Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf: A Compilation from Bahá’í Sacred Texts and Writings of the Guardian of the Faith and Bahíyyih Khánum’s Own Letters

1 The deep heart’s love and the longing of the soul of this wronged one for those spiritual beloved ones, and in particular for those who are kin to the peerless Holy Tree of sanctity and oneness, cannot be told in words, and my most ardent wish is that I might correspond with each one of you, but our alarm and grief over this momentous happening, 158 this terrible affliction and ill-omened agony, this inexorable divine decree, the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—may our souls be offered up for all the wrongs He bore!—has left us wretched, desolate, to such a degree that there is no peace in the spirit, no will to endure in the heart.

This is an earthquake which shook the foundations of our lives, this is a wailing and an uproar within the Company on High. The lightning bolt of this departure has set the very world aflame, and the fires of this leave-taking have scorched the whole earth.

The grieving dwellers in the courts of holiness have rent their garments of long-suffering, and the household of the Most High have put on mourning dress. Truly the people of Bahá and those who are kin to the divine Lote-Tree are sharing with us the pangs of this bereavement, this direst of torments, and are partners in anguish of those who suffer here.

Now that this dread event has come upon us all, it is to be hoped that new stirrings and wondrous new vibrations will be felt; that a renewed staunchness and fidelity, an ever more vigorous firmness and loyalty, will take over and astound the world. Thus all will clearly understand that even though that sacred and mysterious Being has laid aside the garment of His mortal life, even though that Bird of eternity has abandoned the cage of this earth, still is His spirit in our midst, still is He watching over us all from the realm of the All-Glorious, ever is He gladdening the hearts of the beloved, and to the 159 souls of those who are fast-rooted in the Covenant, ever is He bringing tidings of great joy.