In the Holy Land—the Qiblih of a world community, the heart from which the energizing influences of a vivifying Faith continually stream, and the seat and center around which the diversified activities of a divinely appointed Administrative Order revolve—following upon the termination of the construction of the Báb’s holy Sepulcher, marking the closing of the first chapter in the history of the evolution of the central institutions of a world Faith, a marked progress in the rise and establishment of these institutions has been clearly noticeable. The remaining twenty-two pillars of the International Bahá’í Archives—the initial Edifice heralding the establishment of the Bahá’í World Administrative Center on Mt. Carmel—have been erected. The last half of the nine hundred tons of stone, ordered in Italy for its construction, have reached their destination, enabling the exterior of the building to be completed, while the forty-four tons of glazed green tiles, manufactured in Utrecht, to cover the five hundred square meters of roof, have been placed in position, the whole contributing, to an unprecedented degree, through its colorfulness, its classic style and graceful proportions, and in conjunction with the stately, golden-crowned Mausoleum rising beyond it, to the unfolding glory of the central institutions of a World Faith nestling in the heart of God’s holy mountain.
Simultaneous with this striking development, the plan designed to insure the extension and completion of the arc serving as a base for the erection of future edifices constituting the World Bahá’í Administrative Center, has been successfully carried out. The dilapidated house, situated in the close neighborhood of Bahá’u’lláh’s Shrine, recently acquired from the Development Authority of the State of Israel, because of its historic associations, has been restored. Negotiations, moreover, have been initiated with that same Authority for the acquisition of two plots to the north and south of the Shrine, for the purpose of safeguarding its precincts from a further extension of the new settlements springing up rapidly in the plain of Akká. Steps have also been taken to register the title-deeds of a centrally located plot, originally owned by a Covenant-breaker, and abutting on the International Archives, in the name of the Israel Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles. A further blow has been struck at the remnants of the implacable enemies of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the breakers of His Father’s Covenant, still living in the immediate vicinity of the holiest shrine of the Bahá’í world, through the destruction of a row of ruinous sheds which had been under their control, through orders issued by the Municipal Authorities of Akká. And, lastly, an expropriation order has been published in the Israel Official Gazette by the Treasury Department of Israel related to buildings enclosed within the Ḥaram-i-Aqdas, aiming at the eviction of these same enemies from the outer Sanctuary of Bahá’u’lláh’s Sepulcher, following upon the evacuation by them of the Mansion at Bahjí after two score years of occupancy, and which, when carried out, will mark the final cleansing, after more than sixty-five years, of the immediate surroundings of the holiest Spot in the Bahá’í world.
Nor can I dismiss this subject related to the progress achieved in the development of Bahá’í international institutions in the Holy Land without a special reference to the continual extension and embellishment of the international endowments of the Faith in the plain of Akká and on the slopes of Mt. Carmel, the value of which now exceeds five million two hundred thousand dollars, as well as to the ever-swelling crowds of visitors flocking to the Bahá’í Shrines in both of these places, and particularly to the number of those entering the Tomb of the Báb which, during a single day, in a three-hour period, has exceeded a thousand.
THE TEN-YEAR PLAN IN THE UNITED STATES
In the United States of America, the cradle and citadel of the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, the elected national representatives of the American Bahá’í Community, acting as the representatives of the International Bahá’í Community, charged with the defense of the cause of their persecuted brethren in the cradle of the Faith, have energetically pursued their efforts, through representations made to the United Nations officials and agencies in New York and Geneva, through their contact with high-ranking officials of the American State Department and through measures of publicity in the American Press, all culminating in the victory won over the adversaries of the Faith, to which reference has been made earlier in these pages.
The landscaping of the Temple area, including the operation of the nine fountains, as envisaged by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, has been completed at a cost of two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The number of visitors who, since public guiding has been instituted, have flocked to the doors of this Mother Temple of the West, now standing amidst such attractive surroundings, has exceeded seven hundred thousand, whilst more than three thousand have entered its doors in the course of a single day. Authorization has moreover been recently given by the Wilmette Village Board for the construction of the Home for the Aged, the first Dependency of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. The value of national and local endowments owned by, and under the control of, that community, whose members have so spontaneously and effectively championed the cause of the persecuted and the down-trodden, and so generously contributed to their relief in the past, is now four and a half million dollars. The number of American Indian tribes with which contact has been established in the Western Hemisphere—an achievement in which the members of this Community have played a leading role—is now over forty-five. No less than eighteen American Indian tribes are now represented in the Bahá’í communities of that same hemisphere, mainly as a result of the assiduous endeavors exerted by the members of this Community. The number of territories, federal districts and states where official authorization for the conduct of Bahá’í marriages has been obtained is now twenty-eight, whilst the number of localities, in that same country, where the Bahá’í Holy Days are officially recognized is one short of forty.