...he wishes to call your Assembly's attention to a very
important matter, and that is the Greatest Name. To the western eye, untrained
in the art -- the most highly developed art of the East -- of calligraphy,
nearly every Greatest Name, if it embodies the salient points, is the Greatest
Name. But to an Oriental it may appear a monstrosity.... The exact proportions
are what must be maintained. The Greatest Name must not be stretched out -- or
up -- to fill an oblong space or a circle.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 22 December
1948 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to a National Spiritual Assembly; The
Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, The Importance of Arts in Promoting the
Faith)
