May 31. On this date in 1951, Shoghi Effendi wrote a German Bahá'í he "sees no objection to ... going to Persia for a visit... the Bahá'í Administration has, as far as being grasped by the average Bahá'í goes, made far greater progress in the West, particularly America...What can be learned from our Oriental brethren is..."

May 31. On this date in 1951, Shoghi Effendi wrote a German Bahá'í he "sees no objection to ... going to Persia for a visit... the Bahá'í Administration has, as far as being grasped by the average Bahá'í goes, made far greater progress in the West, particularly America...What can be learned from our Oriental brethren is..."

31 May 1951
He sees no objection to ... going to Persia for a visit. It would be a happy experience for him to meet with the believers there. However, he feels you should bear in mind that administrative experience and practice is not the strong point in the East; on the contrary, the Bahá'í Administration has, as far as being grasped by the average Bahá'í goes, made far greater progress in the West, particularly America.
What can be learned from our Oriental brethren is reverence, self-sacrifice, unquestioning obedience and complete devotion to the Cause. These are wonderful traits, and ones which the West must emulate. In exchange we can offer them our sense of principle and efficiency and capacity for action.