same Tablet, bestows upon him His benediction, "be the remembrance of God
and His praise, and the praise of all that dwell in the Realm of
Immortality, and of all the denizens of the Kingdom of Names. Happy art
thou in that thou hast been faithful to the Covenant of God and His
Testament, until Thou didst sacrifice thyself before the face of thy Lord,
the Almighty, the Unconstrained. Thou, in truth, hast been wronged, and to
this testifieth the Beauty of Him, the Self-Subsisting. Thou didst, in the
first days of thy life, bear that which hath caused all things to groan,
and made every pillar to tremble. Happy is the one that remembereth thee,
and draweth nigh, through thee, unto God, the Creator of the Morn."
"Glorified art Thou, O Lord, my God!" He, in a prayer, astoundingly
proclaims, "Thou seest me in the hands of Mine enemies, and My son
bloodstained before Thy face, O Thou in Whose hands is the kingdom of all
names. I have, O my Lord, offered up that which Thou hast given Me, that
Thy servants may be quickened and all that dwell on earth be united."
"Blessed art thou," He, in another Tablet affirms, "and blessed he that
turneth unto thee, and visiteth thy grave, and draweth nigh, through thee,
unto God, the Lord of all that was and shall be.... I testify that thou
didst return in meekness unto thine abode. Great is thy blessedness and
the blessedness of them that hold fast unto the hem of thy outspread
robe.... Thou art, verily, the trust of God and His treasure in this land.
Erelong will God reveal through thee that which He hath desired. He,
verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. When thou wast laid to
rest in the earth, the earth itself trembled in its longing to meet thee.
Thus hath it been decreed, and yet the people perceive not.... Were We to
recount the mysteries of thine ascension, they that are asleep would
waken, and all beings would be set ablaze with the fire of the remembrance
of My Name, the Mighty, the Loving."
Concerning the Most Exalted Leaf, the mother of 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah
has written: "The first Spirit through which all spirits were revealed,
and the first Light by which all lights shone forth, rest upon thee, O
Most Exalted Leaf, thou who hast been mentioned in the Crimson Book! Thou
art the one whom God created to arise and serve His own Self, and the
Manifestation of His Cause, and the Day-Spring of His Revelation, and the
Dawning-Place of His signs, and the Source of His commandments; and Who so
aided thee that thou didst turn with thy whole being unto Him, at a time
when His servants and handmaidens had turned away from His Face. ...Happy
art thou, O My handmaiden, and My Leaf, and the one mentioned in My Book,
and inscribed by My Pen of Glory in My Scrolls and Tablets. ...Rejoice
thou, at this moment, in the most exalted Station and the All-highest
Paradise, and the Abha Horizon, inasmuch as He Who is the Lord of Names
hath remembered thee. We bear witness that thou didst attain unto all
good, and that God hath so exalted thee, that all honor and glory circled
around thee."
"O Navvab!" He thus, in another Tablet, addresses her, "O Leaf that hath
sprung from My Tree, and been My companion! My glory be upon thee, and My
loving-kindness, and My mercy that hath surpassed all beings. We announce
unto thee that which will gladden thine eye, and assure thy soul, and
rejoice thine heart. Verily, thy Lord is the Compassionate, the
All-Bountiful. God hath been and will be pleased with thee, and hath
singled thee out for His own Self, and chosen thee from among His
handmaidens to serve Him, and hath made thee the companion of His Person
in the day-time and in the night-season."
"Hear thou Me once again," He reassures her, "God is well-pleased with
thee, as a token of His grace and a sign of His mercy. He hath made thee
to be His companion in every one of His worlds, and hath nourished thee
with His meeting and presence, so long as His Name, and His Remembrance,
and His Kingdom, and His Empire shall endure. Happy is the handmaid that
hath mentioned thee, and sought thy good-pleasure, and humbled herself
before thee, and held fast unto the cord of thy love. Woe betide him that
denieth thy exalted station, and the things ordained for thee from God,
the Lord of all names, and him that hath turned away from thee, and
rejected thy station before God, the Lord of the mighty throne."
"O faithful ones!" Baha'u'llah specifically enjoins, "Should ye visit the
resting-place of the Most Exalted Leaf, who hath ascended unto the
Glorious Companion, stand ye and say: 'Salutation and blessing and glory
upon thee, O Holy Leaf that hath sprung from the Divine Lote-Tree! I bear
witness that thou hast believed in God and in His signs, and answered His
Call, and turned unto Him, and held fast unto His cord, and clung to the
hem of His grace, and fled thy home in His path, and chosen to live as a
stranger, out of love for His presence and in thy longing to serve Him.
May God have mercy upon him that draweth nigh unto thee, and remembereth
thee through the things which My Pen hath voiced in this, the most great
station. We pray God that He may forgive us, and forgive them that have
turned unto thee, and grant their desires, and bestow upon them, through
His wondrous grace, whatever be their wish. He, verily, is the Bountiful,
the Generous. Praise be to God, He Who is the Desire of all worlds; and
the Beloved of all who recognize Him."
And, finally, 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself in one of His remarkably significant
Tablets, has borne witness not only to the exalted station of one whose
"seed shall inherit the Gentiles," whose Husband is the Lord of Hosts, but
also to the sufferings endured by her who was His beloved mother. "As to
thy question concerning the 54th chapter of Isaiah," He writes, "This
chapter refers to the Most Exalted Leaf, the mother of 'Abdu'l-Baha. As a
proof of this it is said: 'For more are the children of the desolate, than
the children of the married wife.' Reflect upon this statement, and then
upon the following: 'And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the
desolate cities to be inhabited.' And truly the humiliation and reproach
which she suffered in the path of God is a fact which no one can refute.
For the calamities and afflictions mentioned in the whole chapter are such
afflictions which she suffered in the path of God, all of which she
endured with patience and thanked God therefor and praised Him, because He
had enabled her to endure afflictions for the sake of Baha. During all
this time, the men and women (Covenant-breakers) persecuted her in an
incomparable manner, while she was patient, God-fearing, calm, humble and
contented through the favor of her Lord and by the bounty of her Creator."
December 21, 1939
THE SEAL OF COMPLETE TRIUMPH
The association of the First Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the West with the
hallowed memories of the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Baha's mother,
recently re-interred under the shadow of the Bab's holy Shrine,
inaugurates a new, and at long last the final phase of an enterprise
which, thirty years ago, was providentially launched on the very day the
remains of the Forerunner of our Faith were laid to rest by our beloved
Master in the sepulchre specifically erected for that purpose on Mount
Carmel. The birth of this holy enterprise, pregnant with such rich, such
infinite possibilities, synchronized with, and was consecrated through,
this historic event which, as 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself has affirmed,
constitutes the most signal act of the triple mission He had been prompted
to perform. The site of the Temple itself was honored by the presence of
Him Who, ever since this enterprise was initiated, had, through his
messages and Tablets, bestowed upon it His special attention and care, and
surrounded it with the marks of His unfailing solicitude. Its
foundation-stone was laid by His own loving hands, on an occasion so
moving that it has come to be regarded as one of the most stirring
episodes of His historic visit to the North American continent. Its
superstructure was raised as a direct consequence of the pent-up energies
which surged from the breasts of 'Abdu'l-Baha's lovers at a time when His
sudden removal from their midst had plunged them into consternation,
bewilderment and sorrow. Its external ornamentation was initiated and
accelerated through the energizing influences which the rising and
continually consolidating institutions of a divinely established
Administrative Order had released in the midst of a community that had
identified its vital interests with that Temple's destiny. The measures
devised to hasten its completion were incorporated in a Plan which derives
its inspiration from those destiny-shaping Tablets wherein, in bold
relief, stands outlined the world mission entrusted by their Author to the
American Baha'i community. And finally, the Fund, designed to receive and
dispose of the resources amassed for its prosecution, was linked with the
memory and bore the name of her whose ebbing life was brightened and
cheered by those tidings that unmistakably revealed to her the depth of
devotion and the tenacity of purpose which animate the American believers
in the cause of their beloved Temple. And now, while the Baha'i world
vibrates with emotion at the news of the transfer of the precious remains
of both the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Baha's mother to a spot which,
watched over by the Twin Holy Shrines and in the close neighborhood of the
resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, is to become the focus of the
administrative institutions of the Faith at its world center, the mere act
of linking the destiny of so far-reaching an undertaking with so
significant an event in the Formative Period of our Faith will assuredly
set the seal of complete triumph upon, and enhance the spiritual
potentialities of, a work so significantly started and so magnificently
executed by the followers of Baha'u'llah in the North American continent.
The Plan which your Assembly has suggested to raise the sum of fifty
thousand dollars by next April, which will enable you to place the
necessary contracts for the final completion of the entire First Story of
the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, meets with my unqualified approval. It was
specially in order to initiate and encourage the progress of such a plan
that I felt impelled to pledge the sum of one thousand pounds in the
memory of these two glorious souls who, apart from the Founders of our
Faith and its Exemplar, tower together with the Greatest Holy Leaf, above
the rank and file of the faithful.
The interval separating us from that date is admittedly short. The
explosive forces which lie dormant in the international field may, ere the
expiry of these fleeting months, break out in an eruption that may prove
the most fateful that mankind has experienced. It is within the power of
the organized body of the American believers to further demonstrate the
imperturbability of their faith, the serenity of their confidence and the
unyielding tenacity of their resolve.
We stand at the threshold of the decade within which the centenary of the
birth of our Faith is to be celebrated. Scarcely more than four years
stand between us and that glorious consummation. No community, no
individual, neither in the East nor in the West, however afflictive the
circumstances that now prevail, can afford to hesitate or falter. The few
years immediately ahead are endowed with potencies that we can but dimly
appreciate. Ours is the duty and privilege to utilize to the full the
opportunities which these fate-laden years offer us. The American Baha'i
community, already responsible, over such a long period, for such heroic
acts, under such severe handicaps, cannot and will not hesitate or falter.
The past is a witness of their splendid triumphs. The future will be no
less a witness of their final victory.
December 30, 1939
DUAL, VITALLY URGENT OBLIGATION
Urge Assembly focus attention at its forthcoming meeting upon the dual,
vitally urgent obligation: the conservation of the vigor and spiritual
health of the community and the intensification of effort aiming at
realization of recently approved Temple Plan. Sleepless vigilance to ward
off subtle attacks of enemies is first prerequisite to sound unfoldment of
the processes of the enterprise already operating. The fateful forties,
pregnant for weal and woe, are ushered in. The American believers enter
them firmly rooted in the fertile soil of the administrative order and
bountifully nourished by the vital sap of the animation of its
institutions, spreading its sheltering shadow to the farthest corners of
the Western Hemisphere. Centenary of the Birth of the Faith is
approaching. Victories unsuspected are within reach of community. The
sooner they are achieved, the sharper the contrast offered with
distracting miseries afflicting a generation which the Faith alone can and
must eventually redeem.
Cablegram January 18, 1940
BELOVED HANDMAID
'Abdu'l-Baha's beloved handmaid, the distinguished disciple, May Maxwell,
is gathered into the glory of the Abha Kingdom. Her earthly life, so rich,
eventful, incomparably blessed, is worthily ended. To sacred tie her
signal services had forged, the priceless honor of a martyr's crown is now
added, a double crown deservedly won. The Seven Year Plan, particularly
the South American campaign, derive fresh impetus from the example of her
glorious sacrifice. Southern outpost of Faith greatly enriched through
association with her historic resting place, destined to remain a poignant
reminder of the resistless march of the triumphant army of Baha'u'llah.
Advise believers of both Americas to hold befitting memorial gathering.
Cablegram March 3, 1940
THEIR GOD-GIVEN TASK
The fourth year of the Seven Year Plan enters upon its course in
circumstances that are at once critical, challenging, and unprecedented in
their significance. The year that has passed has in so far as the rise and
establishment of the Faith of Baha'u'llah in the Western Hemisphere is
concerned, been one of the most eventful since the Plan began to operate
and exercise its potent and beneficent influence. Both within and without
the Community of the Most Great Name, the events which the last twelve
months has unfolded have in some mysterious way, whether directly or
indirectly, communicated their force to the Plan's progressive unfoldment,
contributed to the orientation of its policy and assisted in the
consolidation of the diversified undertakings, both primary and subsidiary
that fall within its orbit. Even the losses which the ranks of its
stout-hearted upholders have sustained will, when viewed in their proper
perspective, be regarded as gains of incalculable value, affecting both
its immediate fortunes as well as its ultimate destiny.
The successive international crises which agitated the opening months of
the year that has elapsed, culminating in the outbreak of the war in
Europe, far from drowning the enthusiasm or daunting the spirit of the
prosecutors of God's Plan, served by deflecting their gaze from a
storm-tossed continent, to focus their minds and resources on ministering
to the urgent needs of that hemisphere in which the first honors and the
initial successes of the heroes of the Formative Age of the Faith of
Baha'u'llah are to be scored and won.
The sudden extinction of the earthly life of that star-servant of the
Cause of Baha'u'llah, Martha Root, who, while on the last lap of her
fourth journey round the world--journeys that carried her to the humblest
homes as well as the palaces of royalty--was hurrying homeward to lend her
promised aid to her fellow-countrymen in their divinely-appointed
task--such a death, though it frustrated this cherished resolution of her
indomitable spirit, steeled the hearts of her bereaved lovers and admirers
to carry on, more energetically than ever, the work which she herself had
initiated, as far back as the year 1919, in every important city in the
South American continent.
The subtle and contemptible machinations by which the puny adversaries of
the Faith, jealous of its consolidating power and perturbed by the
compelling evidences of its conspicuous victories, have sought to
challenge the validity and misrepresent the character of the
Administrative Order embedded in its teachings have galvanized the
swelling army of its defenders to arise and arraign the usurpers of their
sacred rights and to defend the long-standing strongholds of the
institutions of their Faith in their home country.
And now as this year, so memorable in the annals of the Faith, was drawing
to a close, there befell the American Baha'i community, through the
dramatic and sudden death of May Maxwell, yet another loss, which viewed
in retrospect will come to be regarded as a potent blessing conferred upon
the campaign now being so diligently conducted by its members. Laden with
the fruits garnered through well-nigh half a century of toilsome service
to the Cause she so greatly loved, heedless of the warnings of age and
ill-health, and afire with the longing to worthily demonstrate her
gratitude in her overwhelming awareness of the bounties of her Lord and
Master, she set her face towards the southern outpost of the Faith in the
New World, and laid down her life in such a spirit of consecration and
self-sacrifice as has truly merited the crown of martyrdom.
To Keith Ransom-Kehler, whose dust sleeps in far-off Isfahan; to Martha
Root, fallen in her tracks on an island in the midmost heart of the ocean;
to May Maxwell, lying in solitary glory in the southern outpost of the
Western Hemisphere--to these three heroines of the Formative Age of the
Faith of Baha'u'llah, they who now labor so assiduously for its expansion
and establishment, owe a debt of gratitude which future generations will
not fail to adequately recognize.
I need not expatiate on other, though less prominent, events that have
contributed their share to the furtherance of the Seven Year Plan, or
marked its systematic development. The association of the Fund,
specifically inaugurated for its prosecution, with the hallowed memories
of both the Mother and Brother of 'Abdu'l-Baha; the establishment of at
least one pioneer in each of the Republics of Central and South America;
the ushering in of the last phase of the external ornamentation of the
Temple; the conjunction of the institutions of the Haziratu'l-Quds and the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in the heart of the North American continent; the
founding of yet another institution designed as a training school for
Inter-America teaching work; the steady rise in the number of groups and
Assemblies functioning within the Administrative Framework of the Faith of
Baha'u'llah--these stand out as further evidences of the animating Force
that propels the Plan towards its final consummation.
Varied and abundant as have been the past manifestations of this driving,
resistless Force, they cannot but pale before the brilliant victories
which its progressive and systematic development must achieve in the
future.
The American believers, standing on the threshold of the fourth year of
the Seven Year Plan, pursue their God-given task with a radiance that no
earthly gloom can dim, and will continue to shoulder its ever-growing
duties and responsibilities with a vigor and loyalty that no earthly power
can either sap or diminish.
April 15, 1940
BAHA'U'LLAH'S SPIRITUAL SOVEREIGNTY
Message to 1940 Convention
Overjoyed, elated that dynamic energy, invincible valor of American
believers impelled them far outstrip the goal fixed for third year of
Seven Year Plan. Temple ornamentation has been uninterruptedly pursued.
The theatre of operation of the teaching campaign is already embracing
entire Central America and every South American Republic excepting
Paraguay and Colombia. Number of countries within the orbit of the Faith
is now exceeding sixty. Intercontinental crusade, through path broken by
Martha Root and seal set by May Maxwell's death yielding destined fruit.
Galvanized, permanently safeguarded. Together with Keith they forged
through sacrifice a triple cord indissolubly knitting the community of
North American believers to cradle of Faith in every continent of Old
World and Latin America. Unperturbed by gathering gloom of tottering
civilization without, contemptuous of the assault of the perfidious
enemies within, the executors of 'Abdu'l-Baha's mandate must and will
strain every nerve in the course of the ensuing year to multiply the
number of enrolled pioneers to consolidate work achieved in newly opened
North American States and Provinces, to insure prompt settlement of
remaining Republics, to prosecute unremittingly ornamentation of last unit
of Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, to expedite formation in isolated centers of
nuclei capable of the establishment of local Assemblies. Urgently plead,
fervently pray that all ranks of the valiant forerunners of Baha'u'llah's
Commonwealth may, ere expiry of allotted term, bring fruition of mission
to insure ascendancy of Baha'u'llah's spiritual sovereignty over entire
Western Hemisphere.
Cablegram April 25, 1940
SECTION OF ORNAMENTATION
Section of Temple ornamentation has been placed in the precincts of the
Bab's Shrine. Magnificent reminder of American believers' stupendous
efforts.
Cablegram April 27, 1940.
CONTINUOUS CONSECRATION
To these words, written on my behalf, and in answer to your particular
questions relating to the administrative issues that confront you in these
days, I wish to add my own tribute to the magnificent manner in which you
face the problems, both spiritual and administrative, which the expansion
of the Faith is continually raising, and to the way in which you resolve
them, explain their nature, and derive fresh strength from your experience
of any one of them. The text of the annual reports demonstrates this fact
and establishes for all time the high standard according to which the
administrative machinery of the Faith is functioning, developing and
consolidating itself under your able and energetic direction. As the
administrative processes expand, as their operation steadily improves, as
their necessity is more fully and strikingly demonstrated, and their
beneficent influence correspondingly grows more apparent and evident, so
will the blessings, the strength and guidance bestowed by Him Who animates
and directs these processes be more abundantly vouchsafed to those who
have been called upon to utilize them, in this age, for the execution of
God's Purpose and for the ultimate redemption of a sore-stricken
travailing humanity. Many will be the setbacks, the shocks and the
disturbances, which the commotions of a convulsive age must produce; yet
no force, however violent and world-wide in its range and catastrophic in
its immediate consequences, can either halt these processes or deflect
their appointed course. How great, then, the privilege, and how staggering
the responsibility, of those who are destined to guard over them and to
bring them eventually to full fruition. Nothing short of utter, of
continuous consecration to His Will and Purpose can enable them to fulfil
their high destiny.
May 15, 1940
EMERGENCE OF SPIRITUAL WORLD ORDER