The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.
Dearly-beloved friends:
The progress of various events, both within and outside the Bahá’í world, as well as the perusal of the able and illuminating report recently submitted by the Committee of the Persian National Spiritual Assembly in charge of the Tarbíyat School in Ṭihrán, have served to reinforce a gradually growing idea as to the desirability of arranging for the settlement in the capital of that country of one or two American believers who, having the means, the freedom and the capacity, can adequately meet the pressing requirements of a responsible position. Judging from their report, the situation in Ṭihrán though much confused and perplexing, is fraught with rich possibilities for the future of the Cause, both as affecting the national fortunes of Persia, as well as its influence upon the international development of the Cause.
The situation as I see it calls for the devoted efforts of one or two capable workers who, untrammelled and with independent means, can quietly, tenaciously and tactfully, pursue over a considerable length of time the meritorious work of fostering the cause of Bahá’í education, for both boys and girls, in the swiftly changing capital of a promising country. It should be their primary duty to extend the scope and enhance the prestige of these twin Bahá’í educational institutions, and to initiate by sound and well-considered methods such measures as will consolidate the work already achieved. It would be highly gratifying if they could also endeavor, by keeping in close and constant touch with the Persian and American National Spiritual Assemblies, to fortify those vital bonds that spiritually unite the cradle of the Bahá’í Faith with the great American Republic—the foremost standard-bearer of the Cause in the Western field. Such efforts will extremely facilitate cooperation between these two countries, whose common destiny is to provide, each in its own typical manner, the essential elements in the foundation of the world order ushered in by Bahá’u’lláh.
The gradual expansion of foreign as well as officially subsidized educational schools in Ṭihrán, the prolonged absence of competent teachers and organizers that can revive the declining influence of a hitherto renowned Bahá’í educational institution, and the critical and vigilant attitude which the growing influence of the Cause has induced in its malignant and envious enemies, are today subjects of gravest concern to the elected representatives of our suffering brethren and sisters in Persia. I would therefore request those who feel the urge and have the means to undertake this task to communicate with the National Spiritual Assembly who, after mature deliberation, will select one or two who, in their judgment, can best render this service, and decide upon the exact time and manner which would be most suitable for its execution. I would strongly urge the friends to consult most earnestly with that devoted, experienced and indefatigable handmaid of Bahá’u’lláh, Dr. Moody, whose past services have ennobled the record of collaboration of East and West for the furtherance of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. It would be highly satisfactory and immensely helpful if our beloved sister could find it possible and convenient to accompany such a carefully-chosen person on the way to Ṭihrán, and, by her unrivaled experience and loving-kindness, assist personally in the fulfillment of this pressing need.
Whoever steps into this field will find, as he settles down to his work, that the environment is extremely disheartening, that restrictions are oppressive, that the amenities of social life are lacking, that the forces of opposition are determined and organized. But let him realize also that, however tedious and exacting his labors, however precarious and thankless his task, the pioneer services it is his unique privilege to render in this time of stress will forever live in the annals of God’s living Faith, and will prove a source of inspiration to the countless workers who, in happier times and with better means at their disposal, will consummate the spiritual regeneration and material rehabilitation of Bahá’u’lláh’s native land.
Your true brother,
SHOGHI.
(Shoghi Effendi, Baha’i Administration, pp. 118-120)
