e instruments needed to carry forward the Divine Plan. With
the successful establishment in 1963 of the Universal House of Justice,
the Baha'is of the world set out on the first stage of a mission of long
duration: the spiritual empowerment of the whole body of humankind as the
protagonists of their own advancement. By the time the century ended, this
immense effort had brought into existence a community representative of
the diversity of the entire human race, unified in its beliefs and
allegiance, and committed to building a global society that will reflect
on earth the spiritual and moral vision of its Founder.

This process was immeasurably strengthened in 1992 through the
long-awaited publication of a fully-annotated translation into English of
the Kitab-i-Aqdas, a repository of Divine guidance for the age of
humanity's collective maturity. A spreading circle of translations was
soon providing followers of the Faith around the world with direct access
to a Book which its Author has described as: "the Dayspring of Divine
knowledge, if ye be of them that understand, and the Dawning-place of
God's commandments, if ye be of those who comprehend."(155) Apart from the
soul's recognition of the Manifestation of God, nothing awakens so great a
sense of confidence and vitality in human consciousness--both individual
and collective--as does the force of moral certitude. In the Kitab-i-Aqdas,
laws that are basic to both personal and community life have been
reformulated in the context of a society that embraces the whole range of
human diversity. New laws and concepts address the further needs of a
human race that is entering on its collective coming of age. "O peoples of
the earth!", is Baha'u'llah's appeal, "Cast away that which ye possess,
and, on the wings of detachment, soar beyond all created things. Thus
biddeth you the Lord of creation, the movement of Whose Pen hath
revolutionized the soul of mankind."(156)

A feature of the past hundred years of Baha'i development that should
seize the attention of any observer is the Faith's success in overcoming
the attacks made on it. As had been the case during the ministries of the
Bab and Baha'u'llah, elements in society who either resented the rise of
the new religion or feared the principles it teaches sought by every means
in their power to suffocate it. Hardly a decade of the past century did
not witness attempts of this kind--ranging from the bloody persecutions
incited b