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18 May 1931
My dear Mrs. Dewing,
I thank you on behalf of the Guardian for your letter of April 16th.
He was very glad to learn that you are now on your way to England by way of America and he hopes that you will find the occasion & the means of visiting the friends & making permanent connections with them. Bertram will of course be delighted to meet you & we hope he is successful in his work there.
I suppose you have all the London addresses as the friends there would be delighted to meet you. Of course if you do decide to visit Haifa on your way back, Shoghi Effendi wishes me to assure you of a most hearty welcome.
With his loving greetings to you all & to the young couple in England and with much love from all here, Sincerely yours, Soheil Afnan
My dear co-worker:
I was so pleased to hear from you & of your plans. I do hope you will be able to visit the Holy Land where you would be most welcome in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's house. I will pray for the success of your efforts from the depths of my heart when I visit the Holy Shrines. May the Beloved enable you to render distinguished services to His Cause, & remove every obstacle from your path.
Your true brother, Shoghi
17 June 1931
Dear Mr. Dunn,
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated May 17th 1931. He was naturally very glad to hear that Mrs. Dunn is planning to come to Haifa, for he is always desirous to meet those self sacrificing souls who leave their homes, & travel in a foreign country merely to spread the message and do pioneer work. They are the seed sowers who experience only the drudgery. Those who follow are the easy-going reapers who are constantly encouraged by the sight of the increasing produce. Anyhow Shoghi Effendi is only too glad to extend to Mrs. Dunn a hearty welcome, but would urge her to so plan her trip as to be here next spring - some time in March or April.
Shoghi Effendi was very sad to hear that the progress of the Cause in Australia is far from what it should have been. He, however, hopes that the condition will soon change. When the friends are not kept busy with constant service, & do not find success to keep up their spirit, they naturally become depressed & start to criticise each other. The only remedy is constructive work, that is teaching. Let them concentrate upon that and they will soon forget their mis-understandings, & find themselves co-operating in the same pursuit.
Please convey to all of them Shoghi Effendi's loving greetings & assure them of his prayers. He sincerely hopes that they will do their utmost in spreading the Cause in that land. Please remember him also to Mrs. Dunn & extend to her a hearty welcome.
Yours ever sincerely, Ruhi Afnan.
My dear and precious co-worker,
I was so pleased to hear from you, particularly as you express the wish of Mrs. Dunn to visit the Holy Land. She is most welcome, as her service as well as yours, have endeared you both to me as well as to the believers of East & West. The record of your glorious work is imperishable. May the Beloved protect, sustain, cheer & bless you always. Shoghi
17 September 1931 [Clara Dunn]
Dear Bahá'í Sister,
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge on his behalf the receipt of your welcome letter dated Aug. 1, 1931 & to extend to you his loving appreciation of your precious services to the Cause.
He was very pleased to learn that you were in good health & that you were serving the Faith with such enthusiasm & zeal & he hopes that you will be able to win many hearts to the Cause. Regarding your coming visit to the Holy Shrines, Shoghi Effendi wishes you to come in whichever month you find suitable & he fervently hopes that through this pilgrimage you will receive Bahá'u'lláh's divine confirmations & will be strengthened both in body & mind.
With the renewed assurance of our Guardian's best wishes & of his continued prayers for your spiritual advancement. Yours sincerely, H. Rabbani
My dear & precious co-worker:
I am looking forward very eagerly to your projected pilgrimage. You certainly deserve so great a bounty after such a splendid record of unstinting and exemplary service to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh! I wish only Mr. Dunn, your distinguished and beloved husband and collaborator, could have accompanied you! You are both so dear & near to me, & the memory of your accomplishments, & above all the consciousness of the spirit that animates you, is a source of inspiration to me in my work. May the Beloved cheer your hearts, sustain your efforts and fulfil your hearts' desire,
Your true & grateful brother, Shoghi
20 September 1931 [Joseph Dobbins]
Dear Bahá'í co-worker,
Shoghi Effendi was much pleased to receive your letter of Aug.4th, 1931 which he read with deep interest & he charged me to acknowledge its receipt on his behalf & to extend to you his warmest congratulations for having been elected Chairman of the Adelaide Assembly.
The responsibilities which you have to assume & the delicate task which you have to carry out are both tremendous. The friends have put their confidence in you & it is your duty to watch & serve the interests of the Faith with the greatest care & wisdom.
Regarding the copy of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet enclosed in your letter, Shoghi Effendi doubts very much its authenticity & he wishes you to prevent its circulation among the believers, He feels that its perusal will do more harm than good as the answers given by the Master to the inquirer have been misunderstood & misinterpreted.
The Guardian has already received a copy of the "Herald of the South" & he was greatly rejoiced to witness the perseverance which the editors have displayed in the way of its publication, & he hopes that the number of the contributors will increase and that through their efforts the Cause will develop rapidly in Australia.
With Shoghi Effendi's fervent prayers for your spiritual advancement & progress.
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear co-worker:
The Herald of the South is the most effective instrument as yet devised for the spread of the Cause in that land. I cherish for it the brightest hopes. The spirit of Bahá'u'lláh will assuredly inspire its promoters & reinforce their efforts. May it continue to prosper & increasingly reflect the spirit that animates His Faith.
With the assurance of my continued prayers for the success of your unsparing efforts for the spread & consolidation of our beloved Cause,
Your true brother, Shoghi
26 November 1931
Mrs. Keith Ransom Kehler, C/o Mr. H. Dunn, P.O. Box 3116, Sydney, New South Wales.
Dear Mrs. Ransom-Kehler:
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated October 22nd, 1931 written from Melbourne. He sincerely hopes that this trip around the world you are taking will bear wonderful fruits & many seeking souls be attracted to the Faith. The Master often repeats in His Tablets that the teachers should like the morning breeze pass over the different cities & bring new life & energy to its people. The friends often need a reawakening & this is one of the tasks to be fulfilled by the travelling teachers. This is the greatest work Miss Root is doing & the kind of service she is rendering to the Cause.
Besides encouraging the friends in the pursuit of their work Shoghi Effendi hopes that you are attracting many souls through your public speeches. You are very well fitted for that kind of work & in the East especially India & Burma there is much need for it. We constantly hear the call for teachers from India. The people are opening their eyes to the need for basic reforms & are ready to give an attentive ear to the one who has really something to say. This is especially true of those who are educated & have come in contact with the West in more than a superficial way.
Shoghi Effendi is sure that the friends in India & Burma will avail themselves of the chance presented & obtain for you nice openings into important & cultural circles.
In his moments of prayer he will remember you & ask God to guide you in the realization of your hopes.
Yours ever sincerely, Ruhi Afnan
With the assurance of my deep sense of abiding appreciation of your magnificent services to the Cause, & of my continued & fervent prayers for your welfare, happiness & spiritual advancement,
Your true & grateful brother, Shoghi
17 December 1931
Dear Mrs. Dewing:
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated Dec. 2nd 1931. He is very sorry that you cannot on your way to New Zealand, break your journey & come over for a short visit to Haifa. But these are such difficult days that we should not be astonished & discouraged if our plans fail. He hopes however that on your way you will meet the friends, especially those in Port Said, for we have no centers in Malta & Colombo.
He was also very sorry to hear that Bertram has to give up his studies & return home. Shoghi Effendi hopes that this period he spent in America would be itself an education that would help him in his work in serving the Cause. His activities with the young people there should have made him very experienced & have deepened his understanding of the Faith.
I believe Mrs. Dunn is planning to come this spring for a visit to Haifa. Perhaps you will meet her before she starts. Shoghi Effendi is eagerly waiting to see this noble soul who introduced the Cause into Australia & has been so self-sacrificing in her services.
Shoghi Effendi hopes that on returning home you will start again to serve the Cause & attract new souls. The world is in great distress & its only salvation is in the spirit & teachings of the Blessed Beauty. Let us not, we who are the trustees of that divine message, fail in accomplishing our task & fulfilling our purpose.
Assuring you of Shoghi Effendi's best wishes I remain,
Yours ever sincerely, Ruhi Afnan
Dear and valued co-worker:
I am wiring the friends in Port-Said to meet you on your arrival & I very much regret your inability to come to Haifa & visit the Holy Shrines. I will continue to pray for you, for your son-in-law, & for your dear and promising son, for whose future work in the Cause I cherish the brightest hopes. I will also remember in my prayers the friends in far-away Australia & New Zealand & will supplicate for them all the Master's richest blessings and unfailing guidance. Shoghi
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