It is now a little over 125 years since 'Abdu'l-Bahá
addressed His open letter to the people of your country. Because of His vital
role in a religious community that had been made the object of intense
prejudice, the Author necessarily refrained from attaching His name to the
document. His message, however, could not have been more clear. Speaking out of
a profound love for a native land that He had not seen during the long years of
exile since His childhood, the Master appealed in passionate language for its
people to call to mind those days when Iran "was as the heart of the
world", "the source and centre of sciences and arts, the wellspring
of great inventions and discoveries, the rich mine of human virtues and
perfections". The time had come, He insisted, when the heirs of so great a
civilization could -- and must -- arise and reclaim their heritage.
(The
Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 26 November 2003, addressed to
“the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the Cradle of the Faith”)
