he spirit and truth of the
prophetic announcement, saying, "Verily, the standard of God did appear in
the East, and its tokens have become resplendent in the West." This
realization will be a source of great joy to all the friends in the Orient
who anticipate the good news and await the glad tidings from the land of
the Occident. They look forward to hearing that the friends in the West
have become firm and steadfast, that they have distinguished themselves by
establishing the oneness of the world of humanity, that they are even
offering their lives for the foundations of international peace, that they
have become the lights of the Kingdom and have proved to be the
manifestations of divine mercy, that the friends in the West are the
expression of the favors of the Blessed Perfection, the very stars of the
bestowal of God, blessed trees and flowers in the garden of His purity and
sanctity. Any good news from here is the cause of rejoicing in the East
and a source of deep gratitude to them. They hold a feast and praise God
for the blessed tidings. If the occasion demanded, they would give their
lives for you without the least hesitation. The friends in the East are
all united and agreed.

There are none who waver in the East, none who oppose the Covenant of God.
There is not a single soul among the Baha'is in Persia who is opposed to
the Covenant. They are all steadfast. If any soul wishes to speak in this
Cause, they will ask, "Is this a word of your own, or is it by the
authority of the Center of the Covenant? If you have the authority of the
Center of the Covenant, produce it. Where is the letter from Him? Where is
His signature?" If he produces the letter, they will accept it. If he
fails to do so, they say, "We cannot accept your words because they
emanate from you only and return to you. We have no command from the
Blessed Perfection, Baha'u'llah, to obey you. He has revealed a Book in
which He has covenanted with us to obey an appointed Center of the
Covenant. He has not covenanted with us to obey you. Therefore, the
statement you make is rejected. You must furnish proof of your authority
and sanction. We are commanded to turn to one Center. We do not obey
various centers. The Blessed Perfection has made a Covenant with us, and
we are holding to this Covenant and Testament. We do not listen to
anything else, for people may arise who speak words of their own, and we
are commanded not to pay attention to them."

It