"...We know, of course, the privations and limitations under which you
labour. Whether in pursuing your education, earning a livelihood, working
towards your legitimate aspirations, or practicing your faith, your freedoms
are curtailed by many an injustice. From the very beginning the compatriots of
Baha'u'llah have shared in the suffering He sustained. You are the embodiments
of these words of the Master: "Thou didst follow in the footsteps of the
Blessed Beauty and didst drink a cup from the ocean of His tribulations." But
you know, too, that it is precisely your staunchness that lends such lustre to
the qualities your community exhibits. You may be sure that it is not only
history that tells of the courage and steadfastness of your community, but that
the significance of a community that under severe and sustained oppression has
remained forward looking, dynamic, vibrant, and committed to serve its
society, is not lost on those who dispassionately view your present situation.
Perhaps the most compelling and clear example of your constructive resilience
is evident currently in your earnest striving for knowledge, in your commitment
to the loftiest values of faith and reason which the Cause inculcates, and in
your perseverance in pursuit of higher education. The world can see a
community that has rejected the label of victim and chosen instead to draw on
the highest reservoirs of solidarity and collaboration in its resolve to
advance as a living entity--that its youth might progress and attain the
heights of learning and that society itself benefit therefrom.
"The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day." With these
words did the Ancient Beauty warn humankind about its immediate future. "Its
face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that
to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly." You surely see how throughout
the world the light of true religion is fading. Yet, you are the very examples
of what illumination this light can bring. You are living proofs that religion
promotes upright character, instils forbearance, compassion, forgiveness,
magnanimity, high-mindedness. It prohibits harm to others and invites souls to
the plane of sacrifice, that they may give of themselves for the good of others.
It imparts a world-embracing vision and cleanses the heart from self-centredness
and prejudice. It inspires souls to build unity, to endeavour for material and
spiritual betterment for all, to see their own happiness in that of others, to
advance learning and science, to be an instrument of true joy, and to revive the
body of humankind. It burnishes the mirror of the soul until it reflects the
qualities of the spirit with which it has been endowed. And then the power of
the divine attributes is manifested in the individual and collective lives of
humanity and aids the emergence of a new social order. Such is the true
conception of religion set forth in the Teachings of Baha'u'llah. Praised be
God that you are ever striving to model your lives after the sublime pattern
enshrined in His Teachings."
-The Universal House of Justice,
To the Baha'i youth in the Cradle of the Faith (Iran)
29 January 2014
excerpt from p.2
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