Shoghi Effendi was the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith for thirty-six years until his passing in 1957, the interpreter of its teachings, delineator of its goals, and "true brother" to every devoted Baha'i throughout the world. This book consists primarily of his messages to the Baha'is of America, or to their National Spiritual Assembly, during the years when that National Assembly and several others were formed. Herein he outlines the fundamental principles upon which the institutions of the Faith are to be established, based upon the Revelation of Baha'u'llah and the Will and Testament of His Son, 'Abdu'l-Baha.Shoghi Effendi was a young man, still a student at Oxford University, when the call to Guardianship came to him in 1921 through his appointment in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, his beloved Grandfather. His realization of the enormity of this task and of the station of Guardianship is poignantly reflected in his early letters in this volume. As the months and years of Shoghi Effendi's Guardianship progressed and the actual instruments of the administrative order began to evolve under his guidance, the wisdom of that appointment became consummately manifest to the community of Baha'is throughout the world.
