communities the world over to an Edifice that can rightly claim the
distinction of being Baha'u'llah's First Universal House of Worship, of
being conceived in its design by 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself, constructed and
completed in His days and under His direction, and supported by the
collective contributions of the believers throughout the world. The hour
for such a world-wide and concentrated appeal is not yet come, but it
behooves us, while expectantly watching from a distance the moving
spectacle of the struggling Faith of Baha'u'llah, to seek abiding solace
and strength from the reflection that whatever befalls this Cause, however
grievous and humiliating the visitations that from time to time may seem
to afflict the organic life or interfere with the functions of the
administrative machinery of the Baha'i Faith, such calamities cannot but
each eventually prove to be a blessing in disguise designed, by a Wisdom
inscrutable to us all, to establish and consolidate the sovereignty of
Baha'u'llah on this earth.

Baha'u'llah's House at Baghdad

What we have already witnessed in connection with the latest developments
regarding the case of Baha'u'llah's House in Ba_gh_dad affords abundant
evidence of the truth of the observation that has just been made. In its
initial stages appearing to the superficial observer as a petty dispute
submitted to an obscure and antiquated Shiite court, the case has
gradually evolved into a paramount issue engaging the attention of the
highest tribunal of 'Iraq. In its latest stages, it has gathered such
strength, secured such publicity, and received such support from the
chancelleries of Europe, as to become a subject fit for the consideration
not only of the specific international Commission ultimately responsible
for the administration of Mandated Territories but of the leading
Signatories of the Covenant of the League of Nations that are represented
in the Council of the League itself.

Few if any among those closely associated with the case did at first
imagine or expect that dwellings which to outward seeming appeared only as
a cluster of humble and decrepit buildings lost amid the obscure and
tortuous lanes of old Ba_gh_dad could ever obtain such prominence as to
become the object of the deliberations of the highest international
Tribunal that the hand of man has thus far reared for the amicable
settlement of his affairs. Whatever the decision of the world's highest
Tribunal regard