There can be no doubt that the progress of the Cause from this time onward will be characterized by an ever-increasing relationship to the agencies, activities, institutions and leading individuals of the non-Bahá’í world. We shall acquire greater stature at the United Nations, become better known in the deliberations of governments, a familiar figure to the media, a subject of interest to academics, and inevitably the envy of failing establishments. Our preparation for and response to this situation must be a continual deepening of our faith, an unwavering adherence to its principles of abstention from partisan politics and freedom from prejudices, and above all an increasing understanding of its fundamental verities and relevance to the modern world. (Ridván 1984 to the Bahá’ís of the World) [78] FOOTNOTES 1 ‘Ulamá, from the Arabic ‘alima, to know, may be translated learned men, scientists, religious authorities. 2 Cf. “Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas”, p. 26. 3 “The Challenge and Promise of Bahá’í Scholarship”, prepared by the Research Department. As published in “The Bahá’í World” (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1981), vol. XVII, pp. 195–196, this statement was inadvertently attributed to the Universal House of Justice. 4 Ibid.