from https://bahai-library.com/bergsmo_studying_writings_shoghi-effendi Shoghi Effendi, Expounder of the Word of God David Hofman .......... [This essay was originally presented to the Ninth Annual Conference of the Association of Bah‡'’ Studies, 'The Vision of Shoghi Effendi', November 1984 in Chicago, where it was read on behalf of the author. See proceedings of the conference to be published by the Association in late 1991.] [nd] When, in 1921, Shoghi Effendi acceded to the office of Guardianship of the Bah‡'’ Faith, he was in his second year as a student at Balliol College, Oxford. The traumatic shock of the Master's passing had barely given way to consciousness of unbearable loss, when the second blow fell with the reading of the Will and Testament, and this totally dedicated, modest young man faced the awe-inspiring, appalling prospect of his appointment. He was overwhelmed. After a brief stay in Haifa he committed the care of the Faith to the Greatest Holy Leaf and retired for eight months to solitude and preparation. Upon his return to Haifa it quickly became apparent that he had assumed the full responsibilities of his office, while more gradually it was realized that the functions of that office were unique in the history of the world. Present-day visitors to the World Centre, students of the Revelation and the hosts of new believers now entering the Cause rapidly become aware of his mighty works. They see the magnificent gardens at Bahj’ and on Carmel, the Shrine of the B‡b, the International Archives Building, the great arc which he created on the Mountain of God upon which Bah‡'u'll‡h has established His throne; his translations into English of the Scared Word are the daily food of anglophone believers and the foundation of translations into other languages; one whole generation and more witnessed the rise of the Administrative Order under his direction, responded to his constant call to spread the knowledge and establish the institutions of the Faith throughout the earth, and all stand amazed at the vast range of his achievements and the character of his leadership which evoked in a handful of ordinary people [p11] powers and capacities which they did not know they possessed and which enabled them to achieve, under his guidance, tasks inconceivable and impossible without his God-given genius. But all these are ancillary to the two great functions of our beloved Guardian, bounties flowing out to us and posterity from his own character and total dedication to the Cause of God. In the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ the two essentials of his appointment are protection of the Cause -- [i]'the mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God'[/i] -- and exposition -- [i]'He is the Expounder of the Word of God'[/i]. It is the latter function which we are now to consider. It would be wise, however, in passing, to recognize that all his works, whether of exposition, translation, construction, propagation, protection, development, literacy, executive, administrative or historical are of one piece, not separate activities, but each affecting all and all affecting each, summed up in the magic words, 'Guardian of the Cause of God'. The situation facing Shoghi Effendi in November 1921 was truly daunting. The Bah‡'’ world community consisted of a few thousand dedicated zealots in Persia, ready then, as now and always, to suffer torture and death rather than deny their Faith, a handful of believers in the West, and a few individuals scattered in a very small number of countries. There were no Hands of the Cause. There was no National Spiritual Assembly in existence and not even the rudiments of the Administrative Order were generally known. Bereft of their all-glorious Master, the Centre of the Covenant, invested with supreme authority by Bah‡'u'll‡h Himself, where were these spiritually illumined, eager, loyal, but uninformed and desperately anxious believers to turn for guidance and a source of authority? The appointment of a successor was balm to their souls and all hearts turned in relief and gratitude and love to the lone, young scion of nobility who was now to embark upon his destiny. This is not the occasion to examine the defection and activities of the Covenant-breaking members of Bah‡'u'll‡h's Own family and one or two supreme egoists who sought leadership, but in the subject cannot go unnoticed for it added tragedy to the burden of the young Guardian. That great institution, the secondary House of Justice, now known as the National Spiritual Assembly, was created and established by 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ in His Will and Testament, the document which proved to be the Charter of the Administrative Order. One of Shoghi Effendi's first acts was to call to the attention of the believers in the West the 'vital necessity of having a Local Spiritual Assembly in every locality where the number of adult declared believers [p12] exceeds nine, and of making provision for the indirect election of a Body that shall adequately represent the interests of all the friends and Assemblies...'[1] He later specified the methods and circumstances of these elections. .......... [1. Letter of 5 March 1922, published in [i]Bah‡'’ Administration[/i], New York, 1936 and [i]Unfolding Destiny[/i], London, 1981.] This first act of exposition is of supreme interest, for it not only established basic administrative institutions, but very emphatically dwelt upon the spirit of unity in the Cause, and clearly indicated that in this new day of God, executive authority is to be exercised by institutions which operate by consultation, and not by individuals. It is the first intimation of how the Guardian would discharge the duties of his high office, particularly the raising of the Administrative Order. Firmly basing his directives on the explicit Text (in this case the [i]Kit‡b-i-Aqdas[/i]), which he quoted, he then applied the provisions of the Will and Testament relating to the subject, added further passages from the Master's Writings about Local Spiritual Assemblies, their duties, conditions, attitudes, method of consultation, and the obligation of all believers to be loyal and obedient to them, and [i]not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly[/i]. He clarified the relationship between the local and national bodies and declared that they would, in future, be designated Houses of Justice. In later letters he confirmed that the present Spiritual Assemblies would evolve into those basic institutions of the Bah‡'’ World Commonwealth. In other words he uncovered, expounded and implemented what was already in the Sacred Text. The Expounder does not add to the Revelation although his exposition and interpretation have the same validity as the Text itself. It is clearly recognized that Shoghi Effendi made no changes and added nothing new to the Revelation. He disclosed to our astonished eyes and expounded what had already been enshrined in the Writings by the three Central Figures of our Faith. He initiated and supervised the practical application to the Bah‡'’ affairs of directives, injunctions, laws and ordinances in the Sacred Text as he was guided to do, clearly indicating that the Administrative Order of the Faith will 'as its component parts, its organic institutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigor, assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind'.[2] .......... [2. Shoghi Effendi, in 'The Dispensation of Bah‡'u'll‡h', [i]The World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h[/i], Wilmette, 1938, p. 144.] The Guardian disclosed three Charters within the Sacred Text for the three major activities which he initiated. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ he characterized as 'the Charter of the New World Order which is at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation', and the Administrative Order 'the framework of the Will itself...'. The Will is therefore the Charter [p13] for the development of the Administrative Order. The Tablet of Carmel is the Charter for establishing the administrative centre of the Faith on that holy mountain; [i]'Erelong will God sail His Ark upon thee...'[/i] is Bah‡'u'll‡h's apostrophe. The Charter for the great programme of teaching which he initiated is 'Abdu'l-Bah‡'s [i]Tablets of the Divine Plan[/i], fourteen letters addressed during World War I to the believers in various parts of North America. Everything he did derived from the Sacred Text, interpreted and expounded with his God-given authority, itself explicitly conferred in the written Word. Upon this theme we may note that while the Guardian subordinated his entire will and desire to the exposition and implementation of the Revelation, Bah‡'u'll‡h Himself did not invent World Order. The Bah‡'’ Administrative Order, the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth, the World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h -- synonyms for that unity of the human race which Bah‡'u'll‡h, in numberless texts, has declared to be the purpose of Almighty God -- is not a new concept. It is implicit in the act of creation, explicitly confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ in this remarkable passage from His Writings in which He comments on why Bah‡'u'll‡h accepted such terrible sufferings: [i]'His reason for putting on the heavy iron chains and for becoming the very embodiment of utter resignation and meekness, was to lead every soul on earth to concord, to fellow-feeling, to oneness; to make known amongst all peoples the sign of the singleness of God, so that at least the primal oneness deposited at the heart of all created things would bear its destined fruit...'[/i].[3] That primal oneness preceded the creation and God Himself deposited it at its heart. Its fruition is the Administrative Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h which, Shoghi Effendi says in [i]The Goal of a New World Order[/i], represents the consummation of human evolution. I also refer you to George Townshend's [i]The Promise of All Ages[/i], Chapter One, 'The Epic of Humanity', which opens with this wonderful sentence: 'Bah‡'u'll‡h revealed a sublime vision of human history as an epic written by the finger of God and proceeding along an ordered course to a climax, the nature of which was exactly defined before the story opened and the appearance of which at the date ordained by the Author no human misunderstanding nor opposition could prevent or postpone.' .......... [3. 'Abdu'l-Bah‡, [i]Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡[/i], p. 263.] There is also Kant's perceptive statement in his [i]Essay on Eternal Peace[/i]: 'The history of the human race, viewed as a whole, may be regarded as the realization of a hidden plan of nature to bring about a political constitution, internally and externally perfect, as the only state in which all the capacities implanted by her in mankind can be fully developed.'[4] The concept has inspired the ideals, the hopes, the dreams of humanity throughout the ages. .......... [4. 1795; published Boston, 1914 under the title [i]Eternal peace and Other Essays[/i]. Cited in Durant, [i]The Story of Philosophy[/i] (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1926), p. 308; and in Hofman, [i]The Renewal of Civilization[/i], chapter 2.] [p14] The greatness of this Revelation is seen, therefore, in the fact that Bah‡'u'll‡h presides -- not only in His Own Dispensation but throughout the Bah‡'’ cycle -- over the fulfilment of God's ultimate purpose for humanity. Being in the station of [i]He doth whatsoever He willeth[/i], the World Order which He propounds is therefore His Own, and is properly called the World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h. It must also be realized that in organic growth there are other factors involved than the potentiality within the seed. We are capable of producing what God has deposited within us. [i]Show forth that which ye possess[/i], says Bah‡'u'll‡h. But we can only do so under the influence of the Sun of truth, and until that Sun shines with its full meridian splendour we cannot attain maturity either in our personal lives or socially. Again it is Bah‡'u'll‡h's Revelation which shines from the zenith and brings to fruition the seen of human life. From this it is apparent that Shoghi Effendi, the appointed Expounder of the Bah‡'’ Revelation, is the one human being in all history, whether of the past or of the future, to have the greatest influence on the shape and [i]modus operandi[/i] of human society. For he is the one who understood the vision of the Revealers and expounded and applied Their intentions in practical terms to the organization of the world. There cannot be, on this planet, a greater social or political unit than World Order. And it is Shoghi Effendi who, while not the Architect of that consummation, is certainly its chief builder and engineer. He it is who carefully nurtured this tender seedling at its birth, sustained it with the life-giving provisions of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡'s Will and Testament, challenged its growing strength with gradual application of more and more of the creative provisions of Bah‡'u'll‡h's law, infused into it the powerful spirit of his all-encompassing vision and finally launched it, firmly founded on the rock of the Covenant and protected within the divinely appointed structure of the very Kingdom of God on earth, on its world-encircling, redemptive mission. But although the ultimate shape of human society is now being forged, individual progress within that form is never-ending. For the virtues, qualities and honours of men are limitless, deriving from God in Whose image man is made. Thus while men may develop within that mature system they cannot become mature outside it. Only within that divine shelter is it possible. This whole subject is perspicuously presented in Shoghi Effendi's World Order letters. Expounding 'the principle of the oneness of mankind', he declares in [i]The Goal of the New World Order[/i]: 'Let there be no mistake... It Implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced. It constitutes a [p15] challenge, at once bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of national creed -- creeds that have had their day and which must, in the ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled by Providence, give way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely superior to, what the world has already conceived. It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world -- a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated unites...' 'The principle of the Oneness of Mankind, as proclaimed by Bah‡'u'll‡h, carries with it no more and no less than a solemn assertion that attainment to this final stage in this stupendous evolution is not only necessary but inevitable, that its realization is fast approaching, and that nothing short of a power that is born of God can succeed in establishing it.'[5] .......... [5. Shoghi Effendi, in 'The Goal of a New World Order', [i]The World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h], pp. 42-3.] In the later [i]The Unfoldment of World Civilization] he writes: 'The Revelation of Bah‡'u'll‡h, whose supreme mission is none other but the achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations, should, if we be faithful to its implications, be regarded as signalizing through its advent the [i]coming of age[/i] of the entire human race. It should be viewed not merely as yet another spiritual revival in the ever-changing fortunes of mankind, not only as a further stage in a chain of progressive Revelations, not eve as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent prophetic cycles, but rather as a marking the last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man's collective life on this planet. The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture -- all of which must synchronize with the initial stages in the unfoldment of the Golden Age of the Bah‡'’ Era -- should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary, life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result of such as consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop. 'That mystic, all-pervasive, yet indefinable change, which we associate with the stage of maturity inevitable in the life of an individual and the development of the fruit must, if we would correctly apprehend the utterances of Bah‡'u'll‡h, have its counterpart in the evolution of the organization of human society. A similar stage must sooner or later be attained in the collective life of mankind, producing an even more striking phenomenon in world relations, and endowing the whole human race with such potentialities [p16] of well-being as shall provide, throughout the succeeding ages, the chief incentive required for the eventual fulfillment of its high destiny. Such a stage of maturity in the process of human government must, for all time, if we would faithfully recognize the tremendous claim advanced by Bah‡'u'll‡h, remain identified with the Revelation of which He is the Bearer.'[6] .......... [6. Shoghi Effendi, in 'The Goal of a New World Order', [i]The World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h], pp. 163-4.] Those early believers on whose shoulders we now stand -- a debt we can never forget or repay -- although beatified by their recognition of the Promised One of all ages, were, nevertheless, insofar as His Revelation was concerned, largely uninformed, naïve and not yet weaned from the old order which Bah‡'u'll‡h was rolling up. Yet they were the Guardian's soldiers -- the army of life: he trained them, enlarged their vision, and led them on to victory. The late Hands of the Cause H. M. Balyuzi related that even the erudite among the Persians, who could read the entire Sacred Text in its original, were not exempt from the general simplicity. He maintained that the B‡b's statement [i]'Well is it with him who fixeth His gaze upon the Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h...'[/i] was understood by them to refer to Bah‡'u'll‡h's literary style. It was Shoghi Effendi who put the capital 'O' to that Order -- a device not used apparently in Persian orthography. The Guardian's first World Order letters gradually brought the friends to a more adequate understanding of the significance of the New Day. His gentle but firm exposition and educative method are seen in his early letters -- 1922 and 1923 -- in which he discouraged them from unBah‡'’ individual activity and urged them to operate through the Local Spiritual Assemblies. But it was [i]The Goal of the New World Order[/i], released at the end of 1931, which galvanized the already expanding world community, widened its horizon, thrilled its soul and prepared it for the spate of expository instruction which thereafter flowed from his pen. In this essay, in language at once forceful, and uplifting, he made it clear that the current systems and attitudes of the world were, in face of the needs of a maturing humanity, moribund and lamentably defective, incapable of repair or improvement: 'If long-cherished ideals and time-honored institutions, if certain social assumptions and religious formulae have ceased to promote the welfare of the generality of mankind, if they no longer minister to the needs of a continually evolving humanity, let them be swept away and relegated to the limbo of obsolescent and forgotten doctrines. Why should these, in a world subject to the immutable law of change and decay, be exempt from the deterioration that must needs overtake every human institution? For legal standards, political and economic theories are solely designed to safeguard [p17] the interests of humanity as a whole, and not humanity to be crucified for the preservation of the integrity of any particular law or doctrine. '...The principle of the Oneness of Mankind -- the pivot round which all the teachings of Bah‡'u'll‡h revolve -- is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family. It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably associated with an institution adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate its influence.'[7] .......... [7. Shoghi Effendi, in 'The Goal of a New World Order', [i]The World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h], pp. 42-3.] It was apparently still necessary, ten years after the Master's ascension, to correct these inadequate and limited views. And it was in this essay that he began to stress the cataclysmic nature of this age of transition when the old order is being rolled up and a new one spread out in its stead. Such was the nature of Shoghi Effendi's exposition of the Word of God -- an astonishment and a new breath of life to all who had thought religion to be limited to 'the spirit of brotherhood and good-will', to idealism and the expression of vague and pious hopes, to personal salvation, requiring the believers to have patience and firmness in faith that the Promised One would bring about the Kingdom of God on earth in His Own good time. It was Shoghi Effendi who said, in effect, Oh no; you must study and toil and sweat and sacrifice and God of His bounty will reward your efforts. He uncovered for us all that marvellous guidance and direction of which we knew nothing, led us into his dynamic programme for building that Kingdom of God on earth -- long anticipated, Christ-promised, and now to be ushered in through our services to the King of Glory. [i]The Goal of a New World Order[/i], which so thrilled, challenged and uplifted the Bah‡'’ World, was followed three years later by [i]The Dispensation of Bah‡'u'll‡h[/i], a letter which the Guardian himself described as a statement of 'certain fundamental verities', 'certain truths which lie at the basis of our Faith'. It has been referred to as Shoghi Effendi's own confession of faith. It is the appointed Expounder's presentation of the stations of Bah‡'u'll‡h, the B‡b and [p18] 'Abdu'l-Bah‡, of the transition from 'the Heroic and Apostolic Age' of the Faith to its Formative Age through the 'indissoluble link' of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡, a summation of the spirit and chief provisions of that historic document and a marvellous presentation of the unique and distinguishing features of this Supreme Revelation, which make it 'unlike the dispensations of the past'. He emphasizes the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice 'permanently and fundamentally united in their aims'. Without deep study of this basic document, no Bah‡'’ can claim to be truly knowledgeable of his Faith. Indeed no one can have a deep, authentic knowledge of the Revelation of Bah‡'u'll‡h without study of all these expository and exegetical works of the Guardian. [i]The Unfoldment of World Civilization[/i] describes the two processes at present operating in the world, disintegration and construction. The former affects every department of human life, is universal and accelerating. The latter has two aspects, the gradual spread of Bah‡'u'll‡h's universal principles to become the hallmark of a modern outlook, and the emergence of a world community bearing His Name and dedicated to the building of 'the necessary instruments wherein the embryonic World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h can mature and develop'. Its closing paragraphs present an enthralling picture of the unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bah‡'u'll‡h -- a portrayal so compelling that it has been quoted again and again and has even been read to the assembled Senate of the United States by one of its members who presented it as his adopted vision of the brotherhood of man. It is a passage which all Bah‡'’s might well commit to memory. [i]The Advent of Divine Justice[/i] dwells upon the preponderating role that North America is called upon to play in the promotion of the World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h. It sets out the high standards of conduct, moral rectitude, freedom from prejudice, chastity and nobility required of Bah‡'’s and challenges the Bah‡'’ communities there to scale the heights of self-sacrifice and devotion which will enable them to meet their destiny. [i]The Promised Day is Come[/i] is an historical expounding the direct effect of the Revelation of Bah‡'u'll‡h upon the fortunes of humanity at large, and of the particular monarchs whom He addressed. The disruption of the world portrayed as both divine chastisement and purification, while the condign punishments visited upon those rulers who either scorned or neglected His message are related directly to their responses. 'For what thou hast done', Bah‡'u'll‡h wrote to Napoleon III, 'thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which [p19] thou hast wrought.' Within months Napoleon went down to defeat at Sedan. [i]God Passes By[/i], the Guardian's monumental yet concise history of the first hundred years of the Bah‡'’ era, singly and by itself establishes the fact of his God-given genius and divine inspiration. Couched in the form of history, it is supremely a work of exposition, showing how the new Revelation reshapes the attitudes and conventions which have crystallized from former dispensations, into universal views, morals and standards, bringing about a 'new race of men' able to bear and practise all the implications of the oneness of mankind and bring about the Most Great Peace. Even so brief and inadequate a comment on Shoghi Effendi as the Expounder of the Word of God as may be given in the short span allocated to this presentation cannot fail to mention his translations. To enumerate them is not necessary to this scholarly gathering but we may regard them from a point of view not yet given prominence by Bah‡'’ scholars. I refer to the Guardian's life-long effort to bring into relatedness, through the revelation of Bah‡'u'll‡h, the vastly differing cultures of the East -- represented by Persia -- and the West. Dissociated at the very bases of their societies in their religious assumptions, social conventions, forms and aspirations, it was the Master's longing to see them embrace as long-lost lovers and the chief motivation of His revealing [i]The Secret of Divine Civilization[/i]. Shoghi Effendi, without in the least compromising the accuracy of his translations, expended great effort to make the exalted, richly decorated language of Bah‡'u'll‡h's Revelation -- a miracle to Persians and Arabists -- acceptable to western literary usage. All his translations are imbued with this intention, which is exposition of the highest order, befitting the universality and integrity of the Cause of God. This subject is dealt with in considerable detail in Chapter Six of my [i]Life of George Townshend[/i], with particular reference to [i]The Dawn Breakers[/i] and the Guardian's insistence that Mr. Townshend write the Introduction. Some inkling of the bounties conferred upon mankind by the appointment of Shoghi Effendi as Guardian of the Cause of God may be obtained from a study of the enormous contrast between the development of the Cause in this Dispensation and in previous ones. The rise of Christianity, chronicled by Bishop Barnes, is a record of formulation of creeds, crystallization of doctrines, disputation in councils and inevitable schism. Our beloved Guardian, trusted by God with supreme authority, was indeed the guardian of our unity, our educator, guide and true brother -- the Expounder of the Word of God. [p20] In conclusion let me share with you two brief paragraphs from Shoghi Effendi's exposition of the vision and declared intention of Bah‡'u'll‡h: 'A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation -- such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving.'[8] And: .......... [8. Shoghi Effendi, in 'The Goal of a New World Order', [i]The World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h], p. 204.] 'Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God's immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than Bah‡'u'll‡h Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattle hosts of the Abh‡ Kingdom. Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve are the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡. Its guiding principles are the truths which He Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kit‡b-i-Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu'l-Adhk‡r and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Bah‡'u'll‡h. The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor coloured. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the "Most Great Peace"; its consummation the advent of that golden millennium -- the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Bah‡'u'll‡h.'[9] .......... [9. Shoghi Effendi, in 'The Goal of a New World Order', [i]The World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h], pp. 156-7] [p21] [nd] The Life of Shoghi Effendi Helen, John and Amelia Danesh [.] [.//] [i]All the complex problems of the great statesmen of the world are as child's play in comparison with the great problems of this youth, before whom are the problems of the entire world. He is a youth of twenty-six, left by the will of the Master as the Guardian of Cause. No one can form any conception of his difficulties, which are overwhelming... He is indeed young in face, form and manner, yet his heart is he center of the world today. The character and spirit divine scintillate from his today. He alone can today save the world and make true civilization.[/i] --------------------- Mountfort Mills, 1922 [1] .......... [1. Mountfort Mills spoke these words of Shoghi Effendi at the Fourteenth Annual Bah‡'’ Convention, 22 April, in Chicago, as reported by Louis G. Gregory in [i]Star of the West[/i], Vol. 13, No. 4, p. 68.] [.///] [.] [nd] In 1844, a twenty-five year old merchant opened the Heroic Age of the Bah‡'’ Faith. The brief ministry of the B‡b marked the beginning of 'the most glorious' yet 'the most turbulent' period of Bah‡'’ History.[2] He had founded a Faith fueled by 'the creative interaction between crisis and victory'.[3] Seventy-seven years later, another youth, a twenty-four year old student, was called upon to lead the Bah‡'’ world into its next stage -- the Formative Age. Shoghi Effendi's ministry as the Guardian of the Bah‡'’ Faith began in 1921, after a thirty-year period of Bah‡'’ history which he said would be remembered as a time of 'tragedies and triumphs ... so intertwined.'[4] The story of his own life as the Guardian -- like the story of the growth of the Faith which he guided for thirty-six years -- continued as 'a series of pulsations, of alternating crisis and triumphs' leading the Faith 'ever nearer to its divinely appointed destiny'.[5] .......... [2. Shoghi Effendi, [i]God Passes By[/i], 1070, p. 3.] .......... [3. Message of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies, 27 October 1987.] .......... [4. Shoghi Effendi, [i]God Passes By[/i], p. xv.] .......... [5. Shoghi Effendi, cited by the Universal House of Justice in a letter to all National Spiritual Assemblies, 27 October 1987.] Born in 'Akk‡ in March 1897, Shoghi Effendi was related to the B‡b through his father, M’rz‡ H‡d’ Sh’r‡z’, and to Bah‡'u'll‡h through his mother, D’y‡'’yyih Kh‡num, the eldest daughter of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ -- thereby 'flourishing from the Twin Holy Trees'.[6] From the early years of his life, Shoghi Effendi was greatly influenced by his grandfather. 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ provided much of Shoghi Effendi's initial spiritual training: Shoghi Effendi would pray at every dawn [p22] for one hour in his grandfather's room and learned numerous prayers which 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ encourage him to chant. It was also 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ who insisted that the appellation given to the child should be 'Shoghi Effendi', ('Effendi' signifies 'Sir'), rather than simply 'Shoghi', as a mark of respect towards him. .......... [6. 'Abud'l-Bah‡, [i]The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡[/i], 1971, p. 3.] From his early years, Shoghi Effendi was introduced to the world of suffering and danger which his grandfather had inherited as the Centre of Bah‡'u'll‡h's Covenant. As a young boy, he was a aware of Sult‡n 'Abdu'l-Ham’d's desire to banish 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ to the torrid deserts of North Africa where He was expected to perish. At the same time, the treachery of the Covenant-breakers in the Holy Land reached a point where the Master felt compelled to warn his young grandson against drinking coffee in the homes of any of the Bah‡'’s in the fear that he would be poisoned. At the age of fifteen, however, Shoghi Effendi was forced to drink from the bitter cup of sorrow which the machinations of the Covenant-breakers would continue to fill for the rest of his life. At this young age, he was denied the opportunity to travel to North America with his grandfather on what was to become a historic journey. One member of the party accompanying 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ to the West, later to become a Covenant-breaker, conspired with Italian health officials in Naples, and falsely claimed that the boy's eyes were diseased. Shoghi Effendi was heartbroken. Shoghi Effendi found separation from his family very difficult during the years of his schooling. First attending a Jesuit school in Haifa, then boarding at another Catholic school in Beirut, Shoghi Effendi later attended the Syrian Protestant College (later known as the American University in Beirut) for his final years of high school and first years of university. He found little happiness in school or university life other than in leading the activities of the Bah‡'’ students studying in Beirut, and in his vacations in Haifa spent with 'Abdu'l-Bah‡. During his studies, he dedicated himself to mastering English -- adding this language to the Arabic, French, Persian, and Turkish languages in which he was already fluent -- so that he could translate the letters of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ and serve as His secretary. In 1918, Shoghi Effendi obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the American University in Beirut. From 1918 to 1920, during perhaps the happiest years of his life, Shoghi Effendi was the constant companion and secretary of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡, and accompanied his grandfather on official functions where he met, among others, the British Military Governor of Haifa and Sir Edmund Allenby, the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces of Palestine. In the spring of 1920, Shoghi Effendi went up to Bristol College, [p23] Oxford, to pursue his studies. Among his subjects were political science, social and industrial questions, logic, and English economics history since 1688. He often presented papers, both to Bah‡'’ communities in England and to the various societies of Oxford University, relating economic and historical themes to the Bah‡'’ teachings. As well as debating, Shoghi Effendi had a fondness for sports, especially tennis and Alpine climbing, and his single personal hobby was photography. It was also during his two years at Oxford that Shoghi Effendi developed an affinity for some aspects of British culture. From daily reading of [i]The Times[/i] of London to careful study of the historical works of Carlyle and Gibbon, the future Guardian kept meticulously abreast of world events and developed a masterly command of the English language. His aims in continuing his studies at Oxford were quite clear, as he wrote a letter to an English believer in November 1921: '...I have been of late immerse in my work, revising many translations ... of Queen Victoria's Tablet which is replete with most vital and significant world counsels, so urgently needed by this sad and disillusioned world!'[7] .......... [7. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 22 November 1921 to one of the Bah‡'’s of England, cited by Rabbani, [i]The Priceless pearl[/i], p. 37.] [nd] I Shoghi Effendi's own world was shattered on 29 November 1921 when he received news of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡'s ascension. Shocked and grief-stricken, Shoghi Effendi made his way to the Holy Land. But even before his journey to Haifa and the realisation of his own weighty responsibilities, and despite his overwhelming sorrow, Shoghi Effendi wrote to a Bah‡'’ student in London expressing his vision of how even such a devastating blow as the passing of the Master would be converted into victory by the Bah‡'’s: [.] [.//] The stir which is now aroused in the Bah‡'’ world is an impetus to this Cause and will awaken every faithful soul to shoulder the responsibilities which the Mater has now placed upon every one of us.[8] .......... [8. Undated letter of Shoghi Effendi to a Bah‡'’ student in London, cited by Rabbani, [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 41.] [.///] [.] On 3 January 1922, the three Wills of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡, written at different times but forming the one document addressed to Shoghi Effendi, were officially read. Shoghi Effendi, who had no foreknowledge of the institution of the Guardianship, and who, by his own account, was still suffering from 'the pain, nay the anguish of His bereavement',[9] found that he was designated 'the blest and sacred bough that hath branched from the Twin Holy Trees', 'the youthful branched from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees', 'the expounder of the words of God', and 'the sign of [p24] God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Aghs‡n, the Afn‡n, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn'.[10] .......... [9. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated February 1922 to a Bah‡'’, cited by Rabbani, [i]The Priceless pearl[/i], p. 43.] .......... [10. 'Abdu'l-Bah‡, [i]The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡, pp. 3 and 11.] On 7 January 1922 Bah’yyih Kh‡num, the Greatest Holy Leaf, cabled the Bah‡'’s of Iran telling them that Shoghi Effendi was the centre of the Cause; the Bah‡'’ community of the United States was cabled nine days later on 16 January 1922. Through his first actions, Shoghi Effendi demonstrated the qualities of leadership which were to characterise his Guardianship. Emphasising 'the remarkable revelations'[11] of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡'s [i]Will and Testament[/i] in his early communications to the Bah‡'’ of the world, Shoghi Effendi, nevertheless, tried to draw attention away from his own personality by citing the least astounding of the passages of the Will referring to him as the appointed Guardian. From the outset, in a letter of December 1923, he set before the Bah‡'’ world their [i]raison d'être[/i]: .......... [11. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 2 December 1923 to 'the beloved brethren and sisters in Australia and New Zealand', in [i]Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand 1923-1957[/i], p. 1.] [.] [.//] Ours then is the duty and privilege to labour, by day, by night, amidst the storm and stress of these troublous days, that we may quicken the zeal of our fellow-man, rekindle their hopes, stimulate their interests, open their eyes to the true Faith of God and enlist their active support in the carrying out of our common task for the peace and regeneration of the world.[12] .......... [12. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 2 December 1923 to 'the beloved brethren and sisters in Australia and New Zealand', in [i]Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand 1923-1957[/i], pp. 1-2.] [.///] [.] In March 1922, in one of his earliest letters to the West, the Guardian also revealed pressing goals on his agenda by exhorting the Bah‡'’s to teach, to expand their vision of their religion and to seize the opportunities of the hour by emulating the example of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡: [.] [.//] How great is the need at this moment when the promised outpourings of His grace are ready to be extended to every soul, for us all to form a broad vision of the mission of the Cause to mankind, and to do all in our power to spread it throughout the world. The eyes of the world, now that the sublime Personality of the Master has been removed from this visible plane, are turned with eager anticipation to us who are named after His name, and on whom rests primarily the responsibility to keep burning the torch that He has lit in this world.[13] .......... [13. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 5 March 1922 to the 'dear Fellow-workers in the Cause of Bah‡'u'll‡h, [i]Unfolding Destiny[/i], p. 3.] [.] [.///] And having observed the life of the Master, Shoghi Effendi felt that his own personal suffering was inevitable if the Cause was to advance: 'I know it is a road of suffering; I have to tread this road till the end; everything has to be done with suffering.'[14] .......... [14. Shoghi Effendi, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 45.] The sufferings and problems of the Guardian began at once. On 30 January 1922, less than four weeks after the reading of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡'s Will, a group of Covenant-breakers forcibly took possession of the keys of the Tomb of Bah‡'u'll‡h. Two weeks before, Shoghi [p25] Effendi received a cable from a staunch American Bah‡'’ who wrote that the 'poison' of the Covenant-breakers 'has penetrated deeply among the friends', and described the 'great troubles and sorrows'[15] created by them in that community. The acts of the unfaithful were so abhorrent to Shoghi Effendi that he felt physically ill, as if 'a thousand scorpions had bitten him'.[16] Also during those first few weeks of Guardianship, the Sh’'ih Muslims of Iraq had unlawfully seized a place ordained by Bah‡'u'll‡h as a centre of pilgrimage, the House of Bah‡'u'll‡h in Baghd‡d, thereby fulfilling Bah‡'u'll‡h's trenchant prediction that 'it [the House] shall be so abased in the days to come as to cause tears to flow from every discerning eye'.[17] Patronisingly referred to as 'the Boy' by the local authorities in Haifa, Shoghi Effendi also found that some of the older Bah‡'’ felt that the Universal House of Justice should be elected soon as possible owing to his youth and inexperience. .......... [15. Letter dated 18 January 1922 to Shoghi Effendi from an unnamed American Bah‡'’, cited by Rabbani in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 50.] .......... [16. Ugo Giachery, [i]Shoghi Effendi[/i], p. 17.] .......... [17. Bah‡'u'll‡h, cited in [i]God Passes By[/i], p. 357.] Distressed but undaunted, Shoghi Effendi, like a seasoned commander-in-chief, summoned his field marshals from the world over to gather in Haifa for consultation in March 1922. The group was represented by outstanding Bah‡'’s from America, Burma, England, France, Germany, and Iran. The essence of the consultation, according to the diary of a visitor in Haifa at the time, was 'that before the Universal House of Justice can be established the Local and National Houses must be function in those countries where there are Bah‡'’s.[18] Shoghi Effendi had begun to lay the foundation for the rise of the Administrative Order. .......... [18. Diary of an American Bah‡'’ visiting Haifa in March 1922, cited in [i]The Priceless pearl[/i], p. 56.] Following an eight-month withdrawal to the mountains of Switzerland where Shoghi Effendi had gone to gain 'health, strength, self-confidence and spiritual energy',[19] and during which time he led a spartan life, on some days walking for more than forty kilometres over Alpine passes and climbing mountains for sixteen hours without rest, the Guardian returned to Haifa on 15 December 1922 to relieve his great-aunt, Bah’yyih Kh‡num, of the leadership responsibilities she had so faithfully executed during his absence. An immediate and ongoing problem which was to drain energy from him from the rest of his life was coping with the flood of world-wide correspondence. Shoghi Effendi decided that the maintenance of his correspondence with individual Bah‡'’s around the world as well as with assemblies was essential for the protection and growth of the Cause. The legacy of the Guardian's ceaseless guidance and inspiration is some 26,000 letters and thousands of cables to individual believers, groups and Bah‡'’ institutions -- writings which will always remain indispensable for the deliberations of the Universal House of Justice. .......... [19. Letter of Shoghi Effendi to the Bah‡'’s of Persia cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 57.] [p26] [nd] II The opening years of Shoghi Effendi's Guardianship established the pattern of crisis and victory which would come to characterize both the course of the rest of his life and the development of the Bah‡'’ Faith, two dramas which had become inextricably interwoven. In a span of six months from November 1925 to April 1926, the Guardian was confronted with three major crises. The first was the news from Iraq that the Court of Appeals had given its verdict in favour of the Sh’'ih Muslims to take possession of the House of Bah‡'u'll‡h in Baghd‡d. In response, Shoghi Effendi mobilized the Bah‡'’ world, and called on the believers of nineteen countries and regions, to cable and write, individually and collectively, their protest to the British High Commissioner in Iraq and King Feisal. During this battle, Shoghi Effendi grieved the personal loss of 'the warmest of friends, a trusted counsellor, an indefatigable collaborator, a loving companion'[20] when Hand of the Cause of God, Dr. John Esslemont, died while serving as the Guardian's secretary in Haifa. The third blow to the Guardian came in April 1926, when Shoghi Effendi received the news of the vicious murders of the Bah‡'’s of Jahrum, Iran, which the British Consul of Sh’r‡z described as 'thirteen adult Bah‡'’s [sic] and one babe of fifteen months being bludgeoned and stabbed and hacked to death in their houses and the streets'.[21] The extent to which Shoghi Effendi was personally affected by this news is suggested by his cable messages, 'horrified sudden calamity', and 'deeply afflicted'.[22] Nevertheless, he orchestrated a carefully calculated international publicity campaign, directing assemblies around the world to give 'full publicity to these reports in their respective newspapers'.[23] During every crisis, the Guardian always looked to find a path toward victory: 'I feel that with patience, tact, courage and resource we can utilize this development to further the interests and extend the influence of the Cause.'[24] .......... [20. Shoghi Effendi, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 91.] .......... [21. British Consul Herbert Chick, cited in Momen (ed.), [i]The B‡b’ and Bah‡'’ Religions, 1844-1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts[/i], p. 465.] .......... [22. Cables of Shoghi Effendi, dated 11 April and 7 May 1926 to the Bah‡'’s of Iran, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], pp. 98-99.] .......... [23. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 24 April 1926, cited ibid. p. 98.] .......... [24. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 21 May 1926, cited ibis., p. 99.] Many of the victories won during the first years of the Guardianship were in the arena of teaching. As early as 1923-24, in language now associated with the thrilling days of the World Crusade, Shoghi Effendi summoned the Bah‡'’s to arise and proclaim Bah‡'u'll‡h's teachings: [.] [.//] ...let us arise to teach His Cause with righteousness, conviction, understanding and vigor, Let this be the paramount and most urgent duty of every Bah‡'’. Let us make it the dominating passion of our life. Let us scatter to the uttermost corners of the earth.[25] .......... [25. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 24 November to the Bah‡'’s of the United States and Canada, in [i]Bah‡'’ Administration[/i], p. 69.] [.///] [.] Those who responded became immortalised by history and achieved [p27] astonishing results. The incomparable Martha Root, designated by the Guardian as the foremost Hand of the Cause of God of the first Bah‡'’ century and the 'finest fruit'[26] of the Formative Age, travelled the world at least four times over, and presented the Bah‡'’ teachings to, among many others, Queen Marie of Romania, who became the first crowned head to embrace the Faith. On 4 May 1923, less than a month after the tragic massacre of Jahrum, the [i]Toronto Daily Star[/i] published a highly appreciative statement made by the Queen on the Bah‡'’ Faith. .......... [26. Cable of Shoghi Effendi dated September 1939 to the Bah‡'’ world, in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 106.] These victories were followed by disappointments and tragedies. In April 1930, the intended pilgrimage of Queen Marie and her daughter, so eagerly anticipated by the Guardian, was prevented by what she called 'mean and spiteful'[27] advisers. In July 1932, the Guardian bewailed 'the sudden removal of my chief sustainer, my most affectionate comforter, the joy and inspiration of my life ... the well-beloved and treasured Remnant of Bah‡'u'll‡h',[8] when the Greatest Holy Leaf passed away. It was Bah’yyih Kh‡num who had been his protector, adviser, and comforter since the passing of the Master. With her no longer beside him, he emptied his heart: .......... [27. Letter of Queen Marie to Martha Root dated 28 June 1931, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], pp. 115-116.] .......... [28. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 17 July 1932 to the United States and Canada, in [i]Bah‡'’ Administration[/i], p. 187.] [.] [.//] Bear thou this message to 'Abdu'l-Bah‡, thine exalted and divinely-appointed Brother: If the Cause for which Bah‡'u'll‡h toiled and labored, for which Thou didst suffer years of agonizing sorrow, for the sake of which streams of sacred blood have flowed, should in days to come, encounter storms more severe than those it has already weathered, do Thou continue to overshadow, with Thine all-encompassing care and wisdom, Thy frail, Thy unworthy appointed child.[29] .......... [29. Letter of Shoghi Effendi dated 17 July 1932 to the United States and Canada, in [i]Bah‡'’ Administration[/i], pp. 195-196.] [.///] [.] Five years later, in a simple ceremony held in Bah’yyih Kh‡num's room, the Guardian married Mary Maxwell, whom he gave the title Amatu'l-Bah‡ Rúh’yyih Kh‡num, and presented her with the ring which his departed great-aunt had given him. Even in marriage, Shoghi Effendi's life was linked to the development of the Faith, as he cabled the rejoicing Bah‡'’s of North America in late March 1937: [.] [.//] INSTITUTION GUARDIANSHIP, HEAD CORNERSTONE ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER CAUSE BAHÁ'U'LLÁH, ALREADY ENNOBLED THROUGH ITS ORGANIC CONNECTION WITH PERSONS OF TWIN FOUNDERS OF BAHÁ'ê FAITH, IS NOW FURTHER REINFORCED THROUGH DIRECT ASSOCIATION WITH WEST AND PARTICULARLY WITH AMERICAN BELIEVERS, WHOSE SPIRITUAL DESTINY IS TO USHER IN WORLD ORDER BAHÁ'U'LLÁH. FOR MY PART DESIRE CONGRATULATE COMMUNITY AMERICAN BELIEVERS ON ACQUISITION TIE VITALLY BINDING THEM TO SO WEIGHTY AN ORGAN OF THEIR FAITH.[30] .......... [30. Cable of Shoghi Effendi dated March 1937 to the Bah‡'’s of the United States and Canada, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 152.] [.///] [.] In 1952, Amatu'l-Bah‡ Rúh’yyih Kh‡num was elevated to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God, and in a message to the National [p28] Spiritual Assembly of Canada, her homeland, the Guardian provided a glimpse of the remarkable bond between her and the sign of God on earth, when he designated her as 'my helpmate, my shield in warding off the darts of Covenant-breakers and my tireless collaborator in the arduous tasks I shoulder'.[31] .......... [31. Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bah‡'’s of Canada, in [i]Messages to Canada[/i], 1965, p. 22.] [nd] III The development of the World Centre of the Bah‡'’ Faith will always be identified with the work of the Guardian. From the beginning of his ministry, Shoghi Effendi personally welcomed a steady flow of pilgrims; he inspired them, shared with them news of the progress of the Cause, and sometimes offered them his advice, as when he remarked to a young pilgrim who had asked him about marriage: 'Don't wait too long and don't wait for someone to fall from the sky!'[32] As early 9 April 1922, Shoghi Effendi ordered work to be commenced on the new Western Pilgrim House; less than two weeks later, on the first day of Ridv‡n, the Shrines of both the B‡b and Bah‡'u'll‡h were electrically illuminated for the first time. Within a few years, Shoghi Effendi had, to the astonishment of many of the locals, planted lawns on the properties of these Shrines; these were the first laws to be grown in Palestine on a large scale. With no help and no advice, he laid out his superb gardens in Bahj’ and Haifa, every measurement being his own. A great aficionado of art and architecture, especially the Greek and Gothic varieties, the Guardian fixed the style of the Shrine of the B‡b through his instructions to the architect, his father-in-law and confidant, and Hand of the Cause of God, William Sutherland Maxwell. Shoghi Effendi also set the design for the International Archives building, and personally created the appearances of the interiors of the Mansion of Bah‡'u'll‡h, the House of 'Abbúd, and the Mansion at Mazra'ih. .......... [32. Shoghi Effendi, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 129.] In the midst of obstacles, anxiety, material and financial problems, and the terrorism and civil war which accompanied the creation of the state of Israel, Shoghi Effendi was developing 'the heart and nerve-center of a world-embracing Faith'[33] and bringing closer to fulfillment the promises of Bah‡'u'll‡h in the Tablet of Carmel. During his ministry, the Guardian increased by fiftyfold -- to almost 500,000 square metres of land -- the properties under Bah‡'’ ownership in the Holy Land. In December 1939, Shoghi Effendi reunited the sister, brother, mother and wife of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ by transferring their remains to 'one spot' which, in a cable to America, he said was to: 'constitute focal centre Bah‡'’ Administrative Institutions [p29] at Faith's World Centre'.[34] From the first day of his ministry the Guardian's greatest concern in the Holy Land was to secure and safeguard the Shrine of Bah‡'u'll‡h and the buildings and lands adjoining it. In 1957, his goal was finally fully achieved, when the Supreme Court of Israel ordered the eviction of the Covenant-breakers who had occupied the buildings adjacent to the Shrine. Shoghi Effendi's second great concern was the Shrine of the B‡b. By 1953, in a space of less than six years, the Guardian had transformed what he called in 1947 'a homely building with a fortress-like appearance'[35] into the 'Queen of Carmel'.[36] In 1957, 'the first stately Edifice'[37] of the Arc, the International Archives Building, was completed. Three years before, Shoghi Effendi predicted that the erection of this building was a step 'destined to usher in the establishment of the World Administrative Centre of the Faith on Mt. Carmel -- the Ark referred to by Bah‡'u'll‡h in the closing passages of His Tablet of Carmel'.[38] The Bah‡'’s of this generation witnessed the realisation of part of his remarkable vision when the Universal House of Justice occupied its permanent seat on Mount Carmel in 1983. .......... [33. Shoghi Effendi, [i]The Advent of Divine Justice[/i], pp. 3-4.] .......... [34. Cable of Shoghi Effendi dated 5 December 1939 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 261.] .......... [35. Letter of Shoghi Effendi to the Haifa Local Building Town Planning Commission, 7 December 1947, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 240.] .......... [36. Cable of Shoghi Effendi dated October 1953, in [i]Messages to the Bah‡'’ World 1950-1957[/i], p. 169.] .......... [37. Cable of Shoghi Effendi dated April 1954, ibid. p. 64.] .......... [38. ibid. p. 66.] [nd] IV The translations and writings of Shoghi Effendi, although they receive more detailed attention in other parts of this book, cannot be separated from the rest of the work or life of the Guardian. Indeed, one of the first acts of his ministry was to begin circulating translations of the prayers and Tablets of the Master. From 1922 to 1944, Shoghi Effendi translated numerous passages from the 'epistles, exhortations, commentaries, apologies, dissertations, prophecies, prayers, odes' and 'specific Tablets'[39] of Bah‡'u'll‡h, as well as many passages from the Writings of the B‡b and 'Abdu'l-Bah‡. In March 1923, he sent the Bah‡'’s of America his revised translation of [i]Hidden Words of Bah‡'u'll‡h[/i]; in April, he shared with them various passages of the [i]Kit‡b-i-Aqdas[/i] ([i]The Most Holy Book[/i]). By the end of the first decade of the Guardianship, he had also completed the translations of two major books: Bah‡'u'll‡h's [i]Kit‡b-i-êq‡n[/i] ([i]The Book of Certitude[/i]) and [i]Nab’l's Narrative[/i]. In 1935, Shoghi Effendi translated what he called 'a selection of the most characteristic and hitherto unpublished passages from the outstanding works of the Author of the Bah‡'’ Revelation',[40] published under the title [i]Gleanings from the Writings of Bah‡'u'll‡h[/i]. The translation and publication of its complementary volume, [i]Prayers and Meditations by Bah‡'u'll‡h[/i], followed in 1936-37. [p30] The fifth and final book which Shoghi Effendi rendered into English was also the last major work of Bah‡'u'll‡h, the [i]Epistle to the Son of the Wolf[/i], translated during the winter of 1939-40. .......... [39. Shoghi Effendi, [i]God Passes By[/i], p. 137.] .......... [40. Letter of Shoghi Effendi to Sir Herbert Samuel, cited in Rabbani, [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 218.] From 1929 to 1941, Shoghi Effendi wrote a number of long letters addressed to the Bah‡'’s of the West. Seven of these letters, conceived during the years of 1929-1936, have been compiled under the title [i]The World Order of Bah‡'u'll‡h[/i]. Written on the eve of the Second World War, [i]The Advent of Divine Justice[/i] was a letter specifically addressed to the Bah‡'’s of the United States and Canada. [i]The Promised Day is Come[/i] appeared in 1941. It was a letter of over one hundred pages which explained that 'the retributory calamity' that had overtaken mankind was primarily due to its having ignored for a hundred years the Message of Bah‡'u'll‡h. Then, in 1944, after two years of preparation and writing, during which time the Guardian read at least two hundred volumes of works written on the Faith in both English and Persian, by both Bah‡'’s and non-Bah‡'’s, Shoghi Effendi's monumental centennial review of B‡b’ and Bah‡'’ history, [i]God Passes By[/i], was presented as a gift to the Bah‡'’s of the western world. Written during the turbulent days of World War II when, for instance, a fighter plane crashed less than 100 metres away from the Guardian's room, this book was perhaps Shoghi Effendi's greatest labour of love. Like most of his writings, it was written in the Persian style of composition, with the Guardian speaking aloud and committing his words to paper at the same time. Like many of his other English writings, the manuscript of [i]God Passes By[/i] was sent to the Hand of the Cause of God George Townshend, who was not only greatly admired by the Guardian for his knowledge and command of the English language, but who also provided the title for this work. In addition, the Guardian acted as Editor-in-Chief of the first twelve volumes of [i]The Bah‡'’ World[/i], and wrote extensively in Persian, including a short one-hundred-year-history of the Bah‡'’ Faith. While the praise of no one can do justice to the majesty, power, and precision of Shoghi Effendi's expression, the comments of Sir E. Denison Ross, the well-known orientalist from the University of London, who called the Guardian's command of English 'perfect' and even asserted that his 'English style ... could not be bettered',[41] suggest the magnitude of Shoghi Effendi's literary achievement. .......... [41. Letter of Sir E. Denison Ross to Shoghi Effendi dated 27 April 1932, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 216.] [nd] V Another dimension of Shoghi Effendi's life as the Guardian was his careful cultivation of the external relations of the Bah‡'’ Community, [p31] both in the Holy Land and elsewhere. These efforts eventually resulted in the recognition of the World Centre as the historic heart of the Bah‡'’ Faith, and entitled the Bah‡'’ Community to the same rights as other Faiths in the Holy Land, and in some cases, special rights. In December 1922, only four days after returning to Haifa from Switzerland, Shoghi Effendi, in an act indicative of the wisdom and courtesy with which he discharged all his duties, wired the High Commissioner for Palestine in Jerusalem, extending him 'best wishes and kind regards'[42] and reaffirming his own position as the world leader of the Bah‡'’ Faith. Two months later the Governors of 'Akk‡ and Haifa ruled in favour of returning the keys of the Tomb of Bah‡'u'll‡h to the legitimate Bah‡'’ keeper of the Shrine. Shoghi Effendi fostered these types of contacts throughout his Guardianship, for example in interviews with the Prime Minister of Israel David Ben Gurion in January 1949 and the President of Israel Ben Zvi in April 1954. The Guardian was also a frequent and generous contributor to charities in Haifa for the poor and distressed, donating over $10,000 to the municipality of Haifa for the poor of all denominations from 1940-1952. .......... [42. Cable of Shoghi Effendi to High Commissioner for Palestine in Jerusalem dated 19 December 1922, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 70.] Internationally, Shoghi Effendi maintained contact with a number of people and organizations of prominence despite his overwhelming workload. In addition to Queen Marie, the Guardian corresponded with, among others, Grand Duke Alexander of Russia, Princess Kadria of Egypt, Princess Marina of Greece, Lord Lamington, and Professor Norman Bentwich. He sent personal messages to the Universal Congress of Esperantists from 1927 to 1931, and accorded the highest priority to the attainment by the Bah‡'’ Community of non-governmental status at the United Nations in 1947. In fact, one of the twenty-seven objectives of the World Crusade which the Guardian listed in 1953 was the reinforcement of the ties binding the Bah‡'’ World Community to the United Nations. These ties may well have been responsible in part for the pressure which the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld, exerted on the government of Iran to halt the wave of violent persecutions of Bah‡'’s in 1955. [nd] VI As well as the beautiful World Centre, the matchless translations, the vast writings, and the great prestige and recognition which the Guardian left the Bah‡'’ world, Shoghi Effendi bequeathed to all of humankind a model of community and world orgnisation which will shape human affairs for at least the next 1,000 years: the Bah‡'’ [p32] Administrative Order. According to Shoghi Effendi, 'the Charter which called into being, outlined the features and set in motion the processes' of the Administrative Order was 'none other than the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡'.[43] While 'Abdu'l-Bah‡ was designated by Shoghi Effendi as 'the great Architect' of this Order -- an Order 'unique in the annals of the world's religious systems'[44] -- it was the Guardian who not only supervised and planned its construction, but who also used the Administrative Order as a channel to carry out the Divine Plan of 'Abdu'l-Bah‡. It was Shoghi Effendi who, for instance, detailed the responsibilities, powers and processes for annual election of local and national Assemblies, called for the setting-up of local and national Bah‡'’ Funds, and established the institution of the Auxiliary Board. He established the International Bah‡'’ Council in 1951, the forerunner of the Universal House of Justice, and appointed three contingents of Hands of the Cause of God, 'the Chief Stewards of Bah‡'u'll‡h's embryonic World Commonwealth'.[45] Indeed, throughout his writings, Shoghi Effendi repeatedly stated that the ultimate destiny of the Administrative Order was 'to evolve into the Bah‡'’ World Commonwealth', the last of successive stages through which the Faith must pass in the course of its evolution towards the Golden Age;[46] in the meantime, teaching, according to the Guardian, was 'the fundamental purpose' of Bah‡'’ administration. .......... [43. Shoghi Effendi, [i]God Passes By[/i], p.325.] .......... [44. ibid. p. 326.] .......... [45. Cable of Shoghi Effendi dated October 1957 to the Bah‡'’ World, in [i]Messages to the Bah‡'’ World[/i], p. 127.] .......... [46. Shoghi Effendi, [i]God passes By[/i], p. 325.] Once the bedrock of the Administrative Order was established -- a necessary precondition for the 'efficient and systematic prosecution' of the Divine Plan -- Shoghi Effendi was able to launch the great teaching campaigns envisioned in 'Abdu'l-Bah‡'s charter for the world-wide expansion of the Faith, the Tablets of the Divine Plan. The Bah‡'’ community of America, which Shoghi Effendi called 'the cradle of the Administrative Order',[47] was the chief trustee of this Plan. By 1925, forty-three local Assemblies had been formed in North America, and several national Assemblies had been formed or were in the process of formation, including Britain, formed in 1923, Germany and Austria (1923), India and Burma (1923), Egypt (1924), the United States and Canada (1925), Iraq (1931), Australia and New Zealand (1934), and Iran (1934). Through the American Bah‡'’ community, Shoghi Effendi established the 'charter'[48] for all national Assemblies by means of the 1927 Bah‡'’ National Constitution, and the 'pattern'[49] for all local Assemblies by means of the By-Laws of the Spiritual Assembly of New York, drafted in 1931. By 1936, ten national Assemblies and 139 local Assemblies existed throughout the world. The Guardian considered the bedrock finally laid. The time [p33] for launching the Divine Plan, 'the weightiest spiritual enterprise launched in recorded history',[50] had come. .......... [47. Shoghi Effendi, [i]God Passes By[/i], p. 329.] .......... [48. Shoghi Effendi, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 302.] .......... [49. Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated 27 May 1927 to the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, in [i]Bah‡'’ Administration[/i], p. 135.] .......... [50. Shoghi Effendi, cited in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 383.] [nd] VII The last twenty years of Shoghi Effendi's life were characterised by systematic teaching plans which he first assigned to America, and later to other communities as well. The first (1937-1944) and second (1946-1953) American Seven Year Plans established the Faith in all the states and provinces of the United States and Canada, created new national Assemblies in Canada and in Central and South America, and established the Faith in each of twenty Latin American republics. At the same time, the Bah‡'’s of other countries, most notably Britain, Canada, Egypt, India, Pakistan and Burma, and Iran inspired by the Guardian's call to vie with one another in spreading the teachings, began their own teaching plans. By the centenary of the mystic birth of Bah‡'u'll‡h's mission in the S’y‡h-Ch‡l of Tehran -- the Holy Year of 1953 -- and after the four great Intercontinental Teaching Conferences held in Kampala, Chicago, Stockholm, and New Delhi, the stage was set for what Shoghi Effendi called a 'fate-laden, soul-stirring, decade-long, world-embracing Spiritual Crusade'. The Ten Year Crusade crowned Shoghi Effendi's ministry and his life's work. Whereas in 1921, when Shoghi Effendi became the Guardian, thirty-five countries were opened to the Faith, on his passing in November 1957, Bah‡'’s resided in 254 countries; indeed, during the first two years of the Global Crusade alone, the number of countries enrolled under the banner of Bah‡'u'll‡h almost doubled. By 1957, Bah‡'’ literature was translated into 237 languages -- a sixfold increase in thirteen years. By the end of this Crusade, there were fifty-six national Assemblies, 4,566 local Assemblies, and Bah‡'’s resided in 15,186 localities. In the midst of these achievements, Shoghi Effendi continued to transform crisis into victory. After the Iranian authorities had seized the Bah‡'’ National Headquarters in Tehran in 1955 and twice desecrated the Holy House of the B‡b, and therefore made it impossible to build the planned House of Worship in Iran, the Guardian called for the construction in Kampala, Uganda, of the 'Mother Temple' of Africa as a 'supreme consolation' to the 'oppressed masses' of our 'valiant brethren' in Iran the Cradle of the Faith.[51] Like a general, seizing the opportunity of the moment in battle, [p34] Shoghi Effendi, then announced in Ridv‡n 1957 an 'ambitious threefold enterprise' to erect in 'localities as far apart as Frankfurt, Sydney and Kampala' the 'Mother Temples' of the European, Australian and African continents.[52] By the time Shoghi Effendi was drafting the momentous message of October 1957 in which he outlined plans for the midway point of the World Crusade, the crises created by those who opposed the Faith throughout his thirty-six year ministry seemed to have been finally converted into resounding victory. .......... [51. Cablegram of Shoghi Effendi dated 23 August 1955 to the Bah‡'’ world in [i]Messages to the Bah‡'’ World[/i], p. 90.] .......... [52. Message of Shoghi Effendi dated April 1957 to the Bah‡'’ world, ibid., pp. 111-112.] Only hours after completing a map of the world displaying the victories to date of the World Crusade, the Guardian passed away in London on 4 November 1957. Amatu'l-Bah‡ Rúh’yyih Kh‡num sent the following cable to Haifa which was relayed to all National Assemblies: [.] [.//] SHOGHI EFFENDI BELOVED OF ALL HEARTS SACRED TRUST GIVEN BELIEVERS BY MASTER PASSED AWAY SUDDEN HEART ATTACK IN SLEEP FOLLOWING ASIATIC FLU. URGE BELIEVERS REMAIN STEADFAST CLING INSTITUTION HANDS LOVINGLY REARED RECENTLY REINFORCED EMPHASIZED BY BELOVED GUARDIAN. ONLY ONENESS HEART ONENESS PURPOSE CAN BEFITTINGLY TESTIFY LOYALTY TO ALL NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES BELIEVERS DEPARTED GUARDIAN WHO SACRIFICED SELF UTTERLY FOR SERVICE FAITH.[53] .......... [53. Cable dated 4 November 1957, in [i]The Priceless Pearl[/i], p. 447.] [.///] [.] By leading the Bah‡'’ world to the middle of the Ten Year Global Crusade, Shoghi Effendi had guided the Army of Light further into the divinely propelled process which is destined to culminate in 'the stage at which the light of God's triumphant Faith shining in all its power and glory will have suffused and enveloped the entire planet'.[54] Such is the debt of the Bah‡'’s of all time to their one beloved Guardian -- Shoghi Effendi. .......... [54. Second Message of Shoghi Effendi to the All-American Intercontinental Conference dated 4 May 1953, in [i]Messages to the Bah‡'’ World[/i], p. 155.]