…we can even bear witness to the marked improvement in the
conditions surrounding the pilgrimages performed by its devoted adherents to
its consecrated shrines at its world center—pilgrimages originally arduous,
perilous, tediously long, often made on foot, at times ending in
disappointment, and confined to a handful of harassed Oriental followers,
gradually attracting, under steadily improving circumstances of security and
comfort, an ever swelling number of new converts converging from the four
corners of the globe, and culminating in the widely publicized yet sadly
frustrated visit of a noble Queen, who, at the very threshold of the city of
her heart’s desire, was compelled, according to her own written testimony, to
divert her steps, and forego the privilege of so priceless a benefit.
- Shoghi
Effendi (‘Preface to God Passes By’)