How well I remember when,
more than two years ago, the Beloved Master turning to a distinguished visitor
of His, who was seated by Him in His garden, suddenly broke the silence and
said:—“My work is now done upon this plane; it is time for me to pass on to the
other world.” Did He not in more than one occasion state clearly and
emphatically:—“Were ye to know what will come to pass after me, surely would ye
pray that my end be hastened?” In a Tablet sent to Persia when the storm raised
years ago by that Committee of Investigation was fiercely raging around Him,
when the days of His incarceration were at their blackest, He reveals the
following:—“Now in this world of being, the Hand of Divine Power hath firmly
laid the foundations of this all-highest Bounty and this wondrous Gift.
Gradually whatsoever is latent in the innermost of this Holy Cycle shall appear
and be made manifest, for now is but the beginning of its
growth and the dayspring of the revelation of its Signs. Ere the close of this
Century and of this Age, it shall be made clear and manifest how wondrous was
that Springtide and how heavenly was that Gift!”
(Shoghi Effendi, from a letter
dated January 21, 1922; ‘Baha’i Administration’)
