Corn for the British Army
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When in Bahá'í history
Haifa (today: Haifa, Israel)
Preparation for war conditions had been made by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá even before His return to Palestine, after His world tour. The people of the villages Nughayb, Samrih, and 'Adasiyyih were instructed by the Master how to grow corn, so as to produce prolific harvests, in the period before and during the lean years of the war. A vast quantity of this corn was stored in pits, some of which had been made by the Romans, and were now utilized for this purpose. So it came about that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was able to feed numberless poor of the people of Haifa, 'Akká, and the neighbourhood, in the famine years of 1914-1918.
We learned that when the British marched into Haifa there was some difficulty about the commissariat. The officer in command went to consult the Master.
"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.
He truly walked the Mystic way with practical feet.
An editor’s note adds that Lady Blomfield often recounted how the corn pits proved a safe hiding-place for the corn, during the occupation of the Turkish army.
Source: Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, Part III.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: knighthood-abdul-baha).
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