# Universal House of Justice, Establishment of

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Bahá'u'lláh, Universal House of Justice, Establishment of, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Universal House of Justice, Establishment of
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> Shoghi Effendi
> 
> Universal House of Justice
> 
> Universal House of Justice
> 
> , compiler
> 
> published in
> 
> Compilation of Compilations
> 
> Volume 1,  pp. 319-366
> 
> 1991
> 
> I.
> 
> From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh:
> 
> Endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the Revealer
> of Signs. None hath the right to dispose of them without leave from Him
> Who is the Dawning-place of Revelation. After Him, this authority shall
> pass to the Aghsán, and after them to the House of Justice  —  should
> it be established in the world by then  —  that they may use these endowments
> for the benefit of the Places which have been exalted in this Cause, and
> for whatsoever hath been enjoined upon them by Him Who is the God of might
> and power. Otherwise, the endowments shall revert to the people of Bahá
> who speak not except by His leave and judge not save in accordance with
> what God hath decreed in this Tablet  —  lo, they are the champions of victory
> betwixt heaven and earth  —  that they may use them in the manner that hath
> been laid down in the Book by God, the Mighty, the Bountiful.
> 
> ("The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The Most Holy Book,
> Bahá'u'lláh", Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1992,
> p.
> 35
> )
> 
> O ye Men of Justice! Be ye in the realm of God shepherds
> unto His sheep and guard them from the ravening wolves that have appeared
> in disguise, even as ye would guard your own sons. Thus exhorteth you the
> Counsellor, the Faithful.
> 
> ("The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The Most Holy Book,
> Bahá'u'lláh", Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1992,
> p.
> 38
> )
> 
> The men of God's House of Justice have been charged with
> the affairs of the people. They, in truth, are the Trustees of God among
> His servants and the daysprings of authority in His countries.
> 
> O people of God! 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. Inasmuch as for each
> day there is a new problem and for every problem an expedient solution,
> such affairs should be referred to the Ministers of the House of Justice
> that they may act according to the needs and requirements of the time.
> They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His Cause, are the recipients
> of divine inspiration from the unseen Kingdom. It is incumbent upon all
> to be obedient unto them. All matters of State should be referred to the
> House of Justice, but acts of worship must be observed according to that
> which God hath revealed in His Book.
> 
> ("Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed after
> the Kitáb-i-Aqdas", [rev. ed.] (Haifa: Bahá'í World
> Centre, 1982), pp.
> 26
> -
> 27
> )
> 
> It is incumbent upon the Trustees of the House of Justice
> to take counsel together regarding those things which have not outwardly
> been revealed in the Book, and to enforce that which is agreeable to them.
> God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth, and He, verily,
> is the Provider, the Omniscient.
> 
> ("Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 68
> )
> 
> We exhort the men of the House of Justice and command them
> to ensure the protection and safeguarding of men, women and children. It
> is incumbent upon them to have the utmost regard for the interests of the
> people at all times and under all conditions. Blessed is the ruler who
> succoureth the captive, and the rich one who careth for the poor, and the
> just one who secureth from the wrong doer the rights of the downtrodden,
> and happy the trustee who observeth that which the Ordainer, the Ancient
> of Days hath prescribed unto him.
> 
> ("Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh", pp.
> 69
> -
> 70
> )
> 
> First: It is incumbent upon the ministers of the House of
> Justice to promote the Lesser Peace so that the people of the earth may
> be relieved from the burden of exorbitant expenditures. This matter is
> imperative and absolutely essential, inasmuch as hostilities and conflict
> lie at the root of affliction and calamity.
> 
> ("Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 89
> )
> 
> According to the fundamental laws which We have formerly
> revealed in the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas" and other Tablets, all affairs are
> committed to the care of just kings and presidents and of the Trustees
> of the House of Justice. Having pondered on that which We have enunciated,
> every man of equity and discernment will readily perceive, with his inner
> and outer eyes, the splendours of the day-star of justice which radiate
> therefrom.
> 
> ("Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 93
> )
> 
> In the abundance of Our grace and loving-kindness We have
> revealed specially for the rulers and ministers of the world that which
> is conducive to safety and protection, tranquillity and peace; haply the
> children of men may rest secure from the evils of oppression. He, verily,
> is the Protector, the Helper, the Giver of victory. It is incumbent upon
> the men of God's House of Justice to fix their gaze by day and by night
> upon that which hath shone forth from the Pen of Glory for the training
> of peoples, the upbuilding of nations, the protection of man and the safeguarding
> of his honour.
> 
> ("Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 125
> )
> 
> The purpose of religion as revealed from the heaven of God's
> holy Will is to establish unity and concord amongst the peoples of the
> world; make it not the cause of dissension and strife. The religion of
> God and His divine law are the most potent instruments and the surest of
> all means for the dawning of the light of unity amongst men. The progress
> of the world, the development of nations, the tranquillity of peoples,
> and the peace of all who dwell on earth are among the principles and ordinances
> of God. Religion bestoweth upon man the most precious of all gifts, offereth
> the cup of prosperity, imparteth eternal life, and showereth imperishable
> benefits upon mankind. It behoveth the chiefs and rulers of the world,
> and in particular the Trustees of God's House of Justice, to endeavour
> to the utmost of their power to safeguard its position, promote its interests
> and exalt its station in the eyes of the world. In like manner it is incumbent
> upon them to enquire into the conditions of their subjects and to acquaint
> themselves with the affairs and activities of the divers communities in
> their dominions. We call upon the manifestations of the power of God  —
> the sovereigns and rulers on earth  —  to bestir themselves and do all in
> their power that haply they may banish discord from this world and illumine
> it with the light of concord.
> 
> ("Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh", pp.
> 129
> -
> 30
> )
> 
> II.
> 
> From the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá:
> 
> ...for `Abdu'l-Bahá is in a tempest of dangers and infinitely
> abhors differences of opinion.... Praise be to God, there are no grounds
> for differences.
> 
> The Báb, the Exalted One, is the Morn of Truth,
> the splendour of Whose light shineth through all regions. He is also the
> Harbinger of the Most Great Light, the Abhá Luminary. The Blessed
> Beauty is the One promised by the sacred books of the past, the revelation
> of the Source of light that shone upon Mount Sinai, Whose fire glowed in
> the midst of the Burning Bush. We are, one and all, servants of Their threshold,
> and stand each as a lowly keeper at Their door.
> 
> My purpose is this, that ere the expiration of a thousand
> years, no one has the right to utter a single word, even to claim the station
> of Guardianship. The Most Holy Book is the Book to which all peoples shall
> refer, and in it the Laws of God have been revealed. Laws not mentioned
> in the Book should be referred to the decision of the Universal House of
> Justice. There will be no grounds for difference.... Beware, beware lest
> anyone create a rift or stir up sedition. Should there be differences of
> opinion, the Supreme House of Justice would immediately resolve the problems.
> Whatever will be its decision, by majority vote, shall be the real truth,
> inasmuch as that House is under the protection, unerring guidance and care
> of the one true Lord. He shall guard it from error and will protect it
> under the wing of His sanctity and infallibility. He who opposes it is
> cast out and will eventually be of the defeated.
> 
> The Supreme House of Justice should be elected according
> to the system followed in the election of the parliaments of Europe. And
> when the countries would be guided, the Houses of Justice of the various
> countries would elect the Supreme House of Justice.
> 
> At whatever time all the beloved of God in each country
> appoint their delegates, and these in turn elect their representatives,
> and these representatives elect a body, that body shall be regarded as
> the Supreme House of Justice.
> 
> The establishment of that House is not dependent upon
> the conversion of all the nations of the world. For example, if conditions
> were favourable and no disturbances would be caused, the friends in Persia
> would elect their representatives, and likewise the friends in America,
> in India, and other areas would also elect their representatives, and these
> would elect a House of Justice. That House of Justice would be the Supreme
> House of Justice. That is all.
> 
> ("Tablets of Abdul-Bahá Abbas", vol. 3 (Chicago: Bahá'í
> Publishing Society, 1916), pp.
> 499
> -
> 501
> ; cited in "Wellspring of Guidance:
> Messages 1963-1968", 1st rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing
> Trust, 1976) pp.
> 47
> -
> 48
> )
> 
> Those matters of major importance which constitute the foundation
> of the Law of God are explicitly recorded in the Text, but subsidiary laws
> are left to the House of Justice. The wisdom of this is that the times
> never remain the same, for change is a necessary quality and an essential
> attribute of this world, and of time and place. Therefore the House of
> Justice will take action accordingly.
> 
> Let it not be imagined that the House of Justice will
> take any decision according to its own concepts and opinions. God forbid!
> The Supreme House of Justice will take decisions and establish laws through
> the inspiration and confirmation of the Holy Spirit, because it is in the
> safekeeping and under the shelter and protection of the Ancient Beauty,
> and obedience to its decisions is a bounden and essential duty and an absolute
> obligation, and there is no escape for anyone.
> 
> Say, O people: Verily the Supreme House of Justice is
> under the wings of your Lord, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful, that
> is, under His protection, His care, and His shelter; for He has commanded
> the firm believers to obey that blessed, sanctified and all-subduing body,
> whose sovereignty is divinely ordained and of the Kingdom of Heaven and
> whose laws are inspired and spiritual.
> 
> Briefly, this is the wisdom of referring the laws of society
> to the House of Justice. In the religion of Islam, similarly, not every
> ordinance was explicitly revealed; nay not a tenth part of a tenth part
> was included in the Text; although all matters of major importance were
> specifically referred to, there were undoubtedly thousands of laws which
> were unspecified. These were devised by the divines of a later age according
> to the laws of Islamic jurisprudence, and individual divines made conflicting
> deductions from the original revealed ordinances. All these were enforced.
> Today this process of deduction is the right of the body of the House of
> Justice, and the deductions and conclusions of individual learned men have
> no authority, unless they are endorsed by the House of Justice. The difference
> is precisely this, that from the conclusions and endorsements of the body
> of the House of Justice whose members are elected by and known to the worldwide
> Bahá'í community, no differences will arise; whereas the
> conclusions of individual divines and scholars would definitely lead to
> differences, and result in schism, division, and dispersion. The oneness
> of the Word would be destroyed, the unity of the Faith would disappear,
> and the edifice of the Faith of God would be shaken.
> 
> ('Abdu'l-Bahá, "Rahíq-i-Makhtúm"
> vol. I, pp. 302-4; "Bahá'í News" 426 (September 1966), p.
> 2; cited in "Wellspring of Guidance" pp.
> 84
> -
> 6
> )
> 
> The substance is, that prior to the completion of a thousand
> years, no individual may presume to breathe a word. All must consider themselves
> to be of the order of subjects, submissive and obedient to the commandments
> of God and the laws of the House of Justice. Should any deviate by so much
> as a needle's point from the decrees of the Universal House of Justice,
> or falter in his compliance therewith, then is he of the outcast and rejected.
> 
> ("Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá",
> [Rev. ed.] (Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1982), sec.
> 33
> , p.
> 
> 68
> .)
> 
> The House of Justice, however, according to the explicit
> text of the Law of God, is confined to men; this for a wisdom of the Lord
> God's, which will ere long be made manifest as clearly as the sun at high
> noon.
> 
> ("Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá",
> sec.
> 38
> , p.
> 80
> )
> 
> Praise be to God, all such doors [doors of opposition and
> dissension] are closed in the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh for a
> special authoritative Centre hath been appointed  —  a Centre that solveth
> all difficulties and wardeth off all differences. The Universal House of
> Justice, likewise, wardeth off all differences and whatever it prescribeth
> must be accepted and he who transgresseth is rejected. But this Universal
> House of Justice which is the Legislature hath not yet been instituted.
> 
> Thus it is seen that no means for dissension hath
> been left, but carnal desires are the cause of difference as it is the
> case with the violators. These do not doubt the validity of the Covenant
> but selfish motives have dragged them to this condition. It is not that
> they do not know what they do  —  they are perfectly aware and still they
> exhibit opposition.
> 
> (From a Tablet dated 24 July, 1919 to an individual
> believer, translated from the Persian; published in "Selections from the
> Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá", sec.
> 187
> , pp.
> 215
> -
> 16
> .)
> 
> 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, hath not obeyed God;
> whoso rebelleth against him and against them hath rebelled against God;
> whoso opposeth him hath opposed God; whoso contendeth with them hath contended
> with God; whoso disputeth with him hath disputed with God; whoso denieth
> him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in God;
> whoso deviateth, separateth himself and turneth aside from him hath in
> truth deviated, separated himself and turned aside from God. May the wrath,
> the fierce indignation, the vengeance 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....
> 
> ("Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá", (Wilmette:
> Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1971), p.
> 11
> )
> 
> 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 must 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.
> 
> ("Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá", pp.
> 
> 14
> -
> 15
> )
> 
> 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 Abhá 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 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 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.
> 
> ("Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá", pp.
> 19
> -
> 20
> )
> 
> 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!
> 
> ("Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá", p.
> 
> 26
> )
> 
> III.
> 
> From the Utterances of `Abdu'l-Bahá:
> 
> To epitomize: essential infallibility belongs especially
> to the supreme Manifestations, and acquired infallibility is granted to
> every holy soul. For instance, the Universal House of Justice, 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 unerring guidance of God. If that House of Justice shall decide unanimously,
> or by a majority, upon any question not mentioned in the Book, that decision
> and command will be guarded from mistake. Now the members of the House
> of Justice have not, individually, essential infallibility; but the body
> of the House of Justice is under the protection and unerring guidance of
> God: this is called conferred infallibility.
> 
> ("Some Answered Questions", rev. ed. (Wilmette:
> Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1985), pp.
> 172
> -
> 73
> )
> 
> He [Bahá'u'lláh] has ordained and established
> the House of Justice, which is endowed with a political as well as a religious
> function, the consummate union and blending of church and state. This institution
> is under the protecting power of Bahá'u'lláh Himself. A universal,
> or international, House of Justice shall also be organized. Its rulings
> shall be in accordance with the commands and teachings of Bahá'u'lláh,
> and that which the Universal House of Justice ordains shall be obeyed by
> all mankind. This international House of Justice shall be appointed and
> organized from the Houses of Justice of the whole world, and all the world
> shall come under its administration.
> 
> ("The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered
> by `Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada
> in 1912", 2nd. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1982),
> p.
> 455
> )
> 
> IV.
> 
> Extracts from Letters and Cables Written by Shoghi
> Effendi:
> 
> As to the order and the management of the spiritual affairs
> of the friends, that which is very important now is the consolidation of
> the Spiritual Assemblies in every centre, because on these fortified and
> unshakable foundations, God's Supreme House of Justice shall be erected
> and firmly established in the days to come. When this most great edifice
> shall be reared on such an immovable foundation, God's purpose, wisdom,
> universal truths, mysteries and realities of the Kingdom, which the mystic
> Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh has deposited within the Will and
> Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá, shall gradually be revealed and made
> manifest.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 19 December
> 1922 to the Bahá'ís of the East, translated from the Persian;
> published in "The Bahá'í World", vol. XIV, p. 436)
> 
> With these Assemblies, local as well as national, harmoniously,
> vigorously, and efficiently functioning throughout the Bahá'í
> world, the only means for the establishment of the Supreme House of Justice
> will have been secured. And when this Supreme Body will have been properly
> established, it will have to consider afresh the whole situation, and lay
> down the principle which shall direct, so long as it deems advisable, the
> affairs of the Cause.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 12 March
> 1923, published in "Bahá'í Administration: Selected Messages
> 1922-1932" [rev. ed.], (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust,
> 1980), p.
> 41
> )
> 
> We are called upon by our beloved Master in His Will and
> Testament not only to adopt it [Bahá'u'lláh's new world order]
> unreservedly, but to unveil its merit to all the world. To attempt to estimate
> its full value, and grasp its exact significance after so short a time
> since its inception would be premature and presumptuous on our part. We
> must trust to time, and the guidance of God's Universal House of Justice,
> to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of its provisions and implications....
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 23 February
> 1924, published in "Bahá'í Administration", p.
> 62
> )
> 
> The purpose of so much perpetual and intensive emphasis on
> the support and consolidation of these Spiritual Assemblies is this  —  that
> the foundation of the Cause of God must become broader and stronger day
> by day, that no confusion ever enter the divine order, that new and strong
> ties be forged between East and West, that Bahá'í unity be
> safeguarded and illumine the eyes of the people of the world with its resplendent
> beauty, so that upon these Assemblies God's Houses of Justice may be firmly
> established and upon these secondary Houses of Justice the lofty edifice
> of the Universal House of Justice may, with complete order, perfection
> and glory, and with no delay, be raised up. When the Universal House of
> Justice shall have stepped forth from the realm of hope into that of visible
> fulfilment and its fame be established in every corner and clime of the
> world, then that august body  —  solidly grounded and founded on the firm
> and unshakable foundation of the entire Bahá'í community
> of East and West, and the recipient of the bounties of God and His inspiration
> —  will proceed to devise and carry out important undertakings, world-wide
> activities and the establishment of glorious institutions. By this means
> the renown of the Cause of God will become world-wide and its light will
> illumine the whole earth.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 1924 to
> the Bahá'ís of the East, translated from the Persian; published
> in "The Bahá'í World" vol. XIV, p. 436)
> 
> These Spiritual Assemblies have been primarily constituted
> to carry out these affairs, and secondly to lay a perfect and strong foundation
> for the establishment of the divine and Universal House of Justice. When
> that central pivot of the people of Bahá shall be effectively, majestically
> and firmly established, a new era will dawn, heavenly bounties and graces
> will pour out from that Source, and the all-encompassing promises will
> be fulfilled.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 30 October
> 1924 to the Spiritual Assembly of Tihrán, translated from the Persian;
> published in "The Bahá'í World" vol. XIV, p. 436)
> 
> Regarding the method to be adopted for the election of the
> National Spiritual Assemblies, it is clear that the text of the Beloved's
> Testament gives us no indication as to the manner in which these Assemblies
> are to be elected. In one of His earliest Tablets, however, addressed to
> a friend in Persia, the following is expressly recorded.
> 
> "At whatever time all the beloved of God in each country
> appoint their delegates, and these in turn elect their representatives,
> and these representatives elect a body, that body shall be regarded as
> the Supreme Baytu'l-'Adl (Universal House of Justice)".
> 
> These words clearly indicate that a three-stage election
> has been provided by `Abdu'l-Bahá for the formation of the International
> House of Justice, and as it is explicitly provided in His Will and Testament
> that the "Secondary Houses of Justice (i.e. National Assemblies) must elect
> the members of the Universal One", it is obvious that the members of the
> National Spiritual Assemblies will have to be indirectly elected by the
> body of the believers in their respective provinces. In view of these complementary
> instructions the principle, set forth in my letter of March 12th, 1923,
> has been established requiring the believers (the beloved of God) in every
> country to elect a certain number of delegates who in turn will elect their
> national representatives (Secondary House of Justice or National Spiritual
> Assembly), whose sacred obligation and privilege will be to elect in time
> God's Universal House of Justice.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 12 May 1925,
> published
> in "Bahá'í Administration", p.
> 84
> )
> 
> It should be carefully borne in mind that the local as well
> as the international Houses of Justice have been expressly enjoined by
> the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National Spiritual
> Assembly, as an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master's Will
> as the "Secondary House of Justice," has the express sanction of `Abdu'l-Bahá;
> 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 established by `Abdu'l-Bahá
> in the Tablets He revealed to the Bahá'ís 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'í
> 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'í 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'í 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 Bahá'í 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'í communities
> throughout the world the temporary appellation of Spiritual Assemblies,
> a term which, as the position and aims of the Bahá'í 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 they 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'í 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'í Commonwealth,
> all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world's
> future super-state.
> 
> 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'í 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 possibility of the formation of the Universal
> House of Justice in His own lifetime, and but for the unfavorable circumstances
> prevailing under the Turkish regime, 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'ís
> of Persia 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 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 the 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 Bahá'í world.
> 
> ...
> 
> 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 Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas,
> 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 Bahá'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 significance attached
> to this Divine Masterpiece, which the Master-builder of the world has designed
> for the unification and triumph of the world-wide 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....
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 27 February
> 1929, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh: Selected
> Letters" rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1982),
> pp.
> 5
> -
> 8
> )
> 
> The National Spiritual Assemblies, like unto pillars, will
> be gradually and firmly established in every country on the strong and
> fortified foundations of the Local Assemblies. On these pillars, the mighty
> edifice, the Universal House of Justice, will be erected, raising high
> its noble frame above the world of existence. The unity of the followers
> of Bahá'u'lláh will thus be realized and fulfilled from one
> end of the earth to the other. The explicit ordinances of His Most Holy
> Book will be promulgated, applied and carried out most befittingly in the
> world of creation, and the living waters of everlasting life will stream
> forth from that fountain-head of God's World Order upon all the warring
> nations and peoples of the world, to wash away the evils and iniquities
> of the realm of dust, heal man's age-old ills and ailments. Then will the
> visible sovereignty of the Most Great Name shake the foundations of the
> countries and nations of the world, strike fear and remorse in the hearts
> of some of the traditional ecclesiastical divines of various creeds and
> nations, and cause others to become frustrated, disturbed, vanquished and
> obliterated....
> 
> In these days the things that are regarded as the
> most imperative of all and upon which will depend the development of the
> Cause of God, the enhancement of its position and prestige and the promulgation
> of the laws of His Faith, are but two momentous tasks: first, to expedite
> preparations for the formation of the divinely ordained, the Supreme House
> of Justice; second, to complete the construction of the Temple in the United
> States.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 27 November
> 1929 to the Bahá'ís of Persia, translated from the Persian)
> 
> Then will the Throne of Bahá'u'lláh's sovereignty
> be founded in the promised land and the scales of justice be raised on
> high. Then will the banner of the independence of the Faith be unfurled,
> and His Most Great Law be unveiled and rivers of laws and ordinances stream
> forth from this snow-white spot with all-conquering power and awe-inspiring
> majesty, the like of which past ages have never seen. Then will appear
> the truth of what was revealed by the Tongue of Grandeur: "Call out to
> Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from
> mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing
> splendour is revealed." "...O Carmel... Well is it with him that circleth around
> thee, that proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and recounteth that
> which the bounty of the Lord, thy God, hath showered upon thee... Ere long
> will God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bahá
> who have been mentioned in the Book of Names."
> 
> Through it the pillars of the Faith on this earth
> will be firmly established and its hidden powers be revealed, its signs
> shine forth, its banners be unfurled and its light be shed upon all peoples.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 27 November
> 1929 to the Bahá'ís of Persia, translated from the Arabic;
> published in "The Bahá'í World", vol. XIV, p. 438)
> 
> For Bahá'u'lláh, we should readily recognize,
> has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit. He has
> not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular
> philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition
> to these He, as well as `Abdu'l-Bahá after Him, has, unlike the
> Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of
> Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials
> of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society,
> a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and
> the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of
> the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth. Not only have They
> revealed all the directions required for the practical realization of those
> ideals which the Prophets of God have visualized, and which from time immemorial
> have inflamed the imagination of seers and poets in every age. They have
> also, in unequivocal and emphatic language, appointed those twin institutions
> of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship as Their chosen Successors,
> destined to apply the principles, promulgate the laws, protect the institutions,
> adapt loyally and intelligently the Faith to the requirements of progressive
> society, and consummate the incorruptible inheritance which the Founders
> of the Faith have bequeathed to the world.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 28 November
> 1931, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", pp.
> 
> 19
> -
> 20
> )
> 
> Then will all our cherished hopes and aspirations be realized,
> the tree of our endeavours bear fruit, the Will and Testament of our Master
> and our Beloved be fully and firmly established, and the hidden powers
> of the Cause of our Lord and God be fully manifested. Then will be unveiled
> before our eyes the inauguration of an era the like of which has never
> been witnessed in past ages....
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 13 December
> 1932 to the Bahá'ís of Persia, translated from the Arabic;
> published in "The Bahá'í World, vol. XIV, p. 438)
> 
> To their Persian brethren, who in the heroic age of the Faith
> had won the crown of martyrdom, the American believers, forerunners of
> its golden age, were now worthily succeeding, bearing in their turn the
> palm of a hard-won victory. The unbroken record of their illustrious deeds
> had established beyond the shadow of a doubt their preponderating share
> in shaping the destinies of their Faith. In a world writhing with pain
> and declining into chaos this community  —  the vanguard of the liberating
> forces of Bahá'u'lláh  —  succeeded in the years following
> `Abdu'l-Bahá's passing in raising high above the institutions established
> by its sister communities in East and West what may well constitute the
> chief pillar of that future House  —  a House which posterity will regard
> as the last refuge of a tottering civilization.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 21 April
> 1933, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 89
> )
> 
> In the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh where institutions
> of the International and Local Houses of Justice are specifically designated
> and formally established; in the institution of the Hands of the Cause
> of God which first Bahá'u'lláh and then `Abdu'l-Bahá
> brought into being; in the institution of both local and national Assemblies
> which in their embryonic stage were already functioning in the days preceding
> `Abdu'l-Bahá's ascension; in the authority with which the Author
> of our Faith and the Center of His Covenant have in their Tablets chosen
> to confer upon them; in the institution of the Local Fund which operated
> according to `Abdu'l-Bahá's specific injunctions addressed to certain
> Assemblies in Persia; in the verses of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas the implications
> of which clearly anticipate the institution of the Guardianship; in the
> explanation which `Abdu'l-Bahá, in one of His Tablets, has given
> to, and the emphasis He has placed upon, the hereditary principle and the
> law of primogeniture as having been upheld by the Prophets of the past
> —  in these we can discern the faint glimmerings and discover the earliest
> intimation of the nature and working of the Administrative Order which
> the Will of `Abdu'l-Bahá was at a later time destined to proclaim
> and formally establish.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 8 February
> 1934, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 147
> )
> 
> Acting in conjunction with each other these two inseparable
> institutions administer its affairs, coordinate its activities, promote
> its interests, execute its laws and defend its subsidiary institutions.
> Severally, each operates within a clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction;
> each is equipped with its own attendant institutions  —  instruments designed
> for the effective discharge of its particular responsibilities and duties.
> Each exercises, within the limitations imposed upon it, its powers, its
> authority, its rights and prerogatives. These are neither contradictory,
> nor detract in the slightest degree from the position which each of these
> institutions occupies. Far from being incompatible or mutually destructive,
> they supplement each other's authority and functions, and are permanently
> and fundamentally united in their aims.
> 
> ...
> 
> Severed from the no less essential institution of the
> Universal House of Justice this same System of the Will of `Abdu'l-Bahá
> would be paralyzed in its action and would be powerless to fill in those
> gaps which the Author of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has deliberately left
> in the body of His legislative and administrative ordinances.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 8 February
> 1934, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 148
> )
> 
> From these statements it is made indubitably clear and evident
> that the Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word
> and that the Universal House of Justice has been invested with the function
> of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings. The
> interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere, is as
> authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International House
> of Justice, whose exclusive right and prerogative is to pronounce upon
> and deliver the final judgment on such laws and ordinances as Bahá'u'lláh
> has not expressly revealed. Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the
> sacred and prescribed domain of the other. Neither will seek to curtail
> the specific and undoubted authority with which both have been divinely
> invested.
> 
> Though the Guardian of the Faith has been made the
> permanent head of so august a body he can never, even temporarily, assume
> the right of exclusive legislation. He cannot override the decision of
> the majority of his fellow members, but is bound to insist upon a reconsideration
> by them of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the
> meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's revealed
> utterances....
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 8 February
> 1934, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", pp.
> 
> 149
> -
> 50
> )
> 
> The Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh
> must in no wise be regarded as purely democratic in character inasmuch
> as the basic assumption which requires all democracies to depend fundamentally
> upon getting their mandate from the people is altogether lacking in this
> Dispensation. In the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith,
> in the enactment of the legislation necessary to supplement the laws of
> the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the members of the Universal House of Justice,
> it should be borne in mind, are not, as Bahá'u'lláh's utterances
> clearly imply, responsible to those whom they represent, nor are they allowed
> to be governed by the feelings, the general opinion, and even the convictions
> of the mass of the faithful, or of those who directly elect them. They
> are to follow, in a prayerful attitude, the dictates and promptings of
> their conscience. They may, indeed they must, acquaint themselves with
> the conditions prevailing among the community, must weigh dispassionately
> in their minds the merits of any case presented for their consideration,
> but must reserve for themselves the right of an unfettered decision. "God
> will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth," is Bahá'u'lláh's
> incontrovertible assurance. They, and not the body of those who either
> directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients of
> the divine guidance which is at once the life-blood and ultimate safeguard
> of this Revelation....
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 8 February
> 1934, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 153
> )
> 
> The first [a high sense of moral rectitude in their social
> and administrative activities] 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 Bahá'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....
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 25 December
> 1938, published in "The Advent of Divine Justice", (Wilmette: Bahá'í
> Publishing Trust, 1984), p.
> 22
> )
> 
> For it must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently
> emphasized, 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 Sepulchre, and in the vicinity of the future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar
> 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'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 Bahá 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 Centre, 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.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 21 December
> 1939, published in "Messages to America: Selected Letters and Cablegrams
> Addressed to the Bahá'ís of North America 1932-1946", (Wilmette:
> Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1947), pp.
> 32
> -
> 33
> )
> 
> In this Charter of the future world civilization [Kitáb-i-Aqdas]
> its Author  —  at once the Judge, the Lawgiver, the Unifier and Redeemer
> of mankind  —  announces to the kings of the earth the promulgation of the
> "Most Great Law" ... In it He formally ordains the institution of the "House
> of Justice," defines its functions, fixes its revenues, and designates
> its members as the "Men of Justice," the "Deputies of God," the "Trustees
> of the All-Merciful".
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi, "God Passes By", Rev. ed. (Wilmette:
> Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1987), p.
> 214
> )
> 
> Parallel with this double process of consolidation and construction
> particular attention should be devoted to the provision of the necessary
> means whereby the newly fledged centres in the Dominion of Canada and throughout
> the Republics of Latin America can be co-ordinated and further consolidated,
> through the formation of three National Spiritual Assemblies, designed
> to participate in time in the international elections that must precede
> the constitution of the First Universal House of Justice. The erection
> of these three pillars, raising to eleven the number of existing National
> Spiritual Assemblies, which are to be designated in future as Secondary
> Houses of Justice, and are designed to support the highest legislative
> body in the administrative hierarchy of the Faith, will, as the Divine
> Plan continues to unfold, be supplemented by the formation of similar bodies
> which, as they multiply, will, of necessity, broaden the basis, and reinforce
> the representative character, of the supreme elective Institution which,
> in conjunction with the institution of Guardianship, must direct and co-ordinate
> the activities of a world-encircling Faith. Through the formation of these
> National Spiritual Assemblies, as the implications of the Divine Plan gradually
> unfold in the coming years, the American Bahá'í Community
> will, in addition to its missionary activities throughout five continents
> and the islands of the seven seas, be contributing directly to the laying
> of the foundation, and hastening the formation, of an institution which,
> when constituted, will have consummated the threefold process involved
> in the erection of the total structure of the Administrative Order of the
> Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 15 June
> 1946, published in "Messages to America", p.
> 94
> )
> 
> On the success of this enterprise [the Africa Campaign],
> unprecedented in its character and immense in its spiritual potentialities,
> must depend the initiation, at a later period in the Formative Age of the
> Faith, of undertakings embracing within their range all National Assemblies
> functioning throughout the Bahá'í world  —  undertakings constituting
> in themselves a prelude to the launching of world-wide enterprises destined
> to be embarked upon, in future epochs of that same Age, by the Universal
> House of Justice, that will symbolize the unity and co-ordinate and unify
> the activities of these National Assemblies.
> 
> Indeed the birth of this African enterprise, in the
> opening decade of the second Bahá'í century, coinciding as
> it does with the formation of the International Bahá'í Council,
> should be acclaimed as an event of peculiar significance in the evolution
> of our beloved Faith. Both events will, no doubt, be hailed by posterity
> as simultaneous and compelling evidences of the irresistible unfoldment
> of a divinely appointed Administrative Order and of the development, on
> an international scale, of its subsidiary agencies, heralding the establishment
> of the Supreme Legislative Body designed to crown the Administrative Edifice
> now being laboriously erected by the privileged builders of a Divine Order,
> whose features have been delineated by the Centre of the Covenant in His
> Will and Testament, whose fundamental laws have been revealed by the Founder
> of our Faith in His "Kitáb-i-Aqdas", and whose advent has been foreshadowed
> by the Herald of the Bahá'í Dispensation in the "Bayán",
> His most weighty Book.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 25 February
> 1951, published in "Unfolding Destiny: The Messages from the Guardian of
> the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'í Community of
> the British Isles", (London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1981),
> p.
> 261
> )
> 
> HOUR NOW RIPE TAKE LONG INEVITABLY DEFERRED STEP CONFORMITY
> PROVISIONS `ABDU'L-BAHÁ'S TESTAMENT CONJUNCTION WITH SIX ABOVE MENTIONED
> STEPS THROUGH APPOINTMENT FIRST CONTINGENT HANDS CAUSE GOD TWELVE IN NUMBER
> EQUALLY ALLOCATED HOLY LAND ASIATIC AMERICAN EUROPEAN CONTINENTS. INITIAL
> STEP NOW TAKEN REGARDED PREPARATORY FULL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTION PROVIDED
> `ABDU'L-BAHÁ'S WILL PARALLELED PRELIMINARY MEASURE FORMATION INTERNATIONAL
> COUNCIL DESTINED CULMINATE EMERGENCE UNIVERSAL HOUSE JUSTICE. NASCENT INSTITUTION
> FORGING FRESH LINKS BINDING RISING WORLD CENTRE FAITH TO CONSOLIDATING
> WORLD COMMUNITY FOLLOWERS MOST GREAT NAME PAVING WAY ADOPTION SUPPLEMENTARY
> MEASURES CALCULATED REINFORCE FOUNDATIONS STRUCTURE BAHÁ'Í
> ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER....
> 
> (In a cable written by Shoghi Effendi, 24 December
> 1951, published in "Messages to the Bahá'í World 1950-1957",
> (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1971), p.
> 20
> )
> 
> In this great Tablet [of Carmel] which unveils divine mysteries
> and heralds the establishment of two mighty, majestic and momentous undertakings
> —  one of which is spiritual and the other administrative, both at the World
> Centre of the Faith  —  Bahá'u'lláh refers to an "Ark", whose
> dwellers are the men of the Supreme House of Justice, which, in conformity
> with the exact provisions of the Will and Testament of the Centre of the
> Mighty Covenant, is the body which should lay down laws not explicitly
> revealed in the Text. In this Dispensation, these laws are destined to
> flow from this Holy Mountain, even as in the Mosaic Dispensation the law
> of God was promulgated from Zion. The "sailing of the Ark" of His laws
> is a reference to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice,
> which is indeed the Seat of Legislation, one of the branches of the World
> Administrative Centre of the Bahá'ís on this Holy Mountain
> ....
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, Naw Ruz
> 111-1954 to the Bahá'ís of the East, translated from the
> Persian; published in "The Bahá'í World", vol. XIV, p. 438)
> 
> The raising of this Edifice [International Bahá'í
> Archives] will in turn herald the construction, in the course of successive
> epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of several other structures,
> which will serve as the administrative seats of such divinely appointed
> institutions as the Guardianship, the Hands of the Cause, and the Universal
> House of Justice. These Edifices will, in the shape of a far-flung arc,
> and following a harmonizing style of architecture, surround the resting-places
> of the Greatest Holy Leaf, ranking as foremost among the members of her
> sex in the Bahá'í Dispensation, of her Brother, offered up
> as a ransom by Bahá'u'lláh for the quickening of the world
> and its unification, and of their Mother, proclaimed by Him to be His chosen
> "consort in all the worlds of God". The ultimate completion of this stupendous
> undertaking will mark the culmination of the development of a world-wide
> divinely-appointed Administrative Order whose beginnings may be traced
> as far back as the concluding years of the Heroic Age of the Faith.
> 
> (In a letter written by Shoghi Effendi, 27 November
> 1954, published in "Messages to the Bahá'í World 1950-1957"
> p.
> 74
> )
> 
> V.
> 
> From the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice:
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh, the Revealer of God's Word in
> this Day, the Source of Authority, the Fountainhead of Justice, the Creator
> of a new World Order, the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, the Inspirer
> and Founder of a world civilization, the Judge, the Lawgiver, the Unifier
> and Redeemer of all mankind, has proclaimed the advent of God's Kingdom
> on earth, has formulated its laws and ordinances, enunciated its principles,
> and ordained its institutions. To direct and canalize the forces released
> by His Revelation He instituted His Covenant, whose power has preserved
> the integrity of His Faith, maintained its unity and stimulated its world-wide
> expansion throughout the successive ministries of `Abdu'l-Bahá and
> Shoghi Effendi. It continues to fulfil its life-giving purpose through
> the agency of the Universal House of Justice whose fundamental object,
> as one of the twin successors of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá,
> is to ensure the continuity of that divinely-appointed authority which
> flows from the Source of the Faith, to safeguard the unity of its followers,
> and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings.
> 
> ...
> 
> The provenance, the authority, the duties, the sphere
> of action of the Universal House of Justice all derive from the revealed
> Word of Bahá'u'lláh which, together with the interpretations
> and expositions of the Centre of the Covenant and of the Guardian of the
> Cause  —  who, after `Abdu'l-Bahá, is the sole authority in the interpretation
> of Bahá'í Scripture  —  constitute the binding terms of reference
> of the Universal House of Justice and are its bedrock foundation. The authority
> of these Texts is absolute and immutable until such time as Almighty God
> shall reveal His new Manifestation to Whom will belong all authority and
> power.
> 
> There being no successor to Shoghi Effendi as Guardian
> of the Cause of God, the Universal House of Justice is the Head of the
> Faith and its supreme institution, to which all must turn, and on it rests
> the ultimate responsibility for ensuring the unity and progress of the
> Cause of God....
> 
> (From the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice,
> pp.
> 3
> -
> 4
> )
> 
> VI.
> 
> From letters written by the Universal House of Justice
> 
> We are glad that you have brought to our attention the questions
> perplexing some of the believers. It is much better for these questions
> to be put freely and openly than to have them, unexpressed, burdening the
> hearts of devoted believers. Once one grasps certain basic principles of
> the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh such uncertainties are easily
> dispelled. This is not to say that the Cause of God contains no mysteries.
> Mysteries there are indeed, but they are not of a kind to shake one's faith
> once the essential tenets of the Cause and the indisputable facts of any
> situation are clearly understood.
> 
> The questions put by the various believers fall into
> three groups. The first group centres upon the following queries: Why were
> steps taken to elect a Universal House of Justice with the foreknowledge
> that there would be no Guardian? Was the time ripe for such an action?
> Could not the International Bahá'í Council have carried on
> the work?
> 
> At the time of our beloved Shoghi Effendi's death it was
> evident, from the circumstances and from the explicit requirements of the
> Holy Texts, that it had been impossible for him to appoint a successor
> in accordance with the provisions of the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá.
> This situation, in which the Guardian died without being able to appoint
> a successor, presented an obscure question not covered by the explicit
> Holy Text, and had to be referred to the Universal House of Justice. The
> friends should clearly understand that before the election of the Universal
> House of Justice there was no knowledge that there would be no Guardian.
> There could not have been any such foreknowledge, whatever opinions individual
> believers may have held. Neither the Hands of the Cause of God, nor the
> International Bahá'í Council, nor any other existing body
> could make a decision upon this all-important matter. Only the House of
> Justice had authority to pronounce upon it. This was one urgent reason
> for calling the election of the Universal House of Justice as soon as possible.
> 
> Following the passing of Shoghi Effendi the international
> administration of the Faith was carried on by the Hands of the Cause of
> God with the complete agreement and loyalty of the National Spiritual Assemblies
> and the body of the believers. This was in accordance with the Guardian's
> designation of the Hands as the "Chief Stewards of Bahá'u'lláh's
> embryonic World Commonwealth".
> 
> From the very outset of their custodianship of the Cause
> of God the Hands realized that since they had no certainty of divine guidance
> such as is incontrovertibly assured to the Guardian and to the Universal
> House of Justice, their one safe course was to follow with undeviating
> firmness the instructions and policies of Shoghi Effendi. The entire history
> of religion shows no comparable record of such strict self-discipline,
> such absolute loyalty and such complete self-abnegation by the leaders
> of a religion finding themselves suddenly deprived of their divinely inspired
> guide. The debt of gratitude which mankind for generations, nay, ages to
> come, owes to this handful of grief-stricken, steadfast, heroic souls is
> beyond estimation.
> 
> The Guardian had given the Bahá'í world
> explicit and detailed plans covering the period until Ridvan 1963, the
> end of the Ten Year Crusade. From that point onward, unless the Faith were
> to be endangered, further divine guidance was essential. This was the second
> pressing reason for the calling of the election of the Universal House
> of Justice. The rightness of the time was further confirmed by references
> in Shoghi Effendi's letters to the Ten Year Crusade's being followed by
> other plans under the direction of the Universal House of Justice. One
> such reference is the following passage from a letter addressed to the
> National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles on 25th February 1951,
> concerning its Two Year Plan which immediately preceded the Ten Year Crusade.
> 
> On the success of this enterprise, unprecedented in its
> scope, unique in its character and immense in its spiritual potentialities,
> must depend the initiation, at a later period in the Formative Age of the
> Faith, of undertakings embracing within their range all National Assemblies
> functioning throughout the Bahá'í world  —  undertakings constituting
> in themselves a prelude to the launching of world-wide enterprises destined
> to be embarked upon, in future epochs of that same Age, by the Universal
> House of Justice, that will symbolize the unity and co-ordinate and unify
> the activities of these National Assemblies.
> 
> Having been in charge of the Cause of God for six years,
> the Hands, with absolute faith in the Holy Writings, called upon the believers
> to elect the Universal House of Justice, and even went so far as to ask
> that they themselves be not voted for. The sole, sad instance of anyone
> succumbing to the allurements of power was the pitiful attempt of Charles
> Mason Remey to usurp the Guardianship.
> 
> The following excerpts from a Tablet of `Abdu'l-Bahá
> state clearly and emphatically the principles with which the friends are
> already familiar from the Will and Testament of the Master and the various
> letters of Shoghi Effendi, and explain the basis for the election of the
> Universal House of Justice. This Tablet was sent to Persia by the beloved
> Guardian himself, in the early years of his ministry, for circulation among
> the believers.
> 
> ...for `Abdu'l-Bahá is in a tempest of dangers and
> infinitely abhors differences of opinion... Praise be to God, there are no
> grounds for differences.
> 
> The Báb, the Exalted One, is the Morn of Truth,
> the splendour of Whose light shineth through all regions. He is also the
> Harbinger of the Most Great Light, the Abhá Luminary. The Blessed
> Beauty is the One promised by the sacred books of the past, the revelation
> of the Source of light that shone upon Mount Sinai, Whose fire glowed in
> the midst of the Burning Bush. We are, one and all, servants of Their threshold,
> and stand each as a lowly keeper at Their door.
> 
> My purpose is this, that ere the expiration of a thousand
> years, no one has the right to utter a single word, even to claim the station
> of Guardianship. The Most Holy Book is the Book to which all peoples shall
> refer, and in it the Laws of God have been revealed. Laws not mentioned
> in the Book should be referred to the decision of the Universal House of
> Justice. There will be no grounds for difference... Beware, beware lest anyone
> create a rift or stir up sedition. Should there be differences of opinion,
> the Supreme House of Justice would immediately resolve the problems. Whatever
> will be its decision, by majority vote, shall be the real truth, inasmuch
> as that House is under the protection, unerring guidance and care of the
> one true Lord. He shall guard it from error and will protect it under the
> wing of His sanctity and infallibility. He who opposes it is cast out and
> will eventually be of the defeated.
> 
> The Supreme House of Justice should be elected according
> to the system followed in the election of the parliaments of Europe. And
> when the countries would be guided, the Houses of Justice of the various
> countries would elect the Supreme House of Justice.
> 
> At whatever time all the beloved of God in each country
> appoint their delegates, and these in turn elect their representatives,
> and these representatives elect a body, that body shall be regarded as
> the Supreme House of Justice.
> 
> The establishment of that House is not dependent upon
> the conversion of all the nations of the world. For example, if conditions
> were favourable and no disturbances would be caused, the friends in Persia
> would elect their representatives, and likewise the friends in America,
> in India, and other areas would also elect their representatives, and these
> would elect a House of Justice. That House of Justice would be the Supreme
> House of Justice. That is all.
> 
> ("Makátíb-i-'Abdu'l-Bahá", Vol.
> 111, pp. 500-501)
> 
> The friends should realize that there is nothing in the
> Texts to indicate that the election of the Universal House of Justice could
> be called only by the Guardian. On the contrary, `Abdu'l-Bahá envisaged
> the calling of its election in His own life-time. At a time described by
> the Guardian as "the darkest moments of His [the Master's] life, under
> `Abdu'l-Hamíd's regime, when He stood ready to be deported to the
> most inhospitable regions of Northern Africa", and when even His life was
> threatened, `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to Hájí Mírzá
> Táqí Afnán, the cousin of the Báb and chief
> builder of the `I
> sh
> qábád Temple, commanding him to
> arrange for the election of the Universal House of Justice should the threats
> against the Master materialize. The second part of the Master's Will is
> also relevant to such a situation and should be studied by the friends.
> 
> The second series of problems vexing some of the friends
> centres on the question of the infallibility of the Universal House of
> Justice and its ability to function without the presence of the Guardian.
> Particular difficulty has been experienced in understanding the implications
> of the following statement by the beloved Guardian:.
> 
> Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the
> World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated and permanently
> deprived of that hereditary principle which, as `Abdu'l-Bahá has
> written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. "In all the Divine
> Dispensations," He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith
> in Persia, "the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions.
> Even the station of prophethood hath been his birthright." Without such
> an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperilled, and the
> stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige
> would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted
> view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the
> necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its
> elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.
> 
> ("The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh", "The
> World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 148
> )
> 
> Let the friends who wish for a clearer understanding of
> this passage at the present time consider it in the light of the many other
> texts which deal with the same subject, for example the following passages
> gleaned from the letters of Shoghi Effendi.
> 
> They have also, in unequivocal and emphatic language,
> appointed those twin institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship
> as their chosen Successors, destined to apply the principles, promulgate
> the laws, protect the institutions, adapt loyally and intelligently the
> Faith to the requirements of progressive society, and consummate the incorruptible
> inheritance which the Founders of the Faith have bequeathed to the world.
> 
> (Letter dated 21 March 1930, "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh",
> p.
> 20
> )
> 
> 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 Bahá'u'lláh in the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas",
> 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 Bahá'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 labours,
> 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....
> 
> (Letter dated 27 February 1929, "The World Order of
> Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 8
> )
> 
> From these statements it is made indubitably clear and
> evident that the Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter of
> the Word and that the Universal House of Justice has been invested with
> the function of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings.
> The interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere,
> is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International
> House of Justice, whose exclusive right and prerogative is to pronounce
> upon and deliver the final judgement on such laws and ordinances as Bahá'u'lláh
> has not expressly revealed. Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the
> sacred and prescribed domain of the other. Neither will seek to curtail
> the specific and undoubted authority with which both have been divinely
> invested.
> 
> ("The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh", "The
> World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", pp.
> 149
> -
> 50
> )
> 
> Each exercises, within the limitations imposed upon it,
> its powers, its authority, its rights and prerogatives. These are neither
> contradictory, nor detract in the slightest degree from the position which
> each of these institutions occupies.
> 
> ("The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh", "The
> World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 148
> )
> 
> Though the Guardian of the Faith has been made the permanent
> head of so august a body he can never, even temporarily, assume the right
> of exclusive legislation. He cannot override the decision of the majority
> of his fellow-members....
> 
> ("The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh", "The
> World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 150
> )
> 
> Above all, let the hearts of the friends be assured by
> these words of Bahá'u'lláh:.
> 
> The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation
> upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation. Storms of human strife are
> powerless to undermine its basis, nor will men's fanciful theories succeed
> in damaging its structure.
> 
> ("The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh" p.
> 
> 109
> )
> 
> and these of `Abdu'l-Bahá:.
> 
> Verily, God effecteth that which He pleaseth; naught can
> annul His Covenant; naught can obstruct His favor nor oppose His Cause!
> He doeth with His will that which pleaseth Him and He is powerful over
> all things!....
> 
> ("Tablets of Abdul-Bahá Abbas", Vol. III, p.
> 598
> )
> 
> It should be understood by the friends that before legislating
> upon any matter the Universal House of Justice studies carefully and exhaustively
> both the Sacred Texts and the Writings of Shoghi Effendi on the subject.
> The interpretations written by the beloved Guardian cover a vast range
> of subjects and are equally as binding as the Text itself.
> 
> There is a profound difference between the interpretations
> of the Guardian and the elucidations of the House of Justice in exercise
> of its function to "deliberate upon all problems which have caused difference,
> questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded
> in the Book". The Guardian reveals what the Scripture means; his interpretation
> is a statement of truth which cannot be varied. Upon the Universal House
> of Justice, in the words of the Guardian, "has been conferred the exclusive
> right of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the Bahá'í
> writings". Its pronouncements, which are susceptible of amendment or abrogation
> by the House of Justice itself, serve to supplement and apply the Law of
> God. Although not invested with the function of interpretation, the House
> of Justice is in a position to do everything necessary to establish the
> World Order of Bahá'u'lláh on this earth. Unity of doctrine
> is maintained by the existence of the authentic texts of Scripture and
> the voluminous interpretations of `Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi,
> together with the absolute prohibition against anyone propounding "authoritative"
> or "inspired" interpretations or usurping the function of Guardian. Unity
> of administration is assured by the authority of the Universal House of
> Justice.
> 
> "Such", in the words of Shoghi Effendi, "is the immutability
> of His revealed Word. Such is the elasticity which characterizes the functions
> of His appointed ministers. The first preserves the identity of His Faith,
> and guards the integrity of His law. The second enables it, even as a living
> organism, to expand and adapt itself to the needs and requirements of an
> ever-changing society."
> 
> (Letter dated 21 March 1930, "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh",
> p.
> 25
> )
> 
> Every true believer, if he is to deepen in his understanding
> of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, must needs combine profound
> faith in the unfailing efficacy of His Message and His Covenant, with the
> humility of recognizing that no one of this generation can claim to have
> embraced the vastness of His Cause nor to have comprehended the manifold
> mysteries and potentialities it contains. The words of Shoghi Effendi bear
> ample testimony to this fact:
> 
> How vast is the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh!
> How great the magnitude of His blessings showered upon humanity in this
> day! And yet, how poor, how inadequate our conception of their significance
> and glory! This generation stands too close to so colossal a Revelation
> to appreciate, in their full measure, the infinite possibilities of His
> Faith, the unprecedented character of His Cause, and the mysterious dispensations
> of His Providence.
> 
> (Letter dated 21 March 1930, "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh",
> p.
> 24
> ).
> 
> We are called upon by our beloved Master in His Will and
> Testament not only to adopt it [Bahá'u'lláh's new world order]
> unreservedly, but to unveil its merit to all the world. To attempt to estimate
> its full value, and grasp its exact significance after so short a time
> since its inception would be premature and presumptuous on our part. We
> must trust to time, and the guidance of God's Universal House of Justice,
> to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of its provisions and implications....
> 
> (Letter dated 23 February 1924, published in "Bahá'í
> Administration", p.
> 62
> ).
> 
> As to the order and the management of the spiritual affairs
> of the friends, that which is very important now is the consolidation of
> the Spiritual Assemblies in every centre, because on these fortified and
> unshakable foundations, God's Supreme House of Justice shall be erected
> and firmly established in the days to come. When this most great Edifice
> shall be reared on such an immovable foundation, God's purpose, wisdom,
> universal truths, mysteries and realities of the Kingdom, which the mystic
> revelation of Bahá'u'lláh has deposited within the Will and
> Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá, shall gradually be revealed and made
> manifest.
> 
> (Letter dated 19 December 1922, translated from the
> Persian)
> 
> Statements such as these indicate that the full meaning
> of the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá, as well as an understanding
> of the implications of the World Order ushered in by that remarkable Document
> can be revealed only gradually to men's eyes, and after the Universal House
> of Justice has come into being. The friends are called upon to trust to
> time and to await the guidance of the Universal House of Justice, which,
> as circumstances require, will make pronouncements that will resolve and
> clarify obscure matters.
> 
> The third group of queries raised by the friends concerns
> details of functioning of the Universal House of Justice in the absence
> of the Guardian, particularly the matter of expulsion of members of the
> House of Justice. Such questions will be clarified in the Constitution
> of the House of Justice, the formulation of which is a goal of the Nine
> Year Plan. Meanwhile the friends are informed that any member committing
> a "sin injurious to the common weal", may be expelled from membership of
> the House of Justice by a majority vote of the House itself. Should any
> member, God forbid, be guilty of breaking the Covenant, the matter would
> be investigated by the Hands of the Cause of God, and the Covenant-breaker
> would be expelled by decision of the Hands of the Cause of God residing
> in the Holy Land, subject to the approval of the House of Justice, as in
> the case of any other believer. The decision of the Hands in such a case
> would be announced to the Bahá'í world by the Universal House
> of Justice.
> 
> We are certain that when you share this letter with the
> friends and they have these quotations from the Scriptures and the Writings
> of the Guardian drawn to their attention, their doubts and misgivings will
> be dispelled and they will be able to devote their every effort to spreading
> the Message of Bahá'u'lláh, serenely confident in the power
> of His Covenant to overcome whatever tests an inscrutable Providence may
> shower upon it, thus demonstrating its ability to redeem a travailing world
> and to upraise the Standard of the Kingdom of God on earth.
> 
> (9 March 1965 to a National Spiritual Assembly, published
> in "Wellspring of Guidance: Messages, 1963-1968", pp.
> 44
> -
> 56
> )
> 
> You query the timing of the election of the Universal House
> of Justice in view of the Guardian's statement: "...given favourable circumstances,
> under which the Bahá'ís of Persia and of the adjoining countries
> under Soviet rule, may be enabled to elect their national representatives
> ... the only remaining obstacle in the way of the definite formation of the
> International House of Justice will have been removed." On 19th April 1947
> the Guardian, in a letter written on his behalf by his secretary, replied
> to the enquiry of an individual believer about this passage: "At the time
> he referred to Russia there were Bahá'ís there, now the Community
> has practically ceased to exist; therefore the formation of the International
> House of Justice cannot depend on a Russian National Spiritual Assembly.
> But other strong National Spiritual Assemblies will have to be built up
> before it can be established."
> 
> You suggest the possibility that, for the good of
> the Cause, certain information concerning the succession to Shoghi Effendi
> is being withheld from the believers. We assure you that nothing whatsoever
> is being withheld from the friends for whatever reason. There is no doubt
> at all that in the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá Shoghi Effendi
> was the authority designated to appoint his successor, but he had no children
> and all the surviving Aghsán had broken the Covenant. Thus, as the
> Hands of the Cause stated in 1957, it is clear that there was no one he
> could have appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Will. To
> have made an appointment outside the clear and specific provisions of the
> Master's Will and Testament would obviously have been an impossible and
> unthinkable course of action for the Guardian, the divinely-appointed upholder
> and defender of the Covenant. Moreover, that same Will had provided a clear
> means for the confirmation of the Guardian's appointment of his successor,
> as you are aware. The nine Hands to be elected by the body of the Hands
> were to give their assent by secret ballot to the Guardian's choice. In
> 1957 the entire body of the Hands, after fully investigating the matter,
> announced that Shoghi Effendi had appointed no successor and left no will.
> This is documented and established.
> 
> The fact that Shoghi Effendi did not leave a will cannot
> be adduced as evidence of his failure to obey Bahá'u'lláh
> —  rather should we acknowledge that in his very silence there is a wisdom
> and a sign of his infallible guidance. We should ponder deeply the writings
> that we have, and seek to understand the multitudinous significances that
> they contain. Do not forget that Shoghi Effendi said two things were necessary
> for a growing understanding of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:
> the passage of time and the guidance of the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> The infallibility of the Universal House of Justice, operating
> within its ordained sphere, has not been made dependent upon the presence
> in its membership of the Guardian of the Cause. Although in the realm of
> interpretation the Guardian's pronouncements are always binding, in the
> area of the Guardian's participation in legislation it is always the decision
> of the House itself which must prevail. This is supported by the words
> of the Guardian: "The interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within
> his own sphere, is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the
> International House of Justice, whose exclusive right and prerogative is
> to pronounce upon and deliver the final judgement on such laws and ordinances
> as Bahá'u'lláh has not expressly revealed. Neither can, nor
> will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other.
> Neither will seek to curtail the specific and undoubted authority with
> which both have been divinely invested.
> 
> "Though the Guardian of the Faith has been made the permanent
> head of so august a body he can never, even temporarily, assume the right
> of exclusive legislation. He cannot override the decision of the majority
> of his fellow-members, but is bound to insist upon a reconsideration by
> them of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the
> meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's revealed
> utterances."
> 
> However, quite apart from his function as a member and
> sacred head for life of the Universal House of Justice, the Guardian, functioning
> within his own sphere, had the right and duty "to define the sphere of
> the legislative action" of the Universal House of Justice. In other words,
> he had the authority to state whether a matter was or was not already covered
> by the Sacred Texts and therefore whether it was within the authority of
> the Universal House of Justice to legislate upon it. No other person, apart
> from the Guardian, has the right or authority to make such definitions.
> The question therefore arises: In the absence of the Guardian, is the Universal
> House of Justice in danger of straying outside its proper sphere and thus
> falling into error? Here we must remember three things: First, Shoghi Effendi,
> during the thirty-six years of his Guardianship, has already made innumerable
> such definitions, supplementing those made by `Abdu'l-Bahá and by
> Bahá'u'lláh Himself. As already announced to the friends,
> a careful study of the Writings and interpretations on any subject on which
> the House of Justice proposes to legislate always precedes its act of legislation.
> Second, the Universal House of Justice, itself assured of divine guidance,
> is well aware of the absence of the Guardian and will approach all matters
> of legislation only when certain of its sphere of jurisdiction, a sphere
> which the Guardian has confidently described as "clearly defined". Third,
> we must not forget the Guardian's written statement about these two Institutions:
> "Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain
> of the other."
> 
> As regards the need to have deductions made from the Writings
> to help in the formulation of the enactments of the House of Justice, there
> is the following text from the pen of `Abdu'l-Bahá:.
> 
> Those matters of major importance which constitute the
> foundation of the Law of God are explicitly recorded in the Text, but subsidiary
> laws are left to the House of Justice. The wisdom of this is that the times
> never remain the same, for change is a necessary quality and an essential
> attribute of this world, and of time and place. Therefore the House of
> Justice will take action accordingly.
> 
> Let it not be imagined that the House of Justice will
> take any decision according to its own concepts and opinions. God forbid!
> The Supreme House of Justice will take decisions and establish laws through
> the inspiration and confirmation of the Holy Spirit, because it is in the
> safekeeping and under the shelter and protection of the Ancient Beauty,
> and obedience to its decisions is a bounden and essential duty and an absolute
> obligation, and there is no escape for anyone.
> 
> Say, O people: Verily the Supreme House of Justice is
> under the wings of your Lord, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful, that
> is, under His protection, His care, and His shelter; for He has commanded
> the firm believers to obey that blessed, sanctified and all-subduing body,
> whose sovereignty is divinely ordained and of the Kingdom of Heaven and
> whose laws are inspired and spiritual.
> 
> Briefly, this is the wisdom of referring the laws of society
> to the House of Justice. In the religion of Islam, similarly, not every
> ordinance was explicitly revealed; nay not a tenth part of a tenth part
> was included in the Text; although all matters of major importance were
> specifically referred to, there were undoubtedly thousands of laws which
> were unspecified. These were devised by the divines of a later age according
> to the laws of Islamic jurisprudence, and individual divines made conflicting
> deductions from the original revealed ordinances. All these were enforced.
> Today this process of deduction is the right of the body of the House of
> Justice, and the deductions and conclusions of individual learned men have
> no authority, unless they are endorsed by the House of Justice. The difference
> is precisely this, that from the conclusions and endorsements of the body
> of the House of Justice whose members are elected by and known to the worldwide
> Bahá'í community, no differences will arise; whereas the
> conclusions of individual divines and scholars would definitely lead to
> differences, and result in schism, division, and dispersion. The oneness
> of the Word would be destroyed, the unity of the Faith would disappear,
> and the edifice of the Faith of God would be shaken.
> 
> ("Letters, 2nd rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í
> Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 148 (both quotes).
> 
> In the Order of Bahá'u'lláh there are certain
> functions which are reserved to certain institutions, and others which
> are shared in common, even though they may be more in the special province
> of one or the other. For example, although the Hands of the Cause of God
> have the specific functions of protection and propagation, and are specialized
> for these functions, it is also the duty of the Universal House of Justice
> and the Spiritual Assemblies to protect and teach the Cause  —  indeed teaching
> is a sacred obligation placed upon every believer by Bahá'u'lláh.
> Similarly, although after the Master authoritative interpretation was exclusively
> vested in the Guardian, and although legislation is exclusively the function
> of the Universal House of Justice, these two Institutions are, in Shoghi
> Effendi's words, "complementary in their aim and purpose." "Their common,
> their fundamental object is to ensure the continuity of that divinely-appointed
> authority which flows from the Source of our Faith, to safeguard the unity
> of its followers and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings."
> Whereas the Universal House of Justice cannot undertake any function which
> exclusively appertained to the Guardian, it must continue to pursue the
> object which it shares in common with the Guardianship.
> 
> As you point out with many quotations, Shoghi Effendi
> repeatedly stressed the inseparability of these two institutions. Whereas
> he obviously envisaged their functioning together, it cannot logically
> be deduced from this that one is unable to function in the absence of the
> other. During the whole thirty-six years of his Guardianship Shoghi Effendi
> functioned without the Universal House of Justice. Now the Universal House
> of Justice must function without the Guardian, but the principle of inseparability
> remains. The Guardianship does not lose its significance nor position in
> the Order of Bahá'u'lláh merely because there is no living
> Guardian. We must guard against two extremes: one is to argue that because
> there is no Guardian all that was written about the Guardianship and its
> position in the Bahá'í World Order is a dead letter and was
> unimportant; the other is to be so overwhelmed by the significance of the
> Guardianship as to underestimate the strength of the Covenant, or to be
> tempted to compromise with the clear texts in order to find somehow, in
> some way, a "Guardian".
> 
> Service to the Cause of God requires absolute fidelity
> and integrity and unwavering faith in Him. No good but only evil can come
> from taking the responsibility for the future of God's Cause into our own
> hands and trying to force it into ways that we wish it to go regardless
> of the clear texts and our own limitations. It is His Cause. He has promised
> that its light will not fail. Our part is to cling tenaciously to the revealed
> Word and to the Institutions that He has created to preserve His Covenant.
> 
> It is precisely in this connection that the believers
> must recognize the importance of intellectual honesty and humility. In
> past dispensations many errors arose because the believers in God's Revelation
> were over-anxious to encompass the Divine Message within the framework
> of their limited understanding, to define doctrines where definition was
> beyond their power, to explain mysteries which only the wisdom and experience
> of a later age would make comprehensible, to argue that something was true
> because it appeared desirable and necessary. Such compromises with essential
> truth, such intellectual pride, we must scrupulously avoid.
> 
> If some of the statements of the Universal House of Justice
> are not detailed the friends should realize that the cause of this is not
> secretiveness, but rather the determination of this body to refrain from
> interpreting the teachings and to preserve the truth of the Guardian's
> statement that "Leaders of religion, exponents of political theories, governors
> of human institutions ... need have no doubt or anxiety regarding the nature,
> the origin, or validity of the institutions which the adherents of the
> Faith are building up throughout the world. For these lie embedded in the
> teachings themselves, unadulterated and unobscured by unwarranted inferences,
> or unauthorized interpretations of His Word."
> 
> A clear distinction is made in our Faith between authoritative
> interpretation and the interpretation or understanding that each individual
> arrives at for himself from his study of its teachings. While the former
> is confined to the Guardian, the latter, according to the guidance given
> to us by the Guardian himself, should by no means be suppressed. In fact
> such individual interpretation is considered the fruit of man's rational
> power and conducive to a better understanding of the teachings, provided
> that no disputes or arguments arise among the friends and the individual
> himself understands and makes it clear that his views are merely his own.
> Individual interpretations continually change as one grows in comprehension
> of the teachings. As Shoghi Effendi explained: "To deepen in the Cause
> means to read the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and the Master
> so thoroughly as to be able to give it to others in its pure form. There
> are many who have some superficial idea of what the Cause stands for. They,
> therefore, present it together with all sorts of ideas that are their own.
> As the Cause is still in its early days we must be most careful lest we
> fall under this error and injure the Movement we so much adore. There is
> no limit to the study of the Cause. The more we read the Writings the more
> truths we can find in them and the more we will see that our previous notions
> were erroneous." So, although individual insights can be enlightening and
> helpful, they can also be misleading. The friends must therefore learn
> to listen to the views of others without being over-awed or allowing their
> faith to be shaken, and to express their own views without pressing them
> on their fellow Bahá'ís.
> 
> The Cause of God is organic, growing and developing like
> a living being. Time and again it has faced crises which have perplexed
> the believers, but each time the Cause, impelled by the immutable purpose
> of God, overcame the crisis and went on to greater heights.
> 
> However great may be our inability to understand the mystery
> and the implications of the passing of Shoghi Effendi, the strong cord
> to which all must cling with assurance is the Covenant. The emphatic and
> vigorous language of `Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament is at this
> time, as at the time of His own passing, the safeguard of the Cause:
> 
> "Unto the 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...." And again:
> "...All must seek guidance and turn unto the Centre of the Cause and the
> House of Justice. And he that turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in
> grievous error."
> 
> The Universal House of Justice, which the Guardian said
> would be regarded by posterity as "the last refuge of a tottering civilization"
> is now, in the absence of the Guardian, the sole infallibly guided institution
> in the world to which all must turn, and on it rests the responsibility
> for ensuring the unity and progress of the Cause of God in accordance with
> the revealed Word. There are statements from the Master and the Guardian
> indicating that the Universal House of Justice, in addition to being the
> Highest Legislative Body of the Faith, is also the body to which all must
> turn, and is the "apex" of the Bahá'í Administrative Order,
> as well as the "supreme organ of the Bahá'í Commonwealth".
> The Guardian has in his writings specified for the House of Justice such
> fundamental functions as the formulation of future world-wide teaching
> plans, the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith, and the
> guidance, organisation and unification of the affairs of the Cause throughout
> the world. Furthermore in "God Passes By" the Guardian makes the following
> statement: "the Kitáb-i-Aqdas ... not only preserves for posterity
> the basic laws and ordinances on which the fabric of His future World Order
> must rest, but ordains, in addition to the function of interpretation which
> it confers upon His Successor, the necessary institutions through which
> the integrity and unity of His Faith can alone be safeguarded." He has
> also, in "The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh", written that
> the members of the Universal House of Justice "and not the body of those
> who either directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients
> of the divine guidance which is at once the life-blood and ultimate safeguard
> of this Revelation."
> 
> As the Universal House of Justice has already announced,
> it cannot legislate to make possible the appointment of a successor to
> Shoghi Effendi, nor can it legislate to make possible the appointment of
> any more Hands of the Cause, but it must do everything within its power
> to ensure the performance of all those functions which it shares with these
> two mighty Institutions. It must make provision for the proper discharge
> in future of the functions of protection and propagation, which the administrative
> bodies share with the Guardianship and the Hands of the Cause; it must,
> in the absence of the Guardian, receive and disburse the Huqúqu'lláh,
> in accordance with the following statement of `Abdu'l-Bahá: "Disposition
> of the Huqúq, wholly or partly, is permissible, but this should
> be done by permission of the authority in the Cause to whom all must turn.";
> it must make provision in its Constitution for the removal of any of its
> members who commits a sin "injurious to the common weal". Above all, it
> must, with perfect faith in Bahá'u'lláh, proclaim His Cause
> and enforce His Law so that the Most Great Peace shall be firmly established
> in this world and the foundation of the Kingdom of God on earth shall be
> accomplished.
> 
> (27 May 1966 to an individual, published in "Wellspring
> of Guidance: Messages, 1963-1968", pp.
> 81
> -
> 91
> )
> 
> Your recent letter, in which you share with us the questions
> that have occurred to some of the youth in studying "The Dispensation of
> Bahá'u'lláh", has been carefully considered, and we feel
> that we should comment both on the particular passage you mention and on
> a related passage in the same work, because both bear on the relationship
> between the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> The first passage concerns the Guardian's duty to insist
> upon a reconsideration by his fellow-members in the Universal House of
> Justice of any enactment which he believes conflicts with the meaning and
> departs from the spirit of the Sacred Writings. The second passage concerns
> the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice without the Guardian,
> namely Shoghi Effendi's statement that `Without such an institution [the
> Guardianship] ... the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative
> action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn."
> 
> Some of the youth, you indicate, were puzzled as to how
> to reconcile the former of these two passages with such statements as that
> in the Will of `Abdu'l-Bahá which affirms that the Universal House
> of Justice is "freed from all error".
> 
> Just as the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá
> does not in any way contradict the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas" but, in the Guardian's
> words, "confirms, supplements, and correlates the provisions of the "Aqdas",
> so the writings of the Guardian contradict neither the revealed Word nor
> the interpretations of the Master. In attempting to understand the Writings,
> therefore, one must first realize that there is and can be no real contradiction
> in them, and in the light of this we can confidently seek the unity of
> meaning which they contain.
> 
> The Guardian and the Universal House of Justice have certain
> duties and functions in common; each also operates within a separate and
> distinct sphere. As Shoghi Effendi explained, "...it is made indubitably
> clear and evident that the Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter
> of the Word and that the Universal House of Justice has been invested with
> the function of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings.
> The interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere,
> is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International
> House of Justice, whose exclusive right and prerogative is to pronounce
> upon and deliver the final judgement on such laws and ordinances as Bahá'u'lláh
> has not expressly revealed." He goes on to affirm, "Neither can, nor will
> ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other. Neither
> will seek to curtail the specific and undoubted authority with which both
> have been divinely invested." It is impossible to conceive that two centres
> of authority, which the Master has stated "are both under the care and
> protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance
> of His Holiness, the Exalted One", could conflict with one another, because
> both are vehicles of the same Divine Guidance.
> 
> The Universal House of Justice, beyond its function as
> the enactor of legislation, has been invested with the more general functions
> of protecting and administering the Cause, solving obscure questions and
> deciding upon matters that have caused difference. Nowhere is it stated
> that the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice is by virtue of
> the Guardian's membership or presence on that body. Indeed, `Abdu'l-Bahá
> in His Will and Shoghi Effendi in his "Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh"
> have both explicitly stated that the elected members of the Universal House
> of Justice in consultation are recipients of unfailing Divine Guidance.
> Furthermore the Guardian himself in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh"
> asserted that "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 Bahá'u'lláh in the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas",
> 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 Bahá'u'lláh, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions."
> 
> While the specific responsibility of the Guardian is the
> interpretation of the Word, he is also invested with all the powers and
> prerogatives necessary to discharge his function as Guardian of the Cause,
> its Head and supreme protector. He is, furthermore, made the irremovable
> head and member for life of the supreme legislative body of the Faith.
> It is as the head of the Universal House of Justice, and as a member of
> that body, that the Guardian takes part in the process of legislation.
> If the following passage, which gave rise to your query, is considered
> as referring to this last relationship, you will see that there is no contradiction
> between it and the other texts: "Though the Guardian of the Faith has been
> made the permanent head of so august a body he can never, even temporarily,
> assume the right of exclusive legislation. He cannot override the decision
> of the majority of his fellow-members, but is bound to insist upon a reconsideration
> by them of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the
> meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's revealed
> utterances."
> 
> Although the Guardian, in relation to his fellow-members
> within the Universal House of Justice, cannot override the decision of
> the majority, it is inconceivable that the other members would ignore any
> objection he raised in the course of consultation or pass legislation contrary
> to what he expressed as being in harmony with the spirit of the Cause.
> It is, after all, the final act of judgement delivered by the Universal
> House of Justice that is vouchsafed infallibility, not any views expressed
> in the course of the process of enactment.
> 
> It can be seen, therefore, that there is no conflict between
> the Master's statements concerning the unfailing divine guidance conferred
> upon the Universal House of Justice and the above passage from "The Dispensation
> of Bahá'u'lláh".
> 
> It may help the friends to understand this relationship
> if they are aware of some of the processes that the Universal House of
> Justice follows when legislating. First, of course, it observes the greatest
> care in studying the Sacred Texts and the interpretations of the Guardian
> as well as considering the views of all the members. After long consultation
> the process of drafting a pronouncement is put into effect. During this
> process the whole matter may well be reconsidered. As a result of such
> reconsideration the final judgement may be significantly different from
> the conclusion earlier favoured, or possibly it may be decided not to legislate
> at all on that subject at that time. One can understand how great would
> be the attention paid to the views of the Guardian during the above process
> were he alive.
> 
> In considering the second passage we must once more hold
> fast to the principle that the teachings do not contradict themselves.
> 
> Future Guardians are clearly envisaged and referred to
> in the Writings, but there is nowhere any promise or guarantee that the
> line of Guardians would endure for ever; on the contrary there are clear
> indications that the line could be broken. Yet, in spite of this, there
> is a repeated insistence in the Writings on the indestructibility of the
> Covenant and the immutability of God's Purpose for this Day.
> 
> One of the most striking passages which envisage the possibility
> of such a break in the line of Guardians is in the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas"
> itself:
> 
> The endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the
> Revealer of Signs. No one has the right to lay hold on them without leave
> from the Dawning-Place of Revelation. After Him the decision rests with
> the Aghsán [Branches], and after them with the House of Justice
> — should it be established in the world by then  —  so that they may use these
> endowments for the benefit of the Sites exalted in this Cause, and for
> that which they have been commanded by God, the Almighty, the All-Powerful.
> Otherwise the endowments should be referred to the people of Bahá,
> who speak not without His leave and who pass no judgement but in accordance
> with that which God has ordained in this Tablet, they who are the champions
> of victory betwixt heaven and earth, so that they may spend them on that
> which has been decreed in the Holy Book by God, the Mighty, the Bountiful.
> 
> The passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957 precipitated the very
> situation provided for in this passage, in that the line of Aghsán
> ended before the House of Justice had been elected. Although, as is seen,
> the ending of the line of Aghsán at some stage was provided for,
> we must never underestimate the grievous loss that the Faith has suffered.
> God's purpose for mankind remains unchanged, however, and the mighty Covenant
> of Bahá'u'lláh remains impregnable. Has not Bahá'u'lláh
> stated categorically, "The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation
> upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation." While `Abdu'l-Bahá
> confirms: "Verily, God effecteth that which He pleaseth; naught can annul
> His Covenant; naught can obstruct His favour nor oppose His Cause!" "Everything
> is subject to corruption; but the Covenant of thy Lord shall continue to
> pervade all regions." "The tests of every dispensation are in direct proportion
> to the greatness of the Cause, and as heretofore such a manifest Covenant,
> written by the Supreme Pen, hath not been entered upon, the tests are proportionately
> severe.... These agitations of the violators are no more than the foam of
> the ocean,... This foam of the ocean shall not endure and shall soon disperse
> and vanish, while the ocean of the Covenant shall eternally surge and roar."
> And Shoghi Effendi has clearly stated: "The bedrock on which this Administrative
> Order is founded is God's immutable Purpose for mankind in this day." "...this
> priceless gem of Divine Revelation, now still in its embryonic state, shall
> evolve within the shell of His law, and shall forge ahead, undivided and
> unimpaired, till it embraces the whole of mankind."
> 
> In the Bahá'í Faith there are two authoritative
> centres appointed to which the believers must turn, for in reality the
> Interpreter of the Word is an extension of that centre which is the Word
> itself. The Book is the record of the utterance of Bahá'u'lláh,
> while the divinely inspired Interpreter is the living Mouth of that Book
> —  it is he and he alone who can authoritatively state what the Book means.
> Thus one centre is the Book with its Interpreter, and the other is the
> Universal House of Justice guided by God to decide on whatever is not explicitly
> revealed in the Book. This pattern of centres and their relationships is
> apparent at every stage in the unfoldment of the Cause. In the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas"
> Bahá'u'lláh tells the believers to refer after His passing
> to the Book, and to "Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from
> this Ancient Root." In the "Kitáb-i-'Ahdí" (the Book of Bahá'u'lláh's
> Covenant), He makes it clear that this reference is to `Abdu'l-Bahá.
> In the "Aqdas" Bahá'u'lláh also ordains the institution of
> the Universal House of Justice, and confers upon it the powers necessary
> for it to discharge its ordained functions. The Master in His Will and
> Testament explicitly institutes the Guardianship, which Shoghi Effendi
> states was clearly anticipated in the verses of the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas",
> reaffirms and elucidates the authority of the Universal House of Justice,
> and refers the believers once again to the Book: "Unto the Most Holy Book
> every one must turn and all that is not expressly recorded therein must
> be referred to the Universal House of Justice.", and at the very end of
> the Will He says: "All must seek guidance and turn unto the Centre of the
> Cause and the House of Justice. And he that turneth unto whatsoever else
> is indeed in grievous error."
> 
> As the sphere of jurisdiction of the Universal House of
> Justice in matters of legislation extends to whatever is not explicitly
> revealed in the Sacred Text, it is clear that the Book itself is the highest
> authority and delimits the sphere of action of the House of Justice. Likewise,
> the Interpreter of the Book must also have the authority to define the
> sphere of the legislative action of the elected representatives of the
> Cause. The writings of the Guardian and the advice given by him over the
> thirty-six years of his Guardianship show the way in which he exercised
> this function in relation to the Universal House of Justice as well as
> to National and Local Spiritual Assemblies.
> 
> The fact that the Guardian has the authority to define
> the sphere of the legislative action of the Universal House of Justice
> does not carry with it the corollary that without such guidance the Universal
> House of Justice might stray beyond the limits of its proper authority;
> such a deduction would conflict with all the other texts referring to its
> infallibility, and specifically with the Guardian's own clear assertion
> that the Universal House of Justice never can or will infringe on the sacred
> and prescribed domain of the Guardianship. It should be remembered, however,
> that although National and Local Spiritual Assemblies can receive divine
> guidance if they consult in the manner and spirit described by `Abdu'l-Bahá,
> they do not share in the explicit guarantees of infallibility conferred
> upon the Universal House of Justice. Any careful student of the Cause can
> see with what care the Guardian, after the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá,
> guided these elected representatives of the believers in the painstaking
> erection of the Administrative Order and in the formulation of Local and
> National Bahá'í Constitutions.
> 
> We hope that these elucidations will assist the friends
> in understanding these relationships more clearly, but we must all remember
> that we stand too close to the beginnings of the System ordained by Bahá'u'lláh
> to be able fully to understand its potentialities or the inter-relationships
> of its component parts. As Shoghi Effendi's secretary wrote on his behalf
> to an individual believer on 25 March 1930, "The contents of the Will of
> the Master are far too much for the present generation to comprehend. It
> needs at least a century of actual working before the treasures of wisdom
> hidden in it can be revealed...."
> 
> (7 December 1969 to an individual, published in "Messages
> from the Universal House of Justice, 1968-1973" Bahá'í Publishing
> Trust, 1976), pp.
> 37
> -
> 44
> )
> 
> Endnotes
> 
> i       A newer translation of this passage
> has been substituted for the translation originally included.
> 
> ii      A newer reference for this passage
> has been substituted for the reference originally included.
> 
> iii     Translated by Shoghi Effendi, "Gleanings
> from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh",  rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1984),
> pp.
> 15
> -
> 16
> .
> 
> iv      Written by the Guardian's secretary
> to an individual believer, on 25 August 1926.
> 
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> — *Universal House of Justice, Establishment of (Used by permission of the curator)*