INTRODUCTION
THE ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921 deprived the Bahá’í Faith of the central spiritual being who, wellnigh alone, had promulgated the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh to the ends of the earth. During His Mission, a potent bond of union held together the Bahá’í communities of East and West, the strength and significance of which could not be appreciated until suddenly taken away. With the Master ever accessible to the growing number of His devoted followers—with the facility, except during the War years, of pilgrimage to His Household at Haifa—with the increasing literature in many languages compiled from His Tablets of spiritual counsel and encouragement—the Bahá’ís themselves were conscious of a world—wide solidarity so real and complete that it required no other instrument nor symbol than His outpouring love and the mighty influence of His consecration to the cause.
The years since 1921 have witnessed a rapid and far-reaching effort on the part of Bahá’ís to realize, through loyalty to the Master's Testament, concrete and visible means of unity and spiritual cooperation, the evidences of a true Community of faith embracing the most diverse elements in present-day society.
By 1924 the time seemed opportune for the preparation of a work, in the nature of a year book, which could serve to acquaint the international Bahá’í community with the scope of its increasing activities and the important new trends apparent in its development. By suggestion of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada took the initiative in summoning together an international committee to plan the work, gather the material and make possible the publication of an annual record.
The Bahá’í Year Book, Volume One, April 1925-April 1926, was the first result of this task. The experience of the editorial committee proved that a period of two years would be advisable for the preparation of a work drawing upon sources so widely separated in distance and so widely diversified in language. The first, necessarily experimental volume, however, revealed so firm a community among the believers that it was decided to change the title to the present one, The Bahá’í World. Bearing this new title, and greatly increased in size, volumes have been published for the period 1926-1928, and for the period l928—l930. The present work is accordingly the fourth in this series. All have been supervised and given final editing by Shoghi Effendi.
Even for non-Bahá’ís these volumes recording the vital growth of a new and distinctive religious commonwealth possess a great measure of interest. The collapse of conventional creeds, the sudden and unexpected economic depression, the smouldering fear of another and even more disastrous armed[Page xvi]
conflict, the existence of emboldened and desperate revolutionary movements in many countries, combine to emphasize, even to the unthinking person, the value of any influence which can renew the sources of faith and offer a means of moral union and solidarity to the clashing elements of society at this time. More and more the considered attention of this age turns to the Faith inspired by Bahá’u’lláh as the sole path promising to lead a divided and overburdened humanity toward world order and peace.
A record of actual growth in the spirit of unity, such as this volume presents, even though in comparison to conventional standards the record be of a people socially uninfluential and numerically unimpressive, nevertheless by the vitality of that spirit stands apart from other contemporary records, as the first faint signs of dawn stand apart from the gloom of night.
From a letter written by Shoghi Effendi dated Haifa, Palestine, December 6, 1928, the editors of the present work quote the following passage which referred to the publication or a previous volume: “This unique record of world-wide Bahá’í activity attempts to present to the general public, as well as to the student and scholar, those historical facts and fundamental principles that constitute the distinguishing features of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to this age." No better statement could be found to describe the purpose or this later record.
Each successive volume has contained, in addition to the factual material essential to this type or book, certain features possessing extraordinary spiritual importance. Thus, In the first volume was included “The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá," by Lady Blomfield and Shoghi Effendi, and "Extracts from Bahá’í Sacred Writing“; while the two succeeding volumes were distinguished by additional Excerpts, including passages from the Testament of Abdu’l-Bahá and “The City of Certitude” from words of Bahá’u’lláh; “The Dawn of the Bahá’í Revelation,” from Nabíl’s Narrative; Excerpts from letters of Shoghi Effendi and “The Case of Bahá’u’lláh's House in Baghdad Before the League of Nations."
The present volume is noteworthy more particularly in that it contains such material as “Bahá’u’lláh: The Voice of Religious Reconciliation"; “Martyrdom of the Báb," from Nabíl’s Narrative; and “The Goal of a New World Order," by Shoghi Effendi. The many reproductions of photographs, especially those of Persian scenes associated with the history of the Faith, add immeasurably to the interest of the book.
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STAFF OF EDITORS
AMERICA— Nellie S. French, Chairman, 501 Bellefontaine St., Pasadena, Calif. Albert R. Windust, Secretary, 4639 Beacon St., Chicago. Horace Holley, 125 East 10th St., New York City. Wanden M. LaFarge, 205 East 69th St., New York City. Victoria Bedikian, Photograph Editor, P. O. Box 179, Montclair, N. J.
GREAT BRITAIN— Annie B. Romer, 288 Upper Regent St., London, W.1. GERMANY— Dr. Hermann Grossmann, Friedrich Voglerstrasse 4, Weinheim, Baden.
SWITZERLAND— Emogene Hoagg, Case 181 Stand, Geneva
FRANCE— Madame Hesse, 27 Rue Rémusat. Auteuil. Paris.
PERSIA— Dr. Lutfu’llah Ḥakím, Avenue Chirágh Barg, Ṭihrán
INDIA AND BURMA— Prof. Pritam Singh, 9 Langley Road. Lahore, India.
PALESTINE— Effie Baker, Assistant Photograph Editor, Bahá’í Pilgrim House, Haifa
EGYPT— Muḥammad Muṣṭáfá, Egyptian State Telegraph, Port Said.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND— Bertram Dewing, 5 Allred Road, Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand.
‘IRAQ— Dr. Aflaṭún Mírzá, Bagdad.
INTERNATIONAL— Martha L. Root, care Roy C. Wilhelm, 104 Wall St., New York City.
