Jinabi-i-Fadil-i-Mazindarani “is proceeding to America with the sole purpose of promoting far and wide and with greater efficiency and vigour the all important work of Teaching.”

Our dear friend, Jinab-i-Fadil-i-Mazindarani, accompanied by his family, has gladly and gratefully responded to the kind invitation of the American friends to visit them once more and extend his helping hand to the many friends who are so faithfully labouring throughout that continent for the Cause of Baha'u'llah.

Deeply appreciative of the sentiments of warm and abiding affection which his co workers of that land have abundantly shown him in the past, fired with the zeal of service which the passing of our Beloved has kindled in every heart and hopeful of the immediate future of the Cause in those regions, he is proceeding to America with the sole purpose of promoting far and wide and with greater efficiency and vigour the all important work of Teaching.

The Indian “Baha’i News” magazine

May your endeavours in every sphere of your spiritual activities be crowned with brilliant success, that His glorious Promise regarding the future of that land may be speedily fulfilled. It is my earnest hope that " The Bahá'í News", the representative organ of the Bahá'í Community in India, may expand and develop, may widen the sphere of its correspondence, add to the number and quality of its articles in Persian as well as in English, report regularly in its columns the news of the spiritual activities of all Bahá'í centres in India and elsewhere, and in general provide for the full, correct and dignified presentation of the Cause to the general public. (Shoghi Effendi, excerpt from a letter dated January 9, 1923 to the Baha’is of India and Burmah; Dawn of a New Day, p.1) To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

How to “inspire and stimulate the mind of the enlightened seeker”

The universal Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh if declared and propounded with wisdom and judgement, determination, selflessness and sincerity, and above all if exemplified in our lives and dealings with our fellow men, cannot fail to inspire and stimulate the mind of the enlightened seeker and win the admiration and allegiance of all mankind.

Ours then is the duty and privilege to bring to the attention of this distressed and war weary world this Message of Eternal Salvation and help to establish the Era of Peace and Brotherhood as purposed and foretold by Bahá'u'lláh. (Shoghi Effendi, excerpt from a letter dated January 9, 1923 to the Baha’is of India and Burmah; Dawn of a New Day, p.1) To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

The “Rays of this Divine Revelation shall make of India a spiritually-quickened, peaceful and united country”

True, that land seems now unhappily to be plunged in the darkness of prejudice, hate and mistrust, yet however dark the immediate prospect may appear, our confidence remains unshaken that ere long these mists shall clear away, the dawn of a New Day shall break upon that land and the Rays of this Divine Revelation shall make of India a spiritually-quickened, peaceful and united country. (Shoghi Effendi, excerpt from a letter dated January 9, 1923 to the Baha’is of India and Burmah; Dawn of a New Day, p.1) (To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha'i World)

We shouldn’t allow the “complexity of the problems that are besetting humanity” to make us lose heart

As we observe the sad conditions of the world and the complexity of the problems that are besetting humanity, we may at times lose heart and grow forgetful of the promised dawn of the New Day, so repeatedly and emphatically foretold in the Sacred Writings. But we need only refer to some of the earliest writings of our beloved Master to regain that confidence which the vicissitudes of the world, however distressing, can never shake. Are not these words wherein he assures us of the onward march of the Cause -- a march which no one can resist and which is sure to lead humanity to its glorious destiny?

‘Abdu’l-Baha is “ever watching from his Station on High … guiding and strengthening his faithful lovers"

Though your number in each of these cities be small and limited, yet by virtue of that Celestial Potency bequeathed to every one of you by our departed Master, you are assured that ere long your small company shall expand and wield such power and influence as no earthly power can ever hope for or attain. Who can doubt that he is ever watching from his Station on High over his scattered fold and is guiding and strengthening his faithful lovers who toil and labour for the fulfillment of his Word and the realization of his Purpose for mankind? (Excerpt from a letter written by Shoghi Effendi to the Baha’is in a number of cities in north America, dated January 8, 1923; Star of the West, vol. 14, April 1923) (To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

The unfading Splendour of ‘Abdu’l-Baha's Spirit

True, in this day the Light of the Covenant is hidden from mortal eyes, yet the unfading Splendour of His Spirit, freed from earthy limitations, shines more brilliantly than ever before and is sure to guide our steps if we but seek His Guidance and walk steadfastly in His Way.

May the radiance of His Inspiration illumine our hearts and the hope of Eternal Reunion be our stay and solace in these days of bereavement and service to His Cause. (Excerpt from a letter written by Shoghi Effendi to the Baha’is of Cleveland, dated, January 5, 1923; Star of the West, Vol. 13, March 1923) (To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

The impact of the Master’s “Call”, visit and tender attention on New York City

Our departed Master, whose Call first awakened that city, who later visited it and with his own hands watered its soil, and who to his last hour bestowed his tenderest care upon it, is now, as ever before, watching from his Station on High the progress of the work which he has entrusted to you, his beloved children, ready to bless, guide and strengthen you in your efforts to achieve success for his Cause. (Shoghi Effendi, excerpt from a letter to the Baha’is of New York, dated February 3, 1923; Star of the West, Vol. 14, April 1923) (To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

New York believers are called upon to “infuse the regenerating Spirit of Baha'u'llah into the divers communities, creeds and classes that are represented in that most cosmopolitan city of the American continent.”

It is my earnest hope and prayer that now at this decisive hour of the Cause of God the friends may with clear vision and redoubled energy endeavor to deepen still further the essential truths of the Cause in their own lives, and then extend the sphere of their activity, endeavoring at all times to infuse the regenerating Spirit of Baha'u'llah into the divers communities, creeds and classes that are represented in that most cosmopolitan city of the American continent.

From the leaflets, the circular letter and the pamphlet enclosed in the letter of your Spiritual Assembly, I can see clearly how well you have undertaken the task of acquainting the intellectual and religious circles of your city with the Divine Teachings, how admirably you have coordinated your efforts for service and how beautifully you have immortalized the memory of the Beloved's sojourn in your midst. (Shoghi Effendi, excerpt from a letter to the Baha’is of New York, dated February 3, 1923; Star of the West, Vol. 14, April 1923) (To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

The Guardian praises the spiritual qualities of the believers in New York City

All throughout the various vicissitudes which the Movement has encountered during this past year of bereavement and uncertainty, the faithful lovers of the Master in New York have, by their wisdom in teaching, the range and character of their activities, their perseverance in their labors and their unity in service, proved themselves worthy of the blessings which our beloved 'Abdu'l-Baha showered upon them during his repeated visits to their city. (Shoghi Effendi, excerpt from a letter to the Baha’is of New York, dated February 3, 1923; Star of the West, Vol. 14, April 1923) (To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

How to “combat effectively the ills and sicknesses of this distracted world”

With hearts united, with minds purified and with a determination never to waver or surrender, let us step into the arena of service and armed with the sword of utterance and teaching combat effectively the ills and sicknesses of this distracted world.

We need not feel depressed or overwhelmed with the magnitude of the task for the mighty combatants whom the hands of the Master have raised in every part of the globe shall come to our aid and the Hosts of the Unseen shall reinforce our numbers till the Spirit of Love and Peace even as foretold in the Holy Writ of Baha'u'llah will have filled the world.

(Shoghi Effendi, extract from a letter dated December 30, 1922 to Baha’is of Philadelphia; Star of the West, vol. 14, April 1923) (To see the entire letter please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

Persia was the “leading nation in the Bahá'í world” as of January 1922

I shall never fail to send you all the news I receive from different parts of the Bahá'í world that you may know of the efforts and triumphs our brethren, the loved ones of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, are achieving and will achieve after Him.

Persia, the leading nation in the Bahá'í world, today will, I am confident, through its centre, Tihran, communicate with you all, that the East and West, even as our Beloved One has so much wished it, may become even as one. (Shoghi Effendi, excerpt from a letter written to the Baha’is of Japan, dated January 26, 1922; ‘Japan Will Turn Ablaze’, pp. 59) (To see the entire letter, please visit Messages to the Baha’i World)

"Japan will turn ablaze! Japan is endowed with a most remarkable capacity for the spread of the Cause of God!”

Despondent and sorrowful, though I be in these darksome days, yet whenever I call to mind the hopes our departed Master so confidently reposed in the friends in that Far-Eastern land, hope revives within me and drives away the gloom of His bereavement. As His attendant and secretary for well-nigh two years after the termination of the Great War, I recall so vividly the radiant joy that transfigured His Face wherever I opened before Him your supplications as well as those of Miss Agnes Alexander. What promises He gave us all regarding the future of the Cause in that land at the close of almost every supplication I read to Him! Let me state, straightway, the most emphatic, the most inspiring of them all. These are His very words, that still keep ringing in my ears; -- "Japan will turn ablaze! Japan is endowed with a most remarkable capacity for the spread of the Cause of God! Japan, with (another country whose name He stated but bade us conceal it for the present) will take the lead in the spiritual reawakening of the peoples and nations that the world shall soon witness!" On another occasion, -- how vividly I recall it! -- as He reclined on His chair, with eyes closed with bodily fatigue, He waved His hand and uttered vigorously and cheerfully these words in the presence of His friends: -- "Here we are seated calm, quiet and inactive, but the Hand of the Unseen is ever active and triumphant in lands, even as distant as Japan."