slamic world is still unhoisted. The Most Great House, ordained as a
center of pilgrimage by Baha'u'llah in His Kitab-i-Aqdas, is as yet
unliberated. The third Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar to be raised to His glory,
the site of which has recently been acquired, as well as the Dependencies
of the two Houses of Worship already erected in East and West, are as yet
unbuilt. The dome, the final unit which, as anticipated by 'Abdu'l-Baha,
is to crown the Sepulcher of the Bab is as yet unreared. The codification
of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Mother-Book of the Baha'i Revelation, and the
systematic promulgation of its laws and ordinances, are as yet unbegun.
The preliminary measures for the institution of Baha'i courts, invested
with the legal right to apply and execute those laws and ordinances, still
remain to be undertaken. The restitution of the first
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the Baha'i world and the recreation of the
community that so devotedly reared it, have yet to be accomplished. The
sovereign who, as foreshadowed in Baha'u'llah's Most Holy Book, must adorn
the throne of His native land, and cast the shadow of royal protection
over His long-persecuted followers, is as yet undiscovered. The contest
that must ensue as a result of the concerted onslaughts which, as
prophesied by 'Abdu'l-Baha, are to be delivered by the leaders of
religions as yet indifferent to the advance of the Faith, is as yet
unfought. The Golden Age of the Faith itself that must witness the
unification of all the peoples and nations of the world, the establishment
of the Most Great Peace, the inauguration of the Kingdom of the Father
upon earth, the coming of age of the entire human race and the birth of a
world civilization, inspired and directed by the creative energies
released by Baha'u'llah's World Order, shining in its meridian splendor,
is still unborn and its glories unsuspected.

Whatever may befall this infant Faith of God in future decades or in
succeeding centuries, whatever the sorrows, dangers and tribulations which
the next stage in its world-wide development may engender, from whatever
quarter the assaults to be launched by its present or future adversaries
may be unleashed against it, however great the reverses and setbacks it
may suffer, we, who have been privileged to apprehend, to the degree our
finite minds can fathom, the significance of these marvelous phenomena
associated with its rise and establishment, can harbor no doubt that what
it h