nor ponder, but, detached
from the world and its concerns, clad in the armour of faith, filled with
the divine spirit of love, and quickened by His life-giving exhortations,
let us arise in utmost love and harmony, hasten to the field of service,
and subdue the domain of hearts with the arms of the love of God and the
sword of peace and brotherhood.

For all inspiration and assurance let us turn unto Baha'u'llah's promise:
'Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world, when the day-star of My beauty
is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your eyes. Arise
to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men. We are with you at
all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of truth. We are
truly almighty.'

Dear friends! A great obligation of every Baha'i is vigilance to protect
and shield the stronghold of the Faith from the onslaught of the enemies.
In these days their activity has waxed strong. They are constantly on the
alert, and exert the utmost endeavour to cause such harm as would impede
the onward march of the Cause.

Association with such people will cause discord and unrest among the
friends and will be detrimental to the progress of the Cause. Therefore it
is urgent that the friends exercise great wisdom and vigilance lest
through the evil schemes of the enemies a breach be made in the Faith. The
few people whom 'Abdu'l-Baha pronounced as injurious to the Cause must be
shunned by all the friends, as Shoghi Effendi himself tells us to do in
his second letter to the American believers.

49: O steadfast ones, gathered beneath the ...

(173) O steadfast ones, gathered beneath the Abha Beauty's standard of
oneness, O faithful lovers of 'Abdu'l-Baha! Sad news has come to us out of
Iran in recent days, and it has intensely grieved the entire Baha'i world:
they have, in most parts of that land, set bonfires of envy and
malevolence, and hoisted the banner of aggression against this
much-wronged community; they have left no means untried, no plot or
strategy neglected, and have arisen with extreme hostility and spite to
pull out by their very roots the trees of this garden of God.

From every side, they are aiming their arrows at hearts that rejoice in
the knowledge of God and are filled with the love of Him. From every
ambush, they are hunting down gazelles that pasture in the meadows of His
unity. They are taking the men and women believers captive, and making
orphans of the child