The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahá'í Community : the Messages from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'ís of the British IslesShoghi, Effendi
Religion
The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahá'í Community : the Messages from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'ís of the British Isles
Shoghi, Effendi
Bahai Faith -- Great Britain -- History -- Sources; Shoghi, Effendi, 1897-1957 -- Correspondence
The British Bahá’í community, now embarked on the final phase of the first
historic collective enterprise undertaken in British Bahá’í history,
stands at the parting of the ways. Only a brief interval separates it from
the fateful date when its first experiment in a collective nation-wide
effort to achieve a definite goal in the path of service to its beloved
Faith will have ended. Five years of stupendous effort, of magnificent
self-sacrifice, of marvellous dedication and of splendid cooperation have
marked the progressive evolution of the Plan to its present stage. What
has been achieved during this short span of years, despite the smallness
of numbers, the paucity of resources and the exhaustion resulting from a
prolonged and severely devastating conflict, has, beyond the shadow of a
doubt, eclipsed the brightest achievements recorded in the course of more
than half a century in the annals of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in that
country.
The Bahá’í world, in its entirety, is struck with amazement at the quality
of the work performed, at the extent and number of the victories achieved
by this community. Its sister-community in the great Republic of the West,
already laden with many and splendid trophies gathered in distant fields
and over a long period of time cannot regard this resurgence of the Bahá’í
spirit, this manifestation of Bahá’í solidarity, these ennobling evidences
of Bahá’í achievement, amidst so conservative a people, within so short a
time, under such trying circumstances, and by so small a band of workers,
except with feelings compounded of envy, of admiration and respect. Its
sister-communities throughout the East, venerable by reason of their age,
and the sacrifices they have made, and fully aware of the long period of
incubation this community has undergone, recall, with feelings of delight,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prediction, forecasting the germination, at their appointed
time, of the potent seeds His loving hands have sown in the course of His
twice-repeated visit to that Island, and marvel at the rapidity with which
its soil is now manifesting the potentialities with which it has been
endowed. He Who blessed it with His footsteps, Who called into being, and
fostered the growth of, the community labouring in that Island, hails,
from His station on high, the exploits which immortalise the small band of
His present-day consecrated and resolute followers, who are carrying on
the torch which He Himself had entrusted to their immediate predecessors.
Bahá’u’lláh Himself lauds the conspicuous victories being won in His Name,
in the dawning years of the Second Bahá’í Century, at the very heart and
centre of the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, whose Sovereign
Monarch He Himself had addressed and whose deeds He, with His Own pen, had
commended.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account