Bahíyyih Khánum | Page 7

is quite a while now, since thou hast left us, and gone away to

Nazareth and Haifa. This journey hath lasted too long. The weather in
Akká is fine and moderate. If thou comest back, it will rejoice our
hearts....

18: O my cherished sister! ...
(25) O my cherished sister!
Thou art never absent from my thoughts.
I speak of thee and call thee to mind at all times. It is my hope that out
of God's favour and grace thou dost keep safe and well, and dost visit
the two Sacred Thresholds on my behalf.

19: O my sister in the spirit, and the companion ...
(26) O my sister in the spirit, and the companion of my heart!
God willing, the climate of Haifa hath proved favourable. I hope that
out of the bounties of the Ancient Beauty thou wilt gain a measure of
peace and health.
I bring thee to mind both night and day. Just recently I had hoped to
come to Haifa to visit thee, but various problems and the pressure of
work have left me no time; for I want to see the travellers off, and
every one of them presented a long list of names. God be thanked, I
have written to them all.
Kiss the fresh flower of the garden of sweetness, Shoghi Effendi.

20: O thou Greatest and Most Merciful Holy ...
(27) O thou Greatest and Most Merciful Holy Leaf!

I arrived in New York in the best of health, and I have been at all times
thinking of thee, and supplicating fervently at the threshold of the
Blessed Beauty that He may guard thee in the stronghold of His
protection. We are in the utmost fellowship and joy. I hope that thou
wilt be sheltered under His bountiful care.
Write to me at once about Rúhá Khánum's and Shoghi Effendi's
condition, informing me fully and hiding nothing; this is the best way.
Convey my utmost longing to all.

21: I do not know in what words I could ...
(28) I do not know in what words I could describe my longing for my
honoured sister. Whatever it may write, my pen falls short.

III: FROM THE WRITINGS OF SHOGHI EFFENDI

1: This servant, after that grievous event and ...
(29) This servant, after that grievous event and great calamity, the
ascension of His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Abhá Kingdom, has been
so stricken with grief and pain and so entangled in the troubles created
by the enemies of the Cause of God, that I consider that my presence
here, at such a time and in such an atmosphere, is not in accordance
with the fulfilment of my important and sacred duties.
For this reason, unable to do otherwise, I have left for a time the affairs
of the Cause both at home and abroad, under the supervision of the
Holy Family and the headship of the Greatest Holy Leaf until, by the
Grace of God, having gained health, strength, self-confidence and
spiritual energy, and having taken into my hands, in accordance with
my aim and desire, entirely and regularly the work of service I shall
attain to my utmost spiritual hope and aspiration.

2: And in this fervent plea, my voice is once ...
(30) And in this fervent plea, my voice is once more reinforced by the
passionate, and perhaps, the last, entreaty, of the Greatest Holy Leaf,
whose spirit, now hovering on the edge of the Great Beyond, longs to
carry on its flight to the Abhá Kingdom, and into the presence of a
Divine, an almighty Father, an assurance of the joyous consummation
of an enterprise,(31) the progress of which has so greatly brightened the
closing days of her earthly life.

3: GREATEST HOLY LEAF'S IMMORTAL SPIRIT ...
(32) GREATEST HOLY LEAF'S IMMORTAL SPIRIT WINGED ITS
FLIGHT GREAT BEYOND. COUNTLESS LOVERS HER SAINTLY
LIFE IN EAST AND WEST SEIZED WITH PANGS OF ANGUISH,
PLUNGED IN UNUTTERABLE SORROW. HUMANITY SHALL
ERELONG RECOGNIZE ITS IRREPARABLE LOSS. OUR
BELOVED FAITH, WELL-NIGH CRUSHED BY DEVASTATING
BLOW OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ'S UNEXPECTED ASCENSION, NOW
LAMENTS PASSING LAST REMNANT OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH, ITS
MOST EXALTED MEMBER. HOLY FAMILY CRUELLY
DIVESTED ITS MOST PRECIOUS, MOST GREAT ADORNING. I,
FOR MY PART, BEWAIL SUDDEN REMOVAL MY SOLE
EARTHLY SUSTAINER, THE JOY AND SOLACE OF MY LIFE.
HER SACRED REMAINS WILL REPOSE VICINITY HOLY
SHRINES. SO GRIEVOUS A BEREAVEMENT NECESSITATES
SUSPENSION FOR NINE MONTHS THROUGHOUT BAHÁ'Í
WORLD EVERY MANNER RELIGIOUS FESTIVITY. INFORM
LOCAL ASSEMBLIES AND GROUPS HOLD BEFITTING
MANNER MEMORIAL GATHERINGS, EXTOL A LIFE SO
LADEN SACRED EXPERIENCES, SO RICH IMPERISHABLE
MEMORIES... ADVISE HOLDING ADDITIONAL
COMMEMORATION SERVICE OF STRICTLY DEVOTIONAL
CHARACTER AUDITORIUM MASHRIQU'L-ADHKÁR.

4: GREATEST HOLY LEAF ASCENDED ABHÁ KINGDOM. ...
(33) GREATEST HOLY LEAF ASCENDED ABHÁ KINGDOM.
OUR GRIEF IMMENSE, OUR LOSS