Back in New York

A retelling for children, based on Mahmúd's Diary, from the entries about 'Abdu'l-Bahá's return to New York in November and December 1912.

On the 12th of November, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá came back to the city of New York, where His journey across America had begun in the spring.

It had been a very long trip. In the autumn alone He had gone from Montreal to Buffalo, Chicago and Minneapolis, across the plains to Denver and Salt Lake City, all the way to San Francisco and Los Angeles by the Pacific Ocean, and then back again through Denver, Chicago, Cincinnati and Washington. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was sixty-eight years old.

In New York He stayed again in a house on Riverside Drive, beside the Hudson River, where He had stayed before. Early on the very first morning, the lady who owned the house, Mrs Champney, came with her family to see Him and receive His blessing. Every morning and every evening He went for a walk in the gardens along the river.

In those days there was a war between Turkey and some of its neighbours, and it was in all the newspapers. Some of the big hotels had refused to give 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His companions rooms, because in their Persian clothes they were taken for Turks. 'Abdu'l-Bahá said: "Observe how much enmity and hatred prejudices have produced among various parties and peoples and what suffering and hardship have been caused by them."

Mírzá Maḥmúd, who traveled with Him and kept a diary, says there was always a crowd at His house. Whether He was in or out, people were waiting for Him. Most evenings the friends met at the home of Mrs Kinney, and in the daytime at the home of Mrs Krug.

Some of the friends kept asking Him to visit rich people who wanted Him in their fine houses. But He said no. "I deal with the poor and visit them, not the rich," He said. "I love all, especially the poor. All sorts of people come here and I meet them all with sincere love, with heart and soul."

Near the end of November a friend named Mrs Emery asked Him to stay at her home, and He moved there. When He arrived, He said that He must rest that day, because He was extremely tired. But the friends and visitors kept coming to see Him.

Soon 'Abdu'l-Bahá would board a great steamship called the Celtic and sail away across the ocean, and the friends were sad to think of it. On the 5th of December so many of them came onto the ship to say goodbye that the big lounge could not hold them all. Some sat, and some stood outside, while He moved among them and spoke to them one last time.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "The Last Weeks in New York".

Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání, M.. (1998). *Mahmúd's Diary: The Diary of Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání*. George Ronald.