 I would like to greet you all with a heartfelt Allahu al-Pah. But before I do this, I'd like to say something. I believe in my bones that there are thousands upon thousands of receptive souls in Canada, in the United States and in Alaska, the three countries represented in this wonderful gathering. We're waiting to hear about the message of Bahá'u'lláh. Now why do I say this? A pilgrim from Europe in 1940 or maybe 41 asked Shugir Effendi this question. He asked in Shugir Effendi's opinion what is the percentage of receptivity at that time in Europe and in North America. Shugir Effendi said 2%. In other words, 2% of the population in these two blocks were ready to accept the faith of Bahá'u'lláh. That was 1940, 41, some 63 or 64 years ago. Now we also read in the writings that with the passage of time and with suffering, receptivity increases. But I am ready to deal with you, dear friends, on the basis of 2%. And I want you to calculate mentally what this 2% represents. In Canada, for example, in the United States and in Alaska. Now having said this, I want to greet you with Alláhu'ápá on one condition again. That you respond in unison with your hearts turned to Bahá'u'lláh as you say Alláhu'ápá. And say it with your heart and soul so that this Alláhu'ápá from your voices will vibrate and will reach the receptive souls in these three countries tonight. To tell them that Christ has returned. To tell them that God has sent His manifestation to us. To tell them that representatives of God's manifestation will soon reach them. That is my request. Are we ready? Alláhu'ápá. The message is delivered. Friends, it's not difficult to differentiate the developments achieved under the Guardian's 10-year crusade from the activities in the Baha'i world that took place prior to the inception of that crusade. A review of the Guardian's letters during his 36 years of guardianship clearly revealed the fact that Shoghi Effendi had been preparing the Baha'i world for this high point in the process of the advancement of the faith. These letters show distinctly that the 10-year plan had been destined to be a culmination of the processes at work ever since the inauguration of the formative age and was also meant to be a springboard for the unimaginably glorious victories to be won throughout the epochs and stages ahead. Now my presentation tonight will consist of a number of points. The relationship of the 10-year crusade to the Guardian's hopes and aspirations. The manner in which Shoghi Effendi anticipated the launching of the 10-year crusade. The nature and scope of the guidance given by Shoghi Effendi almost up to the midway point of that crusade. The 27 objectives of the 10-year plan and the extent to which each was executed or kept pending under prevailing circumstances. Subsidiary national plans and subordinate goals added to the objectives of the crusade will then show how the 10-year crusade was a glorious ending of the Guardian's ministry and messages of Shoghi Effendi during the last six months of his life to national assemblies. And last will be the importance of the 10-year plan as viewed by Shoghi Effendi himself in the process of the evolution of the faith and of humanity. After the lapse of more than two decades from the beginning of the formative age more precisely 23 years after the passing of Abel Baha. Shoghi Effendi pointed out to the Baha'i world that the first epoch of the formative age had been concluded. His writings clearly point out that these 23 years consisted of two stages, 16 years and 7 years. The first 16 years witnessed the formation and consolidation of spiritual assemblies both local and national and it was during this period that he was able to establish 10 national spiritual assemblies in the world which included two within the confines of the former Soviet Union. Namely the National Assembly of Turkestan with its seat in Ishkabad and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Caucasus with its seat in Baku. As you all know the 14 tablets of the Divine Plan were revealed by Abdul Baha in the years 1916 and 1917. Soon after the latter date all 14 tablets were sent to the United States. The vision of Abdul Baha unveiled in these tablets had been left in abeyance for 20 years. It was at Rizwan 1937 that Shoghi Effendi felt that the time was now ripe for the American and Canadian Baha'i communities whom Shoghi Effendi had described as the envid custodians of Abdul Baha's tablets of the Divine Plan to be charged with the responsibility of executing under his direct guidance the first American seven-year plan which was the first collective teaching enterprise in the history of our faith. It also opened according to Shoghi Effendi the first epoch in the evolution of the Divine Plan of Abdul Baha. The objectives of the first seven-year plan were as follows the completion of the exterior of the temple in Bulmat the formation of a spiritual assembly in every state of the United States including Alaska as well as in nine provinces of Canada and the establishment of a center in each republic of Latin America and the Caribbean. Its conclusion coincided with the celebrations of the centenary of the declaration of the Bab in 1944 which marked the end of the first Baha'i century. The Baha'i world entered the second Baha'i century with a proud knowledge that the first epoch of the formative age had been terminated that its light, that the light of the faith had now reached nearly 80 countries that it had taken a major step in the construction of the Mother Temple of the West and that it was now ready to further extend the range of its institutions and consolidate its administrative structure. Shoghi Effendi had been patiently and systematically educating and preparing the Baha'i world for the implementation of the two broad objectives he had in mind for his unique ministry. The first was to strengthen the foundations of the structure of the administrative order both locally and nationally to enable it to sustain the weight of the dome of that structure which he repeatedly identified in his letters in English and in Persian as the Universal House of Justice. The second broad objective was to train the nascent institutions of the faith in the concept of collective action aimed at executing step by step each and every wish expressed by Abdul Baha'i in his tablets of the Divine Plan. I suppose when you are 84 years old you are excused and you can have to drink water every so often. Excuse me. After two years of respite given to the North American Baha'i community he called upon it to initiate its second seven-year plan a plan designed to end with the centenary of the birth of the Baha'i Revelation in 1953. The broad objectives of this plan were as follows the consolidation of the victories won throughout America involving a multiplication of Baha'i centers and a bold proclamation of the faith completion of the interior ornamentation of the House of Worship the formation of three national spiritual assemblies one in Canada and the other two in Central and South America the fourth the initiation of a systematic teaching activity in the European continent aiming at the establishment of local assemblies on the Iberian Peninsula the low countries the Scandinavian states and Italy during this period he simultaneously encouraged the other national assemblies throughout the world to adopt teaching and consolidation goals in one of his letters he described these enterprises as accessory plans supplementing the second seven-year plan of the North American community at that time the two national assemblies with seats in Eshqabad and Baku had been unfortunately disbanded by order of the Soviet authorities the other seven national assemblies adopted teaching plans and I will give you the list in alphabetical order Australia and New Zealand had a six-year plan from 1947 to 1953 the British Isles six-year plan from 1944 to 1950 followed by a two-year plan 1951-1953 Egypt and the Sudan a five-year plan from 1948 to 1953 Germany and Austria a five-year plan 1948 to 1953 India Pakistan and Burma first a four-and-a-half year plan followed by a 19-month plan ending in April 1953 Iraq a three-year plan from 1947 to 1950 Persia a 45-month plan from October 46 to July 1950 concurrent with the women's four-year plan 1946-1950 so you see Shoghi Effendi had the American community engaged on the second seven-year plan and then he encouraged these national assemblies throughout the world to adopt their own teaching plans so that the entire Baha'i world was now in a systematic way in an organized way engaged in adopting plans and executing plans and the course of the seven years under discussion four new national assemblies were formed the fourth being the Italo-Swiss National Assembly with the exception of this Italo-Swiss National Assembly which was formed at the very Rizvan period of 1953 when the 10-year crusade was launched each of the other three national assemblies as soon as they were formed was given a teaching plan by the Guardian and the following chronological order Canada formed in 1948 had a five-year plan 1948 to 1953 Central America formed in 1951 had a one-year plan 1952 to 1953 South America formed in the same year adopted a two-year plan 1951 to 1953 that'll give me the opportunity to have another step by Rizvan 1953 the beloved Guardian had 12 national-spiritual assemblies operating under his guidance when he launched the 10-year crusade he referred to these 12 national assemblies as the 12 generals of the crusade as far back as 1948 in his message to the American Baha'i community dated November 8th of that year he had referred to future tasks which will be assigned before the end of the first epoch in the evolution of Abdul Baha's divine plan which he could see would have to be in 1963 we must recall that these words that I'm going to quote for you were written during the second year of America's second seven-year plan upon the outcome of the assiduous efforts now being collectively exerted must solely depend the timing as well as the nature of the tasks which must successively be carried out ere the closing of an epoch of such transcendent brightness and glory over two years later on the 25th of February 1951 referring to the uniqueness of the African campaign which linked the administrative machinery of five national spiritual assemblies he wrote the following on the success of this enterprise unprecedented in its scope unique in its character and immense in its spiritual potentialities must depend the initiation at a later period in the formative age of the faith of undertakings embracing within their range all national assemblies functioning throughout the Baha'i world from these two quotations we can confidently draw the conclusion that the future tasks referred to in 1948 and the worldwide undertakings mentioned in the second passage were hints by him of the forthcoming rise of the orb of the 10-year crusade above the horizon of the community of the most great name another act on the part of Shoghi Effendi was his cablegram of November 30th 1951 in which he announced that the celebration of the holy year would be marked by the convocation of four intercontinental conferences these conferences would inaugurate quote the long anticipated intercontinental stage in the administrative evolution of our faith these conferences had to be successively held in Kampala, Uganda for Africa we met for the Americas Stockholm for Europe New Delhi for Asia and Australasia the first time that Shoghi Effendi disclosed to the Baha'i world that a 10-year plan was in store was in his Resvan message of 1952 addressed to the Baha'i community in North America in this message he gave the glad tidings that the goals of the plan would be announced at the four projected intercontinental conferences in a letter in English addressing the entire Baha'i world he not only stressed the highly significant nature of the plan which he was intending to announce to the Baha'i world but he lifted the veil on its salient features and made a poignant appeal to every Baha'i residing anywhere on the planet to consider it a binding obligation to lend his or her share in bringing this forthcoming plan to a triumphant conclusion this message appeared in print in nine pages I will only quote for you the last part where his fervent appeal was made now when I quote from the words of Shoghi Effendi I suggest that we open our hearts and allow these inspired words of the beloved guardian to sink in our hearts and to remain there for all time and become part and parcel of our spiritual lives he writes under whatever conditions the dearly loved, the divinely sustained the onward marching legions of the army of Baha'u'llah may be laboring in whatever theater they may operate in whatever climbs they may struggle I direct my impassioned appeal to them to obey as befits his warriors the summons of the Lord of Hosts and prepare for that day of days when his victorious battalions will to the accompaniment of Hosannas from the invisible angels in the Abha kingdom celebrate the hour of final victory no matter how long the period that separates them from ultimate victory however arduous the task however formidable the exertions demanded of them however dark the days which mankind perplexed and sorely tried must in its hour of travail to traverse however severe the tests with which they who are to redeem its fortunes will be confronted however afflictive excuse me however afflictive the darts which their present enemies as well as those whom providence well through his mysterious dispensations raise up from within or from without may rain upon them however grievous the ordeal of temporary separation from the heart and nerve center of their faith which future unforeseeable disturbances may impose upon them I adjure them by the precious blood that flowed in such great profusion by the lives of the unnumbered saints and heroes who are emulated by the supreme, the glorious sacrifice of the prophet Harold of our faith by the tribulations which its founder himself willingly underwent so that his cause might live his order might redeem a shattered world and its glory might suffuse the entire planet I adjure them as this solemn hour draws nigh to resolve never to flinch never to hesitate never to relax until each and every objective in the plan in the plans to be proclaimed at a later date has been fully consummated a little over two months after this message that is on the 30th of June 1952 addressing once again in English Baha'is in all lands he disclosed the unprecedented global dimensions of the great plan ahead and he called on them individually and collectively to commit themselves to its execution I remember, and I'm sure there are others in this gathering about my age or older I remember the deep emotion of those days in 1952 when these messages were received they had an electrifying impact on the minds and hearts of the friends everywhere Indeed, a few of us even thought that the planned sugarfendi had in mind might well be considered as part of his will and testament for in it he refers to the grievous ordeal of temporary separation from the heart and nerve center of the faith in October 1952 as the holy year was inaugurated sugarfendi sent yet another world message in English again to the entire Baha'i world it was in this message that he more specifically defined however briefly the goals to be achieved over a period of ten years the message ended once again with a heart-rending entreaty to the friends everywhere to lend their full support to the plan soon to be announced while this preparation was going on and during the years just preceding it sugarfendi simultaneously turned his attention to the necessity to expand the institutions at the world center and to broaden the base of their operation his first decision was to inaugurate the construction of the superstructure of the shrine of the Bab on Mount Karma as soon as the project was underway he created the International Baha'i Council and introduced it as the forerunner of the Universal House of Justice this was soon followed this was soon followed by the appointment of the first contingent of the hands of the cause of God four of whom were designated by him as hands residing in the holy land and a short time later the second contingent raising the number of these distinguished stewards of the faith to 19 he soon after created the institution of the auxiliary boards one for each continent subsequently through the instrumentality of the International Baha'i Council and negotiations with the newly established state of Israel he embarked upon acquiring needed Baha'i properties and historic sites and furnishing buildings associated with the exile of Baha'u'llah and of Abdul Baha'u as well as the purchase of properties surrounding the Bab Shrine in Haifa as well as land adjacent to the most holy shrine of Baha'u'llah in Bachi he also arranged for a design to be made for the future temple on Mount Carmel while these developments were in progress he called on the British National Assembly to initiate their two-year plan for the opening of virgin territories in Africa and also and almost simultaneously charged another four national spiritual assemblies to collaborate with the British Assembly in this African campaign which he hailed as a historic and significant step since it was a milestone being the first international assembly project involving collaborative efforts in one continent of five national assemblies of the Baha'i world I hope you're not tired, are you? No one has told you whether I am tired or not never mind It was early in 1953 that Shoghi Effendi set himself the task of spelling out internationally continentally and nationally the objectives and goals that the friends throughout the world were expected to hear were expecting to hear at an international level Shoghi Effendi set forth these goals and objectives in his messages to the intercontinental conferences for the Western Hemisphere sorry international conference for the Western Hemisphere he simultaneously released an overarching document in 27 pages in which he listed under 24 headings the goals and objectives defined by him for the Baha'i world over a decade long crusade unprecedented in the annals of our precious faith he arranged for this document to be published in the United States and in Britain as a reference booklet for the Baha'is as well as for the general public on the continental level he included in his message to each of the four conferences the major objectives that concern that continent on the national level he wrote 12 messages addressing each of the newly designated generals announcing to them their share of the major objectives in these messages he incorporated supplementary objectives appropriate to each national or regional area in his messages immediately before the inception of the crusade and until the end of his life which coincided with the first four and a half years of the crusade he described this collective enterprise of the Baha'i world in such terms as these a world embracing crusade a world encompassing crusade a world girdling crusade an apical, global, spiritual decade-long crusade this momentous and challenging crusade this irresistibly unfolding crusade this pre-eminent crusade this incomparably glorious crusade this unspeakably potent crusade this systematic world crusade this prodigious crusade this gigantic, divinely propelled crusade this soul-staring crusade this world crusade which in its magnitude and potentialities transcends any previous collective Baha'i enterprise apart from such soul-uplifting titles that he conferred upon this crusade Shoghi Effendi continued to send inspirational messages in both Persian and in English reminding the friends everywhere of the uniquely majestic infinitely glorious characteristics of his crusade obviously it will be impractical because of our limited time to read you all these messages however I feel the following paragraph gives us an illustration of the fervour with which Shoghi Effendi inspired the hearts and souls of the friends and raised their expectations this is a quotation from his message dated 4th May these are his inspired words the avowed, the primary aim of this spiritual crusade is none other than the conquest of the citadels of men's hearts the theatre of its operation is the entire planet its duration a whole decade its commencement synchronizes with the centenary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's mission its culmination will coincide with the centenary of the declaration of that same mission the agencies assisting in its conduct are the nascent administrative institutions of a steadily evolving divinely appointed order its driving force is the energizing influence generated by the revelation heralded by the Ba'ab and proclaimed by Baha'u'llah its marshal is none other than the author of the divine plan its standard bearers are the hands of the cause of God appointed in every continent of the globe its generals are the twelve national spiritual assemblies participating in the execution of its design its vanguard is the chief executors of Abdul Baha'u'llah's master plan their allies and associates its legions are the rank and file of the believers standing behind these same national assemblies and sharing in the global task embracing the American, the European the African, the Asiatic and Australian fronts the charter directing its course is the immortal tablets that have flowed from the pen of the center of the covenant himself the armor with which its on-rushing hosts have been invested is the glad tidings of God's own message in this day the principles underlying the order proclaimed by his messenger and the laws and ordinances governing his dispensation the battle cry animating its heroes and heroines is the cry of YAH Baha'u'llah how YAH ALEE YOL ALAH you can imagine what these messages did to the Baha'i world at that time Shoghe Effendi upheld orderliness when executing undertakings at the world center or directing projects under the aegis of national spiritual assemblies we should not be surprised therefore that in the implementation of the ten year crusade he would not adopt the same method for example he divided the first five years of the crusade into three phases the first being one year the other two designated designed to be two years each he focused the attention of the friends on the themes and requirements of each of these three phases the first phase from 1953 to 1954 was to be characterized by the opening of as many as 131 virgin territories as possible to encourage the friends to arise on the 28th of May 1953 on the occasion of the anniversary of the ascension of Baha'u'llah he announced that he was planning to open an illuminated roll of honor which would carry the names of the pioneers who would arise and as stated by him would capture the unsurrendered territories of the entire planet upon each of these spiritual conquerors would be conferred the title of Night of Baha'u'llah during this first phase seven eighths of the territories mentioned in this plan were opened I remember the story that was we received that Shoghi Effendi had said that the elderly, the very elderly should also endeavor to pioneer let them carry their bones and pioneer Ella Bailey over 90 years old from the United States went to Libya she died there she carried her bones she obeyed Shoghi Effendi Shoghi Effendi in one of his in one of his in one of his plant of the world he put a golden star in the Mediterranean for Ella Bailey who had passed away in Tripoli, Libya she was in Night of Baha'u'llah and he called her a martyr during the second phase 43 national Hazira Telgotsis and ten temple sites were acquired worldwide during the third phase 16 new national assemblies were formed three in 1956 in Africa and 13 in the following year in the other four continents furthermore during this third phase all but three national Hazira Telgotsis all but one temple site all but two endowments were acquired and the number of localities were Baha'u'llah resided, reached for the first time the impressive figure of 4,500 the fourth phase of the plan was to be from 1958 till 1963 and it was focused on completing the rest of the vital objectives assigned by him under the plan now I don't know what kind of a time we have I think I'm going to rest a little bit why Mr. Chairman, why don't you announce