Remembering Shoghi Effendi as Interpreter
Exported from Holy-Writings.com on 2026-06-18 - 1 clipping

Transcript of a talk given by Glenford Mitchell, July 27,
1997, at the Foundation Hall of the House of Worship in Wilmette,
Illinois. Taken from a series of two cassette tapes, © 1997 National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the U.S.

Contents:
 Audio Tape #1
 Audio Tape #2

 	"1997 marks the centenary of the Birth of Shoghi Effendi. There are 
no celebrations of the occasion official or otherwise, because Shoghi 
Effendi did not wish his birthday to be celebrated. He made this clear in 
writing to commemorate any event associated with his life would be 
tantamount to a departure from those established truths that are 
enshrined within our beloved Faith. However there is nothing to stop us 
from remembering him, indeed how can we forget so unique and 
indispensable a figure of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Since I have been offered 
an opportunity[a] very welcome [one] I should say, and a pleasant 
opportunity of being with you today, I invite you to join me in 
remembering Shoghi Effendi as interpreter.

 It is only fair, I think, to tell you that the talk I am about to give will be 
lengthy. It comprises [of] three parts. The first part is the Word as 
Genesis, second interpreting the Word and third the 
literature of interpretation. Now, perhaps you have heard that 
phrasing before because I have been involved is some form of 
resurrection... and ..not as spectacular as that involved Lazarus but it was 
some form of resurrection because some years ago I wrote an article by 
this title which was published in the World Order magazine so since I 
assume most of you have not heard about this article I take a chance and 
bring a large of it chunk to your attention. So then let's begin. 

Contents:
 Audio Tape #1
 Audio Tape #2

[+CHAPTER1]

 PART - I

 THE WORD AS GENESIS 

 "The Word is the beginning and the end of all things." You 
know the Word Capital W. "In the beginning was the Word, and the 
Word was with God and the Word was God". So begins the gospel 
according to St. John. "Thou didst wish to make thyself known unto 
men, therefore thou didst through a Word of Thy mouth bring creation unto 
being and fashion the universe". So goes one of the statements in 
one of the well known prayers of Bahá'u'lláh. Creation is sustained and 
advances by the power of the Word. The manifestation comes in a human 
form and although we have in Him a physical presence, a tangible sign of 
God's love, yet this is temporary. When He leaves what we have is the 
Word because His most important act is to deliver the Word. Bahá'u'lláh 
describes it, that is the Word in a prayer as "Thy most sublime Word, 
through whose potency Thou didst call creation into being and didst reveal 
Thy Cause".

 The Word then is the abiding evidence of the reality of the Manifestation. 
It becomes the generating force of civilized life. Bahá'u'lláh says, 
"The Word is the master-key for the whole world, inasmuch as 
through its potency the doors of the hearts of men, which in reality are 
the doors of heaven, are unlocked." And the Word is extended or 
renewed in successive appearances of the Divine Messenger. In this very 
terminology - Divine Messenger - Word is implied. As the initiator, the 
dynamo the sustainer of existence the Word exercises an influence that 
pervades all things and all conditions. "It hath ever dominated and 
will continue to dominate the realm of being", Bahá'u'lláh says. 
The Word is at the center of the realm of thought, through which 
consciousness expresses itself. Abdu'l-Bahá tells us, that "the reality 
of man is his thought." It stands to reason then that it is at this point 
of reality that the Word produces a powerful impact. In a large sense, 
thought is the product of the Word, and reflects its effects and even some 
of its characteristics. Thought is revealed through the employment of 
language. Language being you might say, a coherency of words. So the Word 
in a certain sense is a progenitor of words. Bahá'u'lláh speaks of the 
"Word of God as the Cause of the entire creation while all else 
besides His Word are but the creatures and effects thereof." 
Thought also manifests itself though varieties of actions and patterns of 
behavior. In this regard the Master informs us that the thought without 
action is useless. "The power of thought is dependent in its manifestation 
in deeds", He asserts. Of course, we know what Bahá'u'lláh has to say about 
words exceeding deeds. Good intentions you know but no action. You know 
what kind of road is paved by such. 

 Informal or Spontaneous Interpretation:

 A vital occupation of thought is its search for meaning. The why and 
wherefore of things tangible and intangible. The reason for this or that 
constantly exercises our thought. Without a sense of meaning human life 
is impossible. Perhaps this is why so many people when they do not 
understand the meaning of or the reason for something they fill in the void 
with products of the[ir] imagination. One of these of course is 
superstition. Meaning comes through a variety of modes and means such as 
experience, observation, instruction, conversation. But common to any 
effort in arriving at a meaning is the capacity to interpret. That is, the 
ability to understand or to make sense of signs, language, behavior, 
relationships, actions, impressions, dreams and all other kinds of 
phenomenon, etc. etc. In fact human beings are forever engaged in the act 
of interpreting, as you are now. Webster's third international dictionary 
offers the following as one definition of the word interpret: to understand 
and appreciate in the light of individual belief, judgment, interest or 
circumstances. In other words to construe, so you interpret a law, you 
interpret a contract, you interpret the signs of a coming storm and so on 
and so on. There are of course other definitions of [the word] interpret, and 
we shall come to them later. What this definition, taken together with the 
points already made, conclusively indicates is this: Interpretation is an 
essential activity or function of intelligence. We do it all the time, 
and indeed, cannot do without doing it. Right now you are doing that. How 
else can you understand in any shape or form what I am saying to you. And 
you are doing other things besides listening to my words, you are watching 
my gestures, you are trying to decide whether I slept enough last night, 
you are interpreting all kind of things while I talk. (laughter from the 
audience). You are registering, you are interpreting you are understanding 
things that I do, in ways that I would not understand. But that's fine. It is 
constant, this exercise of the human the mind, it is spontaneous, it is 
irrepressible [and] involuntary. As the Universal House of Justice said in 
one of its letter to an individual with regards to the interpretation of the 
Bahá'í teachings "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 the teachings. 
While the former is confined to the Guardian", that is the authoritative 
interpretation "that later according to the guidance given to us by the 
Guardian himself, should be by no means suppressed. In fact such 
individual interpretation is considered the fruit of man's rational 
power". This brings us to the second consideration of the talk namely 
interpreting the Word.

 PART -II

 INTERPRETING THE WORD 

 We might start here by attempting to provide a context, by establishing 
categories of interpretation, and exploring briefly additional dictionary 
definitions of interpret and interpretation. It seems to me that 
interpretation falls into three main categories. Now these I invented, and I 
hope you will have mercy on me if I am totally wrong. So the three are: 
	informal or spontaneous,  formal,  
and authoritative. 

 Those are my categories. Informal or spontaneous, formal, 
authoritative. The first that is the informal, as already described, refers 
to the habit of mind which obliges one to derive meaning or understanding 
from the normal ongoing occurrences and conditions of life. The second, 
that is formal is concerned with a disciplined or a systematic approach to 
interpreting phenomenon, including Sacred Scripture. The third, 
Authoritative, is unique to the Bahá'í Faith, and is related specifically to 
the interpretations of Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. We will come back 
to the second and the third categories, since the first has already been 
touched upon. Here I need the further aid of definitions. Interpret: 
Webster says, to explain or tell the meaning of, in other words to expound, 
elucidate, translate. Translate into intelligible or familiar language or 
terms. Again Webster says, to apprehend, and represent by means of art.- 
There you go by means of art-, show by illustrative representations, bring 
perhaps a score or a script to active realization by performance. So 
interpret means all of that, and interpretation of course is the act or 
result of interpreting, and you, I won't go any further into defining it 
because you understand all of that.

 Formal Interpretation:

 Now regarding the formal category of interpretation, let me introduce the 
formal terminologies as used in academic circles, and by Biblical scholars 
and by such establishments as the Roman Catholic Church. 
Hermeneutics. This derives from the Greek word Hermenuin, to 
interpret. This is the intellectual discipline concerned with the nature and 
presuppositions of the interpretation of the human expression. This word 
is associated etymologically with the name of the Greek God Hermes. He 
was considered the messenger of the Gods and Deity of boundaries. Hermes 
took messages from the Gods to others, i.e. to an audience, and therefore 
was a mediator or an interpreter. Thus the associations of the term 
Hermeneutics with Hermes reflect the inherently what they call the 
triadic structure of the act of interpretation. A sign, I drew a chart for it. 
I had to do it for myself. A sign or a message or a text of some sort 
requires a mediator or interpreter to convey to some audience. So the 
triadic structure implicitly contains major conceptual issues concerning 
Hermeneutics. The nature of a text, what it means to understand a text. 
How understanding and interpretation are determined by the 
presuppositions and beliefs of the audience to which the text is being 
interpreted. I want also to call your attention, before I go on with this, to 
other words that will pop up. Exegetics which is at the bottom of 
my chart there is another term for Hermeneutics. It is the science of 
interpretation especially of Scripture, and then what you get from that is 
exegesis, that is exposition, explanation, especially critical 
interpretation of a text or a portion of Scripture. And then the one who 
does it is called an exegete. I'll be using these terminologies on and 
off throughout my talk. Now, even though interpretation is fundamental to 
all the intellectual disciplines, Hermeneutics is relatively new to Western 
culture. Friedrich Schleiermacher, who lived between 1768 and 1834 is 
generally regarded as the founder of modern Hermeneutics. Then there was 
a man named Wilhelm Dilthey, who lived between 1833 and 1911. He hoped 
to develop a foundational discipline for the cultural sciences that would 
render their conclusions as objective and as valid as those of the natural 
sciences. Collateral with this newly born interest in Hermeneutics was a 
rapid emergence of specialized disciplines as recognized and preserved by 
the organizational structure of the modern university. Art-History, 
Anthropology, Economics, History, the various literatures, Political 
Science, Psychology, Philosophy etc. By the way, I picked up all this 
materials from encyclopedias. Encyclopedia of Religion and what not. So 
that's where I got my materials. At first it appeared these disciplines 
were more concerned with methodologies than with hermeneutics. But 
powerful intellectual currents have forced hermeneutics forward. Interest 
in it has therefore burgeoned among literary critics, sociologists, 
historians anthropologists, theologians philosophers and students of 
religion. What has brought about these currents? I am told by the things I 
have read. 1) New theories of human behavior in the psychological and 
social sciences, that's one 2) Developments in epistemology and 
philosophy of language, these have encouraged claims that what counts as 
reality for a given culture is a function of the linguistic structures 
superimposed upon experience. 3) Arguments advanced by philosophers 
such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger that all human 
experiences basically are interpreted and all judgments take place within 
a context of interpretation mediated by culture and language behind which 
it is impossible to go. A general assumption seems to have emerged from 
all this namely, that human consciousness is situated in history and 
cannot transcend it. This assumption thus raises important questions 
concerning the cultural conditioning in any understanding. The effort at 
laying down the foundational principles for hermeneutics has however not 
realized its goal. The encyclopedia of religion states that even a 
superficial glance at the contemporary intellectual scene reveals little 
agreement concerning how hermeneutics is conceived or how the 
discipline should proceed. The encyclopedia also calls attention to the 
fact that the intellectual disciplines constituting the modern university, 
have themselves been fractured into parties each of which has its own 
methods and mode of interpretation. In psychology for example, there are 
behaviorists, cognitive psychologists, Freudians, Jungian and Gestaltists, 
just as in social sciences there are functionalists, structuralists, ethno-
methodologists, and Marxists. Nonetheless interest in hermeneutics 
surges. They say that diversity and conflict of interpretation have 
increasingly have provided the stimulus and the urgency for acquiring 
understanding and agreement. The study of religion, where we come in, 
produces more problems for hermeneutics than any other academic 
discipline. We can thank God that our Faith found a way of resolving that. 
The Encyclopedia of Religion comments that, conceptually religions 
themselves may be regarded as communities of interpretation. So the 
scholarly study of them takes the form of an interpretation of an 
interpretation. OK. Now I fiddled around and read a little bit about 
Buddhism, and I discovered this. This is an illustration. The fundamental 
problems of Buddhist hermeneutics are the co-existence of conflicting 
sources and concepts of authority. According to tradition, the Buddha was 
not the sole preacher of Dharma. Even during Buddha's life, His disciples 
acted as missionaries and their words were considered as part of the 
original message of Buddhism. The texts affirm that at the Buddha's own 
behest the disciples began each sermon with the words meaning "thus have 
I heard on one occasion". This formula presumably served as a guarantee of 
authenticity or rather of faithfulness to the teachings of the Master, yet 
the same introductory formula was used indistinctly for sermons 
attributed to the Master, to his disciples or to mythical sages and deities. 
Scholarly study of religion and modern hermeneutics very often are 
based on assumptions that are different from religious interpretation, 
therefore the religious participant frequently views scholars' 
interpretation as reductionistic and alien. The consequence is the 
endless debate among scholars of religion as to whether and to what 
degree scholarly interpretation of religion does justice to the believers 
own point of view. Western scholarship in religion is commonly allied 
with the religious tradition of liberal Protestantism. This tradition is 
itself a product of a series of bitter hermeneutical debates concerning the 
application of historical critical methods to the Christian Bible. These 
debates showed that orthodox Christians regarded the application of these 
methods as "alien mode of interpretation". You see what has happened to a 
religion that does not have interpreters. The issues involved were 
resolved by liberal Protestantism which defined the essence of religious 
faith as "experience rather than doctrine, or historical belief". Just 
think about that for a minute. Schleiermacher, the founder of modern 
hermeneutics, was himself a liberal Protestant. He exerted such influence 
on the arrival at this compromise, much influence I should say. His opinion 
was that the various religions were the culturally conditioned forms of an 
underlying universal religious sensibility. The locus of Faith thus shifted 
from belief to experience. Very important point now bear in mind. The 
problem here essentially rests with the text and the inability to establish 
its authoritative meaning. This proposed shift, in my view, of Faith from 
belief to experience seems no less than a dodge. The way then to 
determine the intent of the Author of a Sacred text, according to 
Schleiermacher is to develop the basic grammatical and psychological 
conditions necessary for the understanding of any text whatever. He felt 
that the nature of language was the crucial theoretical issue. An 
elaboration of this point goes like this, and I quote "A correct 
interpretation requires, not only an understanding of the cultural and 
historical context of an author, but a grasp of the latter unique 
subjectivity. This can be accomplished only by an act," they say " of 
divination and intuitive leap by which the interpreter re-lives the 
consciousness of the author. By seeing this consciousness in the larger 
cultural context the interpreter comes to understand the author better 
than the author understands himself or herself". Interesting. It seems 
normal to think that understanding of the authors intent is essential to 
interpretation. and Schleiermacher had regard for this point of view of course. 
However for some decades now the prevailing attitudes of scholars has 
been to ignore the authorial intent altogether. For example. the 
Encyclopedia states that most literary criticisms has been built on the 
assumption that a literary text has its own afterlife independent of the 
author and that to understand it has little or no relationship to the 
understanding the authors intentions when writing it. I don't mind 
that. It's nice to play around with fiction. It's fun. Anyway, I want to get 
us out of this entanglement with Academia. That's not really what I want 
to do. I was having fun playing with you. Probably I don't understand half 
of what I am saying to you. 

 One theorist holds that there is no one right or wrong way to interpret 
anything, including texts, hence the quest for agreement is not a 
desideratum. In other words, it's not desired, it's not essential. It's not 
needed. Imagine that. Wittgenstein advanced the notion that explanations 
and interpretations make sense only within a horizon of pre-suppositions, 
practices and assumptions that our culture mediates to us or tradition so 
to speak. When all is said and done, these philosophers and theorists 
have not been able to lay down singly or collectively a general theory of 
understanding on which there is agreement, but the conflicting fragments 
of thoughts they have brought to the continuing debate regarding 
hermeneutics have seized upon the minds of the less thoughtful folks than 
they and produced pretexts for a license of expression and criticisms that 
not only shatters religious faith, but also threatens all good sense. 
Now I wanted to give an example of Roman Catholic Churches reaction to 
all of this. In 1993, you can see I was having fun, I have read these 
documents. I don't understand it but anyway. In 1993 the Pontifical 
Biblical Commission issued a document on the interpretation of the Bible 
in the Church. It is a fascinating document for a Bahá'í to read, really 
honestly, I have read them. Its issuance in 23 April 1993, to 
commemorate the centenary of the encyclical of Leo the XIII. This thing he 
called Providenticimus Deus and the 50th anniversary of the 
encyclical of Pius XII which he called Divino Efflante Spirito. Both 
concerning Biblical Studies. Pope John Paul II in his address on that 
occasion, that is 1993 said that " on the one hand Providenticimus Deus 
wanted especially to protect Catholic interpretation of the Bible from 
the attacks of rationalistic science, on the other hand Divino Effante 
Spirito was primarily concerned with defending the Catholic 
interpretation from attacks that opposed the use of science by exegetes, 
that wanted to impose a non-scientific so called spiritual interpretation 
of the sacred scriptures." These things are two opposing things you see. 
He furthermore quotes an assertion made at the second Vatican Council 
" All that has been said about the manner of interpreting the Scripture is 
ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church, which exercises the 
Divinely conferred Commission and ministry of watching over and 
interpreting the Word of God". Now I would like to know the Scriptures 
that underlie this. Now, so, I have dealt with formal interpretation so 
to speak. So let's deal a little bit with authoritative, which brings us 
home. 

 Authoritative Interpretation:

 I have suggested three categories of interpretation: 1) Informal or 
Spontaneous, that is the habit of mind which obliges one to derive meaning 
or understanding from the normal ongoing occurrences and conditions of 
life. 2) Formal, a disciplined or systematic approach to understanding or 
interpreting a phenomenon including Sacred Scriptures, one which even 
though it aspires towards a scientific method does not adhere to a general 
theory of understanding on which there is an agreement. 3) Authoritative. I 
have adopted the description authoritative for the third category which is 
related to the Bahá'í Faith and is unique to it. This uniqueness derives 
from a distinctive fact. Namely that Bahá'u'lláh himself in two major 
documents, explicitly, designated an interpreter of His Writings. No 
Revelator before Him has so clearly done this. A lack which has been 
largely responsible for the disunity and schism within other major 
religions. In both the Kitab-i-Aqdas and the Kitab-i-Ahd, which is the book 
of Covenant, Bahá'u'lláh designated Abdu'l-Bahá as the interpreter of God's 
Word. You know that. This unequivocal statement appears in the most Holy 
Book. "When the Ocean of My presence hath ebbed, and the Book of My 
revelation is ended, turn your faces towards him whom God hath purposed 
who hath branched from this Ancient Root." Again Bahá'u'lláh 
states "when the mystic dove will have winged its flight from its 
sanctuary of praise and sought its far off goal, its hidden habitation, 
refer ye whatsoever ye understand not in the Book, to him who hath 
branched from this Mighty stock". Abdu'l-Bahá commenting on the 
authority conferred on him, stated the following "in accordance with 
the explicit texts of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh has made the Center of 
the Covenant, the interpreter of His Word. A Covenant so firm and mighty 
that from the beginning of time until the present day, no religious 
dispensation has produced its like". Again Abdu'l-Bahá says, "I am 
according to the explicit texts of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and the Kitab-i-Ahd 
the manifest interpreter of the Word of God, whoso deviates from my 
interpretation is a victim of his own fancy." Bahá'u'lláh makes a highly 
illuminating statement about appointed interpreters. Listen. "Know 
assuredly", he said. "Just as thou firmly believest that Word 
of God, exalted be His Glory, endureth for ever, thou must likewise believe 
with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted." 
Then this, "They who are its appointed interpreters, they 
whose hearts are the repositories of its secrets, are however the only 
ones who can comprehend its manifold wisdom." 
Fascinating and instructive to contemplate the phrase "they 
whose hearts are the repositories of its secrets. secrets of the Word. The 
indication is that there is something here which transcends the 
competencies of academic training. Obviously, the function of 
authoritative interpretation is in its very nature and purpose different 
from any arrangement we have known before. Its purpose extends beyond 
the need to know the meaning of the Scripture as they apply to the 
interactive behavior of the individuals, of peoples, of societies. It is to 
make possible the achievement of the primary aim of the Bahá'í 
Revelation, namely, the unity of the entire human race. As you know the 
Bahá'í Faith has had the benefit of two appointed interpreters - Abdu'l-
Baha and his successor Shoghi Effendi. 

 Let me now quote from a text of antiquity. Since it provides a bridge to 
the third and final part of the talk that is the Literature of Interpretation. 
This text is taken from [literature] on Christian doctrine, a treatise by St. 
Augustine, which deals with Christian exegesis. "It is the duty of the 
interpreter and teacher of Holy Scripture, the defender of the true Faith, 
and the opponent of error both to teach what is right and to refute what is 
wrong, and in the performance of this task, to conciliate the hostile, to 
rouse the careless, and to tell the ignorant both what is occurring at 
present and what is probable in the future. But once that his hearers are 
friendly, attentive, and ready to learn, whether he has found them so or 
has himself made them so, the remaining objects are to be carried out in 
whatever way the case requires. If the hearers need teaching, the matter 
treated of must be made fully known by means of narrative. On the hand to 
clear points that are doubtful requires reasoning and the exhibition of 
proof. If however, the hearers require to be roused, rather than instructed, 
in order that they may be diligent to do what they already know, and to 
bring their feelings into harmony with the truths they admit, greater vigor 
of speech is needed." Isn't that fascinating? St. Augustine. 

 Shoghi Effendi, the great-grandson of Bahá'u'lláh was an interpreter of 
holy Scripture for 36 years from 1921 to 1957 he labored at his divine 
task producing in the end a wealth of interpretive literature, whose 
implications for our times and for the far future demands serious study. In 
a field, that had only been speculated about in the past, Shoghi Effendi by 
the very nature of his calling, perfected a new literary form. His is a kind 
of an achievement of which St. Augustine, one of the outstanding ancient 
Christian thinkers, might have dreamed, in writing his treatise on 
Christian doctrine. While it is not being suggested that we go back to the 
5th century universe of St. Augustine, to find meaning in the works of this 
20th century Interpreter; it is instructive and not merely a matter of 
curiosity, that the Augustinian idea was never truly realized until the 
passing of Bahá'u'lláh in 1892 and the subsequent assumption of the office 
of Interpreter by Abdu'l-Bahá who in turn acting in accordance with the 
divine authority explicitly conferred upon him by Bahá'u'lláh, appointed 
Shoghi Effendi to succeed him. It is largely the fact of appointment that 
lends a hitherto unknown dimension to the matter of interpretation in the 
Bahá'í dispensation and places a unique stamp on Abdu'l-Bahá's and Shoghi 
Effendi's works as Interpreters of Scripture. That the prevailing Christian 
concept and practice of interpretation which St. Augustine had to shape, 
differs in essential details from the Bahá'í experience since the passing 
of Bahá'u'lláh also deserves notice but ...[ I lost my way here. but it is not 
the purpose of this talk to do this] The intention here is to discuss the 
writings of Shoghi Effendi and as it serves the purpose of literary review 
to ascertain the motivation of the author some attention to Shoghi 
Effendi's major function as an interpreter is unavoidable. If therefore 
Augustine is invoked, it is principally because, retrospection may offer 
dimension where comparisons are impossible. The question of authenticity 
and the method of interpretation with which he wrestled, has only now 
been conclusively answered in the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, fifteen 
centuries later, and in a way that the facts of Christ's ministry and the 
realities of Augustine's time could not have prepared his vision to 
perceive. Yet we can appreciate how significant was his yearning, and 
with what remarkable resourcefulness he discerned and defined the need 
for authentication of scriptural meaning. 

 Bahá'u'lláh who declared, Himself to be the Spokesman of God for 
our time, identifies unity as the central purpose of His Revelation and 
relates this to the consummate purpose of God for man. Unity of mankind 
envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh calls for the establishment of a World Order, 
based on the laws and principles, which He Himself has left enshrined in 
His recorded Writings, produced over a period of forty years. The Bab 
Himself the author of an independent revelation, and the forerunner of 
Bahá'u'lláh alludes to the glorious prospects of the system to be conceived 
by His Successor. He states in the third chapter of the Persian Bayan, 
"Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the order of Bahá'u'lláh 
rendereth thanks unto his Lord for he will assuredly be made manifest. God 
hath indeed irrevocably ordained it in the Bayan." Of this central 
purpose of Bahá'u'lláh's revelation, Shoghi Effendi writes, " .. 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." The Houses of Justice, 
institutions of Bahá'u'lláh's World Order, which he summons the people of 
every city, hamlet or village, of every country to elect according to 
principles enunciated by him are to function under the direction and 
protection of a Supreme legislative institution the Universal House of 
Justice. This Supreme institution, no less than the Local and National 
Houses of Justice, now known as the Local and National Spiritual 
Assemblies, is to reach its decisions through a process of consultation in 
which divine guidance is vouchsafed by God. Although all these institutions 
are assured of divine guidance, the Universal House of Justice is 
especially freed from all error. The establishment and evolution of these 
unique institutions are part of a grand design, which is made possible 
through a unique provision namely, the establishment of the Institution of 
the Center of the Covenant, in the person of Abdu'l-Bahá, the eldest son of 
Bahá'u'lláh. You know what the Scriptures are that designated him such, as 
the Center of the Covenant, and we know how much Bahá'u'lláh wrote about 
His son, how He loved him, how he praised him, how he conveyed in His 
various Writings, the nature, the character of His successor. For instance, 
in one of his Tablets, Bahá'u'lláh says, "Render thanks unto God O 
People! for his appearance," that is Abdu'l-Bahá's appearance, 
 "for verily he is the most great favor unto you, the most perfect 
bounty upon you, and through him every moldering bone is quickened, 
whosoever turneth towards him hath turned towards God, and whosoever 
turneth away from him, hath turneth away from My Beauty, hath 
repudiated My Proof and transgressed against Me. He is the Trust of God 
amongst you, His Charge within you, His manifestation unto you, and His 
appearance amongst His favored servants. We have sent him down in the 
form of a human temple, Blessed and sanctified be God who created 
whatsoever He willeth through His inviolable, His infallible Decree. They 
who deprive themselves of the shadow of the Branch, are lost in the 
wilderness of error, are consumed by the heat of worldly desires, and are 
of those who will assuredly perish".  You know in that passage 
where Bahá'u'lláh says he is His charge within you, His manifestation unto 
you. Do you remember in the Old Testament when Moses was being 
assigned His mission as a Manifestation, and He was parrying with God and 
wanted to slip out of it, and He made all kinds of excuses, and one of His 
excuses was that He was a stammerer and could not speak, and God said, 
all right, you are still the one, Aaron can speak, you tell him what to say. I 
am your God and You are his God. You see it's interesting. 

 In exalted and emphatic tones Bahá'u'lláh elaborated His Covenant with 
His followers, who were not to be left shepherdless after His passing in 
1892, as to His meaning. He left no room for interpretation or error of 
judgment. Above all Abdu'l-Bahá was the Center of the Covenant, a center 
in which an unexampled variety of divine prodigies converge. It is no 
wonder then, that Abdu'l-Bahá in an affirmation of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant 
exclaims. "So firm and mighty is this Covenant, that from the beginning 
of time until the present day, no religious dispensation has produced its 
like." During a period of 29 years from 1892, till 1921 through 
unceasing struggle and unremitting pain, inflicted by the attacks by the 
enemies of the Cause, Abdu'l-Bahá directed the far flung affairs of the 
Cause, traveled to the West to establish its teachings, delineated its 
Institutions and revealed the whole pattern and framework of the 
Administrative Order brought by his Father. No narration, no exposition, no 
description indeed no literature yet exists, that adequately conveys the 
essential nature of one who accomplished so much against so many odds, 
yet it is increasingly demonstrable, that Abdu'l-Bahá's appointment as the 
Center of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant welded the universal concepts of the Faith 
he championed, and prevented its reduction to a veritable pandemonium of 
contending factions and vested interests. Bahá'u'lláh's metaphorical 
designation of His son inspired feelings of awe, "The most Mighty 
Branch", "The limb of the law of God", "A shield unto all who are unto 
heaven and on earth", "A Shelter for all mankind", "A stronghold for 
whosoever hath believed in God", "The Master", "The Mystery of God". 
 The last " The Mystery of God", is an 
expression according to Shoghi Effendi, by which Bahá'u'lláh himself has 
chosen to designate him which while it does not by any means justify us 
to assign him the station of prophet-hood, indicates how in the person of 
Abdu'l-Bahá, the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and 
superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are 
completely harmonized. Abdu'l-Bahá's interpretive mind was the crucible 
in which Bahá'u'lláh's purpose and the sum of Bahá'í experience were fused 
in the creation of yet another heretofore unknown Institution, the 
Guardianship. From the reading of Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament 
following his passing on November 28th 1921, there flashes upon the 
consciousness of the bereaved Bahá'í community a youthful figure of 
Shoghi Effendi. As he according to that document is the "Sign of 
God", the " Chosen Branch", " The Guardian of the Cause of 
God", " He unto whom His loved ones must turn". He is the 
expounder of the Word of God. Abdu'l-Bahá's Will, a tri-partied document, 
regarded by Bahá'ís as the Charter of Bahá'u'lláh's New World Order, is 
elaborate in its emphasis on this appointment in a manner reminiscent of 
Bahá'u'lláh's own treatment of the appointment of the Center of the 
Covenant. Bahá'u'lláh had written in His own hand, in the Kitab-i-Ahd, that 
is the Book of Covenant, in which the appointment of Abdu'l-Bahá was re-
affirmed. Abdu'l-Bahá too wrote in his own hand, the Will and Testament. 
There are certain resemblances in the construction of the appointive 
language, of each in the elaboration, in the multiple confirmations, there 
is no room for doubt as to the identity of the appointee or the authority 
conferred upon him. You are familiar with these texts. 

 Shoghi Effendi tells us writing about, Guardian, Guardianship, about 
himself, he says, "the fact that the Guardian has been specifically 
endowed with such power as he may need to reveal the purport and 
disclose the implications of the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and of Abdu'l-
Baha does not necessarily confer upon him a station co-equal with those, 
whose words he is called upon to interpret. He can exercise that right and 
discharge this obligation and yet remain infinitely inferior to both of 
them in rank and different in nature". For instance, he tells us that 
"the Guardian cannot claim to be the perfect exemplar of the teachings 
of Bahá'u'lláh or the stainless mirror that reflects His light". True, the 
Guardian, the offspring of Abdu'l-Bahá's interpretive mind the co-sharer in 
the genius of divine interpretation occupies a lesser rank, nonetheless he 
emerges as an unequal figure in his own right. 

 Shoghi Effendi as an Interpreter: 

 	Shoghi Effendi's interpretive work has to be seen against the broad 
fabric of his responsibilities as a successor of Abdu'l-Bahá. With the 
passing of Abdu'l-Bahá it fell to him to guide the Bahá'ís toward fulfilling 
the world encompassing goals, set by Bahá'u'lláh and amplified by Abdu'l-
Baha. There was a divine plan to be pursued. It required the firm 
establishment of new institutions. The pursuance of world wide Teaching 
Projects, the protection of the Faith against its enemies, in short the 
building of the New World Order proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh. Through the 
extensive travels of Abdu'l-Bahá in the east and the west and the copious 
correspondence that flowed from his indefatigable pen, the Faith had been 
established in 35 countries but the adherents were for the most part 
loosely organized and largely unaware of the principles of Bahá'í 
Administration. If Shoghi Effendi's appointment as Guardian, was to have 
meaning, if it implied preserving the integrity of the Faith, as well as its 
teachings, he had to do more than explain the texts, he had to direct and 
guide his trust, through the crucible of transformation. He had to forge a 
Bahá'í community. In addition to interpretation, Shoghi Effendi's writings 
were made to serve three major objectives. These were in fact the 
essential purposes of his exegetic works. These three purposes were: the 
establishment and consolidation of Bahá'í Institutions, the prosecution of 
the Bahá'í Teaching programs, the nurturing of Bahá'í community life. Now 
let's look at the first.

 Establishment and consolidation of the Bahá'í Institutions: 

 Shoghi Effendi gave paramount attention at the outset to building 
administrative Institutions. We find evidences of this among his first 
letters to the West. In a letter to the North American believers, dated 23 
March 1923, he wrote "and now that this all important work may suffer 
no neglect but rather function vigorously and continuously in every part of 
the Bahá'í World, that the unity of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh may remain 
secure and inviolate, it is of the utmost importance, that in accordance 
with the explicit texts of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book, in every 
locality, be it city or hamlet, where the number of adult declared 
believers exceeds nine, a Local Spiritual Assembly be forthwith 
established. To it all local matters pertaining to the Cause must be 
directly and immediately referred for full consultation and decision. The 
importance, nay, the absolute necessity, of these Local Assemblies is 
manifest when we realize that in the days to come they will evolve into 
the Local House of Justice, and at present provide the firm foundation on 
which the structure of the Master's Will is to be reared in future." 
From this beginning Shoghi Effendi urged and guided the formation of Local 
and National Spiritual Assemblies. On Nov. 4 1957 the time of his death, 
there existed as many as 26 National Spiritual Assemblies and over 1000 
Local Assemblies throughout the world. The second purpose.

 The prosecution of the Bahá'í Teaching Programs:

 Having abolished the clergy, Bahá'u'lláh urged upon His 
followers to the primary duty of teaching His Faith as "the most 
meritorious of all deeds" moreover, Abdu'l-Bahá in a series of 14 
letters known as the Tablets of the Divine Plan, addressed to the Bahá'ís 
in United States and Canada, outlined the program by which the teaching of 
the Faith was to be effected throughout the world. Although various 
Teaching Projects had been undertaken by the spontaneous response of 
individuals to these Tablets, it was not until 1937, sixteen years after 
the death of Abdu'l-Bahá that a systematic Teaching Scheme, known as the 
Seven Year Plan was adopted in this very room I think (Foundation Hall of 
the House of Worship in Wilmette) by the North American believers, under 
the tutelage of Shoghi Effendi and with the direction of their National 
Spiritual Assembly. There is a fascinating story surrounding this but I 
don't have the time to get into it. In the interim he had been building the 
administrative system, the channel through which the teaching 
enterprises, which were to grow successively larger until they encircled 
the globe were to be directed. The Second Five Year Plan launched in 1946 
preceded the ambitious 10 year international teaching and consolidation 
plan initiated in 1953. At the time of his death in the mid point of the 
later Plan the Faith had already been established in 200 countries and 
dependencies. The plan achieved all its major goals and at the end in 1963, 
the centenary of the anniversary of the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh's 
mission, the Universal House of Justice was elected, by 56 National 
Spiritual Assemblies. The third, 

 Nurturing of Bahá'í Community life

 Nurture of Bahá'í communities, let me make a few comments on that. The 
tragic circumstances, which greeted the birth of the Faith, imprisonment 
and martyrdom of the Herald Prophet the Bab, vehement opposition of the 
Muslim clergy, which led to the slaughter of some 20,000 Babis, the 
imprisonment and exile of Bahá'u'lláh, and the official proscriptions 
imposed upon His followers had by 1921 forged the beginnings of 
independent Bahá'í Community life in Iran and other muslim countries 
where Bahá'í membership had grown significantly. But although as a result 
of his travel from 1911 to 1913 Abdu'l-Bahá had raised up thousands of 
believers in the West. His instructions concerning Bahá'í collective life, 
had not yet been absorbed. As has already been observed, Spiritual 
Assemblies, the pivots around which the various communities revolved 
had not yet been established on a firm foundation. The believers had not 
yet known their significance as the channels for guiding and promoting the 
application of certain devotional practices, such as fasting and praying, 
the dissemination of Bahá'u'lláh's teaching for developing the inner life of 
the individual believer, the use of the Bahá'í Calendar and the observance 
of Bahá'í Feasts, Holy Days and anniversaries. The demands upon Shoghi 
Effendi for instruction, clarifications and direction concerning these vital 
purposes were clear. He was the first and ultimate source of genuine 
guidance, to whom the Bahá'ís must turn. His treatment of each and all 
was inextricably linked to his appointment as the expounder of the Word 
of God. These purposes were made the avenues of his exegetic expression, 
the means by which life was breathed into his explanations. Every thought 
he expressed had some particular implication for the immediate or future 
action of the community, whether that action concerned institutional 
functions, great undertakings, or the transformation of the character of an 
individual. It becomes increasingly evident from the reading of his 
writings, in relation to the occasions which elicited them that thought 
is not to be wasted on sheer argument, much less on satisfying the pride 
of authorship as has been true of the philosophic and exegetic tradition 
followed by ancient and modern theologians. Hair splitting arguments are 
to be avoided entirely. Thought expressed must serve some purpose, be 
related to some direction, or deed, must urge, inform, confirm or amplify 
action. Thus we discover in his performance as interpreter an eminent 
example of Abdu'l-Bahá's meaning when he states, " The reality of man 
is his thought", and points out the two differences in two 
classifications of thought namely, thought that belongs to the world of 
thought alone and thought that expresses itself in action. Shoghi Effendi's 
interpretations were obviously oriented to action. In much the same way 
the as texts he was called upon to interpret. I have already referred to the 
texts that got us launched in establishing Institutions, Local and National. 
Here instruction and interpretation are synthesized. They are one and the 
same thing, because he is asserting the authority and meaning of the 
Kitab-i-Aqdas when he calls us to establish Local or National Houses of 
Justice or Spiritual Assemblies. The only variable is time. The use of 
which falls within the discretion of his authority as appointed guide. An 
exposition of functions of Local Spiritual Assemblies follows the 
instructions and forms the basis of the letter containing it. A letter in 
which is also included an explanation of the need and the basis for the 
establishment of the National Spiritual Assemblies. In another example a 
letter written on May 12 1925, Shoghi Effendi Explains further about the 
formation of National Spiritual Assemblies. He writes, "Regarding the 
method to be adopted for the election of the National Spiritual 
Assemblies, it is clear that the texts of the Beloved's Testament," 
that is Abdu'l-Bahá'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, " 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 Bait-ul-Adl." i.e. Universal House of 
Justice. The Guardian goes on , "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. the National 
Spiritual 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 the believers in their respective 
provinces." You see he lets us, he opens a window and lets us into his 
processes of thinking. "In view of these complimentary instructions, 
the principle set forth in my letter of March 12, 1923 has been 
established requiring believers in every country to elect a certain number 
of delegates, who in turn will elect their national representatives, 
whose" that is the National Assembly, you see, "sacred obligation 
and privilege will be to elect in time God's Universal House of 
Justice". Here we gather some insight into the progressive stages of 
exegesis, as they relate to the growth and actions of the community. This 
letter which went on to amplify the principles enunciated by Abdu'l-Bahá 
was a reply to a communications dated April 4 and 18, 1925 which the 
Guardian had received from the National Spiritual Assembly of the United 
States and Canada that supplied him with the information on a variety of 
subjects and raised questions that he had already treated in a letter 
written two years before. A number of points emerge from a scrutiny of 
such letters. Interpretations are given in response to the expressed or 
demonstrated need of the community at the time. Shoghi Effendi seems 
completely to avoid gratuitous, random interpretations of the Sacred 
texts. The questions and needs of the community outline the course 
and output of his exegesis. In this way his exegesis evolves with the 
community. It is thus possible to trace and gauge the progressive stages 
of Bahá'í community development by reading his letters chronologically. 
Since they rest on enduring principles, the interpretations given are not 
limited by time. They both satisfy and transcend the need of the moment, 
and thus serve the future as well as the present. Take for example the 
letter just cited, above earlier. The principles of elections for the 
National Spiritual Assemblies which he explains are unchangeable, yet 
they are written in reply to a question of the moment. The introductions of 
similar letters, repeatedly affirm the interplay between the information 
or question received by Shoghi Effendi and the subsequent guidance he 
issued. Refer for instance, to his letter to the National Spiritual Assembly 
of the United States and Canada, this one dated 27 February 1929, he 
writes, "Dearly Beloved Co-workers, I have been acquainted by the 
perusal of your latest communications with the nature of the doubts that 
have been publicly expressed by one who is wholly misinformed as to the 
true precepts of the Cause. Regarding the validity of the Institutions that 
stand inextricably interwoven with the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh" or to his 
letter dated March 21, 1930 "Dearly Beloved Co-workers, amid the 
reports that have of late reached the Holy Land most of which witnessed 
the triumphant march of the Cause, a few seem to betray a certain 
apprehension, regarding the validity of the Institutions which stand 
inseparably associated with the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh." These are the 
opening passages of the letters published under the respective titles, 
"The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh" and "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh - 
further Considerations" These are indispensable documents, you 
can't survive without reading them. These are the responses to those 
questions, to those letters. Both as I say are indispensable responses on 
the philosophy of Bahá'í Administration. It is no wonder then, that Shoghi 
Effendi had an insatiable need for information, and was relentless in the 
gathering and meticulous in the classification of data. You of the 
present generation must remember that the House of Justice needs 
information. It does not get revelation, and if you do not supply 
information, you are likely to miss out on a lot of things, and it is likely 
to make its own decisions in its own way and you will have to obey it. 
(Laughter from the audience). He writes "I am eagerly awaiting, 
the news of the progress of the activities initiated to promote the 
teaching work within and beyond the confines of the American 
continent." This he sent in a cable, but he could not have relied and did 
not rely solely on Assemblies for information. Amatu'l-Baha writes in her 
biography of him that he did not always wait until official channels 
corroborated the arrival of a pioneer at the pioneering post or some other 
good news which has been conveyed to him by a pilgrim. This practice of 
his should not however mislead us into thinking that he was not 
extraordinarily thorough. The exactitude with which he compiled 
statistics, sought out historic facts, worked on every minute details of 
his maps and plans, was astonishing, she says. Although the data he 
received were put to a variety of uses, it is evident that the springs of 
interpretation were often activated by the influx of information. His 
principle of translating exegesis into action were variously manifested in 
his methods of persuasion, by which he alternately employed several 
modes of praise, censure and exhortation. A brief survey of the Advent 
of Divine Justice, the published letter which Shoghi Effendi wrote to 
the Bahá'ís of Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada on December 25 
1938, will illustrate his methods. I will just do a run through this. 

[+CHAPTER2]

In April 1937,  these Bahá'ís had at the direction of the Guardian, launched
the Seven year Plan. The first long range Teaching Program designed as a
systematic response to Abdul-Baha's Charter. The Plan set three goals to be
accomplished by the end in 1944, of the first century of the Bahá'í era.
Forming a Local Spiritual Assembly in each province of Canada and in each State
of the United States, establishing a Bahá'í Center in each country of Central
and South America and in certain European countries, and completing the
exterior ornamentation of the Temple in Wilmette. These were the three major
goals of the Seven Year Plan, the First Seven Year Plan. And the series of
letters and cablegrams he sent to the North American believers during the first
year of the Plan, Shoghi Effendi marvels at the range which the driving force
of their ceaseless labors has acquired and the heights which the sublimity of
their faith has attained. His exhortations are frequent and compelling. The
Seven Year Plan, he writes, "must at all costs be prosecuted with increasing
force and added consecration. The American believers must gird up their loins
of endeavor and step into the arena of service with such heroism as shall
astound the entire Bahá'í World. But intermingled with his expression of
gratification and praise, are displays of anxiety, increasingly intensified by
the falling shadows of World War II. He intimates his deepening concern,  not
from fear of the gathering specter but from uneasiness about its probable
repercussions upon the outlook of those who were to prosecute such a bold
program. So he writes. "Severe, and unprecedented as may be the internal
tests and ordeals, which the members of this community may yet experience,
however tragic and momentous the external happenings which might well disrupt
the fabric of the society in which they live, they must not throw out these six
remaining years, allow themselves to be deflected from the course, they are now
steadily pursuing."
Again he says, "The rumblings that precede the eruption of those
forces which must cause the limbs of humanity to quake, can already be
heard." Yet he praises the community which is "standing ready, alert,
clear-visioned and resolute."

It is against this background of bold planing and courageous action on the one
hand and the precarious world conditions on the other that Shoghi Effendi
penned one of his most widely used Works, as I refer to the Advent of the
Divine Justice. He had seized upon the chance afforded him by the seeming
incongruity of the humble plan of hope and the imminence of the war to
reconcile the paradox in an exposition of Bahá'í principles. He begins this
long and wonderful document with praise. "Best beloved brothers and sisters,
in the love of Bahá'u'lláh, It would be difficult indeed to adequately express
the feelings of irrepressible joy and exaltation that flood my heart every time
I pause to contemplate the ceaseless evidences of the dynamic energy which
animates the stalwart pioneers of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, in the
execution of the plan committed to their charge." He's got you. [laughter
from the audience] He then documents the reasons for his praise, for he never
stoops to flattery. He comments on the resourcefulness of the National
representatives of the American believers, appreciates the generous support
accorded them by the community at large, observes the close interaction,
complete cohesion, continual harmony and fellowship between the various Bahá'í
agencies, as constituting a phenomenon which offers a striking contrast to the
disruptive tendencies manifested in the present day society. "The community
has reason to be grateful" he says, "for the interposition of a ever
watchful providence." He writes, "Whereas every apparent trial, with
which the unfathomable wisdom of the Almighty deems it necessary to afflict His
chosen community, serves only to demonstrate afresh, its essential solidarity,
and to consolidate its inward strength. Each of the successive crisis in the
fortunes of the decadent age exposes more convincingly than the one preceding
it the corrosive influences that are fast sapping the vitality and undermining
the basis of its declining institutions." He then enumerates certain
crises afflicting the Bahá'í communities in Europe and Asia. The Nazi regime
has banned the activity of the German Bahá'í community. In central Asia the
city enjoying the unique distinction of having been chosen by Abdu'l-Bahá as
the home of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Bahá'í world, the community
finds itself at the mercy of the forces which alarmed at its rising power are
now bent on to reducing it to utter impotence. In Persia, wherein reside the
immense majority of its followers the community faces a continuing campaign of
repression, in the Holy Land  the heart and world center of the World embracing
faith, as state of unrest interferes with the flow of pilgrims and suspends
various projects associated with the physical development of the World Center.
This somber survey of the state of the Bahá'í community is not however to
become a litany of defeat, for Abdu'l-Bahá has written that, and he quotes you
see,  "the continent of America is in the eyes one true God, the land
wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, and where the mysteries
of His Faith shall be unveiled, and where the righteous will abide and the free
assemble." Shoghi Effendi sees it. "Already the community of the
believers of the North American continent at once the prime mover and pattern
of future communities which the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is destined to raise up
throughout the length and breadth of the western hemisphere, has despite the
prevailing  gloom shown its capacity to be recognized as the torchbearer of
that light. The repository of those mysteries. The exponent of that
righteousness, and the sanctuary of that freedom." When last did you read
the Advent, Do you remember or know that you are all of that. Hence the
North American Bahá'í Community is the one "chief remaining citadel, the
mighty arm, which still raises aloft the standard of unconquerable faith."
If you wonder why the pioneers took off and went into the wildernesses of the
world, acquaint yourself with these texts. "Thus while its sister
communities are bending beneath the tempestuous winds, that beat upon them from
every side, this community preserved by the immutable decrees of an omnipotent
Ordainer and deriving continual sustenance from the mandate with which the
Tablets of the Divine Plan have invested it, is now busily engaged in laying
the foundations and in fostering the growth of those institutions which are to
herald the approach of the age destined to witness the birth and rise of the
World Order of Bahá'u'lláh".

He has resolved a paradox and the burden of the actual proof rests on the
shoulders of the American Bahá'í Community. "A community, relatively
negligible in its numerical strength." That fact itself a paradox. How can
it bear this awesome challenge? He stirs the community's sense  of pride by
reciting its matchless and brilliant record of service. He does this for
pages, paragraphs, but quickly warns that, "magnificent as has been this
record, reminiscent as it is, in some of its aspects, of the exploits with
which the dawnbreakers of a heroic age have proclaimed the birth of the Faith
itself, the task associated with the name of this privileged community, is far
from approaching its climax, only beginning to unfold." He then points the
community's vision to the grand possibilities of the future, which the
successful prosecution of the Plan in progress will lead to. These include
among others the election of the Universal House of Justice, and its
establishment in the Holy Land. He asserts the certitude of the ultimate
blessings that must crown the consummation of their mission. But again he
warns, and now listen to this, "Dearly beloved friends, great as is my love
and admiration for you, convinced as I am of the paramount share which you can
and will undoubtedly have in both the continental and international spheres of
the future Bahá'í activity and service," This is 1938, mark you, "I feel
it nevertheless incumbent upon me to utter at this juncture, a word of warning,
the glowing tributes so repeatedly and so deservedly paid to the capacity, the
spirit, the conduct and the high rank of the American believers, both
individually and as a community, must under no circumstances be confounded with
the characteristics and the nature of the people from which God has raised them
up. A sharp distinction between that community and that people must be made,
and resolutely and fearlessly upheld, if we wish to give due recognition to the
transmuting power of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in its  impact on the lives and
standards of those who have chosen to enlist under His banner, otherwise the
supreme and distinguishing function of His Revelation, which is none other than
the calling into being a new race of men will remain wholly unrecognized and
completely obscured." He then illustrates his meaning, by calling attention
to the circumstances, and surroundings in which the prophets of God chose to
appear. They deliver their message, in countries and amid peoples and races who
are either in a state of decline, or in a state moral and spiritual
degradation. he asserts the conviction that "not by reason of any racial
superiority, political capacity or spiritual virtue, which a race or nation
might possess but rather as a direct consequence of its crying needs, its
lamentable degeneracy, and irremediable perversity, has the prophet of God
chosen to appear in its midst, and with it as a lever has lifted the entire
human race to a higher and nobler plane of conduct, for it is precisely under
such circumstances, and by such means the prophets have from time immemorial
chosen and were able to demonstrate their redemptive power to raise from the
depths of abasement and of misery the people of their own race and nation
empowering them to transmit in turn to other races and nations the saving grace
and the energizing influence of their Revelation" . Isn't that an amazing
perspective? This principle he suggests, applies to a lesser degree to the
American Community, and you must listen carefully, "which has been appointed
as the executor of the Divine Plan" Chief executors at that, "The
American believers are not therefore," he says, "to imagine for a
moment, that for some mysterious purpose or by any  reason of inherent
excellence or special merit, Bahá'u'lláh has chosen to confer upon their
country and people so great and lasting a distinction, it is precisely by
reason of the patent evils which notwithstanding its other admittedly great
characteristics and achievements, an excessive and binding materialism, has
unfortunately engendered within it, the author of their Faith, and the Center
its Covenant have singled it out to become the standard bearer of the New
World Order envisaged in their Writings" Principle again of the lever,
"It is by such means as this, that Bahá'u'lláh can best demonstrate to a
heedless generation His Almighty Power, to raise up from the very midst of a
people immersed in a sea of materialism, a prey to one of the most virulent and
long-standing forms of racial prejudice, and notorious for its political
corruption, lawlessness and laxity in moral standards, men and women, who as
time goes by will increasingly exemplify those essential virtues, of self
renunciation, of moral rectitude, of chastity, of undiscriminating fellowship,
of holy discipline and of spiritual insight that will fit them for the
preponderating share they will have in calling into being, that world order,
and that world civilization of which their country no less than the entire
human race stands in desperate need." Having thus explained a divine
riddle, he exhorts the American believers, "to weed out by every means in
their power, those faults and habits and tendencies which they have inherited
from their own nation, and to cultivate patiently and prayerfully, those
distinctive qualities and characteristics that are so indispensable to their
effective participation in the great redemptive work of their Faith". His
logic is impeccable. The force of his presentation convincing. A sensitive
alteration of praise and censure and of exhortation accomplishes his dual
purpose of fixing his meaning and inducing volition. There is drama as well in
this versatile undulation of modes which holds and fascinates the reader to the
point of taking action. This is precisely what moved hundreds of believers of
various backgrounds to plant the banner of their newfound faith in remote parts
of the earth amid peoples with whom they had been previously been wholly
unfamiliar. Those distinctive qualities and characteristics, which he
identified as rectitude of conduct, chastity and holiness, freedom from
prejudice, with which they were to be indispensably armed for their magnificent
undertakings received the full measure of his treatment in a subsequent section
of this monumental message, a section constituting one of the most eloquent
exegetic compositions to be found in his writings, you are all familiar with
that, "They must show forth such trustworthiness, such truthfulness and
perseverance, such deeds and character that all mankind may profit by their
example," This is followed by a copious quoting of corroborative extracts
from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and "Abdu'l-Bahá. And then he goes on to
elucidate further the themes that he has appointed you know of chastity and
holiness, and again a compilation of corroborative extracts from the Writings,
Having equipped the believers, with the tool of their success, he devoted the
remainder of the Advent of Divine Justice to the questions of the Seven
Year Plan, relating his comments to the broader divine plan of Abdul-Baha of
which it is a part. You know from having read the book what he has done, in
calling the friends to service in this Plan and explaining how they should go
about it. He sends them to Latin America, he sends them scampering across the
country here in the United States, he sends them throughout the reaches of
Canada. Then he concludes about his dissertation letter with a word about the
destiny of America, as envisaged by Abdul-Baha assuring them that,
"Paradoxical as it may seem", remember they are facing the Second World
War, storm clouds are gathering. The Americans are in a state of isolationist
zeal, as they frequently get into this, we want to pull in the horns. Remember
our first President said, "Don't get entangled in the foreigners business". All
right Shoghi Effendi is saying, "Paradoxical as it may seem, her only hope
in extricating herself from the perils gathering around her is to become
entangled in that very web of International Association which the hand of
inscrutable Providence is weaving." Shoghi Effendi snatched the very words
out of the literature of this country and turned it around. They said don't get
entangled.

He said No, paradoxical as it may seem entanglement is the thing. As was the
custom when a letter such as this, is received from the Guardian, the National
Assembly acted immediately to publish and circulate it. When therefore in
September 1939, the first shots of World War II were fired, the North American
Bahá'í Community knew how to react. At the end of its Seven Year Plan in 1944,
it had accomplished every goal that had been set for it. On D-Day a year later,
it had already with the urging of its Guardian, been preparing for the second
Seven Year Plan, which would take scores of its members to Teaching Frontiers
designated for them in the war ravaged countries of Europe. Shoghi Effendi had
succeeded eminently, in translating exegesis into heroic action, at one of the
most critical and discouraging periods of world history. This is coming to end.
A word more. It will come to an end. A word more about his skill of
persuasion. "Exegesis is true to its purpose if it induces or perpetuates
action in the building or the New World Order." The exegete as Augustine
might have observed must therefore both expound knowledge and arouse response.
As the earlier review of the Advent of Divine shows by employment of praise,
censure and exhortation, Shoghi Effendi produces that rhetorical drama, which
captivates and impels the reader, drama thus becomes a tool of instruction. But
there is more. Time being an indispensable factor of drama, must also perform
its appropriate functions. Shoghi Effendi knew that well; and he found ample
opportunity to bend time to his advantage. Whether on the occasions of the
observance  of  Bahá'í holy days and significant anniversaries, or of a Temple
construction project or of the arrival of pioneers at their remote posts, or of
the death of teachers of the Faith, such ceremonial messages as he was often
moved to write, that is statements in respect of the observance of important
events were therefore not spent on these occasions alone but served also to
heighten the horizon and intensify the vision of the faithful. A holy day is
imminent. He writes, "Fellow laborers in the Divine Vineyard, On the 23rd of
May of this auspicious year, (this was 1934) the Bahá'í World will
celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. We
who at this hour find ourselves standing on the threshold of the last decade of
the first century of the Bahá'í era might well pause to reflect upon the
mysterious Dispensation of so august, so momentous a Revelation. The rest
of the introduction is about the prophetic missions of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab,
an explanation of the position and the rank of Abdul-Baha and the discourse of
the theory on which Bahá'í Administrative Order is based. The letter is now
referred to as the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh. We can't live without
it.

 It is the anniversary of the death of Abdul-Baha. He writes, "The
inexorable march of recent events has carried humanity so near to the goal
foreshadowed by Bahá'u'lláh that no responsible follower of His Faith viewing
on all sides the distressing evidences of the world's travails, can remain
unmoved at the thought of its approaching deliverance. It would not
seem inappropriate when at a time we are commemorating the world over the
termination of the first decade since  Abdul-Baha's sudden removal from our
midst, to ponder in the light of the teachings bequeathed by him to the
world, such events as have tended to hasten the gradual emergence of the
World Order anticipated by Bahá'u'lláh. Thus began a letter now called the
"Goal of a New World Order"

There are other examples of Shoghi Effendi's employment  of time. He
used the anniversary of the Ridvan festival, the anniversary of the declaration
of Bahá'u'lláh at which time the administration of the Faith is renewed by the
election of the Assemblies, to impress upon the Bahá'í community the practical
steps towards the realization of its vision. In his messages of this occasion
he would catalog and measure the communities' achievements, revise and
interpret its goals, and praise and challenge its capacity. A sense of
historical significance permeates these messages, in which the vision of the
community is made to perceive through its accomplishments and goals, a
panorama of the past, the present and the future. One such occasion in 1957, he
writes, "As we gaze in retrospect, beyond the immediate past and survey in
however a cursory a manner, the vicissitudes afflicting a tormented society,
and recall the strains and stresses to which a fabric of dying order has been
increasingly subjected, we cannot but marvel at the sharp contrast presented on
the one hand by the accumulated evidences of the orderly unfoldment and the
uninterrupted multiplication of the agencies of an administrative order
designed to be the harbinger of a World Civilization, and on the other by the
ominous manifestations of the acute political conflicts, of social unrest, of
racial animosity, of class antagonism, of immorality and of irreligion
proclaiming in no uncertain terms the corruption and obsolescence of the
institutions of a bankrupt order. Against the background of these afflictive
disturbances, the turmoil and retribution of a travailing age we may well
ponder the portentous prophesies uttered well nigh four score years ago by the
Author of our Faith, as well as the dire predictions made by him who is the
unerring interpreter of His teachings, all foreshadowing a universal commotion
of a scope and intensity unparalleled in the annals of mankind. Violent
derangement of the World's equilibrium, the trembling that will seize the limbs
of mankind, the radical transformation of the human society, the rolling up of
the present day order, the fundamental changes effecting the structure of
governments, the weakening of the pillars of religion, the rise of
dictatorships, the spread of tyranny, the fall of monarchies, the decline of
ecclesiastical institutions, the increase of anarchy and chaos, the extension
and consolidation of the movements of the left, the fanning into flame of the
smoldering fire of racial strife, the development of infernal engines of war,
the burning of cities, the contamination of the atmosphere of the earth, these
stand out as the signs and portents that must either herald or accompany the
retributive calamity which as decreed by Him who is the Judge, the  Redeemer of
mankind must sooner or later afflict the society which for the  most part and
for over a century has turned a deaf ear to the Voice of God's Messenger in
this Day, a calamity which must purge the human race of the dross of its age
old of corruption's and weld its component parts into a firmly knit world
embracing fellowship, a fellowship destined in the fullness of time to be
incorporated in the framework and to be galvanized by the spiritualizing
influences of a mysteriously expanding, divinely appointed order, and to flower
in the course of future dispensations into a civilization the like of which
mankind has at no stage in its evolution witnessed."  How is that for
eloquence? I die when I read these things.

Among the most appealing features of Shoghi Effendi's writings, and
particularly of his occasional messages are the meaning they give to history,
and the prospect they assign to the future. The future, or put differently the
destiny of humanity emerges as the dominant theme of his work, and from the
vision of it we gather a hitherto unformulated understanding of the past and
the present. In his essay, Unfoldment of the World Civilization, for
instance, there is an outline of the implications of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation
which lends the reader an unusual perspective of historical process. A process
that occurs in the light of man's purpose which according to Bahá'u'lláh is to
carry forward an ever advancing civilization, having evolved though the various
units of social life, family, tribe, city-state and nation, mankind's present
goal is the unity of nations a world superstate, the final step in man's social
evolution. This goal is concomitant with his impending spiritual maturity. I
don't want to read the passage that folds that out. That's too long. But you
know how wonderful it is, in the Unfoldment of the World Civilization
where he gives the vision of the unity of mankind. We pass that by today. But,
ummm... just a smidgen. [laughter from audience] "The unity of the human race
as envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh," he writes, "implies the establishment of a
world commonwealth, in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely
and permanently united, and  in which the autonomy of its state members and
the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are
definitely and completely safeguarded." that's a taste.
Now the other day when we were getting ready to put up our website, I
remembered a line from this very section of his letter, and it says this: "a
mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised embracing the whole
planet freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with
marvelous swiftness and perfect regularity."  He wrote that 60 years
[rather] 61 years ago, and now we go to our computers and we push a button and
there it is.

Future society thus outlined is no utopian dream. On the contrary it is the
natural outcome of mans spiritual maturity as is fruit bearing the natural
consequence of the maturity in the tree. Attaining to such a society involves a
travail of growth, and transition which in spiritual terms implies a
transformation in the character of man - a transformation analogous to the
process of adolescence, Shoghi Effendi therefore encourages no illusory ease of
attainment of world unity. He is as forthright as about the setbacks and
pitfalls to be encountered, as he reassuring of the inevitability of this
attainment. Referring to Bahá'u'lláh's principle of federation of nations,
Shoghi Effendi once mused, "Who knows that for so exalted a conception to
take shape a suffering more intense than any it has yet experienced will have
to be inflicted upon humanity. Could anything less than the fire of a civil war
with all its violence and vicissitudes, a war that nearly rent the great
American Republic have welded the states, not only into a union of independent
units, but into a nation in spite of all the ethnic differences that
characterize its component parts, that so fundamental a revolution involving
such far reaching changes in the structure of the society can be achieved
through the ordinary processes of diplomacy and education seems highly
improbable, we have but to turn our gaze to humanity's blood stained history to
realize that nothing short of intense mental as well as physical agony has been
able to precipitate those epoch-making changes that constitute the greatest
landmarks in the history of human civilization." You see how
straightforward he was about things. By statements such as this Shoghi Effendi
kept the balance between prospect and practicality. One derives from his
balanced outlook, a quality of naturalness about the goals of the Bahá'í Faith
and their attainment, a cohesive and compelling analysis of historical process
emerges from the portrayal of  cause, effect and prospect in such essays as the
Goals of a New World Order, The Unfoldment of World
Civilization  and the Promised Day is Come. This quality of
naturalness induces belief in his perceptions - a belief which is enhanced by
the success of the Bahá'í community in translating his instructions into
triumphs despite some of the most trying circumstances. One recalls for
instance that the instructions and advise given in the Advent of Divine
Justice and the other letters that Shoghi Effendi wrote in the 30's and
40's guided the community towards the accomplishment of its goals amid the
confusion and doubts caused by the World War II.

Now a word about him as the interpreter. I think now I am coming closer to the
end, bear with me a little bit. Shoghi Effendi wrote a prodigious quantity of
letters which formed the bulk of his literary work, but he also translated the
words of the Bab, Bahá'u'lláh and Abdul-Baha from Arabic and Persian into
English. Gifted with a masterly grasp of the rich vocabulary and the subtle
nuances of English, and endowed with the power of unerring perception, he
turned any translation into a thing of wonder and delight. His major works of
translation include three complete works of Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son
of the Wolf,  The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, and the
Kitab-i-Iqan, and the compilations of Bahá'u'lláh's writings for instance
the Gleanings from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh  and Prayers and
Meditations. One of his most celebrated translations is the Dawn
Breakers - Nabil's narrative of the early days of the Babi Revelation. It is
said by those who know the original Persian text of the narrative that Shoghi
Effendi did more than translate it; he performed the rare feat of creating a
translation more splendid than the original, yet unfailing in fidelity of its
source. Although a considerable number of Shoghi Effendi's letters and messages
now appear in several anthologies and in a few instances a single letter has
been lengthy enough to be published as a book, for instance the Advent of
the Divine Justice and The Promised Day is Come, he actually set out
to write only one book in English - God Passes By - which is a
stupendous history of the first century of the Bahá'í Faith. It is in this book
that one can appreciate the versatility of his narrative style. The temptation
to set an example is irresistible. The extract I will now read follows a
recitation of vivid activities during Abdu'l-Bahá's travels in the West. Note
how skillfully Shoghi Effendi produces two contrasting bodies of narrative, one
in an opening series of questions, the other in a corresponding series of
answers. In this one paragraph salient features of almost seventy years of
Bahá'í history are strung together in contrasting colors as it were upon the
thread of Abdul-Baha's life. Listen. "Who knows what thoughts flooded the
heart of Abdu'l-Bahá as He found Himself the central figure of such memorable
scenes as these?  Who knows what thoughts were uppermost in His mind as He sat
at breakfast beside the Lord Mayor of London, or was received with
extraordinary deference by the Khedive himself in his palace, or as He listened
to the cries of "Allah-u-Abha" and to the hymns of thanksgiving and praise that
would herald His approach to the numerous and brilliant assemblages of His
enthusiastic followers and friends organized in so many cities of the American
continent?  Who knows what memories stirred within Him as He stood before the
thundering waters of Niagara, breathing the free air of a far distant land, or
gazed, in the course of a brief and much-needed rest, upon the green woods and
countryside in Glenwood Springs, or moved with a retinue of Oriental believers
along the paths of the Trocadero gardens in Paris, or walked alone in the
evening beside the majestic Hudson on Riverside Drive in New York, or as He
paced the terrace of the Hotel du Parc at Thonon-les-Bains, overlooking the
Lake of Geneva, or as He watched from Serpentine Bridge in London the pearly
chain of lights beneath the trees stretching as far as the eye could see?
Memories of the sorrows, the poverty, the overhanging doom of His earlier
years; memories of His mother who sold her gold buttons to provide Him, His
brother and His sister with sustenance, and who was forced, in her darkest
hours, to place a handful of dry flour in the palm of His hand to appease His
hunger; of His own childhood when pursued and derided by a mob of ruffians in
the streets of Tihran; of the damp and gloomy room, formerly a morgue, which He
occupied in the barracks of Akka and of His imprisonment in the dungeon of that
city - memories such as these must surely have thronged His mind.  Thoughts,
too, must have visited Him of the Bab's captivity in the mountain fastnesses of
Adhirbayjan, when at night time He was refused even a lamp, and of His cruel
and tragic execution when hundreds of bullets riddled His youthful breast.
Above all His thoughts must have centered on Bahá'u'lláh, Whom He loved so
passionately and Whose trials He had witnessed and had shared from His boyhood.
The vermin-infested Siyah-Chal of Tihran; the bastinado inflicted upon Him in
Amul; the humble fare which filled His kashkul while He lived for two years the
life of a dervish in the mountains of Kurdistan; the days in Baghdad when He
did not even possess a change of linen, and when His followers subsisted on a
handful of dates; His confinement behind the prison-walls of Akka, when for
nine years even the sight of verdure was denied Him; and the public humiliation
to which He was subjected at government headquarters in that city - pictures
from the tragic past such as these must have many a time overpowered Him with
feelings of mingled gratitude and sorrow, as He witnessed the many marks of
respect, of esteem, and honor now shown Him and the Faith which He
represented.
(God Passes By, pages 292-293)

It should perhaps not be surprising at all, given the motivations of his
purpose, to observe that Shoghi Effendi also possessed the power of definition
to a superlative degree, and found more ways than a celebrated giant of letters
to use this power. When you read for example his definition of a chaste and
holy life, you perceive resources of this power that would hardly occur to you
in reading the writings of the modern literati. Shoghi Effendi took to his
literary endeavours this code of chastity and holiness as he had defined it.
Neither art nor literature is to be prostituted. The use of language must
therefore reflect the virtues of rectitude, and yet employ the creative force
of imagination. Deny falsity and yet be quickened by drama. Eschew perversity
and yet engage the appeal of beauty. Language must exhibit a wholesome respect
for the meaning of words. A meticulous attention to the arrangements of
sentences a precise calculation of the effect of paragraphs. In any case it
must say what it means and mean it well. The good purpose of language is
related to the principle of a chaste and holy life. The proper use of language
is related to the principle of rectitude of conduct. You see then that the
fabric of his literary work owes its strength and integrity to this strict
adherence to these principles; unlike the perversion of the language which
George Orwell saw in modern political writing as largely the defense of the
indefensible. His manner, his usage, his motivation of language, embody the
high principles it espouses and legitimizes the information and pleasure it
conveys. The messages of the Guardian grew into a voluminous body of literature
of a wholly new character; and although there is much more to be said about
its uncommon literary quality that can be contained in this talk, the deepest
sense of its character, it can be said in summary is in the realm of the
spirit and thus remains somewhat elusive except to those who experience it
directly. One could remark randomly about his periodic sentence in which
multiple compounds of phrases explode with brilliant sparks of meaning at the
ending statement, about the baroque constructions, in which words are arranged
in rich designs of meaning and imagery like the settings of fine stone, about
the appreciation of assonance and alliterations, about the lyrical cadence of
his sentences, which sound better and seem to enlarge upon their meanings when
read aloud, about his one sentence paragraphs, about the mathematical precision
of his usage, about his ability to compress multitudinous meanings into a
slight space, to reconcile conciseness and amplitude, precision and suppleness,
force and elegance. You might say in the end that Shoghi Effendi has distilled
the ancient classical virtues, in fact he has distilled the virtues of language
in any age and clothed them with the principles of spirit, you could say he
rescued the virtues of English, in this respect Orwell who in this century
bemoaned the plight of English in our decadent civilization, would most likely
have loved and lauded Shoghi Effendi's continual success in loading such
substance into his sentences that they seem to crackle with the weight of their
significances. The roots of all these marvels in the writings of Shoghi Effendi
have their deeper foundation elsewhere. Their foundation is in the fear of God,
to which Bahá'u'lláh repeatedly exhorts humanity. In these exhortations
Bahá'u'lláh exhorts all people to what ennobles them, that correct respect for
the majesty of their God, who created them out of  his love, to carry forward
and ever advancing civilization, which ultimately must lead them inexorably and
eternally toward Him. Shoghi Effendi being the noblest of men knew better than
anyone else, how vital was this sense of respect to the critical role, in which
he must unerringly guide through his interpretation of God's Word the processes
of an ever advancing civilization.
-- Remembering Shoghi Effendi as Interpreter (Used by permission of the curator)