s all over the world are building up national institutions and
purchasing, in various areas, Temple sites, etc. It is only natural that
each Assembly should feel justified in making an initial suitable
investment for its Temple site or its national Haziratu'l-Quds. However,
the Guardian, to whom all the news comes from all over the world, is
forced to face the fact that if your Assembly, the Canadian Assembly, the
British Community, the Italian-Swiss Assembly etc. etc. each pays as heavy
sums for its Baha'i Temple site or national headquarters as they propose
to in these reports, which they send him, the Baha'i world would never be
able to get out of debt. Desirable as each place is, when considered from
a local standpoint, it becomes on an international scale, a program that
is financially impossible. That is why he urged your Assembly to
drastically curtail the area and the price. He has done the same thing in
many other parts of the world. He hopes that you will shortly be able to
purchase the land required.

There now remains the important consideration of a design for the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar. It does not matter whether it is executed by a
Baha'i or a non-Baha'i architect, but the essential thing is that it must
be beautiful and dignified. There must be none of this hideous,
exaggerated, bizarre style, which one sees in many modern buildings. It is
not befitting for our House of Worship. He thinks that you should impress
this on any architects wishing to submit drawings. The essentials of the
design, as stipulated by 'Abdu'l-Baha are that the building should be
nine-sided, and circular in shape. Aside from this, the architect is not
restricted in any way in choosing his style of design.

Whenever you have a sufficient collection of drawings, he would be pleased
to receive them, and give you his advice.

A very large building at this time is not necessary, as the expense would
overtax our resources too heavily; and the Persian Baha'is, who are so
much more numerous, will have to, during the coming nine years, build a
much larger and more pretentious structure in Tihran, and consequently a
more expensive one.

Regarding the matter of ...: individual Baha'is are always encouraged to
travel and teach, and no doubt he has been of much assistance in Germany.
The Guardian, however, feels your Assembly was quite right in considering
that your limited financial resources should be spent supporting pioneers,
rather than