For the unfamiliar reader, the phenomenal service and work that Shoghi Effendi (Guardian of the Baha’i Faith) achieved in a short lifetime is proof that we all should make time for sleep - from translating so many of the Baha’i Writings into English, writing several major texts and thousands of important letters, overseeing the spread and building of the Baha’i world community and its administration, liaising with leaders and authories as the head of the Baha’i Faith at the time, appointing and overseeing the work of the Hands of the Cause, obtaining, preserving and building the Baha’i Holy Places are just a few of his accomplishments after he was thrust into a position that he never wished for.

I usually lack sleep with the excuse of having too much to do. With this perspective, that excuse no longer holds water.

“Regarding your question: There are very few people who can get along without eight hours sleep. If you are not one of those, you should protect your health by sleeping enough. The Guardian himself finds that it impairs his working capacity if he does not try and get a minimum of seven or eight hours.”

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to two believers, September 15, 1952)