From Famine Relief to Knighthood

Even before His return to Palestine from His journeys in the West, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá anticipated the hardships of war, and began to instruct people in the villages of Nughayb, Samrih and ‘Adasiyyih to grow prolific quantities of corn, much of which was harvested and stored in pits, some of them made long ago by the Romans.

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When World War I broke out, this corn was used to feed the numberless poor people of Haifa, Akká and the surrounding areas during the famine years of 1914-1918. When the British army marched into Haifa there was some difficulty about supplies, and the officer in command went to consult ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “I have corn,” was the reply. “But for the army?” said the astonished soldier. “I have corn for the British Army,” said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

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From the beginning of the British occupation, large numbers of soldiers and Government officials of all ranks sought interviews with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, delighting in His illuminating talks, His breadth of view and depth of insight, His dignified courtesy and genial hospitality.

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So impressed were they by His noble character and His work for peace, conciliation and the true prosperity of the people that a knighthood of the British Empire was conferred upon Him, the ceremony taking place in the garden of the Military Governor of Haifa on 27 April 1920.

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*Sources: Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, Part III, ch. IV (“Bahá’í Villages”); J. E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, ch. 4 (“Sir ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ‘Abbás, K.B.E.”).*

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