danger, by the
Founder of the Faith Himself, on the morrow of His third banishment, and
addressed in clear and unmistakable language to the "Minister of the
_Sh_ah" in Constantinople: "Dost thou believe thou hast the power to
frustrate His will, to hinder Him from executing His judgment, or to deter
Him from exercising His sovereignty? Pretendest thou that aught in the
heavens or in the earth can resist His Faith? No, by Him Who is the
eternal Truth! Nothing whatsoever in the whole of creation can thwart His
purpose.... Know thou, moreover, that He it is Who hath by His own behest,
created all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth. How can,
then, the thing that hath been created at His bidding prevail against
Him?"

A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

Indeed this fresh ordeal that has, in pursuance of the mysterious
dispensations of Providence, afflicted the Faith, at this unexpected hour,
far from dealing a fatal blow to its institutions or existence, should be
regarded as a blessing in disguise, not a "calamity" but a "providence" of
God, not a devastating flood but a "gentle rain" on a "green pasture," a
"wick" and "oil" unto the "lamp" of His Faith, a "nurture" for His Cause,
"water for that which has been planted in the hearts of men," a "crown set
on the head" of His Messenger for this Day.

Whatever its outcome, this sudden commotion that has seized the Baha'i
world, that has revived the hopes and emboldened the host of the
adversaries of the Faith intent on quenching its light and obliterating it
from the face of the earth, has served as a trumpet call in the sounding
of which the press of the world, the cries of its vociferous enemies, the
public remonstrances of both men of good will and those in authority have
joined, proclaiming far and wide its existence, publicizing its history,
defending its verities, unveiling its truths, demonstrating the character
of its institutions and advertising its aims and purposes.

UNPRECEDENTED PUBLICITY

Seldom, if at any time since its inception, has such a widespread
publicity been accorded the infant Faith of God, now at long last emerging
from an obscurity which has so long and so grievously oppressed it. Not
even the dramatic execution of its Herald, nor the blood-bath which, in
circumstances of fiendish cruelty followed quickly in its wake in the city
of Tihran, nor even the widely advertised travels of the Center of
Baha'u'llah's Covenant in the