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3 January 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Bahá'í Friends,
Miss Effie Baker is leaving for Australia with the consent and full approval of the Guardian.
As you know, for over ten years she has been devotedly working for the Cause in Haifa, as keeper of the Western Pilgrim House and also as the custodian of the International Bahá'í Archives.
During this long period of service she has accomplished much for our beloved Cause, and she is now in need of some rest after so many years of strenuous labours. She is going to join her mother, and will, it is hoped, prove of great help to the friends throughout Australia and New Zealand in both their teaching and administrative activities.
The Guardian hopes, therefore, that the friends will give her all the opportunity she needs to help in the extension and consolidation of the Cause throughout Australia and New Zealand.
He is entrusting Miss Baker with a beautiful and most precious present for the friends; it is one of the finest photographs of the Master which, he wishes your NSA to place in your National Bahá'í Archives. He is, in addition, sending through her for the believers a bottle of attar of rose extracted by the friends in Persia.
With loving greetings and all good wishes for a most happy and prosperous New Year,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
11 March 1936 [Clara Dunn]
Dear Bahá'í Sister,
Very many thanks from the Guardian for your most kind and encouraging letter of the 7th February just received. He feels so happy to learn that Father Dunn is keeping well, and that his health has much improved lately. He hopes that through your care he will fully recuperate his forces, & will be quite fit again to resume his historic work for the Cause in Australia. He wishes you to assure him once more of his supplications at the Holy Shrines on his behalf, that the Beloved may further prolong & enrich his noble career of Service to His Faith.
The Guardian is also praying for you, that you too may be given the necessary strength to carry on your labours for the Cause.
Will you, in closing, kindly convey his best wishes and greetings to the believers in Sydney, and specially to the distinguished members of the National Spiritual Assembly. He is truly delighted at the steady progress the latter is making, & at the continued & successful efforts its members are exerting for the wider spread and firmer consolidation of the Faith throughout Australia and New Zealand. May the Almighty ever keep, protect & guide them in the service of His Cause.
Again with deepest thanks from the Guardian for your beautiful & loving message, & with his warmest Bahá'í greetings to Father Dunn and your dear self, Yours in His Service,
H. Rabbani
Dearly beloved co-worker,
I am so glad & relieved to learn of the improved health of our much-loved and illustrious friend, and co-worker, Mr. Dunn. Please assure him of my deep love, my continued prayers, my abiding gratitude for his past and present services. He has, thanks God, tasted the first fruits of his devoted labours & historic services. Future generations will reap the harvest and gather the rich fruits which his pioneer work in the Divine Vineyard will have produced. Shoghi
13 March 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Brooks, Box 447 D, Adelaide.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLYS PHOTOGRAPH FOR BAHAI WORLD ESSENTIAL. MAIL BEFORE END APRIL TWO COPIES HOLY LAND
15 April 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Miss Brooks,
On behalf of the Guardian I acknowledge with thanks and appreciation the receipt of your letter of March 12th with enclosure. He is grateful for the warm assistance extended by your N.S.A. to Miss Effie Baker, and hopes that she will be of valuable assistance to you all, specially to the friends in Melbourne. The task of organising the believers in that center is no doubt a very responsible one, and the Guardian trusts that she will be able to fully acquit herself of it.
Regarding the "Herald of the South" magazine, Shoghi Effendi very much appreciates the fact that in spite of the many difficulties that your Assembly had to overcome this review is being regularly published, and that its standard is gradually improving. He would call upon all the English-speaking friends to contribute, as often as they can, such articles for publication in that magazine as would serve to make it a more direct and effective teaching medium for the spread of the Cause throughout Australia and New Zealand. He is advising the American N.S.A. to specially ask the cooperation of the American believers for that purpose, and hopes that the response they will make to this call will be such as to further encourage you in your splendid efforts for the publication of this national organ of the Faith in Australia.
The Guardian would appreciate receiving detailed reports of the activities of the Local Assemblies, and would be very thankful if you send these to him as regularly as you can.
In closing may I ask you to convey his loving greetings to your distinguished fellow-members in the N.S.A. and to assure each and all of them of his supplications for their welfare and guidance. He also wishes you to express his best wishes to dear Father and Mrs. Dunn, and tell them how happy he is to learn that they are keeping in good health.
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.
Dear and valued co-worker:
I am so glad to have received your letter and to have realised the progress of your activities. I trust and pray that the work in which the National Assembly is so energetically and devotedly engaged may steadily expand and be further consolidated. The teaching work is the corner-stone of its activities, the sole basis on which the administrative structure can flourish. A strenuous, systematic and continuous effort should, both individually and collectively, be now exerted to attain this supreme objective. With a heart full of gratitude I will pray for the success of your endeavours, Shoghi.
26 April 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Beloved Bahá'í Sister,
I am directed by the Guardian to thank you for your letter of the 30th March informing him of the date of Miss Kitty Carpenter's arrival in Port-Said. You can be sure that the friends will be most delighted to meet her, and to render her journey to Haifa as safe and comfortable as possible.
The Guardian himself is eagerly looking forward to the pleasure of meeting her, and cherishes the hope that through this pilgrimage she may receive a renewed stimulus to better work for the promotion of the Faith upon her return home.
The Guardian has also noted with deep satisfaction the preparations made by your N.S.A. for this year's meeting in Melbourne. He is praying that in spite of the difficulties you have encountered in carrying out your plans this important gathering of the Australian and New Zealand believers may prove another landmark in the history of the Cause throughout that Continent.
With loving greetings to you and your dear fellow-members,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.
May the Almighty bless you and your dearly-loved co-workers and fellow-members, and enable you all to proclaim far and wide the essential truths of this glorious Revelation and to lay unassailable foundations for its institutions.
Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi.
6 May 1936
Dear Mr. Dunn,
Many thanks indeed from the Guardian for your most welcome and comforting message of April 3rd. He is rejoiced to learn that your health has considerably improved, and that now you feel quite fit to carry on your pioneer work for the Cause in Australia. He is deeply appreciative of the warm assistance extended to you by the friends, and feels confident that Bahá'u'lláh will abundantly reward them for all that they have done for you & for the Cause.
Regarding the plan you have proposed for the extension of the teaching work in Australia: Shoghi Effendi has carefully considered your suggestions, and while he believes that your plan offers many possibilities, yet he thinks that owing to conditions both within & outside the Bahá'í world its realization is, if not quite impossible, at least fraught with considerable difficulties. He sees, however, no objection to your putting the plan before the American N.S.A. for their consideration & opinion.
What the Guardian feels it of vital importance for the friends to do is to teach the Cause directly and by means of imparting the Holy Words. It is now too early to carry out any teaching activity along the lines you suggest. Not only the number of the believers is too limited, and their resources confined, but the situation outside, both political and economic, is such as to seriously hinder the realization of any social scheme of the kind suggested in your letter.
With all good wishes and greetings from the Guardian to you, and also to Mother Dunn & all the friends,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dearly beloved co-worker:
I am overjoyed to learn of your improved health and of the resumption of your glorious and historic work in the service of the Cause. The friends, I am sure, are delighted & are filled with renewed hope & vigour. The teaching work is of paramount importance these days. It should be intensified & carried out systematically, constantly & energetically by all individual believers & organised Assemblies. I will pray for you, for Mrs. Dunn & for your valiant & dear co-workers from all my heart. Shoghi
12 May 1936 [Silver Jackman]
Beloved Bahá'í Sister,
I am instructed by our beloved Guardian to inform you of the receipt of your very kind letter of April 16th, and also of the enclosed draft of £20 which you have been asked by your N.S.A. to send to the International Fund in Haifa. Will you kindly assure your fellow-members in that body, and through them the entire body of the believers in Australia & New Zealand of his genuine appreciation of this donation they have so generously made to the Cause. Knowing the limited number of the believers in these two countries, and the many expenses they have so willingly incurred lately in connection with the maintenance of dear Mr. & Mrs. Dunn it is truly splendid that in spite of all these necessary expenses they have found it possible to also contribute to the international fund of the Cause at its world-centre.
The sacrifices that have been made, the Guardian can well realize, have been really stupendous, & nothing short of divine guidance & assistance could possibly enable the friends to bear them with such a wonderful spirit of heroism, & of self-giving. Surely these notable accomplishments will stand as landmarks in the history of the Cause in Australia and New Zealand & will, even as a magnet, draw upon the believers in these regions the blessings and confirmations of Bahá'u'lláh.
May your undying love for Him and for His Cause continue for ever to quicken you, & all your fellow-believers in those regions, to put forth still greater effort to teach & establish His Faith.
With most loving Bahá'í greetings, & sincere good wishes, also to the members of the N.S.A., Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.
Dear co-worker:
I deeply appreciate the many evidences of devotion, steadfastness & loyalty that distinguish the organized activities & the individual services of the believers in Australia & New Zealand. I am profoundly touched by the messages which I receive from them, & feel deeply grateful for their determination to persevere & overcome all obstacles in their path. I will pray for them from the depths of my heart.
Your true brother, Shoghi
20 May 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Mrs Axford,
Many thanks indeed from the Guardian for your welcome message of April 17th just received. He would certainly be delighted to meet you in Haifa next year, & hopes that your visit to the Holy Shrines will give you a fresh vigour & renewed determination to carry on your work for the Cause. He specially cherishes the hope that your trip to England will be of great benefit to you, & also to our English believers. They will be only too happy to welcome you in their midst, & will thoroughly appreciate any assistance which you may give them during your sojourn in England.
The Guardian has learned with deep gratification of the news of the teaching work carried on by the Auckland believers. He wishes you to kindly assure them all of his best wishes and fervent prayers for the success of their labours. May Bahá'u'lláh bless, guide and strengthen them in every step they are taking for the spread of His Faith & the consolidation of its institutions in this far-off land.
Assuring you too of his special prayers on your behalf at the Holy Shrines, & with warmest greetings,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Assuring you of a most hearty welcome, & wishing you good health, happiness & success,
your true brother, Shoghi
10 June 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Miss Brooks,
I am instructed by our beloved Guardian to acknowledge with deepest thanks the receipt of your letter dated March 30th written on behalf of the NSA of Australia and New Zealand.
He is rejoiced to learn of the projected formation of a Spiritual Assembly in Perth, and by the time this letter reaches you, the Assembly will have been duly constituted and will be functioning with the utmost unity, efficiency and vigour.
In this connection he wishes me to bring to your Assembly's attention the necessity of their taking the necessary steps for the incorporation of the N.S.A. This step, he feels, is of a vital importance to the further development of your Assembly, and will no doubt give it more stability and an added influence, specially in the eyes of the general public.
The Guardian would also advise that the Local Assemblies take a similar step, and obtain official recognition from the authorities.
In case the Auckland Assembly has been registered in the government, will you be so kind as to send him photostatic reproductions of any registration papers or documents that the Auckland friends may have obtained from the authorities, as he wishes to have them published in the next "Bahá'í World".
As regards the photograph of your NSA; the Guardian wishes me to inform you that in going over the manuscript of the "Bahá'í World", which was sent to him from the States, he found your Assembly's picture already incorporated in it.
The manuscript has now been sent back to America and is awaiting publication.
with loving Bahá'í greetings, Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear and valued co-worker:
The incessant efforts so devotedly exerted by the members of your distinguished Assembly are assets that I greatly value and of which I am truly proud. I will fervently pray for the extension of your activities and the fulfilment of your dearest hopes. Rest assured and persevere,
Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi.
23rd September 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Miss Brooks,
Your detailed communication of July 14th written on behalf of the N.S.A. of Australia and New Zealand together with its enclosures, have all duly arrived, and their contents read with deepest interest and appreciation by our beloved Guardian. Also the photographs and blocks have duly reached him, as well as the Local Assembly reports sent under separate cover. Please accept his most sincere and grateful thanks for them all.
Regarding the proposed News Letter to be issued every three months by your NSA; this, the Guardian feels, is a splendid idea and can render a unique and much needed help to your Assembly in its efforts for the establishment of the Administration and the more effective functioning of its institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand. Not only it has the great advantage of keeping the friends well-informed about the events and developments in the Cause, but in addition can help in consolidating the organic unity of the believers by bringing them within the full orbit of the N.S.A.'s jurisdiction. It is hoped that this body will do its utmost to maintain the publication of this bulletin, and will make full use of this splendid medium for the further widening and consolidation of the foundations of the Local as well as National Assemblies.
As regards Mrs Bedikian's request that you assist her in her project of uniting the believers through correspondence; this is of course a task which is quite secondary compared to the duties and responsibilities up are called upon to discharge as secretary of the N.S.A. Your secretarial work in that body imposes upon you a paramount obligation which no other service can equal in importance. All your other Bahá'í activities should be subordinated to your work in the N.S.A. which is, undoubtedly, the most vital and urgent of them all.
Concerning the Greatest Name; this term refers both to "Alláh-u-Abhá" and to "Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá". The first is the form of Bahá'í greeting and should be used, while the other is an invocation, meaning "O Thou Glory of Glories". These two words are both referred to as the Greatest Name.
The Guardian, while fully aware of the difficulties, both financial and otherwise which your N.S.A. is facing in connection with the publication of the "Herald of the South", feels, nevertheless, the urge to advise you to continue with this magazine and not to feel in the least discouraged if your efforts for meeting the expenses incurred for its printing and circulation, and for raising its literary standard, do not bring the expected results. He very deeply values the self-sacrificing and sustained efforts exerted by your Assembly in this connection. May Bahá'u'lláh richly reward you for all your meritorious endeavours.
With warmest Bahá'í greetings,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear and Valued Co-worker:
The work in which your National Assembly is engaged, and which it is prosecuting with such fidelity, diligence and perseverance is near and dear to my heart. You are laying an unassailable foundation for the erection of mighty Bahá'í institutions which future generations are destined to extend and perfect. Your pioneer work is arduous and highly meritorious. I feel proud of your achievements, realizing as I do the circumstances in which you labour. 'Abdu'l-Baha is watching over you and is well-pleased with your service. Persevere and rest assured, Affectionately, Shoghi
25 September 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Miss Brooks,
Our able and indefatigable co-worker, Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher is on a tour to Australia, India and the Near East, and by the time this letter reaches you he may be already in your midst.
The Guardian wishes your N.S.A. to arrange for him to visit all the centers in Australia and if possible New Zealand too, and to make every effort to render his stay amongst you as abundant in its results as possible.
Mr. Schopflocher is surely known to you and to many friends in Australia. He is truly one of the most distinguished believers in the West. He has a deep knowledge of the Cause, and specially of the Administration, and has contributed a unique share towards its establishment and consolidation in the States. For many years a member of the American N.S.A., he revealed such great qualities of heart and mind as very few of his fellow-members were able to manifest. He supported valiantly and generously, and through both moral and financial means, the various institutions of the Cause, and in particular the institution of the Bahá'í Fund which, as you can well realise, is the foundation stone of every phase of Bahá'í activity.
In this connection it should be remembered that it was mainly due to his unfailing and most generous assistance that the Temple in Wilmette was built. The friends owe him indeed a great debt, and can never be too grateful for what he has accomplished, and is still so splendidly accomplishing, for the Faith in the West.
The Guardian hopes, nay he feels confident, your Assembly, as well as all the friends will extend a most cordial welcome to this dear and distinguished Servant of the Cause, and will fully avail yourselves of this splendid opportunity that has been offered you to further enrich the field of your experiences in the Faith. With warmest greetings,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.
30 September 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Emily Axford
Beloved Bahá'í Sister,
Your welcome letter dated August 17th has been received and read with deepest appreciation by the Guardian.
May I again express his sincere hope that your long-cherished desire to visit the Holy Shrines may be fulfilled very soon, and that through this pilgrimage you may obtain a renewed zeal & vigour, as well as a new vision of the task you are called upon to accomplish for the Faith in New Zealand.
In closing let me assure you & your fellow-workers in Auckland of his profound appreciation of your determination to press forward the work in the teaching field. He is ardently praying for the guidance & success of your labours.
With warmest greetings, Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
May the Beloved fulfil your heart's desire, & enable you to promote effectively the sacred & manifold interests of our beloved & glorious Faith,
Your true & grateful brother, Shoghi
17 November 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Miss Brooks,
On behalf of the Guardian I acknowledge with deepest thanks the receipt of your letter of the 17th October, and wish also to thank your Assembly for forwarding to him the photostatic reproduction of the registration certificate of the Assembly of Auckland. He fervently hopes that the formation of the Declaration of Trust of the NSA will also be completed very soon, and that the difficulty you have encountered in this connection will be satisfactorily met and settled. He also trusts that the delay caused in registering the Sydney Local Assembly will be overcome, and that you will immediately proceed with the formation of your National Declaration of Trust. It is splendid, and a matter of deepest satisfaction to our beloved Guardian that in all these steps you are taking for the administrative development and consolidation of the Faith in Australia and New Zealand you are closely and faithfully following the example of America which, it should be admitted, occupies a pre-eminent rank among its sister communities in both the East and the West.
As regards the problem facing the N.S.A. in connection with the representation of Perth at the next Annual Convention; the Guardian believes that the fact that a certain Assembly or community is not in a financial position to defray the expenses of its delegate or delegates does not constitute sufficient justification for depriving it from its sacred right of participation in the national elections and other activities of the Convention. Every Assembly, no matter how poor, is entitled to take part in the Convention proceedings by sending one or more delegates to that meeting. It is absolutely essential that this principle be clearly understood and faithfully applied by the friends. Financial considerations can under no circumstances invalidate it, or allow the least compromise in its application. It is the duty of every N.S.A. to ensure that it will be carried out whenever the Convention elections are held.
With loving greetings,
Yours in the Guardian's Service, H. Rabbani
Dear and valued co-worker:
I would be very pleased to receive two more copies of the registration form of the Auckland Assembly and three copies of the form of the Adelaide Assembly, some of which I shall place in the mansion of Bahá'u'lláh at Bahji. Will you also send me three copies of the registration form of every Assembly which will be incorporated in the future. The foundations which your National Assembly is now laying with such assiduous care and exemplary loyalty constitute a service that is truly historic and is highly meritorious in the sight of God. I feel deeply indebted to you for such splendid achievements. Persevere and never lose heart.
Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi
1 December 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Miss Brooks,
The Guardian has just received the first issue of the newsletter published by the N.S.A. of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, and has read it all through with deepest pleasure and satisfaction. He wishes me to ask you to transmit to your fellow-members in that body his warmest thanks for this new step they have taken for the further consolidation of the Administration in their country, as well as his most hearty congratulations upon the ever-increasing success that is attending their labours in this field.
It is his fervent hope that this organ your Assembly has initiated will fully serve its purpose by intensifying the spirit of cooperation between the N.S.A. and all Local Assemblies, groups and isolated believers throughout Australia and New Zealand. Such a medium, if properly utilized, can be of inestimable value to the believers by further enriching their knowledge and understanding of the principles and actual functioning of the Administrative order of the Faith, and by maintaining alive, nay intensifying in them the desire to promote and safeguard its interests.
He would, therefore, earnestly appeal to every believer in Australia and New Zealand to make full and continued use of this bulletin, and consider it as a most effective means to closer fellowship and to a deeper understanding of his duties and responsibilities as builder of the New World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
He is ardently praying to the Almighty to ever bless and guide your Assembly's endeavours in this connection,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.
7 December 1936 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Mrs Axford,
The Guardian is in receipt of your letter of the fifth November, and exceedingly regrets that, owing to certain family difficulties, you have found it necessary to cancel your trip to the Holy Land. He is specially grieved to learn of the many cares & sorrows with which your daughter has been so sadly afflicted of late, and wishes me to hasten to convey to you his most loving sympathy, as well as the assurance of his prayers for the removal of the family troubles with which you are beset. He fervently hopes that these afflictive trials confronting you & your beloved daughter will all serve to quicken your spiritual energies, & that the outcome of it all will be to open before you new horizons of service, & fresh fields for teaching the Message. May Bahá'u'lláh give you patience to courageously withstand these tests, and full guidance to use them as means to more active, concentrated & selfless service to His Cause. Do assure, therefore, your daughter not to feel disheartened, but to confidently endeavour to overcome her domestic sorrows and cares.
In closing may I express the Guardian's hope that, as soon as your family problems are solved, you may be able to undertake your long-cherished pilgrimage to the Holy Shrines. He is ardently praying for the materialization of your hopes & plans in this connection.
It is a pleasure to learn of the successful visit of Mr. Schopflocher to Auckland, and of the warm welcome he has been accorded by you & the friends. This is a true evidence of the strong ties of fellowship so closely uniting the friends throughout the world, & of the deep affection which the believers in New Zealand cherish for their fellow believers in every region & clime.
With renewed & warmest greetings to you & to the friends in Auckland,
Yours in the Guardian's Service, H. Rabbani
Assuring you of my loving & ardent prayers for the removal of every obstacle from your path & for the speedy realization of your earnest hopes,
Your true brother, Shoghi
15 December 1936
Mrs. Mariette Bolton, Somerset House, 9 Martin Place, Sydney. Australia.
Dear Mrs. Bolton,
Our beloved Guardian is in receipt of your most welcome message, and wishes me to hasten to thank you for it, and to renew his appreciation of the efforts which you and your beloved husband are earnestly exerting for the spread and consolidation of the Faith in Australia. He is profoundly grateful for the work you have so splendidly accomplished thus far and is eagerly awaiting to witness further evidences of the progress and success of your activities. He is truly rejoiced to hear that the study group you have formed is regularly meeting at your home, and wishes me to urge you to make every possible effort to increase the number of the attendants and to deepen their knowledge of the fundamentals of the Faith so as to make them ready to accept it in the near future, and to intelligently and earnestly work for its spread.
What has most deeply rejoiced the Guardian is the news of the confirmation of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, to whom he wishes you to kindly convey his hearty congratulations and his sincere good wishes. It is his fervent hope that these two dear souls who have expressed their firm determination to join and actively serve in the growing army of Bahá'u'lláh's devoted servants will daily gain in faith and spiritual vigour, and will make their very best to contribute as much as they can to the further development of the Faith in their centre.
It has been also a source of profoundest satisfaction to the Guardian to learn of the success that has attended Mr. Schopflocher's visit to Sydney, and of the cordial welcome that has been extended to him by you and the friends. He hopes that your meeting with this outstanding and truly selfless servant of the Cause will serve to stimulate afresh your energies, and those so marvellously displayed by your dear fellow-workers in Sydney. He is ardently praying for you all at the Holy Shrines.
Regarding your suggestion relative to the establishment of a Bahá'í Summer School in Yerrinbool; Shoghi Effendi fully realizes the importance of your idea and deeply appreciates the offer you have made to the Sydney Assembly in this connection. Before making any definite start, however, he wishes you to submit your plans to the N.S.A. for their consideration and approval.
Assuring you once more of his best wishes and ardent prayers for you and your family,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.
Dear and valued co-worker,
I am delighted with the news you give me. Your splendid intention regarding the establishment of the First Summer School in Australia is highly praiseworthy. May this historic work be accomplished and this magnificent plan materialize. I will pray for you from the depths of my heart that you may attain to your heart's dearest wish.
Your true brother, Shoghi.
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