the persecuted followers of the
Faith in that country, this institution, still in the early stages of its
development, has already lent its share to the consolidation of the
internal functions of the organic Baha'i community, and provided a further
visible evidence of its steady growth and rising power. Complementary in
its functions to those of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar--an edifice exclusively
reserved for Baha'i worship--this institution, whether local or national,
will, as its component parts, such as the Secretariat, the Treasury, the
Archives, the Library, the Publishing Office, the Assembly Hall, the
Council Chamber, the Pilgrims' Hostel, are brought together and made
jointly to operate in one spot, be increasingly regarded as the focus of
all Baha'i administrative activity, and symbolize, in a befitting manner,
the ideal of service animating the Baha'i community in its relation alike
to the Faith and to mankind in general.

From the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, ordained as a house of worship by
Baha'u'llah in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the representatives of Baha'i
communities, both local and national, together with the members of their
respective committees, will, as they gather daily within its walls at the
hour of dawn, derive the necessary inspiration that will enable them to
discharge, in the course of their day-to-day exertions in the
Haziratu'l-Quds--the scene of their administrative activities--their duties
and responsibilities as befits the chosen stewards of His Faith.

Already on the shores of Lake Michigan, in the outskirts of the first
Baha'i center established in the American continent and under the shadow
of the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the West; in the capital city of
Persia, the cradle of the Faith; in the vicinity of the Most Great House
in Ba_gh_dad; in the city of I_sh_qabad, adjoining the first
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the Baha'i world; in the capital of Egypt, the
foremost center of both the Arab and Islamic worlds; in Delhi, the capital
city of India and even in Sydney in far-off Australia, initial steps have
been taken which must eventually culminate in the establishment, in all
their splendor and power, of the national administrative seats of the
Baha'i communities established in these countries.

Locally, moreover, in the above-mentioned countries, as well as in several
others, the preliminary measures for the establishment of this
institution, in the form of a house, either owned or rented by