Chapter 5

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 Baha'u'llah and constituting, next to the martyrdom of its Herald, the darkest, bloodiest and most tragic episode of the Heroic Age of the Baha'i Dispensation. Invite members of all communities of the Baha'i 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 Baha'i Revelation in the Siyah-_Ch_al in Tihran, 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 Baha'u'llah, 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 Ridvan 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 Baha'u'llah 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 Baha'i 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 Baha'u'llah'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 Babi Dispensation. Evoke on this auspicious occasion the glorious memory and acclaim the immortal exploits of the Dawn-Breakers of the Apostolic Age of the Baha'i 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 Ridvan period, that the plans formulated by the valiant members of the World Baha'i 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 Baha'i 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 Baha'i world aiming at the immediate extension of Baha'u'llah'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 Baha'u'llah'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 Baha'i 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-Baha'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 Baha'i world.

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

Adoption of preliminary measures to the construction of Baha'u'llah'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-Baha'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 Baha'i 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 Baha'i communities, including for the most part those into which Gospels have been already translated. Doubling the number of Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kars, 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 Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar 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 Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in Wilmette. The development of the functions of the institution of the Hands of the Cause. The establishment of a Baha'i Court in the Holy Land, preliminary to the emergence of the Universal House of Justice.

Codification of the laws and ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, Mother Book of the Baha'i Revelation. Establishment of six national Baha'i Courts in the chief cities of the Islamic East--Tihran, Cairo, Ba_gh_dad, New Delhi, Karachi, Kabul. Extension of international Baha'i endowments in the Holy Land, on the plain of Akka and the slopes of Mount Carmel. Construction of international Baha'i Archives in the neighborhood of the Bab's Sepulcher. Construction of a tomb for the wife of the Bab in _Sh_iraz. Identification of the resting places of the father of Baha'u'llah and the mother and cousin of the Bab for reburial in the Baha'i cemetery in the vicinity of the Most Great House. Acquisition of the Garden of Ridvan in Ba_gh_dad, site of the Siyah-_Ch_al in Tihran, site of the martyrdom of the Bab in Tabriz, and of His incarceration in _Ch_ihriq.

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 Haziratu'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 Baha'i constitutions, and establishment of national Baha'i 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 Baha'i 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 Baha'i printing press in Tihran.

Reinforcement of the ties binding the Baha'i 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 Baha'i Congress in the vicinity of the Garden of Ridvan, Ba_gh_dad, third holiest city of Baha'i world, on the occasion of the world-wide celebrations of the Most Great Jubilee, commemorating the Centenary of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah to the Throne of His Sovereignty.

Current Baha'i history must henceforth, as second decade of second Baha'i 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 Baha'u'llah'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-Baha'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. Baha'u'llah'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 Baha'u'llah'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-Baha: "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 Ridvan 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 Baha'i centers, in the efficient, prompt execution of the twelve projected National Plans. Moreover request communities observing Baha'i Holy Days, solar calendar, celebrate with befitting solemnity the approaching anniversary of Baha'u'llah'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 Baha'i 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 Baha'i communities, East and West, on the joyous occasion of the hundred and thirty-fifth Anniversary of Baha'u'llah'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 Baha'i holdings on the holy plain of Akka from four thousand to one hundred and fifty-five thousand square meters, was exchanged against property donated by children of Zikrullah, grandchildren of Mirza Muhammad Quli, Baha'u'llah's faithful half-brother and companion in exile.

This spontaneous offer contrasts with the shameful action of the family in the sale to non-Baha'is of the property in the neighborhood of the Jordan valley purchased through the instrumentality of 'Abdu'l-Baha during Baha'u'llah'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 Baha'i international endowments purchased in the course of sixty years in the vicinity of the Bab'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-Baha 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 Baha'i world, itself the prelude to the eventual erection, as happened in the case of the Bab'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 Bab's resting-place on Mount Carmel.

--Shoghi

[Cablegram, November 12, 1952]

REPRESENTATIVES FOR INTERCONTINENTAL CONFERENCES

On occasion of Centenary of Baha'u'llah's release from oppressive imprisonment in the Siyah-_Ch_al, Tihran, 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 Baha'i 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 Baha'i 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-Baha, 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 Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the Baha'i 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-Ruz of Holy Year convey twin joyful tidings to National Assemblies of the Baha'i world. Building operations of the final unit of the Bab's Sepulcher commenced. Recall at this hour successive landmarks, each coinciding with a Naw-Ruz Festival in the history of the sixty year old enterprise founded by the Author of the Baha'i Revelation. First, Naw-Ruz, 1909, witnessed the entombment within the Holy of Holies of the Shrine constructed by 'Abdu'l-Baha of the dust of the Martyr-Prophet of the Faith. Second, Naw-Ruz, 1949, coincided with the laying of the first threshold stones of the arcade. Third, Naw-Ruz, 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-Ruz, 1952, is associated with the completion of the octagon setting second crown of the holy Edifice.

The celebrations of Naw-Ruz 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 Baha'u'llah's Covenant, Roy Wilhelm, raising the total area within the precincts permanently dedicated to the Bab'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 Baha'i New Year's Day, presaging still greater triumphs as the Baha'i 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 Baha'u'llah.

--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-Baha's enemy, is now openly lecturing on Baha'i 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 Baha'u'llah, 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-Baha'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 Baha'u'llah'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 Baha'u'llah'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.