The Cablegram on the Desk

*A retelling based on **The Priceless Pearl** by Rúhíyyih Rabbání (Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1969). The narrative below is retold in our own words; the lines in quotation marks are verbatim from the book. Read the [full text](https://bahai-library.com/khanum_priceless_pearl) for the complete account.*

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In the autumn of 1921 Shoghi Effendi, the eldest grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was a student at Oxford. The London office of Major Wellesley Tudor Pole, at 61 St James' Street, was often used to pass on cables and letters to the Bahá'ís, and Shoghi Effendi usually called there when he went up to London.

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At 9.30 on the morning of 29 November a cable reached that office: "His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá ascended Abha Kingdom. Inform friends. Greatest Holy Leaf." Rúhíyyih Rabbání believes Tudor Pole telephoned Shoghi Effendi and asked him to come at once, without giving him news that might be too great a shock at that distance.

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At about noon Shoghi Effendi arrived and was shown into the private office. Tudor Pole was not in the room. In Rúhíyyih Rabbání's words, "as Shoghi Effendi stood there his eye was caught by the name of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the open cablegram lying on the desk and he read it." When Tudor Pole came in a moment later he found him in a state of collapse, dazed by the news.

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He was taken to the home of Miss Grand, one of the London believers, and put to bed for a few days. His sister Rouhangeze, who was studying in London, Lady Blomfield and others tried to comfort him, and Dr Esslemont wrote the same day inviting him to rest for a few days at the Home Sanatorium in Bournemouth. Even in those days, Rúhíyyih Rabbání writes, "he found time, in the midst of his agony, to comfort others"; a believer in Manchester wrote to thank him for a letter that had lifted the spirits of the friends there.

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Passport difficulties delayed him. He sailed from England on 16 December with Lady Blomfield and Rouhangeze and reached Haifa on 29 December. A few days after his arrival 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament, which was addressed to him, was read to him. He had not known that it named him Guardian of the Cause of God. He was twenty-four years old, and he served as Guardian for thirty-six years.

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*This account is retold for the Bahai Story Library; it is a paraphrase, not the original text. The quoted lines are verbatim from The Priceless Pearl (Rúhíyyih Rabbání, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1969). See the source for the complete account.*

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