and the world.
It was in 1919 that he began an intensive study of Oriental philosophies and cultures, and learned of the Bahá’i Faith, before he left for
California where he was commissioned to write scenic music for the Pilgrimage Play (the life of Christ), and for some of Ruth St.
Denis’s dances. He explained to the writer that it was in 1920 he translated a Bahã’i pamphlet “No. 9” into French, and in 1937
reviewed the BAHA’I WORLD, Volume VI, for an American magazine. It was in the September, November and December 1939
issues of an American magazine that he wrote understanding and masterful articles about the Báb, Bahá’u’llIh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and
of a New World Order of society which will come after the times of purgation now at hand. Dane Rudhyar in these articles sums up
his analysis of the Bahá’i Faith in these compelling words:
“The Movement is quite unique in having unfolded through three different periods and being now in the fourth. Three great
Personalities are at the source of it: The Forerunner (the Báb), the Supreme Manifestation (Bahá’u’llãh), and the Interpreter of

THE BAHA’t WORLD

the word (‘Abdu’l-Bahá). Each of them gave to the Movement a different keynote, or, let us say, each was the center of
a particular phase of the Movement. The passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã opened a new phase:
the phase of consolidation and practical organization of what is being called “The Bahá”s World Order,” a complete
system of social, practical and religious organization which, if applied, would transform basically human society and
the relations between individuals and between nations.
“Both the Báb and Bahá’u’llih are acknowledged as ‘Divine Manifestations’—the former as ‘the Manifestation of the
Unity and Oneness of God and the Forerunner,’ and the latter as the ‘Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine essence.’
“‘Abdu’l-Bahá--—and even still more Shoghi Effendi—belong to the more ‘human’ phase of the Movement. ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá appears in the light of being a man so transfigured by His devotion to His father and God that He became indeed
a ‘demigod.’ If Bahá’u’llih is God become-man, ‘Abdu’lBahá is man-taken-over-by-God. He is thus the Bahá’i
Exemplar. A God-incarnate cannot be an exemplar for mere men; but all men, theoretically, can, through the intensity
of their self-surrender to God, live as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—as Servants of the Glory of God. Only with ‘Abdu’l-Bahi this
‘Station of Servitude,’ in which He glorified, was so complete and perfect that through it He became utterly ‘one with
His Father.’
“It is through this utter ‘at-one-ment’ that ‘Abdu’l-Baha became the ‘Center of the Covenant’—the Interpreter of the
Word of God, as pronounced by (or through) Bahá’u’llah. On the other hand, Shoghi Effendi is the ‘Guardian of the
Cause.’ His task is to pr&serve the purity of the Teachings, considered as infallible Revelation from God, and to apply
or interpret them as practical needs arise. He is the prototype of the Bahá’i Administrator. The level of consecrated
manhood is reached with him. The Ideal is being organized. The reality of the World Order is being built according to
the plans laid down by Bahá’u’lláh.
“The Islamic cycle is a relatively small cycle; and the Bãb, rather than fulfill that

small cycle as such, linked it with a more universal cycle of which Bahá’u’llãh can truly be said to be the Divine Manifestation. As
‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote symbolically: ‘We are in the cycle which began with Adam, and its universal Manifestation is Bahã’u’llâh.’
The appearance of such a universal Manifestation causes the world to attain maturity. This doctrine of cycles—great and small,
universal and racial—the ‘seeds’ of which are Divine Manifestations, is a very ancient one, and seems absolutely basic. In the cycle of
Bahá’u’llih the early Heroic Age of the Movement is ended. The Western world is beginning to awaken. The Message of Bahi’u’lláh
was first announced in America in the Parliament of Religions at the World’s Fair in Chicago (1892).
“Since then the number of converts to the Bahi’i Faith has been increasing steadily. They are being organized in ways which
somewhat make one think of early Christendom. Indeed the Bahâ’i Movement as a whole is the only great religious movement of
these last 2000 years which presents a remarkable parallel with early Christendom
—notwithstanding the many things which on the surface differentiate the cause of the Christ from that of the Glory of God—the Cross
from the effulgent nine-pointed Star, symbol of the new Faith.”
In a recent letter to the writer Dane Rudhyar makes this challenging appeal to the whole Bahi’i World:
“In this age, restless with insecurity and weary with the results of intellectual search, the Bahá’i Revelation stands as a tower of
inspiration and a source of spiritual security for multitudes which otherwise would be swayed by forces of social and emotional
disintegration. It embodies clearly the most basic keynotes of the collective spirit of the age which dawned with the breakdown of
feudal and aristocratic Europe and which will become established when European nationalisms will be ground to dust and the
continental unity of Europe wll be fulfilled.
“The Revelation of Bahâ’u’lláh has meaning in terms of the human family as a whole and its synthesizing message can be the ‘seed’
of a future era. To exhausted communities it gives a vital impetus which, we hope, will soon energize new creative mani

APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OP THOUGHT

festations and produce an inspired art, equal or superior to that of early Christianity. The great Temple near Chicago is
a forerunner of this creative wave of inspiration which America and the whole world needs so much today.
“In order to reach such a fountain-head of creative spiritual power, the Bahá’is should feel the emotional vitality of the
Movement as an inner reality of their unconscious life; for great, inspired art can only arise from the unconscious
depths of man’s psyche. Mere devotion does not produce great artistic fruits. The Ideal must not only he worshipped. It
must become flesh—and Art is the first-born flesh of any great Movement which has the power to stir collectivities,
once the heroic period of martyrdom is passed.
“We are therefore expecting a great birth of creative Art from the Bahá’i communities in which the living spirit of El
Abhá has really become flesh. The vitality of such creative manifestations will prove the essential vitality of the
Impulse among the followers of the ‘Glory of God’—for the ‘Glory’ is creative emanation; just as the photosphere of
the sun rouses plants and trees from the soil of the earth.
“Open yourselves, therefore, to the Glory of this Sun of the Spirit, that the seed sown within by the Message may
become great trees—’Cedars of Lebanon.’
Joseph Sadony, writer, who is also a scientist, a psychologist, musician, poet and one of America’s distinguished
thinkers, is profoundly interested in the great basic principles of the oneness of mankind and the establishment of peace
and good will upon the earth. As a guest in his home in The Valley of The Pines, the writer was amazed to observe the
way he has interwoven science and psychology with great spiritual values and demonstrates them all in his well
equipped laboratories. His rich background of special service for Theodore Roosevelt, his renowned non-commercial
laboratories for educational and scientific research, command attention. He edits the Journal of “Prevenient Thought”
(intuitive understanding) and is giving to the world interesting pioneer research from his laboratories on the

chemicoelectromagnetic nature of physical and mental phenomena. He is responsible for many contributions of
philosophical and scientific and educational importance in the fields of electricity, magnetism, gravispheric analysis,
visual education and their relation to spiritual values. He has written many articles and volumes in these co-related
fields.
It was to a pioneer servant of mankind like this that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote in 1920 these inspiring words translated by
Shoghi
Rabbani:
“The great sages and the eminent philosophers have entertained good and benevolent wishes, but have failed through
the power of their philosophy to realize their aims. But on the other hand, his Holiness Christ and the Apostles, by the
power of the Word of God, have attained all their aims which centered around the common weal, and have been therein
assisted. We, likewise, must aim at that which is the spirit of this age, such as the oneness of humanity, the
establishment of universal peace, the investigation of truth, the elimination of misunderstandings among religions, the
conformity of religion with science, the abandonment of racial, religious, and political prejudices, the extermination of
antiquated imitations, the promotion of arts and sciences, the advancement of the world of humanity, the establishment
of right and justice, the equality of both sexes.
“If, in the enforcement of these benevolent purposes we hold fast to the power of the Word of God, there is no doubt
that we shall attain our purpose and aim. Thou hast chosen a good place of residence, art associating with many people,
art expert in many sciences, and hast a pure purpose. Strive, therefore, that through the influence of the Word of God,
thou mayest promulgate thy benevolent purpose, mayest become the cause of the promulgation of the heavenly
teachings and the recipient of merciful susceptibilities, so that thou mayest be confirmed in both this world and in the
Kingdom, mayest become in the nether world, the standard of the Love of God, and in the world of the Kingdom, the
bright and resplendent morn, like unto the souls who today, are striving in accordance with the teachings of
Bahá’u’lláh, and through the

THE BAHA’I WORLD

power of the Word of God, are assisted and secure remarkable results. I trust that thou too, by the power of the Word of God, mayest
be assisted, and mayest leave behind in the world of humanity, remarkable traces. Upon thee be greeting and praise.”
‘ABDU’L-BAHA ‘AuuAs.
The inspiration of these powerful words in this remarkable Tablet makes of great interest the reactions of the one to whom they are
written, who is working in a new field of thought essential for the new age and a new humanity.
Few men have a better understanding of human nature and of the conditions of the world and their relation to life than has Joseph
Sadony. Therefore, his views of the Bahá’i Faith and its teachings are of deep interest.
In the sweet pine fragrance of his little hallowed chapel, he spoke tenderly of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá whose picture hangs on the wall of his
study beside that of Christ. He said, “I have mentally and spiritually contacted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and found in him a brother, a friend, a
co-worker in behalf of unity, peace and all the highest ideals which have constituted my lifelong efforts before I knew of the existence
of the Bahá’i Movement. Even now I know little of the external history or affairs. The spiritual understanding requires attention and
receptivity to the spirit and soul rather than to the letter and outer body of things.
“May I say that though my contact with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was purely mental and spiritual, in our mutual recognition (I never met him in
person) his Tablet to me has been sufficient basis for an attunement of direct understanding with the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá, without the medium of outer affairs or interpretation by others.
“The Bahá’i Movement is one of the few faiths originated from and founded upon prevenient principles; therefore, it deserves the
attention of every student of prevenient thought. I feel and believe in the spirit of their faith and efforts toward the end of love and
unity.
“The Bahã’i Movement today is the fruit of a Branch which made its appearance early in the nineteenth century as the combined fruits
of that same great Spiritual

Root that produced Judaism, Christianity and Muhammadanism. It marks the dawn of an era which has yet to be made
manifest under requirements which demand the dissolving of walls and boundaries that prevent a consciousness of the
oneness of mankind (the basic ideal of the Bahã’i Movement) in which the instinct of self-preservation will be lifted
into race-preservation. Then will there be the inwardly prompted coöperation of all peoples for the greatest welfare of
all.”
To meet Mr. Sadony is to meet one you seem to have known a long time, one who is frank, open, lovable, sincere and
understanding.
It was a real inspiration to have Mr. Sadony state, “The Spirit of the age, as ‘Abdu’lBahá himself well knew, demands
other than mere affirmations of spiritual faith. It demands the living of life, of labor in the correlation of all things, to
the end of bringing order out of chaos and providing for the still future Mansion of Universal Understanding, the
absolutely unassailable foundations without which the conformity of religion with science, the illumination of
misunderstandings among religions, and the abandonment of racial, religious, world and political prejudice cannot take
place. This was anticipated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His Father Bahá’u’lláh.”
With great earnestness, Mr. Sadony spoke of America’s part in the Divine Plan for the world, and the writer was happy
to see how even without having read the writings from the Pen of Bahã’u’lláh, he has caught the spirit of the Word of
God. He said, “We here in America must realixe our exceptional position among the nations and in the course of
history, as a direct result, easy to be traced, of the forces set in motion by the particular efforts of Christ and His
Apostles. The fulfillment of His universal aims, and of which an understanding is lacking in so many professed
Christians, demanded conditions which did not then exist, but the need for which throughout the centuries set in motion
the chain of events which culminated in the birth of “America” as a refuge of religious as well as political freedom for
all who had been persecuted because of what they believed. Religious intolerance is there-

APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT

fore distinctly and especially “Un-American,” since it strikes at the very taproot of what America was created to provide and produce.
Nowhere else on earth in the history of humanity in its present cycle of existence, has there been a condition so favorable to the
religious tolerance that must precede the attainment of religious unity. So one of the cornerstones of the American philosophy of
liberty and tolerance that will undoubtedly prove to be a foundation for religious unity based on scientific understanding, is the “Law
of Functional Limitation” which I have therefore suggested and dwelt on as one of the abutments of the bridge between religion and
science.
“It is the essence of this law that man thinks with what he acquires or is given to think with. Without regard to what is or is not the
“truth,” each belief and every variation of each belief is understandable in terms of what the individual or group possess to believe
with, or to think with in supporting or having arrived at that belief. If you sincerely and open-mindedly examine what each possess to
think with, then you will understand why the primitives believe in idols, why savages believe in fetiches, and why every creed, ism,
dogma and article of faith of all the denominations and religions are believed by those who do believe them. This may be understood,
I have insisted, without raising the question or their truth or falsity. No belief need be ‘attacked’; no man need be killed. Even nature
has means more economical and more humane than this: that plants or creatures, men or beliefs survive only as they are fed by food
that sustains them, and as they conform to the laws under which they are holden. Reality is that which exists; truth is that which
sustains that which exists. Nothing can continue to exist for long unsupported by truth. We need only bide our time and right will
prevail. America is the testing ground for all the world; she is the laboratory in which the future course of history is being
predetermined. It has been thus since her inception. Here was the last hope of liberty, and because we did not falter in our stand the
principle of Freedom became effective in the world; but it depends upon us to

of man’s fitness for freedom. Here too and likewise other ideals and principles have been and are making their last stand. Let us not
forget this; for if we fail then upon our head falls the ensuing failure of mankind in its present state of civilization to achieve those
ends. Though we take no part in the struggles of other nations, yet the final outcome is or has been predetermined on this continent.
Why this should be so is beyond the scope of this communication to elucidate; I can only point out that it is so, and that there are men
of other nations who also realize that it is so, hence cross the seas either to influence, or to test their policies among us.
When asked if he considered this age as the “Age of Reason,” Mr. Sadony replied:
“We are passing from the ‘Age of Reason’ to the ‘Age of Intuition.’ The law of the age is the survival of the intuitively fit, not merely
the physically or the intellectually fit. It has been and is one of my especial responsibilities in virtue of gifts bestowed upon me, to
exemplify the functioning of intuition in the mind of man as the fruit of a simple mode of life. It is thus with a method of thinking
based on a method of living normally and naturally, that I have sought to inspire all those who have knocked at my door, and by so
doing to provide the timber of thought for the unassailable foundations so necessary for the fulfillment of our mutual ideals. I have
sought, too, to provide otherwise missing blocks for the conceptual structures by which both religion and science may be incorporated
by universal education into the enlightenment so essential to the realization of Unity in mankind. I have sought and am seeking to
remove every obstacle in the road and to pave more smoothly the way for the truth to prevail; and it will prevail; but its survival out of
the confusion of tongues and viewpoints of our modern ‘Towers of Babel,’ will be the more firmly assured and the more quickly
manifested by the understanding tolerance that has ever been exemplified more fully by the founders themselves of every religious or
spiritual movement, than by the followers, whose very virtue of faithfulness and loyalty causes

maintain and perpetuate our demonstration them to violate the examples set them, as

THE BAHA’t WORLD

is so evident in the history of the bitter controversies among the professed followers of Christ.”
At the conclusion of the conference with this unusual man he gave in a few profound sentences a digest of his inner understanding,
through which glows quietly the light of the Spirit of Truth.
“He who is entirely without doubt, therefore, as to the presence of the power of the Word of God in his own efforts or the efforts of
another, rests and labors in that greatest of all securities born of knowing that time proveth all things. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá labored, and now
rests, in that certitude. Christ and His Apostles sacrificed their all in that certitude. Every wise and sincere man throughout history has
lived his life and faced his death in that certitude. I silence the arguments of all skeptics and atheists by that certitude. I suggest that
the sincere followers of every religious belief take refuge in that certitude, that time will prove whether or not it was a true revelation;
and time will also prove whether or not its students and commentators correctly interpreted the spirit as well as the letter of the words
in which it was expressed. The seeker for truth will recognize the truth when and where he finds it; otherwise he could not seek it. If
he fails to recognize it when found, then he sought it not, and it does not belong to him.”
With deep kindly eyes lighted by the Spirit he said: “My impressions of the Bahã’i religion therefore as a non-Bahâ’i, although
seemingly confined to the Tablet received from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, give me reason to believe it is an expression of the universal Spirit of
Truth.”
Is it any wonder that hundreds, nay thousands make a path to his door?
“If love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family will advance, become illumined and spiritual; but if enmity and
hatred exist within it destruction and dispersion are inevitable. This is likewise true of a city. If those who dwell within it manifest a
spirit of accord, love and fellowship, it will progress steadily and human conditions become brighter, whereas through enmity and
strife it will be degraded

and its inhabitants scattered. In the same way the people of a nation develop and advance toward civilization and
enlightenment through love and accord and are disintegrated by war and strife. Finally this is true of humanity itself, in
the aggregate.
“When love is realized and the ideal spiritual bonds unite the hearts of men, the whole race will be uplifted, the world
will continually grow more spiritual, and the radiance and happiness and tranquillity of mankind will be immeasurably
increased. Warfare and strife will be uprooted, disagreement and dissension, pass away and Universal Peace unite the
nations and the peoples of the world.”
‘ARDU’L-BAHA.
“What a magnificent symbol of unity, of beauty and of aspiration,” exclaimed Mr. J. Otto Schweizer after gazing in
profound silence at the Bahá’i Temple in Wilmette. “The keynote of this age is unity,” he continued. “The lw of the
cells of matter, the law of the far-flung celestial spheres and the law of the whole human kingdom is Unity. How
strange that man is only now awakening to the realization that the law of unity is the very heartbeat of human progress!
What a symbol of this powerful and permeating idea of unity and its relation to all human progress is this magnificent
Bahã”i House of Worship!” The kindly, scholarly eyes of Mr. Schweizer glowed with light as he studied the symbols
and structure of the Bahá’i Temple in detail.
The impressions of the great Universal House of Worship as seen through the eyes of this great artist were most
thrilling to the writer, who had the privilege of spending a day with Mr. Schweizer and his family guiding them through
the Temple and discussing art and architecture in relation to the problems of the human race.
This artist is one of the torch bearers of humanity who from his early youth has realized that ultimately all of its
problems, whether economic, social, political or national, are inextricably woven, and have their secret roots imbedded
in the hearts and minds of man and are inherently spiritual in nature. In his art work he has tried to express the
evolution of mankind to higher

APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT

The Bahá’is of Khartoum, Sfldán.

and greater spiritual capacity, oneness and peace.
Let us step aside a moment and glance at some of the influences that have come into the life of this true artist that we
may understand a little better why this universal House of Worship, symbolic in every way of unity, made such an
appeal to this artist of international fame; for he has breathed the culture of many lands and been tested in the school of
difficulties. Mr. Schweizer was born some seventy years ago in the somewhat cosmopolitan city of Zurich,
Switzerland. Even at the age of three the talent for his life work expressed itself in childish drawings and paintings
which were admired by all who saw them. As he approached maturity he went to Dresden to study his art, first in the
Royal Academy and then in the private studio of Dr. Johannes Schilling. After this for five years he pursued his artist’s
calling in both Rome and Florence.
In 1934 circumstances brought young Otto Schweizer to America. Then began a period of twelve years of hardest and
bitterest tasks and tests. As he became acquainted with the habits and thoughts of people in many lands during all these
years of training

and trial, his own attitude toward life broadened and deepened and he built up a sound philosophy of applied idealism
which it would be well to put in the schoolbooks for the students of all races.
Molded thus in the school of life as well as by technical training, he became able to give expression to his feelings,
thoughts and philosophy in some outstanding statues and relief panels. His works have been exhibited in various art
academies and may be seen in many of our larger cities. Recently there was unveiled in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia,
one of his best known works, a group in honor of “The Colored Soldiery of Pennsylvania in All Wars.” His “James J.
Davis Allegorical Group” at Mooseheart, Illinois, is much admired. Milwaukee possesses his large equestrian statue of
General Von Steuben, and in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, may be seen his Molly Pitcher statue. His ideal groups, panels of
“The Harmonics of Evolution,” “Lions on the Way,” “Light Bearers,” particularly express the idealism of the sculptor.
Delicacy of line, perfection of form, originality of idea, beauty of arrangement characterize his work. Profound
meaning and aspiration are woven into every line.

pict279.jpg

THE BAHA’I WORLD

I
I
Seldom does one see such high idealism wrought in stone. He is truly an artist of the new age.
So as the little group stood under the dome of the great edifice gazing intently upward, this query was put: “To one who can see a
vision of the far stretching path of evolution in a block of cold marble and patiently chisel it into our view, what does this great temple
in its unfinished condition mean?”
“It is a divine inspiration from foundation to the crowning apex,” replied the artist, with glowing eyes and radiant smile. “At the very
root of this materialization of a vision lie age old symbols of truth and wisdom with new light. It is expressed in an entirely new and
most beautiful conception. There is nothing like it in the world. The nine-pointed star which dictates the ground plan and is reflected
throughout the building up to the highest point of the edifice is the new symbol of a new age.
“Permeating the whole structure is the spirit of the lofty principle of the unifying of the races, religions, classes and nations of
mankind into a new degree of togetherness. The proportions of the construction are perfect. See those nine gracefully curved hnes of
the nine ribs of the dome, which, rising, touch each other as fingers of upward

stretching hands meeting in prayer over the glistening whiteness of the crystal dome. The fairylike openwork
ornamentation, containing the religious symbols of the world, gives an air of ethereal refinement, aspiration and unity
that harmonizes with the central thought of the whole structure.
“Even in this unfinished state,” Mr. Schweizer continued, “the interior offers to the eye of vision untold and marvelous
possibilities of finishing and final expression. It can be truly said that the building has no back or front or sides. All the
nine entrances lead to one center, the Creator, the God of Love and Wisdom. Though as yet devoid of decoration, the
structural masses leading up to the first and second balconies produce a lofty and uplifting sensation. The intense desire
arises in the heart that this beautiful edifice may soon be finished, finished in the same magnificent workmanship and in
harmony with the priceless original designs of its inspired architect and creator, Mr. Bourgeois.”
Mr. Schweizer showed a keen appreciation, as did his radiant wife, of the permanency of the Bahã’i Temple when he
said, “The technical construction is of a quality that will endure for hundreds of years and every precaution is clearly
being taken toward that end. The spot where the Temple stands was

[

I
:
Bahá’i Group of Tunis

pict280.jpg

APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT

most wisely selected as through the guidance of a Divine hand. I can picture the Temple of the future, standing out like a sparkling
jewel mounted on the golden rim of God’s earth. I repeat, there is nothing like it in the universe. When completed it will undoubtedly
be the Mecca for millions of people from all corners of the earth. It will be considered as one of the great wonders of the world of
architecture.”
Again Mr. Schweizer revealed the depths of the inner understanding of the meaning of the Bahá’i Temple, for just as we were about to
leave he said: “It has been a great and inspiring moment of our lives to visit the Temple under your loving guidance. We have learned
much of the religion of Love of which this is the exquisite symbol and beloved shrine for the people of the world. We of today must
bestow the highest grati tud

and credit upon those who are sacrificing so much to build this Temple. Their earnest conviction, their sincere purpose,
their profound love form a piercing beacon light against the prevailing darkness and confusion of the world. They by
their lives seem to be calling those souls who are ready to come forth to pray in a new spirit of freedom and unity and
love. For when love is universally realized, the hearts of men will be united and the whole race will be uplifted.
“You teachers are certainly carrying the brightly shining torches as true light bearers to the children of God, pointing
the way toward the ultimate goal—the Kingdom of God. I shall never forget this great privilege. I am deeply grateful to
God that the Temple of Light is being constructed to promote the unity and progress of the world today.”

r”’ —

io
b

I

Amity Banquet held under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ Is of Pasadena, California, December
3rd, 193 8.

pict281.jpg

20.

A BOUT midway between the northernmost point of the continent of Europe (the North Cape pertaining to
Norway) and the North Pole there lies a group of islands, five in number, with various smaller ones near by, which has
excited the discoverer, the sportsman, the scientist, the trapper, the whaler, the miner, the explorer and finally of recent
years the ubiquitous tourist, though few have braved the rigors of the north sufficiently to remain there. This group of
islands known to us as Spitsbergen or by the Norwegian name of Svalborg, has been the goal of much scientific
research and has proven itself rich in those wonderful provisions of nature which the wisdom of the Almighty placed
there before man set foot upon that land. Fur animals abound, edible moss and birds supply food, and coal mines have
been worked for many years which yield an ample supply of fuel for the islands with vast shipments also to the
mainland of Norway.
The largest of the group of islands known as West Spitsbergen, although only about 650 miles from the Pole, is so
situated as to be modified in temperature by the warm ocean currents which provide an ice-free passage for boats
during the summer months of June, July and August, although the eastern and northern shores are always ice- locked
and have been explored only in the face of the most extreme hardships.
It was this group of islands to which our cruise ship was bound, it was to this faraway haven that the precious books
which lay in our cabin were to find their way! But these were gray days at sea, days and days when there was no ray of
sunshine— no cessation of the heavy blanket of fog which enveloped the ship! No signs of life, no birds, no swimming
things, no relief to the tragic monotony of foglike gray wool which choked the lungs and chilled one to the bone. The
water temperature showed the presence of ice which could not

be seen and yet cautiously the boat felt her way, a spectre in the gray mist. New York lay ten days behind us, Iceland
had been left behind four days before. It was lonely
—no friendly sail drifted into sight, no seagull’s sharp note broke the awful stillness, the sky and sea were one, merged
together as in infinite space. And then—on the port side, little by little, the heavy curtain of fog lifted and disclosed a
sea of floating ice. Strange weird shapes rose from the water, disintegrating icebergs doomed to lose their identity in
the warmer atmosphere of the Gulf Stream already dissipated and yielding to the frozen north.
For hours the boat cruised along amid the broken ice, the distance between the floating cakes becoming narrower and
narrower until it became evident that we had reached the great ice barrier, that greedy monster that holds within his
breast the secrets of the Poles, and as if alarmed lest we penetrate his domain, had come a hundred miles farther south
than ever known to block the passage. Disappointment shrouded the faces of the travelers as word came from the
Captain that our course would have to be retraced if indeed we were to find a break in the barrier which would permit
our progress to Magdalena Bay, and thus to the land of Spitsbergen. After a night of tense nerves and ears strained for
the crunching of the ice floe the morning broke clear and bright, and in a few hours the glory of Magdalena Bay broke
upon the sight like a vision so wonderful and so breath-taking that it seemed as if one had been translated from earth to
heaven—a heaven of brilliant, glistening ethereal beauty. Around this bay the sharp, jagged mountains rose in their ice
mantles from a sea as blue as that of Italy and overhead there blazed a sun so bright that it might have been the tropics.
At last the steamer came to anchor and put off a launch laden with sailors who went to set up an emergency landing
stage on

A JOURNEY TO THE ARCTIC
B NELLIE S. FRENCH

THE BAHA’T WORLD

the shore of Magdalena Bay. No life breathed there, only a few gulls and an occasional auk shrieked their resentment at this invasion
of their domain. Near the water were the crumbling ruins of a stone structure which had served many years ago as a research station.
Wandering over the loose rocks and approaching the foot of the gigantic glaciers which moved in their majestic and imperceptible
rhythm, casting off their iceberg progeny to fare for themselves and form a bulwark against the invasion of mankind, suddenly we saw
among the rocks a pile of human bones. Tradition says these once were sailors and that they slew each other. What the tragedy may
have been, whether starvation or cold, whether they marked the fateful end of some long cherished grudge fought to the finish here is
not known, but the bones seemed to bear witness to this age when every man’s hand is raised against his brother! . . . How tragic the
thought and how the heart swelled with gratitude for the blessing of the Message in this day which is to dispel the darkness of human
greed and competition and warm and melt the ice of human prejudice and hate! For was it not our intention to deliver this Message
somewhere here in this frozen north? Was not the hand of the “Holy Mariner” unveiling His glorious sunshine and spreading His
heavenly calm upon the sea that this very thing might be accomplished?
Leaving Magdalena Bay the boat cruised along, revealing at every turn a new glory of ice and sea until finally the little habitat of
Spitsbergen came into view, the harbor of King’s Bay, bidding us land and share the news of the great world with its isolated
inhabitants. This then was our goal! This the land upon which was to be deposited for the first time in history, the Message of the
Coming of “Him Whom God had made manifest,” the Glory of the Lord; through the humble efforts of these wayfarers in the path of
service, souls were to be awakened, a new life was to pulsate and these regions were to be summoned to the glory of the New Day! It
all seemed too wonderful to be true and the beauty of it all struck awe to the very soul. Here we would land—here we would surely
find, even in the brief hour

allotted to us, the one prepared of God to receive His Message and to herald the glad tidings of a New World Order.
Our landing was effected by climbing on an old, unused trestle which had served for the hauling and dumping of coal
some years before. A long, uneven roadbed led to what would have been the center of town, had there been a town, but
which now proved to be a settlement of about thirty houses, the most conspicuous of which was the “Boutik” or store.
Although groups of men had stood at the landing, no face gave evidence of being the one upon which the Light was
first to shine. Stolid faces they were, weathered by wind and sea, furrowed by lines of hardship, grim with the struggle
of life, still unready and unaware—we must look further for the object of our search to whom was to be given a copy of
Bahd’u’lla’h and the New Era, in its Norwegian translation.
As we entered the store where there seemed to be nothing negotiable save a few postal cards and a pile of raw pelts,
one young man at once attracted our attention. He was a bright-eyed Norwegian who was serving as postmaster, though
his duties must have been ordinarily very light, and to him we felt drawn at once. His knowledge of English was
sufficient for him to understand that he was being presented with some very wonderful books which he was to share
with his associates. On discovering that the books were in Norwegian his face beamed with gratitude and he seized the
package in eager anticipation!
After a brief interview in which we sought to convey the mighty significance of the contents of the books, our mission
accomplished, we gave way to the curious, jostling crowd of our fellow passengers and leaving the store we started on
a tour of investigation of the island.
It is possible to conceive of this place in its winter atmosphere, in the darkness of its six months’ night, in its blinding,
stormswept isolation, the angry Arctic ocean pounding on its shores, its manifold privations, but to us on that
memorable day it showed only its softer side, its golden carpet of moss, its glistening, icy mountains, its

low-growing, orchid-colored flowers, its myriads of birds sweeping down upon their nests, or rising in their winged freedom leaving
their eggs a plentiful harvest to supply the needs of the islanders. To us it

A JOURNEY TO THE ARCTIC

lay like a jewel in the hand of God, His to have and to hold, to warm and to quicken, to love and to preserve in His
great wisdom for the completion of His design for mankind!

21.

TAHIRIHS
MESSAGE
TO THE MODERN WORLD B MARTHA L. RooT

I AM happy to speak to you this evening about one of the greatest young women in the world, one of the most
spiritual, one of the greatest poets of Iran, and the first woman of her time in Central Asia to lay aside the veil and work
for the equal education of the girl and the boy. She was the first suffrage martyr in Central Asia. The woman suffrage
movement did not begin with Mrs. Pankhurst in the West, but with Tahirih, also often called Qurratu’l-’Ayn of Iran.
She was born in Qazvin, Persia, in

I.

1817.
Picture to your mind one of the most beautiful young women of Iran, a genius, a poet, the most learned scholar of the
Qur’án and the traditions, for she was born in a Mu5ammadan country; think of her as the daughter of a jurist family of
letters, daughter of the greatest high priest of her province and very rich, enjoying high rank, living in an artistic palace,
and distinguished among her young friends for hir boundless, immeasurable courage. Picture what it must mean for a
young woman like this, still in her twenties, to arise for the equality of men and women, in a country where, at that
time, the girl was not allowed to learn to read and write!
The Journal Asiatic of 1866 presents a most graphic view of Tahirih, the English translation of which is this: “How a
woman, a creature so weak in Iran, and above all in a city like Qazvin where the clergy possess such a powerful
influence, where the ‘Ulamas, the priests, because of their number and importance and power hold the attention of the
government officials and of the people, how can it be that in such a country and district and under such unfavourable
conditions a woman could have organized such a powerful party of heretics? It is unparalleled in past history.”
As I said, in her day girls were not permitted to learn to read and write, but
Tahirih had such a brilliant mind, and as a child she was so eager for knowledge that her father, one of the most learned
mullas of Iran, taught her himself and later had a teacher for her. This was most unusual, for in her day girls had no
educational opportunities. She outdistanced her brothers in her progress and passed high in all examinations. Because
she was a woman they would not give her a degree. Her father often said what a pity she had not been born a son, for
then she could have followed in his career as a great mulla of the Empire.
Tahirih was married when she was thirteen years old to her cousin, the son of the Imám-Juma, a great mulla who leads
the prayers at the mosque on Fridays. She had three children, two sons and one daughter. She became a very great poet
and was deeply spiritual, she was always studying religion, always seeking for truth. She became profoundly interested
in the teachings of Shaykh Absa’i and Siyyid Kazim Rashti, who were liberalists and said great spiritual reforms would
come. Her father was very angry with her because she read their books and her father-in-law was too. But she
continued to study their books and she heard about the Bab and Baha’u’llah, and their teachings for universal peace and
the equal education of the girl and the boy. She believed in these principles whole-heartedly and declared herself a
believer.
This great young woman of Qazvin laid aside the veil which Muhammadan women wear; she didn’t put it aside
altogether, but she many times let it slip from her face when she lectured. But she declared that women should not wear
the veil, should not be isolated, but should have equal rights and opportunities. She quoted her great teacher,

TAHIRIH’s MESSAGE TO THE MODERN WORLD

Bahá’u’llah, that man and woman are as the two wings of the bird of humanity, and this bird of humanity cannot attain its highest,
most perfect flight until the two wings are equally poised, equally balanced. She was too far ahead of her time, and like other pioneers
of great progressive movements, she was imprisoned. Instead of putting her into jail, they made her a prisoner in the home of the
Kalantar, that means the Mayor of
Tihrán. Here several poets and some of the greatest women of the capital came to call, and every one was charmed by her presence.
The Sháh-in-Sháh of Persia sent for her to be brought to his palace, and when he saw her he said: “I like her looks, leave her and let
her be.”
The Mayor gave a notable party for the betrothal of his son; they had music and dancing, but the guests left it all to come to meet
Táhirih and listen to her words of wisdom, for she too was a guest at this party. Though she had at first been imprisoned in a house in
the garden, the ladies of the Mayor’s household loved her so much they insisted that she must come and live in the house with them.
Náiri’d-Din_Shah, the ruler, sent her a letter asking her to give up her very advanced ideas and telling her if she did, he would make
her his bride, the greatest lady in the land. On the back of his letter she wrote her reply in verse declining his magnificently royal offer.
Her words were:
“Kingdom, wealth and ruling be for thee, Wandering, becoming a poor dervish and
calamity be for me.
If that station is good, let it be for thee. And if this station is bad, I long for it,
let it be for me!”
She was a prisoner in the Mayor’s home for more than three years and during all this time the women of fran came to love her more
and more, and all people were enchanted with her poetry, and many came to believe as she did, that this is the dawn of a great new
universal epoch when we must work for the oneness of mankind, for the independent investigation of truth, for the unity of religions
and for the education of the girl equally with that of the boy.

The orthodox clergy were afraid of these new progressive ideals and as they were the power behind the government, it was decided to
put Táhirih to death. They had to do it secretly because they knew how many hundreds of the most important people in Tihrán loved
her.
They decided upon September 15, 1852, for her death. With her prophetic soul she must have divined it for she wrote in one of her
poems: “At the gates of my heart I behold the feet and the tents of hosts of calamity.” That morning she took an elaborate bath, used
rosewater, dressed herself in her best white dress. She said good-bye to everyone in the house, telling them that in the evening she was
leaving to go on a long journey. After that she said she would like to be alone, and she spent the day, as they said, talking softly to
herself, but we know she was praying. They came for her at night and she said to them, “I am ready!” The Mayor had them throw his
own cloak about her so that no one would recognize her, and they put her upon his own horse. In a roundabout way through smaller
streets they took her to a garden and had her wait in a servant’s room on the ground floor. The official called a servant and ordered
him to go and kill the woman downstairs. He went but when Táhirih spoke to him he was so touched by her sweetness and holiness,
that he refused to strangle her, and carried the handkerchief again upstairs. The official dismissed him, called a very evil servant, gave
him liquor to drink, then handed him a bag of gold as a present, put the handkerchief into his hands and said, “Go down and kill that
woman below and do not let her speak to you.” The servant rushed in, brutally strangled her with the handkerchief, kicked her and
while she was still living threw her into a dry well and filled it up with stones.
But they could never bury her there! Her influence has gone around the whole world.
Táhirih, Qurratu’l-’Ayn, has become immortal in the minds of millions of men and women, and her spirit of love and heroism will be
transmitted to millions yet unborn.
I should like to explain to you what her names mean. One of her teachers, Kázim Rashti gave her the name of Qurratu’l‘Ayn, which
means “Consolation of the

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Eyes,” because she was so young, so beautiful, so spiritual. Bahá’u’lláh gave her the name Táhirih, which means “The Pure One.”
While still in the twenties she began to preach the equal rights of men and women, she was martyred at the age of thirty-six years, and
yet today, eighty-seven years after her cruel martyrdom, the women of Iran and of many other countries of the Islamic world no longer
are allowed to wear the veil, and girls are receiving education. She did not die in vain. Tahirih’s courageous deathless personality
forever will stand out against the background of eternity, for she gave her life for her sister women. The sweet perfume of her heroic
selflessness is diffused in the whole five continents. People of all religions and of none, all races, all classes, all humanity, cherish the
memory of Tahirih and weep tears of love and longing when her great poems are chanted.
When I was in Vienna, Austria, a few years ago, I had an interview with the mother of the President of Austria, Mrs. Marinna
Hainisch, the woman who has done most for woman’s education in Austria, that nation of great culture. Mrs. Hainisch established the
first high schools for girls in her land. She told me that the inspiration of all her lifework had been Tahirih of Iran. Mrs. Hainisch said:
“I was a young girl, only seventeen years old when I heard of the martyrdom of Tahirih, and I said, ‘I shall try to do for the girls of
Austria what Tahirih tried to do and gave her life to do, for the girls of Iran.’ “ She told me:
“I was married, and my husband too, was only seventeen; everybody was against education for girls, but my young husband said: ‘If
you wish to work for the education of girls, you can.’ “ I mentioned this interview over in Aligrah, India, a short time ago when I spoke
to the university students at the home of Professor Habib, and at the close of my talk another guest of honor arose, a woman professor
of Calcutta University, and asked if she could speak a few words. She said, “I am Viennese, I was born in Vienna and I wish to say
that Mrs. Marinna Hainisch established the first college for the higher education of girls in Austria and I was graduated from the
college.” This is a proof of the influence of

Tahirih. Mrs. Hainisch had said to me, “It is so easy for you, Miss Root, to go all around the world and be given the
opportunity to speak on the equal education of the girl and the boy. It was so hard for me to interest people in this new
idea in my day, but I remembered Tahirih and I tried. Poor Tahirih had to die for these very ideals which today the
world accepts!”
When I was in Cawnpore, India, and spoke in a girls’ college on Tahirih’s life the founder and the donor of that great
college arose and said: “It is my hope that every girl in this school will become a Tahirih of India.”
Sir Rai Bahadur Sapru of Allahabad, one of India’s greatest lawyers, said to me: “I love Tahirih’s poems so much that I
have named my favorite little granddaughter
Tahirih. I have tried for years to get her poems, and now today you give them to me.” When I was in the Pemberton
Cluh in London one evening, a well known publisher said to me: “I shall get Tahirih’s poems collected and publish
them at a great price.” But he could never get them. I should like to tell you, dear listeners on the air, that the day after
the martyrdom of
Tahirih, the authorities burned her clothing, her books, her poems, her birth certificate; they tried to wipe out every
trace of her life; but other people had some of her poems, and a friend of mine worked for years to gather them
together, copied them in longhand and gave them to me as a present when I was in Iran in 1930. Another friend in
India, Mr. 1sf andiar K. B. Bakhtiari of Karachi, has twice published one thousand copies of these poems for people in
India. In my book Tdhirih the Pure, Iran’s Greatest Woman, published July, 1938, I included her poems and published
three thousand copies. Two of these poems are translated into English, but the original poems are all in the Persian
language. They would be very beautiful sung in the Persian language over your radio.
Professor Edward G. Browne of Cambridge University, in his book A Traveller’s Narrative, wrote: “The appearance of
such a woman as Tahirih, Qurratu’l-’Ayn, is in any country and in any age a rare phenomenon, but in such a country as
Persia

TAHIRIW5 MESSAGE TO THE MODERN WORLD

it is a prodigy, nay, almost a miracle. Alike in virtue of her marvelous beauty, her rare intellectual gifts, her fervid eloquence, her
fearless devotion and her glorious martyrdom, she stands forth incomparable amidst her countrywomen. Had the Bábi religion no
other claim to greatness, this were sufficient, that it produced a heroine like Qurratu’l_’Ayn.”
And now dear listeners, that we have heard of Táhirih, Qurratu’l-’Ayn, this first woman suffrage martyr, this first woman in Central
Asia to work for the education of girls, what will our own endeavors show forth in this twentieth century?
Today you have equal education for girls and boys in Australia, and you have suffrage for women; but you in Australia and we in the
United States and in all other parts of
II.
the globe are born into this world to work for universal peace, disarmament, a world court and a strong international
police force to ensure arbitration. We are born into this world to work for universal education, a universal auxiliary
language, for unity in religion and for the oneness of mankind. Our lives, our world, need strong spiritual foundations,
and one of the finest traits of
Táhirih, and one that helped the world most, was her fidelity in searching for truth! She began as a little girl and
continued until the very day of her passing from this world.
0 Táhirih, you have not passed out, you have only passed on! Your spiritual, courageous life will forever inspire,
ennoble and refine humanity; your songs of the spirit will be treasured in innumerable hearts. You are to this day our
living, thrilling teacher!

A BRIEF COMMENTARY’
B MARIAN LITTLE

In reading the story of the life of this great woman of Iran, one cannot but feel that Martha Root, the author, has caught the flaming
torch from the hand of Táhirih and lighted once more the path in order that those that are to follow may find the Way.
Her biography is so closely associated with the phenomenal quickening of religion known as the Bahá’i Faith that it would be difficult
to know her except for her relation to this great event.
Although born in Iran in the middle of the nineteenth century, she belongs to the whole world, her radiant personality shone forth like
the ray of light which comes after that darkest moment before dawn. She was a prototype for the women of the twentieth century and
gave her life that they might be emancipated from their state of subjection.
She is quoted as saying: “Oh, when will the day come when new laws will be revealed on earth? I shall be the first to follow these new
Teachings and to give my life for my sisters.”
Táhirih the Pure was the name that Bahá’u’lláh gave her at the memorable Council at

Badasht, where eighty-one followers of the Báb assembled by invitation of Bahá’u’llah to consult upon the important question as to
when the Báb was to proclaim the final stage of His Manifestation which was that of Qá’im. He had first declared Himself to be the
Báb (Gate) but the station of Qá’im, the promised Imám, had not been proclaimed. It was at Badasht that Táhirih cast aside her veil,
and in the presence of the gathering declared that the “New Revelation Was at hand.”
Her teacher was Kázim-i-Rashti, a Siyyid and disciple of the great and learned Shaykh Alsmad-i-Ahsa’i, who foretold the coming of
the Báb in the near future, and was the forerunner of the great Bábi movement which was later to become the great Bahá’i Faith.
Qurratu’l-’Ayn, the “Consolation of the
*Martha Root, after spending some time in fran and meeting the remaining members of the family of Tihirih wrote the little book
“Táhirih the Pore” which she had published in India where it made a profound impression. When Miss Root realized thst she could not
live to write a synopsis of the book for Bahd’I World, volume eight, she requested that the work be assumed by Mrs. Marian Little.
The above commentary is in compliance with this request.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Eyes” became a student of this Siyyid Kim; she corresponded with him and learned many things about questions which she had
longed to have answered. It was he who gave her the title of Qurratu’l-’Ayn. She journeyed to Karbilá to see him but the narrative tells
us that she arrived too late, that he had passed from this world only ten days before her arrival. Contemporary historians state that she
remained in Karbilã and took the great Siyyid’s place and began to teach his students. This was a most remarkable innovation at a
period when a woman’s voice was never permitted to be heard outside the harem. It was at this time that during the period of fasting
she had a dream. “One night she saw in a dream a young Siyyid standing in the air, then he knelt and prayed. She heard these prayers
and learned one by heart, which she quickly wrote down when she awoke.” (From ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful).
The author quotes again from Nabil’s Narrative The Dawn Breakers the sequel to this dream: “It was Táhirih who, having
learned that her brother-in-law, Mirzá Mulsammad-’Ali, was departing from Qazvin, entrusted him with a sealed letter requesting him
to deliver it to the Promised One, Whom he was bound to meet in the course of his journey. ‘Say to Him for me,’ she added: ‘The
effulgence of Thy face flashed forth and the rays of Thy visage arose on high.’ Then speak the word: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and ‘Thou
art, Thou art’ we will reply.” . . . The message was given to the Bãb, and He forthwith declared her one of the Letters of the Living. She
is the only one of the eighteen disciples of the Báb who never attained His presence in this world, but she was the first to recognize
Him and answer to His call in the realm of reality.
She was given the title of Zarrin-Táj, “One Crowned with Gold,” and was also addressed as Nuqih, “The Point.” These titles are most
significant for they reveal her station in recognizing the qualities which belonged to her. She was pure, she was beautiful, she was
illumined, her whole being was centered and this endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In reading the life of Tahirih we find that

her most outstanding characteristic was this spiritual illumination; for this is the thing that makes her life a part of the
history of the Bahâ’i Faith. She lives once more in this narrative written by Martha Root; and we walk with her and
witness with her the many events and dramatic happenings which can only exist when Religion is reborn, when another
Messenger of God walks the earth and utters once more the creative words which are destined to regenerate the whole
world of all these things Táhirih was a part
—the heroic deeds of the followers of the Báb, and in the end the frightful martyrdom of thousands who gave their
lives for the Cause they had embraced.
Táhirih was imprisoned in the house of Mahmfld Khán. She was summoned to the presence of Nasiri’d-Din Shah, who
urged her to deny the Bâb and again become a true Muslim, promising her that she could become his bride and thus
have an exalted place. To these requests she replied to the Shah in verse:
“Kingdom, wealth and ruling be for thee, Wandering, becoming a poor dervish
and calamity be for me
If that station is good, let it be for thee, And if this station is bad, I long for it,
let it be for me.”
The Shah was impressed with this answer and commented on her wonderful spirit and courage. In his own words, “So
far history has not shown such a woman to us.”
The wife of the kalantar in whose house Táhirih was imprisoned is quoted as relating a description of the last hours of
this heroine’s imprisonment. “One night, whilst
Tahirih was staying in my home, I was summoned to her presence and found that she was fully adorned, dressed in a
gown of snow white silk. Her room was redolent
with the choicest perfume. I expressed my surprise at so unusual a sight. ‘I am preparing to meet my Beloved,’ she
said, ‘and wish to free you from the cares and anxieties of my imprisonment.’ I was much startled at first and wept at
thought of separation from her. ‘Weep not,’ she sought to reassure me, ‘the time of your lamentation is not yet

TAHIRIH’S MESSAGE TO THE MODERN WORLD

come. I wish to share with you my last wishes, for the hour when I shall be arrested and condemned, to suffer martyrdom is fast
approaching. I would request you to allow your son to accompany me to the scene of my death and to ensure that the guards and
executioner into whose hands I shall be delivered will not compel me to divest myself of this attire. It is also my wish that my body be
thrown into a pit, and that the pit be filled with earth and stones. . . . Three days after my death a woman will come and visit you, to
whom you will give this package which I now deliver into your hands. My request is that you permit no one henceforth to enter my
chamber. From now until the time when I shall be summoned to leave this house, let no one be allowed to disturb my devotions. This
day I intend to fast . . . a fast which I shall not break until I am face to face with my Beloved.’”
“Sh was ready when they came for her that night. They took her to a garden. The executioners hesitated for a while to carry out the
orders issued for her death and even refused to do it. Then they found a negro slave who was drunk; he put a handkerchief into
Táhirih’s mouth and strangled her.

They cast her into a well in the garden and threw stones and rubbish on her.” (‘Abdu’lBahá’s Memorials of the
Faithful.)
“Beauty and the female sex also lent their consecration to the new creed, and the heroism of the lovely but ill-fated
poetess of Qazvin, Zarrin-Táj or Qurratu’l-’Ayn, who throwing off her veil, carried the missionary torch far and wide,
is one of the most affecting episodes of modern history.” (Lord Curzon, Persia and the Persian People.)
There are many quotations from contemporary Oriental scholars, all of whom bear testimony to the greatness of Táhirih
and to the Cause to which her life was consecrated. Le comte .de Gobineau in Les Religions et Philosophies dans l’Asie
Centrale, Valentine Chirol in his The Middle Pastern Question, Sir Francis Younghusband in The Gleam, Dr. T. K.
Cheyne in The Reconciliation of Races and Religions.
Martha Root gives a touching account of her visit to Qazvin in 1930 and her interview with come of Táhirih’s
descendants who accompanied her to the palace where Tahirih was born; they showed her the quaint library where the
little girl studied, the child who was to become a poet and the

I
The Feast of the New Year being celebrated by the New York Bahã’is on “Naw-Rflz,” March 21st, 1939.
pict282.jpg

THE BAHA’i WORLD

first woman martyr for the education and equality of women.
Then again the author tells us of her visit to Tihran in the same year. “As I stood beside the well in a little garden in the heart of
Tihran, where her dear body was cast, I thought of the lines in the beautiful drama God’s Heroes written by Mrs. Laura Dreyfus
Barney:
“Cease your profanations . . . weak of purpose. Do you think you can bury her there? She will reappear, and be ever before you all. You
have rendered her immortal in the minds of men, and her spirit

of love will be transmitted to millions of living hearts. You have undone your work and have established her fame.
Forever after, Tahirih will inspire courage and sincerity and truth!”
Since this book was written the author, Martha Root, has passed on. I cannot refrain here from saying a few words
about this saintly being who so selflessly carried the message of Bahâ’u’lláh to every continent in the world. She lived
and died for the Cause of God and was a true disciple, following in the footsteps of her illustrious sister, Tahirih the
Pure.

22.

A BRIEF SURVEY
OF THE LITERATURE OF
THE BAHA’I FAITH IN ENGLISH
B WILLIAM KENNETH CHRISTIAN

EVERY great idea is reflected in a literature of its own. The concept of democracy has been discussed in many treatises and related
types of literature. . . . A literature has grown up about great historical personalities. Witness the almost unceasing publication of books
about Napoleon. . . . Certain cycles of stories and legends have been told and retold in different form. Thus we find a whole literature
built around the legends of King Arthur and his knights. Similarly, the great religions of the world have each produced a vast body of
literature, reflecting the myriad aspects in theory and application of the particular body of truth embodied in that faith.
The student approaching the Bahã’i teachings is amazed at the extensive bibliography of publications in English. The dates of
publication go back to the beginning of the century, and the bibliography reveals a varied and constant out-pouring of literature on the
Bahá’i Faith.
It is the purpose of this brief survey to give some idea of the growth of that literature and to comment on the authentic material now
easily available to the student. To simplify the task of showing the historical development of Bahá’i literature in English, the
discussion will be divided categorically. Reference to the extensive bibliography, found elsewhere in this volume, will enable the
student to search more closely into specific books which could not be discussed within the limits of this survey. It should also be noted
that no claim is made for completeness. Only a few specific publications can be mentioned; it is hoped that they are representative.
1. THE FIRsT LITERATURE CSRCULATED IN AMERICA
In the early days of the Bahá’i Faith in

America, i.e., about the year 1900 and immediately after, the few scattered believers exchanged typewritten copies of prayers and
tablets from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As soon as a new tablet was received from Haifa, the believer receiving it would send copies to known
Bahá’is in different parts of the country. The early centers in the large cities became points of distribution for tablets to isolated
believers. We find many evidences of great earnestness and sacrifice in this period when the Bahâ’i teachings were first being
introduced into the United States. It is said that these early believers devoured each single paragraph and each tablet, no matter how
brief, in their great desire to satisfy a newly awakened spiritual hunger.
One of the early centers of distribution was New York City. Here the New York Bahã’i Board of Counsel sent out typed,
mimeographed, and printed pamphlets. In February, 1904, the Board of Counsel sent out a 128-page mimeographed folder of the
teachings. The contents were divided as follows:
Vol. 1. Long Tablets by the Manifestation
Vol. 2. Tablets to the Kings and short Tablets by the Manifestation
Vol. 3. Tablets from The M a s t e r, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Vol. 4. Writings, lectures, etc., by Believ ers
Vol. 5. News letters and information regarding the Cause
Difficult though many of the translations are in this early compilation, a great effort was being made to meet the need for a fuller
knowledge. If it were possible to compare this compilation with all the literature on the Bah&’i Faith available in English up to that
time, it would probably stand out as an historic effort.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

2. EARLY PAMPHLETS
Many of the early pamphlets were mere leaflets reproducing a Tablet from ‘Abdu’lBahá. Some of these recorded conversations
between American believers and ‘Abdu’lRaM. Most are undated and bear no reference to place of publication.
A deeply religious note concerning the “second coming” is reflected in a number of these leaflets. Three are headed, respectively:
Prophecies and Warnings, Can Ye Not Discern the Signs of the Times? and Prophecies—Signs of the Coming of the
CSOn of Man.” The contents in each case are a compilation of Biblical references and selections from the words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
Two of these state at the end: ,,5 seekers may address David . . .“ (An address in New York City follows).
Among the early pamphlets are a number of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh printed in leaflet form. A survey of this type of publication
would seem, however, to confirm the fact that the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were given more prominence until the period following
1921 when the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, began his series of masterly translations of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh. This emphasis at
that time is understandable when we realize that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in constant correspondence with a number of American believers.
We must also. keep in mind the fact that an accurate as well as beautiful translation of the books of Bahá’u’lláh is an exceedingly
difficult task.
3. REPORTS OF PILGRIMS
Around the beginning of the century and until ‘Abdu’l-Raht’s release from prison in 1908, there was a steady stream of small parties
of Americans to the prison-city of ‘Akká. Many of those who made this seven thousand mile pilgrimage to sit at the feet of ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá wrote pamphlets and booklets concerning the experience. This part of Baht’i literature has come to be known as “pilgrim’s
reports.”
Let us look at two samples.
A small 16-page pamphlet has a picture of a door on the cover and the verse from the New Testament: “Knock and it shall be opened
unto you” (Matt. 7:7). Inside are two brief, simply written accounts of visits

to ‘Abdu’l-Baht. Each records the great love, hospitality, and unity which always marked the home of the Master.
In Galilee, by Thornton Chase, the first American Bahá’i, is a small book of this type. Here is a much longer account of the visit of a
party of Americans to ‘Akká. The book is well illustrated with photographs of places in that vicinity associated with the lives of
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’lBaht. Again there is reflection of the loving unity existent among the believers.
It is to be noted that the many pilgrims’ reports record conversation with ‘Abdu’lBahf. While this was a great aid in giving an
understanding of the teachings, ‘Abdu’lBahá Himself, and the Guardian after Him, insisted that only His written words and those of
His Father, Bahá’u’llth, were to be considered authentic. This is not an effort to minimize the importance of the pilgrims’ reports, but
to point out that they filled a great need and helped carry over until a sufficiently large body of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Baha had been translated.
4. Souitces op PUnLICATION
A number of the early pamphlets and books on the Baht’i Faith were published by non-Bahá’i publishers. An example of this is
Myron Phelps’ book, The Life and Teachings of ‘Abbds Effendi, published by Putnam and Sons.
Many individual Baht’is published pamphlets and books. We have already mentioned the leaflets published by “David.” Another
individual who published extensively over a period of years was Charles Mason Remey. Mr. Remey published books on the Temples,
lessons and lectures on the teachings, and many pamphlets. He also published accounts of teacbing trips in mimeograph form. . . . These
great efforts on the part of individuals represent a fine source of historical information and show the efforts made to produce an
adequate body of literature.
Various centers in the United States formed publishing groups. The Board of Counsel in New York City has already been mentioned.
Prior to 1908 a Bahá’i Publishing Society had been organized in Chicago.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF LITERATURE

With the coming of the administrative order under the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi, publishing has been centralized under the
Bahá’i Publishing Committee, set up by the National Spiritual Assembly. This had made for efficiency, economy, and authenticity in
Bahá’i literature. We may set the date 1921 as approximately the beginning of authenticity in translation and publication of Bahá’i
literature. The importance of the work accomplished by this Committee can hardly be overestimated. Another committee of the
National Spiritual Assembly, the Reviewing Committee, was set up with the specific task of not only passing on the authenticity of all
publications, but also of setting as high a literary standard as possible.
5. MAGAZINE LITERATURE
In March, 1910, the first Bahá’i magazine was published in English. This was a small 20-page booklet bearing the name Bahd’I
News. It was edited by Albert R. Windust and Gertrude Buikema. The editorial page read, in part: “The need for a Bahã’i News
Service is apparent throughout the Occident. To meet this need this humble publication has stepped forth from nonexistence into the
court of existence . . .“ This magazine was published nineteen times a year. During the course of the first year a Persian section was
added, in order to make more useful the circulation of the magazine among believers.
The magazine prospered, for the second year it increased in size and was named Star of the West. During this year, the contents
included not only news of Bahã’i activities, photographs, the Persian section, and translations of Tablets from ‘Abdu’lBahá, but also
occasional articles on various aspects of the teachings appeared. Volume three is of special historical interest because it chronicles so
much of the talks and incidents of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to America. Slowly the Star of the West changed from a magazine designed
primarily for Bahá’is to a magazine for the general public as well. When the National Spiritual Assembly began to publish Babd’I
News Letters for all the believers in December, 1924, it was no longer necessary to publish news in

the magazine. The name was changed to Baha”I Magazine, with Star of the West as a sub-title. After a few years, however, the
sub-title was dropped entirely.
Tn 1935 the Baha”i Magazine was combined with World Unity magazine to make the present World Order magazine. And in
this we find discussions of the relation of the Bahi”s Faith to all aspects of modern life and world problems.
6. AUTHENTIC LITERATURE Now
AvAILABLE
The present-day literature of the Bahá’i Faith in English falls into three classifications: first, the actual translations of the teachings
and history of the Faith; second, commentaries on, and explanations of, the teachings; third, discussion of allied subjects and literary
expression of the Bahâ’i spirit.
Of the translations of the teachings, those translations by the Guardian stand out as monumental renderings of the prose of Bahá’u’lláh
into English. Rich in beauty and dynamic truth are his translations of Hidden Words, The Book of Certitude, Gleanings from
the Writings of Babd’u’lldh, and Prayers and Meditations by Bahd’u’lldh. How much easier now for a student to approach
the spirit and teachings of Bahã’u’llãh! . . . Nor must we overlook the Guardian’s translation of Dawn-Breakers:
NabIl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha”I Revelation. Here, for the first time in English, we can appreciate the
glorious figure of the Báb, majestic predecessor of BahI’u’llIh. This volume provides a greater degree of completeness in
understanding the Bahá’i Faith. Not only is The Dawn- Breakers the most beautifully bound ]3ahá’i book ever published, but it is
by far the most scholarly and completely annotated.
And we must not overlook the volumes of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets, His compelling Mysterious Forces of Civilization, and the
books of His recorded lectures.
The writings of Shoghi Effendi himself constitute a special branch of Bahi’i literature dealing with the subject of world order. We
refer particularly to the series of long, general letters beginning in 1928 with The World Order of Bahd’u’lldh.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

In 1923 was published Bahd’I Scriptures, a large compilation of the writings of RaM’u’lláh and the writings and
talks of ‘Abdu’lBahá. This was a noteworthy effort to bring together for the student the mass of Bahá’i literature then
available in English. The series of translations by the Guardian and continued scholarship have shown that many parts
of the volume are not accurate or adequate. It is proposed that a new edition be prepared to meet the need for a onevolume anthology.
Commentaries on and explanations of the teachings have been many. The best of these is Baha”u’lla’h and the New
Era by
J. E. Esslemont, a book now translated and published in over thirty languages. The most literary of these books is The
Promise of All Ages by Christophil, pen name of Archdeacon George Townshend of Dublin, Ireland. The pen of this
gifted writer has produced another book, The Heart of the Gospel, published in England, a few copies of which have
just reached this country as this article is written. In both these volumes, Townshend approaches the Bahá’i Faith from
the viewpoint of Christianity. He writes compellingly and convincingly, showing the Bahá’i Faith as the consummation
of the teachings of Christ.
The monthly issues of World Order

magazine provide a forum for the discussion of subjects allied to the Bahá’i teachings. Here we find articles on world federation, race
relations, comparative religion and modern sociology. With a great amount of authentic literature now available, Bahã’i writers are
able to discuss accurately the wide implications of their Faith in meeting with the many individual and social problems of the modern
world. Here, too, in World Order, are many poetic expressions of the Rahá’i spirit, evidence of a still small, but growing artistic
expression of Bahá’i ideals. . . . Perhaps the most noteworthy poetic effort is Howard Ives’ moving long poem, Song Celestial.
In concluding this brief survey, mention should be made of the successive volumes of THE BAHA’f WORLD, of which this volume
is the eighth. Here is a chronological account of the growth of the Bahá’i Faith throughout the world. The volumes are filled with
articles, pictures, and reproductions of documents of great historic value. Included always are excerpts from the writings of
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. To anyone wishing a good source for the study of Bahá’i literature, history, and presentday
administration, the volumes are invaluable.

23.

JOHN EBENEZER ESSLEMONT, who passed away at Haifa November 22, 1925, was born May 19, 1874, the youngest son of John
E. Esslemont of Fairford, Cults, Aberdeenshire.
He received his preliminary education at Ferryhill public school and continued his studies at the Robert Gordon College and
ultimately at Aberdeen University, where he was graduated with honors in April, 1898, obtaining not only the medical degrees of
Bachelor of Medicine and of Surgery, but also a Philip Research Scholarship at the University. He spent the second half of 1899 at
Berne and Strasburg, at both of which places he wrote papers on his research work, which were published and considered valuable.
Returning to Scotland in December, 1899, Esslemont took up the position of assistant to Professor Cash at Aberdeen University,
which position he held until 1901, when he went to Australia, remaining there two years. During this residence in Australia, he
married on December 19, 1902.
Early in his life Esslemont’s health proved a cause of trouble and anxiety, and in 1903 he was obliged to leave Australia, returning to
Aberdeenshire, where he spent the summer, but found it necessary in the winter of that year to proceed to South Africa, the climate of
which country it was hoped would prove beneficial to his pulmonary ailment. He remained in South Africa for five years, returning to
his native country in

1908, when he obtained the post of resident medical officer at the Home Sanatorium, Southbourne, Bournemouth, which he continued
to hold until 1923, when, owing to the death of the proprietor, the Sanatorium was closed and Esslemont found himself without
medical occupation.
In 1924 he received a warm invitation from Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’i Faith, to spend the winter at Haifa, and early in
November he left London, proceeding direct to Port Said. Writing from Malta, the only port of call, November 15th, Esslemont spoke
of a delightful voyage and of feeling much improved in health. He spent a day or two in Port Said, where he was most warmly
received by the friends, and arrived at Haifa on November 2 1st. Here he at once devoted himself to the work of assisting Shoghi
Effendi in his multifarious correspondence, which work he continued to do in spite of ill-health until the end.
Such is a brief account of the material side of Esslemont’s life; it remains now to say something of the spiritual side, which continues
and will continue forevermore.
Whilst at Bournemouth in 1912 Esslemont, in arsociation with several other doctors, took up the question of state medical service and
in 1914 he read a paper on this subject before the British Medical Association at its meeting at Bournemouth, which by the attention it
aroused helped greatly the deliberations of the Advisory Committee on Public Health. The wife of one of

JOHN EBENEZER ESSLEMONT
HIS LIFE AND SERVICE
eeHis Book (Bahd’u’lldh and The New Era), an abiding monument to his pure intention, will, alone, inspire
generations yet unborn to tread the path of Truth and Service as steadfastly and as unostentatiously as was trodden by
its beloved author.” Doctor John Ebenezer Esslemont, “by sheer merit deserves to rank as one of the Hands of the
Cause of
GOD.”—SHoGHs EFFENDI.
B JESSIE E. REVELL
(Compiled from Introduction in Revised Edition of Baha”u’lldh and The New Era, from Article in Volume 1—1925-
1926 Bahd’i Year Book, and from personal association with Dr. Jo/rn E. Esslemont in Haifa in December, 1924.)

THE BAHA’I WORLD

The upper picture is a group attending the 1938 session. The center and lower pictures are of the 1939 session.

The Bahá’I Summer School of the British Isles

pict283.jpg

pict284.jpg

JOHN EBENEZER ESSLEMONT

Esslemont’s associates in this work, who had met ‘Abdu’l-Bahi in London in 1911, first mentioned the Bahã’i Faith to Esslemont in
December 1914 and lent him some pamphlets.
He had been searching for truth in many directions, but without finding that which could satisfy his innate religious feeling; on
hearing, however, the Bahá’i Message he was at once impressed by its beauty and thoroughness; so much so that without delay he
procured all the books in English which dealt with the subject. Most truly applicable to Esslemont are the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“Blessed is he that the Word of GOD bath reached him and had found his soul ‘awake’.”
His progress in the study of the Sacred Books was therefore rapid, for already in 1915 he was writing to the lady above mentioned,
recommending what books she should read; and in February 1916, little more than a twelve-month after he had himself first received
the Glad Tidings, he wrote at length to a Bahá’i friend in Manchester in terms which show how thoroughly he had accepted the Bahi’i
Teachings and how profoundly he had already studied them. Thus he writes:
“We can each become like our friend if we make the great surrender of self and selfishness and become willing channels for the
Divine Spirit. There is no limit to what the human spirit can achieve in the strength of Divine inspiration. The germ of the Divine
nature is in every man; only most of us are not manifesting it. Instead, we are smothering it. It is like a plant which needs sun and rain
for its growth, the Sun and Rain of Divine Love and Bounty. We have the power either to open our hearts to that Love and Bounty or
to reject them. Only by turning our attention and interest away from the world and turning them to GOD can we grow in spirit. Such
turning means attending to the reality and inner significance of things, instead of to the outward appearance. It means that our interest
in and love for everything in all GOD’S universe should vastly increase, but that we should regard all

outward appearances but as the garments of the inner realities, as dawning places for the Glory of GOD. Oh! may
people all over the world soon turn to GOD, as revealed in Bahá’u’lláh, with humble contrite hearts, begging for His
forgiveness and blessing and imploring His mercy and bounty! Then shall His kingdom come in men’s hearts and the
whole world become one home and all mankind one family.”
This extract from one of Esslemont’s early letters shows so clearly the spirit which illumined all his words and actions,
that its insertion here will be forgiven by those who read his stirring admonition and appeal. That he himself did in very
truth turn to GOD as revealed by Bahá’u’llãh, and that having so turned, he never deviated by one hair’s breadth from
the path of love and righteousness is a fact known to those who had the privilege of meeting him and listening to his
glowing talks as well as to those who are acquainted with him only through his writings inspired as they are with that
same loving spirit which was so apparent to those who knew him personally.
Esslemont’s work as a personal teacher, apart from his letters, began in Bournemouth, where a group of adherents to
the Faith gathered under his auspices. This gathering resulted in the formation of a Spiritual Assembly of which he was
the first chairman, a position he continued to occupy until he left England in 1924. In this connection it may be
mentioned that he was also the representative of the Bournemouth group on the National Spiritual Assembly of
England, of which body he became Vice Chairman, and which benefited much by his counsel and advice.
In his introduction to his Book Baha”x’lldh and The New Era (revised 1937 edition) Dr. Esslemont referring to the
Bahá’i Teachings states:
“I was at once struck by their comprehensiveness, power and beauty. They impressed me as meeting the great needs of
the modern world more fully and satisfactorily than any other presentation of religion which I had come across—an im

THE BAHA’f WORLD

pression which subsequent study has only served to deepen and confirm.
In seeking for fuller acknowledgment about the movement I found considerable difficulty in obtaining the literature I wanted, and
soon conceived the idea of putting together the gist of what I learned in the form of a book, so that it might be more easily available
for others. When communication with Palestine was reopened after the war, I wrote to ‘Abdu’l-BahI and enclosed a copy of the first
nine chapters of the book, which was then almost complete in rough draft.
I received a very kind and encouraging reply, and a cordial invitation to visit Him in Haifa, and bring the whole of my manuscript with
me. The invitation was gladly accepted, and I had the great privilege of spending two and a half months as the guest of ‘Abdu’l-Baha
during the winter of 1919-20. During this visit, ‘Abdu’l-Baha discussed the book with me on various occasions. He gave several
valuable suggestions for its improvement and proposed that, when I had revised the manuscript, He would have the whole of it
translated into Iranian so that He could read it through and amend or correct it where necessary. The revisal and translation were
carried out as suggested, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá found time, amid His busy life, to correct some three and a half chapters (Chapters I, II, V
and part of III) before He passed away. It is a matter of profound regret to me that ‘Abdu’lBahá was not able to complete the
correction of the manuscript, as the value of the book would thereby have been greatly enhanced. The whole of the manuscript has
been carefully revised, however, by a committee of the National Bahi’i Assembly of England, and its publication approved by that
Assembly.
I am greatly indebted to Miss E. J. Rosenberg, Mrs. Claudia S. Coles, Mirzá Lotfullah S. Hakim, Messrs. Roy Wilhelm and
Mountfort Mills and many other kind friends for valuable help in the preparation of the work. As regards the transliteration or Arabic
and Iranian names and words the system adopted in this book is that recently recommended

by Shoghi Effendi for use throughout the
Bahá’j world.”
Not satisfied with studying the Bahá’i writings in English, he learned Iranian so as to read them in the original language.
The third chapter of his justly celebrated book relating to “Bahá’u’llah” was first published as a separate pamphlet, and it was
proposed to issue a new edition on the occasion of the Conference on some Living Religions within the British Empire when it was
held in London in the autumn of 1924; on consideration, however, it appeared that a more general pamphlet would be both more
appropriate and more useful, and thus Bahd’se’lldh and His Message came to be written by Esslemont, who also wrote the small
leaflet, What is the Bahd’I Movement?
It was not only by his printed works that Esslemont became known to the Bahá’i world, for he was an indefatigable and voluminous
correspondent not only in English, but also in Esperanto, of which universal language he was a complete master.
Amongst his last labors during his stay in Haifa in 1925 was the revision of the Esperanto translation of the above-mentioned leaflet
which had been prepared for the meeting of the Universal Esperanto Congress at Geneva in August of that year. Another work on
which he was also engaged towards the close of his earthly career was the translation into German of his large book.
These evidences of Esslemont’s labors in the service of the Cause remain open to all, but of the loving services which he so gladly and
selflessly rendered to all with whom he came into personal contact, only they can give full account from the inmost recesses of their
hearts; but surely all whom he helped will forever bear in mind the inestimable benefits conferred upon them by his words, and more,
perhaps, by his living example of what a true Bahá’i should be, for he was nigh unsurpassed in selflessness, in utter devotion and
obedience to the Bahã’i teachings, in love and trustfulness to all his fellows.
With the publication of Bahci’u’lldh and the New Era more than sixteen years ago,

JOHN EBENEZER ESSLEMONT

the Bahã’i Faith was given its first well- conceived, thorough exposition by a student of the teachings. Recognizing its value as the
most satisfactory introduction to the Cause, Bahá’is in both East and West have found Dr. Esslemont’s book so helpful that it has been
translated into some thirty-six langauges as follows:
English, published in England and America
French, published in Geneva, 1932
Italian, published in Florence
Dutch, published in Rotterdam, 1933
Danish, published in Copenhagen, 1932
Swedish, published in 1932
Portuguese, published in Bahia, Brazil
Albanian, published in Tirane, 1933
Esperanto, published in Germany, 1930
Russian, published in Latvia, 1930
German, published in Stuttgart, 1927
Bulgarian, published in Sofia, 1932
Rumanian, published in Bucharest, 1934
Czech, published in Prague, 1932
Serbian, published in Belgrade, 1933
Hungarian, published in Budapest, 1933
Greek, pubhshed in Athens, 1934
Spanish, published in Bahia, 1934
Norwegian, pubhshed in Oslo, 1935
Iranian, published in Haifa, 1932
Urdu, published in Lahore, 1935
Arabic, published in Cairo, 1930
Turkish, published in Istanbul, 1932
Burmese, published in Mandalay, 1933
Chinese, published in Shanghai, 1931
Hebrew, published in Haifa, 1931
Gujrati, published in Bombay, 1932
Japanese, published in Tokyo, 1932
Armenian, published in Aleppo, 1933
Kurdish, published in Baghdad, 1934
Braille, published in California
Abyssinian (Amharic), published in 1935
Icelandic, published in Reykjavik, 1939
Also published in Sinhdi, Bengali and Hindi.
As Dr. Esslemont himself recognized, the Faith entered a new phase of its history after the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-BahI. The result is
that the author’s views, some of them written prior to 1921, no longer correspond on certain aspects of the subject, to the evolutionary
character of the Faith. His treatment of events and social conditions then ezisting, moreover no longer appear fully

relevant. Unavoidably, a few errors of fact had entered his text, while his explanation of the stations of the Bãb and of
‘Abdu’l Bahâ have been replaced in the minds of Bahá’is by the authoritative interpretations since made by the first
Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi.
The present edition (March, 1937) therefore represents a revision made by the American National Spiritual Assembly
acting under the advice and approval of Shoghi Effendi.
These revisions in no respect alter the original plan of Dr. Esslemont’s book, nor affect the major portion of his text.
Their purpose has been to amplify the author’s discussion in a few passages by the addition of material representing the
fuller knowledge available since his lamented death, and newer translations of his quotations from Bahá’i Sacred
Writings.
It was the writer’s great pleasure and privilege to meet and become quite well acquainted with Dr. Esslemont while in
Haifa in December, 1924. At that time he was assisting Shoghi Effendi in translating The Tablet of A4mad by
Bahá’u’lláh and Gems from NabIl. In the first edition of his book which he presented to me at that time in Haifa, he
wrote a verse from Gems from NabIl with his own pen as follows:
“Know this, 0 thou who seekest thy Beloved
Whose heart doth yearn His presence to attain
That till in thee His attributes appear
In exile and astray thou must remain.”
It seems he lived to serve and comfort others. I can see the mental picture of him now one day in Haifa—he had invited
me to accompany him to the Shrine of the Bab and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Mount Carmel and early one morning together we
prayed there for the whole world—this memory will be with me throughout all the worlds of eternity; on our way back
we saw ‘Azizu’lláh Khan S. Bahãdur, sitting in the sun and very, very sad because he was ill and could not serve
Shoghi Effendi as he had been doing. Dr. Esslemont sat beside him, encouraged and cheered him, and while they sat
together, I

THE BAHA’f WORLD

took a picture of them. ‘Azizu’lláh Khán’s face became happier because of Dr. Esslemont’s comforting presence and words.
Dr. Esslemont was so very thorough and efficient in everything he did. He would work for hours over the translation of a single word
in order to get the best shade of meaning. He was always trying to find a way to make Shoghi Effendi’s duties lighter and to serve him
more and more wherever possible. A verse from Gems from NabIl which he was helping to translate while I was in Haifa seems to
describe his life:
“Dost cherish in thy heart thy life, then hither come not thou,
But if life and heart thou freely giv’st, then come and bring thine all.
This is the path for those who seek for union with Bahá,
And if this path thou likest not, why trouble us? Begone!”
His hfe was wholly devoted to the Cause of GOD.
Bahã’u’llah as quoted by Nabil in these “Gems,” said:
“To gather jewels have I come to this world. If one speck of a jewel lie hid in a stone and that stone be beyond the seven seas, until I
have found and secured that jewel, my hand shall not stay from its search.”
And so we know that our beloved Dr. Esslemont is one of Bahá’u’llah’s jewels.
No better appreciation of Dr. Esslemont and of his services to the Baha’i Cause can be given than that contained in the following letter
which the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, wrote after the passing of him who loved the Cause so well and served it so
faithfully:
“It is with feelings of overwhelming sorrow that I communicate to you the news of yet another loss which the Almighty, in His
inscrutable wisdom, has chosen to inflict upon our beloved Cause. On the 22nd of November, 192 5—that memorable and sacred day
in which the Bahá’is of the Orient celebraeed the twin

Festivals of the Declaration of the Báb and the Birthday of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Dr. John E. Esslemont passed on to the Abhá Kingdom. His
end was as swift as it was unexpected. Suffering from the effects of a chronic and insidious disease, he fell at last a victim to the
inevitable complications that ensued, the fatal course of which neither the efforts of vigilant physicians nor the devoted cares of His
many friends could possibly deflect.
“He bore his sufferings with admirable fortitude, with calm resignation and courage. Though convinced that his ailments would never
henceforth forsake him, yet many a time he revealed a burning desire that the friends residing in the Holy Land should, while visiting
the Shrines, implore the All-Merciful to prolong his days that he may bring to a fuller completion his humble share of service to the
Threshold of Rahá’u’lláh. To this noble request all hearts warmly responded. But this was not to be. His close association with my
work in Haifa, in which I had placed fondest hopes, was suddenly cut short. His book, however, an abiding monument to his
pure intention, will, alone, inspire generations yet unborn to tread the path of truth and service as steadfastly and as
unostentatiously as was trodden by its beloved author. The Cause he loved so well he served even unto his last day with
exemplary faith and unstinted devotion. His tenacity of faith, his high integrity, his self-effacement, his industry and painstaking
labors were traits of a character the noble qualities of which will live and live forever after him. To me personally he was the warmest
of friends, a trusted counsellor, an indefatigable collaborator, a lovable companion.
“With tearful eyes I supplicate at the Threshold of Bahá’u’llah — and request you all to join—in my ardent prayers, for the fuller
unfolding in the realms beyond of a soul that has already achieved so high a spiritual standing in this world. For by the beauty of his
character, by his knowledge of the Cause, by the conspicuous achievements of his book, he has immortalized his name, and by sheer
merit

JOHN EBENEZER. ESSLEMONT

1938
deserves to rank as one of the Hands of the Cause of God.
“He has been laid to rest in the heart of that beautifully situated Bahá’i burial ground at the foot of Carmel, close to the
mortal remains of that venerable soul, Háji Mirzá Vakilu’l-Dawlih, the illus triou

cousin of the Bãb and chief builder of the Mashriqu’l-Adkár of ‘Ishqábâd. Pilgrims visiting his grave from far and near
will, with pride and gratitude do honor to a name that adorned the annals of an immortal Cause.
“May he eternally rest in peace.”

Pastor Väino Rissanen
First to have accepted the Bahá’i Faith in Finland.

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24.

A LETTER FROM FINLAND B VAINO RISSANEN
LEAR Bahá’i Brothers and Sisters:
“Those who walked in darkness have seen a great light!”
One evening in early June of 1938 I walked aimlessly, seeking to quiet the grief which pressed heavily upon me. Death,
whose traces had chilled my heart had compelled me to seek anew the solution to life’s mysteries, the answers to the
eternal questionings. Thus I meditated when I saw a woman who was asking to be directed to a place in the
neighborhood of my villa. So it was that for the first time I met a Bahá’i, Miss A. Josephine Kruka, who had come as a
pioneer teacher to Finland. Other teachers had been in Finland but as their stay was so short they had not been able to
establish the Faith here.
Miss Kruka spent several months here and through her teachings my whole life was changed. Truly this Truth seemed
to me to be all-encompassing! I could scarcely believe that this great prophetic Word had really come into the world! I
had been accustomed to viewing these matters from a narrow angle, seeing, as it were, only select groups who were
worthy of salvation and blessing from the prophetic Word.
The greatest thing which this new Revelation offers to the world is brotherly love, not love for one’s own family, nor
love for one’s own nation, but love for the whole

world, a world torn to shreds by many beliefs and sects and political factions, each hating the others. Mankind is so
separated and still so close in the difficulties and trials which assail us! This Revelation brings us closer to each other
and makes real brothers of us all. It is this uniting power that we need in this “war conscious age.” This phase of the
Revelation has greatly rejoiced me.
In the spring of 1939 Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher came to Finland. She gave several lectures which were well attended
and at one of her lectures a noted author said of her that “She is the world’s most wonderful peace promotor.” One of
our newspapers wrote at length of her work and as a result she received many letters from other cities, and many
enquirers sought her during many busy days wanting to know more of the new Revelation. She made a deep impression
because of the way that she explained the connection between the present Revelation and the Bible. In her presence one
felt like a thirsty traveller who had reached the Water of Life. Several people professed their belief and evidenced it by
the joy in their faces.
Welcome to Finland! If anyone wishes to remember us children of the northern lights we shall be so delighted! Our
little group in Helsinki will heartily receive and welcome any visitor.

25.

RADIO-NATIONS CALLING
B ETHEL M. DAWE
ADIO-NATIONS calling Australia and New Zealand! Radio-Nations calling Australia and New Zealand!” The call rang through the
air from the studio of the League of Nations ‘Wireless Station. In Geneva—it was cold and grey, yet as I waited in the studio beside
the Lake the first rays of the morning sun softly lighted the mountains and the mists began to drift. In Australia it was the evening of a
spring day but in a fraction of time my voice would have sped from Geneva and be heard in my own home. The miracle of radio!
There was a story behind that broadcast. It began three years before in Austraha when I became Secretary of the League of Nations
Union, a work taken up and animated, I hope, by the same impulse which had led me to find the Bahá”i Teachings a few years
earlier—the desire to assist in the promoting of understanding between the different peoples of the world. Travelling in both the East
and the ‘West has brought the realization of the essential oneness of mankind and the urgent necessity to work for unity.
With this in mind, a new venture was made in youth work. Representative senior students from high schools and colleges gathered
together each week in a study group to examine the problems and possibilities of international associations. They in their turn, took
their assignments of study back to their schools to discuss it with their fellow students in smaller study circles. These young people
were remarkably free from prejudice. They were attracted by the idea of world cooperation, although they realised its difficulties. The
vision of a better world order gripped them. More than ever I was convinced that it is to the generous moods of youth that we must
appeal. This was forcibly brought home to me by the remark of one girl who said—”We know all this— but how can we teach our
parents?”
But these efforts brought rich reward. One day a cable came from the Secretariat

of the League of Nations inviting me to become a temporary collaborator during the meeting of the Assembly of 1937. Within a few
weeks from the receipt of this invitation I was on the sea en route to London and thence by air to Geneva.
As the plane descended into picturesque Switzerland over the mountains and lakes on to the green slopes, my heart was filled with joy.
This project fulfilled a desire conceived years before when I walked by the home of the newly founded League of Nations. Since then
I had come into the light of the Bahã’i Teachings and could approach the League—not in sadness—as one well might in this tragic
hour of its impotence—but with the confidence in my heart that, in time, there would be a true League of Nations and that an
International House of Justice would eventually be established. This was but a prelude to the real League, a fore-runner of the
accomphshment of the ideal of coOperation. Even the very sadness in the hearts of its workers would make for a deeper conception of
the fundamental needs underlying world unity. Shoghi Effendi has written in The Advent of Divine Justice “The ideals that fired
the imagination of America’s tragically unappreciated President, whose high endeavours, however, much nullified by a visionless
generation, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, through His own pen, acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, though now lying in the
dust, bitterly reproach a heedless generation for having so cruelly abandoned them.” The officials of the Secretariat viewed my
optimism with something akin to dismay. Almost in chorus they said, “I do hope you won’t be disappointed.”
Days of interesting investigation in the different departments of the League then began. The Intellectual Cooperation section, to which
belonged the subjects of the educational role of radio and its use in the cause of peace, and also the humanitarian

THE BAHA’I WORLD

and social sections were the things that attracted me specially.
No one can view unmoved the gathering together in one Assembly of the representatives of fifty-two nations meeting in cooperation.
And although one is told that their efforts will not succeed, yet the very attempt is surely a foreshadowing of that assembly of people
who, in the course of time, through their spiritual unity of purpose will achieve their aims. Indeed at the conclusion of the Session
when we gathered to listen to a concert of orchestral music, which all nationalities apparently appreciated, it was easy to believe, in
spite of the black days ahead, in the ultimate establishment of international life.
With this background I went to the microphone to talk to Australia.
But that was not the end of my broadcasting adventures. Indeed it was just the beginning. With introductions from the International
Radio Union I visited a number of radio stations in other countries. First Vienna, a fascinating place at that time for a folk-lore
enthusiast, where they made for me records of actual folk festivals which had been recorded by their travelling microphone in distant
provinces. In Budapest records of folk-songs and gypsy music were given me. These, with the knowledge gained at the London, Paris
and Cairo stations, have proved most valuable in the compiling of talks in Australia. But I must leave the story of radio experiences
and tell you of happenings in Paris, London and Haifa.
In Paris, in company of my hostess Madame Dreyfus-Barney, we visited the places where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been and I would listen
entranced as Madame said, “Here He stopped and spoke to us.” “This is the view He loved.” The spell of the Master is still upon those
who knew Him, something of His spirit has fallen upon them.
The really wonderful Exposition of 1937 was then in progress and it was interesting to see that the section given to the Pavillons des
Etrangers was that part of the Trocadero Gardens where ‘Abdu’l-Baha used to walk each day. There, where He used to sit, was erected
the long Column of the Golden Star of Peace that dominated the Exposition. On

the final night of the Exposition Madame and I went to see the playing fountains of colored water. We entered where ‘Abdu’lBahá had
so often entered and where now stood the Pavilion of Palestine. Here where the Master loved to walk, strangers from the ends of the
earth were gathered together and we felt that these things were a parable.
From Paris to London. There to hear from Lady Blomfield of the Master’s visit to London. To listen to these stories told by one whose
words vibrate with His power was an unforgettable experience and a fitting introduction for the visit to Haifa.
How can I tell you of the meeting with Shoghi Effendi? How describe to you the power which radiates through him—the boundless
love which envelops all humanity. His compassion yet his Justice; the dynamic energy which demands—all. With a quivering breath
one realizes the greatness of this Day, the value of this time; and with radiant joy knows that every breath of one’s life is too little to
give in this Cause. “There is no sacrifice if we are conscious of the privileges.”
Here the glorious certainty of God’s illimitable power and immutable purpose for mankind pulsates through one’s heart in ever
deepening waves of strength and joy. Truly the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh is the heart of the world; the source of all peace from which the
revivifying waves of His love permeate all things. “He is verily nearby, even though you may think Him far away.”
In humble tribute to the memory of that inestimable one Munirih Khánum, wife of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, I want to give you her message
which seemed to be for us all. Holding me in her loving arms she said: “Read the Words of Bahá’u’lláh, dear. Read the Words of
Bahá’u’lláh. Everything is in them. Oh, they are wonderful, wonderful! Blessed are the hours spent with the Words of God.” She
quoted many words of Bahã’u’lláh which Ziyáiyyih Khánum, Shoghi Effendi’s mother, translated. The presence of Rul iyyih Khánum
at that hallowed spot was an inspiration words fail to describe.
The Guardian wished to send to the Bahá’is of Australasia a most precious relic for their national archives, a lock of the
‘Four Valleys, p.55.

RADIO-NATIONS CALLING

hair of Bahá’u’lláh, every strand of which had been arranged by the Greatest Holy Leaf. This precious relic was entrusted to this
overwhelmed servant to carry to Australia. Oh that the glory of the moment of its uncovering could be transmitted too. The profound
reverence of the Guardian. The intensity of the power that enveloped all. The dynamic force of love flowing out in ever widening
circles. Shoghi Effendi said that he wished this most precious relic, which he was sending to us because we were so distant, to be
presented at our next Convention but that he would like Mother and Father Dunn, our much loved pioneers, to see it soon. He would
like them to feel the strands of the hair of Bahá’u’lláh. “Their work,” he said, “was beyond recounting.”
One leaves Haif a with new found strength. Life has begun afresh. “There is no power and no strength save in God, the Protector, the
Self Subsistent.”2
A subsequent visit to the Egyptian Bahá’is

revealed the happiness of the spiritual unity of the East and the West. But to complete this record of radio work I should add that upon
returning to Australia I undertook new types of work. Experiments were made with a series of radio talks by young people from the
study group which took the form of discussions between themselves on a number of subjects under the heading of If We Had Our
Way. Then over the national network undergraduates talked of religion. Women also have been given the opportunity to discuss
together, at intervals, over the national network such subjects as the status of women and similar points which interest us so deeply.
But these are small things. Our joy is in knowing that “Through the power of the Words He has uttered the whole of the human race
can be illusuined with the light of unity.”3
a Pour Valleys, p. 53.
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahâ’u’lláh.

2 6.

LE MARTYRE
PAR DR. A. MESBAH
A VEZ-VOUS remarque, a la fin de l’hiver, les nombreux bourgeons qui, coiff ant les branches d’arbres,
attendent impatiemment l’arrivee du printemps pour eclore et devenir d’eclatantes fleurs?
A peine cependant les bourgeons sont-ils ouverts, a peine leur naissantes corolles ontcues, a travers l’espace, exhale
un parfum subtil, que dejà leur ravissants pétales se fanent et tombent en poussière.
Ce sont là des martys de Ia nature. Mais en realite disparaissent-ils vraiment, ou plutot ne commencent-ils pas une
autre vie dans Ic fruit qui les succède? Ainsi ce vieux monde malgre les nouveautes que, continuellement il nous
presente n’a jas-nais change son cours regulier. Les jours qui se suivent, les annees qui se succêdent ont entre eux une
analogie frappante. De même qu’il existe pour Ia terre une periode saisonniêre d’un an, pendant laquelle elle vit grace
a la chaleur bienfaisante du soleil, de même ii existe pour I’humanite une semblable periode aussi reguliere.
L’histoire nous montre en effet qu’à peu prês tous les mule ans une êre nouvelle de spirituauite commence, et, par
I’apparition d’une divine manifestation, le monde, tombe en decadence, se retrouve regenere. Ainsi donc avant le
renouveau spirituel, alors que le genre humain se trouve plonge dans la plus noire obscurite morale et intellectuelle, il
se trouve des hommes au coeur pur qui, sentant la proche arrivee du printemps Divin s’impatientent a l’instar des
bourgeons. Ces hommes a l’âme transparente de purete ont la méme destinee et subissent le méme sort que ces fleurs
printaniêres qui doivent être sacriflees pour faire place aux fruits. Leur coeur est prêt a bruler d’amour divin, et, au
premier appel de Ia manifestation de Dieu ils s’enfiamment et se consument pour leur Bien-aime. Tel a ete, parmi les
temps Les plus récoulés, la marche de ce monde. Ces êtres, élus parmi les autres, qui ont

donné par leur sang témoignage de la verite, one existe de toujours et partout.
Socrate qui, avec un courage surnaturel, montrant son profond dédain pour le monde physique, donna une sublime
leçon de sacrifice. Il but la cigüe tout aussi simplement qu’un breuvage ordinaire, tant il etait sür que son trepas n’était
que le commencement d’une nouvelle vie eternelle.
“Pourquoi pleurer ainsi, disait-il a ses disciples consternés, quand mon âme affranchie du lourd poids de mon corps va
s’envoler vers Dieu, chercher Ia vérité, la connaitre peut-être
Le christianisme nous a donne de nombreux exemples de martyrs. Pendant 300
les disciples du Christ, suivant pas a pas les traces de leur Divin Maître (qui donna son sang pour effacer les peches
du monde) furent persecutes de tous les points du globe. Ces persecutions furent la cause que le grain d’enseignement
seme par Jesus dans les coeurs humains, arrose du sang des martyrs leva si bien. Le genie du christianisme penetra dans
tout l’univers, donnant naissance a une civilisation jamais égal’ee jusqu’alors.
Aujourd’hui l’humanite, parcourant les premieres etapes de sa vie et arrivant a l’age adulte, a une plus grande intensité
d’action. Le nombre des martyrs de la foi Bahá’ie est considerable. L’ardeur et la bravoure des croyants devant les
tortures que leur infiigeaient les ennemis de la Cause sont sans precedent dans l’histoire de l’humanite.
Le soleil de Ia verite se leva dans le coin le plus obscur parmi les peuples civilises. Cependant il s’y trouva des étres
qui, par leur purete d’âme, sentirent l’arrivee de la plus grande manifestation de Dieu. Ils veillaient, et, des que l’aurore
divine apparut, des que les voix du Báb et de Bahá’u’lláh se firent entendre une foule considerable, du plus petit
jusqu’au plus grand, embrassèrent leur sainte Cause. Ils savaient naturellement

LE MARTYRE

de quel prix us devaient payer la declaration de leur nouvelle foi, mais us étaient prêts, puisqu’ils se trouvaient etre arrives au but
essentiel de leur vie.
us étaient, ces martyrs, si complètement détachés du monde physique, que les douleurs des tortures qu’ils enduraient semblai— ent
n’avoir aucun effet sur eux. Et queues tortures cependant! . . . Les bourreaux n’avaient rien trouvé de miex que de percer en maints
a
endroits les corps des suppliciés, de placer dans chacun des trous des chandelles allumées, et de les promener ainsi traver la yule,
sous les quolibets de la foule. Malgré le sang qui les aveuglait, la cire fondue qui faisait grésiller leur peau, ces sublimes martyrs
trouvaient Ia force de chanter des cantiques. On raconte que Sulaymán Khân, tout en chantant, ramassait les bougies qui tombâient et
a
les replaçait sur son corps. Quelqu’un lui ayant crié “Pourquoi ne danses-tu pas aussi?” ii se mit danser.
Je veux citer ici un passage du livre “Les Apôtres” écrit par Renan, un eminent écrivain francais (un chrétien, un non-Bahâ’i) qui voit
dans ces martyrs une révélation religieuse aussi grande que le christianisme.
“Notre siècle a vu des mouvements religieux tout aussi extraordinaires que ceux d’autre fois, mouvements qui ont provoqué autant
d’enthousiasme, qui ont eu déjà, proportion gardéc, plus de martyrs. . . . Le Bahá’iisme en Perse a été un phénomène
considerable. . . . Des milliers des martyrs sont accourus pour lui avec allégresse au devant de la mort. Un jour sans pareil, peutétre dans
a
l’histoire du monde, fut celui de la grande bouchrie qui se fit des Bâbis Tihran. On vit ce jour-là dans les rues et
les bazars de Tihran, dit un narrateur qui a tout su d’original, un spectacle que la population semble devoir n’oublier jamais. Quand Ia
conversation, encore aujourd’hui se met sur cette matière on peut juger de l’admiration melee d’horreur que la foule éprouva et que les
années n’ont pas diminuée. On vit s’avan cer entre les bourreaux, les enfants et les femmes, les chairs ouvertes sur tout le corps, avec
les mèches allumees, flambantes, flchées dans les blessures. On les trainait par des cordes et on les faisait marcher a coups de fouet.
Enfants et femmes

avançaient en chantant un verset qui dit ‘Envérité nous sommes de Dieu et nous retournons a lui!’
“Leurs voix s’élevaient éclatantes audessus du silence profond de Ia foule. Quand un des suppliciés tombait et qu’on le
faissait relever a coups de fouet ou de baionnette, pour peu que la perte de son sang qui ruisselait sur tous ses
membres, lui laissait encore un peu de force, il se mettait a danser et crier avec un surcroit d’enthousiasme: ‘En verité
nous venons de Dieu et nous retournerons a lui!’
“Quelques uns des enf ants expirèrent dans le trajet. Les bourreaux jetèrent leurs corps sous les pieds de leur père et de
leurs soeurs qui marchèrent flèrement dessus et ne leur donnèrent pas deux regards. Quand on arriva au lieu
d’exécution, on proposa encore aux victimes la vie pour leur abjuration. Un bourreau imagina de dire a un père que s’il
ne cédait pas, ii couperait la gorge de ses deux fils sur sa poitrine. C’étaient deux petits garçons dont l’ainé avait
quatorze ans et qui, rouges de leur propre sang, les chairs calcinees, écoutaient froidement le dialogue; le père répondit
en se couchant par terre qu’il était pret, et l’ainé des enfants réclamant avec emportement son droit d’ainesse, demanda
a étre égorgé le premier”
Comment pourvoir décrire les souffrances de ces saints, ou trouver des mots pour expliquer leur état d’âme?
Notre esprit est incapable de sonder l’abime de ce mystère.
La souffrance physique nous est intolerable et nous aimons notre vie par-dessus tous. Comment donc ces hommes qui
n’étaient, après tout, que des humains comme nous, ont-ils pu subir avec allegresse ces afireux supplices?
Quelle force mysérieuse a pu les transformer de la sorte?
Que s’est-il produit en eux pour être ainsi changes?
Pour répondre a toutes ces questions il nous reste a croire une seule chose, c’est que ces êtres, bien qu’encore vivants
sont cornplètement détachés des biens d’ici bas. us sont sur terre mais leur âme s’envole vers le ciel pour voir l’aurore
du jour eternel.
Les forces vitales et spirituelles qui émanent des saintes manifestations divines, au

THE BAHA’t WORLD

commencement de chaque ère, sont tellement fortes qu’elles font apparaitre dans l’homme toutes les capacités qui
existent en lui a l’état latent.
En réalité ce monde physique est pour l’homme un purgatoire qui doit le purifier et le perfectionner dans un temps plus
ou moms long.

Les martyrs, arrives par Ia bonté divine a un tel degre de perfection, et ayant termine leur stage ici-bas, n’one plus
besoin d’y séjourner.
C’est ainsi q’avec enthousiasme, ils s’évadent de leur prison corporelle pour s’envoler dans les cieux afin d’atteindre
avec plus d’intensité Ia perfection sans limite.

II
SONG OFFERINGS
pict286.jpg
II
SONG OFFERINGS
I
BAHA’U’LLAH
What can we say of Thee, 0 Heart Sublime! Purer in Word or deed no one hath been. Than Whom no parallel in any
age or clime Hath ever stepped the mortal worlds between.
Almighty God’s Supreme Celestial Throne!
Thy Law is pulsing every cosmic sphere;
Its wondrous potency but dimly shone
To hearts made weak with love, eyes blind with fear.
Majestic Mirror of Divinity!
Robed with God’s Glory in these latter days,
Our feeble mutterings ascribe to Thee
Such vain and stunted attributes of praise.
Our hearts are stilled, our tongues forever mute,
Before the glowing radiance of Thy Door.’ And though we know Thy Branch,2 0
Ancient Root!
Thy Beauty must enthrall us, evermore.

—PHILIP AMALFI MARANGELLA

II

THE BAB
Transcendent Star, past mortal ken
The glory of your Life through all the spheres
Bathes the unending vista of the years.
The radiance of the Light you brought to men
Has purified the planet’s heart anew!
Your blood was poured upon its dearth like dew,
Ichor of God’s decree, let each drop shed
Raise up the nations, and the living dead,
Revive the vision of the spirit’s youth:
Auroral is the fountain of your Truth.
—BEATRICE IRWIN

III
BAHIYYIH KHANUM
O Holy Leaf! adorning God’s own Tree,
Our humbler hearts we turn to thee.
Help us, we pray, that each new day
May draw us nearer to thy silent way,
And lay our deeds, a measure of thy price,
Upon thine altar of unending sacrifice.
Give us the vision and the faith to see
Our task fulfilled in Temple Unity— Symbol of God; beacon of hope for man;
Divinely ordered pattern of a new world plan—
Let thy compassion intercede,
That we may heed, that we may heed,
Before the only Guardian of our fate
May write the woeful words: “too late.”
O Daughter of the Glory! Flame of the Supreme!
Thy hfe hath told its story, thy love is our dream.
—PHILIP AMALFI MARANGELLA
Iv
THE SEVEN VALLEYS
EX0RDIU:IvI

He, Who by varied names, in every clime In diverse paths the wayworn wanderers
seek;
Omnipotent, Who to the end of time
Shall bow the prideful and lift up the meek;
He, Who the sun in the high heaven lit
And gave of rarest fragrance to the rose,
Who patient, waiting, shall in judgment sit
To listen and forgive, because He knows
The fleshly weakness: grant to us this day
A single spark from His undying fire
To cheer and guide us up the darksome way
Lest we turn backward to the earthly mire;
Then draw us to His glory from our night— Unveil His beauty to our groping sight.
The Báb.
2 ‘Abdu’l-Bahã.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

THE VALLEY OF SEARCH
Walk here with patience. He Whom here you seek
Hides as a bird, within a bush to sleep;
And who would find must come with spirit meek
And, lest the bird be startled, softly creep.
The searcher as he mounts the upward way
Must cast aside his burdens, free his soul
Of what it gathered in the world of clay
If unencumbered, he would reach the goal.
For man must leave behind the world of men,
New climates must the soul exchange for old,
And bravely journey on, for not till then Shall the first bud of the Friend’s vine
unfold,
Releasing sweetness rarer than the rose To tell the searcher He is near, and Knows.
THE VALLEY OF KNOWLEDGE
Illumination in this place shall burn
The dross of falsehood, leaving but the gold
Of truth; along this road each turn
Shall strange new beauty to the eyes unfold.
He who here enters, having left behind
The world of fancies, dark as moonless night,
Wherein he wandered, impotent and blind— Shall know and worship, in the new-found
light,
Him, Who without beginning, without end, Awaits the traveler, loosed at last of earth, Who naught seeks here but nearness to the
Friend,
The perfect measure of all-perfect worth. Here time shall cease; here death and life
are one
As leng as His swift stream of Being run.
THE VALLEY OF LOVE
This is a land of all consuming fire
Lit with a radiance brighter than noon sun
Where each must sacrifice upon love’s pyre
Forsworn ideals, and seek alone the One.
And he who would approach the Friend, must first
Find life in death, and glory in defeat;
Here must the soul its worldly fetters burst
Nor spurn the travail if it here would meet
The One, the matchless Friend of Ecstasy.
Here, earthly fancies must the seeking heart
Upon His altar as an offering lay

If it would learn that which He would impart;
And free at last of mortal passions move On to the higher world of endless love.
THE VALLEY OF UNITY
Like as a stream returning to the sea
From whence it left in vapor, here the soul
At last, within itself, shall cease to be.
Who, seeking here, has set his final goal
Near to the sanctuary of the Friend
Shall lose himself in timeless unity
That no beginning had, and has no end.
Here shall man’s life, of every mortal hope
Set free, at last from out the earthly night
No longer feeble in the darkness grope,
But walk in paths of beauty, in the light
Of Oneness, through ages still to be,
Drawn to the Friend in endless ecstasy.
THE VALLEY OF CONTENYMENT
This is a garden where the rarest blooms
In full profusion grow, wet by the dew
Of blessed nearness to the Friend, that dooms
All want and sorrow. Here all things are new:
Here, freed at last, earth’s prisoner shall find
Beauty, where only ugliness before
He saw; when loosed from mortal loves that bind
He has passed through the open, waiting door
Into this place of peace. All truth, all power
Are his who enters here. Here shall he see
The mystery of eternity in an hour
And understand all secrets yet to be.
This is reality. Old wants are gone
As flies the morning star before the dawn.
THE VALLEY OF WONDERMENT
Here every hour is luminous as the dawn
After a night of storm, and here the soul
To glory after glory travels on,
And to the eyes new beauties do unroll,
So vast that every earthly sight would pale
Before this rapture. Mortal happiness
Takes flight, and from the heart the heavy veil
Of earth is lifted, and the air does bless.
Unwearied here, where neither day nor night
Shall be, the questing soul shall find at last
Life’s mystery unraveled, in the light

SONG OFFERINGS

That shall shine on, when mortal days are past;
A guiding beam for ages yet to come
Sent by the Friend, to lead the wanderer

home.

THE VALLEY OF TRUE POVERTY

Here lay aside the ragged robes of earth
And leave behind all worldly place and fame,
For Oneness here the measure is of worth.
Admitted only, those who speak His name
In true humility. The souls that here
V
Would walk for all eternity, must first
Seek but the Friend, to Him alone give ear,
And for His nectar, be their only thirst.
Not by the proud of mind is ever won
Admittance here, but by the poor in heart,
Stripped of past glory, at the set of sun.
Death here is not an ending, but the start
At last, of all the soui has hungered for:
Oneness with Him, till time shall be no more.
—EVEIETT TABOR GAMAGE
Adapted from “The Seven Valleys” of Bahi’u’lláh, translated by ‘Ali-Kuli Khán.

THE SONG CELESTIAL*

PRELUDE
‘Tis not from sages, nor from learned books
That man gains wisdom. In his secret breast
A Chamber lies wherein he sometimes looks
And listens. There his troubled soul finds
And there, if he adores, his life is blest.
The gloomy dust which rises from men’s minds,
In their eternal search for certainty,
Obscures the spirit’s vision, and so blinds
The eye of heart that, failing Truth to see,
They grope and wander in perplexity.
But sometimes—Ab, that blessed, unwarned hour!
The dust is scattered by a mystic breeze:
Upon man’s heated mind there falls a shower
From Fount Celestial, and his heart finds ease
Which only God can give—Such hours are these.
ARGUMENT:

have always been slain by men: how, then, can God’s love be found in men’s hearts? He is told that the true Man is not
mirrored in the lower self of man but in his true Self which is mirrored in the Prophets themselves; that man’s vision is
too limited to judge correctly the long history of the race from cell to man, much less the immortal life ahead of him.
Man sees no certainty of life beyond the grave for death seems victorious. God assures him that the thought of death as
the end of life is superstition and reassures him. Man is content.
HOUR ONE
Man Speaks:
Why dost Thou hide Thyself frGm me,
0 God?
Where’er throughout the ages man hath trod His mind and soul hath sought Thee. All
in vain!
He can but hope and trust: but I would know.

Man desires God with 411 his heart, and in its secret Chamber holds with Him high converse. He asks God why He
hides from him; says that he seeks with telescope, microscope and in the mind, but in vain. God warns him that He is
not thus to be found but, rather, in the Spiritual Universe, His Home. Man asks how he may find this Universe of God
and hears that all the Prophets have come to men as Guides to the way of true Life. Man complains that the Prophets

rest,

I search through far-flung depths of stellar
space;
I grope adown the labyrinths of mind;
I peer into each microscopic place
And find all else: but Thee I cannot find.
Editor’s Note: The beautiful poem “The Song Celestial” by Howard Colby Ives being too long for complete reproduction in Bahá’I World certain
excerpts have been chosen which it is hoped may convey some idea of the power and beauty of the work, the publication of which is by the Landon
Press, Chicago, Ill,

THE BAHA’i WORLD

God Speaks:
It is not I who hide, ‘tis thou art blind.
Thine insight is so dimmed thou canst not see
That My Creation’s Book revealeth Me;
That every atom is an open door
Inviting thee to enter and explore!
What dost thou hope to see
When thou goest seeking Me?
A Face? A Voice? A word writ on the sky?
If I should speak who art thou to reply?
If I should write some guiding Word to men
Could they interpret My Supremest Pen?
For is thine eye so keen, thy mind so sure,
That when My Spirit moves thee, and I lure
Thy longing soul afar
To probe the mote and star,
Thou canst in such wise hope to limit Me
Who doth surround what mind and eye can see?
Such futile search shall surely be unblest.
What then, My son, didst thou desire to prove?
Canst thy frail mind encompass thus My love?
0 son of Love! For thee can be no rest
Save love for Me and calm upon My breast.
***
There lies but one soul-step ‘twixt thee and
Me:
Take that one step into Eternity.
That Life is now if thou that step wilt take
And from thy temple vigorously shake
The ragged mantle of mortality.
For that My royal robe I offer thee,
And bid thee share My Eternality.
Man Speaks:
These things have I from youth been taught, 0 Lord.
I know this as I know some Sanscrit word
A learned man once taught me. Ah, but still
I seek and find Thee not. I find not God
Within my heart, nor in the star nor clod.
‘Tis Thee I want: 0, pray that need fulfil!
A fire glows ever in my yearning breast
Which only knowing Thee can quench. No

Nor peace I ask, no mortal anguish shun, Could I but purchase thus the vision clear Of Thee. Not words about Thee: I
have
done
With words. For this no price nor pain too

dear.

God Speaks:

The heavens of My Mercy are so vast;
The Oceans of My Bounty so unbound,
That never bath a soul besought unblest,
Nor any seeker but bath surely found.
It is for this that all My Prophets came That They might lead men thither, and
man’s claim
To paradise, which like celestial fire I lighted in his heart, substantiate.
Not temples to My Glory dedicate Nor prayers from sullied lips that suplicate, Do They desire, nor can with Me
prevail.
My Prophets came that every fleshly veil Be rent between man’s soaring soul and
Me,

And he, in his Reality, be free.

The whale by seeking cannot find the sea;
The eagle, soaring high
Against My blue-domed sky,
Finds not the air, nor can thy mind find Me
Who in thy heart of hearts is truly thee.
About thee and above, beneath, within, Thy mystery am I and thou art Mine.
No flight avails: nor height nor depth, nor sin,
Nor death, nor hell can part thee from My Love.
My lamp thou art and I the Light within,
Know this, 0 servant, as the swallow knows
The air: the fish the boundless seas they rove;
The leaf the wind which by My order blows.
Man Speaks:
How can I know this, God, when all I see
Seems fiercely bent on crushing petty me?
That very wind on which the swallow flies
Haply resounds with some doomed sailor’s cries.

rest

SONG OFFERINGS

God Speaks:
Dost thou, then, seek My love for selfish gain?
Did I not hear thee say no care nor pain
Would be too great a price to see My face?
Yet when a little I withdraw the veils
That thou, through suffering, may tread the place
Of Holiness, then all thy courage fails.
O son of man! The love that is sincere Seeketh to prove that love through sacrifice.
Look how the merchant seeks year after year
For goodly pearls. The pearl of greatest price
Once having found all lesser pearls are naught.
For very joy, and with that joy distraught, He hastens to the market-place and sells All that he hath that he may buy that pearl.
He selleth all: not lesser pearls alone, But home and fields. He selleth all he hath That he may for those withered gods atone.
And note the moth. It flutters ‘round the light
Though its frail wings be singed. It loves that bright
Consuming flame more than ephemeral life.
These count it not a sacrifice to give
Their all if, giving, they receive far more.
If thou in My Companionship shouldst live
Perchance that bliss would cheapen all thy store.
And dost thou think, 0 stranger to the Friend,
That there is room within thine inmost heart For Me, the Whole, and any lesser part?
If thou wouldst know Me, know none else but Me:
If thou wouldst love Me, lesser loves deny.
If thou shouldst die in Me I’ll live in thee:
For this, My son, wouldst thou not gladly

die?

Man Speaks:

Such things are far too high for my weak mind
Or heart to compass. Lord, how can I find
This Path that leads to Thine Abode? How gain
The strength, the will to be that which I fain
Would be? To do that which I yearn to do?
The souls who thus attain are sadly few.
I look abroad upon Thy world and see That man is bent on everything save Thee. Nor heart, nor mind, nor will contains Thee,
God!
Beneath his cruel feet Thy sacred sod Is spread with empires wrecked. In Thy
blest Name
He drags Thy saints and heroes to the flame, The rack, the sword, the dungeon and the
cross.
He gains no whit: he findeth only loss, And yet he blindly goes his way. He strews The earth with bones of innocence. The
news
Of daily crime and lust befouls the page
Of history. He vents his filthy rage
On every brother man. He lifts the rod
Of hate in home and church, in court and mart.
He seems to hold all hell within his heart Not Thee—not Thee! Is this Thy Will,
O God?
God Speaks:
Why speakest thou of “man”?
Thy heart’s page scan.
Is Christ thus listed, the true Son of Man?
Man is not Man because of wealth and fame,
Nor yet because he calls upon My Name.
Not learning nor refinement marks true Man:
He’s only such when he conforms to plan
Divine, and with My attributes adorns
His temple: for the true Man ever scorns
The beast within, the relic of his long
Ascent from primal cell. His triumphs throng
That Path which led from mineral to man.
And dost thou dream that thy blind eyes can scan
That journey vast, thy mind give judgment plain
Of gain and loss through aeons long of pain?
And how much less art thou fit to discern
Thine age-long future which My plans concern?

THE BAHA’i WORLD

Man Speaks:
My age-long future? What do these words mean?
I see death stalking all the world; He takes
The high and low. The tree of life he shakes
Remorselessly and man drops from the scene.
He pays no need to pleading nor complaint:
His cold hand strikes the sinner and the saint.
The heart of mankind bleeds and, bleeding breaks.
Man is—is not. He lives, and then—bath

been.

God Speaks:

O son of man! Death have I made for thee
As tidings glad: at its approach why flee?
That darkness have I for thee kindly made
A beckoning glory, not a threatening shade.
Why dost thou screen thee from this splendid light
And close thine eyes, insisting it is night?
Look thou with keenly penetrating eye:
Canst thou in all My Universe descry
A trace of death? ‘Tis change thou seest here
A change which leadeth but to life again:
Death is a superstition born of fear.
Think how the unborn babe would fear the pain
Of parturition. If he could foresee
That venture vast would he not be aghast?
Would he not say that life can nowise be
Outside his mother’s womb? tC ‘Tis her life blood
That nurtures mc; it is her heart that beats
In mine; my very life is in her breath;
Tear me from her! Ah, that, indeed were death!”
Yet, could he think, were he not wholly blind,
Within his very being he would find
A proof most plain of wider life to be.
For, in his organs, forming in the womb
Is evidence that soon he will be free
To use them. Even so it is with thee,
For, in the matrix of this world thy part
It is to build thy future life; thy heart
Of love to warm; thine insight keen attend;
Thine ear instruct; thy limbs to service bend.

Thy world, compared to Mine, is more a tomb
Than life. Thou shouldst prepare thee to ascend.
For, in this transient tavern now engaged Thy hunger for true life is not assuaged.
ARGUMENT:
Man’s longing still unappeased, and God having encouraged him to ask until all doubts are set at rest, Man asks how he may find
God in the created world. After a brief direction as to how man may find a key to such search God tells him that a Guide is necessary,
and that such Guides have been provided: at which man is rejoiced and demands His Name. He is asked if man is sure that he would
recognize his Guide if disguised in lowliness and hidden beneath human clouds, and whether man is willing to sacrifice all and follow
him when found. Man is overwhelmed but still unsatisfied. He asks regarding “Judgment Day” and “Heaven” and “Hell.” God
explains these symbolic words.

Man Speciks:

HOUR TWO
Anon I heard Thy heavenly accents say
That every atom is an open door
Inviting me to enter and explore.
This door is closed to me: unclose, I pray.
God Speaks:
In mineral and plant, in beast and man,
Thou mayest discern the working of My Plan
Which bath one aim: that I may fully be
Revealed to every heart that seeketh Me.
Cohesion, growth, the senses and the mind Are the four steps which through the cycles
wind
That from the void of non-existence may
Existence come, and that My Love may find,
Some far-off Day, its full expression. Nay,
That I Myself may tell man’s ordained story
In Man, the very temple of My Glory.
For, in this gloomy and disastrous age Man may perceive, if he will scan My Page, The secret of Creation. There is he

SONG OFFERINGS

Told of My Wisdom: for Humanity Hath borne indeed its noblest fruit; My
Love
Disclosed in Man his Lord, that he may prove
All things and thereby with My aid may reach
The summit of the truth I fain would teach, That all man’s probing eye and mind can
see
Hath but one purpose: to uncover Me.
By every grain of dust shall man be told Of Me. The rushing wind shall cry: “Behold!”
The still, small Voice within his heart Shall whisper low: ttj am of God a part.”
Lo all things, from their silence shout aloud! My Voice falls from each bright or lowering cloud!
My Trumpet peals from every star and clod:
“There is no God but Me - but Me no God!”
Why else should I create, 0 son of man?
In My eternal Being hid I knew
My love in thee and framed a gracious Plan,
Age-long, in which I might My Self re-view
And see My Love expressed in Form and Power.
Thus through the ages, countless hour by hour,
Have I in It made known My Love; to Man Revealed My Beauty. “Be!” My Will but
spake
And My beloved Creation came awake To mention Me.
Wherefore love only Me
That My Command may summon thee to Be.
Man Speaks:
O God! The spacious picture is too vast!
My struggling mind entangled in the net
Of all the differing teachings of the past
In vain strives to get free. I pray Thee let
Me penetrate the clouds still hiding Thee!
Of what avail can all these marvels be If still they are enigmas unto me?

God Speaks:
Perchance, My son, thy strivings are too great:
Let now thy frenzied agonies abate.
It may be thou shalt find all thy alarms
Are struggles in the folding of My Arms.
If thou abandon self and love but Me
My hastening Love with joy embraceth thee:
But if, content with self, thou lovest Me not
My Love is vain, since in thy heart no spot
It finds to rest.
Let fevered strivings cease,
Upon each soul who follows guidance - Peace!
Man Speaks:
Thou knowest that I love Thee, blessed Lord!
My thirsty heart is drinking in Thy Word,
This water which is life. A stranger I,
Returning to my Home Supreme. I cry
Aloud for help. Where shall I find a Guide
To lead me through this thorny desert wide?
God Speaks:
If Thou in some vast wilderness shouldst be
And longing for thy home, what wouldst thou do?
Wouldst thou not seek a height, if but a tree, Whence thou couldst all surrounding country view?
And if a lofty mountain thou couldst climb Thou wouldst not grudge the bleeding feet,
nor time
However weary, if thy long-lost home
Thou thence mightst glimpse, and need no longer roam
The wilderness, and to thy fireside come.
If, then, thou seekest a Guide unto thy Home
Eternal turn unto the mountain peaks
Of men, that by their counsel thou mayest come
To what thy heart desires and thy soul seeks.
For never have I left My world without
A Witness unto Me. Their mighty shout
Hath summoned men alway unto My Path,
The straight and narrow Path that to their life
Of freedom leads. Their wisely severing knife

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Cuts all earth’s bonds. To him who, listening, hath
But heeded Their sweet call, of all most sweet,
And hath with girded loins, and eager feet, And heart courageous, trod this Path, he
comes,
He surely comes to Me his Home of homes.
If thou My Holy Spirit then wouldst gain, And to the world of Certitude attain, Join company with those blessed Noble
Ones
Who through the rolling ages have like suns Illumined men and nations. They have
quaffed
Of My Immortal Chalice. They have laughed
Disdainfully at all this world could do:
For, dwelling on the topmost Heights, They view
The Promised Land. They quicken all the dead
Within the tomb of self. 0 let them lead Thee to thy destined Home—My Pleasant
mead!
Man Speaks:
Ah, how my heart responds to every word!
Can I, then, really find a Guide, my Lord?
A very Man, who wisely in mine ear
Shall whisper all my spirit longs to hear?
Who is He, God? Where is He? That I may
This instant rush and all my problems lay
At His dear feet? The wind is not so fleet
As I shall be. My inmost heart’s aflame!
Tell me His Name, 0 God! His Name! His Name!
God Speaks:
O heart presumptuous! 0 thy hasty word!
Is it so easy, then, to find thy Lord
Amongst thy fellow-men? If Him you find
He may not be at all unto your mind.
Perhaps a murderer as Moses was;
Perhaps a camel-driver, friendless, poor;
Perhaps a peasant workman, fatherless,
Despised and scorned, forsaken of all men.
Wouldst thou, then, that He was thy Guide, be sure?

And wouldst thou recognize His glory then?
And if thou didst it may be He might ask Of thee some difficult, some mighty task.
He might renunciation seek of thee:
Might say, “What wilt thou sacrifice for Me?
Art thou prepared to face the worldling’s scorn
That thou mayest into My new Life be born:
Prepared to shun the song thy fathers sung And seek sole guidance from My rapturous
Tongue?”
For when My Messengers to any age
Bring My new Law, They cancel every page
Writ by the past except the page of Love,
For this is writ on Tablets firm as rock
Unchanging, ageless: and Their hands unlock
With love the door that to My Kingdom leads,
Blest is the soul who Their injunction heeds.
They speak not as the scribes, with learned lore
Culled from the out-worn teachings of the past,
Which leave men darker than they were before,
As blind lead blind.
They speak not as men speak.
In accents wise and yet sublimely meek They tell of what I whisper to Their soul.
But even They tell not the Story whole,
For men cannot receive it. Many things
They would reveal if mankind had the wings
To soar with Them to Where, beyond men’s sight,
And hidden from their searching mind, I dwell, veiled in pure Love, behind My seventy thousand barriers of light.
“What go men out to see when they’d behold A Prophet?” Was the question asked of old:
“A reed by breezes shaken?”
Aye, a Reed— An empty Reed, and shaken by the Breeze Of My new Revelation. Such are these,

SONG OFFERINGS

The Guides of men, They speak My Word, indeed.
Blest are the souls who to Their Beauty look, And whom the Fragrance of My Union
shook,
And to My Day-Spring turn. My Blest are they
Who from their darkness glimpse Eternal Day
And rise amongst the dead to mention Me.
For they have resurrected from the tomb
Of self: no longer captive in the womb
Of Nature they are now sublimely free,
And all desires fulfilled in meeting Me.
To every age My Prophets speak of Me;
To every cycle give what men can bear.
My Trumpets They who call men to be free.
They call all men: but to My chosen Few, Who heed My clarion Trumpet when they
hear,
New Heavens and earths disclose.
These nothing fear
But, hoisting their heart’s anchor, which hath clung
With passionate attachment to the clay
Of mortal perishings, all bravely steer
Their ship of life into My Course.
These brew
Celestial nectar from earth’s horrid stew;
They make of their heart’s blood a vintage rare
For My loved lips. They turn their backs on all
Which heretofore held their whole lives in thrall.

When from this art free
What hath that

thee!

Man Speaks:
Anon I heard Thy heavenly accents say:
Blest are the souls who rise amidst the dead
Attaining to Thy Union: but I’ve read
That this can happen on Thy Judgment Day
Alone, Enlighten my dense darkness, pray!

God Speaks:
Each day is Judgment Day: but comes a Day
Of Days when I Myself in Power rise
Amongst the dead and open ready eyes
Unto My Glory.
In the atmosphere
Of faith in My past Prophets these have died To self, the world and all but Me beside.
Hast thou not heard? “Those who in Christ are dead
Shall meet Him in the air.”
These nothing fear
For they shall know Him when He doth appear,
No matter what His Name or Birth or Nation;
No matter what may be His earthly station, For from the sea of Names they long have
fled.
They know Him by the shining of His Light,
As those whose eyes are open see the bright
And cloudless sun: for the benign bestowing
Of His great bounties, like the sunlight flowing,
Declare Him. He hath Names unto the knowing.
Their spirits meet Him, their long-promised
One:
With man’s interpretations they have done;
Their longing hearts in Certitude find rest;
They recognize My Song and seek My Nest.
It is by this, of all My tests the Test Supreme, that men are judged. I judge them
not:
Man is himself the judge and his own lot
Decides: for he who turns away from Him,
My Chosen One, is thus discarding Me
And all My Messengers throughout the dim
And endless past. But those who see beneath
The veils which cloud the mirror of My Sun,
And in His breath My Holy Spirit breathe,
And in His Face, My Face, adoring, see,
And follow Him, obeying His command,
Have found Me and My Love. My Promised Land
They have attained.

world’s dark matrix thou stifling room to do with

These birds of paradise

THE BAHA’I WORLD

Hear My Celestial Song and swiftly rise
To meet Me. They can never any more
Be satisfied to flit on low-branched trees.
Their home is high, with Me. They, singing soar
And fling their joyous wings into My Breeze, And high above earth’s transient, petty
things
They shake its dust from sun-lit flashing wings.
But those poor earth-bound birds which chirp
And twitter their unreal imaginings,
And eagerly with clay besmear their wings,
And hence are all incapable of flight,
Seek in this mire their petty grains of food.
These rashly dare My Power to usurp
Of Judgment. On their heads be their own blood.
These seek to turn My Day-Spring into night;
They cloud My radiant, all-embracing Light
With literal interpretation. Vain
Are they of this, the melancholy cloud
Raised by their scratching feet.
They proudly stain
My glorious Morning with their raucous crowing,
And speak of Heaven and Hell as their bestowing.
Man Speaks:
Thy Heaven and Hell, 0 God! Thy Hell and Heaven!
How hath my spirit wrestled with these words!
How bath my wistful mind their meaning riven.
And for their fuller explanation striven!
I vainly seek to understand. The Lords
Of Life have seemed to speak of streets of gold
And pearly gates, where saints forever dwell In heavenly mansions.
And, again, they’ve told
Of fiery pits whose flame is never quenched And gnawing worm dies not, where fools
behold
Their endless doom because they rashly sold

Their capital of Life for fleshly lust,
Or fame, or some vain heritage of dust.
How often hath my childhood’s spirit blenched
Before this horror! 0 my God! Pray tell Me of this mystery of heaven and hell!
God Speaks:
O questioning lover! Couldst thou only know
One millionth part of what Love’s gifts bestow
On man, to answer this would be no task,
Nor such vain questions wouldst thou need to ask.
Know this, my son, thy Heaven is My Meet-

ink

And separation from Me, Hell.

These fleeting
Doubts and fears I bid thee put away:
This is My stern Command to thee, Obey!
Dost think that when My longing lovers call
To Me, and for My Holy Spirit pray,
That they do so for any hope of bliss
Or fear of doom? One only fear they know:
That from My Presence they should banished go;
One only hope, My garment’s hem to kiss.
The fragrance of that Garment’s holiness
Hath so intoxicated them with love
They seek for sacrificial ways to prove
Its purity. What pain hath hell in store
Compared with exile from My Loveliness?
What joys can heaven offer them that’s more
Entrancing than My smile and fond caress?
These comrades of My Everlasting Throne Seek Me for Love alone :—for Love alone.
The symbols which My holy Prophets used, And which man’s ignorance hath so abused, Were used to show what
absence from Me
meant
And found no words sufficed that vast intent.
Perforce They used the langauge which They found:
But through ephemeral words They sought to sound

SONG OFFERINGS

Eternal meaning. Read thou them aright,
And pray that I will open inner sight,
And thou shalt their significance perceive
And all the world’s interpretations leave.
These sing Celestial songs to deafened men; They write Celestial Truth with My pure
Pen
For purblind men to read. But man translates
Their Scroll of Love to satisfy his hates.
Men gaze through tinted glasses on My Book
Of Life and see their own imaginings.
They might have soared among Celestial things;
They might on stars and mystic beauties look;
They might have used My gift of such strong wings
To soar: but they prefer to flit around The underbrush and hug the sordid ground.
On men I have bestowed a priceless gift, The love of beauty, but their selfish lust Hath spun a web which binds them to
the
dust.
On Beauty’s Self they gaze, but cannot hft Their hearts, so clouded by corroding rust, Above the ground where shifting
shadows
are,
And through dark spectacles they stare
Unblinking at the splendrous Sun
Of My pure Prophet and pronounce it—dun.
They strain out gnats and swallow camels whole
And, doing thus, they lacerate My soul.
I say to thee again, and yet again:
My universe holds naught but love. I send
Upon the world the pains men see
But that they may be driven unto Me.
If earth held every joy would men attend
When to their hearts I call, or ever bend
Their footsteps, straying in the easy road,
So broad, and to their blindness blithe and sweet,
Into My narrow road?
They call it “wrath”
When I would urge My sheep into My Path,

And prick them sharply with My loving goad,
And beckon them to rest tkeir weary feet
In Pastures green and My cool waters greet.
Wouldst thou, then, gladly sin and suffer not?
Wouldst thou find every transient, earthly spot
So satisfying to thy pride to be
That thou wouldst never think of seeking Me?
I tell thee, 0 My son, If thou couldst know
The happiness, the peace, I would bestow
On tkee if thou wouldst listen to My Voice,
Thou wouldst not think of any other choice,
Nor dream that these fast-fleeting, shadowed days
Have any purpose but My love and praise.
Man Speaks:
Anon Thy animating Voice did say
That I must from the tomb of self arise
And soar with Thee into the blissful skies
Of Thy desire. How can I thus ascend
When this world’s shackles ‘round my limbs still bend?
God Speaks:
Why thinkest thou that I have made so fair
This world and showered on all My tender care?
Didst never hear of lilies and of birds
Which toil and spin not and yet never need?
And dost thou dare to dream that My pure seed,
The topmost point of My creation, man,
Is left outside the all-enclosing span
Of My protecting, My providing Hand,
Or that for him alone I have not planned?
Nay! Know that I have destined unto man
A fate so high he could not even scan
Those Heights with his earth-clouded eyes.
He feeds
His spirit with a food which conquers death.
All creatures saving man find their life’s needs

THE BAHA’t WORLD

Completely met when they are warmed and fed:
But in man’s timeless spirit I have bred
Eternal Life and I have breathed My Breath
Into his nostrils. He can never rest
Until his head is laid upon My breast.
ARGUMENT
Man asks concerning the problem of endless toil and fear of poverty. God explains the dignity of work if done in the spirit of service,
using Nature’s service as an illus Iration. Man fears that if he serves alone he will be trodden down by selfish men. Hence, he is told
an entirely new World Order is necessary and that His hosts are now building it. Man thinks this a dream, seeing no signs of this new
Order. God assures him that His Command has gone forth and must be obeyed. He is also told that all who work for Right are in His
Armies, whether they outwardly acknowledge Him or not, and that He has a Chosen Few who will lead His Hosts to victory. Man is at
last convinced and dedicates his life to the search for, and obedience to, His heavenly Guide. God promises His aid and confirmation.

Man Speaks:

HOUR THREE

Thy words have brought a calmness to my soul
Not known before: but yet I still am wide
From understanding. All around me roll
The strifes of men who put their selfish pride
And bodies’ need above all else beside.
And I too feel the pressure of my need;
I have aspired to more abundant life.
Should not man eagerly this longing feed
And seek the full enjoyment of this world
Wherein he hath, without consent, been hurled?
God Speaks:
Upon the sweetness of pure servitude
Man’s spirit feeds. I have adorned the face
Of Nature with this Truth: who of this food
Eats not can in My Kingdom find no place.

Yet see: its service makes thy nights and days!
And even the grass, in humble service sweet, Makes all the earth a carpet for thy feet
Shall man alone, defying My wise Plan, Demand a price to serve his brother man?
When man attains the station of re-birth
Into My Kingdom’s Love no more shall dearth
In midst of plenty curse the race of Man:
The meek shall then inherit all the earth.
Man Speaks:
If I am meek men tread me in the mire.
My spirit longs to serve none else but Thee,
But how can I be humble and aspire
To servitude? This world imprisons me.
o help me, God, My soul longs to be free!
God Speaks:
Throughout My universe I have ordained
The Law of Energy. Lo! All things work. Age-long My toiling spheres have not complained
Nor, slothful, sought their heaven-born task to shirk,
Yet note their endless travail. And behold
The atom! Here a universe unrolled
In miniature before thy wondering eye:
Its bright electrons see, they ceaseless ply
With noiseless speed and not a jot abate
Their toil, that they may aid Me to create.
Thus doth the universe acknowledge Me
And in its constant toil do reverence.
‘Tis man alone who in his work doth see
A means for selfish gain. To penitence
For this dread sin against My Love I called
Him by the scourge of crime and poverty,
That through his suffering he may wiser be,
And know work as a means to worship Me.
Lo, how the whole world now doth stand appalled
Before the wreck such wantonness hath made!
This is My bounty, making man afraid
Above all else to brave My chastening Rod:
Hence My Command to “Fear the Lord thy God.”

Behold thc sun: it asks no pay nor praise

SONG OFFERINGS

Man Speaks:
My Lord! How may I find Thee in my toil?
My heart leaps with new ecstasy to hear
That labor may no longer be to moil
And sweat beneath the awful lash of fear:
Ah, what a royal crown might Labor wear!
God Speaks:
How sweet is work, an attribute of Mine!
Shall man deprive himself of this divine
And sacred gift? Again I call to thee
And all men: seek in servitude the wine
Of union.
If thou wouldst My lover be
Pour all thy love on men; if thou wouldst find
True wealth of joy to thine own joy be blind;
If thou wouldst fill thy barns with harvest store
See that thy brother men shall have still more.
O give and all to thee shall then be given. How vainly men for self have fought and
striven
Throughout the ages! Is it not enough? Come, build on earth the Kingdom of My
Heaven!
Thus shall earth pour her riches in men’s hands;
To him who gives My stars give in their turn;
From one Ray of My Generosity Such Suns of generosity shall rise That men shall look on men with glad surprise
And wonder that it took so long to learn.
The splendor of this luminosity,
Which from My Sun shall pour upon all lands,
Shall bathe My people in Celestial light,
And all their terrors, creatures of the night
Of Self, their poverty and shame, the bands
Of steel which made their sordid toil a curse,
Shall, like all phantoms of the dark, take flight
And men shall find in work their truest prayer,
The fruits of which they all together share. This is the law of all My universe.

To all My World I call: This is a Day
The light of which beyond the noon-day sun
Is sanctified. It is the Day foretold.
See how the nations late so proud and bold
Are humbled in the shadow of their doom.
Their councils are in tumult; earthquakes roar
As the oppressed of men toss in the gloom, And threaten those whom late they bowed
before.
My Messenger hath come with healing wings And sword of Justice. To all wrong He
brings
Destruction; to the Right triumphant sway. This is the meaning of My Prophet’s Word:
“Behold the Great and Fearful Day of God.”
My Trump hath blown: My Holy, venging Sword
Hath cast the mighty from their seats. The sod
So long drenched with the blood of innocence
Shall bloom again. The time for penitence
Is past. My Justice and My Love shall reign
And earth shall be a paradise again.
Bewildered are the learned and the wise
Of this world, and the nations tremble sore
To their foundations.
But those blessed eyes
Which kept awake and watched that they might see
And greet My coming, these My Name adore And write upon their hearts My high Command.
They take My Chalice from My generous Hand
And drink with joy, their pure hearts all aflame,
And cry aloud in every Prophet’s Name:
“Praise be to Thee, our long-awaited Lord! Praise be to Thee, we cling to Thy strong
Cord!
Praise be to Thee, our souls to Thee are turning!
Praise be to Thee, beloved of our heart’s yearning!”

THE BAHA’T WORLD

This is the Day for which My dear Son prayed
And taught men thus to pray. He with My aid
Worked for My Kingdom; Its foundations laid
In all men’s hearts with loving servitude.
My kind forbearance made oppressors bold; My patience negligent their hearts hath
made,
Till now the flags of passion they unfold And ride their steeds to death all unafraid.
But know that I love Justice over all:
None may neglect it who desireth Me.
The hidden secrets of all hearts I see
And mark them well.
The wicked surely fall.
An eagle fierce is now pursuing them
And ordeals dire upon their footsteps tread.
Except they turn and grasp My Garment’s hem
Of justice, they are numbered with the dead.
For while they to their sure destruction ride,
My Spirit, once again enshrined in flesh,
My Very Self, comes hastening to man’s aid
And summons a vast Host, unto His side
To build My Kingdom on the ruined plan
For power which those rabid wolves have made.
The tread of these, My Hosts, shall shake the world,
And make each tyrant totter on his throne. Look! Even now have they not sternly
hurled
A horde of them unto their doom! Now prone
They lie who late their filthy dunghill strode And blatantly their barnyard triumph
crowed.
For all such cocks the last dread hour hath struck.
The vengeance of My marching Hosts shall pluck
Them from their seats. Among forgotten things
Soon—Soon shall they be numbered. Look! Their wings

Have now been clipped: they speedily shall fall
Into the pit they for their brothers dug
And none shall hark nor heed their dying call.
Man Speaks:
Thy Hosts! Thy Hosts triumphant? Who are these,
O God! I see them not. The tyrant seems
Triumphant: When one falls his vacant place
Is taken by another worse than he.
How canst Thou let such huge injustice be!
In vain man dreams of his long-sought release
From slavery to arrogance. His dreams
Of liberty and truth across the face
Of History float like a wraith. It seems
That warfare triumphs, not Thy promised Peace;
Of brotherhood sincere there’s scarce a trace.
God Speaks:
I am the Lord of Hosts! My hosts indeed
Are those who from all human ties are freed,
And rise to serve My Everlasting Truth.
Each one of them holds in his righteous hand
A trumpet, sounding loudly in each land
The call to free and more abundant life.
These walk above the world by My Great Name,
And, like a searing, devastating flame
Destroy the forts of wrong and still man’s strife.
From every human attribute set free
They take commands from Me—from only Me!
See how the shadow moveth when its lord,
The sun, commands. So do My servants stand
And move, and raze and build at My Command.
These rule the world with Justice, My Keen Sword.
My attributes adorn their earthly frame;
Their very names are lost in My Great Name;

SONG OFFERINGS

Their brows illumined with My Holiness They singing march all evil to redress.
So bath My love their total being won:
So bath It through their veins and arteries run,
That every part and limb obeys My Voice:
They can no other for they’ve made their choice.
When once My servants listen unto Me
They hear none else, for they at last are free
From all dependence on men’s praise or blame.
My smile their glory is, My frown their shame.
My Power assists them: one alone pursues
A thousand and ten times that number flee
At threat of two. Before their thundering feet
All strongholds fall as Jericho once fell.
The chains of slaves, the bars of prisons greet
Their shouts and vanish when they sound the knell.
Such are My Hosts. They have bound up their thews
With My all-conquering omnipotence. Who can resist them whom My Power endues!
The Tree of Man
Must bear My fruits. He must affirm My Plan.
He must abolish slavery and war.
He must compassion have on all My poor.
He must establish Justice in his gates.
All prejudice, all ignorance, all hates
He must abolish from his inmost part
And love his enemies with all his heart.
He must establish Unity; know all Religions, races, creeds and flags as one.
Humanity with two wings flies. If one Be clipped how can My servants soar and
sing?
Hence Woman must be free—her slavery done—
That she may fly with man on equal wing.

One language must he learn to speak, that so The winds of vague distrust may cease to
blow.
He must to all details of life apply
The Law of Love. Thus all his social needs
Shall be immersed in My pure Sea, and seeds
Of hatred, born of envy, quickly die.
For economic ills, howe’er involved
Are by the science of My Love resolved.
I have decreed all work to worship be, And work for service done is love for Me.
Man must all ancient barriers cast down,
Inherited from days when Nature made
Men strangers, pagans, foes unto each other.
All man-made walls that fearfulness bath laid
To keep man from his friendly, unknown brother,
Must nevermore upon My children frown.
Man must upon My Singleness agree; In all My Prophets see My Unity, And in Their Meeting know that they meet
Me.
For all are but the Trumpets of My Voice Who in My heart’s companionship rejoice, And bring men to My Kingdom
for their
choice.
All peoples must a general council call
To form a Parliament of Man, that all
Mankind in friendly conference may meet
And frame a Universal Law for Man,
The Race, based on My Word revealed today.
Blest is the soul who loves and serves his kind,
Not he who loves alone his native land.
Thus all My children gather at My feet;
Thus all conform to one generic Plan;
Thus all, with joy, My Will, not man’s, obey.
Men’s eyes shall then see Glory, late so blind. Rejoice! Rejoice! This is My fixed Command.
For Lo! My Day of Justice now bath dawned,
And hell its final wickedness hath spawned.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

All men who love this Light and tend Its burning:
All men who, prejudice and hatred spurning, Follow Its Gleam, are in My Host enrolled.
All men who have the Universal mind;
All men who limbs of weeping slaves unbind;
All men who for each thought of war do hold,
And firmly hold, a stronger thought of peace;
All men who in their inmost heart enfold
The Christian, Moslem, Jew, and never cease
Proclaiming Oneness; Men who treat the white,
The black, the yellow—each one as a flower
Within My Garden, varicolored light
Which makes My perfect spectrum; all who shower
My Knowledge on the eager minds, (what men
Call science), and who know they have found Me
Anew when any Truth is found, My Pen, My Pen Supreme, records such loyal men As of My Host: of such My
Kingdom be.
For that blest hour which no man knew hath rung;
My angels to man’s longing ear have sung; The Light bath shone from East unto the
West;
My wandering birds are homing to their Nest.
The thief was in the house while owner slept.
If only men had prayed and vigil kept
They would have known Me when in Man My Throne
I mounted, and My Light upon them shone.
With My great Besom now I sweep the world.
Soon all the flags of evil shall be furled.
The self-called great shall learn how small they are
When My transcendent Oneness they ignore.
All such are likened unto reckless boys
In puddles playing on My sea’s vast shore.
Soon they shall hear My venging Ocean roar

And see its waves o’erwhelm their childish toys:
And they themselves be swept to doom so great
That none would stoop to envy their estate.
Man Speaks:
O Glorious Lord! My heart is living song;
At last I glimpse the light for which I long.
My heart bursts with the hope of meeting Thee!
Now all my questions, asked and unasked, flee
Before Thy Mighty Word.
0, may I be
Enrolled with these, Thy chosen ones? May I
Be privileged to die, unknown, for Thee:
Or, self-forgetting, be allowed to live
And all my dedicated powers give
That my own fellow-men no more may lie
In graves of their own digging?
So may Thy
Long-promised Kingdom now be built on earth;
That so in midst of plenty may be dearth No more, and from all sorrowed, weeping
eyes
Shall tears be wiped away, and anguished cries Replaced by joyous song!
My eager being flies
To seek my longed-for, promised Guide;
Nor is the night so dark nor world so wide
But I shall find Him and His Word obey.
0, Voice of God! Assure success, I pray! Confer illumination on my day!
God Speaks:
When man calls unto Me with heart sincere
As thine, Lo! I become the very ear
With which he heareth My assured reply.

Unto thy eager knock My Love all doors unlock.

Man Speaks:

Now to myself at last—at last—I die! And, risen to true Life, armed with Love’s
sword,
I march beneath Thy banner, nor care when, Nor where, nor how I meet my shining Lord Enthroned in Man, for I shall
know Him
then!
SONG OFFERINGS

God Speaks:
My glory rests upon thee. On thy head
My confirmations fall.
Before thy tread
All obstacles shall fade and I will lead Thee to thy heart’s desire.
I grant release
To thee from bondage; from all fear surcease.
To every soul who followeth Guidance— Peace.

THE END

—HOWARD COLBY Ivus

VI

AT THE GRAVE OF THORNTON CHASE
O blessed spot! Where once the Master trod! ‘Twas here He lifted up His voice in
prayer,
Unto that Glorious One, with Him to share
His poignant grief. For here, beneath the sod,—
O’ershadowed by the murmuring leaYes
which nod
In autumn’s breeze—the earthly temple fair
Of him—His faithful son without compare,— Was laid,—this servant of the Will of God.
O holy shrine! They come from every land To honor him, in western world the first
To see the Light of this New Day. To whom
The Master station gave. His blest command With joy we heed. We seek his shrine,
athirst
For peace, which vibrates from this sacred tomb.

VII
—GE5ENA KOCH

LONE-STAR
Dedicated to Martha Root

Star-soul upon your further voyage bent, You leave our orbit gladdened by your light!

Through years, the purpose of your high intent
Was but to cleanse and uplift human sight
To Baha’u’lláh’s Sun of Truth!
To give this purblind world a youth
Of hopes and dreams, born of His Kingly word
Whose lucent power makes space a womb of wealth
Rich with a freedom forged in spirit’s fire!
Upon that anvil, you laid down desire
For the companioned ways of human love
And in lone beauty shone o’er many lands,
Your chart of hope surrendered to His hands.
The world was but a bead upon the thread Of your life’s work, a faith, a prayer, That moved so silken through the
weight
of night,
Cupping your heart, to catch the love and light
That lead this age to a transcendent morn! Who knows what mysteries shall there be

born?

—BEAYRICE IRWIN

VIII

THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
I know not how I chanced upon
That glorious Orb beneath the sun,
Nor can I now recall the way
That brought me to that Golden Day.
I only know it led along
Invis’ble tracks of even-song
And wound its way thru pricks and goads
Down dense and dark primeval roads.
I know not how I came upon
That splendid Orb beneath the sun;
I cannot tell . . . unless it be
That half-awake and aimlessly,
I wandered by, and, from within,
A gust of Love had drawn me in.
Or it may be, by way of sport,
A storm-cloud blew me to that Port.
I know not how, but one bright day
I found myself a cycle away
From bonds of dread and bonds of dearth,
Upon a new uplighted earth,
The like of which was neYer seen
By anyone, however keen,
Who lives bereft of inward mirth
Upon Today’s benighted earth.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

That Planet has no parallel
In any sphere where mortals dwell:
Supporting it as on a throne,
Its broad millenial cornerstone,
Around, before it and behind,
Proclaims the Oneness of Mankind;
The while a new and joyous dream
Supports each sacred, massive beam;
And the whole structure of its frame,
Alight with Justice and aflame
With Righteousness from base to dome,
Has rendered it a true World-Home,
Where all desire only the good
Of all its various brotherhood.
The Orb itself is like a tide
Of gold and grain on every side,
And overflows each vale and wold,
Like some great vat, too full to hold,
And spills in fountains gold and grain
On rugged places and on plain— That all may garner and may share
The plenty which is everywhere.
Besides its seas that shine and roll,
And oceans which surround it whole,
On one side rise from mists of things
White mountains like celestial wings;
And on the other, pillars rise,
Rise high and noble to the skies;
And here and there an arch and dome
As of castles in some starry home.
And all around in even flow,
Upon the high hills and the low,
Deep rivers feed the fertile lands
Like multitudes of loving hands.
There is no valley but has fountains,
No highland but has golden mountains,
No wilderness but has a pool,
And every root is glad and cool.
For, as, in gratitude, unto
A Kind, that’s merciful and true,
That keeps the Justice and the Peace,
Nor knows the ways of avarice,
The elements, it seems to me,
Work there in conscious ministry,
And they, together with the earth,
Contrive that bounty and that mirth.
The Orb, I said, is like a tide
Of gold and grain on every side .
But, ah! to what shall I compare
The peerless peoples assembled there!
The righteous nations that understand

Their Planet is a Fatherland!
What I saw there no man has seen
Save he so blest as there to’ve been,
Save he who chanced, with weary breath,
From out a world, plunged deep in death,
From out a sphere, impelled by din,
Outwardly live, but dead within,
To look into an Orb that beams
With Justice and with Truth redeems!
A World that knows not of such things
As risen clowns and fallen kings;
Or any place or path, along— Men straining at the leash of wrong;
Or burning yokes that bend awry;
Or cank’ring wounds that brutify;
Or rabid men commanding fate;
Or mad men at the helm of state;
A world where no one wants or needs,
Where no one prides or lusts or greeds,
Or grinds or crushes any more,
Or shatters or destroys by war;
Where all inventiveness and skill,
The learning and the common will
Is consecrated to a-grace
And dignify the human race.
And everywhere I saw the same,
In little lands and lands of name;
The teeming earth, the plenteous wine,
The shade and refuge of the vine,
And all the milk and myrrh and mirth
Are shared by all who dwell on earth.
And none who labor there are dreary;
And none who serve are ever weary;
And none are waxen fat and sleek;
And none are portionless and weak;
But all are strong and mount up high,
With wings, like eagles, to the sky;
And like the eagle, unbound and free,
Is all of that humanity;
And there is singing in the fields,
And there is gladness in the yields,
And understandings never cease,
And ah! there is no end of Peace.
And what a glory ‘twas to see,
(I did not dream such things could be),
A World all clean and wholly freed
Of every barrier of race and creed!
Whence everything, that leads astray,
Was swept, as by the wind, away;
Whence all the images of old,
The molten ones of brass and gold,

SONG OFFERINGS

And graven ones of silver bars,
That vied in shining with the stars,
Were cast away, like things unclean;
Are never spoken of or seen.
And none proclaims the praise of gain,
And none bow low to what is vain,
And none are serving turbid needs,
And none are trafficking in creeds,
And no false prophets, in disguise,
Are blinding men with baleful lies,
Not anywhere, in any place!
But everywhere a nameless grace
For every acre that World around
Is holy, consecrated ground,
And all the Sphere, with one accord,
The Tabernacle of the Lord— Since all cohere and all declare
The Oneness of Religion there.
And ah! this too was good to see;
A Planet, calm and tumult-free,
Whence all the uproar and mistrust
Has vanished in a cloud of dust:
As tho the Lord had stretched His Hand
And touched each mouth in every land— All speak a universal tongue!
And high and low and old and young,
And peoples from all parts and poles
Converse together like kindred souls
And members of a single band,
Or children of one native land.
And lo! there’s nowhere the confounding
And the confusion so astounding,
Which drove apart and led astray
The crumbling Babel of Today
But everywhere the harmony
Of branches on a leafy tree,
And pure, ah pure, enlightened hearts
And understanding in all parts;
And all the earth, replete with glory— Untold as yet in any story.
For how make known, to what compare
The bounties of the spirit there?
Such outpouring of nameless grace
As a United Human Race?
Or faiths of every shade and notion
Merged, like rivers in an ocean?
Or all the thousand tongues men spun
Reduced to clearness and to One?
And how describe and how compute
Such harvests of eternal fruit

As bowed-down men, grown straight and tall,
With Peace on earth, Good Will to all?
I know not how, I said, before,
I chanced upon that Golden Shore;
Nor can I tell what magic steed,
In faith or fun, had done this deed;
I know not how, I know not who,
But this I know, this thing is true:
I saw, with eyes undimmed and clear,
Tomorrow’s All-Inclusive Sphere,
Anchored in Truth that sets men free
And leads to all Infinity!

—SvLvXA MARG0LI5

Ix

ROARS THE LION

The world is charged with strife and din
As fiends engage in slaughter.
Confusion reigns; the blot of sin
Befouls air, land and water!
The Day of Wrath with violence booms,
Conflict of mind and matter.
Dense clouds but veil rehef that looms
Which armies cannot shatter!
Monarch of courtliness and grace
With strength beyond all measure,
Inspire the zeal to blend the race
Like rainbow in its azure.
What can subdue the wrath of death
With trumpet from the living breath?
Behold the King’s Majestic Might
Shall put all wrongs and woes to flight!
BEAMS THE SUN
O Day Star of the boundless skies
Unrivaled in thy splendor,
Our spirits yearn with stronger eyes
To view what thou dost render.
Without thy power to feast our sight,
Thy genial warmth to cheer,
What Stygian gloom would be our plight,
What bleakness and dull fear!
A sign thou art of Central Sun
Which rules the Realms of Right,
Around which circle as they run
Celestial Orbs of Light.

THE BAHA’i WORLD

And now to earth descend the rays
Of spirit from the glad New Sun
That ecstasy of love the days
May brighten with the task well done.
EXHALES THE ROSE
Of all the flowers that breathe to earth
The incense of the heart,
What sweetness can attain thy worth?
What charm approach thine art?
O lovely Attar, heavenly fee,
Thou rich, ethereal treasure,
A trace of thee, fond dreams of thee
Distend all nostrils’ measure.
Yet lovelier than fair Beauty’s goal,
Excelling its aroma
Is Fragrance wafted to the soul
Dispelling its dread coma.
In Garden planted by the Wise
Full-blooms the Rose of Paradise.
This Lure of East and Spell of West
Now binds them in heart-eager quest.
SINGS THE NIGHTINGALE
There’s music in expanse of air,
In sky and land and sea;
The concord of a nature rare
In mount and dale and lea.

What cadence in the anvil’s ring,
In orchestra and choir;
In gentle word that peace doth bring
In love’s expressive fire!
But Queen of Song with tender note
Heart ravishing in rhythm
Bids silence: And all others vote
That each tune in with Heaven!
So be it when the Muse of God
Which gave to man his voice,
Bestows upon this mundane clod
Clear Guidance for his choice.
O be all ears, all hearts unstopped
Sweet Strain of Words, Divinely dropped!
O Mirstic Bird, our souls release
To vibrate songs that joys increase!
CHORUS
The Bird and Rosc by night and day
To earnest souls glad news convey:
The Lion’s voice and Beam of Sun
Proclaim mankind though varied, one!
The New Earth clings to Him Who brings
To mortal man Seraphic things.
Supreme o’er all His Abhá fame.
His title is the Greatest Name!

—Louss G. GREGORY

III
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Prayer given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the Believers, in the
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Music BY DANE RUDHYAR

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IV
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME I—BAHA’I YEAR BOOK
AND
VOLUMES II, III, IV, V, VI, AND VII
THE BAHA’i WORLD
pict318.jpg
CONTENTS OF BAHA’i YEAR BOOK
VOLUME I
PART ONE
“0 Army of Life!”
A Statement of the Purpose and Principles of the Bahá’i Faith.
Outline of Bahá’i History.
The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
PART TWO
Extracts from Bahá’i Sacred Writings.
A Statement on Present-day Administration of the Bahã’i Cause.
Bahá’i Calendar and Festivals.
The Mashriqn’l-Adhkár.
Brief History of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in America.
Extracts from Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr Report.
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of ‘Ishqábãd.
Impressions of Haifa.
Kunj angoon.
Old and New Paths at Green Acre.
World Unity Conference.
PART THREE
National Spiritual Assemblies.
Leading Local Bahá’i Centers.
Bahá’i Periodicals.
Bibliography.
References to the Bahá’i Movement.
European and American Cities Visited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Transliteration of Oriental Terms Frequently Used in Bahá’i Literature.
Dr. J. E. Esslemont.
PART FOUR
The Relation of the Bahá’i Cause to Modern Progressive Movements.
The Unity of Civilixation.
Equality of Men and Women.
Esperanto and the Bahá’i Teachings.
Unity of Religions.
Science and Religion.
Universal Education.
Racial Amity.
The Economic Teaching of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
World Peace.
1009

1010 THE BAHA’i WORLD
VOLUME II
PART ONE
“0 Army of Life”—Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
A Statement of the Purpose and Principles of the Bahã’i Faith and Outline of Bahá’i History.
The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Survey of Current Bahâ’i Activities in the East and West.
PART TWO
Excerpts from Bahá’i Sacred Writings.
Soul, Mind, Spirit and the Essence of Divinity.
A Statement on Present-day Administration of the Bahá’i Cause.
Excerpts from the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd.
The Spirit and Form of Bahã’i Administration.
Declaration of Trust.
By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Excerpts from Letters of Shoghi Effendi.
Bahã’i Calendar and Festivals.
Bahá’i Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting.
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
Address of ‘Abdu’l-Bahã delivered at Bahá’i Convention, Chicago, 1912.
The Structure of the Bahá’i Temple.
Address delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the Dedication of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr Grounds, May, 1912.
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of ‘Ishqábád.
Impressions of Haifa.
Haifa, ‘Akká and Bahji.
Kunjangoon—The Village of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Through India and Burma.
Green Acre and the Ideal of World Unity.
References to the Bahi’i Faith.
Queen Marie of Rumania pays tribute to the beauty and nobility of the Bahã’i Teachings.
PART THREE
Bahá’i Directory, 1928.
Bahá’i National Spiritual Assemblies.
Bahã’i Spiritual Assemblies.
Bahi’i Groups with names and addresses of correspondents.
Bahá’i Groups.
Bahá’i Administrative Divisions in Persia.
Bahã’i Periodicals.
Bahá’i Bibliography.
Section One—List One: Bahá’i Publications of America.
Section Two—List Two: Bahá’i Publications of England.
—List Three: Bahá’i Literature in French.
—List Four: Bahá”i Literature in German.
—List Five: Partial List of Bahá’i Literature in Oriental Languages. Section Three—Alphabetical list of Bahá’i books
and pamphlets.

VOLUME III 1011
Section Four—References to the Bahá’I Movement in Non-Bahã’i works. Section Five—References to the Bahá’i
Movement in Magazines.
Transliteration of Oriental Terms frequently used in Bahá’i literature. Guide to the transliteration and pronunciation of
the Iranian alphabet.
PART FOUR
Introduction to The Promulgation. of Universal Peace.
Poem—”A Prayer.”
The Bahá’i Religion—Papers read at the Conference of Some Living Religions Within the British Empire, 1924.
Paper I—By Horace Holley.
Paper TI—By RÜbi Effendi Afnán.
Living Religions and the Bahá’i Movement.
The Bahá’i Attitude Towards Muhammad.
A Modern Interpretation of Mubammadanism.
The World-Wide Influence of Qurratu’l-’Ayn.
Souvenir Feast of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The Bahi’i Cause at the Universal Esperanto Congresses at Edinburgh and Danzig.
On the Borders of Lake Leman.
Translation of a Letter from the Tsraelitish Assembly of Bahá’is of Tihran, Iran.
Inter-Racial Amity
Appendix—Tablet to America revealed by Bahá’u’llah.
Bahá’i Persecutions in fran—An Appeal to His Imperial Majesty Riçlã Shah Pahlavi. Appendix One—Summary of
Bahá’i Teachings.
Appendix Two—Excerpts from Letters of Bahá’u’llãh to the Sulçan of Turkey and the Shah of fran.
Appendix Three—Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha concerning fran.
VOLUME III
PART ONE
“The City of Certitude”—Words of Baha’u’llah.
Aims and Purposes of the Baha’I Faith.
Baha’u’llah: The Voice of Religious Reconciliation.
The Dawn of the Baha’i Revelation. (From Na/ill’s Narrative.)
Survey of Current Bahá’i Activities in the East and West.
PART TWO
Excerpts from Bahá’i Sacred Writings.
The World Order of Raha’u’llah.
Present-day Administration of the Bahá’i Faith.
Excerpts from the ‘Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd.
The Spirit and Form of Baha’i Administration.
Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.
Text of Baha’i application for civil recognition by the Palestine Administration.

1012 THE BAHA’f WORLD
Facsimile of Bahá’i marriage certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’is of
Iran and Egypt.
Bahã’i Calendar and Festivals.
The M4shriqu’l-Adhkár.
Green Acre and the Bahã’i Ideal of Inter-racial Amity.
References to the Bahá’i Faith.
The Case of BahI’u’lláh’s House in BaglidId before the League of Nations.
Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney.
PART THREE
Bahá’i Directory, 1930.
Bahá’i National Spiritual Assemblies.
Bahá’i Spiritual Assemblies.
Bahá’i Groups.
Bahi’i Administrative Division in Persia.
Bahá’i Periodicals.
BahI’i Bibliography.
Bahá’i Publications.
of America.
of England.
in French.
in German and other Western Languages.
in Oriental Languages (partial list).
Alphabetical List of Bahá’i Books and Pamphlets.
References to the Bahá’i Faith in Non-Bahã’i works.
References to the Bahi’i Faith in Magazines.
Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá’i Literature with guide to the transhteration and
pronunciation of the Iranian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá’i Literature.
PART FOUR
Bahá’u’lláh’s Divine Economy: a Letter of Shoghi Effendi.
The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh: A Reflection, by G. Townshend.
‘Abdu’l—Bahá’s Visit to Woking, England.
Impressions of Haifa, by Alaine Locke, A.B., Ph.D.
The World Vision of a Savant, by Dr. Auguste Henri Forel.
The Cultural Principles of the Bahã’i Movement, by Dr. Ernst Kliemke.
The Relation of the Báb to the Traditions of Islam, by Wanden Mathews LaForge.
The Bahá’i Movement in German Universities, by Martha L. Root.
The City Foursquare, by Allen B. McDaniel.
Rehgion for the New Age, by John Herman Randall.
“Before Abraham Was, I Am!” by Thornton Chase.
The Races of Men—Many or One, by Louis G. Gregory.
Haifa—and the Bahá’is, by Dr. John Haynes Holmes.
A Visit to Rustum Vambéry, by Martha L. Root.
The Bahã’i Cause at the XXth Universal Congress of Esperanto at Antwerp, Belgium, August, 1928, by Martha L.
Root.
Shrines and Gardens, by Beatrice Irwin.
An Audience with King Feisal, by Martha L. Root.
VOLUME IV 1013
Bahá’u’lláh and His Teachings, Reprinted from the Japan Times and Mail.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Rabbi, by Willard P. Hatch.
Some Experiences Among the Poor in Brazil, by Leonora Holsapple.
A Trip to Tahiti, by Louise Bosch.
VOLUME IV
PART ONE
Bahá’u’lláh: The Voice of Religious Reconcihation.
Aims and Purposes of the Bahá’i Faith.
Martyrdom of the Báb (From NabIl’s Narrative).
Survey of Current Bahá’i Activities in the East and West.
Excerpts from Bahá’i Sacred Writings.
PART TWO
The World Order of Bahã’u’lláh.
Present-day Administration of the Bahá’i Faith.
Excerpts from the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Balsá.
The Spirit and Form of Bahá’i Administration.
Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Certificate of Incorporation by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the City of New York.
Documents related to the incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of the United States and
Canada as a recognized Religious Society in Palestine.
Petition addressed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada to the Prime
Minister of the Egyptian Government.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.
Facsimile of Bahá’i Marriage Certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahã’is of
Iran and of Egypt.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the United States Federal Government to the Declaration of Trust entered into by the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the Palestine Government incorporating the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is
of the United States and Canada as a Religious Society in Palestine.
Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation, The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the City of New York.
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
Foreword.
Architecture Expressing the Renewal of Religion.
God-intoxicated Architecture.
The Bahá’i Temple.
A Temple of Light.
A Statement by the Architect.
Dedication of the Temple.
A Glorious Gift—from a Shrine to a Shrine.
The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.

1014 THE BAHA’f WORLD
References to the Bahá’i Faith.
Further Developments in the Case of Bahá’u’lláh’s House: Extracts from the Minutes of the Permanent Mandates
Commission of the League of Nations.
Minutes of the Sixteenth Session: November 1929.
Minutes of the Nineteenth Session: November 1930.
Minutes of the Twentieth Session: June 1931.
Letter from the British Government.
Minutes of the Twenty-first Session: November 1931.
Extracts from the Report to the Council of the League of Nations. Bahã’i Calendar and Festivals.
Foreword.
Bahá’i Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting.
Additional Material gleaned from Nabui’s Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Bahá’i Calendar.
Historical Data gleaned from Nabui’s Narrative (Vol. II) regarding Bahá’u’llah. Short History of the International
Bahá’i Bureau at Geneva, Switzerland.
In Memoriam.
Miss Ethel Rosenberg.
Mrs. C. S. Coles.
Consul Albert Schwarz.
PART THREE
Bahá’i Directory, 1931-1932.
Bahá’i National Spiritual Assemblies.
Bahá’i Local Spiritual Assemblies and Groups.
Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada
Local Bahã’i Spiritual Assemblies and Groups in the United States and Canada.
Bahá’j Administrative Divisions in I ran.
Address of Centers of Bahá’i Administrative Divisions in Iran.
List of the Báb’s Best-Known Works.
Bahá’i Bibliography.
Bahá’i Publications of America.
Books about the Bahâ’i Faith.
Writings of the Báb.
Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Writings of Shoghi Effendi.
Prayers.
Bahá’i Literature in Pamphlet Form.
Compilations.
Bahã’i Publications of England.
Bahá’i Literature in French.
Bahá’i Literature in Italian.
Bahá’i Literature in Dutch.
Bahá’i Literature in Danish.
Bahá’I Literature in Swedish.
Bahá’i Literature in Portuguese.
Bahá’i Literature in Albanian.
Baha’i Literature in Esperanto.
Bahá’i Literature in Russian.
Bahá’i Literature in German.

VOLUME IV 1015
Bahã’i Literature in Oriental Languages.
Iranian.
Urdu.
Arabic.
Turkish.
Burmese.
Chinese.
Hebrew.
Tatar.
Gujrati.
Japanese.
Armenian.
Tamil.
Bahá’i Literature in Braille (for the Blind).
Bahá’i Periodicals.
References to the Bahá’i Faith in Books by non-Bahá’i Authors.
References to the Bahá’i Faith in Magazines by non-Bahá’i Writers. Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used
in Bahâ’i Literature with Guide to
Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Iranian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá’i Literature. Glossary.
PART FOUR
The Goal of a New World Order: A Letter of Shogbi Effendi.
The Way of the Master, by G. Townshend.
Italy and the Bahá’i Cause, by General Renato Piola Caselli.
The World Economy of Bahá’u’lláh, by Horace Holley.
Education as a Source of Good Will, by President Bayard Dodge.
Unity through Diversity: A Bahá’i Principle, by Alain Locke, A.B., Ph.D.
A Short Chronicle of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Visit to London, 1911-1912, by Lady Blomfield.
Professor Auguste Forel and the Bahá’i Teaching, by Stanwood Cobb.
A Tribute from Dr. Edmund Privat.
A Visit to ‘Akká, by Mrs. Alexander Whyte.
The First Fruits of Victory, by Keith Ransom-Kehler.
Where Is the Key to World Unity, by Louise Drake Wright.
A Visit to Bahji, by Nancy Bowditch.
Religion in Asia, by Herbert A. Miller.
China’s Tribute to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
Appreciations of the Bahã’i Movement, by Martha L. Root.
The Supreme Affliction, by Alfred E. Lunt.
The Bahá’i Movement and North American University Circles, by Martha L. Root.
Bahá’i Ideals of Education, by Stanwood Cobb.
Man and Mankind on the Way of Progress, by Lidja Zamenhof.
The Epidemic of the Persian Jews, by A. J. Wienberg.
The Younger Generation, by Mar.lyyih Nabil Carpenter.
Light on Basic Unity, by Louis G. Gregory.
The Bahá’i Movement in Japan, by Tokujiro Toni.
Science and Religion, compiled by Loulie A. Mathews.
A Bahá’i Traveler in Palestine, by Walter B. Guy, M.D.
Dr. David Starr Jordan, by Willard P. Hatch.
Song Offerings.
Echoes from the Spheres.

iol THE BAHA’f WORLD
VOLUME V
PART ONE
Aims and Purposes of the Bahá’i Faith.
Survey of Current Bahá’i Activities in the East and ‘West.
Excerpts from Bahá’i Sacred Writings.
The Passing of Bahiyyih Khánum, the Most Exalted Leaf.
PART TWO
The World Order of Bahã’u’llah.
Present-day Administration of the Bahá’i Faith.
Excerpts from the Will and Testament of tAlrdu’l-Bahci.
Genealogy of the Báb.
Genealogy of Bahá’u’llah.
Facsimile of Bahf’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’is of
Iran and of Egypt.
The Spirit and Form of the Bahá’i Administrative Order.
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’Is of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the United States Federal Government to the Declaration of Trust entered into by the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A.
Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Washington, D. C., U. S. A.
By-Laws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the City of New York.
Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Teaneck, New Jersey, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India and Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Esslingen, Germany.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi.Effendi.
Map of Bahá’i holdings surrounding and dedicated to the shrine of the Bãb on Mt. Cars-nd and tentative design of
terraces.
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkar.
Foreword,
The Bahf’i House of Worship.
The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar.
The Spell of the Temple.
A Statement by the Architect.
The Project of Ornamenting the Bahá’i Temple Dome.
Architectural Concrete of the Exposed Aggregate Type.
God-Intoxicated Architecture.
Model of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár at the Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago,
1933.
References to the Bahá’i Faith, by:
Archduchess Anton of Austria, Charles Baudouin, Prof. Norman Bentwich, Prof.
E. G. Browne, Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, General Renato Piola Caselli, Rev. T. K.

VOLUME V 1017
Cheyene, Valentine Chirol, Rev. K. T. Chung, Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of
Kedleston, Prof. James Darmesteter, Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, Dr. Auguste Ford,
Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, Dr. Henry H. Jessup, Prof. Jowett, Prof. Dimitry
Kazarov, Helen Keller, Harry Charles Lukach, Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania,
Alfred W. Martin, President Masaryk, Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Mr. Renwick
J. G. Millar, Prof. Herbert A. Miller, The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, Rev.
Frederick W. Oakes, Sir Flinders Petrie, Charles H, Prisk, Dr. Edmund Privat,
Herbert Putnam, Ernest Renan, Right Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, Emile Schreiber,
Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, Rev. Griffith J. Sparham, Shri Purohit Swami, Leo Tolstoy,
Prof. Arminius Vambéry, Sir Francis Younghusband.
Further Developments in the case of Bahá’u’lláh’s House in Baghdad.
Excerpts from the Minutes of the XXII session of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations: Nov.
3 to Dec. 6, 1932.
Excerpts from the Minutes of the XXIV sssion of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations: Oct.
23 to Nov. 4, 1933.
Note.
Mandates under the League of Nations.
Bahá’i Calendar and Festivals.
Foreword.
Bahá’i Feasts, knniversaries and Days of Fasting.
Additional Material gleaned from Nabli’s Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Bahá’i Calendar.
Historical Data gleaned from Nabli’s Narrative (Vol. II) regarding Bahá’u’lláh. Youth Activities Throughout the Bahi’i
World.
In Memoriam.
Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kebler.
Mrs. Agnes Parsons.
Yusuf Khan-i-Vujdani.
Dr. Arast Khán Hakim.
George Adam Benke.
Edwin Scott.
Mrs. Alice Barney.
Mrs. Lisbeth Klitzing.
Extracts from BahcI’I News.
PART THREE
Bahá’i Directory 1933-34.
Bahâ’i National Spiritual Assemblies.
Bahá’i Local Spiritual Assemblies and Groups.
Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Local Bahá’i Spiritual Assemblies and Groups in the United States and Canada.
Bahá’i Administrative Divisions in rán. -
Address of Centers of Bahá’i Administrative Divisions in Iran.
Alphabetical List of Bahâ’u’lláh’s Best-Known Writings.
List of the Báb’s Best-Known Works.
Bahá’i Bibliography.
Baha’i Publications of America.
Books about the Bahá’I Faith.
Writings of the Báb.
Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.

1018 THE BAHA’I WORLD
Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Writings of Shoghi Effendi.
Prayers.
Bahá’i Literature in Pamphlet Form.
Compilations.
Bahá’i Publications of England.
Bahá’i Literature in French.
Bahá’i Liter2ture in Italian.
Bahá’i Literature in Dutch.
Bahá’i Literature in Danish.
Bahá’i Literature in Swedish.
Bahá’i Literature in Portuguese.
Bahá’i Literature in Albanian.
Bahá’i Literature in Esperanto.
Baha’i Literature in Russian.
Bahá’i Literature in German.
Bahá’i Literature in Bulgarian.
Bahá’i Literature in Rumanian.
Bahá’i Literature in Czech.
Bahá’i Literature in Serbian.
Bahá’i Literature in Hungarian.
Bahá’i Literature in Greek.
Bahá’i Literature in Maori.
Bahá’i Literature in Spanish.
Bahá’i Literature in Oriental Languages.
Iranian.
Urdu.
Arabic.
Turkish.
Burmese.
Chinese.
Hebrew.
Tatar,
Gujrati.
Japanese.
Armenian.
Tamil.
Kurdish.
Bahá’i Literature in Braille (for the Blind).
Bahá’i Periodicals.
References to the Bahã’i Faith in Books by non-Bahá’i Authors.
References to the Bahá’i Faith in Magazines by non-Bahá’i Writers.
References by Bahá’is in non-Bahã’i Pubhcations.
Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá’i Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation
of the Iranian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá’i Literature.
PART FOUR
The Administrative Order in the Dispensation of Bahã’u’llah, from a letter of Shoghi Effendi.
The Descent of the New Jerusalem, by G. Townshend.

VOLUME VI 1019
The Spiritual Basis of World Peace, by Horace Holley.
In the Footsteps of the Pioneers, by Keith Ransom-Kehler.
The Orientation of Hope, by Alain Locke.
La Foic et Ia Science Unics par l’Art, by Marie Antoinette Aussenac, Princess de Brogue.
Religion and Social Progress, by Keith Ransom-Kehler.
Prince Paul and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia, by Martha L. Root.
A Religion of Reconciliation, by Rev. Griffith J. Sparham.
The Men of the Trees, by Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Les Problêmes du Monde et Ia Foie Bahã’i, by ‘All Afdalipur.
The Bahá’i Movement, the Greatness of Its Power, by Martha L. Root.
Der Sinn Unserer Zeit, by Dr. Hermann Grossmann.
Le Bahá’iism, by Eugen Relgis.
A Visit to Adrianople, by Martha L. Root.
The Re-florescence of Historical Romance in Nabil, by Mary Maxwell.
William Miller, Student of Prophecy, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
A New Cycle of Human Power, by Marion Holley.
An Appreciation, by Dr. Rustum Vambéry.
The True Sovereign, by Alfred E. Lunt.
The Nature of the Divine Manifestations, by Glenn A. Shook.
Religious Education for the Young, by Mrs. M. H. Inouye.
Why Do I Espouse the Bahi’i Cause? by Chi Kao Fujisawa.
Count Leo Tolstoy and the Bahá’i Movemenr, by Martha L. Root.
A Chinese View of the Bahá’i Cause, by Chan S. Liu.
Vernunft und Glaube, by Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel.
Influence of Astronomy on Religious Thought, by Giorgio Abetti.
Haifa Calling, by Florence E. Pinchon.
Taking the Message to the Maori People, by Keith Ransom-Kehler.
Only a Word, by Laura Dreyfus-Barney.
Song-Offerings.
Echoes from the Spheres.
Map of the Bahã’i World.
VOLUME VI
PART ONE
Aims and Purposes of the Bahá’i Faith.
Survey of Current Bahã’i Activities in the East and West.
Excerpts from Bahá’i Sacred Writings.
PART TWO
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
Present-day Administration of the Bahá’i Faith.
Introductory Statement.
Excerpts from the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.

1020 THE BAHA’i WORLD
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran.
Declaration and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Germany and Austria.
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and Burma.
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of ‘Iraq.
Text of Authorixation Issued for Registration by the Mixed Court in Egypt of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’is of Egypt.
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt.
By-Laws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of New York.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of New York.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Teancck, New Jersey, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Washington, D. C., U. S. A.
Petition of the Bahá’is of Montreal, Canada.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Bahi’is of Montreal, Canada.
By-Laws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of Montreal, Canada.
By-Laws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Esslingen, Germany.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Esslingen, Germany.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Karachi, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Calcutta, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Delhi, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of Bahã’is of Rangoon, Burma.
Certificate of Registration of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Daidanaw, Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of Mandalay, Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Auckland, New Zealand.
Documents Related to the Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and
Canada, as a Recognixed Religious Society in Palestine.
Certificate of the Palestine Government Incorporating the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the United
States and Canada, Palestine Branch, as a Recognized Religious Society in Palestine.
Text of Application to the Palestine Government for Incorporation of the

VOLUME VI 1021
Palestine Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and Burma.
Certificate of the Palestine Government Incorporating the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and
Burma, Palestine Branch.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the word “Bahã’i.”
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the symbol of the Greatest Name.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Canadian Government covering the name “Bahá’i.”
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Canadian Government covering the symbol of the Greatest Name.
Bahã’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran.
Bahã’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt.
Bahâ’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of ‘Iraq.
Bahã’i Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahâ’is of Iran.
Outline of Bahá’i Laws regarding matters of Personal Status submitted for recognition to the Egyptian Government by
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt.
Text of the Farmán issued by sulØn ‘Abdu’l-’Aziz banishing Bahã’u’lláh to ‘Akká, Palestine.
Text of the Resolution presented to President Franklin D. Roosevelt by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is
of the United States and Canada.
Map showing Travels of the Bab and Bahã’u’lláh.
Map showing Section of Route followed by Bahá’u’lláh on His Journey from Baghdad to Constantinople.
Map showing Path of Travel of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the United States of America and Canada, 1912.
Facsimile of Tablet addressed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahã to the Chicago “House of Justice.”
The Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
Foreword.
The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr.
The Bahf’i Temple—Why built near Chicago?
The Five Billion Carat Gem Bahá’i Temple at Wilmette, Ill.
Temple Echoes from the World’s Fair.
The BahI’i Temple—An Appreciation.
A Temple of Universal Religion.
Concrete Fulfills a Promise.
Bahã’i Calendar and Festivals.
Foreword.
Bahá’i Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting.
Bahá’i Holy Days on which Work should be Suspended.
Additional Material Gleaned from NabIl’s Narrative (Volume II) regarding the Bahã’i Calendar.
Historical Data Gleaned from Nabui’s Narrative (Volume II) regarding Bahá’u’lláh.

1022 THE BAHA’I WORLD
Youth Activities Throughout the Bahá’i World.
Bahá’i Youth—An Estimate and Survey of International Events. Bahá’i Youth in Iran.
Plays and Pageants.
Story of the Pageant “The Gate of Dawn.”
The Drama of the Kingdom.
Pageantry as a Factor in Education.
References to the Bahá’I Faith.
Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania.
Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University.
Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford.
Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of British Academy.
Prof. Arminius Vambéry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth.
Harry Charles Lukach.
Sir Valentine Chirol.
Prof. Jowett, Oxford University.
Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.
Prof. James Darmesteter, École des Hautes Etudes, Paris.
Charles Baudouin.
Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D.
Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston.
Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.I.; K.C.I.E.
The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous.
Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A.
Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.
Leo Tolstoy.
Dr. Edmund Privat, University of Geneva.
Dr. Auguste Forel, University of Zurich.
General Renato Piola Caselli.
Rev. Frederick W. Oakes.
Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O’Groat Journal, Wick, Scotland.
Charles H. Prisk.
Prof. Han Prasad Shastni, D.Litt.
Shri Purohit Swami.
Prof. Herbert A. Miller, Bryn Mawr College.
Right Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P.
Rev. K. T. Chung.
Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, University of Sofia.
Rev. Griffith J. Sparham.
Ernest Renan.
The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L.
Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Emile Schreiber, Publicist.
Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan.
Miss Helen Keller.
Sir Flinders Petrie, Archaeologist.
President Masaryk of Czechslovakia.
Archduchess Anton of Austria.
Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons.
H.R.H. Princess Olga of Jugoslavia.
Eugen Relgis.
Arthur Henderson.
Prof. Dr. V. Lesny.

VOLUME VI 1023
Princess Marie Antoinette de Brogue Aussenac.
President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University.
Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugoslavia.
Ex-Governor William Sulzer.
Luther Burbank.
Prof. Yone Noguchi.
Prof. Raymond Frank Piper.
Angela Morgan.
Arthur Moore.
Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia.
A. L. M. Nicolas.
President Eduard BeneL
In Memoriam.
Susan I. Moody.
Hooper Harris.
Harry H. Romer.
Howard Luxmoore Carpenter.
Edward C. Getsinger.
Sarah Blundell.
Khalil Qamar.
FUji Muhammad Yazdi.
Extracts from “Bahã’i News.”
PART THREE
Bahá’i Directory, 1935-1936.
Bahá’i National Spiritual Assemblies.
Bahá’i Local Spiritual Assembhes and Groups.
Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Local Bahá’i Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in the United States and Canada.
Bahâ’i Administrative Divisions in Iran.
Address of Centers of Bahá’i Administrative Divisions in Iran.
Alphabetical List of Bahã’u’lláh’s Best-Known Writings.
List of the Mb’s Best-Known Works.
Bahá’i Bibliography.
Bahá’i Publications of America.
Books About the Bahã’i Faith.
Writings of the Mb.
Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Writings of Shoghi Effendi.
Prayers.
Bahá’i Literature in Pamphlet Form.
Compilations.
Outlines and Guides for Bahá’i Study Classes.
Bahâ’i Publications of England.
Bahá’i Literature in French.
Bahâ’i Literature in Italian.
Bahã’i Literature in Dutch.
Bahá”i Literature in Danish.

1024 THE BAHA’I WORLD
Bahá’j Literature in Swedish.
Bahá’i Literature in Portuguese.
Bahá’i Literature in Albanian.
Bahá’i Literature in Esperanto.
Bahá’i Literature in Russian.
Bahá’i Literature in German.
Bahá’i Literature in Bulgarian.
Bahá’i Literature in Rumanian.
Bahá’i Literature in Czech.
Bahá’i Literature in Serbian.
Bahá’i Literature in Hungarian.
Bahá’i Literature in Greek.
Bahá’i Literature in Maori.
Bahá’i Literature in Spanish.
Bahá’i Literature in Norwegian.
Bahá’i Literature in Croatian.
Bahá’i Literature in Oriental Languages.
frinian.
Urdu.
Arabic.
Turkish.
Burmese.
Chinese.
Hebrew.
Tatar.
Gujrati.
Japanese.
Armenian.
Tamil.
Kurdish.
Sindhi.
Bengali.
Hindi.
Abyssinian.
Bahá’i Literature in Braille (for the Blind).
Bahá’i Periodicals.
References to the Bahá’i Faith in Books and Pamphlets by non-Bahá’i Authors.
References to the Bahã’i Faith in Magazines by non-Bahá’i Writers.
References to the Bahã’l Faith in Bahá’is non-Bahá’i Publications. Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in
Bahá’i Literature with Guide to
Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Iranian Alphabet, and Notes on the Pronunciation of Iranian Words.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá’i Literature.
PART FOUR
Articles and Reviews.
Religion and World Order, by Horace Holley.
Queen Marie of Rumania, by Martha L. Root.
The Epic of Humanity, By Christophil.
President Eduard Bene, by Martha L. Root.
Spiritual Perspectives, by Prof. Raymond Frank Piper.

VOLUME VII 1025
Splendor at the Core, by Angela Morgan.
Bahá’i-Glaube und Christentum, by Dr. Eugen Schmidt.
Bahá’ismo kaj la Socia Problemo, by Prof. Paul Christaller.
Bahá’u’llâh’s Ground Plan of World Fellowship, by Archdeacon George Townshend.
Die Bahf’is und meine Erfahrungen, by Prof. Dr. J. Rypka.
Impressions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, by Louise R. Waite.
Zwei Heilige Grabstatten, by Dr. Adelbert MUhlschlegel.
In Praise of Words, by Helen Bishop.
The Continuity of Religion, by Stanwood Cobb.
The Most Great Peace, by Marion Holley.
King Haakon of Norway, by Martha L. Root.
Some Memories of the Sojourn of ‘Abdu’I-Bahá in Paris, by Lady Blomfield.
Racial Likenesses and Differences: the Scientific Evidence and the Bahá’i Teachings, by Louis G. Gregory.
Denmark’s Oriental Scholar, by Martha L. Root.
La Bahâa Filozofio, by Lidja Zamenhof.
The Bahá’i Movement, by Renwick J. G. Millar.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Historic Meeting with Jane Addams, by Ruth J. Moffett.
The Soul of Iceland, by Martha L. Root.
Em Junger Glaube wird Bekannt, by Dr. Hermann Grossmann.
South America: Journey Taken in the Interest of the Bahâ’i Cause, by Loulie A. Mathews.
Ghmpses of Sweden, by Olivia Kelsey.
Russia’s Cultural Contribution to the Bahá’i Faith, by Martha L. Root.
A Bahá’i Incident from the Netherlands, by Louise Drake Wright.
Mr. Harald Thilander and his Publications for the Bhnd in Sweden, by Nellie S. French.
The Modern Miracles of Palestine, by Beatrice Irwin.
A New Future for Radio, by Shirley Warde.
Song Offerings.
Echoes from the Spheres.
Map of Iran Showing Bahá’i Centers.
Map of the United States of America Showing Bahá’i Centers.
CONTENTS VOL. VII
PART ONE
Aims and Purposes of the Bahâ’i Faith.
Survey of Current Bahá’i Activities in the East and ‘West.
Excerpts from Bahá’i Sacred Writings.
Commemoration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s Visit to America.
PART TWO
The World Order of Bahã’u’llãh.
Present-day Administration of the Bahá’l Faith.
Introductory Statement.
Excerpts from the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.

1026 THE BAHA’i WORLD
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Inn.
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Germany and Austria.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of India and Burma.
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq.
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt.
Facsimile of Document related to the Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Australia and New Zealand.
By-Laws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahã’is of New
York, N. Y., U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Kenosha, Wisconsin, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Racine, Wisconsin, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Detroit, Michigan, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Los Angeles, California, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Cleveland, Ohio, U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Minneapolis, Minn., U. S. A.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Bombay, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Poona, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Adelaide, Australia.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the “World Order Magazine.”
Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Rahá’is of Iran.
Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt.
Bahá’i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of ‘Iraq.
Certificate of Marriage issued by the Palestine Government and delivered to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of
Haifa for official registration.
Bahá’i Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Iran.

VOLUME VII 1027
Bahá’i Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahi’is of Egypt.
Translation of the Record of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s voice.
Map of Bahá’i holdings showing extension of properties surrounding and dedicated to the shrine of the Bãb on Mt.
Carmel.
The Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkãr.
Foreword.
The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar.
Progress of Temple Ornamentation.
Interesting Experiences with Temple Visitors.
References to Bahá’i House of Worship in U. S. Steel News.
When Bahá’is Build a Temple.
Bahá’i Calendar and Festivals.
Foreword.
Bahá’i Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting.
Bahá’i Holy Days on which Work should be Suspended.
Additional Material Gleaned from Nabui’s Narrative (Volume II) regarding the Bahá’i Calendar.
Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil’s Narrative (Volume II) regarding Bahã’u’llãh.
Youth Activities Throughout the Bahá’i World.
The World Activities of Bahá’i Youth, 1936 to 1938.
Excerpts from Baha”I Youth, 1937 to 1938.
References to the Bahá’i Faith.
Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania.
Prof. P. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University.
Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford.
Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of the British Academy.
Prof. Arminius Vambéry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth.
Harry Charles Lukach.
Sir Valentine Chirol.
Prof. Jowett, Oxford University.
Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.
Prof. James Darmesteter, École des Hautes Etudes, Paris.
Charles Baudouin.
Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D.
Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston.
Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E.
“The Christian Commonwealth,” Anonymous.
Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A.
Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.
Leo Tolstoy.
Dr. Edmund Privat, University of Geneva.
Dr. Auguste Forel, University of Zurich.
General Renato Piola Caselli.
Rev. Frederick W. Oakes.
Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of “John O’Groat Journal,” Wick, Scotland.
Charles H. Prisk.
Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, D.Litt.
Shri Purohit Swami.
Prof. Herbert A. Miller, Bryn Mawr College.
Viscount Samuel, G.C.B., M.P.

1028 THE BAHA’I WORLD
Rev. K. T. Chung.
Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, University of Sofia.
Rev. Griffith J. Sparham.
Ernest Renan.
The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L.
Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Emi1e Schreiber, Publicist.
Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan.
Miss Helen Keller.
Sir Flinders Petrie, Archaeologist.
President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia.
Archduchess Anton of Austria.
Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons.
H.R.H. Princess Olga of Jugoslavia.
Eugen Relgis.
Arthur Henderson.
Prof. Dr. V. Lesny.
Princess Marie Antoinette de Broglie Aussenac.
President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University.
Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugoslavia.
Ex-Governor William Sulzer of New York.
Luther Burbank.
Prof. Yone Noguchi.
Prof. Raymond Frank Piper.
Angela Morgan.
Arthur Moore.
Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia.
A. L. M. Nicolas.
President Eduard Bene of Czechoslovakia.
In Memoriam.
Alfred E. Lunt.
Dr. Zia Bagdádi.
Mrs. Laurie C. Wilhelm.
Mrs. Mary Hanford Ford.
Elmore E. Duckett.
Colonel Dr. I. Piriizbakht.
Mirth Muhammad Kázim-Pür.
Dr. Y. S. Tsao.
Dr. Muhammad Bashir.
Miss Malakat Nüshflgati.
Extracts from Bahd’I News.
PART THREE
Bahá’i Directory, 1937-1938.
Bahá’i National Spiritual Assemblies.
Bahá’i Local Spiritual Assemblies and Groups Alphabetically listed according to Nations.
Abyssinia.
Albania.
Australia.
Austria.

VOLUME VII 1029
Belgium.
Brazil.
Bulgaria.
Burma.
Canada.
Caucasus.
China.
Czechoslovakia.
Denmark.
Egypt.
France.
Germany.
Great Britain and Ireland.
Hawaiian Islands.
Holland.
Hungary.
Iceland.
India.
Iran.
‘Iraq.
Islands (Society Islands).
Italy.
Japan.
Jugoslavia.
New Zealand.
Norway.
Palestine and Transjordania.
Poland.
Rumania.
Russia.
South Africa.
Sidán.
Sweden.
Switzerland.
Syria.
Tunisia.
Turkey.
Turkistán.
United States of America.
‘West Indies (British).
Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada.
Local Bahá’i Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in the United States and Canada.
Bahâ’i Administrative Divisions in Iran.
Addresses of Centers of Bahá’i Administrative Divisions in Iran.
Alphabetical List of Bahá’u’lláh’s Best-Known Writings.
List of the Báb’s Best-Known Works.
Bahá’i Bibhography.
Bahá’i Publications of America.
Books About the Baha’i Faith.
Writings of the Bab.
1030 THE BAHA’i WORLD
Writings of Bahá’u’Iláh.
Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
Writings of Shoghi Effendi.
Prayers.
Bahã’i Literature in Pamphlet Form.
Compilations.
Outlines and Guides for Bahá’i Study Classes.
Bahã’i Publications of England.
Bahã’i Publications in French.
Bahá’i Publications in Italian.
Bahá’i Publications in Dutch.
Bahá’i Publications in Danish.
Bahá’j Publications in Swedish.
Bahá’i Publications in Portuguese.
Bahá’i Publications in Albanian.
Bahá’i Publications in Esperanto.
Bahá’i Publications in Russian.
Bahá’i Publications in German.
Bahá’i Publications in Bulgarian.
Bahá’i Publications in Rumanian.
Bahã’i Publications in Czech.
Bahá’i Publications in Serbian.
Bahá’i Publications in Hungarian.
Bahá’i Publications in Greek.
Bahá’i Publications in Maori.
Bahá’i Publications in Spanish.
Bahá’j Publications in Norwegian.
Bahá’i Publications in Croatian.
Bahá’i Publications in Icelandic.
Bahá’i Publications in Oriental Languages.
Iranian.
Urdu.
Arabic.
Turkish.
Burmese.
Chinese.
Hebrew.
Tatar.
Gujrati.
Japanese.
Armenian.
Tamil.
Kurdish.
Sindhi.
Bengali.
Hindi.
Abyssinian.
Bahá’i Literature in Braille (for the Blind).
Bahi’i Periodicals.
References to the Bahá’i Faith in Books and Pamphlets by non-Bahã’i Authors.
References to the Bahá’i Faith in Magazines by non-Bahâ’i Writers.
References to the Bahá’i Faith by Bahá’is in non-Bahã’i Publications.

VOLUME VII 1031
Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá’i Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation
of Iranian Alphabet and Notes on the Pronunciation of Iranian Words.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá’i Literature.
PART FOUR
Articles and Reviews.
The Seven Valleys by Bahã’u’lláh; A Meditation, by G. Townshend.
The World of Heart and Spirit, by Horace Holley.
A Session at the World Congress of Faiths, by Helen Bishop.
Importance de l’Idée Spirituelle dans la Vie Actuelle, by Lucienne Migette.
Racial Amity in America, by Louis G. Gregory.
Aus dem Leben des Bãb, by Erna Schmidt.
Dawn over Mount Hira, by Marçliyyih Nabil Carpenter.
The Bahã’i Faith and Eastern Scholars, by Martha L. Root.
The Unity of Nations, by Stanwood Cobb.
Changing Race Relations, by Maxwell Miller.
Bahá’i, from “La Sagesse de l’Orient,” by Dr. Edmund Privat.
Sources of Community Life, by Marion Holley.
A Brief Account of Thomas Breakwell, by May Maxwell.
Unity of Races, by Genevieve L. Coy.
Mankind the Prodigal, by Alfred E. Lunt.
The Fulfillment of Religion, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
A World Community, by George 0. Latimer.
The Call to Germany, by Alma Knobloch.
The Manifestation, by Albert P. Entzminger.
Hear, 0 Israel, by Dorothy K. Baker.
The Rosary, by Nellie S. French.
Marriage in the Bahá’i Faith, by Rosemary Sala.
Learning to Live Together, by Martha L. Root.
Bahá’i Radio Program, delivered over Station “WHN,” New York.
The Bust of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, by Mrs. Stannard.
African Experience, by Loulie A. Mathews.
The Non-Political Nature of the Bahá’I Cause, by Emily M. Axford.
Teaching the Cause of Bahá’u’llãh in Distant Lands, by Nellie S. French.
Two Letters of Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst from “Persia by a Persian.”
A Tribute from Iceland, by Hólmfridur Arnadóttir.
Song Offerings.
Echoes from the Spheres.
Map of the United States and Canada Showing Bahi’i Centers.
MAPS OF TEACHING REGIONS OF THE UNITED
STATES. AND CANADA, OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH
AMERICA
AND OF THE BAHA’I WORLD
Map of Central America Teaching Region

pict321.jpg

CENTRAL AMERICA
Guatemala
(1) 193 6-1937 Journey of E. R. Mathews and L. A. Mathews.
1939-1940 First resident teacher, Gerrard Sluter.
1940 Señor Francisco Acker, 15 Calle Poniente 24, in charge of group
left by Mr. Sluter.
Salvador
(2) 1939-1940 First resident teacher, John Eichenauer, joined later by Clarence Iverson. Address: 11 a Ave. Sur No. 43,
San Salvador.
Honduras
(3) 1939-1940 Antonio Roca, first teacher, Tegucigalpa.
1940 Gerrard Sluter, resident teacher, formed large group. Executive
Committee in charge: Senor Angela Ochoa Velasquez, Chairman.
Senor José Leon Ruiz, Secretary. Address: Bo. “El Socorro” D. C.,
Comayaguela, Honduras.
Nicaragua
(4) 1939-1940 First resident teacher, Mathew Kaszab. Address: c/o U. S. Consul,
Managua, Nicaragua.
1936-1937 Journey of E. R. Mathews and L. A. Mathews.
Costa Rica
(5) 1936-1937 Journey of E. R. Mathews and L. A. Mathews.
1940 First resident teachers, Mrs. Gayle ‘Woolson. Address: c/o Ameri ca Consul, San José, Costa Rica.
Mrs. Amalia Ford.
Pan ama
(6) 1919 Journey of Martha Root.
1920 Journey of Leonora Holsapple.
1934-35-37 Journeys of E. R. Mathews and L. A. Mathews.
1936 Journeys of Stuart W. French and Nellie S. French.
1939 First resident teacher (5 months), Mathew Kaszab.
1939-1940 Resident teachers: Mrs. Louise Caswell and Mrs. Cora Oliver.
Address: P. 0. Box 1296, Ancon, Canal Zone.
First Central American behever, Joseph ‘Wantuk.
1036

MAPS OF THE BAHA’ WORLD

1037

BR AZ I L

Map of South American Republics Teaching Region

pict322.jpg

SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS
Tasu CONTINENT
1921 Martha Root visited most important cities.
1935 E. R. Mathews and L. A. Mathews visited most important cities.
1936 Stuart W. French and Nellie S. French circumnavigated the continent.
1937 and 1939 Mrs. Frances Benedict Stewart visited all important cities. Venezuela
(1) 1936 Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Blakeley visited Caracas.
1939-1940 Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala resident teachers. Address: Paraiso de
Sabana Grande, Calle del Medio No. 5, Caracas, Venezuela.
1939-1940 Miss Priscilla Rhoads. Address: 36 Calle de los Semanes, La Florida,
Caracas, Venezuela.
Colombia
(2) 1940 Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala visited Bogota.
1940 Gerrard Sluter transferred to Bogota from Honduras for perma nen residence. Address: Carrera 7 No. 18-68,
Bogota, Colombia.
Ecuador
(3) 1940 John Stearns, resident teacher. Address: Calle Flores 12, Quito,
Ecuador.
Peru
(4) 1935-1938 Isabel Stehhins Dodge, resident teacher at Morococha and Lima.
1936 Stuart W. French and Nellie S. French visited Lima.
1937 Mrs. Joel Stebbins visited Lima for several months. Project being
considered for permanent teacher.
Bolivia
(5) 1940 Mrs. Eleanor Smith Adler preparing to take up residence as pioneer
teacher in La Paz.
Chile
Miss Root, Mr. and Mrs. Mathews, Mr. and Mrs. French, and Mrs.
Frances Benedict Stewart have visited Chile at various times, the
voyage of Mr. and Mrs. French taking them through the Straits
of Magellan where they left books in the city of Magallanes.
(6) 1940 Señora Elisa del B. de Espinosa, resident believer. Address: Casilla
1969, Santiago, Chile.
1940 Mrs. Marcia Stewart Atwater, preparing to take up permanent resi denc in Santiago.
Patagonia
(7) Included in Argentina.
Argentina
(8) 1940 Resident believer, Señor Salvator Tormo. Address: Sarandi 140,
piso 7, Buenos Aires. Spiritual Assembly formed 1940.
1940 Mrs. May Maxwell ascended to Abhá Kingdom in Buenos Aires.
Mrs. Nourse, Miss Jeanne Bolles, Mrs. Stewart and Wilf rid Barton
have remained at length to teach.
Uruguay
(9) 1940 Wilf rid Barton, resident teacher. Address: Yacó 1478 Dto., No. 2
Nueve Malvin, Montevideo, Uruguay.
1038

MAPS OP THE BAHA’I WORLD 1039
Brazil
(10) 1940 Miss Leonora Holsapple, permanent resident. Address: Praca Dr.
Paterson I, Bahia, Brazil.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Worley, permanent residents.
Spiritual Assembly formed April, 1940.
1936 Miss Eve Nicklin resided in Bahia some months.
The Guianas
(11-12-13) 1