hold the sparkling lights of unity
amongst God's chosen ones, and to note how widespread are the breaths of
fellow-feeling and love amongst the righteous, and how His teachings and
the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha are being disseminated throughout
those lands--always in accord with wisdom, as enjoined by the Almighty and
set forth in the Writings.

I beg of God, even as a pauper, and I implore Him with all lowliness,
feebleness and contrition, to assist you all with His unseen favours, and
open before your eyes the portals of His bounty and grace, and make ready
for you whatsoever you desire out of His everlasting bestowals, and make
all things easy for you, and fulfil your hopes--so that in serving the
Faith of your Lord, the Glory of the All-Glorious, you will reach your
furthermost goals. Verily is He the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving.

I beg of Him too, that He will cause every difficulty to vanish away, and
will dispel every cloud, until it becomes possible for you to present
yourselves at this blessed, this luminous and fragrant Spot, and bow down
your foreheads in the dust of this bright Threshold, and attain this
ultimate goal, for the friends long to behold you.

Again, I supplicate the Eternal Glory to send down His herald of holiness
with the garment in his hands,(178) that all eyes may be solaced and all
hearts rejoiced by the return to this country of the Chosen Branch, the
Guardian of the Cause of God, Shoghi Effendi, in the briefest of times.
This indeed is well within the reach of the bounties of our Almighty and
All-Generous Lord.

53: Following the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha ...

(179) Following the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha to the Abha Kingdom the only
thing that can afford consolation to the heart of this grief-stricken and
wronged maidservant is to see the lovers of that luminous Countenance
happy, joyful and radiant and to behold the diffusion of the sweet savours
of God, the exaltation of His Word, and the growth of His Faith. Nothing
else matters.

The duty of the concourse of the faithful in this day should be but one
duty, their purpose but one purpose, their aim but one aim, and the object
of their endeavour but one object, and this is none other than to foster
the spirit of unity and harmony, to serve and teach His Cause and to
promote His Word. Such is the meaning of true faithfulness; and in this
lies the good-pleasure of 'Abdu'l-Baha.

54: The letter that you wrote