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Dawn of a New Day

  • Author:
  • Shoghi Effendi

  • Source:
  • Bahá’í Publishing Trust of India, date unknown
  • Pages:
  • 228
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Pages 36-38

Need of Baha’i Teachers all over the World

He sincerely hopes that as a result of her (Mrs. Kehler’s) trip the Cause will make a great progress in India and many souls will be drawn into the Cause. It was surely very nice and wise on the part of the National Assembly to appoint Mr. Pritam Singh to travel with her and help her make openings into intellectual circles. It is unfortunate, however, that she cannot stay long in every centre and make really confirmed believers such as she did in certain centres in Australia. But perhaps the National Assembly will attend to that task and keeping in touch with persons she will interest, and gradually make them embrace the Faith and lend a help towards its progress. We need teachers in every part of the world, and as those who are in active service are few we should create some from the material we have. It is the work of the N.S.A. to attend to such matters and develop some of our young Baha’is into competent teachers. Baha’u’llah and the New Era to be Translated into Urdu & Hindi
In a previous letter I informed you on behalf of Shoghi 37 Effendi that as we already have a translation of Dr. Esslemont’s book into Gujrati, you concentrate your efforts on having it rendered only into Urdu, so that the work may soon be completed and published.
[From the Guardian:]
I trust you have by now taken the necessary steps for a prompt and careful translation of the book into Urdu. This service will, I am sure, be an added blessing to the masses of India, whom you are striving so devotedly and energetically to arouse and teach. May it prove a prelude to an intensive and fruitful teaching campaign that shall bring in its wake enlightenment, peace and hope to the distracted multitudes of that agitated country.
April 12, 1932
Even though we can refer to a non-Baha’i when we have no one among the friends to undertake a proper work of translation, yet it is always preferable to have it accomplished by a person who is imbued with the spirit and is already familiar with the different expressions of Baha’i conceptions unfamiliar to a non-Baha’i. Shoghi Effendi wishes him success and will pray for his guidance.
Mrs. Ransom Kehler is now in Haifa taking some rest before starting for Persia, where she expects to stay a few months. Shoghi Effendi was very glad to hear of her great success in India. He hopes that she will after Persia pay another visit to that country and resume the work she has started. She is surely a very competent teacher and well versed in the Writings.
[From the Guardian:]
I trust and pray that you will be enabled to start promptly the publication of the Hindi translation on one hand, and to ensure, on the other, the early completion of the Urdu version, both of which, I feel are indispensable preliminaries to an intensive teaching campaign among the great masses of the Indian people. I am confident that the publication of the Gujrati version together with these and the Burmese translations, will reinforce the impetus which the 38 projected visit of Mrs. Kehler to India next autumn will lend to the onward march of our beloved Cause in India. May the Almighty reinforce your labours and bless your high endeavours.
May 31, 1932
He is very glad to know that the different translations of Dr. Esslemont’s book, that you have undertaken to have made, are progressing rapidly. He sincerely hopes that before long they will be passed through the press and be ready for distribution.
Even though the book was written by a Christian and was meant to be for people of that Faith to read, yet it is a very fine presentation of the teachings as a whole and might prove interesting to other people as well.
Shoghi Effendi surely hopes that before long the Cause may produce scholars that would write books which would be far deeper and more universal in scope, but for the present this is the best we possess to give a general idea as to the history and teachings of the Faith to new seekers. After reading this they get the necessary introduction to delve more deeply into the fundamental tenets such as are explained in the Iqan.
Shoghi Effendi hopes that these books will greatly stimulate the teaching work in India and become the cause of guidance to many sincere souls.