Chapter 17

So vast, so momentous and challenging a crusade that will, God willing, illuminate the annals of the second epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, and immortalize the second decade of the second Baha'i century, and the termination of which will mark the closing of the first epoch in the evolution of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, will, in itself, pave the way for, and constitute the prelude to, the initiation of the laborious and tremendously long process of establishing in the course of subsequent crusades in all the newly opened sovereign states, dependencies and islands of the planet, as well as in all the remaining territories of the globe, the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith, with all its attendant agencies, and of eventually erecting in these territories still more pillars to share in sustaining the weight and in broadening the foundation of the Universal House of Justice.

BEGIN NINTH PART OF MAJESTIC PROCESS

Then, and only then, will the vast, the majestic process, set in motion at the dawn of the Adamic cycle, attain its consummation--a process which commenced six thousand years ago, with the planting, in the soil of the divine will, of the tree of divine revelation, and which has already passed through certain stages and must needs pass through still others ere it attains its final consummation. The first part of this process was the slow and steady growth of this tree of divine revelation, successively putting forth its branches, shoots and offshoots, and revealing its leaves, buds and blossoms, as a direct consequence of the light and warmth imparted to it by a series of progressive dispensations associated with Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and other Prophets, and of the vernal showers of blood shed by countless martyrs in their path. The second part of this process was the fruition of this tree, "that belongeth neither to the East nor to the West," when the Bab appeared as the perfect fruit and declared His mission in the Year Sixty in the city of _Sh_iraz. The third part was the grinding of this sacred seed, of infinite preciousness and potency, in the mill of adversity, causing it to yield its oil, six years later, in the city of Tabriz. The fourth part was the ignition of this oil by the hand of Providence in the depths and amidst the darkness of the Siyah-_Ch_al of Tihran a hundred years ago. The fifth, was the clothing of that flickering light, which had scarcely penetrated the adjoining territory of 'Iraq, in the lamp of revelation, after an eclipse lasting no less than ten years, in the city of Ba_gh_dad. The sixth, was the spread of the radiance of that light, shining with added brilliancy in its crystal globe in Adrianople, and later on in the fortress town of Akka, to thirteen countries in the Asiatic and African continents. The seventh was its projection, from the Most Great Prison, in the course of the ministry of the Center of the Covenant, across the seas and the shedding of its illumination upon twenty sovereign states and dependencies in the American, the European, and Australian continents. The eighth part of that process was the diffusion of that same light in the course of the first, and the opening years of the second, epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, over ninety-four sovereign states, dependencies and islands of the planet, as a result of the prosecution of a series of national plans, initiated by eleven national spiritual assemblies throughout the Baha'i world, utilizing the agencies of a newly emerged, divinely appointed Administrative Order, and which has now culminated in the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission. The ninth part of this process--the stage we are now entering--is the further diffusion of that same light over one hundred and thirty-one additional territories and islands in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, through the operation of a decade-long world spiritual crusade whose termination will, God willing, coincide with the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the centenary of the declaration of Baha'u'llah in Ba_gh_dad. And finally the tenth part of this mighty process must be the penetration of that light, in the course of numerous crusades and of successive epochs of both the Formative and Golden Ages of the Faith, into all the remaining territories of the globe through the erection of the entire machinery of Baha'u'llah's Administrative Order in all territories, both East and West, the stage at which the light of God's triumphant Faith shining in all its power and glory will have suffused and enveloped the entire planet.

This present Crusade, on the threshold of which we now stand, will, moreover, by virtue of the dynamic forces it will release and its wide repercussions over the entire surface of the globe, contribute effectually to the acceleration of yet another process of tremendous significance which will carry the steadily evolving Faith of Baha'u'llah through its present stages of obscurity, of repression, of emancipation and of recognition--stages one or another of which Baha'i national communities in various parts of the world now find themselves in--to the stage of establishment, the stage at which the Faith of Baha'u'llah will be recognized by the civil authorities as the state religion, similar to that which Christianity entered in the years following the death of the Emperor Constantine, a stage which must later be followed by the emergence of the Baha'i state itself, functioning, in all religious and civil matters, in strict accordance with the laws and ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy, the Mother-Book of the Baha'i Revelation, a stage which, in the fullness of time, will culminate in the establishment of the World Baha'i Commonwealth, functioning in the plenitude of its powers, and which will signalize the long-awaited advent of the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth--the Kingdom of Baha'u'llah--mirroring however faintly upon this humble handful of dust the glories of the Abha Kingdom.

This final and crowning stage in the evolution of the plan wrought by God Himself for humanity will, in turn, prove to be the signal for the birth of a world civilization, incomparable in its range, its character and potency, in the history of mankind--a civilization which posterity will, with one voice, acclaim as the fairest fruit of the Golden Age of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah, and whose rich harvest will be garnered during future dispensations destined to succeed one another in the course of the five thousand century Baha'i Cycle.

[May 4, 1953]

Appeal for Funds to Purchase Temple Site in Italy

Launching of the World Crusade signalized spontaneous contributions from the delegates assembled in Florence to purchase land for the first Italian Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar within the stronghold of leading community of Christendom. Appeal to national assemblies of the Baha'i world to participate in the historic enterprise synchronizing with emergence of a sister assembly on European continent. Urged in message, addressed to Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery, the selection of the site. Transmitting one thousand pounds as my contribution for this meritorious purpose to the treasurer, Anne Lynch, in Geneva.

[May 4, 1953]

Joyful Announcement of Progress

Joyfully announce to the Baha'i world the rapid progress of the final stages of the construction of the Bab's mausoleum on Mt. Carmel, as well as the splendid initiative of the Baha'is of Panama aiming at the acquisition of the site of the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of Central America. Erection of the lantern and the placing of the ribs of the dome completed. Five thousand gilded tiles dispatched from Utrecht have been safely received, half of which have been already placed in position, disclosing a glimpse of the shining splendor of the completed dome.

Appeal to national assemblies, East and West, to participate through contributions, in the meritorious endeavors exerted toward the eventual establishment of a Baha'i House of Worship in the City of Panama, specifically mentioned by 'Abdu'l-Baha, situated in the heart of the Western Hemisphere. Myself contributed five hundred pounds for the furtherance of this notable objective of the Ten Year Global Crusade.

Share message with national assemblies.

[June 25, 1953]

European Intercontinental Conference

[Stockholm, Sweden, July 21-26, 1953]

With a glad and grateful heart I welcome the convocation, in the capital city of Sweden, of the third of a series of Intercontinental Teaching Conferences associated with the world-wide festivities commemorating the centenary of the Mission of Baha'u'llah and destined to exert a profound and lasting influence on the immediate fortunes of His Faith in all continents of the globe.

I look back, with feelings of wonder, thankfulness and joy, upon the chain of memorable circumstances which, a little over a century ago, accompanied the introduction of the Faith into, and marked the inception of its nascent institutions within, a continent which, in the course of the last two thousand years, has exercised on the destiny of the human race a pervasive influence unequaled by that of any other continent of the globe.

I feel impelled, on this historic occasion, when the members of the American, the British, the German and the newly formed Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as representatives of the Baha'is of the United Kingdom, of Eire, of Germany, of Austria, of the Scandinavian and Benelux countries, of the Iberian Peninsula, of Italy, of Switzerland, of France and of Finland are assembled, to pay a warm tribute to the valiant labors of the early British and French Baha'i pioneers, who at the very dawn of the Faith in Europe, strove with such diligence, consecration and resolution, to fan into flame that holy fire which the hand of the appointed Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant had kindled in the northwest extremity of that continent on the morrow of His Father's ascension. I recall the slow eastward spread of that infant light which led to the gradual emergence of the German and Austrian Baha'i Communities, during the darkest period of 'Abdu'l-Baha's incarceration in the prison-fortress of Akka. I am reminded of His subsequent epoch-making visit, soon after His providential release from His forty-year confinement in the Most Great Prison, to these newly fledged struggling communities, of His patient seed-sowing destined to yield at a later age its first fruits, and constituting a landmark of the utmost significance in the rise and establishment of the Faith of Baha'u'llah in that continent.

EMERGENCE OF FAITH'S EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS

I, moreover, call to mind, on this occasion, the successive episodes which, on the morrow of 'Abdu'l-Baha's ascension, in the course of the initial epoch of the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation, signalized the emergence of those administrative institutions, both local and national, which proclaimed the germination of those potent seeds which had lain dormant for more than a decade in these newly opened European territories, and which culminated in the construction of the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah and the erection of the first two pillars destined to sustain in that continent the weight of the final unit of that Order.

Nor can I fail to acclaim, as a further milestone in the irresistible evolution of that Faith, the launching, following the creation of the administrative agencies designed to provide the effectual instruments for its propagation, of the Six-Year Plan of the British Baha'i Community followed successively by the European Teaching Campaign, inaugurated in accordance with the provisions of the Second Seven-Year Plan of the American Baha'i Community, the Five-Year Plan conceived by the German and Austrian Baha'i Communities and the Two-Year Plan later initiated by the British Baha'i Community--Plans which, within less than a decade, succeeded in laying the structural basis of the Administrative Order of the Faith in Wales, in Scotland, in Northern Ireland and in Eire, in multiplying and consolidating Baha'i institutions throughout the British Isles, in broadening and strengthening the foundations of that same Order in Germany and Austria, in erecting the National Administrative Headquarters of the Faith in the city of Frankfurt, in establishing spiritual assemblies in the capital cities of no less than ten sovereign states in Europe, in reinforcing the administrative foundations of that Faith in those territories, in providing the means for the convocation of five European, and a series of regional, teaching conferences, and above all, in the convocation of the historic convention in Florence culminating in the emergence of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland, the third in a series of institutions destined to play their part in the eventual establishment of the supreme legislative body of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah.

The hour is now ripe for these communities whether new or old, local or national, already functioning on the northern, the western and the southern fringes of that continent, as well as those situated in its very heart, to initiate befittingly and prosecute energetically the European campaign of a global Crusade which will not only contribute, to an unprecedented degree, to the broadening and the consolidation of the foundations of the Faith of Baha'u'llah on the continent of Europe, but will also diffuse its light over the neighboring islands, and will, God willing, carry its radiance to the eastern territories of that continent, and beyond them as far as the heart of Asia.

CRUSADE PROJECTS TO BE UNDERTAKEN

The privileged prosecutors of so revolutionizing, so gigantic, so sacred and beneficent a campaign, are, on the morrow of its launching, and, at such a crucial hour in the destinies of the European continent, summoned to undertake:

First, the formation, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, of one national spiritual assembly in each one of the Scandinavian and Benelux countries, and those of the Iberian Peninsula, and one in Finland, as well as the establishment, in collaboration with the Paris Spiritual Assembly, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of France; the establishment, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Austria; and the establishment, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, and in association with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland, of independent National Spiritual Assemblies in Italy and Switzerland.

Second, the construction of the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of Europe in the city of Frankfurt, the heart of Germany, which occupies such a central position in the continent of Europe.

Third, the purchase of land for the future construction of two Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kars, one in the north in the city of Stockholm, and one in the south in the city of Rome, the seat and stronghold of the most powerful church in Christendom.

Fourth, the opening of the following thirty virgin territories and islands: Albania, Crete, Estonia, Finno-Karelia, Frisian Islands, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Rumania, White Russia, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria; Channel Islands, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Hebrides Islands, Malta, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles; Andorra, Azores, Balearic Islands, Lofoten Islands, Spitzbergen, Ukraine, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; Liechtenstein, Monaco, Rhodes, San Marino, Sardinia, Sicily, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland.

Fifth, the translation and publication of Baha'i literature in the following ten languages to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America, through its European Teaching Committee: Basque, Estonian, Flemish, Lapp, Maltese, Piedmontese, Romani, Romansch, Yiddish, Ziryen.

Sixth, the consolidation of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; of Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Russian S.F.S., Yugoslavia, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria; of Eire, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles; of Iceland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada; and of Corsica, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland.

Seventh, the incorporation of the thirteen above-mentioned national spiritual assemblies.

Eighth, the establishment by these same national spiritual assemblies of national Baha'i endowments.

Ninth, the establishment of a national Haziratu'l-Quds in the capital city of each of the countries where national spiritual assemblies are to be established, as well as one in London and one in Paris.

Tenth, the formation of a national Baha'i Publishing Trust in Frankfurt, Germany.

Eleventh, the formation of Israel branches of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of the British Isles and of Germany and Austria, authorized to hold, on behalf of their parent institutions, property dedicated to the holy shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the state of Israel.

Twelfth, the conversion to the Faith of representatives of the Basque and Gypsy races.

Thirteenth, the appointment, during Ridvan 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in Europe, of an Auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the four national spiritual assemblies participating in the European campaign, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Baha'i centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaign in the European continent.

OPENING OF A GREAT SPIRITUAL REVIVAL

A continent, occupying such a central and strategic position on the entire planet; so rich and eventful in its history, so diversified in its culture; from whose soil sprang both the Hellenic and Roman civilizations; the mainspring of a civilization to some of whose features Baha'u'llah Himself paid tribute; on whose southern shores Christendom first established its home; along whose eastern marches the mighty forces of the Cross and the Crescent so frequently clashed; on whose southwestern extremity a fast evolving Islamic culture yielded its fairest fruit; in whose heart the light of the Reformation shone so brightly, shedding its rays as far as the outlying regions of the globe; the wellspring of American culture; whose northern and western fringes were first warmed and illuminated, less than a century ago, by the dawning light of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah; in whose heart a community, so rich in promise, was subsequently established; whose soil was later sanctified by the twice-repeated visit of the appointed Center of His Covenant; which witnessed, in consequence of the rise and establishment of the Administrative Order of His Faith, the erection of two of the foremost pillars of the future Universal House of Justice; which, in recent years, sustained the dynamic impact of a series of national plans preparatory to the launching of a World Spiritual Crusade--such a continent has at last at this critical hour--this great turning-point in its fortunes--entered upon what may well be regarded as the opening phase of a great spiritual revival that bids fair to eclipse any period in its spiritual history.

May the elected representatives of the national Baha'i communities entrusted with the conduct of this momentous undertaking launched on the soil of this continent, aided by the Hands of the Cause and their Auxiliary Board, reinforced by the local communities, the groups and isolated believers sharing in this massive and collective enterprise, and supported by the subsidiary agencies to be appointed for its efficient prosecution, be graciously assisted by the Lord of Hosts to contribute, in the years immediately ahead, through their concerted efforts and collective achievements, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Baha'i activity, to the success of this glorious Crusade, and lend a tremendous impetus to the conversion, the reconciliation and the ultimate unification of the divers and conflicting peoples, races and classes dwelling within the borders of a travailing, a sorely agitated, and spiritually famished continent.

May all the privileged participators, enlisting under the banner of Baha'u'llah for the promotion of so preeminent and meritorious a Cause, be they from the Eastern or Western Hemisphere, of either sex, white or colored, young or old, neophyte or veteran, whether serving in their capacity as expounders of the teachings, or administrators, of His Faith, as settlers or itinerant teachers, distinguish themselves by such deeds of heroism as will rival, nay outshine, the feats accomplished nineteen hundred years ago, by that little band of God-intoxicated disciples who, fearlessly preaching the Gospel of a newly arisen Messiah, contributed so decisively to the illumination, the regeneration and the advancement of the entire European continent.

[July 1953]

Magnificent Response by Communities of East and West

Happy to convey to assembled friends at epoch-making conference the news of the magnificent response by Baha'i communities in the East and in the West, during the course of the less than three-month interval separating the second and third Intercontinental Conferences of this Holy Year, to the call to arise and befittingly inaugurate the opening phase of the World Crusade. The number of the pioneers, whether white or colored, young or old, on all continents who volunteered for service in both virgin and open territories is past the two hundred mark, including three offers for the leper colonies. Ruanda-Urundi, Samoan Islands, Daman, Southern Rhodesia, Goa, Kodiak Island and Italian Somaliland are already opened.

The settlement of French Equatorial Africa, Solomon Islands, Queen Charlotte Islands, South West Africa, Cape Verde Islands, Togoland, Mauritius, Reunion Island, St. Helena Island, St. Thomas Island, Channel Islands, Aleutian Islands, Azores, Key West, Cook Islands, Monaco, Balearic Islands, Malta, Cyprus, Hebrides Islands, Northern Territories Protectorate, Seychelles, Andorra, Canary Islands and French Somaliland is virtually assured. The northern outposts of the Faith in the Western Hemisphere have been pushed as far as Arctic Bay, Franklin, seventy-three degrees north latitude, and in Europe as far as the Lofoten Islands. A pioneer is en route to Fezzan, Libya, chosen scene of 'Abdu'l-Baha's banishment by 'Abdu'l-Hamid.