1938

1938

— 177 —

March 20, 1938

Dear Mr. Vakíl,[pg 166]

Your welcome letter of the 14th instant, as well as your previous communication of 14th November, have both been duly received, and their contents have greatly gratified and refreshed the heart of our beloved Guardian.

He was particularly delighted to know of the warm hospitality and wholehearted assistance which the friends have so kindly extended to dear Miss Root all through her travels throughout India and Burma.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly, and specially to you and to Dr. and Mrs. Fozdar and also to our beloved and distinguished friend Mr. Isfandiar Bakhtiari he feels particularly grateful for all that you have done to make her journey comfortable and pleasant and so successful in its result.

This truly memorable visit of Miss Root to the friends in that vast continent is indeed a God sent opportunity, of which the believers should fully avail themselves in order to give the Faith the widest possible publicity, and also to attract to it the attention and sympathy of responsible leaders throughout India and Burma.[pg 167]

The Guardian will continue to pray that ere the termination of this year the results of this historic teaching trip undertaken by our beloved Miss Root may prove to be such as to ensure for many years to come the uninterrupted extension of the teaching work in all parts of India.

In closing may I take this opportunity to convey to you and to the members of your family, the Guardian’s hearty greetings and best wishes for a happy Naw-Rúz. He dearly hopes that this new Bahá’í year will bring you all every blessing, and will witness the fulfilment of your heart’s highest aspirations in service to our beloved Cause.

Dear and prized coworker:

I wish to assure you of my deepest appreciation of the welcome and assistance you have extended to our beloved Martha. I grieve however to learn that your health is not yet fully recovered, and I will pray that you may speedily and completely regain your strength and vitality and thus enhance the noble share you have had in promoting the Faith and in assisting its institutions.

Your true brother,
Shoghi

— 178 —

April 23, 1938

[To The Bahá’í Youth Group, Bombay]

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The Guardian has instructed me to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your secretary’s letter of the 3rd instant, giving the account of the celebration of the “Third Annual World Bahá’í Youth Symposium” by the Bahá’í youth of Bombay.

He has noted with deep gratification the enclosures you had sent, and is rejoiced to know that the occasion was used by your group to give a fresh publicity to the Cause through the local press.

The Guardian has also read with much interest the copies of the lectures delivered on that occasion by Mr. Monji and Dr. Irani, as well as the copy of the talk given by Mr. Mehta, all of which clearly attest the new spirit of fervour, of devoted, loyal and intelligent service that animates our young Bahá’ís in Bombay.

On the occasion of the feast of Riḍván he wishes me first to convey to all of you his warmest greetings, and further to assure you[pg 168]  of his prayers for the success and extension of your activities throughout this new Bahá’í administrative year.

Again with many thanks for your message, and with his sincere congratulations to you all.

May the Almighty bless your efforts, enable you to extend the scope of your activities, and inspire you in your meritorious and devoted endeavours.

Shoghi

— 179 —

APRIL 28, 1938

RIḌVÁN FESTIVAL CLOUDED BY PASSING HOLY MOTHER   MUNIREH ḴHÁNUM. WITH SADDENED HEARTS BAHÁ’ÍS EAST AND    WEST CALL TO MIND INVALUABLE SERVICES WHICH   HER HIGH STATION EMPOWERED HER RENDER DURING   STORMIEST DAYS ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S LIFE. ADVISE ALL CENTRES   BEFITTINGLY COMMEMORATE HER PASSING.

SHOGHI

— 180 —

April 30, 1938

[To The Local Spiritual Assembly of Poona]

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

I am directed by our beloved Guardian to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st instant written on behalf of the Spiritual Assembly of Poona conveying to him your greetings on the occasion of the Feast of Riḍván.

He wishes me to transmit to you and to your fellow members in that Assembly the expression of his sincere thanks for the message of love and loyalty you have addressed to him, and to ask you to kindly convey also to all the friends in Poona his deep appreciation of the contribution they have offered to the International Fund of the Cause.

With the renewed assurances of his prayers for the guidance and steady growth of your Community, and reciprocating your kind greetings and best wishes.[pg 169]

Dear and prized co-workers:

May the Almighty reward you a thousandfold, bless and sustain you in your incessant labours, and aid you to surmount all obstacles in your path of service to His glorious Faith.

Your true brother,
Shoghi

— 181 — 

June 22, 1938

Dear Mr. Vakíl,

The Guardian wishes me to convey to you his deep appreciation of the message of sympathy, dated June 9th, which you have kindly written him, expressing on your behalf and on behalf of your family your heartfelt condolences, in the passing away of the Holy Mother.

He is indeed moved by your thoughtfulness in remembering him in this truly sad event, and wishes me to take this opportunity of assuring you afresh of his prayers for you and your dear ones, that you may all ever remain steadfast and loyal in your services to our beloved Cause.

With his best wishes also for your health, and with greetings.

May the Beloved of our hearts, Whom you serve with such devotion and zeal, reward you a thousandfold for your magnificent services, which future generations will extol and gratefully remember, and may He enable you to extend continually their scope and deepen their influence.

Your true and grateful brother,

Shoghi

— 182 —

July 4, 1938

[To ‘Abbás ‘Alí Butt]

Beloved Bahá’í Brother,

I am directed by the Guardian to express his deepest thanks for your letters dated May 30th, June 2nd, and also for your communications of the 13th December last received long time ago.

He also wishes me to express his appreciation of your promptness in sending him the photostatic reproductions of the Certificate[pg 170]  of Incorporation of the Bombay and Poona Spiritual Assemblies for which he had asked, and these he has duly forwarded to the States for incorporation in the forthcoming issue of the “Bahá’í World.”

Concerning his telegram to your National Spiritual Assembly conveying the very sad news, of the passing away of the Holy Mother, the Guardian is very much surprised to hear that it had not reached you. Immediately after her passing a telegram was sent to your postal address in Simla, and it is a matter of deep regret indeed that for some reason or another the message has not been delivered to you so far. The Guardian would now advise that memorial gatherings be held by the friends throughout India and Burma, the date to be fixed by the National Spiritual Assembly.

It will surely please and interest the believers to know that the Holy Mother’s remains have been laid to rest in a spot in the vicinity of, and overshadowed by, the resting place of the Greatest Holy Leaf on Mt. Carmel.

The Guardian was delighted to hear of the formation of a Spiritual Assembly in Simla, and wishes that body to apply soon for official registration. He would very much appreciate receiving two copies of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Assembly, as soon as they are obtained from the authorities.

The news of the projected holding of the first Indian Bahá’í Summer School in Simla has also considerably rejoiced the heart of our beloved Guardian. He will pray that this excellent and indeed historic project may be satisfactorily carried out, and receive the wholehearted, generous and sustained support of the entire body of the believers throughout India and Burma.

The Six Year Plan which your National Spiritual Assembly has resolved to initiate with the purpose of furthering the teaching work has met with the full approval of the Guardian. He wishes your Assembly every success in this remarkable and nation wide undertakings which you have decided to launch.

In closing, may I renew his plea in connection with the publication of the Hindi and Sindhi versions of the “New Era,” which work, he hopes and shall pray, will be completed in the course of this year.

— 183 —

July 6th,

Dear and prized co-worker:[pg 171]

Your letter of June 19, enclosing reports of great interest and value, has also reached me and I am filled with a sense of happiness and gratitude for these incessant evidences of your zeal and united endeavours. I am truly impressed by the sound progress and expansion of the activities in which the believers of India and Burma are so earnestly and devotedly engaged. The institutions you have recently initiated, the Plan of teaching you have launched, the degree of tinny, of consecration and solidarity you have attained, the measures for internal consolidation you have devised, the support you have consistently and cordially extended to our dear Martha, all proclaim the depth of your devotion and attest the nobility and staunchness of your faith. The utmost care is now required to nurse, foster, multiply and coordinate these nascent institutions and activities. Every nerve should be strained, every sacrifice should be made to enable them to fructify and prosper.

I will continue to pray for the removal of every and any obstacle that may impede your march towards the goal you are destined to attain.

Persevere and be confident,
Shoghi

— 184 —

July 7, 1938

Beloved Siyyid Muṣṭafá,

The expression of loving sympathy conveyed in your letter of June 20th addressed to the Guardian on the occasion of the ascension of the Holy Mother has been very deeply appreciated by him, and he indeed wishes me to assure you, and through you the believers throughout Burma, of his profoundest thanks for the condolences you have been moved to express to him in his very sad bereavement.

Grief stricken as the believers throughout the world must certainly feel at this heavy and indeed cruel loss, yet they should derive comfort at the thought that she is now reunited with her Lord, and is enjoying the blissfulness and peace which the great World Beyond alone can confer.

Her mortal remains, the friends will surely be pleased to know, have been laid to rest in a spot overshadowed by the resting place of the Greatest Holy Leaf on Mt. Carmel.[pg 172]

In closing I wish to renew to you the Guardian’s loving and abiding gratitude for your painstaking and devoted labours for the Faith in Burma. He will continue to pray, that despite your advancing age and the attending difficulties and obstacles of your life, you may be given many more years of active service in the Cause.

With loving Bahá’í greetings to all the believers in Mandalay, including your own dear self.

Dear and prized co-worker:

It is always such a joy and comfort to hear from you. You are, I assure you, often in my thoughts and prayers. I long to hear of the fruits which your incessant labours are yielding. You have set an inspiring and unforgettable example to the rising generation. The Concourse on high is proud of and extols your splendid achievements. Be happy and comforted.

Your true and grateful brother,
Shoghi

— 185 —

SEPTEMBER 22, 1938

ASSURE FIRST SUMMER SCHOOL SIGNALIZED PRESENCE BELOVED MARTHA FERVENT PRAYERS SUCCESS DELIBERATIONS.

SHOGHI

— 186 —

December 1, 1938

[To ‘Abbás ‘Alí Butt]

Dear Bahá’í Brother,

I am instructed by our beloved Guardian to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your communication dated October 17th, together with the enclosed report on the first Indian Bahá’í Summer School held in Simla during last September.

This report, in view of its interest and import to the believers throughout the world, will be published in both the Persian and English newsletters of the Haifa Spiritual Assembly as to the photographs of the Summer School you had submitted under separate cover, these will be placed in the Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí, and will also appear in the “Bahá’í World” Vol. VIII.[pg 173]

The Guardian wishes me in this connection to express his profound satisfaction at the success that has attended the National Spiritual Assembly’s efforts for the formation of this first Bahá’í Summer School in India-a step which, he strongly feels, is bound to accelerate the extension of the teaching activities of the believers in that land.

He is truly delighted to know that the attendance at the school has been satisfactory, and that the young believers, in particular, have been most enthusiastic about it. What he feels now is most essential is for the National Spiritual Assembly to make arrangements to have this school held regularly every year, so that it may develop into an effective, and increasingly vital, instrument for the propagation of the Faith, and also for the education and training of Bahá’í teachers.

It is the Guardian’s fervent hope that as this Institution expands, and fulfils the high hopes you all set upon it, it will be felt advisable by the National Spiritual Assembly to consider the possibilities of establishing, in due time, one or two more of such schools, thus permitting those friends, who in view of their limited means are not in a position to travel over large distances, to avail themselves of the benefits derived from these nascent Bahá’í institutions of learning.

In connection with the copy of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas published in Haifa by one of the Qadiyani missionaries; the Guardian feels that the best attitude would be to ignore altogether their action. The Cause surely towers above all such petty opposition, and the friends need have no fear whatsoever therefore.

Dear and valued co-worker:

The Six Year Plan, initiated by the National Assembly of India and Burma with such spontaneous devotion, admirable zeal and unflinching resolve, marks a milestone on the road of progress trodden by them and their fellow workers in both of those countries. The task is immense, the time is short, the hour critical but the faith that animates and sustains them strong enough to surmount all obstacles, however formidable, that may stand in their way. That they may persevere, redouble their efforts and win signal success in their mighty enterprise is the dearest wish of my heart and the object of my constant and earnest prayers.

Your true brother,
Shoghi