This unique record of world-wide Baha'i activity attempts to present to
the general public, as well as to the student and scholar, those
historical facts and fundamental principles that constitute the
distinguishing features of the Message of Baha'u'llah to this age. I have
ever since its inception taken a keen and sustained interest in its
development, have personally participated in the collection of its
material, the arrangement of its contents, and the close scrutiny of
whatever data it contains.
I confidently and emphatically recommend it to every thoughtful and eager
follower of the Faith, whether in the East or in the West, whose desire is
to place in the hands of the critical and intelligent inquirer, of
whatever class, creed or color, a work that can truly witness to the high
purpose, the moving history, the enduring achievements, the resistless
march and infinite prospects of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. Eminently
readable and attractive in its features, reliable and authoritative in the
material it contains, up-to-date, comprehensive and accurate in the mass
of information it gives, concise and persuasive in its treatment of the
fundamental aspects of the Cause, thoroughly representative in the
illustrations and photographs it reveals:--it stands unexcelled and
unapproached by any publication of its kind in the varied literature of
our beloved Cause. It will, without the slightest doubt, if generously and
vigorously supported, arouse unprecedented interest among all classes of
civilized society.
I earnestly request you, dearly-beloved friends, to exert the utmost
effort for the prompt and widespread circulation of a book that so
faithfully and vividly portrays, in all its essential features, its
far-reaching ramifications and most arresting aspects, the
all-encompassing Faith of Baha'u'llah. Whatever assistance, financial or
moral, extended by Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies and individual believers,
to those who have been responsible for such a highly valuable and
representative production will, it should be remembered, be directly
utilized to advance the interests and reinforce the funds that are being
raised in behalf of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, and will indirectly serve
to exert a most powerful stimulus in removing the malicious
misrepresentations and unfortunate misunderstandings that have so long and
so grievously clouded the luminous Faith of Baha'u'llah.
Your true brother,
SHOGHI.
Haifa, Palestine,
December 6, 1928.
Letter of December 21, 1928.
To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout
the West.
Dearly-beloved brothers and sisters in 'Abdu'l-Baha!
With feelings of profound sorrow I am moved to address you these few lines
mourning the loss which the Cause has undoubtedly sustained by the passing
of one who, for many years and in circumstances of exceptional
significance, rendered the sacred Threshold distinctive and inestimable
services. The hand of Divine Decree has removed, by the death of our
talented and dearly-beloved friend, Mr. Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney, yet
another outstanding figure in the Cause of Baha'u'llah, who, by his
brilliant gifts of mind and heart as well as by the divers achievements of
his life, has truly enriched the annals of God's immortal Faith.