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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
By Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání · 1998 · George Ronald
Modern era (1957–present) · in copyright
Day-by-day account of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's North American tour, 1912.
About Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání
Persian Bahá'í who travelled with 'Abdu'l-Bahá throughout His Western tours, serving as personal secretary and recorder. His diary documents the journey day by day, talk by talk.
1875–1924
Featured figures
Themes
“That house is sanctified above such adornments.”
“which is the greatest of all gifts.”
“About fifty years ago in the Book of Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh commanded people to”
“establish universal peace and summoned all the nations to the divine banquet”
“of international arbitration...”
Stories of Bahá'u'lláh
Secondary RetellingAli-Akbar Furutan · 1986
Stories Told by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Primary SourceVarious Compilers · 2000
bahaistories.com archive
Secondary RetellingVarious · 2024
The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh (4 volumes)
Secondary RetellingAdib Taherzadeh · 1974
The Priceless Pearl
Secondary RetellingRúhíyyih Khánum · 1969
The Summons of the Lord of Hosts
Primary SourceBahá'u'lláh · 2002
Invited to the Plaza Hotel in New York in July 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sat in a small room and declined the manager's offer to show Him the rest. Mahmúd's Diary records why, and records how often that year He refused gifts.
In May 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at the peace conference at Lake Mohonk in New York State. Mahmúd's Diary records His address, His comparison of some peace workers to wine sellers, and His farewell gift of a Persian carpet.
On a train journey from Salt Lake City to California in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of Peter's spiritual education and remembered seeing, as a child in Tihrán, the learned Vahíd fall at the muddy feet of a servant of the Báb.
In October 1912 'Abdu'l-Baha stayed three nights at Phoebe Hearst's house near Pleasanton, California. On the last evening she asked Him to speak to her relatives and guests about the Faith, and He read them a prayer in Arabic.
After the Unity Feast at West Englewood in 1912, a seeker asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá what this Cause taught that earlier religions did not. He answered in the moonlit garden, naming its teachings one by one.
In 1912 Lua Getsinger, asked by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to go to California, walked through poison ivy so that she could not travel. He sent her an apple and a pomegranate to cure her, and she went.
In June 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá said He had spoken in America according to the capacity of His hearers. On 16 June, in a Congregational church in Brooklyn, He spoke on the truth of Islam, and no one offered a single objection.
Resting in a Montclair park in June 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalled days in Baghdád without fifteen paras for a bath. Back at the hotel, two wealthy ladies remarked that He seemed very rich, and He told them what His riches were.
In April 1912, four years after the Ottoman Empire released 'Abdu'l-Bahá from prison, its ambassador in Washington gave a dinner in His honour, read Him a tribute, and walked Him to His carriage.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá's ship reached New York in April 1912, reporters came on board to ask why He had come. He told them He had come for universal peace and the unity of humankind.
In Boston in 1912, a speaker warned a large audience that a false Christ had come to America. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, speaking next, told them of the truth of all the Prophets of God, and especially of Christ.
In 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá sailed from Egypt to New York on the ship Cedric. He cared for His companions, spoke to the passengers, and had to say goodbye to three friends, Shoghi Effendi among them, at Naples.
On December 5, 1912, many friends came aboard the ship Celtic in New York to say goodbye to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. In His last words to them He said that the whole earth is one globe and all nations are one family.
Nettie Tobin had no money to give, so she brought a stone the builders did not want to the land for a House of Worship. On May 1, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá set her stone in the ground with His own hands.
At a children's event in Brooklyn, Admiral Peary, the explorer of the North Pole, asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá to make a short speech. He had not planned to speak, but His talk captured everyone's attention.
On His last evening in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to students and professors at Columbia University about the powers of the human mind and spirit, and about the love that joins East and West. Afterwards, people did not want to leave Him.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá went to stay in the green hills of New Hampshire, His hostess hoped He could rest. But He said He had come to work and to serve, and He welcomed the many people who came to see Him.
In a San Francisco synagogue, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about Moses and then asked His Jewish listeners why they should not also praise Christ and Muḥammad.
Louis Gregory had not been invited to a luncheon for 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Washington, but 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for him and gave him the seat of honor beside Himself.
On His journey through America in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá often served tea and food to His companions and guests with His own hands.
In city after city on His journey across America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá met the children, hugged and blessed them, and gave them flowers and sweets.
'Abdu'l-Bahá could stay only two days in Minneapolis and St. Paul. In that time He spoke at His hotel, a club, a synagogue and two friends' homes.
Nettie Tobin wanted to give something for the new temple, so she brought a rejected stone from Chicago in an old baby carriage. 'Abdu'l-Bahá chose it as the cornerstone.
At the edge of Niagara Falls, 'Abdu'l-Bahá remembered the waterfalls Bahá'u'lláh had loved, and told His companions why He could not stay even half a day.
In a large church in Philadelphia, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about two pathways, the way of nature and the way of religion, and said that religion must bring people together.
In Pittsburgh in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá taught that laws should help the poor and that the rich should give to them from willing hearts.
'Abdu'l-Bahá visited about four hundred poor men at the Bowery Mission, called them His friends and companions, and placed a coin in every hand.
After traveling across America and back, 'Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York in November 1912 and welcomed the many friends and visitors who came to see Him before He sailed away.
About eighteen hundred students filled a university hall at Stanford to hear 'Abdu'l-Bahá speak about science, peace, and the whole human race as one family.
The president of Clark University invited 'Abdu'l-Bahá to visit. He spoke to more than a thousand students and teachers about the value of science, and told the president He would never forget the meeting.
When the Cedric reached New York on 11 April 1912, reporters came aboard to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá why He had come. He told them His object was universal peace and the unity of humankind.
'Abdu'l-Bahá visited Boston three times in 1912. He addressed the Unitarian conference at Tremont Temple and the Free Religious Association at Ford Hall, spoke to journalists about peace, and later stayed a week at Malden.
Mahmúd's Diary records 'Abdu'l-Bahá's voyage on the Cedric from Alexandria to New York in March and April 1912, including the day at Naples when three of His companions, Shoghi Effendi among them, had to leave the ship.
On December 5, 1912, Mahmúd's Diary records, a great crowd of believers from New York and other cities filled the lounge of the SS *Celtic* to bid 'Abdu'l-Bahá farewell. In His parting address He summed up the teaching of His American journey: the whole earth is one globe, and all nations one family.
On May 1, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá dug the ground for the House of Worship at Wilmette with a golden trowel, American delegates and Eastern believers continued the digging, and He set in place the stone Nettie Tobin had brought.
At a children's event given by the Unity Club in Brooklyn on June 5, 1912, Admiral Robert E. Peary asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá to make a short speech. He had not planned to speak, but His talk on education captured everyone's attention.
On 19 April 1912, His last evening in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Earl Hall, Columbia University, on science, the power of the human spirit and the oneness of humanity. Afterwards so many came to meet Him that a planned tour of the university was given up.
From 25 July to 16 August 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá stayed at Dublin, New Hampshire, where Mrs Parsons had hoped He might rest. He said He had come for work and service, and the weeks filled with Tablets, talks and many visitors.
On October 12, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to some two thousand people at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. He honoured Moses, showed how Christ and Muḥammad had upheld Him, and asked why Jews should not now praise Them in turn.
On April 23, 1912, at a Washington luncheon given in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's honor by Ali-Kuli Khan, the Master asked for Louis Gregory, who had not been invited, and gave him the seat of honor at His right.
Mahmúd's Diary records 'Abdu'l-Bahá serving tea to His companions with His own hand, cooking for guests, and waiting on the friends at dinner during His 1912 journey through America.
In Washington, Chicago, Kenosha, St. Paul, San Francisco and New York, Mahmúd's Diary records 'Abdu'l-Bahá meeting children during His 1912 journey: embracing and kissing them, taking them on His lap, and giving them flowers and sweets.
In September 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent two days in Minneapolis and St. Paul, speaking at His hotel, the Commercial Club, a synagogue and the homes of Albert Hall and Dr Clement Woolson.
On 1 May 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá dedicated the site of the first Bahá'í House of Worship in the West. For the cornerstone He chose a rejected building stone that Nettie Tobin had brought from Chicago by baby carriage and streetcar.
On 10 September 1912, during His stay in Buffalo, 'Abdu'l-Bahá took the trolley to Niagara Falls, recalled the small waterfalls Bahá'u'lláh had loved in Mázindarán, and told His companions He could not stay even half a day.
In June 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at two churches in Philadelphia. At the Baptist Temple He described the pathway of nature and the pathway of religion, and set out the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
On May 7, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent a day in Pittsburgh. At the Hotel Schenley He met visitors, set out the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh at an evening meeting, and then spoke with a group of philosophers, doctors and journalists.
In April 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at the Bowery Mission in New York to about four hundred poor men, telling them that Jesus Himself had been poor and that the poor are very dear to God. Then He stood at the door and gave each man a coin.
After His journey to California and back, 'Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York in November 1912 and received crowds of friends and seekers until He sailed on the Celtic on 5 December.
On October 8, 1912, at the invitation of its president, David Starr Jordan, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to some 1,800 students and 180 professors at Leland Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto.
On 23 May 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá drove from Boston to Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the invitation of its president, G. Stanley Hall, and spoke to more than a thousand students and faculty on the value and importance of science.
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