prayers for the steady expansion and consolidation of your work,

I am, your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
October 24th, 1925.

Letter of November 6, 1925.

To the members of the American National Spiritual Assembly.

My dear fellow-workers:

Two recent communications of your able secretary, dated Oct. 14th and
15th, have been received and read with deep gratitude and pleasure.

The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar

I rejoice to learn of the prompt and well-considered measures you have
undertaken to evolve, in conjunction with all local Assemblies and groups,
a wise and effective plan for the contribution of America's befitting
share in response to the appeal lately addressed to the American believers
regarding the work of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar. Surely the great company
of eager and sympathizing believers throughout the East will, as they
increasingly witness the evidences of a revival of activity along this
line, arise to lend a helping hand to this vast endeavor. They will not
fail to extend their support in alleviating the burden that is now borne
so joyously and gratefully by their younger brethren in North America. I
shall myself do all in my power to hasten the fruition of your
self-sacrificing labors.

International Baha'i Shrine

The sad and sudden crisis that has arisen in connection with the ownership
of Baha'u'llah's sacred house in Ba_gh_dad has sent a thrill of
indignation and dismay throughout the whole of the Baha'i world. Houses
that have been occupied by Baha'u'llah for well nigh the whole period of
His exile in 'Iraq; ordained by Him as the chosen and sanctified object of
Baha'i pilgrimage in future; magnified and extolled in countless Tablets
and Epistles as the sacred center "round which shall circle all peoples
and kindreds of the earth"--lie now, due to fierce intrigue and ceaseless
fanatical opposition, at the mercy of the declared enemies of the Cause.

I have instantly communicated with every Baha'i center in both East and
West, and urgently requested the faithful followers of the Faith in every
land to protest vehemently against this glaring perversion of justice, to
assert firmly and courteously the spiritual rights of the Baha'i Community
to the ownership of this venerated house, to plead for British fairness
and justice, and to pledge their unswerving determination to insure the
security of this hallowed spot.

Conscious of the fact that t