… the primary reason why the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh chose to
appear in Persia, and to make it the first repository of their Revelation, was
because, of all the peoples and nations of the civilized world, that race and
nation had, as so often depicted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, sunk to such ignominious
depths, and manifested so great a perversity, as to find no parallel among its
contemporaries. For no more convincing proof could be adduced demonstrating the
regenerating spirit animating the Revelations proclaimed by the Bab and
Bahá'u'lláh than their power to transform what can be truly regarded as one of
the most backward, the most cowardly, and perverse of peoples into a race of
heroes, fit to effect in turn a similar revolution in the life of mankind. To
have appeared among a race or nation which by its intrinsic worth and high
attainments seemed to warrant the inestimable privilege of being made the
receptacle of such a Revelation would in the eyes of an unbelieving world
greatly reduce the efficacy of that Message, and detract from the
self-sufficiency of its omnipotent power.
(Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine
Justice)