and April 18, of 1950, have been received, as well as
their enclosures and other material and photographs sent, and he has
instructed me to answer them on his behalf.
The past winter and spring have been very difficult for our beloved
Guardian, and this is why he has not been able to reply to you, (or to any
other National Assembly), for so long. As you know, he has been carrying
on the construction of the first stage, the arcade, of the Bab's Shrine in
anticipation of having it finished for the July 9 Centenary Celebrations
of His Martyrdom. This necessitated a great deal of excavation of the
solid rock behind the Shrine in order to enable the arcade to be built.
The Guardian himself supervised this work in order to see it was done the
most economical way and as quickly as possible; this took up a great deal
of his time and energy.
At the beginning of April, just when he was planning to devote himself to
the correspondence of the various N.S.A.'s, Mr. Maxwell, the architect of
the Shrine, became very dangerously ill, and until the present time is in
Hospital with special nurses day and night. His condition is now very much
better, but the constant worry, and the problems arising daily, have
hitherto prevented our Guardian and his secretary from answering any mail.
He wishes you to know that these are the reasons you have not heard from
him for so long.
In regard to certain matters you raised in your letters: he does not
consider it necessary to publish at present "This Earth One Country";
there are other books more urgently needed by the German friends such as
"Some Answered Questions" and the "Paris Talks" of the Master.
He sees no objection to your Assembly's renting to suitable tenants some
of the rooms in the Hazira of Frankfurt in order to assist you in
financing its construction. Also he feels you are free to rent the Baha'i
Hall in that building to groups, who have similar aims to ours, or to the
University.
As to purchasing the property next door: although this would be desirable,
he feels at present it is out of the question, as you have not got
sufficient funds to do so, and are already having difficulty meeting the
heavy expenses involved in building the Hazira itself.
The Guardian has already had a sum transferred to Mr. Hofman to meet the
expenses of publishing "God Passes By". He trusts this important work will
soon be in your hands, as it will be of great educational value to the
German beli
|