In reflecting on the years of effort invested in this daunting project, [Terraces on Mount Carmel] we are moved to express to the people of Haifa the warmth of the feeling in our hearts. Their city will for all time be extolled by the Bahá’ís everywhere as the place in which the mortal remains of the youthful Prophet-Herald of their Faith finally found refuge, and this after half a century of having to be secretly moved for protection from one place to another in His native land. The patience and cordiality shown towards the Bahá’ís throughout the most difficult years of the construction work exemplify the spirit of goodwill in which so much of the world stands so greatly in need. Haifa is providentially situated on Mount Carmel, with its immortal associations with saintly visionaries, whose concern throughout the ages was largely focused on the promise of peace. May Haifa achieve wide renown not just as a place of natural beauty but more especially as the city of peace.
Let the word go forth, then, from this sacred spot, from this Mountain of the Lord, that the unity and peace of the world are not only possible but inevitable. Their time has come.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 22 May 2001 “On the occasion of the official opening of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb”; Messages from the Universal House of Justice 2001-2022)
