1927

1927

— 36 —

April 25, 1927

[To N.R. Vakíl][pg 34]

My Dear Bahá’í Brother,

I thank you so much in behalf of our dear Guardian for your letters of January 7th, February 25th and April 8th.

It is to him always a source of pleasure and encouragement to hear from a veteran and faithful Bahá’í worker as yourself, but still more it is the news of your endeavours, the degree of your zeal and earnestness, the amount of success achieved as the President of the National Assembly of India, that swells his heart with the warmest and fondest hopes.

With the opening of this new Bahá’í year, our Guardian trusts that it will be marked by a new and greater efforts, by a more intense cooperation among the friends in India and Burma and by an unsurpassed record of success.

Now that Mrs. Schopplocher has in many places broken the ground, it devolves upon the faithful workers in India to follow up the work, to seize every opportunity and to give to her hasty and in many places insufficient services a more permanent and lasting character.

I express the hopes of our Guardian without disregard to your many problems and difficulties, but the field is so vast and the ground so fresh and fertile, that it cannot but evoke almost unreasonable expectations. This feeling and yearning, I am sure, is much more yours than ours could be.[pg 35]

My dear and esteemed fellow worker:

I urge you to take every means at your disposal in consultation with Mr. Hishmatu’llah to follow up the work that has been so splendidly begun by Mrs. Schopplocher. I would also urge you to arrange for the preparation of an annual report by the National Assembly of the activities of the friends in India and Burma to be forwarded to the American National Spiritual Assembly for insertion in the next issue of the “Annual Bahá’í Year Book.” A representative group photograph of the Bahá’ís of divers races and creeds in that land would also greatly enhance the “Year Book,” if such a thing is possible.

Your true brother,
Shoghi

— 37 —

May 5, 1927

Dear Mr. Vakíl,

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated April 22nd 1927… He hopes that by now the result of the elections have been obtained and a strong and capable Body chosen for the furtherance of the Cause in the coming year.

The reports we have received concerning Mírzá Munír’s services have all been most satisfying and encouraging. We hope that as a result of this visit many ardent souls will be attracted to the tenets of the Faith.

Shoghi Effendi as well as the other members of the family are all well and join in sending you and Mrs. Vakíl their loving greetings.

My dear and valued co-worker:

I am touched by this fresh evidence of your self-sacrificing devotion to the interests of the Cause. Mrs. Schopplocher’s letters breathe a spirit of hope and triumph and I earnestly hope that next year her pioneer work will be followed up by the patient and enlightened efforts of an[pg 36] experienced Bahá’í Teacher from the West. I am considering this matter very carefully. I urge you to remind the friends to fulfil their sacred obligations in connexion with the annual renewal of their subscription to the leading periodicals of the Bahá’í world and particularly the “La Nova Tago” of Hamburg, the “Star of the West,” “The Messager Bahá’í” and the “Herald of the South” as well as the “Khurshid-i-Khavar” of ‘Is̱hqábád and the “Dawn.”

Your true brother,
Shoghi

— 38 —

May 24, 1927

My Dear Bahá’í Brother, Mr. Vakíl,

I thank you in behalf of our dear Guardian for your letters of April 29th and the 13th instant, together with enclosures.

He is very glad to learn of the good work of Nabílzadeh and Mrs. Schopflocker and hopes that the friends will follow up their work in order to obtain some definite and permanent results. For a teacher to fly from one end of India to another is not sufficient, there must be somebody who can stay long enough in one place and start regular gatherings.

The latter function naturally falls upon the friends in India and he earnestly hopes that the new year may bring fresh and lasting achievements.

Shoghi Effendi awaits eagerly the result of the election of the National Spiritual Assembly and he should like to see that body accomplish something more than routine work. They should take new steps and carry out a regular campaign in India and Burma.

Assuring you always of our Guardian’s love and best wishes.

My dear and valued coworker:

It is my hope and prayer that the newly elected National and Local Assemblies may widen the scope of their activities, initiate new and valuable measures, extend the circle of their correspondence with foreign Bahá’í’ centres, and promote the independence and distinctiveness of the Bahá’u’lláh. I would urge you to inform the Year Book Committee through Mr. Halley of the results of all elections in India and to send if[pg 37] possible an annual report to that Committee.

Wishing you success and happiness.
Shoghi

— 39 —

July 14, 1927

My Dear Mr. Vakíl,

I take pleasure in thanking you in behalf of our dear Guardian Shoghi Effendi for your hopeful and encouraging letter of May 20th.

In the midst of his work and many responsibilities, it is a source of comfort for him to feel that the initiative and guidance of the Cause in India is in such able hands and he trusts to see in the near future greater and fuller results.

True, the minds of many are turned away from all that sounds religious, but it is only because they are ill advised as to the meaning of true religion and it is just that mission that devolves upon us to give a new viewpoint, to revive fresh hopes and to guide by the sacred utterances the thoughts and actions of mankind.

Perhaps India has not yet reached the high mark which our hopes have made us expect, but the time still remains and the hopes of our Guardian are anxiously turned to the educated, sincere and zealous fellow brothers he so much loves in India and Burma.

Assuring you always of his help and heartfelt prayers.

My dear and precious co-worker:

I have received lately your second letter dated June 10th, enclosing the list of the members of the newly elected Indian Assemblies as well as the report of the receipts and expenditures of the National Fund. Your loyal and untiring attention to the pressing manifold requirements of our beloved and steadily expanding Cause is a thing never-to-be forgotten and worthy of unqualified praise. I trust you will continue to keep in touch with the American National Assembly whose Secretary is only too anxious to incorporate in the news letter and the “Year Book” every bit of news regarding the progress of the Faith in India and Burma.

Your true brother,
Shoghi

— 40 —

August 19, 1927

[To N.R. Vakíl][pg 38]

Dear Bahá’í Brother,

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your two letters dated June 17th and July 8th as well as your two telegrams informing him of the results of the election of the National Spiritual Assembly. He is very glad indeed to hear of the interview of Mr. Nabílzadeh with the Governor of Burma. He will pray that the seeds he has sown will germinate in the course of time and will prove of great benefit to our beloved Cause.

Our Guardian hopes that henceforth the secretaries of all Local and National Assemblies will immediately upon their election inform the American National Assembly of their membership and the address, that the results may without delay be published in the “Bahá’í Year Book.”

Our Guardian will not cease to pray for you all that the Beloved may guide you to achieve that which will conduce to the consolidation and extension of the influence of the Cause.

My dear and faithful co-worker.

I trust the newly elected Assembly will endeavour to follow the example of the American National Assembly in method, action, and procedure. The American news letter will indicate clearly the lines along which Bahá’í National Assemblies are to conduct their work in future and I earnestly urge you to encourage the friends to follow and adopt the method outlined in its columns.

Wishing you success from all my heart,
Shoghi

— 41 —

November 1, 1927

[To N.R. Vakíl]

My Dear Bahá’í Brother,

Our Guardian has been pleased to receive your letter of September 30th and feels gratified above all at the final decision of your National Spiritual Assembly to establish a permanent office at Calcutta.[pg 39] He hopes that in time this may become an important all India centre for the propagation and administration of the Movement.

For a country like India and also Burma where the Bahá’í communities are so much scattered and are of varied extraction, a common centre to coordinate the different efforts and to link tip together both the Assemblies within India, and in the various parts of the world, is also lately necessary, and our Guardian hopes and trusts to see in time great results from this new measure. Of course much depends upon how well this organ functions.

Shoghi Effendi is in good health having taken a good rest during the summer. He awaits as much as ever the good news of the friends in India and above all news of real accomplishments.

My dear brother.

I hope that nothing has transpired of late that might have in any manner affected the expansion of the work in those regions. I fully realize your single-handedness in such a vast and varied field, but I assure you, dearest friend, that your reward is proportionately great, for He that watches over you is aware of the great devotion which animates you in the pursuit of your arduous and noble task. More power to your elbow.

Shoghi

— 42 —

November 16, 1927

[To N.R. Vakíl]

My Dear Bahá’í Brother,

I thank you on behalf of our dear Shoghi Effendi for your letter of November 4th which he was very glad to receive.

Your frequent communications keeping him in close touch with your activities and the work in India, are deeply appreciated, and he relies much upon your efforts to coordinate the work in India and to have more direct and material results than we have been accustomed to lately. When compared to some other countries and remembering the many years since the Cause was first known there, India, I am afraid, does not come up to expectations. Are we going to accept this secondary position or has the future a surprise in store? At any rate we patiently wait.

My dear and precious co-worker:[pg 40]

I will send in a few days copies of a detailed and important letter addressed to the Bahá’ís of the East which I request you to circulate forthwith amongst the friends in India and Burma. Will you send the signed copy to Bombay and dispose of the rest as you think best. I will pray for you and your dear wife that you may in the service of our beloved Master attain to your heart’s desire. I will particularly remember you at the night commemorating the ascension of our beloved Master.

General letter in Persian

Your true brother,
Shoghi.