He has been greatly encouraged by the work the Indian believers are doing in the pioneer teaching field. It makes him proud to behold the way this great eastern nation is arising, through its enlightened Baha'is, to serve the Cause of God, and is fast pushing to the forefront of Baha'i service, and becoming an example and an inspiration to the other Baha'i communities in the Orient and Far East.
The noble response the Indian friends are making to his appeals has encouraged him to send them further donations for their teaching work, and he trusts that, under the indefatigable leadership of the National Spiritual Assembly, they will redouble their efforts, and push on to the full and glorious completion of the Six-Year Plan they laid down for themselves with such courage and devotion.
The establishment of the Hyderabad Assembly and that of Bangalore are great steps forward, and the Guardian is waiting hopefully to receive the good news of more new spiritual Assemblies in this coming Baha'i year.
He was also very pleased to hear that the Summer School is becoming an institution of national importance, and that the friends are increasingly attending it and realizing its great value in the life of the entire Community of believers. In a country such as India it might grow to be the first permanent institution of Baha'i learning if the believers support it sufficiently and carry out their teaching campaign with whole-hearted devotion and zeal; for, with the influx of many new Baha'is into the Cause in that country, it should not be difficult to evolve it into a Baha'i university as time goes by.
The Guardian wishes to convey, through you, his loving appreciation of their noble services to all the dear Indian believers who have gone out as pioneers and teachers in these momentous days. He will remember them, and all the Indian friends, in his prayers in the Holy Shrines, and supplicate for them a victorious conclusion for their Six-Year Plan by 1944.
[From the Guardian:]
I have been greatly heartened in my arduous task by the remarkable evidences of activity, devotion and perseverance which the believers in India have lately manifested, and by the manner in which they have arisen to promote the cause of our Beloved, and extend the range of its institutions. I admire, their spirit, and feel truly proud of their achievements. The field is indeed vast, and the problems manifold, but the spirit they have demonstrated will, if kept alive, enable them to surmount every obstacle. My prayers will continue to be offered on their behalf and particularly for those who are planting the banner of the Faith in virgin territories. How glorious their task, how meritorious their accomplishments.
January 10, 1942
Future is Blessed and Glorious
He was very relieved to hear from Mr. Butt that the Burmese Baha'is were all safe, and he trusts that, in spite of the grave dangers now so near them, God will continue to over-shadow them and protect them in His mercy and wisdom.
We Baha'is are indeed most blessed in that we know that, however dark the days immediately ahead of the human race, the future is blessed and glorious. It is for this future that the believers must labour day and night, heedless of the state of the world and the dangers threatening.
The Guardian will continuously pray that Baha'u'llah will strengthen and guide the Indian friends to succeed in their teaching plans, and to persevere in their efforts until they have completed the Six-Year Plan.
[From the Guardian:]
In these days when perils are fast gathering about India and Burma my heart and my thoughts turn increasingly towards the friends, and particularly those who are vigorously and devotedly promoting the interests of the Six-Year Plan. I will specially and fervently pray for them all, that their vision may not be obscured, that their efforts may not diminish, that their courage many remain undaunted, and their steadfastness and loyalty unshaken. The greater their problems and anxieties and the more formidable the obstacles in their way, the more glorious and abundant will be the recompense and blessings that will be bestowed upon them by their all-seeing, their all-bountiful, all-powerful Master.
February 23, 1942
New Assemblies of Hyderabad & Kotah
The Guardian has written the new Hyderabad Assembly, and he will indeed pray for their protection and blessing. They are an important group in an important State, and he hopes that your Assembly will render them every assistance and help possible, in order to deepen them in the knowledge of the teachings and in Faith.
The establishment of the Assembly of Kotah, no less than that of Hyderabad, must be viewed in the light of another milestone in the forward march of the Faith in India. The Guardian would like you to convey to all the dear pioneers and teachers whom you have enumerated in your letters, the expression of his deep gratitude for, and appreciation of the wonderful work they are doing. The believers of India, though few in number in relation to the millions that form their nation, are performing a service to their fellow-countrymen which in the future will be seen in the true magnitude. Let them rest assured and toil ceaselessly for the establishment of the Faith which they serve, and which alone can ultimately heal the ills of sorely-tried mankind.
[From the Guardian:]
The pioneer activities in which the friends in India are so steadfastly, so energetically and so devotedly engaged, in spite of the perils, the uncertainties and the stress of the present hour, are a marvellous evidence of the indomitable spirit that animates them in the service of the Cause of Baha'u'llah. Perseverance is the magnet that will, in these days, attract the promised blessings of the Almighty Author of our beloved Faith. Unity and harmony constitute the basis on which the structure of these activities can securely rest. Self-sacrifice, audacity, undeviating adherence to the essentials of the Faith, will reinforce that structure and accelerate its rise. That the dear friends in India are increasingly demonstrating the quality and depth of their faith and the character and range of their accomplishments is a source of intense satisfaction to me, and I will continue to supplicate our Beloved to guide their steps, cheer their hearts, illumine their understanding, and fulfil their highest and noblest aspirations. He indeed is well pleased with the record of their past services, and will, if they redouble their efforts, enable them to achieve a signal victory.
June 27, 1942
Prizes to be Won
...The extremely good news of the way the Baha'is of India are arising and serving in new fields in spite of the war conditions prevailing, and the formation of the new Assemblies of Hyderabad and Kotah, the work in Kashmir and various other centres, has all greatly cheered his heart, and impelled him to contribute the sum he forwarded through you to help carry out the many teaching enterprises now under way. The rate at which the Indian believers are advancing is increasingly entitling them to a position in the foremost ranks of the Faith, and will no doubt greatly inspire and encourage other Baha'is of the East to follow their example.
Such prizes are to be won in these days of universal trial and suffering, and it makes the Guardian very happy to feel that some of them are evidently going to be merited by the Indian believers!
It is a great deprivation that the friends should be cut off from their devoted fellow-Baha'is in Burma. We can only hope and pray that Baha'u'llah will protect and watch over them until the ordeal of these times is past, and the faithful believers the world over can again join hands and work together for the peace and progress of the entire world.
Passing of Abd'ul-Jalil Beg Saad
The passing of Abd'ul-Jalil Beg Saad was a great loss to the Faith in Egypt, and the Guardian was pleased to hear that his co-workers in India held memorial meetings for him. Such occasions constitute eloquent testimonials to the profound love that binds Baha'is to each other, whoever and wherever they may be.
Painstaking and Fruitful Efforts
[From the Guardian:]
I wish to reaffirm my deep sense of satisfaction and gratitude for the sustained, the painstaking and fruitful efforts exerted so far by the Indian believers for the promotion of the Six-Year Plan. The limits of the Faith have been enlarged, the centres and groups have multiplied, and the determination and zeal of the prosecutors of the Plan are visibly increasing. I am greatly cheered and encouraged, and will, with redoubled fervour, pray at the holy Shrines, for the victorious conclusion of the campaign initiated with such devotion, energy, and resolution. May the Beloved sustain them in their noble task.
July 27, 1942
The marked, and extremely encouraging, progress which the Cause is making in India has so pleased the Guardian and cheered his over-burdened heart that he felt impelled to forward to your Assembly the sum of two hundred pounds to be expended for the further promotion of the teaching work.
That at such a time, when dangers threaten on every side and the whole planet is plunged in war and confusion, the Indian believers should, so steadily and patiently, with such devotion and enthusiasm, pursue their tasks of teaching under the Six-Year Plan, is, indeed, a cause for universal acclaim and rejoicing on the part of their fellow-Baha'is. They are ever increasingly arising to take their place as one of the foremost Baha'i Communities, and their spirit and their accomplishments are arousing the envy and the admiration of their fellow-workers in Eastern lands.
Placing of Burial Stone
The placing of the burial stone on the dead has no other significance than to emphasize our profound conviction that our souls come from our Creator and to Him they return, and in Him we believe and trust.
Ensure the Triumphant Conclusion
[From the Guardian:]