Letter of 12 April 1947
12 April 1947
The Bahá’ís of Esslingen
Dear Bahá’í Friends:
Your loving Naw-Rúz greeting was received, and our beloved Guardian has instructed me to answer it on his behalf.
He assures you all he will pray in the Holy Shrines for you, for the growth of your Community and the success of your services to our glorious Faith. You are all dear to him!
[From the Guardian:]
May the Beloved bless, guide and sustain you at all times, enable you to extend the scope of your activities, and win great and memorable victories for the institutions of our beloved Faith,
Your true brother,
Shoghi
Letter of 3 May 1947[23]
3 May 1947
Your letters to our beloved Guardian, dated Feb. 7th and 11th, as well as the manuscript of “Hidden Words” have been received, and he has instructed me to answer them on his behalf.
He is very happy to have this opportunity of communicating with you personally, and assuring you of how much he appreciates your devoted services in the path of our glorious Faith.
Regarding the questions you have asked him:
There is no correspondence or connection between the Hidden Word (Arabic) no. 1 and the last Arabic Hidden Word, or between these and any passage of the Seven Valleys.
The Cairo edition of the Hidden Words, approved by the Master, is the one you must refer to for accuracy, and disregard all other texts. This answers the questions connected with Hidden Words number 18 and 39 and 1 (two) and 35 (two).
Hidden Word no. 70: this is not addressed to any person but is a mystical expression and an allusion to the Manifestation of God.
No marginal notes should be added except any of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself or the notes of the Cairo edition.
The whole question of translation from the original text is very important. He has just written on this subject, at some length, to Baroness von Werthern, explaining to her that he considers now is not the time to translate the teachings into German from Persian and Arabic. No Persian with a sufficient expert knowledge of German is available to help in this matter; he does not feel, therefore, that such works as “Some Answered Questions”, “Seven Valleys”, etc. should be embarked upon at all. People who have not spent years steeped in the atmosphere and language and literature of the East cannot possibly grasp the subtleties of oriental usage. A good example of this very point is that Prof. Süssheim has not grasped what Bahá’u’lláh means by the word “[Arabic script]“. He is using it in a loose and colloquial sense which means “a passing thing”, a small amount, and not literally associating it with food.
He feels you should continue your study of the teachings in the original and, from time to time, if you desire to, translate material from the original in short excerpts; but not at present important books and Tablets. These you can better translate from good English editions.
There is so much teaching work, and administrative work, to be done in Germany at present that he urges you to concentrate on this form of service. The public need to receive the Message on a large scale, to have available literature at once, to read articles on the Bahá’í Faith; and in all these ways your services can be of great help.
P.S. “Tur” and “Sinai” should not be taken literally; the first is an allusion to Mt. Sinai, which in this case means the Manifestation of God; the second, “Sinai”, represents the human heart.
[From the Guardian:]
May the Almighty bless, sustain and guide you, at all times and under all conditions, assist you to proclaim the verities of His Faith, and lend a tremendous impetus to the advancement and consolidation of its new-born and God-given institutions,
Your true and grateful brother,
Shoghi
Letter of 13 June 1947[24]
13 June 1947
He was happy to hear the message had been broadcast over the Radio Frankfurt, and hopes this teaching method can often be used, as it reaches the people in their homes and many of them would not attend public meetings.
The very encouraging report you sent him of the work in Germany was most welcome, and he wishes that the National Teaching Committee or the N.S.A. would send him a statement showing how many Spiritual Assemblies there are, how many groups and how many isolated Bahá’ís, and in which cities and towns they are to be found, respectively.
Generally speaking his instructions to the American Bahá’ís and their N.S.A. are, whenever they concern administrative principles and procedure and general statements about and interpretations of the Faith, binding for all Bahá’ís everywhere. Naturally specific instructions to the American Bahá’ís are not applicable to other communities. “Bahá’í Procedure”, as Mr. Holley pointed out, is not binding on other National Assemblies, as many things in it are purely secondary rulings made by the American N.S.A. to facilitate the work of the Cause under its jurisdiction.
The believers should certainly, under no circumstances, drink any alcoholic beverages as this has been forbidden in the Aqdas. Not all of its laws and precepts can be practiced at present; but those he has, in his instructions to America, laid down as applicable at present should be followed.