Bahá’í News/Issue 86/Text

Bahá’í News
Issue 86

BAHA’I NEWS

Published by
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís
of the United States and Canada
General Office: Evergreen Cabin, West Englewood, New Jersey

No. 86

AUGUST, 1934

LETTER FROM THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY[edit]

To the Local Spiritual Assemblies of the United States and Canada.

Beloved Friends:

The National Spiritual Assembly desires at this time to make a preliminary report on its decisions taken with reference to the various resolutions voted at the recent Convention. This report is made to the believers through the local Spiritual Assemblies in view of the Guardian’s instruction, published in BAHÁ’Í NEWS, February, 1934: “Shoghi Effendi firmly believes that consultation must be maintained between the N. S. A. and the entire body of believers, and that such consultation, while the Convention is not in session, can best be maintained through the agency of the local Assemblies, one of whose essential functions is to act as intermediaries between the local communities and their national representatives. The main purpose of the Nineteen Day Feasts is to enable individual believers to offer any suggestion to the local Assembly which in its turn will pass it to the N. S. A. The local Assembly is, therefore, the proper medium through which local Bahá’í communities can communicate with the body of the national representatives. The Convention should be regarded as a temporary gathering, having certain specific functions to perform, during a limited period of time. Its status is thus limited in time to the Convention sessions, the function of consultation at all other times being vested in the entire body of the believers through the local Spiritual Assemblies.”

A supplementary report will be made on one or two resolutions which required further time for special study—for example, the resolution requesting the National Spiritual Assembly to provide for the preparation of some satisfactory method of parliamentary procedure as a basis for the conduct of Annual Conventions, Nineteen Day Feasts and the meetings of local Spiritual Assemblies.

1. Resolution requesting the National Assembly to urge all Bahá’í young people in Local Bahá’í communities to get in touch with the National Youth Committee. It is pointed out that the Youth Committee was appointed for the special purpose of unifying and developing the activities of local youth groups, and an excellent beginning was made last year. This resolution has been referred to the National Youth Committee with the request that it provide the best means for closer communication with local youth committees and groups.

2. Resolution recommending that the National Assembly publish reports of National Committees prior to the Convention hereafter and distribute them to those elected as delegates. This and other resolutions dealing with future Conventions are to be acted on at the time that plans for the 1935 Convention are being made.

3. Resolution recommending that the National Assembly advise the local Assemblies as to the duties of Bahá’í citizenship. This matter is felt to be one of extreme importance. There is no question but that the growth of the Cause rests upon conscientious attendance at all Nineteen Day Feasts, due observance of the spiritual significance of the voting right, etc. Since the subject of Bahá’í citizenship, or membership in the Bahá’í world community, is one of continuous development, as the administrative order unfolds under the Guardian’s guidance, the National Assembly has decided to add a special department to BAHÁ’Í NEWS, consisting of excerpts from Shoghi Effendi’s general ‎commuuications communications‎. This department will remind all the believers of many significant instructions received during the past eleven years, and perhaps afford a basis for consultation at Nineteen Day Feasts.

4. Resolution requesting a form of parliamentary procedure. As already stated, this resolution is receiving special study and a report will be made as soon as possible.

5. Resolution defining the relations of delegates and the National Spiritual Assembly. This, also, will be the subject of later report.

6. Resolution suggesting that an index be prepared of Bahá’í literature. The new Index Committee has already been appointed to carry out this important suggestion.

7. Resolution recommending that National Committees be appointed with a view to having it possible for the members of each committee to meet frequently for mutual consultation. This recommendation was carried out as much as possible in making the committee appointments for the current year.

8. Resolution requesting the National Assembly to take prompt and definite action toward a measure which will expedite the collection of funds to be made available for the costs of Temple construction and other activities. It is pointed out that, fundamentally, the National Spiritual Assembly does not “collect” funds. On the contrary, it merely receives funds voluntarily donated by the believers. The emphasis should be placed on the spirit of sacrifice throughout the entire body of the believers, not upon any assumed power or right of the National Assembly to exert pressure upon the community. A careful review of BAHÁ’Í NEWS over a long period of years, however, and especially a study of the general letters issued by the National Assembly to local Assemblies since the first “Plan of Unified Action” was adopted, will reveal the extent to which the National Assembly has endeavored to keep the local communities informed of the needs of the National Fund, and to stimulate inter-

[Page 2] est in service to the Cause by providing the means by which its institutions can be developed. This matter of voluntary contributions to the National Fund depends in large measure upon the cooperation and initiative of the local Assemblies.

9. Resolution recommending to the National Assembly the advisability of sending a cablegram to the Guardian at next year’s Convention immediately after the Convention has organized. The purpose of this resolution is to assure the sending of a Convention message to Shoghi Effendi soon enough to bring a reply before the Convention terminates. It is pointed out that such actions on the part of a Convention are for the Convention itself to perform. The National Assembly can only serve as the agency for transmitting a recommendation from one Convention to another Convention. It is also pointed out that each successive Convention has its own responsibility and authority to decide such matters for itself.

10. Resolution calling upon the National Assembly either directly or through the Amity Committee to send a circular letter to all local Assemblies stressing the magnitude and importance of race amity work among the Bahá’ís, and that this letter preferably be substantiated by references from the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Center of the Covenant and the Guardian. Amendment: that the National Assembly also try if possible to draw up a program of action in addition to the letter, and that the program if possible suggest some steps and actions to be taken and followed up. This important recommendation has been referred to the National Race Amity Committee.

11. Resolution requesting the National Assembly to emphasize to every local community in the United States and Canada the necessity of having a Center (within their means) which would be called the Bahá’í Center of that city. The National Spiritual Assembly believes that every local Assembly fully realizes the desirability of having a Center apart from any one believer’s personal domicile. Growth is limited as long as all gatherings must be held in any home, because without a public center the general public cannot be attracted. Moreover, it is far better for the community itself to meet apart from any possible restriction of personal influence. However, while a Center is unquestionably the ideal, the National Assembly cannot conscientiously recommend that any local Assembly undertake additional financial responsibility until the clerestory contract has been fully paid. In one of the Guardian’s recent letters he stated that local activities must be subordinated to national needs.

12. Resolution that a competent committee be appointed for the purpose of putting into effect definite plans for the creation of a Bahá’í village in which our spiritual, social-economic and race amity teachings be applied; that the principles be worked out first regardless of considerations of policy which might not allow the execution of such plans at present, but that these be developed to a point where they may be put into execution immediately upon due authorization to go ahead; the committee to serve as a clearinghouse for the considered opinions of students of Bahá’í economics in general and on plans for the creation of a Bahá’í village in particular. In commenting on this resolution, the National Spiritual Assembly would remind the believers of the following instruction from the Guardian, quoted in BAHÁ’Í NEWS, May, 1933: “As regards the activities of the economics committee of the National Assembly; Shoghi Effendi fully sympathizes with the desire of some of the members to see the committee find ways and means to put into practice the economic teachings of the Cause, as explained in some of the recorded writings and sayings of Bahá’u’lláh and the Master. But he believes that the time is not yet ripe for such activities. First we have to study the economic teachings in the light of modern problems more thoroughly so that we may advocate what the Founders of the Faith say and not what we conjecture from their writings. There is great difference between sounding a general principle and finding its application to actual prevailing conditions.

“Secondly, the Cause is not financially in a position to launch itself in such undertakings at present. Such plans need great financial backing to be worked out in a permanent form. In time, Shoghi Effendi hopes all these things will come to pass. For the present we have to consolidate our basic institutions and spread the teachings and spirit of the Faith among the public.”

It is the understanding of the National Spiritual Assembly, based upon these words, that the conception of a “Bahá’í village” is not some special and isolated undertaking, like the building of the Temple, but the outcome and fruit of the development of the Bahá’í community into the fulness of organic unity. The “village” will draw nearer as each local and national Bahá’í community understands, and practises, the principles of the Administrative Order. Any concrete suggestions, however, which the believers wish to submit to the National Assembly will receive careful study. Meanwhile the believers are informed that the Publishing Committee is now issuing a compilation of the Bahá’í Economic Teachings which can be obtained at very small cost.

13. Resolution recommending that the National Spiritual Assembly study a report issued by the East and West Committee, Tihran, to determine if a Children’s Fund can be established in this country. This interesting suggestion has been referred to the National Youth Committee for consideration and a report recommending what action the National Assembly might take.

14. Resolution requesting the National Assembly to include in its announcement of the Convention next year some provision for the holding of a National Teaching Conference prior to the opening of the Convention. In general, the National Assembly feels that all meetings held at Convention time should be included within the plan and schedule of the Convention itself, and that no meeting should be held before or after the Convention as something which is supplementary to the Annual Meeting. When the 1935 Convention is planned, the Assembly intends to provide in every possible way for conference on Teaching and other vital activities.

15. Resolution recommending the preparation of some satisfactory method of parliamentary procedure. See Resolution number 4, above.

16. Resolution recommending the appointment of a special committee on education in Bahá’í administration throughout the country. This matter is of extreme importance. The view of the National Assembly is that the N. S. A. itself, among its other functions, must do its utmost to promote education in the administrative principles, and in fact has for many years attempted to do so through (1) the publication of the Guardian’s letters; (2) special articles in BAHÁ’Í NEWS; and (3) by means of general letters to local Assemblies. Each National Committee, moreover, in addition to its particular activities, surely has an obligation to assist whenever possible in contributing to knowledge of the ‎Administratve Administrative‎ Order. The three Summer Schools are rendering invaluable service by their study courses and discussion groups; and finally

[Page 3] each local Spiritual Assembly can grow in capacity only as it places the local community upon a firm basis of loyalty to the Guardian and his general instructions.

17. Resolution suggesting that the National Assembly arrange some ways by which delegates can become better acquainted with each other. The Assembly feels that not only the delegates, but all the believers, should take every opportunity of becoming better acquainted. New opportunities will undoubtedly open up when the friends have exhausted their present opportunities, which include: (1) the Nineteen Day Feasts, where national activities are discussed; (2) the three Summer Schools; (3) BAHÁ’Í NEWS, The Bahá’í World, and The Bahá’í Magazine; and (4) the Annual Convention, which the Guardian wishes every believer to try and attend.

The National Spiritual Assembly trusts that this report on Convention Resolutions will receive the consideration of the local communities.

Yours faithfully,

THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY.

August 15, 1934.

NATIONAL BAHAI FUND[edit]

Last month we reported that the sum of $10,000 was required in order to meet all outstanding obligations. The amount donated to the National Fund during July was $2,587.57. The Temple Trustees are now in arrears on the clerestory contract to the extent of about $12,000.

To offset this difficult condition, the believers are informed that a pledge has been made to the National Spiritual Assembly to meet the loan of $7,500 due in three successive instalments—September and December, 1934, and March, 1935—which is the balance due on the $10,000 borrowed at the bank last March. This generous gift means that the total cost of the dome contract has now been either paid or provided for, as the National Assembly at its recent meeting was able from current funds to make final payment of another item on that contract in the amount of $500.

The fact which should be impressed on every conscientious American believer at this time is that the National Assembly for four successive months has not been able to provide resources to the Temple Trustees to meet their obligations under the clerestory contract—a situation which to every devoted Bahá’í will surely appear intolerable.

It is, however, a miraculous event that during such difficult times the believers have now collectively made complete payment (including the pledge mentioned above) on the contract through which the Cause has been blessed with the beautiful external ornamentation of the dome. This clears the way for a renewed determination to make similar sacrifice for the clerestory section, work on which has been going steadily forward with a view to completion this autumn.

Let us remember always that while we steadily draw together in a greater and stronger unity the world about us is rapidly disintegrating. What we build in faith rises higher day by day and shines with an ever increasing resplendence while the worlds’ edifices are crumbling to ashes. Ours a beacon to all the world about us, calling to unity in the love of God and safety in obedience to His commands. Let us then lay aside every matter that would prevent its speedy completion and demonstrate again the power of God in our midst.

ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS[edit]

1933-1934[edit]

3. Archives Committee[edit]

In compliance with instructions received from the National Spiritual Assembly, the activities of the Archives Committee for the current year have been concerned mainly with making investigations in reference, first, to the method of construction of a room for the safe-keeping and preservation of the Archives in the Foundation structure of the Temple, and second, to a plan of cataloging and arranging the Tablets of the Master, Letters of Shoghi Effendi, sacred objects, and various printed and manuscript materials bearing upon the growth of the Cause in America, which together make up the National Archives.

In carrying on these investigations the committee has corresponded with the Bureau of Standards, the Library of Congress, the British Museum, the Huntington Library (San Marino, Cal.) and has conferred with a number of archivists and librarians at the Oriental Institute, the Newberry Library, the Illinois Historical Society, and the Field Museum in Chicago. It is unnecessary to state that any information obtained by the committee with reference to the plans of the Guardian in organizing the International Bahá’í Archives in Akká and Haifa will be a deciding influence in the plans to be recommended for the organization of the National Archives.

Some of the information which has been gathered, particularly that dealing with the control of factors which affect the preservation of manuscripts, has been forwarded in condensed form to the National Assembly. The committee will continue to investigate the problems named above and to submit reports as information becomes available. However, until a room is provided for the housing of the Archives, it will be very difficult for the committee, unavailable or inaccessible as the Archives are in their present location in a vault of the Chicago Safety Deposit Company, to formulate definite plans for the arrangement and filing of the materials in the Archives.

Among the recommendations which the committee has made to the National Assembly within recent months are the following:

1. That a combined Archives and reading room be constructed in the Temple Foundation as soon as feasible. Later on, when a separate library or reading room is provided and when the central Foundation Hall becomes available for Archives uses, the room proposed at present would be used chiefly for the storage of Archives, and should be constructed with this end in view—that of insuring safety and preservation.

2. That as much as $100 be set aside annually in the next few years to cover the expense of cataloging, photostating, mounting in folders and filing the original Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The Tablets constitute the most precious possession of the Archives, and their present condition—folded, usually with the original translation, within the envelope in which the Tablet was received—is not most conducive to their preservation. It is proposed that separate files be made of original Tablets and translations and of photostatic copies of the Tablets with copies of original translations. The former would not be available for reference or handling, while the latter would be available.

3. That through the medium of the BAHÁ’Í NEWS frequent requests be made for the believers to forward to the Archives original Tablets of the Master with original translations; original letters from the Guardian; manuscripts or other objects sacred because they were possessions of, or were directly associated with, the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or the

[Page 4] Greatest Holy Leaf; objects sacred to the memory of the Disciples of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America and of international teachers of the Cause; photographs of local assemblies and groups, teaching conferences, summer school gatherings, and Bahá’í Youth organizations, ‎at as‎ well as of individual Bahá’ís whose activities have been national in scope. It is suggested that corresponding secretaries of local assemblies can be of great assistance to the National Archives by taking the responsibility for the collection of Archives material locally. They may also aid in distinguishing between material which is primarily of local interest and that which is of national interest and importance. The Archives Committee will gladly supply believers who send in their Tablets with exact photostatic copies at small cost.

4. That the National Spiritual Assembly direct the Publishing Committee to forward to the National Archives at least two copies of all Bahá’í publications in its possession; also that other committees, such as the Publicity Committee and the Committee on Bahá’í History, be requested to save their files for the eventual deposit of those materials which are suitable in the National Archives.

5. That provision be made for the exhibition of representative types of material in the Archives in the Foundation Hall at the coming Convention.

Respectfully submitted,

THE ARCHIVES COMMITTEE,

EDWIN MATTOON, Chairman

JULIA SOBEL

ALBERT WINDUST

GERTRUDE BRIKEMA

MAY SCHEFFLER, Secy.

4. Reviewing Committee[edit]

The function of the Reviewing Committee is so generally misunderstood that it seems desirable to make certain facts clear before anything else.

A manuscript approved by the Reviewing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly simply means that what is written in connection with the Bahá’í Faith in that manuscript is according to the authorized teachings. It does not mean that the manuscript will be published. It does not mean that the manuscript is a literary production. The Publishing Committee publishes only what it is authorized to publish by the National Spiritual Assembly. For instance, if someone writes an article on the Bahá’í Cause and sends it to the National Assembly for review, the National Assembly gives it to the Reviewing Committee. The approval of the Reviewing Committee is limited to whether what is said about the Cause is according to the teachings, or not. If the article is approved the author is then free to submit it to some general magazine or other source of publication. If it is a book it would be sent to some publishing house which would accept or reject it from quite another standpoint. If a good book were written on the Cause and the Publishing Committee had the funds, no doubt the National Assembly would be happy to consider its publication. In our present straightened circumstances, however, funds are lacking in all departments of Bahá’í endeavor.

Certain types of manuscript are not reviewable. Music, poetry, plays, novels—all forms of art are not reviewable because the Bahá’í teachings cannot be applied as the standard of accuracy and truth. For instance, you can’t have a “Bahá’í” poem. You can only have a good poem or a bad poem. You cannot have “Bahá’í” music. You can only have good music or bad music. If you write a play in which certain Bahá’í principles or characters appear, and the play is produced, if it is a great play it will influence thousands of people, and if it is a bad play it will be a failure.

Therefore, only manuscripts which claim to describe some aspect of the Teachings, the Temple, the principles, the inner mysteries, the lives of the great Personalities, etc., should be reviewed in order to safeguard the author and the public from divers opinions or misconceptions of the teachings or the administration of the New World Order.

Two copies of the manuscript should be submitted. One to be retained in the files of the National Assembly after it has been approved, and the other to be returned to the author. Manuscripts should be typewritten and double-spaced, if possible.

The following manuscripts have been approved since April 24, 1933:

Children’s Lessons, Sections III and IV, submitted by the Committee for Teaching and Training Children.

Bahá’í Answers, a compilation, by Olivia Kelsey.

The Call to Prayer, by Ruth J. E. Moffett.

Little Prayer Book, compiled by the Editorial Committee.

The Bahá’í Faith, by Horace Holley. (A pamphlet.)

The Persian Wife, by Mary Maxwell. (A play.)

Fundamental Concepts in the Light of a Contemporary Religion—the Bahá’í Faith, by Glenn A. Shook. (An article.)

The Bahá’í House of Worship, by Genevieve L. Coy. (A pamphlet.)

Seven Valleys and Four Valleys of Bahá’u’lláh, translated by Ali Kuli Khan.

Faithfully yours,

DORIS HOLLEY

MARIE B. MOORE

GENEVIEVE L. COY.

5. History of the Bahá’í Cause in America[edit]

Before the history of the Bahá’í Cause in America can be written it is necessary that the committee should have in hand statements from various sources giving information regarding this history. This committee, therefore, has sent out several calls to the Bahá’ís collectively to all and individually to some, asking that each of the Bahá’í friends who have historical data and reminiscences regarding the beginning of the teachings and the development of the Cause in their various assemblies, write these out in the form of statements and send them to the committee. We have urged the friends to write with as much detail and information as possible. The plan being that each of these statements eventually be placed in the National Bahá’í Archives. It is hoped that much information will be contributed.

Up until the present time we have had a number of valuable contributions. The various members of the committee have been active among the friends in their several assemblies, and the work of amassing data is progressing. Nevertheless, the committee urges that this work be accelerated and suggests that an urgent appeal be made at the coming Convention, exhorting all of the friends particularly the older Bahá’ís who were associated with the Cause in its early days, to lose no time in writing out their statements and sending them to the chairman of the committee.

We all wish this service to progress as rapidly as possible, but until we have the complete cooperation of all those who have historical data to contribute we will be handicapped in our work.

The Bahá’í History Committee urges that each Assembly appoint one of their members to write a history of their Assembly and send this to the Bahá’í History Committee. At the present time several Assemblies have done this, but the committee will not have the complete history of the Cause in America until each Assembly has made such a contribution.

THE BAHÁ’Í HISTORY COMMITTEE

ELLA G. COOPER

[Page 5]

GEORGE LATIMER

ALBERT WINDUST

GERTRUDE BUIKEMA

MARIAM HANEY

MAY MAXWELL

CHARLES MASON REMEY Chairman

IN ‎MEMORIUM MEMORIAM‎[edit]

The friends are requested to remember in prayer these believers who have ascended to the Kingdom.

Mrs. Frank Moxey, Newark.

Mrs. Mary Isabel Marshall, Washington, D C.

Charles F. Coles, Washington, D. C.

Otto Weiss, Teaneck, N. J.

Hooper Harris, New York City.

THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH[edit]

“That Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Bahá’í Faith.”—Shoghi Effendi. (World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pages 3 and 4).

Throughout the present Bahá’í year, BAHÁ’Í NEWS will maintain this special department consisting of quotations from the Guardian’s writings on the subject of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.

1.[edit]

The various Assemblies, local and national, constitute today the bedrock upon the strength of which the Universal House is in future to be firmly established and raised. Not until these function vigorously and harmoniously can the hope for the termination of this period of transition be realized. (Bahá’í Administration, page 54.)

And now as I look into the future, I hope to see the friends at all times, in every land and of every shade of thought and character, voluntarily and joyously rallying around their local and in particular their national centers of activity, upholding and promoting their interests with complete unanimity and contentment, with perfect understanding, genuine enthusiasm and sustained vigor. This indeed is the one joy and yearning of my life, for it is the fountainhead from which all future blessings will flow, the broad foundations upon which the security of the Divine Edifice must ultimately rest. (Bahá’í Administration, page 58.)

We have but to turn our eyes without to realize the fierceness and magnitude of the forces of darkness that are struggling with the dawning light of the Abhá Revelation. Nations, though exhausted and disillusioned, have seemingly begun to cherish anew the spirit of revenge, of domination, and strife. Peoples, convulsed by economic upheavals, are slowly drifting into two great opposing camps with all their menace of social chaos, class hatreds, and worldwide ruin. (Bahá’í Administration, page 58.)

As the Bahá’í Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the plentitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Bahá’í Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties and responsibilities incumbent upon the world’s future super-state. (World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, page 7.)

In a world writhing with pain and declining into chaos this (American Bahá’í) community—the vanguard of the liberating forces of Bahá’u’lláh—succeeded in the years following ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing in raising high above the institutions established by its sister communities in East and West what may well constitute the chief pillar of that future House—a House which posterity will regard as the last refuge of a tottering civilization (America and the Most Great Peace, page 21.)

PUBLISHING ANNOUNCEMENTS[edit]

Bahá’í Teachings on Economics: compilation prepared by the Bahá’í Teaching Committee from the material gathered by the Committee on Economics at the request of the National Spiritual Assembly, 1933-1934. The pamphlet contains 16 pages, mimeographed, price, 10c per copy net and sold in lots of ten only.

World Economy of Bahá’u’lláh, by Horace Holley, translated into German. Copies for sale by the Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Net 10c each.

Correction for address of Western Division in July BAHÁ’Í NEWS given as 1245 Broderick Street in error. Should be:

Mrs. Emma F. Smith,

940 Leavenworth Street,

San Francisco, California

INTERNATIONAL NEWS[edit]

1.—From Circular Letter issued by the Spiritual Assembly of Haifa, June, 1934[edit]

Our Beloved Guardian, following his customary practice of retiring from Haifa during the uncomfortably warm summer months, left for Europe on the 7th of June, accompanied by Mr. Hussein Rabbani. Our Guardian’s health is the pivot of strength upon which reclines the stupendous weight and responsibility of the Cause. It is evident then that the most rejoicing news to all the friends throughout the world shall always be the glad tiding that our Beloved Guardian is in the best of health.

Recent news from Persia reveal the fact that further restrictions have been imposed upon the Bahá’ís there. Not long ago we learned that the Governor of Khurasan, North East of Persia, had ordered to stop all Bahá’í administrative functions and gatherings throughout that province. The meetings of Bahá’ís have likewise been forbidden in Khuzistan, South West of Persia.

Great as the progress of Persia has been during the last thirteen years under the gifted leadership of His Majesty the King Reza Shah Pahlavi, who is indeed responsible for the present Persian renaissance, yet it cannot be expected that the deep-seated jealousies and hatreds of a bigoted clergy, the exploitations and intrigues of some political brigands and the evil machinations of few foreign religious institutions that under the camouflage of a noble purpose sow moral disharmony and strife among the people; should be discarded and disbanded in such a comparatively short time.

But the believers should in no wise be discouraged in carrying out the glorious task which has been bequeathed to them to spiritually rejuvenate a sadly shaken world. We must always remember that whether it be the crumbling of society’s pillars or the inflicting of persecutions and restrictions upon the believers, they “all witness,” in the words of our Beloved Guardian, “to the tumult which the birth of this mighty Organ of the Religion of Bahá’u’lláh has cast into the world—a tumult which will grow in scope and intensity as the implications of this constantly evolving Scheme are more fully understood and its ramifications more widely extended over the surface of the globe.”

We have read in the Circular Letter of the East and West Committee that the Bahá’ís of Persia are deeply grateful for the gift of one hundred pounds Sterling sent by the Bahá’ís of America to the sufferers emigrated from Ishqabád and now in Mashhád, which will do much toward improving the conditions of these friends and assisting the Mashhád Assembly in providing for them.

The same Circular reports the following news of special concern to all the friends interested in educating Modern Persia.

Mrs. Clara Sharp of San Francisco, California, who came to Persia three

[Page 6] years ago to be with her daughter, Miss Adelaide Sharp, head of the Tarbiyat School for Girls, has among other numerous activities been carrying a considerable amount of teaching work and her course in debating and public speaking has aroused special interest. Recently one of her pupils addressed the student body of a local Mohammadan school on a modern invention; a mulla present arose and denounced the infiltration of new ideas which he said were false and were leading Persia’s youth astray; the speaker replied with such vigor and logic that the students applauded him and the mulla was silenced. This incident probably could not have taken place 10 years ago; it illustrates the collapse of clerical jurisdiction in Persia, the new widespread emancipation of the youth. Certainly the instructors who are guiding this generation deserve special credit.

Recently, in Egypt, an article has been written and published by an Egyptian, criticising the Cause. That article was answered by Subhi Elias of Alexandria, whose brother is now engaged in spreading the Cause in Abyssinia, in the form of a personal letter which he sent to the author; whereupon the latter published very naively the said refutation in the May 21st, issue of an Egyptian daily, called Al-Balagh, thus publicly exposing his own ignorance in an article which clearly and logically revealed his fallacies and contradictions in his social views and principles.

2.—From Circular Letter Issued by the Unity of the East and West Committee, Tihrán, April-May, 1934[edit]

This Ridván will go down in the history of Bahá’í Persia because during the feast days the first national Bahá’í Convention met in Ṭihrán and elected the first National Assembly of Persia, with 84 delegates present from all over the country. Friends in the West will appreciate what achievement such a gathering represents in a country where travel is still a considerable adventure and where even a brief stay in the capital entails a long absence from home.

The delegates made their headquarters at the Haziratu’l-Quds, where the Central Assembly and the Service Committee had made the necessary arrangements for their reception; all kinds of furniture, beds, tables and the like had been requisitioned from Bahá’ís throughout town, and the fact that the delegates were in a sense the house guests of the Tihrán friends added to the pleasure of the Convention. Many of the local friends entertained the delegates, both at the Haziratu’‎-l l‎-Quds and at their homes; the social aspects of the Convention were highly important because the Persian friends of different centres cannot communicate with one another with the frequency enjoyed in the West. A significant event of this Convention was the sending of representatives by the four women’s committees to report to the delegates and submit their program for the coming year.

The members of the National Assembly are as follows:

Jenabi Fazel Mazandarani.

“ Haji Ghulam Reza Amin Amin.

“ Mirza Valiullah Khan Varqá.

“ Dr. Yunis Khan Afrukhtih.

“ Mirza Shuaullah Khan Alái.

“ Mirza Ahmed Khan Yazdani.

“ Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Froutan.

“ Mirza Mahmud Khan Badiyi.

“ Mirza Enayatullah Ahmed Poor.