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326. Bahá’u’lláh Admonishes Care in Preservation of the Tablets
"…The people of God should do all that lieth within their power to protect and preserve the Tablets. In the Land of Tá whatever there was in the homes of the friends was taken and fell into the hands of the heedless. We have commanded all to safeguard that which hath proceeded from the Pen of the Most High. We ask God to aid them to act in accordance with His wish and desire, and to draw them nigh to Him. He, verily, is the Almighty, the Powerful."
"We have commanded all to observe wisdom, but from the friends we see heedlessness and negligence. They should guard the Tablets as they guard their eyes, nay with greater vigilance, if they be of them that comprehend."
"Truly, none must be careless in the matter of safeguarding the divine Tablets. In former times, when plans were laid to seize some of the friends, before all else it was the writings that fell into the hands of the enemy. This is not permissible. The friends should designate a strong, secure place for storing the divine verses so that they may not be exposed to the touch of unworthy hands, even though these verses are, and shall always be, such as 'none shall touch but the purified'1"
- (Bahá’u’lláh: From three previously unpublished Tablets, The Importance of Collecting and Safeguarding the Bahá’í Writings, p. 1, October 1986)
1 Quotation from the Qur'án, 79:56
327. Tablets and Verses to be Gathered into the Archives
"In one of the Tablets, the Pen of the Most High, referring to this foundation,1 which provides the best and surest, the soundest and most perfect means of collecting, safeguarding and classifying the scattered, but growing body, of Sacred Writings and relics, states:
"It is the concern of the True One to reveal, and the concern of men to spread what hath been revealed. He will, verily, promulgate His Cause by the hands of His scattering and well-favoured angels. Spiritual souls will assuredly emerge from behind the veil of divine protection who will gather together the tokens and verses of God and put them into the most excellent order. This is His sure and irrevocable decree.'"
- (Shoghi Effendi's 1954 Naw-Rúz Message to the Bahá’ís of the East, translated from the Persian: Ibid., p. 2)
1 The International Archives Building
328. Bahá’í Archives, Institution of
"The importance of the institution of Bahá’í Archives is not due only to the many teaching facilities it procures, but is essentially to be found in the vast amount of historical data and information it offers both to the present day administrators of the Cause, and to the Bahá’í historians of the future. The institution of Bahá’í Archives is indeed a most valuable storehouse of information regarding all aspects of the Faith, historical, administrative as well as doctrinal."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, September 25, 1936)
329. Future Generations Will Appreciate Archives
"… Future generations of believers will be surely in a better position than we are to truly and adequately appreciate the many advantages and facilities which the institution of the Archives offers to individual believers and also to the community at large."
- (Ibid.)
330. All Assembly Members Should Have Access to the Files—Certain Items can be Listed as "Confidential"
"In reply to your letter of May 13th, 1976 the Universal House of Justice instructs us to say that all members of the Spiritual Assembly are equal and should have access to the files and minutes of the Assembly of which they are members. It is, however, within the discretion of any Spiritual Assembly to so organize its files and records that certain items could be listed as 'confidential' and access to those so classified could only be had by a specific decision of the Assembly itself."
- (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Assembly of Ireland, June 8, 1976)
331. Every Believer Has Responsibility to Assist with Preservation of Sacred Relics
"…has suggested to the Guardian that he should ask your N.S.A. to address an appeal to the … believers urging them to co-operate with the National and Local Bahá’í Archives… in their efforts for the collection of Bahá’í sacred relics, and specially the Tablets, and their safe preservation.
"As this is undoubtedly one of the most urgent tasks facing the believers at present, he strongly feels it advisable that your N.S.A. should once more impress upon the friends the necessity of their giving full and continued support to the truly valuable work which the National as well as the Local Archives Committees are accomplishing for our beloved Faith…
"Now that the Cause is rapidly passing through so many different phases of its evolution is the time for the friends to exert their utmost in order to preserve as much as they can of the sacred relics and various other precious objects that are associated with the lives of the Founders of the Faith, and particularly the Tablets They have revealed.
"Every believer should realize that he has a definite responsibility to shoulder in this matter, and to help, to whatever extent he can, in rendering successful the valuable work which National and Local Bahá’í Archives Committees are so devotedly accomplishing for the Faith in …."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, 25 September 1936: The Importance of Collecting and Safeguarding the Bahá’í Writings, A Compilation, p. 4)
332. Bahá’í Archives to be Established in Each Bahá’í Administrative Centre
"Another necessary and highly commendable undertaking is the founding of a Bahá’í Archives in each of the Bahá’í provincial administrative centres. …Anyone who, spontaneously and of his own free will, donates material to the Archives of his National Spiritual Assembly—whether this be Tablets, books, pictures, objects or the like—and especially if his inheritors are not accounted of the people of Bahá, or are not considered by him as trustworthy or reliable, will have performed a highly meritorious act in the sight of God, and his name will be perpetuated in the records of the Spiritual Assemblies and his memory enshrined in the Archives for ever."
- (From a letter of Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the East, July 1925, translated from the Persian: Ibid., p. 2)
333. Documents of Historical Value Should not be Destroyed
"The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 13th November, 1975 asking about the policy to be followed for keeping correspondence and we have been asked to reply as follows:
"While it is within the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly to decide which papers in its files are not of long-term value and to have them destroyed you should always bear in mind the historical value of your files. Letters which at this time seem to be of little value could prove to be of great interest to future historians of the development of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh in the… We suggest that when your secretary has sorted out from among your files the papers which she feels could be destroyed, you should appoint a committee composed of members of your National Assembly to go over them with their historical value in mind and submit a recommendation to your National Assembly. Obviously, those records or letters needed for legal purposes should be retained."
- (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, November 26, 1975)
