our of turmoil and deep anguish and sudden, unexpected
calamity, our only consolation lies in service to the Cause of God, and
steadfastness in His Faith, and the guarding of His Law, and in the bonds
of unity among the friends, and their fervour and joy, and in deeds that
exemplify the holy Teachings of the Abha Beauty, may His name be exalted,
and the counsels of 'Abdu'l-Baha, may our souls be sacrificed for His
servitude. It is our hope that we all shall be helped to achieve these
things, which alone befit this sacred day.

It appears from your letter that you had written prior to the receipt of
the Will and Testament of the Centre of the Covenant. You have certainly
perused it by now. This Text is His decisive decree; it constitutes the
very life of those endued with understanding. In it the Pen of Bounty has
set forth in the most powerful, comprehensive, clear and detailed manner
the obligations devolving on every stratum of the Baha'i community, and
has hacked out the tree of violation by its root, and has caused the
centre of it to be forlorn and disgraced. He has specifically named the
centre to whom all must turn, thus solidly fixing and establishing the
foundations of the Covenant, and has clearly appointed the centre, to whom
all the people of Baha must direct themselves, the Chosen Branch, the
Guardian of the Cause of God. This great bestowal is one of the special
characteristics of this supreme Revelation, which of all Dispensations is
the noblest and most excellent. Goodly be this to the steadfast,
glad-tidings to the staunch, blessings to those who win the day.

Praise be to God, you have arisen to serve Him, and are actively teaching
and spreading His Faith. Such a bounty merits thanks a thousand times
over, and praises forever, in the hallowed sanctuary of the one Beloved.

Convey my Baha'i salutations to all the faithful.

31: Although that supreme calamity, that ...

(143) Although that supreme calamity, that great ordeal, the ascension of
'Abdu'l-Baha, put the torch to the harvest of our hearts, and brought down
both our outer and inner beings, wedding us to grief and ceaseless pain,
yet praised be God, He Who is the Dayspring of the Covenant has appointed
in writing a specific centre, and designated the Guardian of the Cause,
Shoghi Effendi, as the one toward whom must turn all those who follow
Baha'u'llah--His purpose being that the Faith of God and His Cause should
remain secure and saf