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In Egypt a steady increase in the number of the adherents of the Faith was accompanied by a general expansion in its activities. The establishments of new centers; the consolidation of the chief center established in Cairo; the conversion, largely through the indefatigable efforts of the learned Mirza Abu'l- Fadl, of several prominent students and teachers of the Azhar University-- premonitory symptoms foreshadowing the advent of the promised day on which, according to Abdu'l- Baha, the standard and emblem of the Faith would be implanted in the heart of that time- honored Islamic seat of learning; the translation into Arabic and the dissemination of some of the most important writings of Baha'u'llah revealed in Persian, together with other Baha'i literature; the printing of books, treatises and pamphlets by Baha'i authors and scholars; the publication of articles in the Press written in defense of the Faith and for the purpose of broadcasting its message; the formation of rudimentary administrative institutions in the capital as well as in nearby centers; the enrichment of the life of the community through the addition of converts of Kurdish, Coptic, and Armenian origin-- these may be regarded as the first fruits garnered in a country which, blessed by the footsteps of Abdu'l- Baha, was, in later years, to play a historic part in the emancipation of the Faith, and which, by virtue of its unique position as the intellectual center of both the Arab and Islamic worlds, must inevitably assume a notable and decisive share of responsibility in the final establishment of that Faith throughout the East.
(302:2)
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