ocal assemblies, held in trust by
individuals, are the assets which the Faith now possesses in the land of
its origin. To the House of the Bab in _Sh_iraz and the ancestral Home of
Baha'u'llah in Takur, Mazindaran, already in the possession of the
community in the days of 'Abdu'l-Baha's ministry, have, since His
ascension, been added extensive properties, in the outskirts of the
capital, situated on the slopes of Mt. Alburz, overlooking the native city
of Baha'u'llah, including a farm, a garden and vineyard, comprising an
area of over three million and a half square meters, preserved as the
future site of the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in Persia. Other
acquisitions that have greatly extended the range of Baha'i endowments in
that country include the House in which Baha'u'llah was born in Tihran;
several buildings adjoining the House of the Bab in _Sh_iraz, including
the house owned by His maternal uncle; the Haziratu'l-Quds in Tihran; the
shop occupied by the Bab during the years He was a merchant in Bu_sh_ihr;
a quarter of the village of _Ch_ihriq, where He was confined; the house of
Haji Mirza Jani, where He tarried on His way to Tabriz; the public bath
used by Him in _Sh_iraz and some adjacent houses; half of the house owned
by Vahid in Nayriz and part of the house owned by Hujjat in Zanjan; the
three gardens rented by Baha'u'llah in the hamlet of Bada_sh_t; the
burial-place of Quddus in Barfuru_sh_; the house of Kalantar in Tihran,
the scene of Tahirih's confinement; the public bath visited by the Bab
when in Urumiyyih, A_dh_irbayjan; the house owned by Mirza
Husayn-'Aliy-i-Nur, where the Bab's remains had been concealed; the
Babiyyih and the house owned by Mulla Husayn in Ma_sh_had; the residence
of the Sultanu'_sh_-_Sh_uhuda (King of Martyrs) and of the
Mahbubu'_sh_-_Sh_uhada (Beloved of Martyrs) in Isfahan, as well as a
considerable number of sites and houses, including burial-places,
associated with the heroes and martyrs of the Faith. These holdings which,
with very few exceptions, have been recently acquired in Persia, are now
being preserved and yearly augmented, and, whenever necessary, carefully
restored, through the assiduous efforts of a specially appointed national
committee, acting under the constant and general supervision of the
elected representatives of the Persian believers.

Nor should mention be omitted of the varied and multiplying national
assets which, ever since the inception of the Administr