Selections from Writings of Shoghi Effendi (vegetarian): “The Promised Day Is Come,” Part 1 of 2

To preserve the holy Bahá’í teachings, Lord Bahá’u’lláh established a Covenant, or line of succession, that appointed His Son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as the successor Guardian, followed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s grandson, Shoghi Effendi. Lord Bahá’u’lláh also ordained the establishment of a Universal House of Justice. During his lifetime, Shoghi Effendi was the appointed Guardian for the Baháʼí teachings. Today, we present to you an excerpt from “The Promised Day Is Come” by Shoghi Effendi. “A tempest, unprecedented in its violence, unpredictable in its course, catastrophic in its immediate effects, unimaginably glorious in its ultimate consequences, is at present sweeping the face of the earth. Its driving power is remorselessly gaining in range and momentum. Its cleansing force, however much undetected, is increasing with every passing day. Humanity, gripped in the clutches of its devastating power, is smitten by the evidences of its resistless fury. It can neither perceive its origin, nor probe its significance, nor discern its outcome. Bewildered, agonized and helpless, it watches this great and mighty wind of God invading the remotest and fairest regions of the earth, rocking its foundations, deranging its equilibrium, sundering its nations, disrupting the homes of its peoples, wasting its cities, driving into exile its kings, pulling down its bulwarks, uprooting its institutions, dimming its light, and harrowing up the souls of its inhabitants. Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic pen has proclaimed, ‘The hour is approaching,’ He specifically affirms, ‘when the most great convulsion will have appeared.’ ‘The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: “Taste ye what your hands have wrought!”’ ‘Soon shall the blasts of His chastisement beat upon you, and the dust of hell enshroud you.’ And again: ‘And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake.’ ‘The day is approaching when its [civilization’s] flame will devour the cities, when the Tongue of Grandeur will proclaim: “The Kingdom is God’s, the Almighty, the All-Praised!”’ ‘The day will soon come,’ He, referring to the foolish ones of the earth, has written, ‘whereon they will cry out for help and receive no answer.’ ‘The day is approaching,’ He moreover has prophesied, ‘when the wrathful anger of the Almighty will have taken hold of them. He, verily, is the Omnipotent, the All-Subduing, the Most Powerful. He shall cleanse the earth from the defilement of their corruption, and shall give it for a heritage unto such of His servants as are nigh unto Him.’”