The Message on the Desk

*A retelling for children, based on **The Priceless Pearl** by Rúhíyyih Rabbání. The narrative below is told in our own words; the line in quotation marks is taken word for word from the book.*

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In 1921 Shoghi Effendi, the eldest grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was studying at Oxford, in England. 'Abdu'l-Bahá lived far away in Haifa, in the Holy Land.

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When Shoghi Effendi went to London he often called at the office of a friend of the Bahá'ís, Major Wellesley Tudor Pole. Cables and letters for the Bahá'ís were often sent there. A cable was a short message sent by telegraph across the world.

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On the morning of 29 November 1921 a cable arrived at that office. It said that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had passed away.

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At about noon Shoghi Effendi arrived and was shown into the private room. Major Tudor Pole was not there just then. As Rúhíyyih Rabbání tells it, "his eye was caught by the name of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the open cablegram lying on the desk and he read it."

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When he came into the room a moment later, he found Shoghi Effendi overcome by the news. The Bahá'ís in London took care of him. He stayed with one of them for a few days, and his sister and other friends did all they could to comfort him. Then he began the long journey home, and reached Haifa at the end of December.

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There was something Shoghi Effendi did not yet know. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had left His Will and Testament, and in it He had named Shoghi Effendi the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. Shoghi Effendi was only twenty-four years old. He served as Guardian for the next thirty-six years.

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*This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see ["The Cablegram on the Desk"](/stories/pp-the-cablegram-on-the-desk).*

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