y issue.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
March 20, 1929.

Letter of October 25, 1929.

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the
United States and Canada.

My well-beloved friends:

Ever since that remarkable manifestation of Baha'i solidarity and
self-sacrifice which has signalized the proceedings of last year's
memorable Convention, I have been expectantly awaiting the news of a
steady and continuous support of the Plan which can alone insure, ere the
present year draws to its close, the resumption of building operations on
our beloved Temple.

Gift from Tomb of Baha'u'llah

Moved by an impulse that I could not resist, I have felt impelled to
forego what may be regarded as the most valuable and sacred possession in
the Holy Land for the furthering of that noble enterprise which you have
set your hearts to achieve. With the hearty concurrence of our dear Baha'i
brother, Ziaoullah Asgarzadeh, who years ago donated it to the Most Holy
Shrine, this precious ornament of the Tomb of Baha'u'llah has been already
shipped to your shores, with our fondest hope that the proceeds from its
sale may at once ennoble and reinforce the unnumbered offerings of the
American believers already accumulated on the altar of Baha'i sacrifice. I
have longed ever since to witness such evidences of spontaneous and
generous response on your part as would tend to fortify within me a
confidence that has never wavered in the inexhaustible vitality of the
Faith of Baha'u'llah in that land.

I need not stress at this moment the high hopes which so startling a
display of unsparing devotion to our sacred Temple has already aroused in
the breasts of the multitude of our brethren throughout the East. Nor is
it I feel necessary to impress upon those who are primarily concerned with
its erection the gradual change of outlook which the early prospect of the
construction of the far-famed Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in America has
unmistakably occasioned in high places among the hitherto sceptical and
indifferent towards the merits and the practicability of the Faith
proclaimed by Baha'u'llah. Neither do I need to expatiate upon the hopes
and fears of the Greatest Holy Leaf, now in the evening of her life, with
deepening shadows caused by failing eye-sight and declining strength
swiftly gathering about her, yearning to hear as the one remaining solace
in her swiftly ebbing life the news of th