July 18. On this date in 1953, in the early months of the
Ten Year Crusade, Shoghi Effendi wrote
"A Turning Point in American Bahá'í History"
noting "fresh recruits to the slowly yet steadily advancing army of the
Lord of Hosts...will presage and hasten the advent of the day which, as
prophesied by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, will witness the
entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the Bahá'í world."
My soul is thrilled and my heart is filled with gratitude as I
contemplate--looking back upon six decades of eventful American
Bahá'í history--the chain of magnificent achievements which, from
the dawn of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the West until the present day,
have signalized the birth, marked the rise and distinguished the unfoldment
of the glorious mission of the American Bahá'í Community. Of
all Bahá'í communities in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres,
with the sole exception of its venerable sister community in
Bahá'u'lláh's native land, it alone may well claim to have released
forces, and set in motion events, which stand unparalleled in the annals
of the Faith; while in the course of the last fifty years, comprising the
concluding years of the Heroic and the opening epochs of the Formative
Age of the Bahá'í Dispensation, it can confidently boast of a record
of stewardship which, for its scope, effectiveness and splendor, is unmatched
by that of any other community in the entire Bahá'í world.
The first to awaken to the call of the New Day in the western
world; the first to spontaneously arise to befittingly erect the Mother
Temple of the West; the first to grasp the implications, evolve the
pattern and lay the basis of the structure of the Bahá'í Administrative
Order in the entire Bahá'í world; the first to openly and systematically
proclaim the fundamental principles of the Faith, to adopt effectual
measures for its defense, to invite the attention of royalty to its
teachings, to devise an adequate machinery for the translation, the
publication and the dissemination of its literature and to provide the
means for the creation of its subsidiary institutions; the first to champion
the cause of the oppressed and to generously contribute to the
alleviation of the sufferings of the needy and persecuted among the
followers of Bahá'u'lláh; the first to inaugurate collective enterprises for
the propagation of His Cause; the first to assert its independence in the
West; the first to lay an unassailable foundation for the erection of
auxiliary institutions designed to multiply its financial resources; and,
more recently, the first to achieve, as befits its primacy, the initial task
devolving upon it in pursuance of the newly launched World Spiritual
Crusade, this community has abundantly merited, by the quality of its
deeds and the magnitude of its exploits, the distinctive titles of the
cradle of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, of the vanguard of His
world-conquering host, of the standard-bearers of the oneness of mankind,
of the chief trustees of the Plan devised by the Center of the
Covenant and of the torch-bearers of an as yet unborn world civilization.
RECENT SERVICES DESERVING MENTION
The services rendered by this same community in recent years, in
its capacity as the chief executors of `Abdu'l-Bahá's Divine Plan, in the
course of the second stage of the initial epoch in its evolution, are of
such importance and significance as to deserve particular mention at
this time. In the North American continent, throughout the republics
of Latin America, in the ten goal countries of Europe, on the shores and
in the heart of the African continent, the members of this community
have, in conformity with the provisions of the Second Seven Year Plan,
performed feats of such noble and enduring heroism as to enhance
immensely their prestige, demonstrate unmistakably the caliber of their
faith and qualify them to assume a preponderating share in the
prosecution of the Ten Year Plan whose operations are to extend over
the entire surface of the globe.
In the multiplication and consolidation of Bahá'í administrative
institutions and their auxiliary agencies throughout Central America,
the Antilles and every South American republic--a task supplementing
the initial enterprise undertaken, in pursuance of the first Seven
Year Plan, in connection with the introduction of the Faith into the
republics of Latin America; in the even more rapid development of
nascent institutions of the Faith in Scandinavia, in the Benelux
countries, in Switzerland, in the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas; in the
laying of the administrative basis of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh in
the capital and in some of the major cities of each of the ten European
sovereign states included within the scope of the Plan; in the convocation
of a series of historic teaching conferences in the north and in the
heart of the European continent--heralding the convocation of the
recently held, epoch-making Intercontinental Teaching Conferences;
in the translation, the publication and dissemination of Bahá'í literature
in various European languages; in the still more dramatic evolution
of the Faith in the African continent, culminating in the convocation
of the first Intercontinental Teaching Conference of the Holy Year in
the heart of Africa; in the tremendous sacrifices spontaneously and
repeatedly made to broaden and reinforce the foundations of the Faith
in the North American continent, to sustain the campaigns undertaken
in Latin America, Europe and Africa, and to meet the many demands
of the Bahá'í Temple, rapidly nearing completion in Wilmette; in the
successive emergence of three national spiritual assemblies in the Western
Hemisphere--an outstanding contribution to the evolution and
consolidation of the structure of the world Administrative Order of the
Faith; in the completion of the interior ornamentation of the first
Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of the West, the provision of its accessories and the
initiation of the landscaping of its grounds; in the support extended to
the development of the institutions of the World Center of the Faith;
in the role played by its representatives, whether as Hands of the Cause
or members of the International Bahá'í Council; in the financial aid
unhesitatingly given to hasten the construction, and insure the completion,
of the superstructure of the Báb's Sepulcher on Mt. Carmel--
above all, in the share its national elected representatives have assumed
in providing the means for the convocation of the second Intercontinental
Teaching Conference of the Holy Year; in commemorating
worthily the dedication to public worship of the Mother Temple of the
West, on the occasion of its Jubilee; in befittingly inaugurating the
launching of the World Spiritual Crusade, and in celebrating the
climax of the Holy Year marking the centenary of the birth of
Bahá'u'lláh's Mission--in all these the American Bahá'í Community
has fully deserved the praise and gratitude of posterity, has merited the
applause of the Concourse on High and earned a full measure of the
divine blessings and of the celestial sustenance of which it will stand in
such great need in the course of the prosecution of still mightier and
more glorious enterprises in the days to come.
ADDED RESPONSIBILITIES IN PROPAGATING THE DIVINE PLAN
The stage is now set, and the hour propitious, for a deployment of
forces, and for the revelation of the indomitable spirit animating
this community, on a scale and to a degree unprecedented in the entire
course of American Bahá'í history. To the Antilles and the seventeen
republics of Central and of South America--the scene of the initial
exploits of a community inaugurating the opening phase of its world-girding
mission--to the ten sovereign states of Europe which, at a
subsequent stage in the unfoldment of that mission, the members of
this community enthusiastically and determinedly arose to open up and
conquer; to the African territories which, in addition to their allocated
task under the Second Seven Year Plan, they spontaneously endeavored
to win to the all-conquering Cause of Bahá'u'lláh--to these
numerous islands and archipelagos, bordering the American, the European
and African continents; dependencies extensive, well-nigh inaccessible,
and remote from the base of their operations throughout the
Asiatic continent; lastly, the South Pacific area, the home of the one
remaining race not as yet adequately represented in the Bahá'í world
community, occupying spiritually so strategic a position owing to its
proximity to the Bahá'í communities already firmly entrenched in
South America, in the Indian subcontinent and in Australasia, at once
challenging the resources of no less than eight national spiritual assemblies,
and the theater destined to witness the noblest and the most
resounding victories which the chosen executors of `Abdu'l-Bahá's Divine
Plan have been called upon to win in the service of the Cause
of God--all these have now, in accordance with the requirements of
an irresistibly unfolding Plan, been added, completing thereby the full
circle of the world-wide obligations devolving upon a community invested
with spiritual primacy by the Author of the immortal Tablets
constituting the Charter of the Master Plan of the appointed Center
of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant.
"The moment this Divine Message," He Who penned these
Tablets and conferred this primacy has most significantly affirmed, "is
propagated through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of
Australasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific, this community will
find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting
dominion." Then, and only then, will, as He Himself has so remarkably
prophesied, "the whole earth" "resound with the praises of its majesty
and greatness."
Now, indeed, is the time, after the lapse of two score years;
following the triumphant conclusion of two successive historic Plans,
marking the opening stages of the first epoch in the unfoldment of that
same Master Plan; on the morrow of the brilliant celebrations climaxing
the world-wide festivities of a memorable Holy Year; and while a
triumphant community, in the first flush of enthusiasm, has just
garnered the first fruits of its campaigns in four continents of the globe
and is laden with its freshly won trophies, for this community to bestir
itself, and, assuming its rightful preponderating share in the conduct of
a newly launched World Spiritual Crusade, to demonstrate, through a
supreme and sustained effort embracing the entire surface of the
planet, its ability to safeguard that primacy, to enrich immeasurably the
record of its stewardship and to bring to a majestic conclusion the
opening epoch in the evolution of a Plan destined to reveal the full
measure of its potentialities, not only throughout the successive epochs
of the Formative Age of the Faith, but in the course of the vast reaches
of time stretching into the Golden, the last Age of the Bahá'í Dispensation.
A LASTING INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN COMMUNITY AND NATION
This decade-long global Crusade must mark a veritable turning
point in American Bahá'í history. It must prove itself to be, as it
develops, a force so pervasive and revolutionary in its character as to
leave a lasting imprint not only on the destinies of the American Bahá'í
Community but on the fortunes of the American nation as well. It
must, even as a baptismal fire, so purge its members from self as to
enable them to scale heights never as yet attained. It must, in its initial
stages, witness a dispersal, combined with a consecration, reminiscent
of the dawn of the Heroic Age in Bahá'u'lláh's native land. It must, as
it gathers momentum, awaken the select and gather the spiritually
hungry amongst the peoples of the world, as well as create an awareness
of the Faith not only among the political leaders of present-day society
but also among the thoughtful, the erudite in other spheres of human
activity. It must, as it approaches its climax, carry the torch of the Faith
to regions so remote, so backward, so inhospitable that neither the light
of Christianity or Islam has, after the revolution of centuries, as yet
penetrated. It must, as it approaches its conclusion, pave the way for the
laying, on an unassailable foundation, of the structural basis of an
Administrative Order whose fabric must, in the course of successive
crusades, be laboriously erected throughout the entire globe and which
must assemble beneath its sheltering shadow peoples of every race,
tongue, creed, color and nation.
Seconded by the neighboring fully fledged Canadian Bahá'í Community
flourishing beyond the northern frontier of its homeland;
supported by the newly emerged Latin American communities established
in the Antilles and in each of the central and southern republics
of the Western Hemisphere; ably aided by its sister community
vigorously functioning in the heart of a far-flung empire, and destined
to lend its inestimable assistance in the spiritual conquest of the
numerous and widely scattered dependencies of the British Crown;
reinforced by the oldest and youngest national Bahá'í communities on
the European mainland which are to play a prominent part in the
eastern and southern regions, and across the frontiers of Europe, along
the shores and in the islands of the Mediterranean; assisted by its
venerable sister community in the cradle of the Faith and by the second
oldest national community in the Bahá'í world actively engaged in the
propagation of the Faith in the Asiatic continent; confident of the help
of its Egyptian and Indian sister communities, whose destiny is closely
linked with the African continent and southeast Asia respectively, and,
lastly, assured of the unfailing cooperation of yet another national
community in the Antipodes which, owing to its geographical position,
is bound to assume a notable share in the introduction of the Faith in
the islands of the South Pacific Ocean, the American Bahá'í Community
must, as befits its rank as the chief executor of the Divine Plan,
play a dominant and decisive role in the direction and control of the
manifold operations involved in the prosecution of the North American,
the Latin American, the European, the African, the Asian and the
South Pacific campaigns of this World Crusade, and insure, by every
means at its disposal and in conjunction with its junior partners, its
ultimate and total success.
Within its own sphere, extending to every continent of the globe,
embracing no less than twenty-nine virgin territories and islands, the
members of this stalwart and preeminent community are called upon,
among other things and within the relatively brief span of a single
decade, to create nuclei, around which will crystallize future assemblies,
in no less than eleven territories and islands of Africa, eight of Asia, six
of Europe, four of America; to inaugurate the establishment of the
future dependencies of the Mother Temple of the West, and to
terminate the landscaping of its grounds; to consolidate and broaden
the basis of the Administrative Order already laid in twenty-three
territories and islands distributed in four continents of the globe and
situated in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; to assist in the erection of
no less than thirty-six pillars, twenty in Latin America, twelve in
Europe, two in Asia, one in the North American continent and one in
Africa, designed to help in sustaining the weight of the crowning unit
of the Bahá'í Administrative Order, and in the establishment of
national Bahá'í headquarters, of national endowments, and of national
incorporations in all of these continents; to lend its aid for the
acquisition of land in anticipation of the erection of four Temples, two
in Europe, one in Africa and one in Central America; to lend an
impetus to the progress of the Faith in its homeland through raising to
three hundred the number of local spiritual assemblies and to one
hundred the number of incorporated assemblies, as well as through the
founding of a Bahá'í Publishing Trust and the proclamation of the
Faith through the press and radio; to enroll in the ranks of the followers
of Bahá'u'lláh members of the Indian, of the Basque and Gypsy races;
to assume responsibility for the translation and publication of Bahá'í
literature in twenty languages, ten in the Americas and ten in Europe;
and to contribute to the consolidation of the Faith in eight of the
European goal countries through the establishment of local incorporations,
as well as through the quadrupling of the number of local
assemblies and the trebling of the number of local Bahá'í centers in
each one of them.
While this colossal task, which in its magnitude and potentialities
transcends any previous collective enterprise launched in the course of
American Bahá'í history, is being energetically carried out, it should be
constantly borne in mind--and this applies to all communities without
exception participating in this World Crusade--that the twofold task
of extension and consolidation must be supplemented by continuous
and strenuous efforts to increase speedily not only the number of the
avowed followers of the Faith in both the virgin and opened territories
and islands included within the scope of the Ten Year Plan, but also to
swell the ranks of its active supporters who will consecrate their time,
resources and energy to the effectual spread of its teachings and the
multiplication and consolidation of its administrative institutions.
The movement of pioneers, the opening of virgin territories, the
initiation of Houses of Worship and of administrative headquarters,
the incorporation of local and national elective bodies, the multiplication
of assemblies, groups and isolated centers, the increase in the
number of races represented in the world Bahá'í fellowship, the
translation, publication and dissemination of Bahá'í literature, the
consolidation of administrative agencies and the creation of auxiliary
bodies designed to support them, however valuable, essential and
meritorious, will in the long run amount to little and fail to achieve
their supreme purpose if not supplemented by the equally vital
task--which is one that primarily concerns continually and challenges
each single individual believer whatever his rank, capacity or
origin--of winning to the Faith fresh recruits to the slowly yet steadily
advancing army of the Lord of Hosts, whose reinforcing strength is so
essential to the safeguarding of the victories which the band of heroic
Bahá'í conquerors are winning in the course of their several campaigns
in all the continents of the globe.
Such a steady flow of reinforcements is absolutely vital and is of
extreme urgency, for nothing short of the vitalizing influx of new blood
that will reanimate the world Bahá'í community can safeguard the
prizes which, at so great a sacrifice involving the expenditure of so much
time, effort and treasure, are now being won in virgin territories by
Bahá'u'lláh's valiant Knights, whose privilege is to constitute the
spearhead of the onrushing battalions which, in diverse theaters and in
circumstances often adverse and extremely challenging, are vying with
each other for the spiritual conquest of the unsurrendered territories
and islands on the surface of the globe.
This flow, moreover, will presage and hasten the advent of the day
which, as prophesied by `Abdu'l-Bahá, will witness the entry by troops
of peoples of divers nations and races into the Bahá'í world--a day
which, viewed in its proper perspective, will be the prelude to that
long-awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations
and races, and as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and
possibly catastrophic in nature, and which cannot as yet be even dimly
visualized, will suddenly revolutionize the fortunes of the Faith, derange
the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the
numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual
authority of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
MOST VITAL OBJECTIVE IN THE CRUSADE'S OPENING YEAR
Of all the objectives enumerated in my message to the representatives
of this community, assembled on the occasion of the celebration
of the climax of the Holy Year, of the convocation of the second
Intercontinental Teaching Conference, of the inauguration of the
Mother Temple of the West and of the launching of the World
Spiritual Crusade, the most vital, urgent and meritorious, in this the
opening year of the initial phase of this world-embracing enterprise, is,
without doubt, the settlement of pioneers in all the virgin territories
and islands assigned to this community in all the continents of the
globe, with the exception of the few which, owing to present political
obstacles, cannot as yet be opened to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. This
process already so auspiciously inaugurated, which, in the course of the
first eight months of the Holy Year has gathered such splendid
momentum, and which bids fair to astonish, stimulate and inspire the
entire Bahá'í world, must, during the concluding months of this same
year and the one succeeding it, be so accelerated as to insure the
attainment of this paramount objective before the lapse of two years
from the official launching of this World Crusade.
While this goal is being vigorously pursued, close attention must be
directed to the preliminary measures for the establishment of the first
dependency of the Mother Temple of the West, as well as to the
completion of the landscaping of its grounds, a double task that will, on
the one hand, mark the termination of the fifty-year-old process of the
construction of the central Bahá'í House of Worship, and proclaim, on
the other, the commencement of another designed to culminate in the
establishment in its plenitude of the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár
as conceived by Bahá'u'lláh and envisaged by `Abdu'l-Bahá.
Moreover, immediate consideration should be given to two other issues
of prime importance, namely the purchase of land, which need not
exceed for the present one acre, in anticipation of the construction of
the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of South Africa, and the prompt translation
of a suitable Bahá'í pamphlet into the American and European languages
allocated to your assembly, and its publication and wide dissemination
among the peoples and tribes for whom it has been primarily
designed.
The followers of the Most Great Name, citizens of the great
republic of the West; constituting the majority and the oldest followers
of His Faith in a continent wherein, in the words of `Abdu'l-Bahá, "the
splendors of His (Bahá'u'lláh's) Light shall be revealed" and "the
mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled," addressed by Him in His
Tablets of the Divine Plan as the "Apostles" of His Father; the
recipients of the overwhelming majority of these same Tablets constituting
the Charter of that Plan; conquerors of most of the territories,
whether sovereign states or dependencies, already included within the
pale of the Faith; the champion-builders of a world administrative
system which posterity will regard as the harbinger of the World Order
of Bahá'u'lláh, must, if they wish to retain their primacy and enrich
their heritage, insure that, ere the opening of the second phase of this
World Crusade, the names of the first American Bahá'í conquerors to
settle in virgin territories and islands will, as befits their primacy, be
inscribed on the Scroll of Honor, now in process of preparation, and
designed to be permanently deposited at the entrance door of the Inner
Sanctuary of Bahá'u'lláh's Most Holy Tomb, that the limited area of
land required for the erection of four future Bahá'í Temples, in Rome,
Stockholm, Panama City and Johannesburg, will be bought, that the
landscaping of the grounds of the Temple in Wilmette will be
completed, and that the translation and the publication of the aforementioned
pamphlet in the specified languages will be accomplished.
The two years that lie ahead, three months of which have already
elapsed, will swiftly and imperceptibly draw to a close. Tasks even more
onerous, equally weighty and requiring in a still greater measure the
expenditure of effort and substance, lie ahead, which will brook no
delay, which will carry the Faith to still higher levels of achievement
and renown, which will enlarge, through the forging of fresh instruments,
the framework of a steadily rising world Administrative Order,
and which will eventually, if worthily discharged, seal the triumph of
the most prodigious, the most sublime, the most sacred collective
enterprise launched by the adherents of the Cause of God in both
hemispheres since the early days of the Heroic Age of the Faith--an
enterprise which in its vastness, organization and unifying power, has
no parallel in the world's spiritual history.
AN APPEAL TO ALL ENGAGED IN THE CRUSADE
To them, and indeed to the entire body of the followers of
Bahá'u'lláh, engaged in this global Crusade, I direct my appeal to arise
and, in the course of these fast-fleeting years, in every phase of the
campaigns that are to be fought in all the continents of the globe, prove
their worth as gallant warriors battling for the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.
Indeed, from this very hour until the eve of the Most Great Jubilee,
each and every one of those enrolled in the Army of Light must seek no
rest, must take no thought of self, must sacrifice to the uttermost, must
allow nothing whatsoever to deflect him or her from meeting the
pressing, the manifold, the paramount needs of this preeminent Crusade.
"Light as the spirit," "pure as air," "blazing as fire," "unrestrained as
the wind"--for such is Bahá'u'lláh's own admonition to His loved ones
in His Tablets, and directed not to a select few but to the entire
congregation of the faithful--let them scatter far and wide, proclaim
the glory of God's Revelation in this Day, quicken the souls of men and
ignite in their hearts the love of the One Who alone is their omnipotent
and divinely appointed Redeemer.
Bracing the fearful cold of the Arctic regions and the enervating
heat of the torrid zone; heedless of the hazards, the loneliness and the
austerity of the deserts, the far-away islands and mountains wherein
they will be called upon to dwell; undeterred by the clamor which the
exponents of religious orthodoxy are sure to raise, or by the restrictive
measures which political leaders may impose; undismayed by the
smallness of their numbers and the multitude of their potential adversaries;
armed with the efficacious weapons their own hands have slowly
and laboriously forged in anticipation of this glorious and inevitable
encounter with the organized forces of superstition, of corruption and of
unbelief; placing their whole trust in the matchless potency of
Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, in the all-conquering power of His might and
the infallibility of His glorious and oft-repeated promises, let them press
forward, each according to his strength and resources, into the vast
arena now lying before them, and which, God willing, will witness, in
the years immediately lying ahead, such exhibitions of prowess and of
heroic self-sacrifice as may well recall the superb feats achieved by that
immortal band of God-intoxicated heroes who have so immeasurably
enriched the annals of the Christian, the Islamic and Bábí Dispensations.
On the members of the American Bahá'í Community, the envied
custodians of a Divine Plan, the principal builders and defenders of a
mighty Order and the recognized champions of an unspeakably glorious
and precious Faith, a peculiar and inescapable responsibility must
necessarily rest. Through their courage, their self-abnegation, their
fortitude and their perseverance; through the range and quality of their
achievements, the depth of their consecration, their initiative and
resourcefulness, their organizing ability, their readiness and capacity to
lend their assistance to less privileged sister communities struggling
against heavy odds; through their generous and sustained response to
the enormous and ever-increasing financial needs of a world-encompassing,
decade-long and admittedly strenuous enterprise, they
must, beyond the shadow of a doubt, vindicate their right to the
leadership of this World Crusade.
Now is the time for the hope voiced by `Abdu'l-Bahá that from their
homeland "heavenly illumination" may "stream to all the peoples of the
world" to be realized. Now is the time for the truth of His remarkable
assertion that that same homeland is "equipped and empowered to
accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history, to become the
envy of the world and be blest in both the East and the West," to be
strikingly and unmistakably demonstrated. "Should success crown"
their "enterprise," He, moreover, has assured them, "the throne of the
Kingdom of God will, in the plenitude of its majesty and glory, be
firmly established."
Would to God that this community, boasting already of so superb a
record of achievements both at home and overseas, and elevated to such
dazzling heights by the hopes cherished and the assurance given by the
Center of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant, may prove itself capable of performing
deeds of such distinction, in the course of the opening, as well as
the succeeding phases of this World Spiritual Crusade, as will outshine
the dedicated acts which have already left their indelible mark on the
Apostolic Age of the Faith in the West; will excel the enduring, the
historic achievements associated, at a later period, with this community's
memorable contribution to the rise and establishment of the world
Administrative Order of Bahá'u'lláh; will surpass the magnificent
accomplishments which, subsequently, as the result of the operation of
the first Seven Year Plan, illuminated the annals of the Faith in both
the North American continent and throughout Latin America and will
eclipse the even more dramatic exploits which, during the opening
years of the second epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, and in the
course of the prosecution of the Second Seven Year Plan, have exerted
so lasting an influence on the fortunes of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the
Antilles, throughout the republics of Central America, in each of the
ten republics of South America, in no less than ten sovereign states in
the continent of Europe, and in various dependencies on the eastern
and western shores, as well as in the heart of the African continent.
[July 18, 1953]
