In 1914 The Christian Commonwealth carried words of praise for
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
In 1914 The Christian Commonwealth carried words of praise for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: ‘It is wonderful to see the venerable figure of the revered Bahá’í leader passing through the narrow streets of this ancient town [Akká], where he lived for forty years as a political prisoner, and to note the deep respect with which he is saluted by the Turkish officials and the officers of the garrison from the governor downward, who visit him constantly and listen with the deepest attention to his words. “The Master” does not teach in Syria as he did in the West, but he goes about doing good, and Mohammedans and Christians alike share his benefactions. From sunrise often until midnight he works, in spite of broken health, never sparing himself if there is a wrong to be righted or a suffering to be relieved. To Christians who regard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with impartial and sympathetic eyes, this wonderful selfless life cannot fail to recall that life whose tragic termination on Calvary the whole Christian world recalls ’
Source: Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: service).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/service
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
The Hour of Freedom: 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Opening of the Prison Gates
For forty years 'Abdu'l-Bahá was a prisoner of the Ottoman state, and through every threat of exile to the deserts of North Africa and every renewed tightening of His confinement He remained serene, accepting each turn as the will of God. When in 1908 the gates of 'Akká at last swung open and He walked free, He met the long-awaited liberation with the very same tranquillity He had shown in captivity.
The Master and the Poor of 'Akká
Through the long years of His confinement in the prison-city of 'Akká, 'Abdu'l-Bahá made the care of the poor and the sick His own daily work — a Friday almsgiving at the gate, a warm garment each winter for every one of the city's poor, and morning rounds to the bedsides of the feeble, the forgotten, and the dying.
The Captive Who Fed a Country: 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Famine
Through the years of the Great War, with a naval blockade strangling the coast and famine stalking the Holy Land, 'Abdu'l-Bahá — Himself again a prisoner — fed the hungry of every religion in 'Akká and Haifa. The grain He had quietly stored against the crisis kept a whole region alive; for it, a victorious empire offered Him a knighthood, which He accepted and quietly laid aside.
The Healer of 'Akká: 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Sick
In the prison-city of 'Akká, where disease festered in the damp and the poor died unattended, 'Abdu'l-Bahá made the care of the sick His personal calling. He brought physicians to the bedsides of the destitute, paid for their medicines, sat with the dying, and ministered to the bodies and spirits of the people the city had abandoned — winning, by mercy alone, the love of an entire town.