74. Acquisition of Property Adjacent to Bahjí

74

Acquisition of Property Adjacent to Bahjí

18 November 1969

To National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

74.1 Enclosed please find our letter of 16 November 1969 addressed to the Bahá’ís of the World. Please share this letter with all believers in your jurisdiction as soon as possible.

74.2 After several years of protracted negotiations with agencies of the Israel Government both in Jerusalem and Haifa, an important property adjacent to Bahjí and embracing the Master's teahouse has been acquired. On 17 November we cabled the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States as follows:

74.2a WITH GRATEFUL HEARTS ANNOUNCE SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION FORMAL NEGOTIATIONS INITIATED NEARLY TWO DECADES AGO BY BELOVED GUARDIAN WITH AUTHORITIES STATE ISRAEL RESULTING OWNERSHIP VITALLY NEEDED PROPERTY SURROUNDING ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S TEAHOUSE IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORHOOD MOST HOLY TOMB FOUNDER FAITH. ACQUISITION MUCH DESIRED LAND EXTENDING GARDENS BAHJÍ FACILITATED THROUGH EXCHANGE PROPERTY DEDICATED SOME THIRTY-SIX YEARS AGO TO HOLY TOMB BAHÁ’U’LLÁH BY DEVOTED SERVANT CAUSE HÁJÍ ‘ALÍ YAZDÍ.

Universal House of Justice

74.3 The successful conclusion of these negotiations initiated during the lifetime of the beloved Guardian was made possible through the acceptance by the Government, as even exchange, of an endowment property given to the Faith in 1933 by the late Hájí ‘Alí Yazdí. The significance of the specific piece of land donated by this venerable soul becomes apparent when reading the following quotation from the IN MEMORIAM article about him in The Bahá’í World, Volume 9 [624‒25]:

74.3a He will forever be remembered, amongst other things, as the establisher of Bahá’í endowments in the vicinity of ‘Akká through his gift of a tract of land dedicated to Bahá’u’lláh’s Holy Tomb in Bahjí. ...

74.4 It is a glowing tribute to the memory of this devoted servant of the Blessed Beauty that his gift should play such an important part in securing this valuable additional safeguard for the Most Holy Tomb.

74.5 Please also convey the news of this victory to the friends.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice