[one of the venerable teachers of the East]
Upon him be Baha’u’l-Abha!
He is God!
O thou spiritual Amin!
In all the world of creation all the existent beings are in
the utmost connection. Through this connection, mutual helpfulness and
cooperation is realized. This mutual helpfulness and cooperation is the origin
of the conservation of the forces of life. If for one instant this mutual
helpfulness and cooperation were cut off from the sources and realities of
things, all the existent beings and things would be thrown into confusion and
chaos, and be reduced to nothingness and annihilation.
For instance: From the breath of the animals a watery
element, called hydrogen and carbon is exhaled, and this is the life principle
of the vegetable kingdom. From the vegetable kingdom and the trees, a fiery
element, called oxygen, is emitted and this becomes the cause of the
maintenance of the life of the animal kingdom. In such a manner, mutual
helpfulness and cooperation is realized continually between all the existent
beings.
Likewise, the greatest inter-relation and communication
exists between the sons of men, without which peace, life and existence is
entirely impossible. For a soul independent of all the other souls and without
receiving assistance from other sources cannot live for the twinkling of an
eye; nay, rather, he will become non- existent and reduced to nothingness;
especially among the believers of God between whom material and spiritual
communication is developed up to the highest point of perfection.
It is this real communication, the essential necessity and
requirement of which is mutual helpfulness, cooperation and confirmation.
Without the complete establishment of this divine principle in the hearts of
the friends of God, nothing can be accomplished, for they are the hyacinths of
one garden; the waves of one sea, the stars of one heaven and the rays of one
sun. From every standpoint, the essential unity, the luminous unity, the
religious unity and the material unity are founded and organized between them.
In these times the utmost hope and wish of the friends of
the West is the erection of the Mashriqu'l Adhkar, and in those regions the
materials for construction and building are expensive and costly. A large sum
of money is needed for the building of a residence; then how much more is
needed for the foundation of the Mashriqu'l Adhkar which must be erected with
the utmost splendor, beauty and magnificence!
Therefore, the friends of God must arise in every part of
the world to raise contributions, and with their hearts and souls strive to
gather these funds to be sent to the Occident that it may become known and
evident throughout the universe that the Baha’is of the East and West are as
members of one household and the children of the one Lord! The Turks and the
Persian, the Parsee and the American, the Hindu and the African all of them are
one army and one cohort and without any distinction they arise for the
assistance and aid of each other.
This praiseworthy movement is beloved and accepted at the
Threshold of the Forgiving Lord. Truly, I say, in the erection of the
Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Ishqabad [Russia] the friends of God have laid the
foundation of the oneness of the kingdom of humanity and they worked nobly
together until now, and it is nearly completed. Praise be to God, that at this
moment from every country in the world, according to their various means,
contributions are continually being sent toward the fund of the
Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in America. Convey the gratitude of Abdu'l-Baha to all the
friends of God in this service.
In reality this magnamity of the believers is worthy of
great praise and thankfulness, for from Tehran, Khorassan, Shiraz, Jahram,
Esphahan, even from the towns and villages of Khorassan, Shiraz, and Yazd,
contributions were sent. This donation in the path of the Orb of Regions is
conducive of the happiness of the souls of the spiritual ones.
From the day of Adam until now such an event has never even
been witnessed by man, that from the farthermost country of Asia contributions
were forwarded to the farthermost country of America. From Rangoon, India,
donations are sent to Chicago, and from Jahram, a little village of Shiraz and
Kheirol-Gora of Tabriz, money is transmitted for the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in
America. This is through the bounty and providence of the Blessed Perfection
Baha’u’llah, the assistance and confirmation of the Sun of Truth, and the
victory and triumph of the Luminary of Effulgence, who has united so
marvelously the regions of the world together.
Glory belongs to the Lord of Hosts! Sovereignty belongs to
the Compassionate God! Power and Might belongs to the Living, Self- subsistent
One who has united the people of the world and assembled them together like
unto the brilliant stars of the horizon of adoration.
O my God! O my God! Favor belongs to Thee, Generosity
belongs to Thee! Praise belongs to Thee and Glorification is Thine, for that
which Thou hast bestowed upon these indigent ones, granted a refuge and asylum
to these weak ones in the cave of Thy protection and preservation, assisted
them in the service of Thy Cause and confirmed them in the worship of Thy
Exalted Threshold.
Lord! They have sacrificed their belongings and souls in Thy
path, contributed for love of Thee and missed no chance or opportunity in
spreading Thy Signs, diffusing Thy Word, promulgating Thy Name among Thy
servants and proclaiming Thy wonders among Thy creatures!
Verily, Thou art the Powerful, the Mighty, the Most High,
the Omnipresent; and verily Thou art the Clement and the Most Merciful!
(Signed) ‘Abdu’l-Baha
Abbas
(Star of the West, vol. 5, no. 9, 1914)
