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.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 28 March 1941, published as ‘The Promised
Day is Come’)