Moved by an impulse that I could not resist, I have felt impelled to
forego what may be regarded as the most valuable and sacred possession in
the Holy Land for the furthering of that noble enterprise which you have
set your hearts to achieve. With the hearty concurrence of our dear Baha'i
brother, Ziaoullah Asgarzadeh, who years ago donated it to the Most Holy
Shrine, this precious ornament of the Tomb of Baha'u'llah has been already
shipped to your shores, with our fondest hope that the proceeds from its
sale may at once ennoble and reinforce the unnumbered offerings of the
American believers already accumulated on the altar of Baha'i sacrifice. I
have longed ever since to witness such evidences of spontaneous and
generous response on your part as would tend to fortify within me a
confidence that has never wavered in the inexhaustible vitality of the
Faith of Baha'u'llah in that land.
I need not stress at this moment the high hopes which so startling a
display of unsparing devotion to our sacred Temple has already aroused in
the breasts of the multitude of our brethren throughout the East. Nor is
it I feel necessary to impress upon those who are primarily concerned with
its erection the gradual change of outlook which the early prospect of the
construction of the far-famed Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in America has
unmistakably occasioned in high places among the hitherto sceptical and
indifferent towards the merits and the practicability of the Faith
proclaimed by Baha'u'llah. Neither do I need to expatiate upon the hopes
and fears of the Greatest Holy Leaf, now in the evening of her life, with
deepening shadows caused by failing eye-sight and declining strength
swiftly gathering about her, yearning to hear as the one remaining solace
in her swiftly ebbing life the news of the resumption of work on an
Edifice, the glories of which she has, from the lips of 'Abdu'l-Baha,
Himself, learned to admire. I cannot surely overrate at the present
juncture in the progress of our task the challenging character of these
remaining months of the year as a swiftly passing opportunity which it is
in our power to seize and utilize, ere it is too late, for the edification
of our expectant brethren throughout the East, for the vindication in the
eyes of the world at large of the realities of our Faith, and last but not
least for the realization of what is the Greatest Holy Leaf's fondest
desire.
As I have already intimated in the course of my conversations with
visiting pilgrims, so vast and significant an enterprise as the
construction of the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the West should be
supported, not by the munificence of a few but by the joint contributions
of the entire mass of the convinced followers of the Faith. It cannot be
denied that the emanations of spiritual power and inspiration destined to
radiate from the central Edifice of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar will to a
very large extent depend upon the range and variety of the contributing
believers, as well as upon the nature and degree of self-abnegation which
their unsolicited offerings will entail. Moreover, we should, I feel,
regard it as an axiom and guiding principle of Baha'i administration that
in the conduct of every specific Baha'i activity, as different from
undertakings of a humanitarian, philanthropic or charitable character,
which may in future be conducted under Baha'i auspices, only those who
have already identified themselves with the Faith and are regarded as its
avowed and unreserved supporters should be invited to join and
collaborate. For apart from the consideration of embarrassing
complications which the association of non-believers in the financing of
institutions of a strictly Baha'i character may conceivably engender in
the administration of the Baha'i community of the future, it should be
remembered that these specific Baha'i institutions, which should be viewed
in the light of Baha'u'llah's gifts bestowed upon the world, can best
function and most powerfully exert their influence in the world only if
reared and maintained solely by the support of those who are fully
conscious of, and are unreservedly submissive to, the claims inherent in
the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. In cases, however, when a friend or
sympathizer of the Faith eagerly insists on a monetary contribution for
the promotion of the Faith, such gifts should be accepted and duly
acknowledged by the elected representatives of the believers with the
express understanding that they would be utilized by them only to
reinforce that section of the Baha'i Fund exclusively devoted to
philanthropic or charitable purposes. For, as the Faith of Baha'u'llah
extends in scope and in influence, and the resources of Baha'i communities
correspondingly multiply, it will become increasingly desirable to
differentiate between such departments of the Baha'i treasury as minister
to the needs of the world at large, and those that are specifically
designed to promote the direct interests of the Faith itself. From this
apparent divorce between Baha'i and humanitarian activities it must not,
however, be inferred that the animating purpose of the Faith of
Baha'u'llah stands at variance with the aims and objects of the
humanitarian and philanthropic institutions of the day. Nay, it should be
realized by every judicious promoter of the Faith that at such an early
stage in the evolution and crystallization of the Cause such
discriminating and precautionary measures are inevitable and even
necessary if the nascent institutions of the Faith are to emerge
triumphant and unimpaired from the present welter of confused and often
conflicting interests with which they are surrounded. This note of warning
may not be thought inappropriate at a time when, inflamed by a consuming
passion to witness the early completion of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, we
may not only be apt to acquiesce in the desire of those who, as yet
uninitiated into the Cause, are willing to lend financial assistance to
its institutions, but may even feel inclined to solicit from them such aid
as it is in their power to render. Ours surely is the paramount duty so to
acquit ourselves in the discharge of our most sacred task that in the days
to come neither the tongue of the slanderer nor the pen of the malevolent
may dare to insinuate that so beauteous, so significant an Edifice has
been reared by anything short of the unanimous, the exclusive, and the
self-sacrificing strivings of the small yet determined body of the
convinced supporters of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. How delicate our task,
how pressing the responsibility that weighs upon us, who are called upon
on one hand to preserve inviolate the integrity and the identity of the
regenerating Faith of Baha'u'llah, and to vindicate on the other its
broad, its humanitarian, its all-embracing principles!
True, we cannot fail to realize at the present stage of our work the
extremely limited number of contributors qualified to lend financial
support to such a vast, such an elaborate and costly enterprise. We are
fully aware of the many issues and varied Baha'i activities that are
unavoidably held in abeyance pending the successful conclusion of the Plan
of Unified Action. We are only too conscious of the pressing need of some
sort of befitting and concrete embodiment of the spirit animating the
Cause that would stand in the heart of the American Continent both as a
witness and as a rallying center to the manifold activities of a fast
growing Faith. But spurred by those reflections may we not bestir
ourselves and resolve as we have never resolved before to hasten by every
means in our power the consummation of this all-absorbing yet so
meritorious a task? I beseech you, dear friends, not to allow
considerations of numbers, or the consciousness of the limitations of our
resources, or even the experience of inevitable setbacks which every
mighty undertaking is bound to encounter, to blur your vision, to dim your
hopes, or to paralyze your efforts in the prosecution of your divinely
appointed task. Neither, do I entreat you, to suffer the least deviation
into the paths of expediency and compromise to obstruct those channels of
vivifying grace that can alone provide the inspiration and strength vital
not only to the successful conduct of its material construction, but to
the fulfilment of its high destiny.
And while we bend our efforts and strain our nerves in a feverish pursuit
to provide the necessary means for the speedy construction of the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, may we not pause for a moment to examine those
statements which set forth the purpose as well as the functions of this
symbolical yet so spiritually potent Edifice? It will be readily admitted
that at a time when the tenets of a Faith, not yet fully emerged from the
fires of repression, are as yet improperly defined and imperfectly
understood, the utmost caution should be exercised in revealing the true
nature of those institutions which are indissolubly associated with its
name.