Dr. Esslemont Brings His Book to Haifa

A retelling drawn from Dr. J. E. Esslemont's own introduction to Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era and from Shoghi Effendi's letter on his passing, published in Bahá'í Administration. Words in quotation marks are from those two texts.

John Ebenezer Esslemont was a Scottish physician. "In December 1914," he later wrote, "through a conversation with friends who had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and the loan of a few pamphlets, I first became acquainted with the Bahá'í teachings. I was at once struck by their comprehensiveness, power and beauty."

He found the literature he wanted hard to obtain, and "soon conceived the idea of putting together the gist of what I learned in the form of a book, so that it might be more easily available for others."

When communication with Palestine reopened after the First World War, he wrote to 'Abdu'l-Bahá and sent Him the first nine chapters of the draft. The reply invited him to visit Haifa and bring the whole manuscript. Esslemont spent two and a half months as the guest of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the winter of 1919–1920. 'Abdu'l-Bahá discussed the book with him on various occasions and gave several suggestions for improving it. He proposed that, once the manuscript was revised, it be translated into Persian so that He could read it through and correct it.

This was done, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá corrected some three and a half chapters before His passing in 1921. The rest of the manuscript was revised by a committee of the National Bahá'í Assembly of England, which approved its publication. The book appeared under the title Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era.

Esslemont later went to Haifa to work with Shoghi Effendi. He suffered from a chronic illness, and he died there on 22 November 1925. He was buried in the Bahá'í burial ground at the foot of Mount Carmel. In his letter announcing the loss, Shoghi Effendi wrote: "His book, however--an abiding monument to his pure intention--will, alone, inspire generations yet unborn to tread the path of truth and service as steadfastly and as unostentatiously as was trodden by its beloved author." He called Esslemont "the warmest of friends, a trusted counsellor, an indefatigable collaborator, a lovable companion," and wrote that he had "deserved to rank as one of the Hands of the Cause of God."

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see the introduction to Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era by J. E. Esslemont, and Shoghi Effendi's letter of November 1925 in Bahá'í Administration.

Esslemont, J. E.. (1923). *Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era*. George Allen & Unwin. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19241