o all people, and
the proof of the All-Merciful unto all who are in heaven and all who are
on earth".

An introduction to the spiritual universe unveiled in the Kitab-i-Aqdas
would fail in its purpose if it did not acquaint the reader with the
interpretive and legislative institutions that Baha'u'llah has
indissolubly linked with the system of law thus revealed. At the
foundation of this guidance lies the unique role which Baha'u'llah's
Writings--indeed the text of the Kitab-i-Aqdas itself--confer on His eldest
son, 'Abdu'l-Baha. This unique figure is at once the Exemplar of the
pattern of life taught by His Father, the divinely inspired authoritative
Interpreter of His Teachings and the Centre and Pivot of the Covenant
which the Author of the Baha'i Revelation made with all who recognize Him.
The twenty-nine years of 'Abdu'l-Baha's ministry endowed the Baha'i world
with a luminous body of commentary that opens multiple vistas of
understanding on His Father's purpose.

In His Will and Testament 'Abdu'l-Baha conferred the mantle of Guardian of
the Cause and infallible Interpreter of its teachings upon His eldest
grandson, Shoghi Effendi, and confirmed the authority and guarantee of
divine guidance decreed by Baha'u'llah for the Universal House of Justice
on all matters "which have not outwardly been revealed in the Book". The
Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice can thus be seen to be, in
the words of Shoghi Effendi, the "Twin Successors" of Baha'u'llah and
'Abdu'l-Baha. They are the supreme institutions of the Administrative
Order which was founded and anticipated in the Kitab-i-Aqdas and
elaborated by 'Abdu'l-Baha in His Will.

During the thirty-six years of his ministry, Shoghi Effendi raised up the
structure of elected Spiritual Assemblies--the Houses of Justice referred
to in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, now in their embryonic stage--and with their
collaboration initiated the systematic implementation of the Divine Plan
that 'Abdu'l-Baha had laid out for the diffusion of the Faith throughout
the world. He also set in motion, on the basis of the strong
administrative structure that had been established, the processes which
were an essential preparation for the election of the Universal House of
Justice. This body, which came into existence in April 1963, is elected
through secret ballot and plurality vote in a three-stage election by
adult Baha'is throughout the world. The revealed Word of Baha'u'llah,
together w