--Issue No. 4 April 1925:
To my dearly-beloved friends, the members of the American National Spiritual Assembly.
To my dearly-beloved friends, the members of the American National Spiritual Assembly.
My dear and precious fellow-workers:
The three communications dated November 19, November 22 and
December 22, which I have recently received from that indefatigable servant of
Baha’u’llah, my esteemed spiritual brother, Mr. Holley, have given me great
satisfaction and have cheered and sustained me in my work. I have read most
carefully the minutes of your December meeting and am particularly pleased to
note in many respects the notable advance you have made in establishing the
Cause upon a wider and surer foundation.
With reference to the need, so often expressed, for an
authentic and comprehensive history of the Cause, I am glad to inform you of
the action contemplated by the National Spiritual Assembly of Persia in
instructing and urging the local Assemblies throughout the country to take
immediate steps for the formation in every locality of a special committee
which will seek the assistance and the testimony of the remnants of the
earliest believers and pioneers of the Cause in Persia in collecting most
carefully all available evidence and data for the compilation of a
comprehensive, reliable and representative history of the Movement from its
earliest dawn to the present day. I have communicated with the National
Assembly of Persia regarding this urgent and vital necessity, and I feel the
time is not far distant when a free rendering into English of this stirring
narrative as well as an abridged form of it will be made available for both the
Baha’is and the general public in the West.
The efforts recently displayed by the Publishing Committee
so clearly reflected in the minutes of their meeting of November 2, 1924, a
copy of which I have read with the closest attention, indicate the efficiency,
the zeal and the determination with which they are conducting this vital branch
of Baha’i activity. The scope of their effective work is expanding rapidly, and
I wish to assure them one and all of my prayers for the fruition of their
labors and the further development and consolidation of their work.
There have been of late no fresh developments in the
situation of the House in Baghdad. The case, which is now before the court of
First Instance has been postponed for some time and we still await anxiously
the decision of the court. Any hope of an immediate and final solution of this
intricate problem seems for the present remote. In the event of our success the
case may still be referred by our powerful opponents to the court of Appeal --
the highest in the land -- and should its decision be in our favor the
government may at any time -- as it does not seem unlikely -- decide, by
retaining the keys in its custody, to postpone indefinitely the execution of
such a verdict in order to allay the fierce hostility of the clerical element
as well as the shiite population of Iraq.
Should a crisis occur, I will immediately inform you and
endeavor to define more clearly any measure that I feel should be taken by the
American Assemblies to insure the security of the House of Baha’u’llah.
Regarding the publication of Baha’i periodicals in America,
there is no doubt whatsoever that every individual Baha’i is free to inaugurate
and conduct any magazine of his own provided that nothing is published therein
which in the estimation of the National Assembly tends in the least to become
detrimental or injurious to the highest interests of the Cause. Within these
limits, and these limits only, private initiative should in no wise be
discouraged and is indeed highly praiseworthy. It is for the National Assembly,
however, to exercise its judgment as to what extent the resources at their
disposal enable them to aid financially the individual undertakings of the
friends. Should the response of the friends and Assemblies to the appeals made
on behalf of the National Fund be prompt, sustained and generous, the National
Assembly will, I am certain, justify its sympathy, good-will and genuine
cooperation with every individual Baha’i enterprise. I would, however, at this
early state of our work, strongly urge, nay entreat, the friends not to
dissipate their efforts, but to seek, after frank, mature and continuous
deliberation, to arrive at a common conclusion as to the most urgent
requirements and needs of the hour, and having unified their views to strive to
uphold and enforce them with promptitude, wholeheartedness and understanding.
The first printed issue of the National Assembly’s News
Letter prepared and signed on behalf of the Assembly by its able secretary,
stands as a bright and eloquent testimony of his thoroughness, his industry,
his conspicuous ability, his undoubted self-sacrifice. The Cause is entering
upon a new era of renewed and concerted activity. Its method of presentation
has unmistakably improved, and this general advancement in standard is in no
small measure attributable to the distinctive capacity of your Assembly. My
constant prayer is that He Who watches over and inspires your manifold
activities may bless more richly than ever before your noble endeavors.
With reference to the matter of meeting in the Foundation
Hall of the Mashriqu’l Adhkar, I feel that the Foundation Hall should serve the
purpose both of devotional gatherings where the revealed Word of God is read
and chanted, and meetings at which subjects strictly Baha’i in character are
presented, propounded and discussed. I have no doubt that every conscientious
and thoughtful Baha’i will scrupulously and at all times observe the
commandment of Baha’u’llah and the instructions of 'Abdu’l-Baha relative to the
maintenance of the sacredness, the dignity, and the universality of an edifice
that will in time become God’s universal House of Worship.
May the blessings of our Almighty Master rest upon your
deliberations.
Your true brother,
(Signed) SHOGHI.
Haifa, Palestine, January 16, 1925.