[From the Guardian:]
I long to hear of the progress of your teaching work in those areas and provinces where the light of the Faith has not as yet shone forth.
Teaching is the paramount task that urgently demands the concentrated attention and the complete consecration of the united and persistent efforts of the believers of India and Burma at the present stage of the Six-Year Plan which they of their own accord have so magnificently initiated. No dissipation of efforts, no delay in the initiation and execution of the necessary measures for its success should be allowed. All assemblies, all committees and individuals should regard the teaching work as the most essential factor in the discharge of their obligations to the Faith of Baha'u'llah, and as the supreme purpose of the machinery of the Administrative Order which they have lately so laboriously and faithfully erected. I will from all my heart pray that the high aim they pursue may be reached, that their hopes may be fulfilled, and that their individual and corporate lives may equally reflect the noble principles that animate their Cause.
July 2, 1939
Martha Root's Arrival in Bombay
Your joint and welcome message of October 18th written on the occasion of our beloved sister Miss Martha Root's arrival in Bombay has duly reached the Guardian and his heart is filled with gratitude to you for the very warm and befitting welcome you have so kindly extended to that well-beloved star-servant of the Cause. This is truly in keeping with the tradition of warm hospitality for which our Indian believers have already won such a high reputation. The cordiality you have shown this distinguished international teacher on her previous visits to India could have hardly been surpassed, and there is every reason to believe, therefore, that on this trip, which will be probably the most extended one she has ever been able to undertake throughout that continent, she will be the object of the same devotion and love manifested towards her on previous occasions.
[From the Guardian:]
May the Almighty bless you for the magnificent welcome accorded to such an outstanding champion of the Cause, and may He enable you, in conjunction with her, to lend a mighty impetus to the progress of the Faith and the extension of its institutions.
November 4, 1939
Paramount Task Facing the Believers
What you had written him regarding the various steps taken by the N.S.A.
to further the Six-Year Plan of Teaching has immeasurably rejoiced his heart, and he too joins with your Assembly in humbly supplicating Baha'u'llah to vouchsafe to all those dear friends who have offered to undertake pioneer teaching in various parts of India such measure of His guidance and blessings as would enable them to effectively further the interests of this Plan. He would urge you all to persevere in your self-sacrificing exertions, and, notwithstanding the various handicaps under which you may be compelled to labour, to confidently strive to achieve this high teaching objective.
[From the Guardian:]
The energetic prosecution of the Six-Year Plan, despite the perils, the uncertainties and gravity of the present hour, is the paramount task facing the believers of India and Burma. All projects and activities, however desirable and urgent, must henceforth be subordinated to this most pressing and vital issue, inasmuch as it is the fountain-head from which all future blessings will flow and the one and only instrument which can at the present time, most effectively establish and consolidate the administrative order of the Faith throughout the Indian Peninsula. My prayers for your signal success in such a mighty and glorious enterprise will continue to be offered, with increasing fervour, at the Threshold of Baha'u'llah. Persevere and be confident.
November 26, 1939
Passing Away of Dearest Martha
Your very kind message ... expressing your profound sorrow and sympathy at the passing away of our beloved sister Miss Martha Root has just reached our dear Guardian, and he feels indeed most deeply touched by the very thoughtful words which you had been moved to convey to him. The loss which the entire Baha'i world has come to sustain through her untimely departure from this world is indeed enormous, and can be compensated only partially by the self-sacrificing efforts which our dear Baha'i teachers in East and West are now exerting in their respective fields of teaching.
The Guardian's hope, however, is that, spurred by the noble example of Martha's life and character, the friends in every land will make a supreme and united effort to carry onward the great teaching task which she had so untiringly been endeavouring to accomplish during all these years, and thus bring eternal joy and impart infinite hope and solace to her heart in the other world.
[From the Guardian:]
I deeply appreciate, and am greatly touched by, the noble sentiments you have expressed. The passing of dearest Martha, that distinguished hero of the Cause of Baha'u'llah, is indeed a great loss to those who labour for His Cause, both in the East and West. May her glorious example continue to inspire the friends in India and Burma to tread in her footsteps, and to extend the work she so nobly initiated.
December 8, 1939
Sacred Task
It greatly pleased and encouraged him to know that the Annual Convention held this year in Poona has proved such a high success, and that the important decisions taken by the delegates with the view of intensifying the teaching campaign in India and Burma are being effectively implemented by the offer made by so many of the friends to teach and travel in virgin territories. He wishes these dear believers, who have so heroically responded to the call of the hour, every blessing and success in their respective fields of teaching, and will pray most earnestly for the confirmation of their labours in the pursuit of their high and sacred task.
May 14, 1940
Steady Extension of the Teaching Campaign
The slow yet steady extension of the teaching campaign throughout India is a matter which greatly rejoices his heart, and for which he feels moved to convey his warmest congratulations to the N.S.A. Considering the well-nigh insufferable obstacles in your way, and the difficult conditions created by the war, the progress so far achieved, though small, has been remarkable in many ways, and augurs well for the future of the Six-Year Plan which your Assembly is so energetically carrying out.
The signal success which the able and untiring efforts of Mr. & Mrs.
Bakhtiari, Mr. M. H. Ilmi ... have won for the Cause in Kashmir deserves particular mention; and it is to be hoped that the group already established in that center will steadily develop and soon attain the status of a Spiritual Assembly. To these dear teachers who have so successfully accomplished such high teaching mission, as well as to our new Baha'i brother Moulvi Abdullah of Kashmir who, notwithstanding the violent opposition and criticisms of the Qadianis has firmly stood by the Cause, the Guardian wishes you to convey his warmest appreciation and gratitude.
Financial Assistance to Baha'i Teachers
In connection with your teaching campaign, the Guardian wishes you to inform the N.S.A. that although there exists in the Cause no such institution as that of paid teachers, the N.S.A. nevertheless should, in view of the urgent and pressing requirements of the Six-Year Plan, extend, though only temporarily, any financial assistance in its power to those believers who offer to undertake pioneer work throughout India and Burma.
Also, those believers who are not themselves able to offer their services as pioneers, and who wish to directly and effectively participate in the campaign of teaching can instead offer to defray, through the National Fund, the expenses of any believer they choose to deputize for that purpose. Such deputy teachers, however, should for all other purposes be responsible to the N.S.A. and the teaching bodies concerned. Great Message Can Redeem Bewildered Humanity
[From the Guardian:]
I regret that owing to present circumstances arising from the war and its grave repercussions, the activities, particularly in the teaching field, connected with the Six-Year Plan, so spontaneously initiated by your Assembly, have had to be curtailed. I wish to appeal, however, to all its members, and through them to the general body of the devoted friends in India and Burma to make a united and supreme endeavour to overcome, while there is yet time, the obstacles that stand in their way, and to refuse to allow the perils, the uncertainties and anxieties that face and afflict their country to deter them from carrying out the original plan they have so nobly conceived. Let them remember that a firm resolution on their part, an absolute rededication of their resources, and an actual attempt to translate into action their meritorious intentions, coupled with perseverance in the discharge of their duties, would suffice to ensure the success of the mission to which they are now committed. The time is indeed ripe, and the minds and hearts of the suffering multitudes are being mysteriously prepared for the Great Message that can alone redeem, exalt and regenerate a sore-tried and bewildered humanity. I will specially and fervently pray for the success of any and every effort the dearly-beloved friends in India and Burma may arise to exert.
November 28, 1940
Translation of Baha'u'llah's Writings
Regarding his instruction to the N.S.A. of Iran to the effect that Baha'u'llah's writings in Arabic should not be translated into Persian; this applies to the translation of the revealed words into Persian only.
Your Assembly, therefore, may proceed with its plan for the rendering of the Tablet of Ahmad, the three daily obligatory prayers and other Tablets, into Urdu.
With reference to ... question whether it is permissible for the Baha'is to see pictures; there is nothing in the Teachings that would forbid such a practice.