not despairing, nor excluded from the never-ceasing
reinforcements that come from the living Lord; and in this world and the
Kingdom, help me to reach what thou knowest to be my dearest hope.

O faithful friends! It is right and fitting that out of honour to her most
high station, in the gatherings of the followers of Baha'u'llah, whether
of the East or the West, all Baha'i festivals and celebrations should be
completely suspended for a period of nine months, and that in every city
and village, memorial meetings should be held, with all solemnity,
spirituality, lowliness and consecration--where, in the choicest of
language, may be described at length the shining attributes of that most
resplendent Leaf, that archetype of the people of Baha. If it be possible
for the individual believers to postpone their personal celebrations for a
period of one year, let them unhesitatingly do so thus to express their
sorrow at this agonizing misfortune. Let them read this letter, this
supplication, in their memorial gatherings, that perchance the Almighty
will lighten my burden, and dispel the clouds of my bereavement; that He
will answer my prayers, and fulfil my hopes, out of His bounty, His power,
His grace.

6: Brethren and fellow-mourners in the Faith ...

(38) Brethren and fellow-mourners in the Faith of Baha'u'llah!

A sorrow, reminiscent in its poignancy, of the devastating grief caused by
'Abdu'l-Baha's sudden removal from our midst, has stirred the Baha'i world
to its foundations. The Greatest Holy Leaf, the well-beloved and treasured
Remnant of Baha'u'llah entrusted to our frail and unworthy hands by our
departed Master, has passed to the Great Beyond, leaving a legacy that
time can never dim.

The Community of the Most Great Name, in its entirety and to its very
core, feels the sting of this cruel loss. Inevitable though this
calamitous event appeared to us all, however acute our apprehensions of
its steady approach, the consciousness of its final consummation at this
terrible hour leaves us, we whose souls have been impregnated by the
energizing influence of her love, prostrated and disconsolate.

How can my lonely pen, so utterly inadequate to glorify so exalted a
station, so impotent to portray the experiences of so sublime a life, so
disqualified to recount the blessings she showered upon me since my
earliest childhood--how can such a pen repay the great debt of gratitude
and love that I owe her whom I reg