In the Holy Land--the Qiblih of a world community, the heart from which the
energizing influences of a vivifying Faith continually stream, and the
seat and center around which the diversified activities of a divinely
appointed Administrative Order revolve--following upon the termination of
the construction of the Bab's holy Sepulcher, marking the closing of the
first chapter in the history of the evolution of the central institutions
of a world Faith, a marked progress in the rise and establishment of these
institutions has been clearly noticeable. The remaining twenty-two pillars
of the International Baha'i Archives--the initial Edifice heralding the
establishment of the Baha'i World Administrative Center on Mt. Carmel--have
been erected. The last half of the nine hundred tons of stone, ordered in
Italy for its construction, have reached their destination, enabling the
exterior of the building to be completed, while the forty-four tons of
glazed green tiles, manufactured in Utrecht, to cover the five hundred
square meters of roof, have been placed in position, the whole
contributing, to an unprecedented degree, through its colorfulness, its
classic style and graceful proportions, and in conjunction with the
stately, golden-crowned Mausoleum rising beyond it, to the unfolding glory
of the central institutions of a World Faith nestling in the heart of
God's holy mountain.
Simultaneous with this striking development, the plan designed to insure
the extension and completion of the arc serving as a base for the erection
of future edifices constituting the World Baha'i Administrative Center,
has been successfully carried out. The dilapidated house, situated in the
close neighborhood of Baha'u'llah's Shrine, recently acquired from the
Development Authority of the State of Israel, because of its historic
associations, has been restored. Negotiations, moreover, have been
initiated with that same Authority for the acquisition of two plots to the
north and south of the Shrine, for the purpose of safeguarding its
precincts from a further extension of the new settlements springing up
rapidly in the plain of Akka. Steps have also been taken to register the
title-deeds of a centrally located plot, originally owned by a
Covenant-breaker, and abutting on the International Archives, in the name
of the Israel Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
the British Isles. A further blow has been struck at the remnants of the
implacable enemies of 'Abdu'l-Baha, the breakers of His Father's Covenant,
still living in the immediate vicinity of the holiest shrine of the Baha'i
world, through the destruction of a row of ruinous sheds which had been
under their control, through orders issued by the Municipal Authorities of
Akka. And, lastly, an expropriation order has been published in the Israel
Official Gazette by the Treasury Department of Israel related to buildings
enclosed within the Haram-i-Aqdas, aiming at the eviction of these same
enemies from the outer Sanctuary of Baha'u'llah's Sepulcher, following
upon the evacuation by them of the Mansion at Bahji after two score years
of occupancy, and which, when carried out, will mark the final cleansing,
after more than sixty-five years, of the immediate surroundings of the
holiest Spot in the Baha'i world.
Nor can I dismiss this subject related to the progress achieved in the
development of Baha'i international institutions in the Holy Land without
a special reference to the continual extension and embellishment of the
international endowments of the Faith in the plain of Akka and on the
slopes of Mt. Carmel, the value of which now exceeds five million two
hundred thousand dollars, as well as to the ever-swelling crowds of
visitors flocking to the Baha'i Shrines in both of these places, and
particularly to the number of those entering the Tomb of the Bab which,
during a single day, in a three-hour period, has exceeded a thousand.