Bahá’í Administration

I would also earnestly entreat all the delegates at this coming Convention, and through them I appeal to the larger body of believers whom they represent, to ever bear in mind the supreme injunction of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to teach unceasingly until the “head cornerstone of the foundation” of the Cause of God is firmly established in every heart. Let those whose time, resources and means allow, travel throughout the length and breadth of that vast continent, let them scatter to the most distant regions of the earth and, fired with enthusiasm and detachment, hand on the torch of God’s undying flame to the waiting multitudes of a sadly-stricken world.

One word more in conclusion. Let the West, and particularly the Great Republic of the New World, where a quarter of a century ago Bahá’u’lláh’s Banner was firmly implanted, realize that upon it now rests the responsibility of achieving the universal recognition of the Bahá’í Faith, of fulfilling ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s fondest hopes.

Persia, the cradle of an unfolding world civilization, is still bereft 89 of her freedom, sunk in ignorance, a prey to contending policies and factions, beset on one hand by the powers of orthodoxy and sectarian fanaticism and assailed on the other by the forces of materialism and unbelief. In her evil plight she is radiantly confident that the Flame she had kindled in the world will, in the fullness of time, blaze forth in the heart of the mighty West and shed redeeming illumination upon the silent sufferers of a distracted country. Will it be America, will it be one of the nations of Europe, that will seize the torch of Divine Guidance from Persia’s fettered hands and with it set the western world aflame? May your Convention, by its spirit, its resolutions and its accomplishments, give to that country’s urgent call a noble and decisive answer.