In the Holy Land, the Center and Pivot around which the institutions of a
world-encompassing Administrative Order revolve, steps have been taken for
the preparation of a Synopsis, and for the Codification of the Laws, of
the Most Holy Book, the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Mother-Book of the Baha'i
Revelation, as an essential prelude to the eventual translation and
publication of its entire text.
A Fund has been inaugurated in anticipation of the adoption of preliminary
measures for the ultimate construction of Baha'u'llah's Sepulcher in the
heart of the Haram-i-Aqdas recently established in the plain of Akka.
The international Baha'i endowments on Mt. Carmel have been greatly
enhanced by the signature of a contract with the Israeli Authorities for
the acquisition of an area of thirty-six thousand square meters, situated
on the promontory of Mt. Carmel, overlooking the Cave of Elijah, as well
as the spot sanctified by the footsteps of Baha'u'llah and associated with
the revelation of the Tablet of Carmel, for the price of one hundred and
eight thousand dollars, to serve as the site for the first
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the Holy Land, the entire sum having been donated
by Amelia Collins, Hand of the Cause and outstanding benefactress of the
Faith.
The vast area surrounding the Bab's Sepulcher has been enlarged through
the purchase from the Development Authority of the State of Israel, of
five houses, adjoining the last terrace of His Shrine for a sum of
approximately sixty thousand dollars, as well as through the acquisition
of a six thousand dollar plot that has been registered in the name of the
Israeli Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the
British Isles; of a house, valued at ten thousand dollars, that has been
registered in the name of the Israeli Branch of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada; of a twenty-eight thousand dollar plot,
to be registered in the name of the Israeli Branch of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; and of a five thousand dollar
plot to be registered in the name of the Israeli Branch of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand. Moreover,
steps are now being taken for the purchase of several properties, valued
at approximately one hundred and forty thousand dollars, the acquisition
of which is essential for the safeguarding of the area in the close
vicinity of the Bab's Sepulcher, as well as for the future extension of
the arc around which the edifices, destined to serve as the seat of the
future Baha'i World Commonwealth, are to be erected.
Following the expropriation by the Israeli Finance Minister, on the
recommendation of the Mayor of the City of Haifa, of the plot adjoining
the site of the future International Baha'i Archives on Mt. Carmel, the
fixing of the position of the far-flung arc, around which the edifices
constituting the Seat of the World Baha'i Administrative Order are to be
built, the location of the site of the building and the preparations for
the excavation of its foundations, an hundred and twelve thousand dollar
contract has been signed in Rome for the quarrying, the dressing and
carving of the stones and the fifty-two columns of the building which will
amount in weight to over nine hundred tons and are to be shipped within
less than two years to the Holy Land.
The landscaping of the extensive area stretching between the Bab's
Sepulcher and the resting-places of the Greatest Holy Leaf, the Purest
Branch and their mother, and destined to encircle this Edifice, has been
undertaken, adding greatly to the beauty of the surroundings of these
consecrated Spots in the heart of God's Holy Mountain.