Bahá’í World/Volume 14/The Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár

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[Page 475]

III

THE INSTITUTION OF THE MAflRIQU’L-AQHKAR

I. FOREWORD

“Blessed is he who directeth his steps towards the Mashriqu’l-Acihkdr at the hour of dawn, communing with H im, attuned to His remembrance, imploring H is forgiveness. And having entered therein, let him sit in silence to hearken unto the verses of God, the Sovereign, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Say, the Mashriqu’l-chhkdr is in truth any House raised in towns or villages, for mention of Me. T hus hath it been

named before His T hrone; would that ye know it.”

MANY discerning minds have testified to the profoundly significant change which has taken place during recent years in the character of popular religious thinking. Religion has developed an entirely new emphasis, more especially for the layman, quite independent of the older sectarian divisions.

Instead of considering that religion is a matter of turning toward an abstract creed, the average religionist today is concerned with the practical applications of religion to the problems of human life. Religion, in brief, after having apparently lost its influence in terms of theology, has been restored more powerfully than ever as a spirit of brotherhood, an impulse toward unity, and an ideal making for a more enlightened civilization throughout the world.

Against this background, the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár stands revealed as the supreme expression of all those modern religious tendencies animated by social ideals which do not repudiate the reality of spiritual experience but seek to transform it into a dynamic striving for unity. The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, when clearly understood, gives the world its most potent agency for applying mystical vision or idealistic aspiration to the service of humanity. It makes visible and concrete those deeper meanings and wider possibilities of religion which could not be realized until the dawn of this universal age.

The term “Mashriqu’l-Adhkár” means literally, “Dawning-place of the praise of God.”

To appreciate the significance of this Bahá’í

Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas

institution, we must lay aside all customary ideas of the churches and cathedrals of the past. The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár fulfills the original intention of religion in each dispensation, before that intention had become altered and veiled by human invention and belief.

The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is a channel releasing spiritual powers for social regeneration because it fills a diflerent function than that assumed by the sectarian church. Its essential purpose is to provide a community meetingplace for all who are seeking to worship God, and achieves this purpose by interposing no man-rnade veils between the worshipper and the Supreme. Thus, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is freely open to people of all Faiths on equal terms, who now realize the universality of Bahá’u’lláh in revealing the oneness of all the Prophets. Moreover, since the Bahá’í Faith has no professional clergy, the worshipper entering the Temple hears no sermon and takes part in no ritual the emotional effect of which is to establish a separate group consciousness.

Integral with the Temple are its accessory buildings, without which the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár would not be a complete social institution. These buildings are to be devoted to such activities as a school for science, a hospice, a hospital, an asylum for orphans. Here the circle of spiritual experience at last joins, as prayer and worship are allied directly to creative service, eliminating the static subjective elements from religion and laying a foundation for a new and higher type of human association.

HORACE HOLLEY

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THE BAHA i WORLD

2. THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE

MAS_HRIQU’L-ADEKAR

A LETTER FROM SHOGHI EFFENDI

It should be borne in mind that the central Edifice of the Mash.riqu’l-A_d_l;1kér, round which in the fullness of time shall cluster such institutions of social service as shall afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to the poor, shelter to the wayfarer, solace to the bereaved, and education to the ignorant, should be regarded apart from these Dependencies, as a House solely designed and entirely dedicated to the worship of God in accordance with the few yet definitely prescribed principles established by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. It should not be inferred, however, from this general statement that the interior of the central Edifice itself will be converted into a conglomeration of religious services conducted along lines associated with the traditional procedure obtaining in churches, mosques, synagogues, and other temples of worship. Its various avenues of approach, all converging towards the central Hall beneath its dome, will not serve as admittance to those sectarian adherents of rigid formulae and man-made creeds, each bent, according to his way, to observe his rites, recite his prayers, perform his ablutions, and display the particular symbols of his faith within separately defined sections of Bahá’u’lláh’s Universal House of Worship. Far from the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár offering such a spectacle of incoherent and confused sectarian Observances and rites, a condition wholly incompatible with the provisions of the Aqdas and irreconcilable with the spirit it inculcates, the central House of Bahá’í worship, enshrined within the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, will gather within its chastened walls, in a serenely spiritual atmosphere, only those who, discarding forever the trappings of elaborate and ostentatious ceremony, are willing worshippers of the one true God, as manifested in this age in the Person of Bahá’u’lláh. To them will the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár symbolize the fundamental verity underlying the Bahá’í Faith, that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is not final but progressive. Theirs will be the conviction that

an all-loving and ever-watchful Father Who, in the past, and at various stages in the evolution of mankind, has sent forth His Prophets as the Bearers of His Message and the Manifestations of His Light to mankind, cannot at this critical period of their civilization withhold from His children the Guidance which they sorely need amid the darkness which has beset them, and which neither the light of science nor that of human intellect and wisdom can succeed in dissipating. And thus having recognized in Bahá’u’lláh the source whence this celestial light proceeds, they will irresistibly feel attracted to seek the shelter of His House, and congregate therein, unhampered by ceremonials and unfettered by creed, to render homage to the one true God, the Essence and Orb of eternal Truth, and to exalt and magnify the name of His Messengers and Prophets Who, from time immemorial even unto our day, have, under divers circumstances and in varying measure, mirrored forth to a dark and wayward world the light of heavenly Guidance.

But however inspiring the conception of Bahá’í worship, as witnessed in the central Edifice of this exalted Temple, it cannot be regarded as the sole, nor even the essential, factor in the part which the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, as designed by Bahá’u’lláh, is destined to play in the organic life of the Bahá’í community. Divorced from the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-A_(mkér, Bahá’í worship, however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve beyond the meagre and often transitory results produced by the contemplations of the ascetic or the communion of the passive worshipper. It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshipper himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l [Page 477]INSTITUTION OF THE MAS_HRIQU’L-AI_)_HKAR

Adhkár to facilitate and promote. Nor will the exertions, no matter how disinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu’l-Ag_h_kar will be engaged in administering the affairs of the future Bahá’í Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Nothing short of direct and constant interaction between the spiritual forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and the energies consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity can possibly provide the necessary agency capable of removing the ills that have so long and so grievously afflicted

The Mother Temple of America, Wilmette, Illinois; dedicated May 2, 1953.

humanity. For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend. And of all the institutions that stand associated with His Holy Name, surely none save the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár can most adequately provide the essentials of Bahá’í worship and service, both so vital to the regeneration of the world. Therein lies the secret of the loftiness, of the potency, of the unique position of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár as one of the outstanding institutions conceived by Bahá’u’lláh.

October 25, 1929.

[Page 478]478 THE Bahá’í WORLD

dedicated September 16, 1961.

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479

3. THE RAZING OF THE MA_S__}_I_RIQU’L-A_D_H_KAR

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ON August 25, 1963, the Universal House of Justice announced to the Bahá’í world that the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in ‘Ishqábád, the first Temple raised to the glory of Bahá’u’lláh, had been demolished by the authorities and the site cleared. It was in an unsafe condition due to damage by earthquake.

Other than a brief account by a pilgrim, appearing in very early volumes of The Bahá’í World, no adequate description of the building or of the real significance of the ‘Ishqábád Temple has yet appeared in this series. The history of the erection of this edifice, described by Shoghi Effendi as one of “. . . the outstanding achievements that have embellished the brilliant record of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s unique ministry” is recounted by the Guardian in God Passes By:1

‘ pp. 300—301 .

“More conspicuous than any of these undertakings, however, was the erection of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Bahá’í world in the city of ‘I shqébéd, a center founded in the days of Bahá’u’lláh, where the initial steps preparatory to its construction, had been alreadyundertaken during Hislifetime. Initiated at about the close of the first decade of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry (1902) ; fostered by Him at every stage in its development; personally supervised by the venerable Hájí Mirzá Muhammad-Taqi, the Vakilu’d—Dawlih, a cousin of the Báb, who dedicated his entire resources to its establishment, and whose dust now reposes at the foot of Mt Carmel under the shadow of the Tomb of his beloved Kinsman; carried out according to the directions laid down by the Center of the Covenant Himself; a lasting witness to the

[Page 480]480

fervor and the self—sacrifice of the Oriental believers who were resolved to execute the bidding of Bahá’u’lláh as revealed in the Kitdbi-Aqdas, this enterprise must rank not only as the first major undertaking launched through the concerted efforts of His followers in the Heroic Age of His Faith, but as one of the most brilliant and enduring achievements in the history of the first Bahá’í century.

“The edifice itself, the foundation stone of which was laid in the presence of General Krupatkin, the governor-general of Turkistán, who had been delegated by the Czar to represent him at the ceremony, has thus been minutely described by a Bahá’í visitor from the West: ‘The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár stands in the heart of the city; its high dome standing out above the trees and house tops being visible for miles to the travelers as they approach the town. It is in the center of a garden bounded by f our streets. In the four corners of this enclosure are four buildings: one is the Bahá’í school; one is the traveler’s house, where pilgrims and wayfarers are lodged; one is for the keepers, while the fourth one is to be used as a hospital. Nine radial avenues approach the Temple from the several parts of the grounds, one of which, the principal approach to the building, leads from the main gateway of the grounds to the principal portal of the Temple.’ ‘In plan,’ he further adds, ‘the building is composed of three sections; namely, the central rotunda, the aisle or ambulatory which surrounds it, and the loggia which surrounds the entire building. It is built on the plan of a regular polygon of nine sides. One side is occupied by the monumental main entrance, flanked by minarets—a high arched portico extending two stories in height recalling in arrangement the architecture of the world famous Taj Mahal at Agra in India, the delight of the world to travelers, many of whom pronounce it to be the most beautiful temple in the world. Thus the principal doorway opens toward the direction of the Holy Land. The entire building is surrounded by two series of loggias—one upper and one lower—which opens out upon the garden giving a very beautiful architectural effect in harmony with the luxuriant semi-tropical vegetation which fills the garden. . . The interior walls of the

THE Bahá’í WORLD

rotunda are treated in five distinct stories. First, a series of nine arches and piers which separate the rotunda from the ambulatory. Second, a similaI treatment with balustrades which separate the tiiforium gallery (which is above the ambulatory and is reached by two staircases in the loggias placed one on either side of the main entrance) from the well of the rotunda. Third, a series of nine blank arches filled with fretwork, between which are escutcheons bearing the Greatest Name. Fourth, a series of nine large arched windows. Fifth, a series of ei ghteen bull’s-eye windows. Above and resting on a cornice surmounting this last story rises the inner hemispherical shell of the dome. The interior is elaborately decorated in plaster relief work. . . The whole structure impresses one by its mass and strength.’ ”

The local community and the activities of the friends throughout the provinces of Turkistán expanded and developed in stature until 1928, when the law expropriating religious edifices was applied to this Temple. However, under the terms of two five-year leases, the Bahá’í community was permitted to continue to use the building as a House of Worship. In 1938 the Temple was completely expropriated and converted into an art gallery.

In 1948 violent earthquakes shook the whole town causing devastation and ruin. The building was seriously damaged. The only section which remained relatively secure was the central rotunda. Heavy yearly rains further weakened the structure to such a degree as to endanger the safety of houses in the vicinity. It was at this point that the authorities decided to demolish the remaining edifice and clear the site.

A reliable report indicated that had the Temple been restored to us at this point, we would have had no option but to raze the building ourselves.

The Universal House of J ustice appealed to Chairman Nikita Khrushchev to set aside the Temple ground as a public park and to agree to the erection of a suitable marker pointing out the significance of this site to the Bahá’ís of the world. It is not known whether any action was taken. The letter remains unanswered.

[Page 481]1963.

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[Page 483]INSTITUTION OF THE MA§_I_1RIQU’L-AD_HKAR

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4.. DEDICATION OF THE MOTHER TEMPLE OF EUROPE

ON July 4, 1964, the Mother Temple of Europe, near Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was dedicated to the unity of God and of mankind. Nearly one thousand five hundred Bahá’ís came from all over the world to participate in this historic event that began with two dedication services on Saturday morning. An equal number of people, including many Bahá’ís, attended the public programmes in the afternoon. The gigantic task of building the first Bahá’í House of Worship on the European continent, given to the Bahá’ís of Germany by Shoghi Effendi over a decade ago and assisted by the believers throughout the world, thus drew to its victorious conclusion.

The Temple stands on a. low hill in the midst

The Mother Temple of Europe, Langenhain, West Germany; dedicated July 4, 1964.

of peaceful, green countryside near the village of Langenhain in the Taunus Hills. Planned and built by Teuto Rochell, architect from Frankfurt am Main, this House of Worship seats approximately five hundred persons. The diameter at base measures one hundred and fifty—eight feet and there are twenty-seven pillars supporting the dome on the interior. The construction of the dome is such that a maximum amount of light can enter, bringing about an interesting play of light and shadow, attractively brightened by the sun’s reflection on the five hundred and seventy glass panels.

After ascending the low steps encircling the Temple and entering through the clear gla'ss doors, the beauty and light of the interior im [Page 484]484

pels one to look upward to the Greatest Name, set in gold against a light blue background in the apex of the dome. Below the level of the dome, purple and gray-blue draperies line the glass walls, the colour being further enhanced by the many beautiful floral arrangements for this day of dedication.

THE BAHA

DEDICATION PROGRAMME

The Bahá’í dedication programme opened with a. 5010, the twenty-third Psalm, sung in German by Norman Bailey, the famous English baritone. This was followed by the reading of Bahá’í prayers in several languages and the dedication address in German by the Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, the respresntative of the Universal House of Justice. At the close of her address, she asked all to rise while she read a. prayer revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. This was followed by a prayer of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in German, an extract from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh in English, a prayer chanted in Persian and further readings from the Old and New Testaments in German. Maria Montana. sang a. modification of a musical arrangement of the Arabic Hidden Words composed by Charles Duncan. There were readings in German from the BhagavadGita, the Qur’án and the Bahá’í Writings, with additional prayers in Swedish, French and Spanish. The programme concluded with the prayer of Bahá’u’lláh, From the Sweet-Scented Streams, set to music by Charles Wolcott and sung solo in German.

VIEWING OF SACRED PORTRAITS

Following this programme, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum arranged the portraits of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb on a table before an exquisite golden and red Persian rug which she had brought from the Holy Land as a gift to the German National Spiritual Assembly for the Temple—a rug which had lain in the room of Bahá’u’iléh at Bahjí. Red roses brought from the grave of the beloved Guardian in London were placed near the portraits. The Bahá’ís were then privileged to view these sacred pictures, first passing in front of Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum who anointed each one with attar of rose.

3

i WORLD

SPECIAL INAUGURAL SERVICE FOR DIGNITARIES

Preceding the two public programmes, 3. special inaugural service was held at 2.30 pm. for officially invited guests from the government, including regional and local authorities. For this occasion, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum read an address in German. A Frankfurt chorus of twenty voices sang three selections, a cappella, for this service and for the first of the public programmes which followed. These were Sig! dem Herrn ein neuces Lied by J. S. Bach; Exultate deo, adjutori nastro by Alessandro Scarlatti sung in Latin; and, for closing, Cantata domim' canticum novunz by Schijtz, sung in Latin.

PUBLICITY IN LEADING NEWSPAPERS

On July 3 about thirty press representatives had attended a. press conference on the Temple dedication. Articles appeared in five leading Frankfurt newspapers and on Saturday and Sunday radio and television publicity occurred. On Sunday, July 5, following the day of dedication, two thousand people visited the Temple. Weeklyinformalprogrammeswereinaugurated. Illuminated at night, the Temple is visible from the city of Frankfurt.

Miss Edna True, representative of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, commenting on the significance of the Temple dedication said: “As the day of dedication progressed, the spiritual radiance of this Bahá’í House of Worship became increasingly evident, setting aglow the hearts of all who were privileged to be present.”

The Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land cabled their joy and gratitude:

OCCASION HISTORIC DEDICATION MOTHER

TEMPLE EUROPE JOIN ASSEMBLED FRIENDS

PRAYERS PRAISE THANKSGIVING ACHIEVEMENT

HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT OBJECTIVE BELOVED

GUARDIANS WORLD REDEEMING PLAN STOP

ACCORDANCE DIVINE PROMISES SACRED EDIFICE

CONSECRATED EVERLASTING GLORY MOST

GREAT NAME WILL BECOME POINT OF LIGHT

RADIATING SPIRIT BAHAULLAHS TEACHINGS

AND HASTEN FULFILMENT SPIRITUAL DESTINY

ENTIRE CON'I‘INENT

Another Bahá’í Temple has become a “silent teacher”. Based on the report appearing in U.S. Bahá’í News, vol. 402, Sept. 1964.

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Aerial view of the Temple at Langenhaz‘n, West Germany.

EUROPEAN TEACHING CONFERENCE

Message of the Universal House of Justice

To the beloved of God gathered in the European Teaching Conference called on the occasion of the dedication of the Mother Temple of Europe.

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We have just witnessed the dedication of the Mother Temple of Europe—a project of untold significance and tremendous potential for the spread of the light of God’s Faith in that continent. One of the major achievements called for by our beloved Guardian at the outset of the Ten Year Crusade, this Mashriqu’l-Adhkár was triumphantly raised during its closing years as the fruit of long and arduous labours in the face of determined opposition and upon the sacrificial gifts of believers from all parts of the world. Now dedicated in the opening months of the Nine Year Plan, it forms a. striking link between these two great crusades demonstrating afresh the organic progress of the Cause whereby the efforts exerted in one period

bear fruit in the next, which in turn endow the Bahá’í Community with new and greater capacities for the winning of still greater victories.

You are now gathered in this Conference to deliberate on ways and means of accomplishing the goals which are set before you. Let every believer, as he considers in detail these various goals, bear in mind four supreme objectives: to carry the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to every stratum of society, not only in the towns and cities but also in the villages and country districts where the virus of materialism has had much less effect on the lives of men; to take urgent, wise and well-considered steps to spread the Faith to those countries of Eastern Europe in which it has not yet become established; to reinforce strongly the heroic band of pioneers in the islands of the Mediterranean and the North Sea—islands which are to play such an important role in the awakening of the entire continent—as well as to persecute energetically the goals you are called upon to

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achieve in other continents and oceans; and to foster the cooperation between National Communities and between National Spiritual Assemblies and the Hands of the Cause of God which has contributed so markedly to the work of the Faith on that continent and is so essential for its future development.

Above all let every European Bahá’í have ever-present in his mind that these are the five years during which Bahá’u’lláh sojourned on the soil of that continent a century ago. Let him resolve so to deepen his knowledge of the Faith and so to increase his standards of self-sacrifice and dedication to the Cause as to play his part in building a Community which will be worthy of this supreme bounty and which will be a beacon light to the peoples of this fearwracked world.

In 1953 Shoghi Effendi wrote that the continent of Europe had “at last at this critical hour ——this great turning point in its fortunesentered upon what may well be regarded as the opening phase of a great spiritual revival that bids fair to eclipse any period in its spiritual history.” Those who have been privileged to witness the extraordinary strengthening and consolidation of the Cause in Europe during the course of the last eleven years are well aware of the reservoir of spiritual potential that has been building up and the transformation of the life of the European Bahá’í Community that has ensued. May the completion and dedication of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár be the signal for the unleashing of this potential, bringing about on the European mainland and in the islands around its shores a quickening of the process of individual conversion comparable to those events which have transpired with such astonishing suddenness in other continents of the globe. The Universal House of Justice July, 1964

On Sunday, July 5, the day following the dedication of the Mother Temple of Europe, a European Teaching Conference was held in a spacious hall of the Gesellschaftshaus z‘m Zoologischen Garten.

After a devotional programme of prayers in several languages, the conference was opened by Ruprecht G. Kruger, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany who welcomed the representative of the Universal House of Justice, the Hand of the Cause

THE BAHA’

i WORLD

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum who had just returned from a teaching trip to India, and the Hand of the Cause John Ferraby of England. Owing to illness, the other European Hands of the Cause were not able to be present at the dedication or the conference. The chairman then greeted representatives of National Spiritual Assemblies from America, Africa, Asia and Australia, as well as from the fourteen centres of Europe outside Germany who participated in this conference.

CABLES FROM THE WORLD CENTRE

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, the first speaker, read a cablegram from the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land and the message from the Universal House of Justice. She emphasized the major themes contained in that message and pointed out that in these first years of the Nine Year Plan we are living in the same five year period in which, one hundred years ago, Bahá’u’lláh suffered so much on the continent of Europe. The beloved Hand of the Cause conveyed the love and greetings Of the Bahá’ís of India and of their National Spiritual Assembly, stating that she was returning to India and Ceylon after a brief rest.

Many messages were received and were read from time to time during the conference, from Hands of the Cause, from National and Local Spiritual Assemblies and from individual Bahá’ís in all parts of the world. From Hawaii came the gift of a plant for the Temple grounds.

REPORTS PRESENTED BY FIFTEEN NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES

Reports on how to meet the requirements of the Nine Year Plan were then called for by the conference chairman from the representatives of the fifteen European National Spiritual Assemblies. The interweaving pattern of the goals, assigned by the Universal House of J ustice to each National Assembly, called for a close cooperation between them and the Bahá’ís in all parts of the world, continuing and extending the work of the beloved Guardian in his Ten Year World Crusade. The representative from each National Spiritual Assembly gave the current statistical status of the Faith in that country, outlined the objectives assigned for the

[Page 487]INSTITUTION OF THE MAS_HRIQU’L-AQ§KAR

Nine Year Plan on the homefront and in respect to the tasks in which it must assist or be assisted by other National Assemblies in overseas and global missions. Many of these representatives presented plans drawn up by their National Assemblies for achieving their objectives.

TEACHING THE MASSES

Promptly at 5 pm. it was time for the eagerly awaited address by the Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum on mass conversion. She told how she had spent four months travelling all over India, accompanied by Mrs. Violette Nathavani, visiting especially the villages. She said she now knows that mass conversion is a reality, as she has seen it and experienced it. To her, she said, it is like sowing the seeds of rice—if they are sown in the right soil, they grow profusely, but they will not grow if sown in cement. She said there are more than one hundred thousand Bahá’ís in the villages of India. What kind of Bahá’ís are they? she asked. She stated that they are truly Bahá’ís, that those who have been Bahá’ís only a few months are as deeply devoted as the greatest teachers of the Bahá’í world. These are the “cream” and even though illiterate they are the most outstanding Bahá’í teachers in the world today. There are others, she said, who have as yet barely grasped the significance of the Cause they have embraced and there are those in between these two extremes.

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum said that the Hindus teach in symbols, so in speaking in the villages she used the symbol of the wheel on their ox carts, whose strength is in its hub. She would ask, Is the strength in the rim ? No, they would answer. In the spokes ? No. In the hub ? Yes. She likened the rim to humanity, the spokes to the many different customs and traditions of humanity, its races and religions, and the hub to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh which holds all firmly in unity and in perfect balance. This they accepted. She also said: “Let us never give any human being the impression that you become a Bahá’í at the age of fifteen years or that signing a registration card has anything to do with belief. You enroll by signing the card in order to be registered, to receive the privileges of the Faith and to protect it, but can anyone,” she asked, “think that when ‘Abdu’l HH

487

Baha as a boy of eight went to the Siyah-Qhél to enquire about His Father this child was not yet a Bahá’í ?” She pointed out that Bahá’u’lláh commanded all parents to raise their children in the Cause of God.

PUBLIC ADDRESSES GIVEN IN EVENING

The evening of Sunday, July 5, was given over to the public meeting. The two speakers were the Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, and Dr. Eugen Schmidt, an Auxiliary Board member from Germany. Dr. Schmidt spoke in German on “The Bahá’í House of Worship” and outlined its spiritual significance and function, citing passages from Isaiah and from the Arabic Hidden Words in conclusion.

The subject of the address in English by Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum was “Humanity in Crisis”. She referred to the everrecurring crises in the world, suggesting that they were due to its illnesses. She pointed out that what the world needs today more than anything else is unity. This unity is provided in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Divine Physician. International organizations at present are not capable of holding in balance all the spokes of the wheel of human affairs; nothing short of the spiritual Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh can achieve this. The Bahá’í Faith, she said, is the gift that is being ofl‘ered to the world, a gift as natural as the coming of spring and the shining of the sun. Annaliese Bopp, secretary of the German National Spiritual Assembly, gave an excellent concurrent translation into German of this talk.

GROUP CONSULTATION HELD ON NINE YEAR PLAN

On Monday morning, July 5, from 8.30 to 10.30, group consultations were held on various topics, each topic being assigned a different meeting place. The topics were: 1. Teaching on the homefront (methods, summer schools, travelling teachers); 2. Cooperation of National Spiritual Assemblies for propagation of the Faith in Europe; 3. Bahá’í Publishing Trusts and the printing and translation of Bahá’í literature; 4. Mass media (press, radio, television); 5. Bahá’í news exchange (joint publica [Page 488]488

tion); 6. Finances (planning, budgets, concentration on special tasks).

Summary reports of these consultations were given in the conference hall beginning at 11.00 a.m., with Louis Henuzet, Auxiliary Board member from Belgium as chairman for this session and the afternoon meeting which concluded the conference. All felt that the group consultations and the meeting of the Bahá’ís from the various countries participating in the Nine Year Plan for Europe were of great benefit.

The European Teaching Conference was attended also by representatives of eleven National Spiritual Assemblies not participating in European objectives of the Nine Year Plan. These were the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’ís of the Arabian Peninsula, of Australia, of Colombia, of the Indian Ocean (Mauritius), of Train, of ‘Iráq, of North East Africa (Ethiopia), of Pakistan, of Panama, of Turkey and of Venezuela. Bahá’ís were also present from British Guiana, Indonesia and Malaysia.

THE BAHA

SUMMARY OF CONFERENCE

In summarizing the conference, Mr. Henuzet emphasized the need for pioneers and called upon Miss Jessie Revel] from the World Centre who read extracts from the words of Shoghi Effendi. The Hand of the Cause John Ferraby pointed out that when one is in the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, one is in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, that is as near to being at the Holy Shrines as it is possible to come in Europe; that

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the Temple is the heart of the European Bahá’í community; and that the power of the Covenant will flow through those who actively follow the path of the Covenant—the path of the Nine Year Plan at this time.

The conference was closed with a plea by Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum to the European Bahá’ís and particularly the German Bahá’ís in Frankfurt and the surrounding area, to support the regular weekly programmes of the Temple, pointing out that the eyes of all are now on the Bahá’ís. She said: “There is nothing we can give to the Cause; any sacrifice is returned one hundredfold.”

From the European Teaching Conference a cablegram was sent to the World Centre advising that one thousand five hundred friends had gathered to deliberate on the message of the Universal House of Justice. The cable expressed appreciation for the bounty of the presence of the Hands of the Cause and reported that a German believer had volunteered to settle in the East Frisian Islands. In reply, the Universal House of Justice cabled:

HEARTS UPLI'FTED MESSAGE FROM CONFERENCE HISTORIC DEDICATION HAVE HIGHEST HOPES FORCES RELEASED COMPLETION TEMPLE WILL PRODUCE UNPRECEDENTED EXPANSION VICTORIOUS EUROPEAN BAHAI COMMUNITY STOP CONVEY PIONEER EAST FRISIANS LOVING GRATITUDE ASSURANCE PRAYERS STOP UNTIRING DEVOTED SERVICES MEMBERS YOUR ASSEMBLY DEEPLY APPRECIATED

Based on the report appearing in U.S. Bahá’í News, vol. 402, Sept. 1964.

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(i) DAS HAUS DER ANDACHT DER BAHA’I’

Vortrag, gehalten am 5. 7.1964 im Festsaal des Zoologischen Gartens in Frankfurt/ M ain

Seit der Industrialisierung des christlichen Abendlandes, insbesondere nach dem ersten Weltkrieg, ist eine wachsende Verweltlichung der Menschhcit zu beobachten, die mit einer zunehmenden Schwéichung und Aufsplitterung der Lebenskraft der fiberkommenen Hochreligionen einhergeht. Religionsfremdc und teilweise religionsfeindliche Ideologien beherrschen das Denken und Tun eines nicht geringen Teiles der Vélker. Bisherige Religionssysteme finden sich durch sogenannte “Quasireligionen’ ’ wie Nationalismus, Kommunismus und Wissenschaftsglauben in der Verteidigung.

Im Hinblick auf diese Entwicklung drfingt sich jedem geistig aufgeschlossenen Menschen die Frage auf, ob die fiberkommenen Formen der Anbetung Gottes heute noch dem Selbstverstéindnis und der h6heren Selbstverwirklichung des verinderten Menschen und seiner gesellschaftlichen Einrichtungen wirklich zu helfen, bzw. geistig zu ffihren vermbgen. Eine Meinungsforschung fiber die Motive des schwachen Kirchenbesuchs wfirde vermutlich zu einem nachdenklich machenden Ergebnis ffihren.

GLAUBEN UND WISSEN—RELIGION UND WISSENSCHAFT

Mfissen religiése und wissenschaftliche Gléubigkeit wesensgeméiss zu Widersprfichen und Spannungen fiihren? Wir sind der Aufl‘assung, dass verniinftiges Denken und verinnerlichte Glfiubigkeit durchaus kein Schisma, keine Entfremdung bedingen! Die Suche nach Wahrheit ist gemeinsames Anliegen von Religion und Wissenschaft, von Herz und Verstand. Dass wissenschaftliche Wahrheit sich nicht immer im rationalen Denken erschfipft, beweisen intuitiv erworbene Erkenntnisse grosser Wissenschaftler. Die Grenzen des Denkens und der Meditation sind fliessender Natur. Andererseits ist zu bedenken, dass wic Heisenberg mit Recht sagt, Glaubensbekenntnisse, “die ffir die Haltung im Leben verbindlich sein sollen”, im Blick auf das

heutige naturwissenschaftliche Weltbild unméglich “allein auf wissenschaftliche Erkenntnis zu begrfinden” sind.

Diese bisherigen Gedankengfinge sollen das Verstéindnis ffir den rcligionsgeschichtlichen Wendepunkt erleichtern, dcr in den Gottesdiensten der Bahá’í-Weltgemeinschaft zu erblicken ist.

Die Unteilbarkeit der Wahrheit ffihrt bei tieferer Einsicht in die geistigen Lebenszusammenhz‘inge zur Einheit von Religion und Wissenschaft. Das Ethos der Wissenschaft liegt in ihrer unabdingbaren Bindung an die géttlich geoifenbarte Wahrheit. Dogmatisierung der Religion einerseits und Séikularisierung der Wissenschaft andererseits bedrohen heute die innere und éussere Einheit und damit die Sicherheit der Menschheit.

Das Verhéiltnis des Menschen von heute zu seinem Schépfer unterliegt durch die geistigen Kréifte der Bahá’í—Religion seit der Mitte des letzten Jahrhunderts einem Wandel. Schon vor 100 Jahren hat der Stifter der Bahá’íReligion, Bahá’u’lláh, der Welt verkiindet:

“Der Glanz der strahlenden Barmherzigkeit Gottes hat die Vc‘ilker und Geschlechter der Erde umhfillt. Bald wird der Tag erscheinen, da das Licht der gdttlichen Einheit Osten und Westen so durchdrungen haben wird, dass fiirder kein Mensch mehr wagen kann, es nicht zu beachten.”

(“Die Sendung Bahá’u’lláhs”, S. 22.)

DAS HAUS DER ANDACHT DER Bahá’í ALS EINE ZENTRALE INSTITUTION

Dr. Eugen Schmidt

In der von Bahá’u’lláh authentisch und géttlich bestimmten Weltordnung hat Er die Errichtung von Hausern der AndachtDimmerungsorte der Lobpreisung Gottes (Mashriqu’l-Adhkár)—als cine zentrale Einrichtung ffir die Gléiubigen angeordnet. In diesen Gotteshéiusem, die in ihrer sakralarchitektonischen Form die Einheit Gottes, die

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Einheit Seiner Ofl‘enbarer und die Einheit der Menschheit versinnbildlichen, wird das Wort Gottes aus alien Heiligen Schriften der Ofl‘enbarungsreligionen gelesen oder gesungen, ohne Predigt, ohne Exegese. Ohne Instrumentalmusik erklingt die menschliche Stimme auch im Solo- Oder Chorgesang zur Verherrlichung und Anbetung Gottes.

Neun Tore nach allen Richtungen symbolisieren die Ofi'enheit fur Menschen aller Rassen und Bekenntnisse, die sich zur Einigung und Erleuchtung ihrer Herzen unter das Wort Gottes stellen wollen. Folgende Worte Bahá’u’lláhs erhellen den tiefsten Sinn der 1'itus- und kultfreien Form, die den Gottesdiensten der Bahá’í eigen ist:

“Ihr Fiihrer der Religionen! Messt das Buch Gottes nicht mit solchen Massen und Wissenschaften, die euch geldufig sind, denn das Buch selbst ist die untriigliche Waage, die unter den Menschen aufgestellt warden ist! Auf dieser vollkommenen Waage soll alles gewogen werden, was die Vb'lker und Geschlechter der Erde besitzen. . . Verfz’ilscht nicht das heilige, allumfassende Urwort Gottes und versucht nicht, seine Heiligkeit zu entwerten and semen erhabenen Charakter herabzuwiirdigen.”

Der Ruf Bahá’u’lláhs wendet sich schon seit 1 00 J ahren an alle Vélker, Rassen und Bekenntnisse. Seine Ofi‘enbarung gipfelt in dem von Ihm enthiillten géttlichen Heilsplan fur die Einigung und Befriedung der Menschheit als organische Ganzheit. Persénliche Heilserfahrung wird erhéht durch seit Jahrtausenden verheissene Heilsgewinnung ffir die in einem Glauben geeinte Menschheit. Ein neues gottverordnetes Zeitalter ist angebrochen, auf das die Propheten der voraufgegangenen Religionen mehrfach hingewiesen haben.

Die Vision des grossen hebr'alischen Propheten Jesaja “Mein Haus sol] ein Bethaus heissen allen Vélkern” ist in unserer Zeit Wirklichkeit geworden. Das gestern in schlichter Form eingeweihte Haus der Andacht auf der weithin sichtbaren Anhéihe des vorderen Taunus in Langenhain ist nach dem Willen Bahá’u’lláhs dazu bestimmt, ein Bethaus aller V61ker und Rassen in Erfiillung prophetischer Verheissungen zu sein. In Nordamerika, nahe Chikago am Michigansee, in Kampala, Uganda (Ostafrika) und in Sydney/Australien dieuen bereits Gotteshiiuser gleicher Art ihrer hohen

THE Bahá’í WORLD

vélker- und rassenverbindenden Bestimmung. Zm‘ Verbreitung des neu geoffenbarten Wortes Gottes warden in den kommenden neun Jahren in verschiedenen Stadten zwei weitere Héuser der Andacht ihre Tore éfl‘nen.

Das Haus dcr Andacht verkérpert in seiner sakralen Bestimmung symbolhaft die grundlegende Erkenntnis, die dem Bahá’í—Glauben innewohnt, class religiése Wahrheit nicht absolut, sondern relativ ist, und dass die géttliche Offenbarung keine abgeschlossene, sondern cine fortschreitende ist.

Die Bahá’í sind zutiefst davon fiberzeugt, wie Shoghi Effendi schrieb, “dass ein alliebender Vater und allgegenwartiger Vater, der in der Vergangenheit zu bestimmten Zeitabschnitten der menschlichen Entwicklung Seine Propheten als die Triiger Seiner Botschaft und. . . Seines Lichtes ffir die Menschheit aussandte, in dieser kritischen Kulturepoche Seinen Kindem nicht die Fiihrung versagen kann, die sic in dieser dunklen Stunde dringend benétigen.”

Der allumfassende Charakter der Bahá’íGottesdienste bekréiftigt die den voraufgegangenen Religionen “zugrundeliegenden ersten und immerwéihrenden Grundséitze.” Die Bahá’í—Otfenbarung bestéitigt “die jeder von ihnen innewohnende gottgewollte Autoritéit . . . und erkléirt sie als ihre festeste und eigentlichste Grundlage. Sie betrachtet sic in keinem anderen Lichte denn als verschiedene Stufen in der ewigen Geschichte und andauernden Entwickling einer g6ttlichen und unteilbaren Religion, von der sie selber nur ein abzuléisender Teil ist.” (“Die Sendung Bahá’u’lláhs”, 8.26.)

So kommt einem Hause der Andacht der Bahá’í-Weltgemeinschaft im Sinne seines géttlichen Stifters die einzigartige hohe Aufgabe zu, ein geistig weithin ausstrahlender Brennspiegel des alle Erdenbewohner umhfillenden Lichtes des Wortes Gottes zu sein. Diese Orte der Anbetung sind ffir die Angehérigen aller Religionen der Welt gebaut, auf class nach Worten ‘Abdu’l-Bahás “die Einheit der Menscheit verkiindet und zur Dienerin Gottes werde.” Die gemeinschaftsbildende, schépferische und erleuchtende Kraft des geoffenbatten Wortes Gottes findet in Europa, dem schwergepriiften Kontinent, durch die Gottesdienste im Bahá’í-Tempel auf der Langenhainer Anhéhe ihren fiberzeugenden Ausdruck.

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» ,. -, 4, A fl.

Interior view of the Temple at Langenhain, West Germany.

Das Wesen der Religion aus der Begegnung mit dem Heiligen liegt in ihrer universalistischen, wahrhaft 6kumenischen Liebesmacht, welche fiber alle irdischen Grenzen hinweg die Herzen der Menschen aller Hautfarben und Bekenntnisse zu erobern und zu einigen vermag.

Bahá’u’lláh spricht: “Ziert euch mit dem Schmuck Seines Gedenkens und erleuchtet euer Herz mit dem Lichte Seiner Liebe! Das ist der Schliissel, der die Herzen der Menschen b'flnet. . .” (“Aehrenlese”, 8.134.)

Das heute entscheidende Kriterium der Lobpreisung und Anbetung Gottes ist friedliche Verstéindigung und selbstloses Dienen im Bewusstsein um cine letzte Gemeinsamkeit und Verantwortungsgemeinschaft zur Lbsung der Weltprobleme, der Begriindung eines dauerhaften und gerechten Friedens der zerrissenen Welt.

Mit der héchsten Stiftung der Bahá’íHauser der Andacht sind nach dem Willen Bahá’u’lláhs menschendienende Einrichtungen verbunden.

“1st bisher durch Wort geft‘ihrt warden, muss esjetzt durch Taten geschehen”, lesen wir in den “Verborgenen Worten” des Religionsstifters. Weiter heisst es darin: “Das heisst, vom Tempe] des Menschen miissen heilige Taten ausgehen, denn der Worte bedienen sich alle. . . Gute Worte und reine, heilige Taten steigen empor zum Himmel der gc'ittlichen Einheit. . . . im Vorhofe des Angebeteten warden die Pritfer des Seins nichts annehmen als wahre Tugend und reine Taten.”

Die im Lichte des Wortes Gottes empfangenen allbelebenden Kréifte und Erkenntnisse sind im Sinne dieser Worte gleichsam als Segen des Gottesdienstes “in dynamisches und selbstloses Dienen ffir die Sache der Menschheit” zu fibertragen. Denn nur der verdiene heute Mensch genannt zu werden, welcher sich dem Dienste an der ganzen Menschheit weihe, schrieb Bahá’u’lláh. Dies ist der tiefere Grund, warum jedem Haus der Andacht in r‘alumlicher Néhe, nach gewisser Zeit, soziale, humanitére, ffirsorgerische, erzieherische und wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen wie z.B. Kranken [Page 492]492

haus, Altersheim, Gfistehaus, Waisenh‘ciuser, wissenschaftliche Bildungsstéitten angegliedert werden. Hier eréfinet sich wahrlich ein grosses, gemeinschaftliches und dankbares Aufgabengebiet im Zeichen derschépferischen Entfaltun g religiéiser und denkerischer Kriifte.—Im Lichte der Bahá’í-Religion wird jede Arbeit, im Geiste des Dienens ffir die Einheit und den Frieden der Menschheit getan, von unserem Schépfer auf die Ebene wahren Gottesdienstes erhoben.

Wir dfirfen grosse Hofl‘nung auf das nach fast sieben Jahren gelungene Bauwerk in Langenhain setzen, da das Haus der Andacht seine Errichtung einem géttlich bestimmten Auftrag verdankt. Es ist ein hohes Sinnbild des unerschfitterlichen Glaubens der Bahá’í-Weltgemeinde an den Anbruch einer Aera religiéser Erneuerung und Einigung des Menschengeschlechtes auf dem gottesgegebenen Fundament einer gerechten Weltordnung, “der

THE BAHA

Arche menschlichen Heils”. Alle Menschen guten Willens sind dutch den Sprecher Gottes, Bahá’u’lláh, seit hundert Jahren aufgerufen, dem Bestimmungszweck des Hauses der Andacht folgend, verantwortungsfreudig und

Amatu’l-Balzd Rdhz’yyih fldnum laying

5

the foundation stone of the Mother Temple ofLatin

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zielbewusst an der Errichtung des Menschheitsdoms mitzuwirken.

Was im atomaren Zeitalter und auf unserem klein gewordenen Planeten existentiell gebieterisch nottut, ist aufgeschlossene Begegnung der geschichtlichen Religionen, vorurteilsfrei und mit Liebe fiir alle! Auf das Umfassende, nicht auf das Begrenzte, auf das Einigende, nicht auf das Trennende, auf g6tt1iche Gerechtigkeit, nicht auf menschliche Rechthaberei kommt es heute entscheidend an.

Um besser zu verdeutlichen, was ich damit abschliessend sagen will, sei ein Wort des Stifters der Bahá’í—Religion herausgestellt:

“Wisst ihr, warum Wir euclz aus einer Erde erschaflen haben? Damit keilzer siclz iiber den anderen erhebe. Denket immer daran, wie ihr ersclzaflen wurdet. Die Wir euclz alle aus dem gleichelz Stofferschaffcn Izaben, euch geziemt es auch, wie eine Seele zu sein, in glez'cher Weise zu wandeln und im gleiclze/z Lande zu wohnen, sodass ans eurem Weserz, curen Taten um! Hana’lzmgen die Zeichen der Einheit und der wahren Freiheit sichtbar warden.” (“Verborgene Worte”, $.26.)

America; October 8, J 96 7.

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5. THE MOTHER TEMPLE OF LATIN AMERICA

ELEVATION

.nuvact eztcn nuomcu

4 1 _ > ,7 .3 5m 'I‘u‘l'l-H-Hu— n...- ‘- u u — H -—s..-. — ’--J-> u— ”1” '~:~ w n. u: I," .. .. T Ire architect’s elevation of the Mother Temple of Latin America, to be constructed near Panama C ity, Panama.

ONE of the many goals assigned to the American Bahá’í community in the beloved Guardian’s Ten Year World Crusade was to assist in the purchase of a site for the future Temple in Panama City. Land was acquired in 1954 and Shoghi Effendi cabled the United States National Assembly in October of that year: “HEARTFELT CONGRATULATIONS ACQUISITION TEMPLE SITE NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT WORLD CRUSADE.”

The foremost task assigned to the Bahá’ís of Panama in the Nine Year Plan was to “erect on your soil the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of Latin America.” A preliminary survey of the conditions affecting the construction of the Temple was soon undertaken, and in the spring of 1965 the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama, at

the request of the Universal House of Justice, extended an invitation to architects, both Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í, to submit designs for the Temple itself, giving general specifications concerning the site, the climate, the type of building and its approximate size.

Nearly fifty designs were submitted by architects of many countries, including Germany, Belgium, Canada, Italy, the British Isles, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Australia, Lebanon, France, Colombia, Panama and the United States. The task of selecting the architect was made exceedingly difficult in view of the high level of excellence of many designs, most of which demonstrated interesting concepts, imagination, technical competence, and showed an awareness of the unique character of

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Panama. The submissions were first carefully evaluated by the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama, and then all were sent to Haifa for the consideration of the Universal House of Justice, the National Assembly having indicated the ones which, in their opinion, merited further consideration.

Mr. Robert W. McLaughlin, sometime member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Dean Emeritus of the School of Architecture of Princeton University, who had been appointed by the Universal House of J ustice as its architectural consultant in respect of the erection of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Panama was invited to the Holy Land to assist in the selection of its architect.

It was decided that the design showing the greatest promise was that submitted by Mr. Peter Tillotson, a non-Bahá’í English architect. Mr. McLaughlin proceeded to London to consult with Mr. Tillotson about his proposed design and various details concerning his possible engagement. The services of Mr. Tillotson were retained and his final design embodying certain pre-Columbian architectural motifs in the wing walls supporting the dome, was approved.

In its message to the Bahá’í world at Riḍván 1966 the Universal House of Justice announced that it was initiating the Panama Temple Fund with a contribution of twenty-five thousand dollars, and called upon individual believers and Bahá’í communities everywhere to contribute liberally and continuously until sufficient funds for the erection of that historic edifice were assured.

Further investigation of the site purchased in 1954 revealed that, because of its rugged terrain, it was wholly unsuitable. As the former owner of the land owned additional property in the vicinity, negotiations were entered into to exchange the original site for one more

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advantageously located. It was soon found that a section known as “Cerro Sonsonate” would be ideal, and in September 1966, following difficult negotiations, an agreement was reached for the property transfer. By Riḍván 1967 an unpaved road had been cut to the site, enabling the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama to visit that spot for early morning prayers on the occasion of their first meeting of the new Bahá’í administrative year.

The Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, representing the Universal House of Justice, laid the foundation stone of the future Temple on Sunday, October 8, 1967, assisted by the Hand of the Cause Jalal flazeh, in the presence of seven hundred believers, including nearly two hundred and fifty of the native Indian friends, all of whom were attending the Intercontinental Conference then being held in Panama City. Mr. Peter Tillotson and Mr. Robert McLaughlin were both present.

Preparation of the site, the next step, was begun in 1968 in anticipation of commencing actual construction early in 1969. The top of the mountain was lowered by thirty-six feet, leaving a solid rock foundation, and the extra earth from the site was used to build up a parking area to accommodate approximately fifty cars.

Thus were concluded the preliminary steps presaging the letting of the contracts for the building of the Mother Temple of Latin America in that country often referred to by the Master and the beloved Guardian as the place where two great oceans meet in the Panama Canal. “That place,” said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “will become very important in the future. The Teachings, once established there, will unite the East and the West, the North and the South.”

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1% rs

The architect’s elevation of the Temple to be constructed at Ṭihrán, Persia.

The construction of a. Bahá’í Temple in Ṭihrán, an unfulfilled goal of the Ten Year Crusade, was made a' goal of the Nine Year Plan. Pending the development of circumstances propitious to its erection, the National Spiritual Assembly of frén has built a wall around the Temple

property, which is very extensive, has surveyed the land and located the site of the future edifice. A special committee of Bahá’í architects and engineers has worked on detailed plans for the Temple whose design was approved many years ago by the Guardian of the Faith.

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National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of West Africa, 1964—1965. The Hand of the Cause Jolm Robarts is standing in the front row, third from left.

• » s

. - m, 15*.

National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of West Central Africa, 1964—1965 (two members absent). The Hand of the Cause John Robarts is seated in the centre. Auxiliary Board members Manford Ekongwe and Samuel Smart are standing at the extreme left and right, back row.