complied with my request and written the London Assembly acknowledging
their authority. I have immediately cabled you my heartfelt appreciation
of her act. If that is the case I wish to urge you and the London Council
to exercise the utmost care, consideration and vigilance that this new
step taken in the right direction may gradually lead to a definite
solution of this painful problem. I am as usual terribly overwhelmed with
my unceasing work and this cable of yours has been a most welcome relief.
I have received your letter dated Feb. 7. I am returning one of the
leaflets for future publication in London. I wish to remind you of the
necessity of close co-operation on the part of the English National
Spiritual Assembly with 'La nova Tago' published in Hamburg.
Shoghi
Letter of 11 April 1926
11 April 1926
My dear Baha'i Brother,
I thank you very much indeed on behalf of our dear Guardian for your kind
letters of March 29th and 31st.
The news of the reconciliation of ... with the National Assembly has been
the source of immeasurable joy to the heart of Shoghi Effendi and he
appreciates the spirit of both parties in trying to forget all past
misunderstandings and in starting anew with genuine love and goodwill.
This has relieved Shoghi Effendi of a very heavy weight of thought and
distress and this itself gives you as much satisfaction as it does to us
all.
Shoghi Effendi has gladly received the names of the elected body for the
London Assembly and he wishes them all success from the bottom of his
heart. That they may all help to vindicate still more strongly the great
claim of our dear Cause in England, that they may succeed to increase
daily the numbers of earnest Baha'i workers and that they may mirror forth
the great spirit of our beloved Master, is the fondest hope and the
fervent prayer of our dear Guardian.
As I write you these lines we are all sorely distressed with the ghastly
news of the martyrdom of twelve Baha'is in one of the towns of southern
Persia....
[From the Guardian:]
My dear and valued friend:
I have received with feelings of deep satisfaction the welcome news of ...
compliance with my request. I wish to impress upon all those who come in
contact with her the necessity of exercising forbearance, kindness and
loving consideration while adhering closely to the established principles
of the Cause. I will inform you if any action is necessary regarding the
martyrdom in Jahrum in Southern Persia--a monstrous crime that has deeply
afflicted us all. Concerning the membership of the Spiritual Assembly, I
have already communicated with America to the effect that the members who
are entitled to vote must be strictly limited to nine. Additional members
may attend only in a consultative capacity. I realise fully the delicacy
and difficulty of your position but it must be made clear to all that nine
and only nine can vote. All other subsidiary matters are left to the
Assemblies.
Lovingly,
Shoghi
Letter of 11 April 1926
11 April 1926(8)
I gratefully acknowledge the receipt of the sum of seventeen pounds from
my dear friends the Baha'is of England as their much appreciated
contribution for the purchase of land around the Holy Shrines on Mt.
Carmel.
Shoghi
Letter of 22 April 1926
22 April 1926(9)
To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout
the West.
Fellow-labourers in the Divine Vineyard:
In the midst of the many vicissitudes which the creative Word of God is
destined to encounter in the course of its onward march towards the
redemption of the world, there breaks upon us the news of still another
loss, more bewildering in its character, yet more inspiring in its
challenge, than any of the gravest happenings of recent times. Once again
the woeful tale of unabated persecution, involving this time the martyrdom
of twelve of our long-suffering brethren in Jahrum, southern Persia, has
reached our ears, and filled us with a gloom which all the joys and
ennobling memories of Ridvan have failed to dispel.
From the meagre reports which have thus far been received from that
distracted country it appears that this shameful and atrocious act, though
the outcome of a number of obscure and complex causes, has been chiefly
instigated by that ever-present factor of fierce and relentless impulse of
religious hostility. Persia--long-neglected and sorely-tried--continues,
despite the revival of recent hopes, to be the down-trodden victim of
unscrupulous personal rivalries and factious intrigue, of tribal revolt,
political dissensions and religious animosities--all of which have in times
past brought in their wake the shedding of the blood of so many of its
innocent and choicest sons.
Fully alive to the gravity of the occasion, and realising the urgency of
my sacred duty, I have, upon the receipt of the news, transmitted
telegraphically through the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
Persia a special message addressed in the name of the Baha'is in every
land to the supreme Authority in the State, expressing our profound horror
at this outrageous act as well as our earnest entreaty to inflict
immediate punishment on the perpetrators of so abominable a crime. And as
this sad event involved chiefly the welfare and security of the Baha'i
residents in Persia, I have specially requested all local Assemblies in
that land to address a similar message to the highest authorities
concerned appealing for full protection and justice. Should future
developments necessitate direct and foreign intervention, I shall acquaint
the national Baha'i representatives in every land to take in cooperation
with all local Assemblies such measures as will effectually conduce to a
fuller recognition of the dynamic force latent in the Baha'i Faith and
ensure the betterment of the lot of the heroic supporters of our Cause.
Pending the opening of official and direct communication with recognised
authorities whether in Persia or elsewhere, I strongly feel that the time
has assuredly come when it is incumbent upon every conscientious promoter
of the Cause to bestir himself and undertake in consultation with the
friends in his locality such measures of publicity as will lead to the
gradual awakening of the conscience of the civilised world to what is
admittedly an ignominious manifestation of a decadent age.
I would specially request all National Assemblies to give their anxious
and immediate consideration to this grave matter, and to devise ways and
means that will secure the fullest publicity to our grievances. I would
remind them that whatever is published should be couched in terms that are
at once correct, forceful and inoffensive. I would particularly stress the
importance of making every effort to secure the sympathy and hospitality
of the leading journals and periodicals of the Western world, and of
sending to the Holy Land any such references in papers that will arise to
champion the cause of Righteousness and Justice. I greatly deplore the
fact that owing to the remoteness and the unstable conditions in Persia,
details and particulars regarding this ugly incident are not as yet
available, but will be duly communicated to the various centres
immediately upon their receipt. I would however ask the believers
throughout the West to arise without any further delay and supplement the
publication of the news conveyed in this message with an account of
previous happenings of a similar character, combined with an adequate
survey of the aim, the principles, and history of the Baha'i Cause.
It is to you, dearly beloved friends of the West, who are the
standard-bearers of the emancipation and triumph of the Baha'i Faith, that
our afflicted brethren of the East have turned their expectant eyes,
confident that the day cannot be far-distant when, in accordance with
'Abdu'l-Baha's explicit utterance, the West will "seize the Cause" from
Persia's fettered hands and lead it to glorious victory.
Though grief-stricken and horrified at this cruel blow, let us be on our
guard lest we give way to despair, lest we forget that in the Almighty's
inscrutable Wisdom this sudden calamity may prove to be but a blessing in
disguise. For what else can it do but to stir the inmost depths of our
souls, set our faith ablaze, galvanise our efforts, dissolve our
differences, and provide one of the chief instruments which the unhampered
promoters of the Faith can utilise to attract the attention, enlist the
sympathy, and eventually win the allegiance of all mankind?
Ours is this supreme opportunity; may we fulfil our trust.
Your true brother,
Shoghi
Letter of 11 May 1926
11 May 1926(10)
To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout
the West.
Dearly beloved brothers and sisters in 'Abdu'l-Baha!
Grave and manifold as are the problems confronting the struggling Faith of
Baha'u'llah, none appear more significant nor seem more compelling in
their urgency than the incredible sufferings borne so heroically by our
down-trodden brethren of the East. Recent reports confirming the news
which I have lately communicated to you have all emphasised the barbarous
severity practised on the innocent followers of our Cause. They reveal the
possibility of the extension of this agitation, partly instigated for
political purposes and selfish motives, to neighbouring towns and
provinces, and dwell upon the traditional slackness of the local
authorities to inflict prompt and severe punishment upon all the
perpetrators of such abominable crimes. It has been ascertained that in
the town of Jahrum women have suffered martyrdom in a most atrocious
manner, that the knife of the criminal has mercilessly cut to pieces the
body of a child, that a number have been severely beaten and injured,
their bodies mutilated, their homes pillaged, their property confiscated,
and the homeless remnants of their family abandoned to the mercy of a
shameless and tyrannical people. In other parts of Persia, and
particularly in the province of A_dh_irbayjan, in the town of Mara_gh_ih,
the friends have been pitilessly denied the civic rights and privileges
extended to every citizen of the land. They have been refused the use of
the public bath, and been denied access to such shops as provide the
necessities of life. They have been declared deprived of the benefit and
protection of the law, and all association and dealing with them denounced
as a direct violation of the precepts and principles of Islam. It has even
been authoritatively stated that the decencies of public interment have
been refused to their dead, and that in a particular case every effort to
induce the Moslem undertaker to provide the wood for the construction of
the coffin failed to secure the official support of the authorities
concerned. Every appeal made by these harassed Baha'is on behalf of their
brethren, whether living or dead, has been met with cold indifference,
with vague promises, and not infrequently with severe rebuke and
undeserved chastisement.
The tale of such outrageous conduct, such widespread suffering and loss,
if properly expressed and broadcast, cannot fail in the end to arouse the
conscience of civilised mankind, and thereby secure the much-needed relief
for a long-suffering people. I would, therefore, renew my plea, and
request you most earnestly to redouble your efforts in the wide field of
publicity, to devise every possible means that will alleviate the fears
and sorrows of the silent sufferers in that distracted country.
Surely these vile wrong-doers cannot long remain unpunished for their
ferocious atrocities, and the day may not be far distant when we shall
witness, as we have observed elsewhere, the promised signs of Divine
Retribution avenging the blood of the slaughtered servants of Baha'u'llah.
Your true brother,
Shoghi
Letter of 20 May 1926
20 May 1926
My dear Mr. Simpson,
I thank you on behalf of Shoghi Effendi for your letter of May 8th.
He was very glad indeed to learn the names of the newly elected London
Spiritual Assembly and he wishes them success from the bottom of his
heart. He earnestly trusts that throughout the coming year they will
succeed to give a fresh impetus to the progress of the Cause in England
and will not be satisfied with only mediocre efforts and endeavours.
With regard to the election of the Assemblies and your desire to have
substitutes in order to ensure a steady and easy-to-obtain quorum for
business, Shoghi Effendi would not like to give you any further special
regulations but would prefer you to communicate with America and follow
the method they have adopted. He has a keen desire that uniformity should
exist in the regulations. I am sure you would gladly communicate with Mr.
Horace Holley on the subject.
He is so gratified that the case of ... is settled permanently and he
hopes that in future no such petty misunderstandings will come in the way
of the steady growth of the Movement, which is of the utmost necessity not
only in England but throughout the world.
Shoghi Effendi is well but as usual very busy. The recent atrocities in
Persia have been a source of deep grief to his heart....
[From the Guardian:]
My dear fellow-worker,
In order to avoid misunderstandings and confusion and ensure uniformity of
method and action I have requested you to conform to the principle adopted
by the American friends and Mr. Holley will inform you of the method they
pursue. I realise the special and peculiar difficulties that prevail in
London and the nature of the obstacles with which they are confronted. I
feel however that an earnest effort should be made to overcome them and
that the members must arrange their affairs in such a way as to ensure
their prompt attendance at 9 meetings which are held in the course of the
year. This surely is not an insurmountable obstacle.
I will remember their needs and difficulties in my prayers at the Holy
Shrines and will continue to supplicate for them Divine guidance and
blessings.
Shoghi
Letter of 28 June 1926
28 June 1926
Dear Mr. Simpson,
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated
June 22nd, 1926. He is most appreciative of the many and continuous
services you are rendering to the Cause in that land. Your efficiency,
sincerity and untiring zeal are great assets for the friends in
England....
Shoghi Effendi fully approves of your suggestion to put a royalty on the
translations of Dr. Esslemont's book equal to what he had arranged for the
original. Not only is that a fair thing to do but also it is incumbent
upon us to show our appreciation of Dr. Esslemont's services to the Cause
by safeguarding the interests of his family, especially as his wife is an
invalid and in need of help. Shoghi Effendi specially wants me to ask you
to show utmost consideration to her interests.
[From the Guardian:]
My dear fellow-worker,
I hope you will assure Mrs. Esslemont on my behalf and express to her my
warm approval of your suggestion which would safeguard her interests and
prove of some assistance to her....
Assuring you of my earnest prayers for your continued and unsparing
efforts for the promotion of the Cause you serve so well,
I am your grateful brother,
Shoghi
Letter of 16 July 1926
16 July 1926
Dear Mr. Simpson,
This is to acknowledge the receipt of your letter to Shoghi Effendi dated
June 20, 1926. He is very thankful for what you are trying to do for the
friends in Persia. I hope the efforts of the whole western friends
combined will alleviate this great burden which rests upon them, and at
least give them the peace and comfort which they have been for so long
desiring.
As to the translation or rather revision of the translation of the "Hidden
Words". A year ago, I believe, the American friends wrote to Shoghi
Effendi and asked him to do it. Complying with their wish he revised his
translation and they have published it both in paper and leather bound.
Shoghi Effendi believes that another edition in England will be useless
and perhaps will not find the necessary market. You could buy from America
all the copies you need. Nevertheless, if you want to have a new English
edition you can procure a copy from America. Shoghi Effendi does not
believe it necessary to give it a still other revision....
[From the Guardian:]
My dear and able friend,
I am in correspondence with Rev. Townshend in connexion with various
alterations in my rendering of the Hidden Words. I have just received his
second letter containing suggestions which I greatly appreciate and value.
I am hoping to revise it for a third time after my correspondence with Mr.
T. is over. I feel you can postpone it for the present. I hope and pray
you will succeed in giving wide and effective publicity to the atrocities
perpetrated in Persia, in the British Press. It is so necessary and
important. We must at all costs capture the heights and the British
friends have in this connexion a unique and splendid opportunity in their
own country and amid their own people. Difficult though it be we must
persevere and not relax in our efforts. What Martha(11) has achieved is a
great incentive and example. Your own splendid efforts are deeply and
lovingly appreciated by me.
Shoghi
Letter of 17 October 1926
17 October 1926(12)
To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout
the West.
Dearly-beloved brothers and sisters in 'Abdu'l-Baha!
In the course of the few months that have elapsed since my last
communication to you regarding the appalling circumstances that have
culminated in the martyrdom of our Persian brethren in Jahrum, events of
the highest importance to the future welfare of our beloved Cause have
transpired, and with startling suddenness conferred abiding solace upon
those who still have to face the pains and terrors of unmitigated and
shameless tyranny.
You have, most of you I presume, read with thrilling joy in one of the
recent issues of the "Star of the West" that illuminating account given by
our beloved sister, Miss Martha Root, wherein she tells with her
characteristic directness and modesty the story of her moving interview
with Her Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania and of the cordial and ready
response which her gentle yet persuasive presentation of the principles of
the Baha'i Faith has evoked in the heart of that honoured Queen. One of
the visible and potent effects which this historic interview proved
capable of achieving was the remarkable appeal in the form of an open
letter which Her Majesty freely and spontaneously caused to be published
to the world at large testifying in a language of exquisite beauty to the
power and sublimity of the Message of Baha'u'llah.
It was indeed a never-to-be-forgotten occasion when, on the eve of the day
commemorating the passing of Baha'u'llah, a handful of us, His sorrowing
servants, had gathered round His beloved Shrine supplicating relief and
deliverance for the down-trodden in Persia, to receive in the midst of the
silence of that distressing hour the glad-tiding of this notable triumph
which the unbending energy and indomitable spirit of our beloved Martha
has achieved for our sacred Cause.
With bowed heads and grateful hearts we recognise in this glowing tribute
which Royalty has thus paid to the Cause of Baha'u'llah an epoch-making
pronouncement destined to herald those stirring events which, as
'Abdu'l-Baha has prophesied, shall in the fullness of time signalise the
triumph of God's holy Faith. For who can doubt but that the deeds of those
valiant pioneers of the Faith, unexampled though they have been in the
abundance of their number and unexcelled in their sublime heroism, are but
a faint glimmer of what, according to the Divine Promise, its steadfast
followers are destined to perform? Those heroic exploits that have
immortalised the names of its primitive adherents will continue to adorn
and illuminate the pages of its blood-stained history; yet we cannot
forget that the period of its full fruition with all its promise of world
felicity and undreamt-of-achievements is yet to be realised, its golden
Age yet to unfold. Indeed, how chastening to our pride, how challenging to
our enthusiasm, if we but pause for a moment amidst the world's many
distractions and ponder in our hearts the vastness, the compelling
urgency, the ineffable glory of what still remains unachieved.
But let us all remember, in this connexion, that prior to every
conceivable measure destined to raise the efficiency of our administrative
activities, more vital than any scheme which the most resourceful amongst
us can devise, far above the most elaborate structure which the concerted
efforts of organised Assemblies can hope to raise, is the realisation down
in the innermost heart of every true believer of the regenerating power,
the supreme necessity, the unfailing efficacy of the Message he bears. I
assure you, dear friends, that nothing short of such an immovable
conviction could have in days past enabled our beloved Cause to weather
the blackest storms in its history. Naught else can today vitalise the
manifold activities in which unnumbered disciples of the Faith are
engaged; naught else can provide that driving force and sustaining power
that are both so essential to the success of vast and enduring
achievements. It is this spirit that above all else we should sedulously
guard, and strive with all our might to fortify and exemplify in all our
undertakings.
Moved by an irresistible impulse, I have addressed to Her Majesty in the
name of the Baha'is of both the East and the West a written expression of
our joyous admiration and gratitude for the queenly tribute which Her
Majesty has paid to the beauty and nobility of the Baha'i Teachings. I
have, moreover, assured Her Majesty of the far-reaching effect which her
superb testimony will inevitably produce, and of the welcome consolation
it has already brought to the silent sufferers in that distracted country.
To my message of appreciation and gratitude there has come lately a
written response, penned by Her Majesty, profoundly touching, singularly
outspoken, and highly significant in the testimony it bears, from this
queenly tribute to a Divine Ideal I quote these penetrating words:
"Indeed a great light came to me with the Message of Baha'u'llah and
'Abdu'l-Baha. It came as all great messages come at an hour of dire grief
and inner conflict and distress, so the seed sank deeply.... We pass on
the Message from mouth to mouth and all those we give it to see a light
suddenly lighting before them and much that was obscure and perplexing
becomes simple, luminous and full of hope as never before. That my open
letter was balm to those suffering for the Cause is indeed a great
happiness to me, and I take it as a sign that God accepted my humble
tribute.... With bowed head I recognise that I too am but an instrument in
greater Hands and rejoice in the knowledge...."
Dear friends, with feelings of profound emotion we recall the glowing
promises that have so often fallen from the lips of our departed Master,
and with throbbing hearts rejoice in the gradual realisation of His most
cherished desire.
And as we call to mind the circumstances that have led to such a notable
advance, we are filled with admiration for that unique and great-hearted
apostle of Baha'u'llah, our dearly-beloved Martha Root, who under trying
circumstances and almost single-handed in her efforts, has so wonderfully
paved the way for the universal recognition of the Cause of God. In her
case we have verily witnessed in an unmistakable manner what the power of
dauntless faith, when coupled with sublimity of character, can achieve,
what forces it can release, to what heights it can rise.
Let such remarkable revelations of the reality and continuity of the
Divine Purpose, made manifest from time to time to us His feeble children
serve to fortify our faith in Him, to warm the chill which fleeting
misfortunes may leave behind, and fill us with that Celestial potency
which alone can enable us to withstand the storm and stress that lives
dedicated to His service must needs encounter.
Your true brother,
Shoghi
Letter of 23 October 1926
23 October 1926
My dear Mr. Simpson,