l verily
inspire them with whatsoever He willeth, and He, verily, is the Provider,
the Omniscient.(101)

It seemed especially fitting that the election--carried out by the
assembled delegates and those voting by mail--should take place in the home
of the Master, whose Will and Testament had described nearly sixty years
earlier the intent and scope of the authority bestowed by Baha'u'llah's
words:

Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn and all that is not expressly
recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That
which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is
verily the Truth and the Purpose of God Himself. Whoso doth deviate
therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice and
turned away from the Lord of the Covenant.(102)

An important preliminary step for the election had been taken by Shoghi
Effendi in 1951, in his appointment of the membership of the International
Council to assist him with his work. In 1961, as he had explained would be
the case, the second step in the process had been taken when this
institution evolved into a nine-member Council, elected by the members of
the National Spiritual Assemblies. Consequently, when the Ten Year Crusade
came to its victorious end in 1963, the Baha'i world had gained important
experience in the challenging act it was then called on to perform.

Historians will unhesitatingly accord credit for mobilizing the effort
that had made this moment possible to the Hands of the Cause, who provided
the coordination of which the loss of the Guardian's leadership had
deprived the Baha'i world. Tirelessly coursing the earth in promotion of
Shoghi Effendi's Plan, coming together in annual conclaves to provide
encouragement and information, inspiring the endeavours of their newly
created deputies, and fending off the efforts of a new band of
Covenant-breakers to undermine the unity of the Faith, this small company
of grief-stricken men and women succeeded in ensuring that the Crusade's
ambitious objectives were attained in the time required and that the
necessary foundation was in place for the erection of the Administrative
Order's crowning unit. In asking that their own members be left free from
election to the Universal House of Justice, so as to perform the services
assigned them by the Guardian, the Hands also endowed the Baha'i world, as
a second great legacy, with a spiritual distinction that is wi