Fulfilment of National Teaching Plans

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

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

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

Share message with all National Assemblies.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, August 5, 1952]

Launching the World-Embracing Spiritual Crusade

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

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

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

The projected historic, spiritual venture, at once arduous, audacious, challenging, unprecedented in scope and character in the entire field of Bahá’í history, soon to be set in motion, involves:

Adoption of preliminary measures to the construction of Bahá’u’lláh’s Sepulcher in the Holy Land.

Doubling the number of countries within the pale of the Faith through planting its banner in the remaining Sovereign States of the planet as well as the remaining virgin Territories mentioned in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets of the Divine Plan, involving the opening of forty-one countries on the Asiatic, thirty-three on the African, thirty on the European, twenty-seven on the American continents. Over twofold increase in the number of languages into which Bahá’í literature is translated, printed or in process of translation—forty in Asia, thirty-one in Africa, ten each in Europe and America, to be allocated to the American, British, Indian and Australian Bahá’í communities, including for the most part those into which Gospels have been already translated. Doubling the number of Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs, through the initiation of the construction of one on the Asiatic and the other on the European continent. The acquisition of the site of the future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár on Mount Carmel. The purchase of the land for eleven future Temples, three on the American, three on the African, two on the Asiatic, two on the European, one on the Australian continents. The erection of the first dependency of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette. The development of the functions of the institution of the Hands of the Cause. The establishment of a Bahá’í Court in the Holy Land, preliminary to the emergence of the Universal House of Justice.

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

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

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

The participation of the women of Persia in the membership of national and local Assemblies. Establishment of seven Israel branches of National Spiritual Assemblies—two from Europe, two from Asia, one each from America, Africa and Australia. The establishment of a national Bahá’í printing press in Ṭihrán.

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

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

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

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

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

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, October 8, 1952]

Acquisition of Vitally-Needed Property

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

The acquired area, raising Bahá’í holdings on the holy plain of Akká from four thousand to one hundred and fifty-five thousand square meters, was exchanged against property donated by children of Zikrullah, grandchildren of Mírzá Muḥammad Qulí, Bahá’u’lláh’s faithful half-brother and companion in exile.

This spontaneous offer contrasts with the shameful action of the family in the sale to non-Bahá’ís of the property in the neighborhood of the Jordan valley purchased through the instrumentality of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during Bahá’u’lláh’s lifetime, pursuant to His instructions and alluded to in His writings.

The forty acre property acquired in this single transaction almost equals the entire Bahá’í international endowments purchased in the course of sixty years in the vicinity of the Báb’s Sepulcher on the slope of Mount Carmel.

The exchange of said property, including land and houses, was made possible by the precipitate flight of the former Arab owners, traditional supporters of the old Covenant-breakers and descendants of the notorious enemy of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who placed his residence at the disposal of the Committee of Investigation.

The signature to the agreement signalized the commencement of large-scale landscaping, aiming at the beautification of the immediate precincts of the holiest spot in the entire Bahá’í world, itself the prelude to the eventual erection, as happened in the case of the Báb’s Sepulcher, of a befitting Mausoleum enshrining the precious Dust of the Most Great Name.

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

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, November 12, 1952]

Representatives for Intercontinental Conferences

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

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

Instructing the President of the International Bahá’í Council, Mason Remey, Member at Large, Ugo Giachery, and Secretary-General, Leroy Ioas, to discharge these functions in the course of the New Delhi, Stockholm and Kampala Conferences, respectively.

Delegating Amatu’l-Bahá, accompanied by Vice-President of the International Council, Amelia Collins, to fulfil three of the above mentioned functions, as well as carry on my behalf, to unveil on the occasion of the completion of the construction of the Mother Temple of the West, to the privileged attendants at the Wilmette Conference a most prized remembrance of the Author of the Faith, which never before left the shores of the Holy Land, to be placed beneath the dome of the consecrated edifice. Moreover assigning her the task to act as my deputy at the historic ceremony marking the official Dedication of the holiest Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Bahá’í world reared to the everlasting glory and honor of the Most Great Name in the heart of the North American continent.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, December 15, 1952]

Twofold Victory in Holy Land

On occasion of Naw-Rúz of Holy Year convey twin joyful tidings to National Assemblies of the Bahá’í world. Building operations of the final unit of the Báb’s Sepulcher commenced. Recall at this hour successive landmarks, each coinciding with a Naw-Rúz Festival in the history of the sixty year old enterprise founded by the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation. First, Naw-Rúz, 1909, witnessed the entombment within the Holy of Holies of the Shrine constructed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá of the dust of the Martyr-Prophet of the Faith. Second, Naw-Rúz, 1949, coincided with the laying of the first threshold stones of the arcade. Third, Naw-Rúz, 1951, synchronized with the termination of the excavation within the Shrine foundations for the eight piers designed to support the weight of the three story superstructure. Fourth, Naw-Rúz, 1952, is associated with the completion of the octagon setting second crown of the holy Edifice.

The celebrations of Naw-Rúz in this Holy Year are heightened by the placing of the first stones encircling the base of the dome. Anticipating, as the climax of the world-wide rejoicings of the Holy Year draw near, the placing of the gilded tiles, the fourth and last unit of the majestic Edifice. Fervently hoping that the greatest enterprise undertaken at the World Center of the Faith will be consummated ere the conclusion of the festivities of the Holy Year.

International endowments surrounding the tomb of the Prophet-Herald of the Faith on the bosom of God’s Holy Mountain are considerably extended through the acquisition, after thirty years’ effort, of a wooded area of over twenty-three thousand square meters, including a building overlooking the sacred spot, made possible through the estate bequeathed to the Faith by the herald of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, Roy Wilhelm, raising the total area within the precincts permanently dedicated to the Báb’s Sepulcher to almost a quarter million square meters.

Heart filled with humble gratitude at the double victory of the Faith, adding great joyousness to the Bahá’í New Year’s Day, presaging still greater triumphs as the Bahá’í World approaches the high water mark of the world-wide celebrations of the memorable year commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Mission of Bahá’u’lláh.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, March 21, 1953]

Treacherous Ruhi Afnan

Treacherous Ruhi Afnan, not content with previous disobedience, correspondence with Ahmad Sohrab, contact with old Covenant-breakers, sale, in conjunction with other members of family, of sacred property purchased by Founder of Faith, and allowing his sister to marry son of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s enemy, is now openly lecturing on Bahá’í movement, claiming to be its exponent and is misrepresenting the teachings and deliberately causing confusion in minds of authorities and the local population. Inform National Assemblies.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, May 17, 1953]

The Paramount Issue

On occasion of the sixty-first Anniversary of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, on the morrow of the opening, initial phase of the momentous World Crusade, call upon His followers in all continents to allow no slackening, nay, to insure acceleration of the marvelous momentum generated by the historic celebrations climaxing the festivities of Holy Year. The dispersal, immediate, determined, sustained and universal, throughout the unopened territories of the planet, is the paramount issue challenging the spirit and resources of the privileged prosecutors of the Ten-Year Plan in the course of the current year.

All National Assemblies are urged to give it priority assignments in their national budgets. The chief executors of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Plan, by virtue of the primacy conferred in His Tablets, are accorded the prerogative to stimulate the vital process of the dispersal through the dispatch, in addition to their allotted tasks, of pioneers to the virgin territories allocated to their sister communities East and West.

Once again I appeal to members of all communities to arise and enlist, ere the present opportunity is irretrievably lost, in the army of Bahá’u’lláh’s crusaders. The hour is ripe to disencumber themselves of worldly vanities, to mount the steed of steadfastness, unfurl the banner of renunciation, don the armor of utter consecration to God’s Cause, gird themselves with the girdle of a chaste and holy life, unsheathe the sword of Bahá’u’lláh’s utterance, buckle on the shield of His love, carry as sole provision implicit trust in His promise, flee their homelands, and scatter far and wide to capture the unsurrendered territories of the entire planet.

Would to God that Bahá’í warriors, six score and ten, the number required to fill the gaps in the still unconquered territories of the globe, will promptly arise and enroll themselves to achieve the goals ere the conclusion of the opening year of the decade-long, greatest collective enterprise since the memorable episodes associated with the Dawn-Breakers of the Heroic Age.

Planning to inscribe, in chronological order, the names of the spiritual conquerors on an illuminated Roll of Honor, to be deposited at the entrance door of the inner Sanctuary of the Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh, as a permanent memorial of the contribution by the champions of His Faith at the victorious conclusion of the opening campaign of the Global Crusade which is destined to attain consummation at the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the Centenary of the Declaration of His Mission. Anticipate making periodic announcements of the names of the valiant knights upon their arrival at their posts to discharge their historic missions.

Share message National Assemblies of the Bahá’í World.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, May 28, 1953]

Sealing the Triumphant Festivities of Holy Year

Transmit to the National Assemblies of the Bahá’í world the joyous news that the placing of gilded tiles over the entire surface of the dome of the Báb’s Sepulcher has been terminated. The last stones of the crown surrounding the base of the dome have been laid, marking the conclusion of the stonework of the superstructure of the holy edifice. The shuttering of the interior of the dome has been removed. Frames of the lancet windows of the drum have been installed. The placing of the frames of the octagon windows and the plastering of the interior of the dome are approaching completion. Electric cables designed for the illumination of the majestic structure have been placed in position. Anticipate the early removal of the scaffolding prior to the placing of the eighteen stained glass lancet windows.

Feel assured consummation of the sixty year old enterprise will synchronize with the holding of the forthcoming New Delhi Intercontinental Teaching Conference, sealing the triumphant world-wide festivities of the Holy Year commemorating the centenary of the birth of the Mission of Bahá’u’lláh.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, August 19, 1953]

Roll of Honor

Transmit the following joyful tidings National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’í world. World spiritual crusade, mightiest agency yet conceived for the systematic execution of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan, has been befittingly ushered in through successive, magnificent victories won by Bahá’u’lláh’s crusaders in virgin territories in every continent of the globe.

The four months which have elapsed since its glorious inauguration amidst the climax of the Centenary of the inception of His Mission, have been immortalized by the opening of no less than twenty-eight territories and islands, nine in Europe, eight in America, six in Africa, five in Asia, constituting a dispersal unprecedented in its rapidity and scope during eleven decades of Bahá’í history.

The number of pioneers who responded to the call for settlement of open and unopened territories on the planet passed the three hundred mark: over a hundred and fifty from America, over fifty from Europe, over forty from Africa, over forty from Asia. The number of prospective pioneers to virgin areas is over forty. All Western Hemisphere and African areas allocated to the United States National Assembly, as well as all European areas allocated to the various National Assemblies, have been assigned.

The Roll of Honor designed to perpetuate the memory of the exploits of the spiritual conquerors is already inscribed with the names of the following pioneers, together with their respective territories, amounting to almost a fourth of the number required for the attainment of the paramount objective of the opening phase of the ten year plan. Sohail Samandari, Italian Somaliland; Mary and Rex Collison, Dunduzu Chisizwa, Ruanda-Urundi; ‘Izzatu’lláh Zahrai, Southern Rhodesia; Ghulamal Kurlawala, Daman; Gail and Jameson Bond, Franklin; Roshan Aftabi, Feroza Yaganagi, Goa; Rose Perkal, Jack Huffman, Kodiak Island; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Crane, Key West; Saeed Nahvi, Shyan Behrarilal, Pondicherry; Udainarayan Singh, Sikkim; Fred Schechter, French Somaliland; Virginia Orbison, Balearic Islands; Mr. and Mrs. Amín Banání, Greece; Abbás Vakil, Cyprus; Gertrude Eisenberg, Canary Islands; Dick Stanton, Keewatin; Mr. and Mrs. Jenabe Caldwell, Aleutian Islands; Edythe MacArthur, Queen Charlotte Islands; Hushmand Manuchihri, Liechtenstein; Eskil Ljungberg, Faroe Islands; Mildred Clark and Loyce Lawrence, Lofoten Islands; Salisa Kirmani, Shirin Nurani, Karikal; Zíá’u’lláh Asgarzadeh, Evelyn Baxter, Channel Islands; Kay Weston, Magdalen Islands; Julius Edwards, Northern Territories Protectorate; Doris Richardson, Grand Manan Island; Charles Dunning, Orkney Islands; Nellie French, Monaco.

Countries in which Bahá’ís reside now aggregate over one hundred fifty. Over seventy have been added in the course of the nine years separating the first and second Jubilees.

The festivities of the Holy Year, so splendidly inaugurated, attaining the high water mark on the occasion of the Ninetieth Anniversary of the declaration of the Mission of the Founder of the Faith, are approaching their end. Appeal entire body of His followers to exert a concerted, superhuman effort to celebrate, through acceleration of their dispersal, the conclusion of the world-wide rejoicings, and pay worthy tribute to His memory, through as close an approach to the two hundred mark as possible of the total number of sovereign States, Dependencies, and Islands comprised within the orbit of His irresistibly expanding Faith, achieving thereby a feat paralleling, in the eyes of posterity, the triumphant completion of the superstructure of the Sepulcher of its Co-Founder at the Bahá’í World Center in the Holy Land.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, September 20, 1953]

Twenty-One Virgin Areas

Announce to National Assemblies of the Bahá’í world that the three week interval since the close of the Holy Year witnessed planting the banner of God’s triumphant Cause in no less than twenty-one virgin areas of the globe, raising the total number of territories opened to the Faith to two hundred, representing well nigh a sixty per cent increase in the course of a little over half a year in the number of sovereign States and Dependencies included within its pale during the one hundred and nine years of its existence.

The seventy-two virgin areas, brought within the orbit of the swiftly expanding Bahá’í administrative order since the launching of the World Crusade, include twenty-one in the Americas, nineteen in Africa, nineteen in Europe and thirteen in Asia.

The following pioneers have been inscribed on the Roll of Honor since the last announcement: Gerald, Gail and Leeanna Curwin, Bahamas; Enoch Olinga, British Cameroons; Malcolm King, British Guiana; Peggy and George True, Canaries; Shirley Warde, British Honduras; Irving Geary, Cape Breton Island; Zunilda Palacios, Chilöe Island; Edith Danielson, Cook Islands; Himatlal Bhatt, Diu Island; Elinor and Robert Wolff, Dutch Guiana; Eberhard Friedland, French Guiana; Labib Esphahani, French West Africa; Adela and Salvador Tormo, Juan Fernandez Island; Gladys and Benjamin Weeden, Leeward Islands; Frances Heller, Macao; Lionel Peraji, Máhe; Ola Pawlowska, Miquelon and St. Pierre Islands; Elsie Austin, Nosrat Shayesteh, Abbás Muḥammad-‘Alí Jalali Rowhani, Ardekani Hasanzadeh Rafii, Morocco, International Zone; Bertha Dobbins, New Hebrides; Opal and Leland Jensen, Réunion Island; Marie Ciocca, Sardinia; Abbás Kamil, Seychelles Islands; Emma Rice and Mr. and Mrs. Bagley, Sicily; Greta Lamprill and Glad Parke, Society Islands; Mr. and Mrs. McKay, Mr. and Mrs. Fleming and Miss Jenssen, Spanish Morocco; Muḥammad Mostafá, Spanish Sahara; Lillian Middlemast and Esther M. Evans, Windward Islands.

As few as two territories of Europe, six in the Americas, fourteen in Africa and twenty-two in Asia still remain unopened, excluding the Republics and satellites of the Soviet Union. May the opening year of the decade-long spiritual Crusade be victoriously concluded and befittingly celebrated in the course of the festivities of next Ridván through the establishment of the nucleus of the Faith in each of the remaining forty-four territories, insuring thereby the virtual attainment of the foremost objective of the initial stage of the Ten Year Plan.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, November 11, 1953]

Fast-Dwindling Band of Covenant-Breakers

Following the successive blows which fell with dramatic swiftness two years ago upon the ring-leaders of the fast dwindling band of old Covenant-breakers at the World Center of the Faith, God’s avenging hand struck down in the last two months, Avarih, Fareed and Falah, within the cradle of the Faith, North America and Turkey, who demonstrated varying degrees, in the course of over thirty years, of faithlessness to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

The first of the above named will be condemned by posterity as being the most shameless, vicious, relentless apostate in the annals of the Faith, who, through ceaseless vitriolic attacks in recorded voluminous writings and close alliance with its traditional enemies, assiduously schemed to blacken its name and subvert the foundations of its institutions.

The second, history will recognize as one of the most perfidious among the kinsmen of the interpreters of the Center of the Covenant, who, driven by ungovernable cupidity, committed acts causing agonies of grief and distress to the beloved Master and culminating in open association with breakers of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant in the Holy Land.

The third will be chiefly remembered by the pride, obstinacy and insatiable ambition impelling him to violate the spiritual and administrative precepts of the Faith.

All three, however blinded by perversity, could not have failed to perceive, as their infamous careers approached their end, the futility of their opposition and measure their own loss by the degree of progress and consolidation of the triumphant administrative order so magnificently celebrated in the course of the festivities of the recently concluded Holy Year.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, December 16, 1953]

World Crusade Forges Ahead

Inform National Assemblies East and West that the Bahá’í World Crusade, matchless in its vastness, unsurpassed in its potentialities in the spiritual annals of mankind, announced on the eve of the Holy Year and formally launched during the climax of the festivities commemorating the centenary of the birth of the Mission of the Founder of the Faith, is forging ahead and gathering momentum in both its territorial and institutional aspects in every continent of the globe and the chief islands of the Pacific, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean and North Seas.

The number of sovereign States and dependencies within the orbit of a divinely propelled Order now totals two hundred five. No less than seventy-seven territories have been won over by the Knights of Bahá’u’lláh during a little over half a year, representing two thirds of the total number of virgin areas exclusive of Soviet-controlled Republics and satellites which must needs be opened in the course of the whole decade. Every single territory, whether island or situated on a continent, with the exception of the above-mentioned Republics and satellites has been definitely assigned.

Out of a total of eleven, eight Funds have been inaugurated in the course of the same year, aggregating approximately two hundred thousand dollars designed to pave the way for the acquisition of sites for the future Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs on Carmel and in Canada, Panama, Italy, Sweden, ‘Iráq, Australia and India.

The hour is propitious for all National Assemblies, particularly the United States, the British and the Egyptian, to participate befittingly in the opening of the three remaining Funds ere the first year of the Ten Year Plan draws to a close, insuring thereby the early purchase of sites for the future Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs in Cairo, Kampala and Johannesburg. Contributing three thousand pounds as my initial donation to this three-fold, meritorious purpose.

Preliminary measures have been adopted by the German National Spiritual Assembly and projects have been initiated in Ṭihrán calculated to hasten the construction of the third and fourth Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs of the Bahá’í world in the heart of the European and Asiatic continents.

Appeal to individual believers to reinforce to whatever extent possible the contributions of the Bahá’í national bodies called upon at this hour to unitedly lend an impetus to the unfoldment of the opening phase of the Ten Year Plan whose consummation will, God willing, insure the triumphant conclusion of the initial epoch in the evolution of the grand Design conceived by the Center of the Covenant for the systematic propagation of His Father’s Faith. Advise forward all contributions, whether individual or collective, to the Egyptian, British or United States National Assemblies which are primarily invested with responsibility for the eventual erection of the Bahá’í Houses of Worship in the north, the heart, and the south of the African continent.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, December 7, 1953]

Hand of Cause Appointment

Inform National Assemblies elevation of Jalál Kházeh to rank of Hand of Cause.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, December 7, 1953]

Appeal for Pioneer Settlement

The nine months which have elapsed since the launching of the spiritual world-encompassing Crusade have witnessed the entry of the Knights of Bahá’u’lláh in well-nigh four score and ten territories throughout the planet, representing virtually three-fourths of the total number of areas, exclusive of the Soviet zone of influence, destined to be opened in the course of the entire decade and swelling the roll of sovereign States and Dependencies enlisted under the banner of His Faith to two hundred and thirteen.

All independent States and Principalities on the European continent, excluding Soviet Republics and satellites, have been opened.

All territories in North, Central and South America, excluding Labrador, have been opened.

All territories on the Asiatic continent outside of the Russian orbit have been opened, except Tibet and Bhutan.

All islands in the Mediterranean, all islands in the North Sea have been opened, except Spitzbergen.

All African sovereign States, Colonies, Protectorates and Trust territories, with the exception of Togolands, Spanish Guinea, Bechuanaland, Swaziland, Gambia and the French Cameroons, have been opened.

All islands in the South and North Atlantic, except St. Helena, St. Thomas, Anticosti, and the Falklands, have been opened.

All Indian Ocean islands with the exception of Socotra, the Cocos, Comoro, Mentawei, Nicobar, Chagos Archipelago and Kuria-Muria have been opened.

All islands in the North and South Pacific, exclusive of Soviet-controlled territories, have been opened except Galapagos, Gilbert and Ellice, Admiralty, Loyalty, Marshall, Mariana, Brunei and Portuguese Timor.

The Concourse on high hails with delight the phenomenal rapidity of the victories of Bahá’í pioneering in the virgin areas of the globe.

Encouraged to address an urgent plea to all National Assemblies concerned, as well as to each and every prospective pioneer assigned to the aforementioned territories, to expedite by every means at their disposal their arrival at their respective posts ere the expiry of the swiftly-passing three-month period separating them from the conclusion of the opening year of this auspiciously-unfolding decade.

Appeal furthermore to the entire body of participants in the Crusade to put forth all strength to secure entry of additional volunteers into these same territories multiplying thereby chances of their inclusion within the pale of the Faith ere the celebration of the fast-approaching Ridván.

Supplicating with redoubled ardor a further measure of Bahá’u’lláh’s sustaining grace, surpassing the conspicuous blessings already vouchsafed to His wholly-dedicated, widely-scattered, forward-marching warriors since the launching of the Ten Year Plan.

—Shoghi

[Cablegram, February 8, 1954]