Under the direction of Shoghi Effendi, the Bahá’ís have organized Local Spiritual Assemblies which are prototypes of the future Houses of Justice. Here group effort and consultation are learned and applied to the problems of a fast-evolving world faith. A beautiful House of Worship has been built in Wilmette, Illinois, as a first step in proclaiming Bahá’u’lláh’s concept of worship and the unity of religion. Eleven National Spiritual Assemblies, some of them regional in nature, have been elected and they form a band around the earth—Canada; the United States; Central America; South America; the British Isles; Germany and Austria; Egypt and the Sudan; ‘Iráq; Persia; India, Pakistan, and Burma; and Australia and New Zealand. The work of teaching the Faith goes on in dozens of countries where there are not yet enough Bahá’ís to form a National Assembly.

The houses and gardens associated with Bahá’u’lláh’s imprisonment and exile in ‘Akká and near-by Haifa are now centers of pilgrimage. On Mount Carmel a beautiful Shrine is being erected to fittingly shelter the remains of the Báb, which were hidden secretly by His followers and, after many decades of concealment, brought to the Holy Land. The Guardian of the Faith lives in Haifa, its World Center, and assisting Him is the International Bahá’í Council.

Since 1921 the translation and publication of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings have increased with great rapidity. This book is an example of Shoghi Effendi’s masterful translations into English. At this writing the