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13 February 1934 [Ernest Brewer]
Dear Bahá'í Brother,
On behalf of Shoghi Effendi I wish to thank you for your letter dated Jan 4th and for the enclosed report on Bahá'í activities in Sydney which our dear friend Mr. Bertram Dewing had so carefully prepared for the "Bahá'í World". The text of the report will be forwarded to Mr Horace Holley that he may incorporate it in his general survey of Bahá'í activities throughout the world during the last two years.
With many thanks and with loving Bahá'í greetings to you and to all the friends in Sydney,
Yours in his service, H. Rabbani
With the assurance of my loving appreciation of your steadfast endeavours & devotion in the service of our beloved Faith, & of my prayers for your welfare and spiritual advancement,
Your true brother, Shoghi
23 February 1934
Mrs. S.W. Bolton, P.S.C. Box 56, Davenport, Iowa. U.S.A.
Dear Bahá'í Sister,
On behalf of the Guardian I wish to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated February 1, and to thank you for the three booklets you have sent him under separate cover. He was glad to go over them and to realize that in some of their aspects they bear certain resemblance to the teachings.
He hopes that your close and continued contact with Mr. B.J. Palmer will serve to deepen his interest in the Cause, and to stimulate him to do something for its spread in your locality.
He will certainly pray on your behalf that your labours in this connection may prove fruitful. Let me also assure you of his prayers on behalf of your family. May the Beloved keep and strengthen them in his Cause.
With loving greetings to you and your husband,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.
With the assurance of my loving prayers for your spiritual advancement and success in the service of our beloved Faith,
Your true brother, Shoghi.
27 February 1934 [Adelaide Assembly]
Dear Bahá'í Friend,
On behalf of Shoghi Effendi I wish to thank you for your letter dated Feb. 1st which you had written in the name of the Adelaide Spiritual Assembly, expressing the difficulties which the friends are encountering in the formation of their N.S.A.
As the Guardian has already intimated, the believers should in no way consider the establishment of a National Assembly in Australia as an impending obligation, but as an important step to be taken when circumstances are on the whole favourable. He is fully conscious of the obstacles which impede the realization of this suggestion he has made to some of our Australian & New Zealand believers. And in view of that he would recommend the friends not to take any definite action in the matter unless they can ascertain that their plan can be successfully carried out.
As regards the method to be adopted for the election of the delegates to the Convention, he feels that as the friends in Australia & New Zealand are relatively few in number it would be advisable for them to have only
nine or nineteen delegates instead of ninety-five. And these delegates must be elected to represent those localities where there are duly established Local Spiritual Assemblies, and according to the principle of proportional representation. As to the adoption of the Membership Application Form, the Guardian prefers to leave this matter entirely in the hands of your National Assembly when it is formed.
Trusting that this coming spring will witness a marked development in the administration of the Faith in Australia & New Zealand, and with best wishes for the success of your labours in this connection.
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
May the almighty guide & sustain you in your devoted & persistent efforts for the spread of the Faith & the consolidation of its institutions, & may His spirit enable you to overcome every obstacle & fulfil your heart's desire.
Your true brother, Shoghi.
26 March 1934 [Clara Dunn]
Dear Bahá'í Sister,
On behalf of the Guardian I wish to thank you for your much appreciated letter of Feb. 22nd which carried the joyful news of the projected formation of the Convention of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, in the middle of this coming April. I cannot, indeed, refrain from expressing his deep and abiding gratitude for this latest expression of the spirit of determination, of courage & of whole-hearted loyalty which is so powerfully animating our Australian and New Zealand believers, & which, in the years to come, will enable them to forge ahead in their efforts for the establishment & expansion of the administrative order of the Faith in their country. This new & momentous step they have been inspired to take will surely bring them into a closer & deeper contact with the general body of the Cause, by providing them with an opportunity to discharge, with more effectiveness & power, their manifold & sacred responsibilities for the international promotion & safeguarding of the Faith. The formation of every new National Assembly must, indeed, be viewed as a step forward in the evolution of the Administration of the Faith. And not until a sufficient number of such National Assemblies has been duly constituted can there be any hope for the future expansion of the Cause.
I need not remind you of the Guardian's oft-repeated urge that in the formation of their Convention as well as in all their other activities in connection with the election of the N.S.A. the friends must follow as closely as possible and with due consideration to certain local differences, all the regulations, laws & principles governing the administration of the Faith in America. The American N.S.A. is, indeed, the prototype of all other National Assemblies in the Bahá'í world. And this, not because of any geographical or national considerations but due to the fact that it constitutes the oldest and the most effective organ of its kind in the field of the administration.
With loving greetings to you and to Mr Dunn, Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear and precious co-worker:
I am overjoyed to learn of the historic decision of the Bahá'ís of Australia & New Zealand. It marks a turning point in the history of the Faith in that far-away continent. The entire Bahá'í world welcomes this stimulating intelligence & feels deeply grateful for the spirit that has prompted it. I will from the bottom of my heart pray that the blessings of Bahá'u'lláh may rest upon the deliberations of this First Convention of the Bahá'ís in Australia & New Zealand,
Your true brother, Shoghi
8 May 1934 [Hyde Dunn]
Dear Bahá'í Friend,
Shoghi Effendi has received your letter of Ap.7th, and was deeply
moved by the spirit which is animating and sustaining you in your services to the Cause in Australia. He feels, indeed, deeply grateful to you, and to each and every member of the community in that land for the remarkable & historic step you have taken for the formation of your first National Spiritual Assembly. He is fervently supplicating the Almighty that His guidance may continue to light the path which you are destined to follow, & that through His Divine assistance you may be enabled to pave the way for the safe and speedy establishment & consolidation of the administration of the Faith in your country.
In closing please accept his best wishes for yourself and for your work, and convey his loving greetings to all the faithful, & particularly to Mr. & Mrs. Brewer, to Mr. Guy Inman & to dear Mr. Dewing. May I also assure you of his prayers for the confirmation of Mrs. E. McLachlan.
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear and precious co-worker:
I fully share your joy, your gratitude & deepest satisfaction at the fruition of your patient, your arduous, your historic & exemplary labours in that far-off continent. The formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia & New Zealand crowns your magnificent work for His Cause. The supreme concourse glorifies and extols the endeavours which Mrs. Dunn and yourself have so devotedly and heroically exerted. Future generations will magnify your great & unforgettable achievements. I am deeply thankful for & proud of all that you have done, Shoghi
15 May 1934 [Adelaide Assembly]
Dear Bahá'í Friend,
The Guardian has deeply appreciated your message dated April 10th, and he has asked me to convey to you once more his grateful thanks for the services you are so continually rendering the Faith in your centre. The gratifying news has just reached him of the opening of the first Convention of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, and needless to say how deeply he was moved by this historic step you have been inspired to take for the consolidation of the Administration in your country. He feels confident that through such remarkable evidences of the self-sacrificing, heroic and united efforts of the Australian and New Zealand believers an increasing number of hitherto sceptical and unfriendly people will be gradually attracted to the Faith.
Assuring you again of the Guardian's fervent prayers for the continued expansion of your Bahá'í activities, and with his best wishes and greetings to you and to all the friends in Adelaide,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear and valued co-worker:
I rejoice to learn of the momentous step the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand have taken. They will surely be reinforced by the hosts of the Kingdom, and deserve the praise and admiration of their fellow-believers throughout the world. Constancy, co-operation, unity and steadfast adherence to the spiritual and administrative principles of the Faith are essential during these days when the foundations of the Universal House of Justice are being laid through your devoted efforts in your own country. I will continue to pray for you from the depths of my heart.
Your true brother, Shoghi
15 May 1934 [Hyde Dunn]
INEXPRESSIBLY GLADDENED CELEBRATION FIRST HISTORIC CONVENTION ASSURE DELEGATES ABOUNDING GRATITUDE FERVENT PRAYERS DEEPEST LOVE SHOGHI
13 June 1934
Dear Mr Dewing,
The Guardian has duly received & deeply enjoyed reading your letters dated November 30th, December 27th, 1933 and February 4th, 1934. He is sorry that unforseen circumstances have caused such a long delay in acknowledging their receipt. He hopes, however, that the matters you have submitted for his consideration have not suffered as a result.
Since your last letter to him, he has heard of the gratifying news of the formation of your N.S.A. This historic step in the development of the Administration in Australia & New Zealand is, he feels, bound to react favourably on the further expansion & consolidation of the Faith in these far-off lands. He is fervently supplicating Bahá'u'lláh that the newly-elected members of the N.S.A., upon whom has been placed such a tremendous responsibility, be assisted in the discharge of their sacred obligations & duties to the Faith.
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear and valued co-worker:
The splendid reports you have sent me have been incorporated in the manuscript & sent to the Bahá'í World committee in America. The formation of the National Assembly of Australia & New Zealand will no doubt furnish you with new & refreshing material for your next report in 1936. I will pray for your success & deeply value the manifold & constant services you are rendering the Cause of God. Your true & grateful brother, Shoghi
26 July 1934
Dear Miss Brooks,
I am directed by the Guardian to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of June 6th, written on behalf of the N.S.A. of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, and to convey to you, and to your collaborators on that Assembly his grateful appreciation of the stupendous efforts you have unanimously exerted for making your first Convention such a successful and promising meeting. Your collective and continued sacrifices, as well as the assistance and guidance of Bahá'u'lláh have surely been responsible for this historic triumph which you have been able to achieve in the administrative field of the Cause - a triumph which will inevitably bring about a renewed and deeper spiritual consciousness to all the believers in these far-off lands.
Shoghi Effendi is praying from the very depths of his heart for your guidance and assistance, and hopes that as a result your National Assembly will be soon enabled to take such steps as would enable it to extend and to further consolidate its national as well as international activities.
With warm greetings to you and to all the friends in Adelaide,
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear and valued co-worker,
My heart is filled with joy and gratitude as a result of the perusal of your letter. I long to be in close and constant touch with your newly-formed National Assembly - the first of your administrative activities and the herald of one of the most fruitful and stirring periods in the history of the Faith in that promising continent. I will be so glad to receive copies of the minutes of your gatherings, and urge you to keep in close touch with your sister Assemblies throughout the Bahá'í world. I will assuredly pray for you and your dear and devoted collaborators from the depths of my heart.
Your true brother, Shoghi.
10 September 1934 [Clara & Hyde Dunn]
Dear Bahá'í Friends,
The Guardian has just received from the editor of the "Herald of the South" copies of your monthly magazine together with the printed report of the first Convention of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, and he is deeply gratified to witness the steady advancement which your National Assembly is making in consolidating the foundations & in extending the sphere of the administration of the Faith throughout your country. He was particularly impressed by the photograph of the delegates at the Convention & also by that representing the members of your newly-elected National Assembly, both of which have been beautifully reproduced in the last issue of the "Herald of the South". He would be, indeed, very thankful if you send him three copies of each of these photographs which he wishes to place in the mansion of Bahá'u'lláh at Bahji. He feels certain that the many visitors to this hallowed spot, both believers and non-believers alike, will be deeply impressed by them, and will be further convinced in their recognition of the tremendous & unsurpassed progress achieved by the Faith in these far-off lands.
In closing I wish to assure you of the Guardian's best wishes, and to renew his grateful appreciation of your continued and pioneering services for the Cause in Australia. His prayers for you both, as well as for your collaborators in the National Assembly are being continually offered to God. May His unfailing guidance and love continue to impart a fresh & ever-increasing stimulus to your collective endeavours for the further penetration & establishment of His Faith.
With warmest greetings & heartfelt thanks, Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
P.S. The Guardian wishes to remind you & through you the members of your National Assembly that in conformity with the general rule & practice among the believers and for the sake of maintaining the necessary unity in the administrative rulings & procedures of the Cause you should have your Annual Convention held any time during the twelve days of Ridván beginning from April 21st, and not on May 15th as observed in your last Convention gathering.
P.S. Shoghi Effendi is directing the Spiritual Assembly of Haifa to incorporate both in the English & in the Persian issues of their circular letter the news of the Convention of the Australian & New Zealand friends as this news will greatly stimulate & inspire the believers all over the world.
25 September 1934 [Bertha & Joseph Dobbins]
Dear Bahá'í Friends,
The Guardian has read and carefully considered your letter of July 29th with its enclosures, and was profoundly grieved to learn of the unfortunate situation that has arisen between you and your Local Spiritual Assembly. He hopes, nevertheless, that through your exemplary self-sacrifice & your spirit of good-will this abnormal condition will be soon remedied, and that your relations with the Assembly will take on their normal course. In view of that he would advise you to drop the matter entirely, to even forget it, and to demonstrate through both your words and deeds your unqualified & whole-hearted obedience to whatever your Assembly decides & acts upon. For in so doing you will be demonstrating your loyalty not to any individual, but to a principle & to that body which incarnates & exemplifies that same principle.
The Guardian feels also that it would be more advisable if you do not petition the National Assembly, in view of the fact that this body has much more constructive problems before it for consideration & settlement. He would advise you also not to insist any more on obtaining an apology from your Local Assembly, for such an act even though it may be justified by facts, would assuredly lower the prestige of that institution in the eyes of the believers. The Guardian's impression is that the whole issue is due to a misunderstanding between you & the Assembly, & that in view of that it would be preferable not to give it any more consideration than it deserves. Such misunderstandings have invariably accompanied the birth of the administration in every country in which it has been established, and time has proved that through the propelling power of the Faith each & all of them have been gradually & effectively wiped out. You need, therefore, have no misapprehension whatever. Your action, the Guardian feels certain, will constitute an example which the friends will thoroughly appreciate, & in the light of which they will learn to settle every problem arising between them & their Assemblies in future.
With his best wishes & greetings to you both.
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
Dear co-workers:
Do not allow, I beseech you, this unfortunate incident to damp your ardour or to impair the effectiveness of your labours in the service of our beloved Faith. No sacrifice, I assure you, is too great for the consolidation of the nascent institutions of God's Cause in your promising country. Persevere, be happy & confident. I will continue to pray for you from the depths of my heart.
Your true & grateful brother, Shoghi
17 October 1934 [National Spiritual Assembly]
Dear Bahá'í friend,
I am directed by the Guardian to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated August 31st with its most interesting enclosures, all of which he has carefully read and considered. It is with deep gratification that he follows the progress and extension of the work of your NSA, and he hopes and prays that through the confirmations of the Almighty it will serve to give an increasing impetus to the progress of the Faith in your land.
The Guardian has read with particular interest the minutes of the meetings of your N.S.A. He hopes to receive them regularly, and thus to be in close and constant touch with your national activities.
In regard to your question as to whether it is permissible to substitute the plural pronoun for the singular in prayers worded in the singular, the Guardian would strongly urge your N.S.A. to inform the friends to strictly adhere to the text of the Holy Writings, and not to deviate even a hair-breadth from what has been revealed by the Holy Pen. Besides, it should be noted that congregational prayer has been discouraged by Bahá'u'lláh, and that it is allowed only in the case of the prayer for the dead.
Concerning the Healing Prayer, the Guardian wishes me to inform you that there is no special ruling for its recital. The believer is free to recite it as many times and in the way he wishes. There are also no obligatory prayers for the Fast. But there are some specific ones revealed by Bahá'u'lláh for that purpose.
As to the instructions given in the little black covered Prayer Book, they are by no means complete and are only tentative. When the Book of Aqdas is published, the believers will have then full and authoritative prescriptions about the form of prayer, and other instructions and rulings of a spiritual character.
With loving greetings to you and to the members of the N.S.A., Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.
Dearly beloved co-worker:
My constant prayers for the extension of the activities in which you and your dear fellow-labourers are so strenuously engaged will be offered on your behalf that the splendid era which you have inaugurated may redound to the glory and honour of the Most Great Name. I am truly proud of the manner in which my loved friends in Australia and New Zealand have arisen to discharge their sacred and pressing responsibilities. Great triumphs, I feel convinced, are in store for them if they persevere in their mighty task. May the Almighty bless their high endeavours and enable them to achieve His purpose.
Your true brother, Shoghi.
21 December 1934
Blundell, Allendale Road, Mt. Albert, Auckland.
GRIEF STRICKEN ASSURE YOU DEEPFELT SYMPATHY PRAYING FERVENTLY PIONEER SERVICES EVER REMEMBERED
22 December 1934
Ethel Blundell
Dear Bahá'í Sister,
The Guardian was profoundly grieved to learn of the passing away of your dear mother, and has directed me to convey to you, and to the bereaved members of your family, his heartfelt condolences and sympathy for this severe loss which you have sustained.
Mrs. Blundell's departure is, indeed, a loss not only to her family, but also to the community of her fellow-believers in New Zealand. For in her they have come to lose one of their oldest and most distinguished co-workers.
The Guardian well remembers her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and has always cherished the hope that she would once more be enabled to visit the Shrines. But alas, her departed soul has taken its flight from this world, leaving her friends and relatives in a state of profoundest grief. Their only consolation now is the realization that through her painstaking & sustained labours for the Cause in Auckland Mrs. Blundell has left an abiding monument to her memory, and one which will continue for many years to come to inspire and strengthen them all in their collective endeavours for the establishment of the Faith in New Zealand.
Shoghi Effendi is fervently praying for the soul of our departed sister, and is entreating Bahá'u'lláh to give her her full share of divine blessings in the other world.
May I also assure you of his ardent supplications for you, and for all the friends in Auckland.
Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani
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