most great
station. We pray God that He may forgive us, and forgive them that have
turned unto thee, and grant their desires, and bestow upon them, through
His wondrous grace, whatever be their wish. He, verily, is the Bountiful,
the Generous. Praise be to God, He Who is the Desire of all worlds; and
the Beloved of all who recognize Him."

And, finally, 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself in one of His remarkably significant
Tablets, has borne witness not only to the exalted station of one whose
"seed shall inherit the Gentiles," whose Husband is the Lord of Hosts, but
also to the sufferings endured by her who was His beloved mother. "As to
thy question concerning the 54th chapter of Isaiah," He writes, "This
chapter refers to the Most Exalted Leaf, the mother of 'Abdu'l-Baha. As a
proof of this it is said: 'For more are the children of the desolate, than
the children of the married wife.' Reflect upon this statement, and then
upon the following: 'And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the
desolate cities to be inhabited.' And truly the humiliation and reproach
which she suffered in the path of God is a fact which no one can refute.
For the calamities and afflictions mentioned in the whole chapter are such
afflictions which she suffered in the path of God, all of which she
endured with patience and thanked God therefor and praised Him, because He
had enabled her to endure afflictions for the sake of Baha. During all
this time, the men and women (Covenant-breakers) persecuted her in an
incomparable manner, while she was patient, God-fearing, calm, humble and
contented through the favor of her Lord and by the bounty of her Creator."

December 21, 1939

THE SEAL OF COMPLETE TRIUMPH

The association of the First Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the West with the
hallowed memories of the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Baha's mother,
recently re-interred under the shadow of the Bab's holy Shrine,
inaugurates a new, and at long last the final phase of an enterprise
which, thirty years ago, was providentially launched on the very day the
remains of the Forerunner of our Faith were laid to rest by our beloved
Master in the sepulchre specifically erected for that purpose on Mount
Carmel. The birth of this holy enterprise, pregnant with such rich, such
infinite possibilities, synchronized with, and was consecrated through,
this historic event which, as 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself has affirmed,
constitutes the most signal act of the triple