will be
the pride of Baha'u'llah's followers throughout the ages to come. The
record of his thirty-six years of service to the Faith--a record which,
like that of his Grandfather, is open for posterity to review and assess--
contains, as he assured the Baha'i community would be the case, no action
on his part that would in any degree "infringe upon the sacred and
prescribed domain" of the Universal House of Justice. It is not only that
Shoghi Effendi refrained from legislation; he was able to fulfil his
mandate by introducing no more than provisional ordinances, leaving
decisions in such matters entirely to the Universal House of Justice.

Nowhere is this self-restraint more striking than in the central issue of
a successor to the Guardianship. Shoghi Effendi had no heirs of his own,
and the other branches of the Holy family had violated the Covenant. The
Baha'i Writings contain no guidance in such an eventuality, but the Will
and Testament of the Master is explicit as to how all matters that are
unclear are to be resolved:

It is incumbent upon these members (of the Universal House of Justice) to
gather in a certain place and deliberate upon all problems which have
caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not
expressly recorded in the Book. Whatsoever they decide has the same effect
as the Text itself.(105)

In conformity with this guidance from the pen of the Centre of the
Covenant, Shoghi Effendi remained silent, leaving the question of his
successor or successors in the hands of the Body alone authorized to
determine the matter. Five months after it came into existence, the
Universal House of Justice clarified the issue in a message dated 6
October 1963 to all National Spiritual Assemblies:

After prayerful and careful study of the Holy Texts ... and after
prolonged consideration ... the Universal House of Justice finds that
there is no way to appoint or to legislate to make it possible to appoint
a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi.(106)

In embarking on a mission for which history supplied him with no
precedent, Shoghi Effendi could look nowhere but to the Writings of the
Founders of the Faith and the example of the Master for the guidance his
work required. No body of advisors could help him determine the meaning of
the Texts he was called on to interpret for a Baha'i community that had
placed its whole trust in him. Although he read widely the published works
of historians,