FOURTH PHASE OF TEN-YEAR PLAN
The holding of this second series of Intercontinental Conferences, marking the halfway point of the greatest Crusade ever embarked upon for the propagation of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in both the eastern and western hemispheres, signalizes the opening of the fourth phase of the Ten-Year Plan. The first phase, covering the initial twelve months of this stupendous enterprise, will forever be associated with the carrying of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to no less than a hundred countries of the globe. The second phase, lasting twice as long as the first, witnessed the acquisition of a remarkably large number of national Hazíratu’l-Quds, and the establishment, in numerous countries, of Bahá’í national endowments, complementing, through the process of administrative consolidation, the striking enlargement of the orbit of the Faith in the course of the initial phase of the Plan. The third phase, equal in duration to the preceding phase, has been made memorable by the striking multiplication of Bahá’í centers, and the formation of no less than sixteen Regional and National Spiritual Assemblies.
The fourth phase, the opening of which is now approaching, must be immortalized, on the one hand, by an unprecedented increase in the number of avowed supporters of the Faith, in all the continents of the globe, of every race, clime, creed and color, and from every stratum of present-day society, coupled with a corresponding increase in the number of Bahá’í centers, and, on the other, by a swift progress in the erection of the Mother Temples of Africa and Australia, as well as by the initiation of the construction of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of Europe.
The phase which the valiant prosecutors of a Crusade, endowed with such tremendous potentialities, are about to enter must, as this divinely propelled, this highly beneficent, mysteriously unfolding enterprise hastens past its midway point, and approaches the closing stages of its world-wide operations, witness, in both the teaching and administrative spheres, and in consequence of the impact, which, it is ardently hoped, the deliberations and resolutions of the attendants at these forthcoming Conferences will have upon the immediate destinies of this Crusade, an upsurge of enthusiasm and consecration, before which every single as well as collective exploit, associated with any of the three previous phases, will pale.
I call upon each and every Hand of the Cause of God, previously or now appointed, upon the entire body of the believers participating in this Crusade, and, in particular, upon their elected representatives, the members of the various Regional and National Spiritual Assemblies in both the East and the West, and, even more emphatically, upon those privileged to convene and organize these history-making Conferences, to bestir themselves, and, according to their rank, capacity, function and resources, befittingly prepare themselves, during the short interval separating them from the opening of the first of these five Conferences, to meet the challenge, and seize the opportunities, of this auspicious hour, and insure, through a dazzling display of the qualities which must distinguish a worthy stewardship of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, the total and resounding success of these Conferences, dedicated to the glorification of His Name, and expressly convened for the purpose of accelerating the march of the institutions of His world-redeeming Order, and of hastening the establishment of His Kingdom in the hearts of men.
—Shoghi
[October, 1957]
MESSAGES TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD
1950–1957
A Supplementary Collection
New Step in Building the Báb’s Shrine
Announce to national assemblies of America, Europe, and Australia the initiation of preliminary measures for erection of steel framework designed to support the contemplated dome of the Báb’s Sepulcher. Holy edifice, whose site the Founder of the Faith designated while Himself an exile in Most Great Prison, whose central structure the Center of His Covenant erected in the course of the turbulent years of His ministry, whose enveloping arcade was constructed despite internal disturbance rocking the Holy Land, is now carried forward despite the mounting international tension through signing of sixty-three thousand dollar contract for stonework of octagon. Request beloved friends, collaborators in historic undertaking, to join me in prayers for uninterrupted prosecution of work simultaneously initiated in Italy and Holy Land designed to attain final consummation in rearing the lofty dome, crowning unit of enterprise so intimately associated with the Three Central Figures of Faith linking the Heroic and Formative Ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.
[January 4, 1951]
Construction of Shrine Moves Forward
Announce to friends of East and West that operations commenced last Naw-Rúz on excavation for eight shafts designed for piers supporting the dome of the Báb’s Sepulcher terminated. Consignment of thirty-three tons of steel, fifty tons of cement safely delivered to Holy Land. Seven thousand three hundred pound (i.e., Israeli unit of currency) contract for structural work, capable of sustaining the thousand-ton weight of superstructure, signed. First installment out of eight hundred tons of stones for octagon and dome of Shrine recently received. Greatly heartened by response of self-sacrificing believers in both hemispheres enabling energetic prosecution at this critical hour of so holy an enterprise. May sustained support of all communities hasten its glorious consummation.
[May 29, 1951]
Pilgrimage to World Center Again Permitted
Announce to all national assemblies restrictions on pilgrimage being gradually removed. Owing to prevailing conditions, maximum duration will be nine days. Permission of Guardian necessary, as few at a time are now permitted.
[December 25, 1951]
Administrative Headquarters in Africa
Inform United States, British, Persian, Egyptian, Indian National Assemblies of imminent purchase of Hazíratu’l-Quds of Central Africa. Have forwarded my contribution, six thousand dollars, toward historic enterprise. Appeal five cooperating National Assemblies to participate through contribution toward meritorious purchase. Purchase price 5500 pounds. Advise forward contributions to Banani, Kampala.
[March 16, 1952]
William Sutherland Maxwell Passes—Rúhíyyih Khánum Appointed Hand
With sorrowful heart announce through national assemblies that Hand of Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, highly esteemed, dearly beloved Sutherland Maxwell, has been gathered into the glory of the Abhá Kingdom. His saintly life, extending well nigh four score years, enriched during the course of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry by services in the Dominion of Canada, ennobled during Formative Age of Faith by decade of services in Holy Land, during darkest days of my life, doubly honored through association with the crown of martyrdom won by May Maxwell and incomparable honor bestowed upon his daughter, attained consummation through his appointment as architect of the arcade and superstructure of the Báb’s Sepulcher as well as elevation to the front rank of the Hands of Cause of God. Advise all national assemblies to hold befitting memorial gatherings particularly in the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette and in the Hazíratu’l-Quds in Ṭihrán.
Have instructed Hands of Cause in United States and Canada, Horace Holley and Fred Schopflocher, to attend as my representatives the funeral in Montreal. Moved to name after him the southern door of the Báb’s Tomb as tribute to his services to second holiest Shrine of the Bahá’í world. The mantle of Hand of Cause now falls upon the shoulders of his distinguished daughter, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih, who has already rendered and is still rendering manifold no less meritorious self-sacrificing services at World Center of Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
[March 26, 1952]
Progress on Shrine of the Báb
On eve of opening of Holy Year announce to Bahá’í communities of East and West joyful tidings of conclusion of over ten thousand dollar contract with Utrecht firm for the fabrication of twelve thousand gilded tiles to cover an area of two hundred and fifty square meters of dome of Báb’s Sepulcher. Eighteen stained glass windows of drum and twenty-four windows of octagon delivered to Mount Carmel. Stones required for construction of drum and ribs and brim and lantern of dome nearing completion, heralding the early commencement of the erection of the last remaining unit of rapidly rising edifice. Eastward extension of terrace adjoining Sepulcher virtually terminated raising the total length of horizontal area fronting the Shrine to about six hundred feet, adding greatly to the beauty and stateliness of the approaches to the magnificent structure, already enhanced through recent extension of terraces linking Haifa’s oldest and most imposing avenue with Báb’s resting place majestically rising in the bosom of Carmel.
[October 14, 1952]
Achievements of Heroic Pioneers in Africa
Rejoice to share with Bahá’í communities East and West thrilling reports of feats achieved by the heroic band of Bahá’í pioneers laboring in divers widely scattered African territories, particularly in Uganda, in the heart of the continent, reminiscent alike of episodes related in the Book of Acts and the rapid, dramatic propagation of the Faith through the instrumentality of the dawn-breakers in the Heroic Age of the Bahá’í Dispensation. The marvelous accomplishments signalizing the rise and establishment of the Administrative Order of the Faith in Latin America have been eclipsed. The exploits immortalizing the recently launched crusade in the European continent have been surpassed. The goal of the seven-month plan, initiated by the Kampala Assembly, aiming at doubling the twelve enrolled believers, has been outstripped. The number of Africans converted in the course of the last fifteen months, residing in Kampala and outlying districts, with Protestant, Catholic and pagan backgrounds, lettered and unlettered, of both sexes, representative of no less than sixteen tribes, has passed the two hundred mark.
The effulgent rays of God’s triumphant Cause, radiating from the focal center, are fast awakening the continent and penetrating at an accelerating rate isolated regions unfrequented by white men and enveloping with their radiance souls hitherto indifferent to the persistent humanitarian activities of the Christian missions and the civilizing influence of the civil authorities. No less than nine localities will be qualified to attain, by this coming Ridván, assembly status within a single territory of the long-slumbering continent.
Zanzibar, Madagascar, French Morocco, South Rhodesia, Italian Somaliland are already or soon will be opened to the Faith.
Desire to pay special tribute to the strenuous efforts exerted by ‘Alí Nakhjavání, setting an example of dedication and freedom from prejudice to fellow pioneers laboring in inhospitable surroundings and confronted by manifold and formidable obstacles.
Planning to entrust to the special representative delegated to attend the approaching Kampala Conference a portrait of the holy Báb, a replica of the one deposited beneath the dome of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette, to be exhibited to the assembled attendants on the historic occasion. Confident unveiling may draw newly recruited vanguard of the ever-swelling host of Bahá’u’lláh, as well as all participating visitors, itinerant teachers and settlers, closer to the spirit of the Martyr-Prophet of the Faith and bestow everlasting benediction on all gathered at the memorable sessions of the epoch-making Intercontinental Conference dedicated to the prosecution of the latest, most glorious crusade launched in the course of eleven decades of Bahá’í history.
[January 5, 1953]
Rapid Progress of Twin Sacred Undertakings
On eve of convocation of history-making, long eagerly anticipated African Intercontinental Conference share with communities of Bahá’í world the joyous news of the rapid progress of the twin sacred undertakings launched on the Mountain of God and the holy Plain of Akká, destined to culminate in the erection of worthy sepulchers of the Herald and Author of the Bahá’í Revelation. World-wide celebrations of the Holy Year inaugurated last October, heightened during course of present month through the holding of the epoch-making gathering, moving steadily towards climax during approaching Ridván festivities, have been greatly enhanced by the latest developments of the institutions at the World Center of the Faith.
Construction of the third unit of the Báb’s Shrine is terminated, synchronizing with the safe arrival at the port of Haifa of the last consignment of stones ordered in Italy totaling over thirteen hundred tons. First section of the brim of the dome, constituting the base of the topmost tier of the triple crown of the majestic edifice, has been erected, heralding the placing during Ridván period of tiles as well as construction of ribs of the golden dome.
The landscaping initiated at the inception of the Holy Year of thirteen thousand square meter area immediately surrounding the Qiblih of the Bahá’í world, involving extension of its outer sanctuary, to be designated henceforth as the Ḥaram-i-Aqdas, is virtually concluded, paving the way, successively, for the embellishment and extensive illumination of the entire area and erection of stately portals, presaging the rearing at a future date of a magnificent mausoleum in its heart. The striking enhancement of the beauty and stateliness of the most holy spot in the Bahá’í world constitutes a befitting tribute to the memory of the Founder of the Faith, within the hallowed area adjacent to His resting place, on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the birth of His glorious Mission.
[February 9, 1953]
African Intercontinental Conference
[Kampala, Uganda, February 12–18, 1953]
I hail with a joyous heart the convocation in the heart of the African continent of the first of the four Intercontinental Teaching Conferences constituting the highlights of the world-wide celebrations of the Holy Year which commemorates the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Mission of the Founder of our Faith. I welcome with open arms the unexpectedly large number of the representatives of the pure-hearted and the spiritually receptive Negro race, so dearly loved by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, for whose conversion to His Father’s Faith He so deeply yearned and whose interests He so ardently championed in the course of His memorable visit to the North American continent. I am reminded, on this historic occasion, of the significant words uttered by Bahá’u’lláh Himself, Who as attested by the Center of the Covenant, in His Writings, “compared the colored people to the black pupil of the eye,” through which “the light of the spirit shineth forth.” I feel particularly gratified by the substantial participation in this epoch-making conference of the members of a race dwelling in a continent which for the most part has retained its primitive simplicity and remained uncontaminated by the evils of a gross, a rampant and cancerous materialism undermining the fabric of human society alike in the East and in the West, eating into the vitals of the conflicting peoples and races inhabiting the American, the European and the Asiatic continents, and alas threatening to engulf in one common catastrophic convulsion the generality of mankind. I acclaim the preponderance of the members of this same race at so significant a conference, a phenomenon unprecedented in the annals of Bahá’í conferences held during over a century, and auguring well for a corresponding multiplication in the number of the representatives of the yellow, the red and brown races of mankind dwelling respectively in the Far East, in the Far West and in the islands of the South Pacific Ocean, a multiplication designed ultimately to bring to a proper equipoise the divers ethnic elements comprised within the highly diversified world-embracing Bahá’í fellowship.
TRIBUTE TO PIONEERS IN AFRICAN FIELD
I feel moved, on this auspicious occasion, to pay a warm tribute to the elected representatives, as well as the members, of the British, the Persian, the American, the Egyptian and the Indian Bahá’í Communities which have participated, in pursuance of their respective plans, in the opening stage of a colossal teaching campaign, constituting a vital phase of the impending decade-long World Crusade, and aiming at the spiritual conquest of the entire African continent. I desire in particular to express to all those gathered at this conference my feelings of abiding appreciation of the magnificent role played and of the remarkable prizes won, by the small band of Persian, British and American pioneers, in the course of the initial stage of this divinely propelled and mysteriously unfolding collective enterprise, which has overshadowed both the Latin American and European teaching campaigns launched in recent years, which is destined to exert an incalculable influence on the fortunes of the Faith throughout the world, and which may well have far-reaching repercussions among the two chief races dwelling in the North American continent.
FIRST AFRICAN PILLAR OF UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
To the American Bahá’í Community, the chief executor of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan; to the British Bahá’í Community, destined to play in future decades a predominating role in opening to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh not only the British territories throughout the African continent, but the divers dependencies of the British Crown scattered on the surface of the globe; to the Persian Bahá’í Community, at once the most venerable and most consistently persecuted among its sister communities in both the East and the West; to the Egyptian Bahá’í Community that may well boast of having erected in that continent the first pillar of the Universal House of Justice; to the Indian Bahá’í Community, fated to contribute, to a marked degree, to the spiritual quickening of the Indians constituting a noble element of the population of Africa—to these communities I feel I must acknowledge my deep sense of thankfulness for the strenuous efforts exerted by their pioneers to raise aloft the standard of the Faith in the territories allocated to them in Liberia, Uganda, Tanganyika, the Gold Coast, Kenya, Somaliland, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, Libya, Algeria, Zanzibar and Madagascar. To others who, though not following the fixed pattern of the plan initiated for the present African campaign, have arisen to introduce the Faith in the territories of Sierra Leone, Angola, Mozambique and Southern Rhodesia I feel, moreover, a debt of gratitude is due for their share in extending the range of Bahá’í pioneer activity in that continent.
AFRICAN PROJECTS TO BE LAUNCHED
The hour is indeed propitious, as the climax of the world-wide rejoicings signalizing the Holy Year approaches, for the national spiritual assemblies of these same communities to gird up their loins, in collaboration with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq, in a supreme effort to launch, on the morrow of this fateful conference, that phase of the Ten-Year Crusade which, God willing, will culminate in the introduction of our glorious Faith in all the remaining territories of that vast continent as well as the chief neighboring islands lying in the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans. The decade on whose threshold they now stand must, circumstances permitting, witness:
First, the erection of three additional pillars within the confines of that continent and its neighboring islands, designed to support, together with no less than forty-five other national spiritual assemblies to be established in other parts of the world, the final unit in the erection of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, namely: The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Central and East Africa, to be formed under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles, with its seat in Kampala; the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of South and West Africa, to be formed under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America, with its seat in Johannesburg; the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of North West Africa, to be formed under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and Súdán, with its seat in Tunis.
Second, the initial purchase of land for the future construction of three Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs, one in Cairo, one in Kampala and one in Johannesburg, situated respectively in the north, the heart and the south of the African continent.
Third, the opening of the following thirty-three virgin territories and islands: Cape Verde Islands, Canary Islands, French Somaliland, French Togoland, Mauritius, Northern Territories Protectorate, Portuguese Guinea, Reunion Island, Spanish Guinea, St. Helena, and St. Thomas Island, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; Ashanti Protectorate, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Italian Somaliland, Southern Rhodesia and Swaziland, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia; French Equatorial Africa, French West Africa, Morocco (International Zone), Rio de Oro, Spanish Morocco and Spanish Sahara, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and Súdán; Comoro Islands, French Cameroons, Gambia, Ruanda-Urundi and Socotra Island, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, Pákistán and Burma; the British Cameroons, British Togoland, Madeira and South West Africa, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles; and Seychelles Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq.
Fourth, the translation and publication of Bahá’í literature in the following thirty-one languages to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles: Accra, Afrikaans, Aladian, Ashanti, Banu, Bemba, Bua, Chuana, Gio, Gu, Jieng, Jolof, Kuanyama, Krongo, Kroo, Luimbi, Malagasy, Nubian, Pedi, Popo, Ronga, Sena, Shilha, Shona, Sobo, Suto, Wongo, Xosa, Yalunka, Yao and Zulu.
Fifth, the consolidation of the twenty-four following territories already opened to the Faith in the African continent: Angola, Belgian Congo, Gold Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zululand, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles; Abyssinia, Algeria, Eritrea, Libya, French Morocco, Somaliland, Súdán and Tunisia, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and Súdán; Madagascar, Mozambique and Zanzibar, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, Pákistán and Burma; Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia; Liberia and South Africa, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America.
Sixth, the establishment, circumstances permitting, of a national Bahá’í Court in the capital city of Egypt, the recognized center of both the Islamic and Arab worlds, officially empowered to apply, in matters of personal status, the laws and ordinances revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Mother-Book of the Bahá’í Revelation.
Seventh, the incorporation of the three above-mentioned regional national spiritual assemblies.
Eighth, the establishment by those same national spiritual assemblies of national Bahá’í endowments.
Ninth, the establishment of a national Hazíratu’l-Quds in Johannesburg and one in Tunis and the conversion into a similar institution of the local Hazíratu’l-Quds of Kampala.
Tenth, the formation of a national Bahá’í Publishing Trust in Cairo.
Eleventh, the formation of an Israel branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and Súdán, authorized to hold, on behalf of its parent institution, property dedicated to the holy shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the state of Israel.
Twelfth, the appointment, during Ridván 1954, by the Hand of the Cause in Africa, of an Auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the six national spiritual assemblies participating in the African campaign, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Bahá’í centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaign in the African continent.
A SPIRITUALLY WELDED UNIT
May the six aforementioned national spiritual assemblies, aided by the Hand of the Cause appointed in that continent, and the Auxiliary Board to be chosen by him, and supported by the national committees and subcommittees to be formed in due course, and reinforced by the constant and energetic efforts of an ever-swelling number of pioneers, whether settlers or itinerant teachers, and assisted by the wholehearted collaboration of the indigenous believers in all localities, be spiritually welded into a unit at once dynamic and coherent, and be suffused with the creative, the directing and propelling forces proceeding from the Source of the Revelation Himself, and be made, as the projected campaign unfolds, the vehicle of His grace from on high, and prove themselves worthy and effective instruments for the execution and ultimate consummation of one of the most thrilling and far-reaching enterprises undertaken in the Formative Age of the Faith and constituting one of the noblest phases of the most glorious Crusade ever launched in the course of Bahá’í history for the systematic propagation of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh over the surface of the entire planet.
[February 1953]
Fivefold Historic Celebration in America
On the occasion of the fivefold historic celebration—the dedication for public worship of the holiest Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Bahá’í world; the convocation of the Second Intercontinental Teaching Conference of the Holy Year; the anniversary of the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh in the Garden of Ridván; the holding of the Forty-Fifth American Bahá’í Convention, and the launching of the epochal, global, spiritual Crusade, marking the climax of the festivities associated with the Centenary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s Mission—announce to His followers of East and West that the final phase of the construction of the Báb’s Sepulcher has been ushered in through the erection of scaffolding for the completion of the shuttering of the dome.
Forty-four gilded tiles out of a total of twelve thousand, designed to cover two hundred fifty square meter surface of the dome, were placed in permanent position on the eve of the ninth day of the ninetieth anniversary of the Ridván Festival. On the afternoon of the same day, during the course of a moving ceremony in the presence of pilgrims and resident believers of Akká and Haifa, I have placed reverently a fragment of the plaster ceiling of the Báb’s prison cell in the castle of Máh-Kú beneath the gilded tiles of the crowning unit of the majestic edifice, circumambulated the base of the dome, paid homage to His memory, recalled His afflictive imprisonment and offered prayers on behalf of the friends of East and West on a subsequent visit to the interior of His Shrine.
Preparatory steps are now being taken for the pouring of concrete for the construction of the ribs of the dome, as well as for the placing of ornamental stones surrounding its base.
My hopes are heightened that the termination of the five-year-long, three-quarter million dollar enterprise, undertaken in the heart of Carmel, will coincide with the termination of the world-wide celebrations commemorating the Centenary of the inception of Bahá’u’lláh’s ministry.
Also announce the formation of no less than sixteen new spiritual assemblies in the African continent:—Monrovia, Benghazi, Nairobi, Jinja, Akarukei, Tilling, Mbale, Atoot, Kococwa, Acissa, Opot, Fassy, Ocaka, Osopotoil, Kadoki, Kabuku.
In Uganda alone the number of believers is over two hundred ninety, residing in twenty-five localities, representative of twenty tribes.
Finally share the heart-warming news of the impending establishment of the long-overdue Hazíratu’l-Quds in the French capital through the conclusion of an agreement to purchase a nine thousand pound property situated in the best residential quarter of the city.
Kiyani’s spontaneous, generous contribution is solely responsible for the achievement of the great victory of the establishment of the institution designed to serve as the administrative headquarters of both the present Paris Assembly and the projected French National Spiritual Assembly.
Advise the American National Assembly to share this message with its sister assemblies throughout the Bahá’í world.
[April 30, 1953]
All-America Intercontinental Conference—First Message
[Wilmette—Chicago, May 1953]
With a heart overflowing with joy and thankfulness I acclaim, at this hour marking the climax of the world-wide festivities of this Holy Year, the convocation, in the heart of the North American continent and under the shadow of the newly consecrated Mother Temple of the West, of the second and, without doubt, the most distinguished of the four Intercontinental Teaching Conferences commemorating the Centenary of the inception of the Mission of Bahá’u’lláh. On the occasion of the opening of this epoch-making conference, at which members of the United States, the Canadian, the Central American and South American National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as representatives of the Bahá’í communities in the states of the American Union, in the provinces of the Dominion of Canada, in Alaska, and in the republics of Latin America, are assembled, I recall the unique, the historic, the highly significant and profoundly moving summons issued by the Author of the Bahá’í Faith Himself, and enshrined for all time in the Mother-Book of His Revelation and repository of His laws, and addressed collectively to the rulers of the entire Western Hemisphere, conferring upon them an honor such as has not been conferred by Him on the rulers of any other continent of the globe. With a throbbing heart I call to mind, at a distance of more than a century, since the Herald of the Faith bade in His Qayyúmu’l-Asmá the “peoples of the West” to “issue forth” from their “cities” to aid His Cause, the long series of events which have illuminated the annals of Bahá’í history in the course of six memorable decades stretching from the time when the name of Bahá’u’lláh was first publicly mentioned on the American continent to the present hour when the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West has finally been dedicated to public worship on the occasion of the celebrations signalizing the termination of the first century since the birth of His Mission. I can but, at this juncture, touch upon certain outstanding episodes which, viewed in their proper perspective, may well be regarded as landmarks in the rise and development of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the Americas. I am particularly reminded of the holding of the World Parliament of Religions of Chicago in September 1893; of the arrival of the first American Bahá’í pilgrims in the Holy Land in December 1898; of the inception of the Temple enterprise in June 1903; of the opening of the first American Bahá’í Convention in March 1909; of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s arrival in America in April 1912; of the laying by Him of the cornerstone of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in May 1912; of the unveiling of the Tablets of the Divine Plan in April 1919; of the birth and rise of the Bahá’í Administrative Order on the morrow of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ascension; of the official inauguration of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Plan through the launching of the first seven-year teaching enterprise in April 1937; of the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, on the eve of the centenary celebrations of the Founding of the Faith, in May 1944; of the inception of the Second Seven-Year Plan in April 1946; of the formation of an independent National Spiritual Assembly in the Dominion of Canada in April 1948; of the establishment of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Central and South America in April 1951; and of the completion of the interior ornamentation of the Temple in October 1952.
SIX DECADES OF ACHIEVEMENT
So remarkable a development in the course of the past six decades, spanning the concluding phase of the Heroic and the opening decade of the Formative Age of the Faith, and encompassing the length and breadth of a continent, so greatly blessed, so richly endowed, has resulted in the extension of the ramifications of a nascent Administrative Order to every state of the American Union, to every province of the Dominion of Canada, and to every republic of Central and South America; in the construction, the ornamentation, and the dedication to public worship of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the western world; in the erection of no less than four pillars destined with others to sustain the weight of the final and crowning unit of the administrative structure of the Faith; in the establishment of over ninety centers in the Dominion of Canada, of over an hundred centers in Latin America, and of over twelve hundred centers in the great republic of the West, covering a range that stretches from the Arctic Circle in the North to the extremity of Chile in the South; in the founding of local and national endowments estimated at over three million dollars; in the incorporation of no less than four national, and of more than fifty local Bahá’í spiritual assemblies; in the recognition by eighteen states of the American Union of the Bahá’í marriage certificate; in the establishment of two national administrative headquarters, one in the Dominion of Canada and the other in the heart of the North American continent; in the framing of national Bahá’í constitutions; in the inauguration of summer schools; and in a notable progress in the translation, the printing and the dissemination of Bahá’í literature.
The hour has now struck for the national Bahá’í communities dwelling within the confines of the Western Hemisphere—the first region in the western world to be warmed and illuminated by the rays of God’s infant Faith shining from its World Center in the Holy Land—to arise and, in thanksgiving for the manifold blessings continually showered upon them from on high during the past six decades and for the inestimable bounties of God’s unfailing protection and sustaining grace vouchsafed His Cause ever since its inception more than a century ago, and in anticipation of the Most Great Jubilee which will commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s formal assumption of His prophetic office, launch, determinedly and unitedly, the third and last stage of an enterprise inaugurated sixteen years ago, the termination of which will mark the closing of the initial epoch in the evolution of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan. Standing on the threshold of a ten-year-long, world-embracing Spiritual Crusade these communities are now called upon, by virtue of the weighty pronouncement recorded in the Most Holy Book, and in direct consequence of the revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, to play a preponderating role in the systematic propagation of the Faith, in the course of the coming decade, which will, God willing, culminate in the spiritual conquest of the entire planet.
It is incumbent upon the members of the American Bahá’í Community, the chief executors of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan, the members of the Canadian Bahá’í Community acting as their allies, and the members of the Latin American Bahá’í Communities in their capacity as associates in the execution of this Plan, to brace themselves and initiate, in addition to the responsibilities they have assumed, and will assume, in other continents of the globe, an intercontinental campaign designed to carry a stage further the glorious work already inaugurated throughout the Western Hemisphere.
SPECIAL TASKS OF FOUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES
The task, at once arduous, thrilling and challenging, which now confronts these four Bahá’í communities involves: First, the formation, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, and in collaboration with the two existing national assemblies in Latin America, of one national spiritual assembly in each of the twenty Latin American republics as well as the establishment of a national spiritual assembly in Alaska under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America. Second, the establishment of the first dependency of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette. Third, the purchase of land for the future construction of two Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs, one in Toronto, Ontario; one in Panama City, Panama, situated respectively in North and in Central America. Fourth, the opening of the following twenty-seven virgin territories and islands: Anticosti Island, Baranof Island, Cape Breton Island, Franklin, Grand Manan Island, Keewatin, Labrador, Magdalen Islands, Miquelon Island and St. Pierre Island, Queen Charlotte Islands and Yukon, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada; Aleutian Islands, Falkland Islands, Key West and Kodiak Island assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; Bahama Islands, British Honduras, Dutch West Indies and Margarita Island, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Central America; British Guiana, Chilöe Island, Dutch Guiana, French Guiana, Galapagos Islands, Juan Fernandez Islands, Leeward Islands, and Windward Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of South America. Fifth, the translation and publication of Bahá’í literature in the following ten languages, to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America: Aguaruna, Arawak, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Iroquois, Lengua, Mataco, Maya, Mexican and Yahgan. Sixth, the consolidation of Greenland, Mackenzie and Newfoundland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada; of Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands and Puerto Rico allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; of Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Central America; and of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of South America. Seventh, the incorporation of the twenty-one above-mentioned national spiritual assemblies. Eighth, the establishment by these same national spiritual assemblies of national Bahá’í endowments. Ninth, the establishment of a national Hazíratu’l-Quds in the capital city of each of the aforementioned republics, as well as one in Anchorage, Alaska. Tenth, the formation of two national Bahá’í publishing trusts, one in Wilmette, Illinois, and the other in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Eleventh, the formation of an Israel branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada, authorized to hold, on behalf of its parent institution, property dedicated to the holy shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the state of Israel. Twelfth, the appointment during Ridván 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in the United States and Canada, of an Auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the four national spiritual assemblies participating in the American campaign, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Bahá’í centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaign in the American continent.
PORTRAIT OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH SENT
Mindful of the magnificent services rendered during over half a century by the chief executors of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan, within a territory that posterity will regard as the cradle of the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh and the stronghold of its nascent institutions, and confident that this vast and historic assemblage, over which the national elected representatives of this privileged community are presiding, will prove to be the harbinger of still greater victories, I have been impelled to transmit, through my special representative, who will participate on my behalf in the proceedings of this conference and act as my deputy at the official dedication of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, a reproduction of the portrait of Bahá’u’lláh Himself, made in the prime of His life, whilst an exile in Baghdád, as a token of my admiration for this community’s unflagging and herculean labors, and as a benediction and inspiration for those who, whether officially or unofficially, are participating in the proceedings of a conference that will go down in history as the most momentous gathering held since the close of the Heroic Age of the Faith and will be regarded as the most potent agency in paving the way for the launching of one of the most brilliant phases of the grandest crusade ever undertaken by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh since the inception of His Faith more than a hundred years ago.
[May 3, 1953]
All-America Intercontinental Conference—Second Message
On the occasion of the launching of an epochal, global, spiritual, decade-long crusade, constituting the high-water mark of the festivities commemorating the centenary of the birth of the Mission of Bahá’u’lláh, coinciding with the ninetieth anniversary of the declaration of that same Mission in the Garden of Ridván, and synchronizing with both the convocation of the All-American Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Chicago, and the fiftieth anniversary of the inception of the holiest Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Bahá’í world and its dedication to public worship—on such a solemn and historic occasion I invite His followers, the world over, to contemplate with me the glorious and manifold evidences of the onward march of His Faith and of the steady unfoldment of its embryonic World Order both in the Holy Land and in the five continents of the globe.
This infinitely precious Faith, despite eleven decades of uninterrupted persecution, on the part of governments and ecclesiastics, involving the martyrdom of its Prophet-Herald, the four banishments and forty-year-long exile suffered by its Founder, the forty years of incarceration inflicted upon its Exemplar, and the sacrifice of no less than twenty thousand of its followers, has succeeded in firmly establishing itself in all the continents of the globe, and is irresistibly forging ahead, with accelerating momentum, bidding fair to envelop, at the close of the coming decade, the whole planet with the radiance of its splendor.
Confined within the lifetime of its Martyr-Prophet to two countries, reaching during the period of the ministry of its Author thirteen other lands, planting its banner in the course of the ministry of the Center of the Covenant in twenty additional sovereign states and dependencies in both hemispheres, this Faith has spread, since the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to ninety-four countries, raising the total number of the territories within its pale to one hundred twenty-nine, no less than eighteen of which were added in a single year, while fifty-one were opened in the course of the nine-year interval separating the first from the second Bahá’í Jubilee. The number of eastern and western languages into which its literature has been translated and printed, or is in the process of translation, and which reached forty-one a decade ago, is now ninety-one, including thirteen African and twenty-five Indian and Burmese languages. The number of settlements in Greenland provided with Bahá’í scriptures in the Greenlandic tongue has been raised to forty-eight, including Thule beyond the Arctic Circle and Etah near the 80th latitude, whilst Bahá’í literature in that same language has been dispatched as far north as the radio station at Brondlunsfjord, Pearyland, 82nd latitude, the northernmost outpost of the world. Representatives of thirty-one races and of twenty-four African tribes have been enrolled in the Bahá’í World Community. Contact has been established with the following seventeen minority groups and races: the Eskimos of Alaska and Greenland, the Lapps of Scandinavia, the Maoris of New Zealand, the Sea-Dayaks of Sarawak, the Polynesians of the Fiji Islands, the Cree Indians of Prairie Provinces, Canada, the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, the Oneida Indians in Wisconsin, the Omaha Indians in Nebraska, the Seminole Indians in Florida, the Mexican Indians in Mexico, the Indians of the San Blas Islands, the Indians of Chichicastenango in Guatemala, the Mayans in Yucatan, the Patagonian Indians in Argentina, the Indians of La Paz in Bolivia and the Inca Indians in Peru.
ELEVEN PILLARS OF THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE RAISE CENTERS TO 2500
The national plans, formulated and vigorously and systematically prosecuted, in the course of the concluding years of the first, and the opening years of the second, epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, by the Bahá’í communities in the United States, in Persia, in the British Isles, in Latin America, in Canada, in India, Pákistán and Burma, in ‘Iráq, in Australia and New Zealand, in Germany and Austria, in Egypt and the Súdán, have raised the number of Bahá’í centers established in both hemispheres to two thousand five hundred maintained by representatives of the white, the black, the yellow, the red and the brown races of mankind, comprising ten in the Arabian Peninsula, over thirty in Egypt and the Súdán, over forty in the recently opened European goal countries, over fifty in the British Isles, over sixty in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, over seventy in Germany and Austria, over ninety in Canada, over ninety in India, Pákistán and Burma, over one hundred in Central and South America, over six hundred in Persia and over one thousand two hundred in the United States of America. The superstructure of the Sepulcher of the Martyr-Herald of the Faith—a three-quarters of a million dollar enterprise—is nearing completion, on the slopes of the Mountain of God, within the heart of the Holy Land, the nest of the Prophets, and the divinely chosen Spiritual and Administrative Center of the Bahá’í world. The preliminary measures, heralding the unfoldment of the institution of Guardianship, the pivot of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament, have been adopted, through the appointment of the first two contingents of the Hands of the Cause, numbering nineteen, recruited from the five continents of the globe, representative in their extraction of the three principal religions of mankind, and constituting the nucleus of that august institution invested with such weighty and sacred functions by the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant. The International Bahá’í Council, comprising eight members, charged with assisting in the manifold activities attendant upon the rise of the World Administrative Center of the Faith, which must pave the way for the formation of a Bahá’í International Court and the eventual emergence of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme legislative body of the future Bahá’í Commonwealth, has been established, enlarged, and the functions of its members defined. The number of the pillars of the Universal House of Justice has been raised to twelve through the successive formation of the Canadian, the Central American, the South American and the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assemblies. The stupendous process of the rise and consolidation of the World Administrative Center of the Faith has been accelerated through the acquisition, in the Plain of Akká, of a one hundred and sixty thousand square meter area, surrounding the Qiblih of the Bahá’í world, permitting of the extension of the Outer Sanctuary of the Most Holy Tomb—to be designated henceforth the Ḥaram-i-Aqdas—through the initiation, at the inception of the Holy Year, of the landscaping and embellishment of a tenth of the acquired area, and through the adoption of measures for the extensive illumination of the entire Sanctuary and the erection of stately portals constituting a befitting tribute to the memory of the Author of the Faith, within the sacred precincts of His Sepulcher, on the occasion of the celebration of the greatest festival of the year commemorating the Centenary of the birth of His Mission. The fifty-year-old enterprise, involving the purchase of land for the construction, the exterior and interior ornamentation, and the landscaping of the grounds of the holiest House of Worship ever to be reared to the glory of the Most Great Name, the Mother Temple of the West, and involving the expenditure of over two and a half million dollars, has been consummated, in time for its dedication to public worship during the Ridván period of this Holy Year coinciding with both the fiftieth anniversary of the inception of this enterprise and the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s ministry. The design for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár on Mt. Carmel, conceived by the architect appointed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, has been completed, and a model constructed, which is soon to be unveiled at the All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference, in anticipation of the selection and the purchase of its future site, and of its ultimate construction in the neighborhood of the Báb’s Sepulcher. The total area of Bahá’í international endowments, surrounding and permanently dedicated to the Tomb of the Báb has been raised, through recent successive purchases of extensive plots, overlooking that hallowed spot, to almost one-quarter of a million square meters. The estimated value of the Bahá’í international endowments and holy places at the World Center of the Faith, in the twin cities of Akká and Haifa, has passed the four million dollar mark. The Bahá’í national endowments in the United States of America now exceed three million dollars. The area of land purchased on the slopes of the Elburz Mountains, overlooking the city of Ṭihrán, in anticipation of the construction of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of Persia, has reached approximately four million square meters. The area of land dedicated to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, in the vicinity of the confines of the Holy Land, exceeds two million three hundred thousand square meters. The area of land dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb and registered in the name of the Israel branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America, is more than one hundred thousand square meters. Over one hundred and fifty thousand square meters of land have been dedicated to the Faith in the Antipodes, eighty thousand square meters in the Territory of Alaska, whilst the lands contributed in Latin America for a similar purpose approximate one-half of a million square meters, ninety thousand of which have been set aside near Santiago, Chile, for the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of South America. The estimated value of the national Bahá’í administrative headquarters established in Ṭihrán, in Wilmette, Illinois, in Baghdád, in Cairo, in New Delhi, in Sydney, in Frankfurt and in Toronto, exceeds one and three-quarters of a million dollars. The Bahá’í spiritual assemblies now incorporated number one hundred and fourteen, of which nine are national and the rest local assemblies, fifty-six of which are in the United States of America, sixteen in India, eleven in South America, six in Central America, three each in Pákistán, in Burma and in Canada, two in Australia and one each in Germany, in Balúchistán, in New Zealand, in the Philippine Islands and in Malaya. The Bahá’í marriage certificate has been recognized by the Israel civil authorities, as well as by twenty-one federal districts and states of the United States of America. The Bahá’í holy days have been recognized by the Ministry of Education of the State of Israel, in the British Isles, by the state of Victoria in Australia, in Anchorage, Alaska, in Washington, D.C. and in seven states of the American Union. National Bahá’í conferences have been held in recent years in Bern, Zurich, Basel, Rome; national Bahá’í women’s conventions and youth conferences have convened in Ṭihrán, whilst regional teaching conferences have been organized in Buenos Aires, in Panama City, in Scandinavia, in the Iberian Peninsula, and in the Benelux countries. European international teaching conferences have been convened successively in Geneva, in Brussels, in Copenhagen, in Scheveningen and in Luxembourg City, paving the way for the convocation of four successive Intercontinental Teaching Conferences, the first of which has recently been held in Kampala, in the heart of the African continent, the rest to be successively convened in Wilmette, Illinois, in Stockholm and in New Delhi—Conferences which, God willing, will be the forerunners of the World Bahá’í Congress, to be convened in the city of Baghdád, on the occasion of the centenary of the formal assumption by Bahá’u’lláh of His prophetic office. Recognition has been extended to the Faith by the United Nations as an international non-governmental organization enabling the Bahá’í International Community to appoint accredited representatives, who have already attended, in their capacity as observers, the Conference on Human Rights held in Geneva and the United Nations General Assembly held in Paris and participated in United Nations regional non-governmental conferences, held in localities as far apart as New York, Santiago, Manila, Istanbul, Den Passar, Paris, Managua, Geneva and Montevideo.
PRELUDE TO PRODIGIOUS EXPANSION
So glorious a record of accomplishments in the service of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, whether local, national or international, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Bahá’í activity, can be regarded in no other light than as a prelude to a period of prodigious expansion and consolidation to be inaugurated by the launching of a global spiritual crusade, on the threshold of which the Bahá’í world now stands. This crusade extending through ten years will involve the simultaneous prosecution of twelve national plans, will necessitate the active and sustained participation of each of the twelve existing national spiritual assemblies representing no less than thirty-six nations and will demand the utmost exertion, consecration and heroism. It aims at the broadening and the reinforcement of the foundations of the Faith in each of the twelve areas that are to serve as operational bases for the prosecution of these twelve national plans; the opening of one hundred and thirty-one territories to the Faith; the consolidation of one hundred and eighteen territories; the translation and printing of literature in ninety-one languages; the construction of two Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs; the acquisition of sites for the future construction of eleven Temples; the formation of forty-eight national spiritual assemblies; the founding of forty-seven national Hazíratu’l-Quds; the incorporation of fifty national spiritual assemblies; the framing of Bahá’í national constitutions and the establishment of Bahá’í national endowments by each of these national assemblies; the adoption of preliminary measures for the construction of Bahá’u’lláh’s Sepulcher; the erection of the first dependency of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the western world; the development of the institution of the Hands of the Cause; the transformation of the International Bahá’í Council into an international Bahá’í court; the codification of the laws and ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; the establishment of six national Bahá’í Courts in the chief cities of the Islamic East; the extension of international Bahá’í endowments in the Plain of Akká and on the slopes of Mt. Carmel; the construction of the International Bahá’í Archives in the neighborhood of the Báb’s Sepulcher; the construction of the tomb of the Báb’s wife in Shíráz; the identification of the resting-places of Bahá’u’lláh’s father, of the Báb’s mother and of His cousin and their reburial in the neighborhood of the Most Great House; the acquisition of the Garden of Ridván in Baghdád, and of the sites of the Síyáh-Chál in Ṭihrán, of the Báb’s martyrdom in Tabríz and of His incarceration in Chihríq; the establishment of six Bahá’í national publishing trusts; the formation of seven Israel branches of Bahá’í national spiritual assemblies; the participation of women in the membership of Bahá’í local and national spiritual assemblies in Persia; the establishment of a Bahá’í national printing-press in Ṭihrán; the reinforcement of the ties binding the Bahá’í World Community with the United Nations; the opening to the Faith, circumstances permitting, of eleven republics comprised in the Soviet Union, as well as two Soviet-controlled European states—all, please God, culminating in the convocation of a World Bahá’í Congress, in the vicinity of the Garden of Ridván, in the third holiest city of the Bahá’í world, on the occasion of the world-wide celebrations commemorating the centenary of the formal assumption by Bahá’u’lláh of His prophetic office.
A PLANETARY SPIRITUAL CRUSADE
Let there be no mistake. The avowed, the primary aim of this Spiritual Crusade is none other than the conquest of the citadels of men’s hearts. The theater of its operations is the entire planet. Its duration a whole decade. Its commencement synchronizes with the centenary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s Mission. Its culmination will coincide with the centenary of the declaration of that same Mission. The agencies assisting in its conduct are the nascent administrative institutions of a steadily evolving divinely appointed order. Its driving force is the energizing influence generated by the Revelation heralded by the Báb and proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh. Its Marshal is none other than the Author of the Divine Plan. Its standard-bearers are the Hands of the Cause of God appointed in every continent of the globe. Its generals are the twelve national spiritual assemblies participating in the execution of its design. Its vanguard is the chief executors of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s master plan, their allies and associates. Its legions are the rank and file of believers standing behind these same twelve national assemblies and sharing in the global task embracing the American, the European, the African, the Asiatic and Australian fronts. The charter directing its course is the immortal Tablets that have flowed from the pen of the Center of the Covenant Himself. The armor with which its onrushing hosts have been invested is the glad tidings of God’s own message in this day, the principles underlying the order proclaimed by His Messenger, and the laws and ordinances governing His Dispensation. The battle cry animating its heroes and heroines is the cry of Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá, Yá ‘Alíyyu’l-A‘lá.
So vast, so momentous and challenging a crusade that will, God willing, illuminate the annals of the second epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and immortalize the second decade of the second Bahá’í century, and the termination of which will mark the closing of the first epoch in the evolution of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan, will, in itself, pave the way for, and constitute the prelude to, the initiation of the laborious and tremendously long process of establishing in the course of subsequent crusades in all the newly opened sovereign states, dependencies and islands of the planet, as well as in all the remaining territories of the globe, the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith, with all its attendant agencies, and of eventually erecting in these territories still more pillars to share in sustaining the weight and in broadening the foundation of the Universal House of Justice.
BEGIN NINTH PART OF MAJESTIC PROCESS
Then, and only then, will the vast, the majestic process, set in motion at the dawn of the Adamic cycle, attain its consummation—a process which commenced six thousand years ago, with the planting, in the soil of the divine will, of the tree of divine revelation, and which has already passed through certain stages and must needs pass through still others ere it attains its final consummation. The first part of this process was the slow and steady growth of this tree of divine revelation, successively putting forth its branches, shoots and offshoots, and revealing its leaves, buds and blossoms, as a direct consequence of the light and warmth imparted to it by a series of progressive dispensations associated with Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Muḥammad and other Prophets, and of the vernal showers of blood shed by countless martyrs in their path. The second part of this process was the fruition of this tree, “that belongeth neither to the East nor to the West,” when the Báb appeared as the perfect fruit and declared His mission in the Year Sixty in the city of Shíráz. The third part was the grinding of this sacred seed, of infinite preciousness and potency, in the mill of adversity, causing it to yield its oil, six years later, in the city of Tabríz. The fourth part was the ignition of this oil by the hand of Providence in the depths and amidst the darkness of the Síyáh-Chál of Ṭihrán a hundred years ago. The fifth, was the clothing of that flickering light, which had scarcely penetrated the adjoining territory of ‘Iráq, in the lamp of revelation, after an eclipse lasting no less than ten years, in the city of Baghdád. The sixth, was the spread of the radiance of that light, shining with added brilliancy in its crystal globe in Adrianople, and later on in the fortress town of Akká, to thirteen countries in the Asiatic and African continents. The seventh was its projection, from the Most Great Prison, in the course of the ministry of the Center of the Covenant, across the seas and the shedding of its illumination upon twenty sovereign states and dependencies in the American, the European, and Australian continents. The eighth part of that process was the diffusion of that same light in the course of the first, and the opening years of the second, epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, over ninety-four sovereign states, dependencies and islands of the planet, as a result of the prosecution of a series of national plans, initiated by eleven national spiritual assemblies throughout the Bahá’í world, utilizing the agencies of a newly emerged, divinely appointed Administrative Order, and which has now culminated in the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s Mission. The ninth part of this process—the stage we are now entering—is the further diffusion of that same light over one hundred and thirty-one additional territories and islands in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, through the operation of a decade-long world spiritual crusade whose termination will, God willing, coincide with the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the centenary of the declaration of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. And finally the tenth part of this mighty process must be the penetration of that light, in the course of numerous crusades and of successive epochs of both the Formative and Golden Ages of the Faith, into all the remaining territories of the globe through the erection of the entire machinery of Bahá’u’lláh’s Administrative Order in all territories, both East and West, the stage at which the light of God’s triumphant Faith shining in all its power and glory will have suffused and enveloped the entire planet.
This present Crusade, on the threshold of which we now stand, will, moreover, by virtue of the dynamic forces it will release and its wide repercussions over the entire surface of the globe, contribute effectually to the acceleration of yet another process of tremendous significance which will carry the steadily evolving Faith of Bahá’u’lláh through its present stages of obscurity, of repression, of emancipation and of recognition—stages one or another of which Bahá’í national communities in various parts of the world now find themselves in—to the stage of establishment, the stage at which the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh will be recognized by the civil authorities as the state religion, similar to that which Christianity entered in the years following the death of the Emperor Constantine, a stage which must later be followed by the emergence of the Bahá’í state itself, functioning, in all religious and civil matters, in strict accordance with the laws and ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy, the Mother-Book of the Bahá’í Revelation, a stage which, in the fullness of time, will culminate in the establishment of the World Bahá’í Commonwealth, functioning in the plenitude of its powers, and which will signalize the long-awaited advent of the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth—the Kingdom of Bahá’u’lláh—mirroring however faintly upon this humble handful of dust the glories of the Abhá Kingdom.
This final and crowning stage in the evolution of the plan wrought by God Himself for humanity will, in turn, prove to be the signal for the birth of a world civilization, incomparable in its range, its character and potency, in the history of mankind—a civilization which posterity will, with one voice, acclaim as the fairest fruit of the Golden Age of the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, and whose rich harvest will be garnered during future dispensations destined to succeed one another in the course of the five thousand century Bahá’í Cycle.
[May 4, 1953]
Appeal for Funds to Purchase Temple Site in Italy
Launching of the World Crusade signalized spontaneous contributions from the delegates assembled in Florence to purchase land for the first Italian Mashriqu’l-Adhkár within the stronghold of leading community of Christendom. Appeal to national assemblies of the Bahá’í world to participate in the historic enterprise synchronizing with emergence of a sister assembly on European continent. Urged in message, addressed to Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery, the selection of the site. Transmitting one thousand pounds as my contribution for this meritorious purpose to the treasurer, Anne Lynch, in Geneva.
[May 4, 1953]
Joyful Announcement of Progress
Joyfully announce to the Bahá’í world the rapid progress of the final stages of the construction of the Báb’s mausoleum on Mt. Carmel, as well as the splendid initiative of the Bahá’ís of Panama aiming at the acquisition of the site of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of Central America. Erection of the lantern and the placing of the ribs of the dome completed. Five thousand gilded tiles dispatched from Utrecht have been safely received, half of which have been already placed in position, disclosing a glimpse of the shining splendor of the completed dome.
Appeal to national assemblies, East and West, to participate through contributions, in the meritorious endeavors exerted toward the eventual establishment of a Bahá’í House of Worship in the City of Panama, specifically mentioned by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, situated in the heart of the Western Hemisphere. Myself contributed five hundred pounds for the furtherance of this notable objective of the Ten Year Global Crusade.
Share message with national assemblies.
[June 25, 1953]
European Intercontinental Conference
[Stockholm, Sweden, July 21–26, 1953]
With a glad and grateful heart I welcome the convocation, in the capital city of Sweden, of the third of a series of Intercontinental Teaching Conferences associated with the world-wide festivities commemorating the centenary of the Mission of Bahá’u’lláh and destined to exert a profound and lasting influence on the immediate fortunes of His Faith in all continents of the globe.
I look back, with feelings of wonder, thankfulness and joy, upon the chain of memorable circumstances which, a little over a century ago, accompanied the introduction of the Faith into, and marked the inception of its nascent institutions within, a continent which, in the course of the last two thousand years, has exercised on the destiny of the human race a pervasive influence unequaled by that of any other continent of the globe.
I feel impelled, on this historic occasion, when the members of the American, the British, the German and the newly formed Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as representatives of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom, of Eire, of Germany, of Austria, of the Scandinavian and Benelux countries, of the Iberian Peninsula, of Italy, of Switzerland, of France and of Finland are assembled, to pay a warm tribute to the valiant labors of the early British and French Bahá’í pioneers, who at the very dawn of the Faith in Europe, strove with such diligence, consecration and resolution, to fan into flame that holy fire which the hand of the appointed Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant had kindled in the northwest extremity of that continent on the morrow of His Father’s ascension. I recall the slow eastward spread of that infant light which led to the gradual emergence of the German and Austrian Bahá’í Communities, during the darkest period of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s incarceration in the prison-fortress of Akká. I am reminded of His subsequent epoch-making visit, soon after His providential release from His forty-year confinement in the Most Great Prison, to these newly fledged struggling communities, of His patient seed-sowing destined to yield at a later age its first fruits, and constituting a landmark of the utmost significance in the rise and establishment of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in that continent.
EMERGENCE OF FAITH’S EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS
I, moreover, call to mind, on this occasion, the successive episodes which, on the morrow of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ascension, in the course of the initial epoch of the Formative Age of the Bahá’í Dispensation, signalized the emergence of those administrative institutions, both local and national, which proclaimed the germination of those potent seeds which had lain dormant for more than a decade in these newly opened European territories, and which culminated in the construction of the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and the erection of the first two pillars destined to sustain in that continent the weight of the final unit of that Order.
Nor can I fail to acclaim, as a further milestone in the irresistible evolution of that Faith, the launching, following the creation of the administrative agencies designed to provide the effectual instruments for its propagation, of the Six-Year Plan of the British Bahá’í Community followed successively by the European Teaching Campaign, inaugurated in accordance with the provisions of the Second Seven-Year Plan of the American Bahá’í Community, the Five-Year Plan conceived by the German and Austrian Bahá’í Communities and the Two-Year Plan later initiated by the British Bahá’í Community—Plans which, within less than a decade, succeeded in laying the structural basis of the Administrative Order of the Faith in Wales, in Scotland, in Northern Ireland and in Eire, in multiplying and consolidating Bahá’í institutions throughout the British Isles, in broadening and strengthening the foundations of that same Order in Germany and Austria, in erecting the National Administrative Headquarters of the Faith in the city of Frankfurt, in establishing spiritual assemblies in the capital cities of no less than ten sovereign states in Europe, in reinforcing the administrative foundations of that Faith in those territories, in providing the means for the convocation of five European, and a series of regional, teaching conferences, and above all, in the convocation of the historic convention in Florence culminating in the emergence of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Italy and Switzerland, the third in a series of institutions destined to play their part in the eventual establishment of the supreme legislative body of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
The hour is now ripe for these communities whether new or old, local or national, already functioning on the northern, the western and the southern fringes of that continent, as well as those situated in its very heart, to initiate befittingly and prosecute energetically the European campaign of a global Crusade which will not only contribute, to an unprecedented degree, to the broadening and the consolidation of the foundations of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh on the continent of Europe, but will also diffuse its light over the neighboring islands, and will, God willing, carry its radiance to the eastern territories of that continent, and beyond them as far as the heart of Asia.
CRUSADE PROJECTS TO BE UNDERTAKEN
The privileged prosecutors of so revolutionizing, so gigantic, so sacred and beneficent a campaign, are, on the morrow of its launching, and, at such a crucial hour in the destinies of the European continent, summoned to undertake:
First, the formation, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, of one national spiritual assembly in each one of the Scandinavian and Benelux countries, and those of the Iberian Peninsula, and one in Finland, as well as the establishment, in collaboration with the Paris Spiritual Assembly, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of France; the establishment, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany and Austria, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Austria; and the establishment, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, and in association with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Italy and Switzerland, of independent National Spiritual Assemblies in Italy and Switzerland.
Second, the construction of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of Europe in the city of Frankfurt, the heart of Germany, which occupies such a central position in the continent of Europe.
Third, the purchase of land for the future construction of two Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs, one in the north in the city of Stockholm, and one in the south in the city of Rome, the seat and stronghold of the most powerful church in Christendom.
Fourth, the opening of the following thirty virgin territories and islands: Albania, Crete, Estonia, Finno-Karelia, Frisian Islands, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Rumania, White Russia, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany and Austria; Channel Islands, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Hebrides Islands, Malta, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles; Andorra, Azores, Balearic Islands, Lofoten Islands, Spitzbergen, Ukraine, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; Liechtenstein, Monaco, Rhodes, San Marino, Sardinia, Sicily, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Italy and Switzerland.
Fifth, the translation and publication of Bahá’í literature in the following ten languages to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America, through its European Teaching Committee: Basque, Estonian, Flemish, Lapp, Maltese, Piedmontese, Romani, Romansch, Yiddish, Ziryen.
Sixth, the consolidation of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; of Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Russian S.F.S., Yugoslavia, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany and Austria; of Eire, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles; of Iceland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada; and of Corsica, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Italy and Switzerland.
Seventh, the incorporation of the thirteen above-mentioned national spiritual assemblies.
Eighth, the establishment by these same national spiritual assemblies of national Bahá’í endowments.
Ninth, the establishment of a national Hazíratu’l-Quds in the capital city of each of the countries where national spiritual assemblies are to be established, as well as one in London and one in Paris.
Tenth, the formation of a national Bahá’í Publishing Trust in Frankfurt, Germany.
Eleventh, the formation of Israel branches of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles and of Germany and Austria, authorized to hold, on behalf of their parent institutions, property dedicated to the holy shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the state of Israel.
Twelfth, the conversion to the Faith of representatives of the Basque and Gypsy races.
Thirteenth, the appointment, during Ridván 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in Europe, of an Auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the four national spiritual assemblies participating in the European campaign, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Bahá’í centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaign in the European continent.
OPENING OF A GREAT SPIRITUAL REVIVAL
A continent, occupying such a central and strategic position on the entire planet; so rich and eventful in its history, so diversified in its culture; from whose soil sprang both the Hellenic and Roman civilizations; the mainspring of a civilization to some of whose features Bahá’u’lláh Himself paid tribute; on whose southern shores Christendom first established its home; along whose eastern marches the mighty forces of the Cross and the Crescent so frequently clashed; on whose southwestern extremity a fast evolving Islamic culture yielded its fairest fruit; in whose heart the light of the Reformation shone so brightly, shedding its rays as far as the outlying regions of the globe; the wellspring of American culture; whose northern and western fringes were first warmed and illuminated, less than a century ago, by the dawning light of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh; in whose heart a community, so rich in promise, was subsequently established; whose soil was later sanctified by the twice-repeated visit of the appointed Center of His Covenant; which witnessed, in consequence of the rise and establishment of the Administrative Order of His Faith, the erection of two of the foremost pillars of the future Universal House of Justice; which, in recent years, sustained the dynamic impact of a series of national plans preparatory to the launching of a World Spiritual Crusade—such a continent has at last at this critical hour—this great turning-point in its fortunes—entered upon what may well be regarded as the opening phase of a great spiritual revival that bids fair to eclipse any period in its spiritual history.
May the elected representatives of the national Bahá’í communities entrusted with the conduct of this momentous undertaking launched on the soil of this continent, aided by the Hands of the Cause and their Auxiliary Board, reinforced by the local communities, the groups and isolated believers sharing in this massive and collective enterprise, and supported by the subsidiary agencies to be appointed for its efficient prosecution, be graciously assisted by the Lord of Hosts to contribute, in the years immediately ahead, through their concerted efforts and collective achievements, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Bahá’í activity, to the success of this glorious Crusade, and lend a tremendous impetus to the conversion, the reconciliation and the ultimate unification of the divers and conflicting peoples, races and classes dwelling within the borders of a travailing, a sorely agitated, and spiritually famished continent.
May all the privileged participators, enlisting under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh for the promotion of so preeminent and meritorious a Cause, be they from the Eastern or Western Hemisphere, of either sex, white or colored, young or old, neophyte or veteran, whether serving in their capacity as expounders of the teachings, or administrators, of His Faith, as settlers or itinerant teachers, distinguish themselves by such deeds of heroism as will rival, nay outshine, the feats accomplished nineteen hundred years ago, by that little band of God-intoxicated disciples who, fearlessly preaching the Gospel of a newly arisen Messiah, contributed so decisively to the illumination, the regeneration and the advancement of the entire European continent.
[July 1953]
Magnificent Response by Communities of East and West
Happy to convey to assembled friends at epoch-making conference the news of the magnificent response by Bahá’í communities in the East and in the West, during the course of the less than three-month interval separating the second and third Intercontinental Conferences of this Holy Year, to the call to arise and befittingly inaugurate the opening phase of the World Crusade. The number of the pioneers, whether white or colored, young or old, on all continents who volunteered for service in both virgin and open territories is past the two hundred mark, including three offers for the leper colonies. Ruanda-Urundi, Samoan Islands, Daman, Southern Rhodesia, Goa, Kodiak Island and Italian Somaliland are already opened.
The settlement of French Equatorial Africa, Solomon Islands, Queen Charlotte Islands, South West Africa, Cape Verde Islands, Togoland, Mauritius, Reunion Island, St. Helena Island, St. Thomas Island, Channel Islands, Aleutian Islands, Azores, Key West, Cook Islands, Monaco, Balearic Islands, Malta, Cyprus, Hebrides Islands, Northern Territories Protectorate, Seychelles, Andorra, Canary Islands and French Somaliland is virtually assured. The northern outposts of the Faith in the Western Hemisphere have been pushed as far as Arctic Bay, Franklin, seventy-three degrees north latitude, and in Europe as far as the Lofoten Islands. A pioneer is en route to Fezzan, Libya, chosen scene of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s banishment by ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd.
All the areas within the Western Hemisphere allocated to the United States National Assembly are assigned. A third of the membership of that same Assembly is joining the ranks of the pioneers. The remaining sister national assemblies are now vying in a spiritual race to complete assignments in their respective continents. Funds are inaugurated and sites are being investigated for the purchase of land for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs of Rome, Panama City and Toronto and for a national Hazíratu’l-Quds in London. I appeal to the attendants at this conference, in thanksgiving for the manifold blessings abundantly showered upon Bahá’u’lláh’s crusaders, to immortalize their proceedings through the inauguration of funds for the purchase of sites for Temples in that northern city, the scene of the present conference, and in Frankfurt in the heart of the European continent. I am contributing two thousand pounds for the furtherance of these meritorious enterprises.
I urge, moreover, that the participants, in view of the disproportionately small number of pioneers destined for virgin territories in relation to the total of volunteers, swell the roll of honor through enlisting promptly under the unfurled banner of the advancing hosts of Bahá’u’lláh. No worthier contribution can be offered on the altar of Bahá’í sacrifice, no greater honor won during the course of the Holy Year now swiftly drawing to its close.
[July 1953]
Asian Intercontinental Conference
[NEW DELHI, INDIA, OCTOBER 7–15, 1953]
With high hopes and a joyful heart I acclaim the convocation, in the leading city of the Indian subcontinent, of the fourth and last of the Intercontinental Teaching Conferences of a memorable Holy Year commemorating the centenary of the birth of the prophetic Mission of Bahá’u’lláh.
On this historic occasion, when the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America, of the Dominion of Canada, of Central and South America, of Persia, of the Indian subcontinent and of Burma, of ‘Iráq and of Australasia, as well as representatives of the sovereign states and dependencies of the Asiatic continent, of the republics of North, Central and South America, and of Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania are assembled, and are to deliberate on the needs and requirements of the recently launched triple campaign embracing the Asiatic mainland, the Australian continent and the islands of the Pacific Ocean—a campaign which may well be regarded as the most extensive, the most arduous and the most momentous of all the campaigns of a world-girdling Crusade, and which, in its scope, is unparalleled in the history of the Faith in the entire Eastern Hemisphere—my thoughts, on such an occasion, go back to the early dawn of our Faith, to those unforgettable scenes of matchless heroism, of dark tragedy, of imperishable glory which heralded its birth, and accompanied the spread of its infant light in the heart of the Asiatic continent.
I vividly recall the meteoric rise of the Faith of the Báb in the provinces of Persia and the stirring episodes associated with His cruel incarceration in the mountain-fastnesses of Ádhirbayján, with the revelation of the laws of His Dispensation, with the proclamation of the independence of His Faith, with the peerless heroism of His disciples, with the fiendish cruelty of His foes—the chief magistrate, the civil authorities, the ecclesiastical dignitaries and the masses of the people of His native land—with the humiliation, the spoliation, the dispersal, the eventual massacre of a vast number of His followers, and, above all, with His own execution in the city of Tabríz.
EARLY STAGES OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S FAITH
With a throb of wonder I call to mind the early and sudden fruition of His Dispensation in the capital city of that land, and the dramatic circumstances attending the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation culminating in His precipitate banishment to ‘Iráq.
I am reminded, moreover, of the initial spread of the light of this revelation, in consequence of the banishment of Bahá’u’lláh, to the adjoining territories of ‘Iráq, and, as far as the western fringes of that continent, to Turkey and the neighboring territories of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and, at a later stage, to the Indian subcontinent and China, situated on the southern and eastern extremities of that continent as well as to the Caucasus and Russian Turkistán.
Nor can I fail to remember the series of alternating crises and victories, each constituting a landmark in the evolution of the Faith—which it has experienced in some of these territories, associated with the distressful withdrawal of its Author to the mountains of Sulamáníyyih; with the glorious declaration of His Mission in Baghdád; with His second and third banishments to Constantinople and Adrianople; with the grievous rebellion of His half-brother; with the proclamation of His own Mission; with His fourth banishment to the desolate and far-off penal colony of Akká in Syria; with the revelation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, His Most Holy Book; with His ascension in the Holy Land; with the establishment of His Covenant and the inauguration of the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His son and the Exemplar and authorized Interpreter of His teachings.
These opening stages in the evolution of His Faith in the Asiatic continent were followed, while the first and Apostolic Age of His Dispensation was drawing to a close, by the opening of the islands situated in the Pacific Ocean, Japan in the north, and the Australian continent in the south. To these memorable chapters of Asian Bahá’í history another was soon added, on the morrow of the ascension of the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, and during the initial epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, distinguished by the rise of the Administrative Order and the erection of its pillars in the cradle of that Faith, in ‘Iráq, in India, Pákistán and Burma and in the Antipodes. This memorable episode in its development in that vast continent was succeeded by the initiation, during the second epoch of that same Age, of a series of plans in those same territories in support of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan and as a prelude to the opening of the recently launched world-embracing Spiritual Crusade.
ASIA’S HOUR IN THE GLOBAL CRUSADE
The hour has now struck for this continent, on whose soil, more than a century ago, so much sacred blood was shed, in whose very heart deeds of such tragic heroism were performed, and in many of whose territories such brilliant victories have been won, to contribute, in association with its sister continents, to the progress and ultimate triumph of this global Crusade, in a manner befitting its unrivaled position in the entire Bahá’í world.
The various Bahá’í communities dwelling within the borders of this continent and those situated to the south of its shores in the Antipodes, which include the oldest and most venerable among all the communities of the Bahá’í world, and whose members in their aggregate constitute the overwhelming majority of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, are called upon, in close association with four other Bahá’í communities in the Western Hemisphere, to undertake in the course of the coming decade:
First, the construction of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Bahá’u’lláh’s native land, in the city of Ṭihrán, surnamed by Bahá’u’lláh “Mother of the World.”
Second, the purchase of land for the future construction of three Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs, one in the city of Baghdád, enshrining the “Most Great House,” the third holiest city of the Bahá’í world, one in New Delhi, the leading city of the Indian subcontinent, and the third in Sydney, the oldest and foremost Bahá’í center in the Antipodes.
Third, the formation of no less than eleven national spiritual assemblies, one each in Pákistán, Burma and Ceylon, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, Pákistán and Burma; one in Turkey and one in Afghánistán, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia; one in Japan, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; one in New Zealand, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand, as well as four regional national spiritual assemblies, one in the Arabian Peninsula, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia; one in southeast Asia, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, Pákistán and Burma; a third in the South Pacific, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; and a fourth in the Near East, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq.
Fourth, the opening of the following forty-one virgin territories and islands: Andaman Islands, Bhutan, Daman, Diu, Goa, Karikal, Máhe, Mariana Islands, Nicobar Islands, Pondicherry, Sikkim, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, Pákistán and Burma; Caroline Islands, Dutch New Guinea, Hainan Island, Kazakhstan, Macao Island, Sakhalin Island, Tibet, Tonga Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; Brunei, Chagos Archipelago, Kirgizia, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia; Admiralty Islands, Cocos Island, Loyalty Islands, Mentawei Islands, New Hebrides Islands, Portuguese Timor, Society Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand; Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Marshall Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Central America; Hadhramaut, Kuria-Muria Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq; Marquesas Islands, Samoa Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada; Cook Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of South America.
Fifth, the translation and publication of Bahá’í literature in the following forty languages, to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, Pákistán and Burma, in association with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand: Abor Miri, Aneityum, Annamese, Balochi, Bentuni, Binandere, Cheremiss, Chungchia, Georgian, Houailou, Javanese, Kado, Kaili, Kopu, Kusaie, Lepcha, Lifu, Manchu, Manipuri, Manus Island, Marquesas, Mentawei, Mongolian, Mordoff, Mwala, Na-Hsi, Nicobarese, Niue, Ossete, Ostiak, Pali, Panjabi, Pashto, Perm, Petats, Samoan, Tho, Tibetan, Tongan, Vogul.
Sixth, the consolidation of Aden Protectorate, Ádhirbayján, Afghánistán, Ahsá, Armenia, Bahrein Island, Georgia, Ḥijáz, Saudi-Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Yemen, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia; of Balúchistán, Borneo, Burma, Ceylon, Indo-China, Indonesia, Malaya, Nepal, Pákistán, Sarawak, Siam, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, Pákistán and Burma; of China, Formosa, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Philippine Islands, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America; of Jordan, Kuweit, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Trucial Sheikhs, Ummán, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq; of Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, New Caledonia, Australian New Guinea, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand; of Hong Kong, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles.
Seventh, the incorporation of the eleven above-mentioned national spiritual assemblies, as well as those of Persia and ‘Iráq.
Eighth, the establishment by these above-mentioned eleven national spiritual assemblies of national Bahá’í endowments.
Ninth, the establishment of a national Hazíratu’l-Quds in the capital cities of each of the countries where national spiritual assemblies are to be established, as well as one in Suva, one in Jakarta, one in Bahrein and one in Beirut.
Tenth, the establishment of a national Bahá’í Court in the capital cities of Persia, of ‘Iráq, of Pákistán and of Afghánistán—the leading Muslim centers in the Asiatic continent.
Eleventh, the establishment of two national Bahá’í Publishing Trusts, one in Ṭihrán and one in New Delhi.
Twelfth, the formation of Israel branches of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’ís of Persia, of ‘Iráq, and of Australia, authorized to hold on behalf of their parent institutions property dedicated to the holy shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the state of Israel.
Thirteenth, the appointment, during Ridván 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in Asia and in Australia of an Auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the eight national spiritual assemblies participating in the Asiatic and Australian campaigns, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Bahá’í centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaigns in the continent of Asia and in the Antipodes.
ON THE THRESHOLD OF A NEW SPIRITUAL ERA
The Asiatic continent, the cradle of the principal religions of mankind; the home of so many of the oldest and mightiest civilizations which have flourished on this planet; the crossways of so many kindreds and races; the battleground of so many peoples and nations; above whose horizons, in modern times, the suns of two independent revelations—the promise and consummation of a six thousand year old religious cycle—have successively arisen; where the Authors of both of these revelations suffered banishment and died; within whose confines the Center of a divinely appointed Covenant was born, endured a forty-year incarceration and passed away; on whose western extremity the Qiblih of the Bahá’í world has been definitely established; in whose heart the city proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh as the “Mother of the World” is enshrined; within whose borders another city regarded as the “cynosure of an adoring world” and the scene of the greatest and most glorious revelation the world has witnessed is embosomed; on whose soil so many saints, heroes and martyrs, associated with both of these revelations, have lived, struggled and died—such a continent, so privileged among its sister continents and yet so long and so sadly tormented, now stands at the hour of the launching of a world-encompassing Crusade, on the threshold of an era that may well recall, in its glory and ultimate repercussions, the great periods of spiritual revival which, from the dawn of recorded history have, at various stages in the revelation of God’s purpose for mankind, illuminated the path of the human race.
May this Crusade, launched simultaneously on the Asiatic mainland, its neighboring islands and the Antipodes, under the direction of eight national spiritual assemblies, and through the operation of eight systematic teaching plans, and the concerted efforts of Bahá’í communities in both the East and the West, provide, as it unfolds, an effective antidote to the baneful forces of atheism, nationalism, secularism and materialism that are tearing at the vitals of this turbulent continent, and may it re-enact those scenes of spiritual heroism which, more than any of the secular revolutions which have agitated its face, have left their everlasting imprint on the fortunes of the peoples and nations dwelling within its borders.
[October 1953]
Triple Announcement on Conclusion of Holy Year
On the occasion of the conclusion of the Holy Year I am overjoyed to share the following triple announcement with the attendants at the fourth and final Intercontinental Teaching Conference, marking the termination of festivities associated with the centenary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s Prophetic Mission.
The five-year-old, three-quarter million dollar enterprise, constituting the final stage in the initial epoch of the evolutionary process initiated over sixty years ago by the Founder of the Faith, in the heart of the Mountain of God, is consummated. The finishing touches of the installation of stained glass windows in the drum and octagon, the removal of scaffolding from the exterior and interior of the edifice, the interior calcimining of the dome, drum and octagon, tuck-pointing, cleaning and floodlighting the entire structure have been completed, synchronizing with the closing weeks of the glorious, twelve-month annals of the Holy Faith.
A steadily swelling throng of visitors from far and near, on many days exceeding a thousand, is flocking to the gates leading to the Inner Sanctuary of this majestic mausoleum; paying homage to the Queen of Carmel enthroned on God’s Mountain, crowned in glowing gold, robed in shimmering white, girdled in emerald green, enchanting every eye from air, sea, plain and hill.
I am moved to request the attendants at the Conference to hold a befitting memorial gathering to pay tribute to the Hand of the Cause, Sutherland Maxwell, immortal architect of the arcade and superstructure of the Shrine. I feel, moreover, acknowledgement should be made at the same gathering to the unflagging labors and vigilance of the Hand of the Cause, Ugo Giachery, in negotiating contracts, inspecting and dispatching all materials required for the construction of the edifice, as well as of the assiduous, constant care of the Hand of the Cause, Leroy Ioas, in supervising the construction of both drum and dome. To two doors of the Shrine recently named after the first two aforementioned Hands, the octagon door, now added, will henceforth be associated with the third Hand who contributed to the raising of this stately, sacred structure.
The second announcement is that the world-wide process of the settlement of virgin areas of the globe has been accelerated by the arrival of the following pioneers at their respective posts: Cora Oliver, British Honduras; Carole and Dwight Allen, Greece; Mr. and Mrs. Xavier Rodrigues, Portuguese Guinea; Brigitte Hasselblatt, Shetlands; Elizabeth Hopper, Ada Schott, Sara Kenny and Mrs. Duffield, Madeira; H. J. Snider, Key West; Hugh McKinley and mother, Cyprus; Max Kenyerezi, French Equatorial Africa; Elsa Grossmann, Frisian Islands; Helen Robinson, Baranof; Mr. and Mrs. Ted Anderson, Yukon; Tabendeh Payman, San Marino; Una Townshend, Malta; Rolf Haug, Crete, swelling the Roll of Honor, raising the number of territories within the pale of the Faith to one hundred sixty-five. Two additional pioneers are proceeding to leper colonies in Puerto Rico and French Guiana. Two valiant pioneers from India and America are preparing entry into Tibet. Two more members of the United States National Assembly have volunteered to pioneer, raising the number to five. United States pioneers are departing to twenty-four virgin territories ere the conclusion of the Holy Year. The Feast of Names was celebrated last August by two stalwart crusaders at the weather station at Buchanan Bay on desolate Ellesmere Island, latitude seventy-nine, less than seven hundred miles from the North Pole. The irresistibly unfolding Crusade has been sanctified by the death of heroic, eighty-eight year old Ella Bailey, elevating her to the rank of the martyrs of the Faith, shedding further luster on the American Bahá’í Community and consecrating the soil of the fast-awakening African continent.
The third announcement is that preliminary steps have been taken, aiming at the acquisition of an extensive area at the head of the holy mountain, scene of the revelation of the Tablet of Carmel, preparatory to the purchase of the site for the future Mother Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Holy Land, made possible by the munificent hundred thousand dollar donation of the Hand of the Cause, Amelia Collins, signalizing the opening of the second stage in the unfoldment of the mighty process set in motion by the Author of the Faith.
A TRIPLE RESPONSIBILITY
This triple bounty vouchsafed the Community of the Most Great Name, scattered over the face of the planet, calls for tremendous, immediate, concerted exertion by the assembled believers in order adequately to discharge this triple responsibility. First, redoubled consecration to the pioneering task, particularly in the Pacific area emphasized in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, raising thereby, ere adjournment of the Conference, the number of territories opened to the Faith or assigned pioneers for immediate settlement to above two hundred. Second, the demonstration of increasing self-sacrifice through the inauguration of Funds for the purchase of land for future Temples on the Asiatic continent and in the Antipodes, in Baghdád, New Delhi and Sydney. I am contributing three thousand pounds for the furtherance of these meritorious enterprises. Third, earnest consultation by representatives of the Persian and Iráqí National Assemblies, directly concerned with the holy task, with the assembled Hands of the Cause on ways and means to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure purchase of the holy places, particularly the site of the Síyáh-Chál, the cradle of the Revelation to the Author of the Faith, as well as the identification and transfer to Bahá’í cemeteries of the bodies of the relatives of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, constituting vital objectives of the Ten-Year Plan.
I am ardently hoping, fervently supplicating that this epochal Conference, setting the seal on the celebration of the second Bahá’í Jubilee, may contribute in an unprecedented degree through the character of its deliberations, the solidity of its achievements, the scope of its accomplishments, to the ultimate attainment of the shining goals of the World Crusade, destined to culminate in the not far distant Most Great Jubilee associated with the hundredth anniversary of the assumption by Bahá’u’lláh of His prophetic office.
[7 October 1953]