You have asked for his advice about two matters which concern you very
deeply, and although he knows your love for this Holy Cause will assist
you in making the right decisions, he knows it will be hard for you to do
so, and therefore assures you of his loving prayers that you may take
these steps courageously, and that the way may be made easy for you.
He has heard nothing against the character of Mrs ... and does not doubt
in many ways she may be a very commendable woman. However, this does not
change the fact that in view of her inhered convictions about Bahá’u’lláh
it is best for the Bahá’ís, including yourself, not to associate with her.
That which is in the heart of those who have actively opposed the
Manifestation of God is spiritually unhealthy, and although we in our
limited human understanding cannot always see the wisdom of shunning them,
the Master has instructed us to do so, and for our good, and the good of
the Cause, we must obey this instruction.
The matter of your giving up your church membership is a conscientious
obligation. He does not force you to do so, but as you no longer believe
in all the doctrines of your former church, to continue to be a member of
it is really to put yourself in a position of one who is acting
insincerely. Should you decide to withdraw from the church as a member,
however there is no reason why you should not continue to go to church
with your husband, and to continue your friendly association with the
congregation. He will pray that your husband may be willing for you to
take this step.
LETTER OF 30 SEPTEMBER 1949(34)
30 September 1949
He fully appreciates your point about certain well-known names of Persian
and other Oriental cities being spelt according to the general usage in
German literature. However, he feels that it is necessary to follow in
full the transliteration used in God Passes By, even for the names of
famous cities, etc., which have in European languages an accepted way of
being spelt. Only by doing this can confusion be avoided in our Bahá’í
translations and uniformity be maintained.
A key to pronunciation should be printed, in order to coordinate it with
the German language, and also an explanation of the reason for this system
being used: namely that it was adopted by an international Congress as
being the most practical and universal means of spelling these oriental
names in the latin alphabet.
He hopes that the fact that two people translated different parts of this
book will not be noticeable in the style, and thus detract from its
literary value in German?
Your labours, and those of the other friends concerned in getting this
valuable history ready to be printed in German, are deeply appreciated....
[From the Guardian:]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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