12 September 1947
DELIGHTED TOWNSHEND SETTLEMENT MAGNIFICENT SUCCESS SUMMER SCHOOL BELOVED MASTER ABHÁ KINGDOM WELL PLEASED CONSTRUCTIVE HISTORIC MANIFOLD ACHIEVEMENTS VIRILE BRITISH BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY PRAYING INCREASING FERVOUR DIVINE GUIDANCE SURMOUNT OBSTACLES RESOLVE PROBLEMS WIN STILL GREATER VICTORIES HEARTFELT GRATITUDE ABIDING LOVE.
SHOGHI
25 September 1947
The National Bahá’í Youth Committee of the British Isles
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
Your letter to our beloved Guardian, dated August 21st, as well as the note of your Secretary, Miss Howes, dated August 29th, have been received, together with the copy of your Youth Letter, and I have been instructed to answer you on his behalf.
He is very happy to hear of the formation of the new Youth Groups you mention, as this will not only greatly stimulate the Bahá’í Youth and enable them to attract new young people to the Faith, but will also do the general work of the Cause in these cities a great deal of good. He urges your Committee to make every effort to establish youth groups wherever there are Spiritual Assemblies, and circumstances permit. He would like to receive five copies of your Youth Letter if this is convenient.
Your services are very deeply valued, and he assures you all of his loving prayers for the success and expansion of your activities....
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers,
The activities initiated and diligently pursued by the members of your committee deserve the highest praise. The devotion, the perseverance, the loyalty, the assiduous care with which you are striving to promote the interests of the Bahá’í Youth throughout the British Isles rejoice my heart, and will no doubt act as a magnet that will attract the blessings of the Almighty. Persevere in your historic labours, and rest assured that the Beloved is well pleased with your splendid accomplishments. I will continue to pray from the depths of my heart for the extension of your valued activities.
Your true and grateful brother,
Shoghi
9 October 1947
Assembly Development Committee Dear Bahá’í Friends,
Your letter to our beloved Guardian dated Aug. 4th, has been received and he has instructed me to answer it on his behalf.
He is very pleased to see the work your Committee is undertaking and feel that it is of the greatest importance. The unity, love, harmony and proper understanding of the administration of the Cause which exists in a community are the measure of its progress, and on them depend directly the expansion of the Faith.
He wishes you every success, and assures you of his prayers in support of your labours....
P.S. He has received your bi-monthly news letter and thinks it is very well written and excellent in every way.
[From the Guardian:]
May the Almighty bless continually your valued activities, aid you to overcome all obstacles in your path, promote effectively the vital interests of our beloved Faith, and contribute, in a notable manner, to the multiplication of its nascent institutions.
Your true and grateful brother,
Shoghi
9 October 1947
Child Education Committee
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
Your letter to our beloved Guardian, dated Sept. 1st, has been received by him, and he has instructed me to answer it on his behalf.
He was very pleased to see the enthusiasm and devotion with which you have entered into this important branch of Bahá’í activity, and he hopes your labours will be richly rewarded with success.
He would suggest that wherever classes for Bahá’í children are held, liberal minded parents be invited to send their children too, so that their minds may receive the broad, basic and tolerant doctrines of our glorious Faith.
He assures you of his loving prayers for the success of your activities.
With warmest greetings,
[From the Guardian:]
May the Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh guide and sustain you in your highly important and vital undertaking, enable you to extend continually the range of your meritorious activities, and lend a great impetus to the consolidation of the institutions of our glorious Faith.
Your true brother,
Shoghi
10 October 1947
HIGHLY APPROVE ARRANGE MARION HOFMAN RESUME SECRETARYSHIP TEACHING COMMITTEE URGE ENTIRE COMMUNITY PERSEVERE UNITED STRENUOUS EFFORTS ENSURE TRIUMPHANT TERMINATION PRESENT PHASE PLAN STATUS NEWLY FORMED ASSEMBLIES MUST BE MAINTAINED AT ALL COSTS ATTENTION SHOULD MOREOVER BE FOCUSED ESTABLISHMENT FIRM FOUNDATION HISTORIC ASSEMBLIES SCOTLAND WALES EIRE ERE TERMINATION CURRENT YEAR CABLING FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS ASSIST ASSEMBLY VIGOROUS PROSECUTION MIGHTY ENTERPRISES CONFERRING IMPERISHABLE LUSTRE DIVINELY SUSTAINED VICTORIOUSLY ADVANCING DEARLY BELOVED BRITISH BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY.
SHOGHI
16 October 1947
DELIGHTED EVIDENCES PROGRESS EDINBURGH DUBLIN BLACKPOOL HEARTFELT ABIDING APPRECIATION.
SHOGHI
24 October 1947
Dear Bahá’í Brother,
Your letters to our beloved Guardian, dated May 18th and 27th; June 4th, 9th and 16th; July 5th, 8th (two of this date), 12th and 14th; August 9th and September 15th, 20th and 29th; and October 6th and 13th, have all been received, as well as their enclosures, and he has instructed me to answer you on his behalf....
He received a letter direct from the World Congress of Faiths, and wrote them offering full Bahá’í co-operation, and informing them he was ready to appoint a Bahá’í representative to attend any conference they may hold.
The discovery of the Master’s letter to Andrew Carnegie is very interesting, in spite of the very poor translation of this Tablet, and he will be very pleased to receive a photostat of the original, or at least a faithful copy of the text in Persian.
He would be pleased to continue receiving the reports of the Assembly Development Committee.
Regarding the question you asked him: he feels that in the case of a believer who will be 21 years old on April 22nd, there is no objection, at this time, when the work of the Cause is so urgent and the workers so few, in permitting him to vote on April 21st.
The conduct of ... is an excellent example of why he, (and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá before him), feels it so necessary to be very strict about the admission of Orientals into the communities of the Western world. The British people, being shrewd by nature and having had considerable experience with Orientals and peoples of all races, are far less vulnerable to the insidious influence of the insincere than are the more naive and less experienced Americans. People such as this young man, Bahá’í in name whenever it suits their convenience to be so, caring really nothing about the Faith at heart, and ready to abandon it at a moment’s notice if the pleasures to be gained outweigh the humiliation of ostracism, are a real menace to the Cause, especially to the faith of young and untried believers. It is to protect the Cause against such individuals that the Guardian is at present so strict about not permitting Persians to visit America at this time.
In regard to your question about qualifications of delegates and assembly members: the qualifications which he outlined are really applicable to anyone we elect to a Bahá’í office, whatever its nature. But those are only an indication, they do not mean people who don’t fulfil them cannot be elected to office. We must aim as high as we can. He does not feel the friends should attach so much importance to limitations—such as people perhaps not being able to attend assembly or convention meetings, because if they do, then the fundamental concept of everyone being willing to do Bahá’í service on administrative bodies will be weakened, and the friends may be tempted to vote for those who, because of independent means or circumstances in their lives, are freer to come and go but less qualified to serve.
Regarding “‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London”. Nothing can be considered scripture for which we do not have an original text. A verbatim record in Persian of His talks would of course be more reliable than one in English because He was not always accurately interpreted. However such a book is of value, and certainly has its place in our literature.
He assures you all of the deep appreciation of your valiant labours and his loving prayers on your behalf....
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers,
The gigantic task, now being so energetically and successfully carried out by the consecrated and firmly knit British Bahá’í community, constitutes a glorious landmark in recent Bahá’í history, and will, when viewed in proper perspective, deserve to be regarded as one of the most outstanding enterprises launched by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the opening years of the second Bahá’í century. Alike in its magnitude and significance, this momentous undertaking is unprecedented in the annals of the Faith in the British Isles, and deserves to rank as one of the most compelling evidences of the creative power of its Author, marking the rise and establishment of His institutions on the European continent. It is yet too early to assess the potentialities of this present Plan and those destined to follow it, or estimate their future benefits. The blessings they will confer, as the forces latent within them are progressively revealed, on the people dwelling within those Islands, and subsequently, as their sphere is enlarged and their implications are fully disclosed, on the diversified peoples and races inhabiting the widely scattered dependencies of a far-flung empire, in both the East and the West, are unimaginably glorious.
A staggering responsibility rests on the shoulders of those who have been called upon to assist in the operation of the initial stages of this heroic colossal enterprise, and to participate in the privilege of directing its course, and nursing its infant strength. Setbacks and reverses are inevitable as this mighty Plan progresses and expands. Critical stages in its unfoldment must be encountered with unswerving resolution and confident hope. Whatever hardships and sacrifices its future prosecution may involve must be borne with courage, pride and thankfulness. To insure its speedy advancement every issue must be subordinated to its vital requirements, and every individual effort co-ordinated with the agencies designed for its execution.
Its present and pressing needs in the virgin territories of Eire, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland must be met with concentrated attention, continuous, systematic effort and the utmost self-sacrifice. The goals to be achieved in the capitals and chief cities of these newly opened territories must be relentlessly pursued, no matter how hard and stony the path that must be trodden. The prizes already won in other towns in those islands must at all costs be preserved and subsequently further enriched by fresh spiritual conquests in neighbouring counties and farther afield. Indeed the steps preliminary to the formation of a Bahá’í administrative centre in every county throughout the British Isles, must sooner or later be taken, as an essential prelude to the effective proclamation of the Faith to the masses. That the English Bahá’ís, aided and reinforced gradually by fresh recruits from among their Irish, Welsh and Scottish countrymen, may hasten the advent of such a glorious day in British Bahá’í history is the dearest wish of my heart and the object of my constant supplication at the Threshold of Bahá’u’lláh.
Shoghi
10 December 1947
DEEPLY TOUCHED ASSEMBLY’S SOLICITUDE ALL SAFE HEARTFELT APPRECIATION.
SHOGHI
7 January 1948
FERVENTLY PRAYING SIGNAL SUCCESS TEACHING CONFERENCE URGE CONCENTRATED UNRELAXING EFFORT ENSURE GLORIOUS TERMINATION INITIAL PHASE HISTORIC PLAN DELIGHTED SETTLEMENT CARDIFF DEEPEST LOVE.
SHOGHI
20 January 1948
CHEERED HEARTENED MAGNIFICENT SUCCESS TEACHING CONFERENCE. GREATLY WELCOME VALUABLE ASSISTANCE EXTENDED DISTINGUISHED TEACHER DOROTHY BAKER. INITIAL PHASE PLAN DRAWING TRIUMPHANT CLOSE. SIGNAL SERVICES RENDERED SOUND BLESSED FIRMLY KNIT WIDE AWAKE BRITISH BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY EVOKING ADMIRATION SISTER COMMUNITIES EAST WEST SETTING STIRRING EXAMPLE RISING GENERATION CONFERRING INESTIMABLE BLESSINGS POSTERITY MERITING APPLAUSE CONCOURSE ON HIGH AUGMENTING MY DEBT GRATITUDE. PRAYING ARDENTLY SUCCESS NEWLY LAUNCHED CO-ORDINATED TEACHING PLAN SUPPLICATING RICHEST BLESSINGS NEWLY ARISEN PIONEERS DEEPEST LOVE.
SHOGHI
6 February 1948
DEPLORE LOSS VALIANT SOUL JOHN MARSHALL PRAYING FOR HIM. PRAYING CONTINUALLY EVER INCREASING SUCCESS GREATLY ADMIRED DEEPLY LOVED HIGH SPIRITED BRITISH BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY.
SHOGHI
25 February 1948
INCREASINGLY ADMIRE DEEPLY THANKFUL PROGRESS HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENTS BLESSED COMMUNITY DELIGHTED RESPONSE EDINBURGH ASSURE OLGA MILLS BEST WISHES LOVING APPRECIATION PRAYING REMOVAL DIFFICULTIES.
SHOGHI
4 April 1948
KINDLY AIR MAIL AFTER APRIL ELECTIONS SEPARATE UP TO DATE ALPHABETICAL LISTS ASSEMBLIES GROUPS ISOLATED BELIEVERS BRITISH ISLES.
SHOGHI
4 April 194843
ASSURE DEARLY LOVED ALFRED SUGAR FERVENT PRAYERS RECOVERY HEARTILY WELCOME NEW BELIEVERS EDINBURGH DUBLIN GREATLY APPRECIATE SUPPORT NEW PIONEERS ADDRESS LAST MINUTE APPEAL VALIANT BRITISH BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY INTENSIFY EFFORT FILL REMAINING GAPS ENSURE TOTAL VICTORY INITIAL PHASE MOMENTOUS PLAN ARDENTLY PRAYING FULFILMENT DEAREST HOPES.
SHOGHI
25 April 1948
ACCLAIM TRIUMPHANT CONCLUSION INITIAL STAGE EPOCH MAKING PLAN INITIATED BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY BRITISH ISLES OPENING YEAR SECOND BAHÁ’Í CENTURY SUSTAINED PRODIGIOUS EFFORT CULMINATING LAYING STRUCTURAL BASIS RISING ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER LEADING CITIES EIRE SCOTLAND WALES UNPRECEDENTED BRITISH BAHÁ’Í HISTORY CONSTITUTES LANDMARK ANNALS WORLD BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY SIGNALISES COMMENCEMENT SIGNIFICANT PHASE SPIRITUAL HISTORY IRISH SCOTTISH WELSH PEOPLES POTENT SEEDS SOWN ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S TWICE REPEATED VISITS UNITED KINGDOM LONG LAST GERMINATING CONCOURSE ON HIGH APPLAUDS BRILLIANT FEAT UNITEDLY ACHIEVED BRITISH FOLLOWERS FAITH BAHÁ’U’LLÁH SISTER COMMUNITIES EAST WEST MARVEL VICTORY WON SUCH MAGNITUDE SO SHORT PERIOD BY COMMUNITY SO SORELY AFFLICTED SO SMALL NUMERICALLY SO CIRCUMSCRIBED IN RESOURCES YET SO ALIVE SO SOUND SO RESOLUTE PLEAD URGE VALIANT PROMOTERS SO MOMENTOUS PLAN GUARD AGAINST DISSIPATION RESOURCES RELAXATION EFFORT DISTRACTION ATTENTION FORFEITURE HARDWON PRIZES APPEAL FURTHER SACRIFICES NOBLER DEDICATION GREATER INTENSIFICATION LABOURS UNTIL LAST ACT FINAL PHASE DIVINELY SUSTAINED PLAN GLORIOUSLY CONSUMMATED.
SHOGHI
29 April 1948
Dear Bahá’í Brother,
Your letters to our beloved Guardian, written on behalf of the British N.S.A., and dated as follows: Oct 20th, 22nd, 24th and 29th, Nov. 10th and 17th, Dec. 1st and 15th of 1947, and Jan. 13th, Feb. 8th, 9th, 13th, and 27th, and March 1st and 4th of 1948 and April 5th, 1948, together with various enclosures, have been received, and he has instructed me to answer you on his behalf.
A number of matters referred to in them have been answered by cable, so I will not go into them again.
He was specially pleased to receive the copies of the Tablet of the Master to Andrew Carnegie, as this is yet another authentic and interesting Bahá’í document.
He was, likewise, very pleased to receive the statement of Sir A. Ramaswami Mudaliar testifying to his appreciation of the Faith, and he will use it in the appropriate section of “Bahá’í World” in the forthcoming edition.
The instruction he gave to the effect that committees should elect their own officers, he feels, is universal in scope and should, therefore, apply to Great Britain as well....
Regarding the matter of the budget of the N.S.A. he feels that both wisdom and courage is required in this matter. You should not fix a budget which is too heavy for the community to meet, even with sacrifice. Both the pressing needs of the Cause and your Plan, as well as the foreseeable possibilities of your income should guide you.
He has no objection to extracts from his letters to ... being published. He feels that in the future it is not necessary to ask his permission to publish such extracts. As long as the person who has received a letter, such as he would wish to share with others, from the Guardian, has no objection to its publication, he has no objection either. Anything confidential he always specifies as being such.
He feels that the question of Mrs. Hofman giving up the secretaryship of the National Teaching Committee, and who is to be chairman of it, etc. is something to be decided there by those responsible for the work.
In one of your letters you mentioned some ... who have visited the London Centre and their attitude: great patience must be used in dealing with the child-like members of some of these primitive races. They are innocent in heart and have certainly had a very bad example, in many Christians, of a purely mercenary approach to religion, but if their hearts and minds once become illumined with the Faith they could make very fine believers.
Regarding the matter of believers who have been deprived of their voting rights: just as no one should ever be deprived of his voting right lightly, it should likewise be realised that to be deprived of it is a grave matter, and involves heavy penalties spiritually. People who have been so deprived should not be permitted to attend any meetings involving the administration of the Cause, such as an election or a 19 Day Feast. They can attend the 9 Holy Days, however; they should not be married by Bahá’í law, no money should be accepted from them, they should not be given credentials (which imply a member of the community in good standing) nor should they be used officially as teachers or speakers.
He has no objection to your getting out a book on Bahá’í Procedure similar to the synopsis you enclosed for his information. He wishes you, however, to stick to essentials and, as far as possible, avoid—not only in the book but in your Assembly’s decisions—binding the friends by a lot of procedure on minor matters which he always urges should be, as much as possible, dealt with according to each case that comes up. He wishes to keep the administration of the Cause as flexible as possible and not impede the work by a codified set of rules.
As to the attitude of the Bahá’ís in the British Isles towards the World Government Movement: he thinks that as this Movement, so far, seems to be working for what we believe in, and not for anything we do not subscribe to, the Bahá’ís should by all means support it, vote for the representatives to be sent to its constituent Assembly in 1950, and stand for election if they wish to. However, he feels your Assembly should keep a careful watch on this Movement, and if it becomes in any way imperialistic, anti-Russian, or in any other field starts sponsoring attitudes partizan or political in nature, the believers should be advised to withdraw their support and help. He does not think your Assembly should take any initiative in this Movement outside of its jurisdiction, such as in the Middle East, through asking the friends to send in non-Bahá’í names, etc.
He does not advise you to try and create more than one Assembly, i.e. the present one, in the London area.
The work being accomplished in the British Isles is not only a source of pride to him, but is increasingly being recognised and admired by the Bahá’í communities throughout the World, and is greatly encouraging them in their own struggles. For people are prone to thinking that the American Bahá’ís accomplish so much solely because of the great advantages they enjoy in their very fortunate country, whereas now the friends, knowing full well how much England suffered during the war, and is still suffering, are forced to acknowledge that it is spirit, determination, faith and devotion which bring victories into being, one after another, in Britain, and not luxury and leisure. Your achievements are heartening the friends in many places where their numbers are few, and the obstacles to be overcome great! In fact the American Bahá’ís who have visited England feel there is much to be copied at home in your spirit and methods.
He, therefore, urges you all to persevere courageously, knowing what you are accomplishing is infinitely precious and great. You are witnessing with your own eyes the fruition of your plans, the nearing of the moment when your hopes will be fully realised.
He assures you all of his very loving prayers on your behalf, and for the speedy progress of your work.
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers,
The successful conclusion of the Initial Phase of the first collective enterprise launched by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the British Isles during the first year of the second Bahá’í century constitutes a milestone of the utmost significance on the road leading the British Bahá’í community to the glorious destiny ordained for them by Divine Providence. The efforts exerted, the magnitude of the success which has been achieved, the spirit of consecration that has been demonstrated, the solidarity, determination and perseverance evinced by individuals, groups and assemblies during the opening years of this century are indeed unprecedented in British Bahá’í history, and may be regarded next to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s twice repeated visit to the British Isles, as the most potent period in the annals of the British Bahá’í community.
The establishment of the structural basis of the Administrative Order of the Faith in Scotland, Wales and Eire—an accomplishment of tremendous spiritual significance in itself—has greatly enhanced the momentous character of this period, and will lend a mighty impetus to the evolution of the Faith in the days to come.
The Final Phase of the Plan must now be carried forward with still greater energy, with still nobler self-sacrifice, with a clearer vision of the historic import of the work which is to be accomplished, with a mightier determination to bring it to a successful conclusion. The resources at the disposal of the community must, as a result of its expansion, be continually augmented and carefully extended. The prizes so painstakingly won must, at all costs, be safeguarded and consolidated. The newly enrolled believers must be constantly encouraged to assume an increasing share of the responsibilities and of the administrative functions devolving upon the members of the community. The pioneer activities undertaken by its members must, however great the sacrifices involved, be increasingly developed, systematised and accelerated. The needs of the Faith in the newly opened territories in the west, in the north, and in the south, must, while the specific goals of the Plan are being pursued, be given special attention, in order to enrich the life of the entire community, to increase the diversity of its constituent elements, to demonstrate the welding and assimilative power of the Faith, and to stimulate the processes now set in motion for the spiritual regeneration of all the ethnic elements within the British Isles.
In token of my gratitude for the work already accomplished, as a recognition of the status achieved by the British Bahá’í community in the Western Hemisphere, in anticipation of the tasks that still remain to be undertaken, I feel moved to initiate, as soon as the situation here permits, measures that will enable me, through the institution of a Palestine Branch of the British Bahá’í National Assembly, to register in the name of the body of the elected representatives of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the British Isles, a portion of Bahá’í international endowments dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel. May this step, associating it with its sister national assemblies in the United States and India in the possession of so sacred a trust, lend its share to the consolidation and distinction of the central institution of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the British Isles.
Shoghi
2 May 1948
HAPPILY TRANSMIT REJOICING NEWS BELOVED GUARDIAN’S SAFETY HAIFA.
BAHABUREAU
5 May 1948
GREATLY WELCOME DEEPLY APPRECIATE CONVENTION’S RESPONSE SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION INITIAL PHASE PLAN ENCOURAGES ME INITIATE AS SOON AS CIRCUMSTANCES PERMIT MEASURES ESTABLISH HOLY LAND PALESTINE BRANCH BRITISH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ENABLE IT LEGALLY OWN PORTION BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL ENDOWMENTS MT. CARMEL TOKEN MY ABIDING GRATITUDE SHINING ACHIEVEMENTS.
SHOGHI
9 May 1948
KINDLY CABLE NUMBER ASSEMBLIES GROUPS ISOLATED BELIEVERS BRITISH ISLES.
SHOGHI
13 May 1948
LOULIE MATHEWS PROCEEDING SOUTH AFRICA THIS SUMMER ADVISE SEND HER CARE HORACE HOLLEY ADDRESSES CONTACTS AFRICA ALSO INTRODUCTION FROM BARBE BAKER PRAYING ARDENTLY SUCCESS NEWLY ELECTED NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TEACHING COMMITTEE.
SHOGHI
10 June 1948
ASSURE GRACE CHALLIS ARDENT PRAYERS DEEPEST LOVING APPRECIATION SERVICES ALSO PRAYING ... SUCCESS HOFMAN’S VISIT DEEPEST LOVE.
SHOGHI
7 July 1948
PRAYING REMOVAL DIFFICULTIES URGE STEADFASTNESS INCREASING SELFSACRIFICE ALSO WISDOM EXPENDITURE PRIZES PAINSTAKINGLY WON MUST AT ALL COSTS BE SAFEGUARDED WORK INITIATED GOAL TOWNS ENERGETICALLY PURSUED DEEPEST LOVE APPRECIATION.
SHOGHI
7 September 1948 (Summer School)
ASSURE ATTENDANTS SUMMER SCHOOL LOVING FERVENT PRAYERS SUCCESS SESSIONS DEEPER UNDERSTANDING DISTINGUISHING FEATURES FAITH CLOSER ASSOCIATION MEMBERS VICTORIOUSLY ADVANCING STEADILY CONSOLIDATING COMMUNITY.
SHOGHI
2 October 194844
ASSURE THREE NEW SETTLERS FERVENT PRAYERS DEEPEST LOVING APPRECIATION DELIGHTED WELSH PUBLICATION EAGERLY AWAITING COPIES SUPPLICATING ALMIGHTY’S BLESSING FORTHCOMING REGIONAL MEETINGS. CABLE WHETHER FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS ARRANGE BE SENT YOU FROM ?IHRÁN REACHED YOU.
SHOGHI RABBÁNÍ
27 October 1948
DR. YÚNIS AFRÚKHTEH STAUNCH DISTINGUISHED SERVANT FAITH PROCEEDING ENGLAND MEDICAL TREATMENT EXTEND ASSISTANCE ADVISED HIM HELP TEACHING WORK BRITAIN.
SHOGHI RABBÁNÍ
29 October 1948
ASSURE MILLS BACKWELL LOVING APPRECIATION GRIEVE PASSING CHALLIS PRAYING PROGRESS SOUL SERVICES FAITH GRATEFULLY REMEMBERED.
SHOGHI RABBÁNÍ
5 November 1948
APPROVE TOWNSHEND’S ADMIRABLE STATEMENT CONVEY CONGRATULATIONS PRAYING SIGNAL SUCCESS APPROVE APPEAL FUNDS OVERSEAS.
SHOGHI RABBÁNÍ
5 November 1948
Dear Bahá’í Brother,
Your letters to our beloved Guardian, dated July 14th and of July 20th, August 6th and 30th and September 11th and October 8th, have been received, as well as various enclosures forwarded, and he has instructed me to answer you on his behalf.
...There are always bound to be some human complications cropping up in the work, but with love and patience these can usually be smoothed out, and he feels your assembly invariably shows these qualities in helping the friends to overcome their problems.
He believes that people such as ... have no real idea of what the New History Society stands for, and can therefore be taught the Faith, and converted to it, by the right handling. All the friends must do in such cases is to make quite sure that the person in question is sincere and grasps the Will and Testament. There are, of course, some individuals in whom the subversive spirit of Sohrab has taken root, and these should be carefully guarded against, but they are more the exception than the rule.
He feels that the local Assemblies should be encouraged to realise that the National Committees are constituted to serve their needs, not to dictate arbitrarily to them, and to unify the work of the Cause which is now spreading so rapidly in the British Isles. The committees in question should be very tactful in dealing with a young assembly which is beginning to “feel its oats”, as this spirit of independence, if properly handled, can lead it to be strong and independent rather than weak and always relying on other bodies to carry it forward. Assemblies, however, should certainly co-operate with National Committees and not refuse their assistance.
Dr. Yúnís Khán Afrúkhteh is planning to go to England for medical treatment, and the Guardian would appreciate your Assembly’s giving him every assistance possible. He has been ill for some time, and Shoghi Effendi hopes he will recover his health, as he is a wonderful believer, full of wisdom and devotion, and his services are much needed in the Cause. He has advised him to assist you in your teaching work as soon as his health permits this exertion.
He also hopes dear Dr. Lotfulláh Hakím will be of valuable assistance in your teaching work.
He has recently asked Mr. Varqá, his representative, to transfer to your Assembly five hundred pounds to assist you in your manifold activities connected with your Six Year Plan. Unfortunately it is not possible to send any money out of Palestine at present, even from Persia it is difficult to transfer funds, but he trusts this sum will be of assistance to you.
The Guardian feels that the assemblies of Cardiff, Dublin and Edinburgh must receive sustained support, as they are the three most important assemblies formed under the Plan, and must be built into strong and flourishing communities, free from any danger of relapse.
He is very happy about the general progress of the work in the British Isles, and the remarkable, sustained, and self-sacrificing work the believers are doing, guided and assisted by the devoted efforts of your Assembly.
You may be sure you are all remembered in his prayers in the Holy Shrines, and he eagerly awaits news of fresh victories in the teaching field.
[From the Guardian:]
Dearly-beloved friends and co-workers,
The opening of the Final Phase of the First Collective Enterprise undertaken in the history of the British Bahá’í community marks the closing of a stage of tremendous historic significance in the evolution of that community and, indeed, in the spiritual history of the British Isles. Well nigh fifty years after the inception of that community, almost a quarter of a century after the birth of the Administrative Order, and on the morrow of the world-wide celebrations of the centenary of the Faith, a Plan, ambitious in its scope and endowed with vast potentialities, was nobly and spontaneously conceived by the small band of its devoted adherents in those islands. An effort, extending over a period of no less than four years, nation-wide in its range, sustained, systematic, prodigious has been exerted. A victory unparalleled in British Bahá’í annals has been achieved. Towards its consummation newly won recruits to the ranks of this growing community, representative of the English, the Scottish, the Irish and Welsh races have notably contributed. The seeds sown, with such lavish hands by the Founder of that community in the course of two successive visits to the United Kingdom, have at last germinated. The machinery of the Administrative Order, slowly and laboriously taking shape, on the morrow of His ascension, has, as destined by Him who delineated its features in His Will and Testament, been put to the service of this newly conceived Plan, and is now yielding its first fruits. Born at the turn of the last century, its nucleus formed in the heart and nerve centre of a far-flung Empire, gestating for over a decade whilst confined to the narrow limits of the English territory whence it first sprang, energised, after having lain dormant for no less than ten years, through the twice repeated journeys of the Centre of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant to both the English and Scottish capitals, shaped and trained through the processes of a divinely conceived, slowly evolving Administrative Order, propelled along the broad highroad of its destiny in direct consequence of the initial operation of the First Plan set in operation for its further unfoldment, emerging as a truly representative and firmly-knit community, at the conclusion of the Initial Phase of that Plan through the spread of its ramifications among the peoples of Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the organised band of the followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the British Isles, within sight of the conclusion of the Final Phase of the Six Year Plan, stands on the threshold of a door which when opened will disclose to the eyes of its members a vista of vast dimensions, of majestic beauty, of infinite promise.
Theirs is the unrivalled opportunity, should they bestir themselves, to carry forward to a triumphant conclusion this first corporate effort to which they have consecrated themselves and their nascent institutions, to embark, in the course of subsequent Plans, on enterprises destined to safeguard and consolidate, in all parts of the motherland, the achievements so hardly won, to proclaim, unequivocally, systematically and effectively, to the masses throughout the length and breadth of the British Isles the verities enshrined in their Faith, to initiate the establishment of a befitting National Hazíratu’l-Quds in either the capital of the United Kingdom or further north in the very heart of the British Isles, to inaugurate national and local endowments, to incorporate the newly constituted assemblies, to undertake the preliminary measures for the erection of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in the British Empire, and to launch crusades designed to implant the banner of the Faith and lay the structural basis of its Administrative Order throughout the diversified, the numerous and widely scattered colonies of the British Crown.
Not theirs, however, while the present tasks remain as yet unaccomplished, to dwell upon, or even visualise, however dimly, the course which the progress of their subsequent labours must assume in a world whose stability is so lamentably shaken, and whose immediate future is so dark. Theirs is the duty to derive from this fleeting glimpse of the glories which their future destiny holds in store for them fresh inspiration and added stimulus for a befitting performance of the work that lies immediately ahead.
Two brief years separate them from the hour destined to witness the total triumph of their first organised, nation-wide collective enterprise. Every minute of this interval is infinitely precious. The gloom overhanging the entire planet is deepening ominously every day. The American followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, through the ever-swelling army of their pioneers and settlers, on the northern, the western and southern fringes of the European Continent, as well as the newly resuscitated German and Austrian Bahá’í communities labouring in its very heart, have nobly arisen, and are doing their part in paving the way for the spiritual awakening and the ultimate redemption of the teeming millions of its war-torn, discordant, fear-stricken and spiritually famished inhabitants.
They who man the North-Western outpost of the Faith in Europe must, whilst pursuing their chartered course, play a distinctive part in this threefold crusade launched, almost simultaneously, from three directions, in conformity with specifically laid out plans, at so critical an hour, in so vast a field, amidst such diversified and conflicting races and nations of what may well be regarded as the cradle of a civilisation, and the mother of a Faith, whose fate now hangs so perilously in the balance.
That the valiant community of the British followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh may assume an ever-increasing share in this gloriously unfolding, this herculean, this Divinely propelled enterprise is the dearest wish of my heart and the object of my constant prayers.
Shoghi