What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a passage from a letter by Shoghi Effendi to the Central Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Tehran, dated July 1928 and published in Tawqí‘át-i-Mubárakih (1927–1939), pp. 80–93 (selection no. 7). In this passage, which appears on p. 93 of that collection, Shoghi Effendi extends his condolences on the occasion of Ḥájí Amín’s passing. Ḥájí Amín (1830–1928), whose name was Abu’l-Ḥasan Ardikání and is referred to here by his title of “Amín-i-Iláhí” (“the Trustee of God”), served for many years as Trustee of Ḥuqúqu’lláh with outstanding devotion. Shoghi Effendi here names him a Hand of the Cause, and elsewhere he was also designated by him as one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh. I am grateful to Faruq Izadinia for locating this text and preparing the original-language typescript that appears underneath the provisional translation.
The shocking news of the ascension of the honorable Amín-i-Iláhí to the Abhá Kingdom was the cause of immeasurable sorrow and regret. For many successive years, that distinguished individual, that noble soul, was intimately engaged in service to the sacred Threshold with an astonishing resolve and devotion. Not a moment’s peace did he enjoy; not a minute did he rest. In his firmness and faithfulness, he was an exemplar for the companions and righteous ones—and in the extent of his sacrifice, the loftiness of his endeavor, the purity of his intent, and the immaculacy of his nature, he was the leader of the beloved and virtuous. He was accounted as one of the active Hands of the Unseen Abhá in that country [Persia], and numbered with the specially favored souls near to the divine Court. His is an exalted station, and his resplendent services will not be effaced with the passing of centuries and ages. The value of these sanctified souls is not known today. Soon will the great men of the earth take pride in them, and the denizens of this realm remember the traces they left behind, and the masses of humanity vaunt them over all the world. May God grant him a dwelling-place in the vastness of His paradise, rain down the showers of his mercy and beneficence upon his radiant grave, and immerse him in the depths of His forgiveness and pardon. He is, in truth, the Sustainer, the Forgiver, the Pardoner, the All-Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Almighty.
A typescript of the original Persian and Arabic text of this passage appears below.
Adib Masumian 