Letter – dated 20 Rabi‘ al-Thani 1370 (1951-01-29)

Letter from His Holiness Haj Sheikh Mohammad Hasan Bichareh Bidokhti Gonabadi, Saleh Ali Shah
to the Honorable Haj Sultan Hossein Tabandeh regarding the complaints of the fuqara about worldly hardships

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My noble and dear one, Haj Sultanhossein Tabandeh. Your letter dated 29/10/30 arrived. I was pleased to hear of your arrival in Tehran and your good health. Please convey my greetings to your companions and other friends, and I pray for your increasing success in servitude and service.

You wrote of the complaints from many of the brethren and their plea for relief and the easing of hardships. This deeply saddened me. Indeed, these difficulties, which are relatively widespread, stem from our own shortcomings and faults. Even though Divine mercy precedes His wrath, and He does not swiftly seize His servants for their errors, such trials are meant to awaken and admonish us, that we may come out of heedlessness and become attentive. Yet, how deeply we remain in heedlessness, failing to awaken and change our state and actions. Especially as believers, our bond and faith should lead us to follow and emulate, seeking knowledge and then acting upon it.

As is the duty of our devotion to God and the fulfillment of our covenant—and as people expect from us—we should strive harder than others in both knowledge and practice. Nonetheless, many excuse themselves with superficial observations, taking the outward forms of religious law as a mere shell, using it as a pretext for the ego to neglect learning and implementation. Yet a kernel cannot be complete without its shell. Similarly, in the practices and manners of the path, some rely only on declarations of love and affiliation, giving little importance to the instructions and treating them superficially, failing in their duties. While love by its nature requires obedience and devotion, true obedience demands effort and the sacrifice of personal desire for the pleasure of the beloved.

Sacrificing in financial and non-financial matters for religious brothers and bearing their difficulties are necessities of faith, and often such forbearance and sacrifice are lacking in us.

Even though sorrow among believers is a major obstacle to advancement in both worldly and spiritual affairs, we lack the determination for prayer, mindfulness, and night vigilance—or at the very least, predawn wakefulness to which we are duty-bound. We are not attentive in remembrance of God or in seeking to reconcile with our brethren. Like some, we rely merely on words and writing when it comes to prayer. Our other duties, states, and actions are likewise treated negligently. Even in reading the books and following instructions, we are sluggish. Yet the grace of God—which we hope will not abandon us—still surrounds us. Thus, these afflictions are for our awakening. «مَّا يَفْعَلُ اللَّهُ بِعَذَابِكُمْ إِن شَكَرْتُمْ وَآمَنتُمْ»

We hope that Divine success will reach us, allowing us to awaken, seek forgiveness, and enter a state of supplication, lament, and repentance, and to ask for determination. In such a state, if we cling to the chosen ones of God, He will surely forgive and bestow relief. And in all circumstances, we must recognize and give thanks for the blessings at hand; may He grant us and all believers success in this. Reconciling the hearts of our brothers is a duty upon all of us.