greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause
of God is to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant-breakers, for they will
utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no
account all efforts exerted in the past. O friends! It behoveth you to
call to mind with tenderness the trials of His Holiness, the Exalted One
and show your fidelity to the Ever-Blest Beauty. The utmost endeavor must
be exerted lest all these woes, trials and afflictions, all this pure and
sacred blood that hath been shed so profusely in the Path of God, may
prove to be in vain.

O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive with all your heart to shield the Cause
of God from the onslaught of the insincere, for souls such as these cause
the straight to become crooked and all benevolent efforts to produce
contrary results.

O God, my God! I call Thee, Thy Prophets and Thy Messengers, Thy Saints
and Thy Holy Ones, to witness that I have declared conclusively Thy Proofs
unto Thy loved ones and set forth clearly all things unto them, that they
may watch over Thy Faith, guard Thy Straight Path and protect Thy
Resplendent Law. Thou art, verily, the All-Knowing, the All-wise!

Whosoever and whatsoever meeting becometh a hindrance to the diffusion of
the Light of Faith, let the loved ones give them counsel and say: "Of all
the gifts of God the greatest is the gift of Teaching. It draweth unto us
the Grace of God and is our first obligation. Of such a gift how can we
deprive ourselves? Nay, our lives, our goods, our comforts, our rest, we
offer them all as a sacrifice for the Abha Beauty and teach the Cause of
God." Caution and prudence, however, must be observed even as recorded in
the Book. The veil must in no wise be suddenly rent asunder. The Glory of
Glories rest upon you.

O ye the faithful loved ones of 'Abdu'l-Baha! It is incumbent upon you to
take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi, the twig that hath branched from
and the fruit given forth by the two hallowed and Divine Lote-Trees, that
no dust of despondency and sorrow may stain his radiant nature, that day
by day he may wax greater in happiness, in joy and spirituality, and may
grow to become even as a fruitful tree.

For he is, after 'Abdu'l-Baha, the guardian of the Cause of God, the
Afnan, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause and the beloved of the Lord must
obey him and turn unto him. He that obeyeth him not, hath not obeyed God;
he that turneth away from him, hath turned away f