ime and in the night season, that the
ever-guiding Hand of our loved and departed Master may graciously aid you
to surmount every obstacle, and will lead, through you,--His chosen ones in
that land,--the Ark of His Cause, to its promised haven of glory and
triumph.

With heartfelt congratulations and best wishes,

I am your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
May 6th, 1923.

P.S. I enclose a copy of my translation(9) of Baha'u'llah's Words of
Wisdom, which you will feel at liberty to circulate amongst the friends.

Letter of November 14, 1923.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout
America, care of the members of the American National Spiritual Assembly.

Fellow-laborers in the Divine Vineyard:

Upon my return, after a forced and prolonged absence, to the Holy Land, it
is my first and most ardent wish to renew and strengthen those ties of
brotherly love and fellowship that bind our hearts together in our common
servitude to His sacred Threshold.

The two years that have elapsed since the passing of our beloved Master
have been for the Cause, as well as for mankind, years of deep anxiety and
pain. The momentous changes that are taking place in the history of both
have proved so swift and far-reaching as to arouse in certain hearts a
strange misgiving as to their stability and future.

On one hand the remarkable revelations of the Beloved's Will and
Testament, so amazing in all its aspects, so emphatic in its injunctions,
have challenged and perplexed the keenest minds, whilst the
ever-increasing confusion of the world, threatened as never before with
disruptive forces, fierce rivalries, fresh commotions and grave disorder,
has well-nigh overwhelmed the heart and damped the zeal of even the most
enthusiastic believer in the destiny of mankind.

And yet, how often we seem to forget the clear and repeated warnings of
our beloved Master, who, in particular during the concluding years of His
mission on earth, laid stress on the "severe mental tests" that would
inevitably sweep over His loved ones of the West--tests that would purge,
purify and prepare them for their noble mission in life.

The Cause of Human Suffering

And as to the world's evil plight, we need but recall the writings and
sayings of Baha'u'llah, who, more than fifty years ago, declared in terms
prophetic the prime cause of the ills and sufferings of mankind, and set
forth the