I have read with keen interest all the enclosures regarding the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, have shared the up-to-date news they contained with
the friends throughout the East, and note with particular pleasure the
completion of the Basement Section, with its spacious Foundation Hall
ready for the holding of meetings and the gatherings of friends. Though
the prospect of the immediate resumption of building activity does not
seem bright at present, yet I hope and pray that these difficulties will
soon disappear, and the work of this unique Edifice, stimulated and
advanced in time by the zeal and self-sacrifice of the friends the world
over, will soon attain its glorious consummation. I beg to enclose my
humble contribution of 19 pounds, as my share of the numerous donations
that have reached the Temple Treasury in the past year.
Pray convey to the members of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar Committee the
highest sense of my appreciation for their devoted and strenuous labors,
and my constant prayers for the success of the task which they have set
themselves to accomplish.
With regard to the situation in Persia, and the condition of the friends
in that land, I have requested the Tihran Spiritual Assembly to send me
immediately an authoritative and full report of the exact situation,
whereupon I shall duly inform you of the exact steps to be taken to insure
the well-being and safety of the tried believers in Persia....
The holding of State Congresses, Amity Conventions, and other universal
associations of the friends in America, will naturally fall within the
province of the National Spiritual Assembly, which will direct and
supervise the work of them all by the aid of special committees, each
constituted for a specific purpose. The matter of receiving Orientals is
left entirely in the hands of the National Spiritual Assembly, whose
special committee for this purpose will have to investigate all the
questions arising in this connection in future. Please convey to the
members of the newly constituted Library Committee my deep appreciation of
their labors in this important field of service, and assure them of my
prayers for their success.
Touching the point raised in the Secretary's letter regarding the nature
and scope of the Universal Court of Arbitration, this and other similar
matters will have to be explained and elucidated by the Universal House of
Justice, to which, according to the Master's explicit instructions, all
important and fundamental questions must be referred. At present the exact
implication and full significance of the provisions of the Master's Will
are as yet imperfectly understood, and time will serve to reveal the
wisdom and the far-reaching effects of His words.
I am enclosing on a separate sheet the full authoritative code, widely
adopted by contemporary Orientalists throughout the world, which will
serve as a basis for the transliteration of Baha'i terms and Oriental
names.(7)
Remembering you all in my hours of visit and prayer at the Three Holy
Shrines, and wishing you success from all my heart,
I am your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.
Haifa, Palestine.
April 9th, 1923.
Letter of April 27th, 1923.
To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Beloved fellow-workers in the Cause:
I am not sure whether I have sent you before a copy of this glorious
Tablet revealed by Baha'u'llah for His beloved 'Abdu'l-Baha, written in
His own blessed handwriting, and which we found among his papers and
documents soon after the Master's Ascension. It reveals in terms of
touching tenderness the unique station of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and constitutes an
unchallengeable evidence of His supreme authority.
I am also enclosing my rendering of various passages of the
Kitab-i-Aqdas(8) which you may feel at liberty to circulate amongst the
friends.
Wishing you all success in your work,
I am your devoted brother,
SHOGHI.
Haifa, Palestine,
April 27th, 1923.