From Persia, the cradle of our Faith and the object of our tenderest
affections, there breaks upon us the news of the first stirrings of that
social and political Reformation which, as we firmly believe, is but the
direct and unavoidable consequence of that great spiritual Revival ushered
in by the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. These social and political forces now
released by the Source of such a tremendous Revival are bound in their
turn to demolish one by one the barriers that have so long impeded its
flow, sapped its vitality and obscured its radiance.
From a communication addressed to me recently by the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia, as well as from reliable reports
submitted by the local representatives of the Persian believers, and
confirmed by the vivid narrative of visiting pilgrims, it is becoming
increasingly manifest that the glowing promises so many times uttered by
our departed Master are, with extraordinary exactitude and remarkable
swiftness, being successively fulfilled. Reforms of a revolutionary
character are, without bloodshed and with negligible resistance, gradually
transforming the very basis and structure of Persia's primitive society.
The essentials of public security and order are being energetically
provided throughout the length and breadth of the _Sh_ah's domain, and are
hailed with particular gratification by that much harassed section of the
population--our long-suffering brethren of that land. The rapidity, the
incredible ease, with which the enlightened proposals of its government,
in matters of education, trade and finance, means of transportation and
travel, and the development of the country's internal resources, are
receiving the unqualified sanction of a hitherto reactionary Legislature,
and are overcoming the resistance and apathy of the masses, have
undoubtedly tended to hasten the emancipation of our Persian brethren from
the remaining fetters of a once despotic and blood-stained regime. The
severely repressive and humiliating measures undertaken on the initiative
of progressive provincial Governors, and with the connivance of State
officials in the Capital, aiming at the scattering and ultimate extinction
of a rapidly waning clergy, such as degradation, detainment, deportation
and in some cases pitiless execution, are paving the way for the entire
removal of the shackles imposed by an ignorant and fanatical priesthood
upon the administration of State affairs. In matters of dress; in the
obligatory enforcement of a uniform style of national head-gear; in the
strict limitation of the number, the rights and the prerogatives of high
ecclesiastical officials; in the growing unpopularity of the veil among
almost every section of society; in the marked distinction which
unofficially and in various phases of public life is being made by an
enlightened and pressing minority between the tottering forms of a
discredited Ecclesiasticism and the civil rights and duties of civilized
society; in the general laxity in religious observances and ceremonies; in
the slow and hidden process of secularization invading many a government
department under the courageous guidance of the Governors of outlying
provinces--in all of these a discerning eye can easily discover the
symptoms that augur well for a future that is sure to witness the formal
and complete separation of Church and State.