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received from the Guardian by Ali-Akbar Furútan

The following pilgrim note (circa the early years of the Ten Year Plan 1953-1963) by Hand of the Cause of God Mr. Ali-Akbar Furútan, was typed by Shirley Macias, who had received it while pioneering in Honduras during the Ten Year Crusade. It was shared by Mr. Furútan with the friends at the instruction of Shoghi Effendi. -S.M.

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Is it possible to realize this Ten Plan of the World Crusade?

1. The first requirement before anything is the assistance of God.

The assistance of God is not an imaginary thing. If the assistance of God does not come, no work can be accomplished. It is as the light to the eyes. The eyes see but if the light does not exist, it is not possible to see. If the light is cut off, there is darkness. We have two gifts: existence and activity. But without divine assistance, nothing can be realized. The earth has its power of growth and we plant the seeds. The earth gives the force of growth, but if the sun did not exist, would there be the power of growth? Of course not, because the seed would not be generated.

The assistance of God is the sun and we are the earth. The possibilities are in us. The assistance is of God. This is what Bahá'u'lláh tells us in His Holy Book, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: "We behold you from Our Most Glorious Horizon, and will assist whosoever will arise to aid My Cause with the hosts of the Concourse on high, and a cohort of the angels, who are nigh unto Me." (God Passes By, p. 376)

This is the promise which will not fail. In this sacred Cause, that which is promised is sure and infallible.

This is the same assistance which caused the disciples of Christ to triumph over the world. With this assistance, Peter triumphed over the Roman Empire and this same assistance accompanied the Arabs and helped them open the world as far as Spain.

Why don't these people triumph at this time? Why have they divided themselves against themselves? Because they no longer have this assistance. When the assistance of God was on their side, they dominated the world. Now that the assistance has been withdrawn from them, the world dominates them.

Now we, the disciples of Bahá'u'lláh and His apostles, cannot we fulfill the same tasks as the disciples of Christ? Without doubt we can because we have the promised assistance of Bahá'u'lláh and a living person can dominate millions of dead ones, and an ant can conquer a mountain of wheat. The ant is one and the mountain of wheat has many grains, but the ant takes them one by one and transfers them until, at the end, it has triumphed over than great mountain.

The new believer does not fall from the sky. Some came from Islam, others from Christianity, from Judaism, from Zoroastrianism, etc. This is the mountain of wheat. We are the ants and we must give them life. The Báb said: "For these I died, and the Water of Life revived Me."

We present the Water of Life to the world because we possess the assistance of the God and the hosts of the victorious angels. 'Abdu'l-Bahá has said, speaking to an Egyptian believer: "A pearl is worth more than mountains of stones and heaps of dust."

We are few and the world is numerous, but how many times has a small number conquered a great number of men! The assistance from the Celestial Kingdom is important and fundamental for the realization of this sacred World Crusade.

2. The awakening of the lovers of Bahá'u'lláh.

The awakening of the lovers of Bahá'u'lláh, that is to say, this love is that which will realize their awakening, or otherwise, the decision of the lovers of Bahá'u'lláh.

There are two kinds of decisions: rational decisions with reason, and sentimental decisions without reason.

A famous Persian poem says: "The wise, in crossing a river, look with their reason for a way to construct a bridge, but the foolish ones, the crazy lover throws himself into the river and crosses it without thinking about the danger."

While the wise lose time in reasoning and reflecting, the crazy lover does not think about anything, he does not reason, he only looks to find and see his beloved; confronts the danger and crosses the river. (See The Seven Valleys by Bahá'u'lláh, p. 48)

When Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian asked us to propagate the Cause and sacrifice ourselves for mankind, the wise believer, he who spends much time reasoning, says to himself: "Sustain your life, your family, your children, your book, your possessions, etc." But the true believer, the crazy lover, has answered the call of Bahá'u'lláh, of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and of the Guardian, and has arisen to serve the Faith. The wise believer that reasons says: "If it be necessary, renounce your Faith, your religion, your principles, your Prophet to maintain your life, your family, your children, your possessions." But the crazy lover offers his life, renounces his family, if necessary, renounces his possessions and the world to maintain his Faith, to maintain his love for God, and to serve and maintain the sacred Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.

This is the decision: the awakening of the lovers of Bahá'u'lláh.

The Bahá'ís should be the crazy lovers. We Bahá'ís should avoid being like the wise who reason. The true Bahá'ís are the chosen people of God; they are the crazy lovers.

All the heroes of the Holy Books, without exception, were crazy lovers. They were not the wise who reasoned. The crazy lovers of Jesus Christ carried the Cross for the love of His Father, but Pilate and the high priests were the wise that reasoned because they looked to maintain their life, their authority and their position.

The crazy love of the Imám Husayn made him drink the cup of martyrdom as a sacrifice for the divine Cause; by Yazid, the wise one that reasoned, looked to preserve his kingdom, his power and his crown.

Hájí Sulaymán Khán, Mullá Husayn, Quddús, Táhirih were crazy lovers of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh

Násiri'd-Dín Sháh said to Táhirih: "Renounce your Faith, renounce the Báb, and I will make you Empress of Persia." Then she replied: "Rejoice in your world, your kingdom and your empire. I will rejoice in my world and my Master."

If she had been of those who reason, she would have said: "Yes, the Empress of Persia wears the Crown of the Empire." But because she was a crazy lover, she preferred martyrdom, preferred to water with her blood the path that led to her Beloved.

Now the Bahá'ís have to choose between being the foolish lovers or the wise ones than reason. They have to choose between maintain their life, their family and their possessions, or leave it all, renounce all to present it as a sacrifice to the service of the Cause, to the service of Bahá'u'lláh. The Bahá'ís must remember one of the most brilliant words of Jesus Christ: "Ye that love me must abandon and renounce everything and take up your cross and follow Me."

The Bahá'ís must choose between a Christ or a Pilate; a Yazid or an Imám Husayn, a Násiri'd-Dín Sháh or a Táhirih.

3. The great changes in the world.

This signifies the preparation of the road for the realization of the Divine Plan.

The first two requirements to assure the realization of the World Crusade are the works of the Bahá'ís. The third is the work of Bahá'u'lláh: the sacred works of God.

God prepares the road so we may advance.

These three things are the three guarantees for the realization of the Divine Plan.

When Muhammad was in the battle of Khandak, He said: "The Kosroes, the Caesars have been conquered." The Arabs replied: "This starved one who tied a stone to his belly, he will conquer the Kosroes? He is a crazy poet!" But when Muhammad conquered the Kosroes and the Caesars, they said: "He spoke the truth."

We Bahá'ís must be sure that all the promises and prophecies of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian are realized, but our awakening, our decision, our accomplishments are our condition.

When the Commander is sincere and the soldiers are valiant and sacrifice themselves, victory of the world is sure.

We have signed an agreement with Bahá'u'lláh. We must be men and maintain our word.