Chapter 5
desire.
Lovingly and affectionately, Shoghi
LETTER OF 4 APRIL 1930
4 April 1930
Dear friends:
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated March 25th 1930. He hopes and prays that you will stand firm in these days of tests and appreciate the light and seek it steadfastly. Miss Wright comes from a country where the friends have at several occasions been put to test and therefore she appreciates the difficulties that the friends are confronting. Shoghi Effendi hopes, that coming from the Holy Land she will import to you the spirit she obtained at the Holy Thresholds.
Ever since the inception of the Cause we have been experiencing constant attacks. Sometimes they came from outside. Other times they came from souls most trusted and loved. In every case however they have proven to be for the good of the Faith. It is such events that arouse the friends to added service.
Shoghi Effendi hopes that as a result of Mrs. White's activities the friends will become more united and feel to a greater extent the importance of their task. Perhaps, if we had endeavoured more, if we had sacrificed to a greater extent, if, following the explicit wish of the Master, we had sought to spread the Cause even more than we have done, Mrs. White and her like could not criticise us to such an extent and say that the administration has killed the spirit. Let us therefore take a lesson from what has pa.s.sed and render to the Cause services still unseen in the history of the movement.
In closing may I a.s.sure you of Shoghi Effendi's prayers and loving greetings,...
[From the Guardian:]
My dearly-beloved friends:
The expression of your loyalty and perseverance has rejoiced my heart. You are truly the heroic pioneers of the Cause of G.o.d. I will supplicate for each one of you at the Beloved's Shrine, that your understanding of the Faith may deepen, and that each of you may grow to become a s.h.i.+ning star in the firmament of our beloved Cause.
Your true brother, Shoghi
LETTER OF 14 JUNE 1930
14 June 1930
Dear Dr. Muhlschlegel:
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of
Shoghi Effendi would therefore advise you to wait until then before you take any decision as to your German translation.
Shoghi Effendi much appreciates the service you are rendering. The iqan is the most important book written on the spiritual significance of the Cause. I do not believe any person can consider himself well versed in the teachings unless he has studied it thoroughly. To publish it therefore in a comprehensive German will be one of the greatest services rendered to the Cause in that land...
In closing may I a.s.sure you of Shoghi Effendi's loving greetings and best wishes....
[From the Guardian:]
My dear co-worker:
I trust that the day will soon come when you will be able to visit Persia and meet the Baha'is and visit the shrines of the martyrs. I pray that the Beloved may guide your steps, cheer your heart and bless your efforts.
Your true brother, Shoghi
LETTER OF 20 JUNE 1931
20 June 1931
My Dear Friends,
I am directed by our Guardian to thank you for your letter of June 5th.
He learns with extreme pleasure and satisfaction of your gathering at a meeting at which all the dear friends of Vienna together with our good friend Mr. Adam Benke of Leipzig were present. And he deeply appreciates your loving message of greeting above your individual signatures. Such messages are always a source of pleasure to him, but he is especially glad to see the newly established centre in Vienna so full of enthusiasm, of love and of devotion to the Cause of Baha'u'llah. He prays from the bottom of his heart that our precious Master may fill your souls with His beautiful spirit and may help and guide you to serve His Cause and humanity.
He is so glad to know that Mr. Benke is going to Sofia to help Miss Jack, and he trusts that he will be of very great help to her.
With the a.s.surance of Shoghi Effendi's loving greetings to you all,...
[From the Guardian:]
My dear and precious co-workers:
I was so pleased to hear from you and to learn of your steadfast loyalty to the Cause. The friends in Vienna are ever in my thoughts and heart and I will continue to supplicate for them the Master's richest blessings.
Your true brother, Shoghi
LETTER OF 23 DECEMBER 1931
23 December 1931
Dear Dr. Muhlschlegel:
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to drop you these few lines to inform you that few days ago he sent to your address c/o Mrs. Schwarz a copy of his translation of the iqan which has just come out. He hopes that it will help you in revising your translation into German which you have already made. This is in fulfilment of the promise he made last year to send you a copy of his English translation when out of the press.
Shoghi Effendi has, through various channels, been hearing of the wonderful services you are rendering to the Cause. He sincerely trusts that the young and educated Baha'is, who have their spiritual faculties fully developed, and who as a consequence appreciate the significance of Baha'u'llah's mission in the development of the world, will with one accord, arise and establish the Kingdom of G.o.d upon the earth. The world around us is in a pitiable condition and its ills seem daily to increase.
It is for us, we Baha'i youths, who have been entrusted with this divine mission, to do our utmost and rest only when the task has been carried to its successful conclusion.