The station of the "Hands of the Cause of God"

Recorded in the following pages are personal recollections of meetings with several of the Hands of the Cause of God – those "Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth ..." In each Dispensation there are a few individuals – a small handful - amongst the early followers of the Manifestation who are endowed with a special station and function. History records the ‘Disciples’ or ‘Apostles’ of Christ whose lives spanned the first and perhaps second generation of the early Christian community; Muhammad was succeeded by the Caliphate and a hereditary line of Imams whose lives spanned some 260 years of that Dispensation.

During His lifetime Bahá’u’lláh appointed four individuals as Hands of His Cause – creating thereby an appointed institution of individuals whose station and functions were clarified in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, with further appointments flowing from the pen of Shoghi Effendi during his 36 years ministry – some named posthumously, some appointed during their lifetime, 27 of whom were carrying out their vital duties at the time of his passing in 1957. These individuals continued to serve the Cause with unremitting energy during the next half-century – until the eventual passing of the last of the Hands, Dr Ali-Muhammad Varqá, in September 2007 – B.E. 163.

https://bahai-library.com/washington_recollections_hands_cause#preface