dian, the Central American,
the South American and the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assemblies. The
stupendous process of the rise and consolidation of the World
Administrative Center of the Faith has been accelerated through the
acquisition, in the Plain of Akka, of a one hundred and sixty thousand
square meter area, surrounding the Qiblih of the Baha'i world, permitting
of the extension of the Outer Sanctuary of the Most Holy Tomb--to be
designated henceforth the Haram-i-Aqdas--through the initiation, at the
inception of the Holy Year, of the landscaping and embellishment of a
tenth of the acquired area, and through the adoption of measures for the
extensive illumination of the entire Sanctuary and the erection of stately
portals constituting a befitting tribute to the memory of the Author of
the Faith, within the sacred precincts of His Sepulcher, on the occasion
of the celebration of the greatest festival of the year commemorating the
Centenary of the birth of His Mission. The fifty-year-old enterprise,
involving the purchase of land for the construction, the exterior and
interior ornamentation, and the landscaping of the grounds of the holiest
House of Worship ever to be reared to the glory of the Most Great Name,
the Mother Temple of the West, and involving the expenditure of over two
and a half million dollars, has been consummated, in time for its
dedication to public worship during the Ridvan period of this Holy Year
coinciding with both the fiftieth anniversary of the inception of this
enterprise and the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's
ministry. The design for the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar on Mt. Carmel,
conceived by the architect appointed by 'Abdu'l-Baha, has been completed,
and a model constructed, which is soon to be unveiled at the All-America
Intercontinental Teaching Conference, in anticipation of the selection and
the purchase of its future site, and of its ultimate construction in the
neighborhood of the Bab's Sepulcher. The total area of Baha'i
international endowments, surrounding and permanently dedicated to the
Tomb of the Bab has been raised, through recent successive purchases of
extensive plots, overlooking that hallowed spot, to almost one-quarter of
a million square meters. The estimated value of the Baha'i international
endowments and holy places at the World Center of the Faith, in the twin
cities of Akka and Haifa, has passed the four million dollar mark. The
Baha'i nat