The conditions of the world present the followers of
Bahá'u'lláh with both obstacles and opportunities. In an increasing number of
countries we are witnessing the fulfilment of the warnings that the writings of
our Faith contain. "Peoples, nations, adherents of divers faiths,"
the beloved Guardian wrote, "will jointly and successively arise to
shatter its unity, to sap its force, and to degrade its holy name. They will
assail not only the spirit which it inculcates, but the administration which is
the channel, the instrument, the embodiment of that spirit. For as the
authority with which Bahá'u'lláh has invested the future Bahá'í Commonwealth
becomes more and more apparent, the fiercer shall be the challenge which from
every quarter will be thrown at the verities it enshrines." In different
countries, in varying degrees, the followers of Bahá'u'lláh at this very hour
are undergoing such attacks, and are facing imprisonment and even martyrdom
rather than deny the Truth for whose sake the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh drained the
cup of sacrifice.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated Naw-Ruz
1979; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)
