Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, commended this Commentary to several pilgrims, on one occasion expressing himself as 'well pleased' with its description of the principles of the Administrative Order, while a letter written on his behalf states that it 'should be distributed, as it contains excellent material.' He included it in The Bahá'í World, Vol. IX.

This edition has been brought up to date and considerably expanded by adding an Epilogue which gives an account of the interregnum (1957-63) between the Guardianship and the election of the Universal House of Justice. It also demonstrates the inviolability of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, and that the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá remains, in the Guardian's words, 'the Charter of the New World Order which is at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation.'