Prelude to the Guardianship

Contents cknowledgements A Preface Introduction

ix xi xv

Part I: Early Years 1 Childhood and Youth 2 Syrian Protestant College (SPC)

1 3 8

Part II: Learning from the Master 21 3 In the Service of the Master, Autumn and Winter 1918 23 4 In the Service of the Master, Early 1919 34 5 In the Service of the Master, Spring 1919 63 6 In the Service of the Master, Summer 1919 70 7 In the Service of the Master, Autumn 1919 90 8 Last Months with the Master 106 Part III: France and England 129 9 Recuperation in Paris 131 10 Arrival in England 140 11 Matriculation and Student Life at Oxford 150 12 Michaelmas Term 1920 156 13 Hilary Term in Balliol 162 14 Spring Vacation 1921 170 15 Trinity Term 1921 173 16 Long Vacation 1921 178 17 Michaelmas Term 1921 191 18 The Last Days in England 198

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203 205

Part IV: At the World Centre 19 The Beloved Guardian

Appendix: Shoghi Effendi’s Address to the Oxford University Asiatic Society 227 Bibliography Notes and References

241 245

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In the Service of the Master Autumn and Winter 1918 The miseries, sufferings and losses experienced by millions during World War I had prepared many receptive souls for the divine message which the Master had so lovingly delivered on His Western travels.

The desire for peace and the prevention of war caused many of these receptive souls to investigate and embrace the Faith. The increase in the number of new believers and the opening of the channels of communication between the Holy Land and the rest of the world brought in hundreds of letters from veteran as well as new believers. Floods of mail poured in from the United States, Germany, France, India, Burma and Persia; letters carrying news of the activities of the believers and their joy at the re-establishment of communications with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

The believers wrote repeatedly to the Master giving Him news of their activities, introducing to Him new believers who had expressed their declaration of faith, asking Him questions about the Cause, seeking His advice on personal decisions and beseeching His blessings, confirmations, guidance and prayers. Such letters were referred to during this period as ‘supplications’.

These supplications, many in English, needed to be translated into Persian and the replies of the Master then needed translation into English. The person ideally suited to render this important service was Shoghi Effendi.

In addition to the volume of correspondence that flowed into the Holy Land, the removal of restrictions on travel opened opportunities for visitors to journey to the World Centre. The conversations of the Master with the Western visitors also needed translation and Shoghi 23

prelude to the guardianship

Effendi was in a position to render this important service as well.

Thus a new chapter opened in the life of Shoghi Effendi, a period of dedicated service to the Master. He saw at close quarters the way ‘Abdu’l-Bahá responded to every challenge and every situation that arose; the way He showered love on all: pilgrims who had taken the long and arduous journey to attain His presence, believers from the East and the West who had written heartfelt supplications seeking His guidance, government officials who sought His counsel and advice, and military officers who wished to pay their respects. No one left His presence disappointed. He responded to each person according to his or her capacity and need, and inspired them all.

Imagine the youthful Shoghi Effendi observing these daily actions of the Centre of the Covenant! It is illuminating to see the Hand of Providence preparing the young successor of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the high office of Guardianship he was destined to assume. Without a doubt, the example set by the Master and the experiences of memorable scenes with Him were to leave profound imprints on the future Guardian of the Cause and would sustain, cheer and comfort him ‘in the thorny path’ he was ‘destined to pursue’.

Shoghi Effendi’s service covered a period of about one and a half years, from the summer of 1918 to the spring of 1920. The type of work he performed was uniform throughout this period, consisting mainly of translations for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. However, the volume of the work, as well as the content of the material he translated, varied from month to month. This period of service was perhaps the happiest in his life.1 At the beginning, during the winter of 1918–19 in the aftermath of the untold suffering experienced by the masses in the World War and when communications were being restored, Shoghi Effendi translated significant Tablets of the Master in which He showered His love on each one of the believers who wrote to Him. The Tablets show the Master’s perfect understanding of the questions the believers had raised as well as questions they had in their hearts but did not mention in their letters. The Master answered them all with the utmost love.

These Tablets were particularly significant because they became the magnets that drew the believers close to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, inspiring many to dedicate their lives to the Faith, striving to reach the station He was calling them to attain. Through such loving correspondence these souls 24

in the service of the master, autumn and winter 1918

increased their devotion to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and consequently rendered significant services to the Cause of God. Shoghi Effendi, while serving the Master as a translator, became acquainted with many of these heroes and heroines of the Cause and began correspondence with several of them, correspondence which continued throughout his life. Two such believers were Dr Lut.fu’lláh Hakím .. and Dr John Esslemont.

Dr Lut.fu’lláh Hakím was from a distinguished Bahá’í family of . medical doctors. His grandfather, Hakím Masíh, . . the court physician of Muhammad Sháh, had first caught the spark of faith from Táhirih . . and was later confirmed in the Cause by one of the Bahá’í prisoners in Tehran. His grandson, Lut.fu’lláh, was born four years before the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh. He grew up in a Bahá’í home. Like his grandfather, he decided to pursue a career in medicine and, when his secondary education was completed, he went to England in 1910 to study physiotherapy. He was an active believer who consecrated his life to the service of the Cause and towards the end of his life served as a member of the Universal House of Justice. He attained the presence of the Master many times and wrote to Him frequently.

Dr Esslemont, a medical officer at the Home Sanatorium in Bournemouth, was introduced to the Faith in 1914. His teacher, the wife of one of his associates who had met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London in 1911, recounted her experience while in the presence of the Master and gave Dr Esslemont some pamphlets. The Word of God contained in those pamphlets touched his heart and set him on a course of search that led to his declaration of faith. Just over 12 months after his initial introduction to the Faith, he wrote an inspiring letter to a Bahá’í friend in Manchester that clearly demonstrated the depth of his knowledge and certitude in the Cause of God. While he continued his correspondence with the friends and shared his love for the Cause, Dr Esslemont felt an inner urge to write pamphlets and a book about the new revelation.2 This intention was communicated to Dr Hakím. .

When Dr Hakím attained the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa . and saw the Master saddened by publications in Europe attacking the Faith, he gave the news of a new believer in the Faith, Dr Esslemont, who had embraced the Cause of God with great enthusiasm. He told the Master that Dr Esslemont desired to write a book about the Faith to ‘help the ready souls to reach the fountainhead of love and faith’.3 25

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