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Letter of 27 June 1933
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Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:
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Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge on his behalf
the receipt of your letter dated May 11th, 1933, together
with the enclosed Program of the Bahá'í meetings held in
Stuttgart and Esslingen, all of which he has carefully read
and deeply appreciated.
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In regard to the transliteration of Oriental names and
words into German he wishes me to inform you that the
system of transliteration actually in use in the Bahá'í world
has been adopted and approved with only slight changes by
a general Orientalist Congress representative of world's
greatest orientalists including some outstanding German
authorities in various branches of Oriental history and
literature. As you see, therefore, it is a highly recommendable
system of transliteration and this is why the
Guardian is so emphatic about its univeral adoption by the
Bahá'ís the world over. Any departure from that system, he
strongly feels, may lead to incalculable difficulties and
misunderstandings in the future. He would certainly urge
you to adopt it yourself and then advise our German friends
to do the same in all their official Bahá'í publications and
particularly in the forthcoming issues of the "Sonne der
Wahrheit" wherein some chapters of the "Dawn-Breakers"
are going to be published.
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Concerning the date of the anniversary of the Báb's
declaration the Guardian feels that it would be preferable to
postpone the consideration of this problem until the
Universal House of Justice is established. In the meantime
he would advise you to follow the system actually in use in
the Bahá'í world, i.e. (year 9.) even in Germany. According
to this system the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration
of the Faith should be celebrated in May of the year 101,
that is when we enter the second Bahá'í century. By year 90
we should not mean that 90 years have elapsed since the
declaration of the Báb but that we are in the 9th year. But
whether it is preferable to adopt this system or that
suggested by you and which, you remark, is in use among
Christians and Moslems, the future House of Justice has to
decide.
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Touching the Bahá'í funeral service the Guardian would
like you to know that it is of an extreme simplicity,
consisting as it does of a congregational prayer which has
not yet been translated into any western language but which
Shoghi Effendi is planning to have it translated and
circulated among the friends. The friends and relatives of
the deceased who are unwilling to attend the service should
not be forced to do so.
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In closing may I extend to you the loving greetings of the
Guardian....
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[From the Guardian:]
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Dear and valued co-worker:
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This is to assure you how glad and gratified I feel to learn
that the German believers are taking so active a part in the
international activities of the Cause. Their thoroughness,
ability, patience and open-mindedness highly qualify them
to assume such responsibilities and undertake so great a
task. I trust that the letters you will soon be sending to the
British High Commissioner for Palestine will be a prelude to
the brilliant services you are destined to render to the Cause
of Bahá'u'lláh.
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Your true brother,
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Shoghi
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