To participate in the erection of the superstructure of an
edifice at once so precious, so holy; consecrated to the memory of so heroic a
Soul; whose site no one less than the Founder of our Faith has selected; whose
inner chambers were erected by the Center of His Covenant with such infinite
care and anguish; embosomed in so sacred a mountain, on the soil of so holy a
land; occupying such a unique position; facing on the one hand the silver-white
city of Akká, the Qiblih of the Bahá’í world; flanked on its right by the hills
of Galilee, the home of Jesus Christ, and on its left, by the Cave of Elijah;
and backed by the plain of Sharon and, beyond it, Jerusalem and the Aqsá
mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islám—to participate in the erection of
such an edifice is a privilege offered to this generation at once unique and
priceless, a privilege which only posterity will be able to correctly appraise.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a message dated March 29, 1951; Citadel of the Faith)
