Announce friends East West through National Assemblies following nominations raising number present Hands Cause God nineteen. Dominion Canada United States Fred Schopflocher Corinne True respectively. Cradle Faith Dhikru’lláh Khádem Shu’á’u’lláh ‘Alá’í. Germany Africa Australia Adelbert Mühlschlegel Músá Banání Clara Dunn respectively. Members august body invested conformity ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament twofold sacred function propagation preservation unity Faith Bahá’u’lláh destined assume individually course time direction institutions paralleling those revolving around Universal House Justice supreme legislative body Bahá’í world now recruited all five continents globe representative three principal world religions mankind. Recently urged newly-appointed Hand Canada occasion his pilgrimage Holy Land undertake preliminary measures in conjunction Canadian National Assembly establishment national Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds similar those already founded Ṭihrán Wilmette Baghdád Sydney Frankfurt Cairo New Delhi. Identical instructions given appointed Hand Africa course his just concluded pilgrimage acquisition property Kampala serve as local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds synchronize formation first Assembly heart Africa be regarded nucleus national administrative headquarters Faith destined arise morrow formation National Spiritual Assembly Central Eastern Territories African continent.

Shoghi

— 16 —

Triple Announcement

Cablegram, March 8, 1952

Occasion approaching celebration ninth Naw-Rúz second Bahá’í century desire share following triple announcement Bahá’í world through National Assemblies East West. First Safe arrival Holy Land course last six months successive consignments stones remaining facades Octagon Pinnacles eighteen window frames belonging Drum one hundred tons cement thirty-five tons timber, fifteen tons steel eight wrought iron balustrades stones lower section Drum as well as completion construction Octagon erection fifteen feet Pinnacles constituting with ornamental balustrades central adornment Holy Edifice. Leaded glass required twenty-four windows Octagon eighteen lancet windows Drum ordered. Investigations initiated fabrication gilded tiles final material necessary construction Sepulcher.

Recall feelings humble thankfulness intense joy series historic landmarks progress sacred enterprise associated first formal entombment Naw-Rúz 1909 sixty lunar years after Báb’s martyrdom His dust vault Shrine second laying forty years later Naw-Rúz 1949 first threshold stones Arcade Sepulcher third completion two years later Naw-Rúz 1951 excavation eight piers,designed to support Dome followed placing year later eve Naw-Rúz 1952 second crown same Edifice. Way now prepared for erection Drum including eighteen windows symbolizing eighteen Letters Living appointed transmitters dawning Light Author Bábí Dispensation as well as rearing golden Dome constituting third final unit triple crown destined irradiate its splendor heart God’s Holy Mountain. Moved pay warm loving tribute Shrine’s immortal architect Hand Cause Sutherland Maxwell services Ugo Giachery UNO Representative International Bahá’í Community recently elevated rank Hand Cause newly-appointed member International Bahá’í Council ably discharging manifold responsibilities connected mighty undertaking.

Second announcement enlargement International Bahá’í Council. Present membership now comprises Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih chosen liaison between me Council. Hands Caus Mason Remey Amelia Collins Ugo Giachery Leroy Ioas President Vice-Presiden member at large, Secretary-General respectively. Jessie Revell Ethel Revell Luṭfu’lláh Ḥakím Treasurer, Western Eastern assistant Secretaries.

Third announcement Following upon missions entrusted Hands Cause connection establishment Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds Dominion Canada Central Africa instructed Ugo Giachery take conjunction European Teaching Committee immediate steps after conclusion pilgrimage aiming formation ere termination American Community’s second Seven Year Plan first National Spiritual Assembly Bahá’ís Italy Switzerland. Advise United States National Assembly arrange, through European Teaching Committee, election occasion Naw-Rúz 1953 nineteen delegates by all local Assemblies already established both countries. Urge convocation Riḍván same year city of Florence occasion festivities Bahá’í Holy Year first Convention express purpose electing through delegates projected National Assembly. Appeal American Bahá’í community particularly Bahá’ís residing Italy Switzerland exert utmost insure course coming year multiplication Spiritual Assemblies both countries thereby broadening basis projected pillar future Universal House Justice. Advise European Teaching Committee consummation the glorious enterprise issue formal invitation their spiritual offspring newly-emerged National Assembly participate together its sister National Assemblies United States, British Isles, Germany, Intercontinental Conference August same year capital city Sweden. Anticipate entrusting youngest among twelve National Assemblies Bahá’í World specific plan enabling it, conjunction sister National Spiritual Assemblies Bahá’í World promote course ten years separating second Most Great Jubilee Global Crusade designed hoist standard Bahá’u’lláh remaining states, dependencies islands whole planet. Invite attendants third Bahá’í Intercontinental Conference befittingly commemorate undreamt-of climax brilliant victories won course second Seven Year Plan eclipsing feats accomplished Latin American field course first Seven Year Plan presaging tremendous triumph won course third Seven Year Plan African Asiatic Australian continents.

With throbbing heart call to mind solemn affirmations glowing promises recorded Tablets Divine Plan envisioning evidences everlasting dominion destined signalize inauguration accompany triumphal progress mission vanguard Bahá’u’lláh’s crusaders champion builders His world order European Asiatic African Australian continents islands Pacific Ocean. Advise European Teaching Committee cable text third announcement Assemblies capital cities Italy Switzerland urge on my behalf participation Swiss believers first teaching conference Rome eve Naw-Rúz this year for consultation with Italian collaborators prosecution soul-uplifting fateful undertaking heart south European continent.

Shoghi

— 17 —

The Historic Process

Cablegram, April 3, 1952

Announce National Assemblies East West joyful news final implementation agreement Israel authorities involving acquisition against payment hundred eighteen thousand dollars eighteen plots approximately six acres precincts Báb’s Sepulcher.

Historic process establishment international Bahá’í endowments Mount Carmel, inevitably held abeyance fifty years after inception Faith, initiated morrow Bahá’u’lláh’s Ascension, through purchase, course ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry, limited number plots immediate surroundings newly erected Tomb heart Mountain of God, greatly accelerated through purchase extensive properties following Master’s passing, necessitated unprecedented influx immigrants Holy Land, now further reinforced, raising total area owned slopes Holy Mountain almost fifty acres.

Desire acknowledge indefatigable efforts exerted first western Bahá’í pilgrim since opening door pilgrimage Lawrence Hautz in hastening successful termination protracted negotiations civil authorities Holy Land.

Shoghi

— 18 —

God’s Avenging Wrath

Cablegram, April 5, 1952

Inform National Assemblies God’s avenging wrath having afflicted rapid succession recent years two sons brother sister-in-law Archbreaker Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant now struck down second son Siyyid ‘Alí Nayer Afnán pivot machinations connecting link old new Covenant-breakers. Time alone will reveal extent havoc wreaked this virus violation injected fostered over two decades ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s family. History will brand him one whose grandmother wife Bahá’u’lláh joined breakers of His Covenant morrow His passing whose parents lent her undivided support whose father openly accused ‘Abdu’l-Bahá one deserving capital punishment who broke promise Báb’s wife escort her Holy Land precipitating thereby her death who was repeatedly denounced by Center Covenant His chief enemy whose eldest brother through deliberate misrepresentation facts inflicted humiliation defenders House Bahá’u’lláh Baghdád whose sister-in-law championing cause declared enemies Faith whose brothers supported him attributing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá responsibility fatal disease afflicted their mother who himself in retaliation first succeeded winning over through marriage my eldest sister subsequently paved way marriage his brothers two other grandchildren Master who was planning fourth marriage his daughter grandson ‘Abdu’l-Bahá thereby involving shameful marriages three branches His family who over twenty years schemed undermine position Center Faith through association representatives traditional enemies Faith Persia Muslim Arab communities notables civil authorities Holy Land who lately was scheduled appear star witness behalf daughter Badí‘u’lláh recent lawsuit challenging authority conferred Guardian Faith ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament.

Shoghi

— 19 —

Irresistible March of the Faith

Cablegram, April 23, 1952

Soul stirred heart uplifted recollection events signalizing twelve month period preceding fateful year destined witness consummation series plans formulated Bahá’í National Assemblies five continents as well as inauguration second glorious Jubilee Bahá’í Dispensation. Irresistible march Faith marked simultaneously steady consolidation its administrative institutions rapid enlargement limits. No less eighteen countries enrolled, raising total number its orbit one hundred twenty-four. Languages Bahá’í literature printed being translated now ninety including twelve African languages. Vast process rise establishment World Center Faith accelerated. Contingents Hands Cause successively appointed every continent globe five whom shouldering responsibilities Holy Land. International Bahá’í Council enlarged officers designated.

Interview accorded literature presented Israel Prime Minister course American visit representatives American National Assembly. Eighteen plots twenty-two thousand square meter area added International Bahá’í endowments slopes Carmel. Government survey concluded paving way acquisition over one hundred forty thousand square meters property precincts Most Holy Tomb Bahjí. Design Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Carmel conceived President International Bahá’í Council completed. Privileges exemption already accorded Bahá’í Holy Places Israel Ministry Finance extended ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Home Eastern Western Pilgrim Houses. Pilgrimages World Center Faith resumed following decade external hostilities internal disturbances agitating Holy Land. Eight piers designed support thousand ton superstructure Báb’s Sepulcher constructed. Successive contracts totalling approximately forty-seven thousand dollars construction structural work erection Octagon signed culminating completion first unit superstructure raising eight pinnacles constituting second crown Holy Edifice. Preparations build Drum foundation unit golden Dome Sepulcher, commenced.

Twin pillars future House Justice erected Central South America additional pillar projected Europe uniting heart south continent.

Preliminary measures initiated convocation four intercontinental conferences African American European Asiatic continents involving participation twelve National Spiritual Assemblies designed alike befittingly celebrate Centenary Year Nine launch ten year crusade destined culminate Most Great Jubilee.

Two year plan Bahá’í community British Isles formally launched African continent dispatch pioneers virgin territories Tanganyika Uganda Gold Coast reinforced assignment Liberia American Somaliland Nyasaland North Rhodesia Persian Zanzibar Madagascar Indian Libya Algeria Egyptian National Assemblies raising number States Dependencies already soon opened Faith twenty-five.

First fruits garnered comprise purchase seventeen thousand dollar Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds Kampala settlement Persian American British, Egyptian Portuguese pioneers Liberia North Rhodesia Angola Libya Spanish Morocco Mozambique inauguration teaching classes public meetings firesides enrollment several native Africans belonging Teso Yao Buganda Mutoco tribes formation Spiritual Assemblies Kampala Dar-es-Salaam.

European Teaching campaign, exceeding fondest hopes, stimulated successively convocation fourth European Teaching Conference Scheveningen representative twenty-one countries first Iberian Conference Madrid third Swiss Conference Bern first Italian Conference Rome first Benelux Conference Brussels establishment headquarters Amsterdam Brussel Luxembourg-Ville Bern Lisbon.

Process consolidation Faith stimulated recognition Bahá’í Holy Days Superintendent Public Schools Kenosha Superintendent School Milwaukee Rhode Island State Department Civil Service Bahá’í marriage certificate civil authorities Indianapolis authorization Adjutant General Bahá’í identification believers serving U.S. Armed Forces.

Bahá’í administrative centers steadily multiplying Ḥijáz Yemen Baḥrayn Aḥsá Kuwait Qatar Dubai Masqaṭ Aden heralding convocation historic Bahá’í Convention Arabian Peninsula destined culminate erection pillar Universal House Justice midmost heart Islámic world.

Nineteen month plan, formulated National Spiritual Assembly Indian subcontinent Burma aiming among other things introduction consolidation Faith capital cities Nepal Siam Indo-China Malaya Indonesia Sarawak.

Ties binding International Bahá’í Community United Nations reinforced official participation Bahá’í delegates regional Non-Governmental Conferences Istanbul Managua, Den Passar Paris Lawrence Kansas. Historic site House occupied Bahá’u’lláh Istanbul partly purchased, investigations conducted acquisition similar sites associated exile Founder Faith Adrianople.

Northern outposts Faith reinforced settlement pioneers Edgedes Minde Greenland Yellowknife Canadian North Western Territories.

Last not least internal ornamentation Mother Temple West terminated design adopted funds allocated Temple Trustees landscaping its immediate surroundings constituting final step for its approaching Jubilee. Appeal American Bahá’í community standing threshold concluding year second Seven Year Plan traversing last stage austerity period confronted approaching centenary darkest bloodiest episode Bahá’í history associated nation-wide holocaust Ṭáhirih’s martyrdom Bahá’u’lláh’s imprisonment Síyáh-Chál Ṭihrán arise scale still loftier heights self-sacrifice efface deficit National Fund. Address in particular fervent plea brace itself play preponderating role impending world crusade which world community utilizing agencies divinely-appointed world administrative order preparing launch amidst deepening shadows world crisis execution ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s world-encircling plan subsequent unfoldment world civilization ultimate attainment supreme objective illumination redemption whole world.

Advise share message National Assemblies East West.

Shoghi

— 20 —

Rapid Progress of a World Center — Decline in Fortunes of Covenant-Breakers

Cablegram, June 11, 1952

morrow sixtieth anniversary Bahá’u’lláh’s Ascension share double announcement Bahá’í world through all National Assemblies. Rapid progress enterprise majestically unfolding heart God’s Holy Mountain steady decline fortunes remnant old Covenant-breakers still defiantly challenging combined strength Bahá’í world community.

Termination Octagon setting second crown Holy Edifice synchronizing last Naw-Rúz Festival followed erection gilding balustrade course succeeding Riḍván period. Preliminary investigations culminated erection scaffolding commencement construction Drum estimated cost thirteen thousand pounds constituting third unit Edifice preparatory raising golden Dome. Experiments prior placing contract gilded tiles Dome concluded. Confidently anticipate completion all preliminaries enabling builders mighty sacred Structure start construction Dome morrow opening fast approaching Holy Year paving way fulfilment ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prophecy uttered dark days First World War envisaging glory resplendent Dome greeting devout gaze future pilgrims drawing nigh shores Holy Land.

Old Covenant-breakers untaught lessons past sixty years reverses suffered connection restitution keys Shrine, evacuation restoration Mansion devastating loss rapid succession outstanding leaders spokesmen backed support perfidious Sohrab engaging services clever hostile lawyer unitedly challenged authority conferred ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament instituted legal proceedings against Guardian Faith questioned right demolish dilapidated house situated precincts constituting affront Most Holy Shrine Bahá’í World were rebuffed through intervention Israel government denying competence civil court adjudicate matter subsequently threatened appeal government decision Supreme Court provoked authorities who consequence my representations both Prime Minister Minister Foreign Affairs issued authorization demolish ruins.

Short-sighted action prompted blind uncontrollable animosity resulted irretrievable curtailment long-standing privileges extended Covenant-breakers course six decades occasion celebration Bahá’í Holy Days.

Signal success removal ruins immediately followed landscaping approaches Shrine, erection gate embellishment surroundings Tomb Bahá’u’lláh long denied befitting entrance through deliberate obstruction enemies Faith. Public access heart Qiblih Bahá’í World now made possible through traversing sacred precincts leading successively Holy Court outer inner sanctuaries Blessed Threshold Holy of Holies. Recent events prelude acquisition development over thirty acres property surrounding Bahá’u’lláh’s resting place paving way erection course future decades befitting Mausoleum destined enshrine Dust Founder God’s Most Holy Faith.

Shoghi

— 21 —

The Summons of the Lord of Hosts

June 30, 1952

The steady expansion of the activities conducted so devotedly and so efficiently, during the last twelve months, by the members of the valiant and exemplary American Bahá’í Community, under the aegis of their elected national representatives, is such as to evoke feelings of deep and sincere admiration in my heart, and will serve to heighten the esteem in which they are held by their brethren in every continent of the globe.

The completion of the interior ornamentation of the holiest House of Worship ever to be raised by the followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, the initiation of the landscaping of the immediate approaches of this sacred and majestic Edifice, the actual launching of the highly promising, profoundly significant African Campaign, through the arrival and settlement of American pioneers in both East and West Africa; the energetic efforts exerted for the multiplication of Bahá’í administrative institutions and the stimulation and consolidation of the all-important teaching work throughout the States of the American Union; the generous, the unhesitating and effectual support extended to the newly fledged communities in Latin America in their efforts for the consolidation of the administrative structure so laboriously erected in recent years; the ready and enthusiastic response to the world-wide call for a befitting celebration by the entire Bahá’í world of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic Mission; the magnificent services already rendered by the recently elevated American Hands of the Cause of God, in diversified spheres of Bahá’í activity, at the World Center of the Faith, in the triple function of hastening the construction of the Báb’s Sepulcher, of consolidating the ties binding the International Bahá’í Council to the civil authorities of Israel, and of completing the design of the projected Mashriqu’l-Adhkár on Mt. Carmel, as well as in Latin America; the repeated contributions made for the erection of that Sepulcher, for the extension of Bahá’í international endowments and the institution of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Kampala; the marvellous loyalty demonstrated in connection with the repeated defection of members of the Holy Family and the nefarious activities of Covenant-breakers, both old and new; as well as the share a number of these Hands have had in administering a stunning defeat to the enemies of the Faith who, so boldly and shamelessly sought, through legal action, to challenge the authority of the Guardian of the Faith, and to publicly humiliate, the institution created through the provisions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament; the further unfoldment of the European project through the initiation of the two historic Conferences held in the Low Countries and in the Iberian Peninsula, and the convocation of the fateful Conference in Rome, heralding the formation of the Italo-Swiss National Assembly — the fairest fruit of that mighty Project — these stand out as the distinctive, the unforgettable, the infinitely meritorious achievements which posterity will record as the noblest exploits immortalizing the concluding years of the Second Seven Year Plan, and conferring untold benefits on its executors throughout the length and breadth of the Great Republic of the West.

So notable a record, such splendid achievements, investing, as they inevitably must, the American Bahá’í Community, with the potentialities so essential for the adequate conduct of the impending Ten Year Plan, that will constitute the third and last stage in the initial epoch, in the unfoldment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Plan, and auguring well for the triumphant conclusion of the present Seven Year Plan, can, and must, if the star of this enviable community is to continue to rise, rapidly and uninterruptedly, to its meridian, be converted into a stepping-stone for the achievements of such feats as will not only outshine the splendor of the services already enumerated, but constitute a befitting termination to the second collective enterprise undertaken in American Bahá’í history, in the service of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, and for the execution of the grand Design conceived by the Center of His Covenant.

The support extended by a self-sacrificing, high-minded, ever alert community, for the erection of the Drum of the Sepulcher of the Báb and the raising of its crowning unit — the Dome itself — must, in the course of this current year, be consistently maintained, both by the individual members of this community, and the body of its elected representatives. The assistance required for the acquisition of extensive properties, comprising both lands and houses, in the immediate neighborhood of the Most Holy Tomb in Bahjí, and for the embellishment of the approaches of that hallowed Shrine — the Qiblih of the Bahá’í world — as a necessary prelude to the ultimate erection of a befitting Mausoleum to enshrine the remains of God’s Supreme Manifestation on earth, must be generously and systematically extended. The scheme of landscaping the area surrounding the recently completed Mother Temple of the West, in time for its consecration and formal opening for public Bahá’í worship, must be rapidly and carefully carried out. The subsidiary Plan, formulated for the intensification of the Campaign of internal expansion and consolidation in every State of the American Republic, must be assiduously executed, and under no circumstances, be allowed to deteriorate or to fall into abeyance. The flow of pioneers to the African continent, to Liberia, North Africa, West and East Africa, must, at whatever cost, and while there is yet time, be substantially accelerated, as the essential prerequisite to the Ten Year crusade to be launched by no less than five National Assemblies in the African continent, on the morrow of the celebrations of the impending Holy Year. The process of multiplication of Bahá’í local Assemblies in the ten goal countries of Europe, and particularly in Italy and Switzerland, and the preparatory measures required to ensure the success of the twin historic assemblages destined to commemorate the last year of the Seven Year enterprise launched in the European continent — the European Teaching Conference in Luxemburg and the Italo-Swiss Convention in Florence — must be pushed forward with extreme care, vigilance and vigor. The utmost help and the necessary guidance must be vouchsafed to the newly emerged sister communities, in both Central and South America, to enable them to consummate their spontaneously undertaken Plans, so vital to their future association with the organized communities, in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, in the prosecution of the world-wide undertaking destined to be launched on the morrow of the celebration of the approaching Great Jubilee. Above all, the most careful, prayerful, concentrated attention should be given by your Assembly, in conjunction with the several national committees, appointed for this purpose, to the adequate celebration of the fast approaching Holy Year, both locally, nationally and internationally, with particular emphasis on the three outstanding functions which the members of this Assembly must discharge, namely, the solemn consecration of the completed House of Worship and the commemoration of its Jubilee, the formal convocation of the Inter-continental Conference, and the holding of the Annual Convention in Wilmette, and the effective participation of the members of the American Bahá’í Community, both officially and unofficially, in the three other historic Inter-continental Conferences to be convened successively in Kampala, Stockholm and New Delhi.

The tasks ahead, calling for the expenditure of every ounce of energy on the part of the members of the indefatigable irresistably advancing, majestically unfolding American Bahá’í community and for the unrelaxing vigilance of its national elected representatives, are immense, highly diversified, truly challenging, sacred in character, undreamt of in their potentialities, urgent by their very nature, and inescapable in the responsibilities they involve. At the World Center of the Faith, where, at long last the machinery of its highest institutions has been erected, and around whose most holy shrines the supreme organs of its unfolding Order, are, in their embryonic form, unfolding; amidst the diversified tribes and races, peopling the Dependencies and Principalities of the Dark Continent of Africa; in the far-flung territories of Central and South America so alien in culture, temperament, habits, language and outlook; in the capital cities and traditional strongholds of a materially highly advanced yet spiritually famished, much tormented, fear-ridden, hopelessly-sundered, heterogeneous conglomeration of races, nations, sects and classes overspreading the continent of Europe; in the heart of the African continent, in the capital city of the Indian sub-continent; in one of the leading capitals of the Scandinavian countries in Northern Europe; in the very heart of the leading Republic of the Western Hemisphere, the standard-bearers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, the champion-builders of the Administrative Order, the vanguard of the Heralds of His World Order, and the Chief and appointed executors of the Master Plan of the Center of His Covenant, have, in the course of the few, fast-fleeting months ahead, separating them from the grandest crusade thus far launched in Bahá’í history, been assigned tasks, obligations and responsibilities that they can afford to neither minimize, neglect or shirk for a moment.

Within only a few weeks the Bahá’í World will enter upon the centenary of that fateful day of August the fifteenth, when a dastardly act, fraught with such terrible consequences, unleashed a series of tragic events that stained the annals of the Faith, that precipitated calamities on a scale unprecedented since its inception and unsurpassed in their tragic character by any event except the martyrdom of its Herald, which culminated in a holocaust reminiscent of the direst tribulations undergone by the persecuted followers of any previous religion, and which, in turn, paved the way, even as the darkest hour of the night precedes the dawn, for the first glimmerings that were to proclaim, to an unsuspecting world, and amidst the gloom and stench of the Síyáh-Chál of Ṭihrán, the birth of the Mission of the Founder of our Faith. Less than four months separate us from the centenary celebrations designed to befittingly commemorate that glorious event in Bahá’í history, an event even more potent in its implications than the birth of the Bábí Dispensation, and yielding in sacredness to none other except the memorable occasion when the Founder of the Faith Himself ascended the throne of His spiritual sovereignty and formally assumed in the City of Baghdád, His Prophetic Office. The radiance of God’s infant light shining within the walls of that pestilential Pit — a radiance, an infinitesimal glimmer of which, as the Founder of the Faith, Himself, later testified, caused the dwellers of Sinai to swoon away — seemed, as it were, to be intermingled, whilst Bahá’u’lláh lay in chains and fetters in that subterranean dungeon, and, for many months after, with the somberness of the tragedy which enveloped the members of a persecuted community in almost every province of that hapless land. The dawning-light of the Revelation promised and lauded by the Báb marks the termination of the second and darker crisis in the annals of the Bábí Dispensation, and signalizes the commencement of a ten-year long crisis, the first of the three successive ones that left their lasting imprint on His Ministry.

Little wonder that, in the months immediately ahead, when our thoughts are fixed upon those days which heralded the outbreak of this reign of unprecedented terror, and the outburst of a light of such inconceivable brightness, and in the twelve-month period immediately following when we commemorate the centenary of that reign of terror as well as throughout the succeeding decade, constituting the hundredth anniversary of the period following the birth of so glorious a Mission — little wonder that the followers of the Author of such a Revelation should be called upon to pour forth, as a ransom for so much suffering, and in thanksgiving for such priceless benefits conferred upon mankind, their substance, exert themselves to the utmost, scale the summits of self-sacrifice, accomplish the most valorous feats, and, through a concerted, determined, consecrated ten-year-long effort, achieve their greatest victories in honor of the Founder of their Faith, in grateful memory of His unnumbered slaughtered servants, and for the world establishment, and ultimate triumph, of His embryonic World Order.

The four inter-continental Conferences, constituting the highlights of the centenary celebrations commemorating this unique period in Bahá’í history, commingling so much tragedy and glory, as well as the public consecration of the Most Holy House of Worship ever to be raised for the glory of the Most Great Name, must alike proclaim, in no uncertain voice, the significance of the happenings which, a hundred years ago, endowed mankind with a potency unapproached at any period in the world’s spiritual history, and signalize the inauguration of what may yet come to be regarded as a period of collective administrative and teaching accomplishments distinguishing the Formative Age of our Faith and endowed with a fertility comparable to that which marked the spiritual feats of the dawn-breakers of the Heroic Age which preceded it.

To the members of the valorous American Bahá’í Community, the chosen trustees and principal executors of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan, who, by virtue of the mission entrusted to them by the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, have been empowered, and are fully qualified, to assume a preponderating role in the conduct of this world-encompassing crusade; to the long-suffering, the unflinching, the much loved and steadfast members of the venerable and still persecuted community of Bahá’u’lláh’s followers laboring in His native land, whose spiritual ancestors have left a legacy of unsurpassed heroism and saintliness to the rising generation in both the East and the West; to the members of the small, yet intensely alive, community dwelling in the heart and center of the far-flung British Commonwealth of Nations, whose destiny is to lend a notable impetus to the progress of this world Crusade; through awakening the vast and heterogeneous multitudes that owe allegiance to the British Crown, and are dispersed throughout the five continents of the globe; to the members of the equally small yet virile and highly promising community, planted in the heart of the European continent, whose mission is to spread the light of the Faith throughout the regions that lie in its neighborhood and project its radiance as far as the heart of the Asiatic continent; to the members of the newly emerged yet swiftly advancing community established in the Dominion of Canada, worthy allies of the American Bahá’í Community in the furtherance of the Grand Design delineated in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s immortal Tablets; to the members of the loyal, the assiduously laboring and highly diversified community in the Indian sub-continent, whose geographic position entitles them to extend substantial assistance to the prodigious task of awakening the peoples of South East Asia to the redemptive Message of Bahá’u’lláh; to the members of the second most persecuted yet resolute community established in the heart of both the Arab and Muslim worlds, who, by virtue of the position they occupy, must play a distinctive part in the emancipation of a proscribed Faith from the fetters of religious orthodoxy; to the members of the youthful yet vigorously functioning community, championing the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh in the Antipodes who, by reason of their close proximity, are expected to contribute a substantial share to the establishment of the institutions of the Faith in the numerous and widely scattered islands and archipelagos of the South Pacific Ocean; to the members of a long-established yet still persecuted community dwelling in a territory which may well rank, next to the Holy Land and the Cradle of our Faith, as the most holy in the entire Bahá’í world, who are destined to share with their brethren in Persia, Egypt and Pákistán in the task of achieving the recognition of a down-trodden Faith, by the ecclesiastical leaders of Islám; to the newly-fledged, spiritually alert communities of Central and South America, who, by virtue of the responsibilities invested in the inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere through the ringing call of Bahá’u’lláh in the Aqdas and the utterances of the Center of His Covenant, are expected by their brethren, in both the East and the West, to worthily play their part as associates of the chief executors of the Plan bequeathed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; to the members of the communities in Italy and Switzerland, as yet in the embryonic stage of their development, and who will soon take their place as an independent entity in the international Bahá’í community, and must assume their share in planting the banner of a triumphant Faith in the heart of a continent regarded as the cradle of Western civilization as well as in the stronghold and nerve-center of the most powerful church in Christendom; indeed, to each and every believer, whether isolated, or associated with any local Assembly or group, who, though as yet unidentified with any specific national Plan for the systematic prosecution of this Crusade, can still, and indeed must, lend his particular assistance in this gigantic enterprise — to all, without distinction of race, nation, class, color, age or sex, I feel moved, as the fateful hour of a memorable centenary approaches, to address my plea, with all the fervor that my soul can command and all the love that my heart contains, to rededicate themselves, collectively, and individually, to the task that lies ahead of them.

Under whatever conditions, the dearly loved, the divinely sustained, the onward marching legions of the army of Bahá’u’lláh may be laboring, in whatever theatre they may operate, in whatever climes they may struggle, whether in the cold and inhospitable territories beyond the Arctic Circle, or in the torrid zones of both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres; on the borders of the jungles of Burma, Malaya and India; on the fringes of the deserts of Africa and of the Arabian Peninsula; in the lonely, far-away, backward and sparsely populated islands dotting the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans and the North Sea; amidst the diversified tribes of the Negroes of Africa, the Eskimos and the Lapps of the Arctic regions, the Mongolians of East and South East Asia, the Polynesians of the South Pacific Islands, the reservations of the Red Indians in both American continents, the Maoris of New Zealand, and the aborigines of Australia; within the time-honored strongholds of both Christianity and Islám, whether it be in Mecca, Rome, Cairo, Najaf or Karbilá; or in towns and cities whose inhabitants are either immersed in crass materialism, or breathe the fetid air of an aggressive racialism, or find themselves bound by the chains and fetters of a haughty intellectualism, or have fallen a prey to the forces of a blind and militant nationalism, or are steeped in the atmosphere of a narrow and intolerant ecclesiasticism — to them all, as well as to those who, as the fortunes of this fate-laden Crusade prosper, will be called upon to unfurl the standard of an all-conquering Faith in the strongholds of Hinduism, and assist in the breaking up of a rigid age-long caste system, who will replace the seminaries and monasteries acting as the nurseries of the Buddhist Faith with the divinely-ordained institutions of Bahá’u’lláh’s victorious Order, who will penetrate the jungles of the Amazon, scale the mountain-fastnesses of Tibet, establish direct contact with the teeming and hapless multitudes in the interior of China, Mongolia and Japan, sit with the leprous, consort with the outcasts in their penal colonies, traverse the steppes of Russia or scatter throughout the wastes of Siberia, I direct my impassioned appeal to obey, as befits His warriors, the summons of the Lord of Hosts, and prepare for that Day of Days when His victorious battalions will, to the accompaniment of hozannas from the invisible angels in the Abhá Kingdom, celebrate the hour of final victory.

“O, that I could travel,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, crying out from the depths of His soul, gives utterance to His longing, in a memorable passage, in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, addressed to the North American believers, “even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and raising the call of ‘Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá’ in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the Divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please God, ye may achieve it!”

“Teach ye the Cause of God, O people of Bahá,” the Author of our Faith, Himself, admonishes His followers, “….for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds…. Should any one arise for the triumph of Our Cause, him will God render victorious though tens of thousands of enemies be leagued against him.” “They that have forsaken their country,” He assures them, “for the purpose of teaching Our Cause — these shall the Faithful Spirit strengthen through its power…. Such a service is, indeed, the prince of all goodly deeds, and the ornament of every goodly act.” “When the hour cometh that this wronged and broken-winged bird will have taken its flight unto the celestial Concourse,” is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s last poignant call to the entire body of the followers of His Father’s Faith, as recorded in His Will and Testament, “it is incumbent upon … the friends and loved ones, one and all, to bestir themselves and arise, with heart and soul, and in one accord … to teach His Cause and promote His Faith. It behoveth them not to rest for a moment…. They must disperse themselves in every land … and travel throughout all regions. Bestirred, without rest, and steadfast to the end, they must raise in every land the cry of ‘Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá’ … that throughout the East and the West a vast concourse may gather under the shadow of the Word of God, that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted, that men’s faces may be illumined, that their hearts may be filled with the Divine Spirit and their souls become heavenly.”

No matter how long the period that separates them from ultimate victory; however arduous the task; however formidable the exertions demanded of them; however dark the days which mankind, perplexed and sorely-tried, must, in its hour of travail, traverse; however severe the tests with which they who are to redeem its fortunes will be confronted; however afflictive the darts which their present enemies, as well as those whom Providence, will, through His mysterious dispensations raise up from within or from without, may rain upon them, however grievous the ordeal of temporary separation from the heart and nerve-center of their Faith which future unforeseeable disturbances may impose upon them, I adjure them, by the precious blood that flowed in such great profusion, by the lives of the unnumbered saints and heroes who were immolated, by the supreme, the glorious sacrifice of the Prophet-Herald of our Faith, by the tribulations which its Founder, Himself, willingly underwent, so that His Cause might live, His Order might redeem a shattered world and its glory might suffuse the entire planet — I adjure them, as this solemn hour draws nigh, to resolve never to flinch, never to hesitate, never to relax, until each and every objective in the Plans to be proclaimed, at a later date, has been fully consummated.

Your true brother,
Shoghi

— 22 —

Fulfilment of National Teaching Plans

Cablegram, August 5, 1952

Recall feelings profound emotion as mid-August approaches distressing circumstances attending dastardly act which one hundred years ago precipitated chain calamitous events unparalleled scope severity annals Faith Bahá’u’lláh constituting next martyrdom its Herald darkest bloodiest most tragic episode Heroic Age Bahá’í Dispensation. Invite members all communities Bahá’í World standing threshold Holy Year call mind manifold tribulations afflicting God’s infant Faith immediately preceding accompanying following imprisonment Author Bahá’í Revelation Síyáh-Chál Ṭihrán somber scene birth His glorious mission. Urge them remember multitude barbarous acts in which king government people ecclesiastics participated ponder ferocious character persecutions meditate vastness range as well as far-reaching consequences. Request them dwell particularly seeming helplessness God’s struggling Faith direct special attention ordeals undergone Bahá’u’lláh its sole surviving pillar subsequent birth His Mission His ultimate banishment culminating His incarceration Holy Land fulfilment age-long prophecies.

Address them as well as their national representatives my last appeal here commencement forthcoming Centenary Celebrations exert course critical fleeting months ahead one final supreme effort ensure complete total success all plans formulated by National Assemblies every continent globe culminating Riḍván period falling middle marking central features celebrations Holy Year.

Supplicating God’s bountiful blessings each every national enterprise triumphant consummation regarded posterity befitting tribute paid participants immortal memory unexampled heroism dawn-breakers Apostolic Age Dispensation Bahá’u’lláh will crown festivities commemorating centenary birth His Mission constitute worthy prelude launching global spiritual crusade destined culminate one hundredth anniversary formal assumption Author Bahá’í Revelation His Prophetic Office diffuse radiance His Faith face entire planet.

Share message all National Assemblies.

Shoghi

— 23 —

Launching the World-Embracing Spiritual Crusade

Cablegram, October 8, 1952

Hail feelings humble thankfulness unbounded joy opening Holy Year commemorating centenary rise Orb Bahá’u’lláh’s most sublime Revelation marking consummation six thousand year cycle ushered in Adam glorified all past prophets sealed blood Author Bábí Dispensation. Evoke auspicious occasion glorious memory acclaim immortal exploits Dawn-Breakers Apostolic Age Bahá’í Dispensation cradle Faith mighty feats champion builders its rising World Order Western Hemisphere as well as multitude valorous achievements past present generations brethren European Asiatic African Australian continents whose combined accomplishments one hundred nine years its existence contributed survival God’s struggling Faith reinforcement its infant strength safeguarding unity its supporters preservation integrity its teachings enrichment lives its followers rise institutions its administrative order fashioning agencies for systematic diffusion its light broadening consolidation its foundations. Moved express confident hope centenary celebrations now commencing, attain climax during approaching Riḍván period plans formulated valiant members World Bahá’í Community five continents may each all through their victorious consummation add distinct fresh luster world-wide festivities constituting collective tribute paid followers Most Great Name memory august Founder Faith honor centenary birth His Mission eternal glory His embryonic majestically unfolding World Order.

Feel hour propitious proclaim entire Bahá’í world projected launching occasion convocation approaching Intercontinental Conferences four continents globe fate-laden soul-stirring decade-long world-embracing Spiritual Crusade involving simultaneous initiation twelve national Ten Year Plans concerted participation all National Spiritual Assemblies Bahá’í world aiming immediate extension Bahá’u’lláh’s spiritual dominion as well as eventual establishment structure His administrative order all remaining Sovereign States Principal Dependencies comprising Principalities Sultanates Emirates Shaykhdoms Protectorates Trust Territories Crown Colonies scattered surface entire planet. Entire body avowed supporters Bahá’u’lláh’s all-conquering Faith now summoned achieve single decade feats eclipsing totality achievements which course eleven preceding decades illuminated annals Bahá’í pioneering.

Four-fold objectives forthcoming Crusade marking third last phase initial epoch evolution ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan destined culminate world-wide festivities commemorating fast-approaching Most Great Jubilee. First development institutions World Center Faith Holy Land. Second consolidation through carefully devised measures home front twelve territories destined serve administrative bases operations twelve National Plans. Third consolidation all territories already opened Faith. Fourth opening remaining chief virgin territories planet specific allotments each National Assembly functioning Bahá’í world.

Projected historic spiritual venture at once arduous audacious challenging unprecedented scope character entire field Bahá’í history soon to be set motion involves:

Adoption preliminary measures construction Bahá’u’lláh’s Sepulcher Holy Land.

Doubling number countries within pale Faith planting its banner remaining Sovereign States planet as well as remaining virgin Territories mentioned ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets Divine Plan involving opening forty-one countries Asiatic thirty-three African thirty European twenty-seven American continents. Over twofold increase number languages Bahá’í literature translated printed or process translation — forty Asia thirty-one Africa ten each Europe America allocated American British Indian Australian Bahá’í communities including most part those Gospels already translated. Doubling number Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs initiation construction one Asiatic other European continent. Acquisition site future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Mount Carmel. Purchase land eleven future Temples three American three African two Asiatic two European one Australian continents. Erection first dependency Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Wilmette. Development functions institution Hands Cause. Establishment Bahá’í Court Holy Land preliminary emergence Universal House Justice.

Codification laws ordinances Kitáb-i-Aqdas Mother Book Bahá’í Revelation. Establishment six national Bahá’í Courts chief cities Islámic East — Ṭihrán Cairo Baghdád New Delhi Karachi Kabul. Extension international Bahá’í endowments Holy Land, plain ‘Akká slopes Mount Carmel. Construction international Bahá’í Archives neighborhood Báb’s Sepulcher. Construction tomb wife Báb Shíráz. Identification resting places father Bahá’u’lláh mother cousin Báb reburial Bahá’í cemetery vicinity Most Great House. Acquisition Garden Riḍván Baghdád site Síyáh-Chál Ṭihrán site martyrdom Báb Tabríz His incarceration Chihríq.

More than quadruple number National Spiritual Assemblies — twenty-one American thirteen European ten Asiatic three African one Australian continents. Multiply seven-fold national Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds their establishment capital cities chief Sovereign States chief cities principal Dependencies planet — twenty-one America fifteen Europe nine Asia three Africa one New Zealand. Framing national Bahá’í constitutions establishment national Bahá’í endowments same capitals cities same States Dependencies.

More than quintuple number incorporated National Assemblies — twenty-one America thirteen Europe twelve Asia three Africa one Australasia. Establishment six national Bahá’í Publishing Trusts — two America two Asia one Africa one Europe.

Participation women Persia membership national local Assemblies. Establishment seven Israel branches National Spiritual Assemblies — two Europe two Asia one each America Africa Australia. Establishment national Bahá’í printing press Ṭihrán.

Reinforcement ties binding Bahá’í World Community United Nations. Inclusion circumstances permitting eleven Republics comprised within Union Soviet Socialist Republics two European Soviet-controlled States within orbit Administrative Order Faith. Convocation World Bahá’í Congress vicinity Garden Riḍván Baghdád third holiest city Bahá’í world occasion world-wide celebrations Most Great Jubilee commemorating Centenary Ascension Bahá’u’lláh Throne His Sovereignty.

Current Bahá’í history must henceforth as second decade second Bahá’í century opens move rapidly majestically as never moved before since inception Faith over century ago. Earthly symbols Bahá’u’lláh’s unearthly Sovereignty must needs ere decade separating two memorable Jubilees draws close be raised as far north as Franklin beyond Arctic Circle as far south as Falkland Islands marking southern extremity western hemisphere amidst remote lonely inhospitable islands archipelagos South Pacific Indian Atlantic oceans mountain fastnesses Tibet jungles Africa deserts Arabia steppes Russia Indian Reservations North America wastelands Siberia Mongolia amongst Eskimos Greenland Alaska Negroes Africa Buddhist strongholds heart Asia amongst Lapps Finland Polynesians South Sea Islands Negritos archipelagos South Pacific Ocean.

Broad outlines world-encircling plan divinely revealed. Course charted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s infallible Pen. Shining goals set. Requisite administrative machinery created. Signal given Author Plan Supreme Commander. Lord Hosts King Kings pledged unfailing aid every crusader battling for His Cause. Invisible battalions mustered rank upon rank ready pour forth reinforcements from on high. Bahá’u’lláh’s army light standing threshold Holy Year. Let them as they enter it vow one voice one heart one soul never turn back entire course fateful decade ahead until each every one will have contributed share laying world-wide scale unassailable administrative foundation Bahá’u’lláh’s Christ-promised Kingdom earth swelling thereby chorus universal jubilation wherein earth heaven will join prophesied Daniel echoed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,“on that day will faithful rejoice with exceeding gladness.”

Call upon fifteen Hands five continents virtue supreme function chosen instruments propagation Faith inaugurate historic mission appointment Riḍván 1954 four auxiliary boards one each continent nine members each who will as adjuncts deputies working conjunction various National Assemblies functioning each continent assist through periodic systematic visits Bahá’í centers efficient prompt execution twelve projected National Plans. Moreover request communities observing Bahá’í Holy Days solar calendar celebrate befitting solemnity approaching anniversary Bahá’u’lláh’s Birthday falling middle two month period during which hundred years ago Author Faith received first intimation His glorious Mission.

Advise American Bahá’í community commemorate occasion special gathering Temple Wilmette urge attendance as many believers possible invite Hands Cause United States Canada participate as my representatives.

Shoghi

— 24 —

Acquisition of Vitally-Needed Property

Cablegram, November 12, 1952

Announce Bahá’í communities East West joyous occasion hundred thirty-fifth Anniversary Bahá’u’lláh’s Birthday successful termination protracted negotiations initiated two years ago culminating signature contract providing eventual formal transfer Development Authority State Israel to Palestine Branch American National Spiritual Assembly extensive long-desired vitally-needed property surrounding safeguarding for posterity Most Holy Tomb Founder Faith as well as adjoining Mansion.

Acquired area raising Bahá’í holdings holy plain ‘Akká from four thousand to one hundred and fifty-five thousand square meters exchanged against property donated by children Dhikru’lláh, grandchildren Mírzá Muḥammad Qulí, Bahá’u’lláh’s faithful half-brother companion exile.

Spontaneous offer contrasts shameful action family sale non-Bahá’ís property neighborhood Jordan valley purchased instrumentality ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during Bahá’u’lláh’s lifetime pursuant His instructions alluded His writings.

Forty acre property acquired single transaction almost equals entire Bahá’í international endowments purchased course sixty years vicinity Báb’s Sepulcher slope Mount Carmel.

Exchange said property, including land houses made possible precipitate flight former Arab owners traditional supporters old Covenant-breakers descendants notorious enemy ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who placed his residence disposal Committee Investigation.

Signature agreement signalized commencement large-scale landscaping aiming beautification immediate precincts holiest spot entire Bahá’í world itself prelude eventual erection happened case Báb’s Sepulcher befitting Mausoleum enshrining precious Dust Most Great Name.

Desire acknowledge indefatigable efforts exerted both Larry Hautz Leroy Ioas enabling consummation initial stage enterprise destined eclipse its final phase splendor magnificence Báb’s resting-place Mount Carmel.

Shoghi

— 25 —

Representatives for Intercontinental Conferences

Cablegram, December 15, 1952

occasion Centenary Bahá’u’lláh’s release oppressive imprisonment Síyáh-Chál Ṭihrán synchronizing termination epoch-making two-month period associated Birth His Revelation unsurpassed with sole exception Declaration His mission any episode world’s spiritual history call upon Bahá’í communities East West ponder unique significance focus attention imperative requirements respond worthily challenge offered each four fate-laden fast-approaching Intercontinental Conferences constituting highlights recently ushered-in Holy Year.

Desire announce appointment Hands Cause honored direct association newly-initiated enterprises world center Faith act addition their individual participation deliberations forthcoming Conferences my special representatives entrusted four-fold mission bear for edification attendants, a precious remembrance Co-founder Faith deliver official message assembled believers elucidate character purposes impending decade-long spiritual World Crusade rally participants energetic sustained enthusiastic prosecution colossal tasks ahead.