To all these the followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah have with feelings
of burning agony and heroic fortitude unanimously and unreservedly
submitted, ever mindful of the guiding principles of Baha'i conduct that
in connection with their administrative activities, no matter how
grievously interference with them might affect the course of the extension
of the Movement, and the suspension of which does not constitute in itself
a departure from the principle of loyalty to their Faith, the considered
judgment and authoritative decrees issued by their responsible rulers
must, if they be faithful to Baha'u'llah's and 'Abdu'l-Baha's express
injunctions, be thoroughly respected and loyally obeyed. In matters,
however, that vitally affect the integrity and honor of the Faith of
Baha'u'llah, and are tantamount to a recantation of their faith and
repudiation of their innermost belief, they are convinced, and are
unhesitatingly prepared to vindicate by their life-blood the sincerity of
their conviction, that no power on earth, neither the arts of the most
insidious adversary nor the bloody weapons of the most tyrannical
oppressor, can ever succeed in extorting from them a word or deed that
might tend to stifle the voice of their conscience or tarnish the purity
of their faith. Clinging with immovable resolution to the inviolable
verities of their cherished Faith, our sorely-tried brethren in Caucasus
and Turkistan have none the less, as befits law-abiding Baha'i citizens
resolved, after having exhausted every legitimate means for the
alleviation of the restrictions imposed upon them, to definitely uphold
and conscientiously carry out the considered judgment of their recognized
government. They have with a hope that no earthly power can dim, and a
resignation that is truly sublime, committed the interests of their Cause
to the keeping of that vigilant, that all-powerful Divine Deliverer, who,
they feel confident, will in time lift the veil that now obscures the
vision of their rulers, and reveal the nobility of aim, the innocence of
purpose, the rectitude of conduct, and the humanitarian ideals that
characterize the as yet small yet potentially powerful Baha'i communities
in every land and under any government.
Should the present restrictions increase in number and stringency, should
a situation arise that would so endanger the position of the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in I_sh_qabad as to necessitate the intervention of
the Baha'i world, I will call upon the National and Local Baha'i Spiritual
Assemblies in the East and the West to arise with one accord and lend
their moral support to those of their brethren whose particular mission
and privilege is to keep watch over that consecrated ground on which
already has been erected the central Structure of Baha'u'llah's First
Universal House of Worship. I will urge them to take whatever action is
deemed advisable in order to demonstrate the solidarity of the followers
of Baha'u'llah, to dispel whatever doubts and apprehensions may yet linger
in the minds of the State officials in that land, and to restore their
suspected brethren to the esteem and confidence of their governors. I will
specially request them to proclaim in their written representations to the
authorities concerned their absolute repudiation of whatever ulterior
motive or political design may be imputed to them by their malignant
adversaries, and to reaffirm in unmistakable terms the purely humanitarian
and spiritual nature of the work in which Baha'is in every land and of
every race are unitedly engaged. I will moreover ask them to assert the
international character of the Baha'i Edifice in I_sh_qabad and to stress
the close bonds of material interest and spiritual fellowship that bind
Baha'i communities the world over to an Edifice that can rightly claim the
distinction of being Baha'u'llah's First Universal House of Worship, of
being conceived in its design by 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself, constructed and
completed in His days and under His direction, and supported by the
collective contributions of the believers throughout the world. The hour
for such a world-wide and concentrated appeal is not yet come, but it
behooves us, while expectantly watching from a distance the moving
spectacle of the struggling Faith of Baha'u'llah, to seek abiding solace
and strength from the reflection that whatever befalls this Cause, however
grievous and humiliating the visitations that from time to time may seem
to afflict the organic life or interfere with the functions of the
administrative machinery of the Baha'i Faith, such calamities cannot but
each eventually prove to be a blessing in disguise designed, by a Wisdom
inscrutable to us all, to establish and consolidate the sovereignty of
Baha'u'llah on this earth.