'Abdu'l-Bahá at the Bowery Mission
'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, (1922), Bahá'í Publishing Trust · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
New York (today: New York City, USA)
On the evening of April 19, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá went to the Bowery Mission at 227 Bowery, in lower Manhattan. He had been in America for eight days.
The visit had begun with an invitation. In February of that year Dr Hallimond of the Mission had asked Juliet Thompson to speak to the men. Afterwards he asked how many of them would like to invite 'Abdu'l-Bahá to speak when He came in April, and all three hundred stood. On April 16 the Master agreed to go. Juliet's diary records His words to her that morning: "I want to give them some money. I am in love with the poor." He gave her a thousand-franc note to be changed into quarters at the bank, and gave another to Edward Getsinger with the same instructions.
On the night, Juliet and Edward sat behind Him on the platform with two large bags of quarters. The long hall was packed with men who slept, as Juliet wrote, on park benches or doorsteps. Dr Hallimond asked Juliet to introduce Him, and the Master rose.
Tonight I am very happy, for I have come here to meet my friends. I consider you my relatives, my companions; and I am your comrade.
He then spoke to them of poverty.
You must be thankful to God that you are poor, for Jesus Christ has said, "Blessed are the poor." He never said, "Blessed are the rich."
Jesus Himself was poor, He told them. He had no place to lay His head, and it was the poor, not the rich, who first accepted Him. While Bahá'u'lláh was in Baghdád, still in possession of great wealth, He left all He had and lived for two years among the poor, and in His Writings often called Himself Darvísh, which in Persian means poor. The rich, the Master said, depend upon their means; the poor depend upon God.
Therefore, the poor are nearer the threshold of God and His throne.
He ended by asking the men to accept 'Abdu'l-Bahá as their servant.
The Promulgation of Universal Peace records that at the end of the meeting He stood at the Bowery entrance to the hall, shaking hands with four or five hundred men and placing a piece of silver in each palm. Juliet saw Him grasp each man's hand and leave something in it, perhaps five or six quarters; one of the men told her afterwards that the most destitute received the most. Mahmúd's diary adds that some had feared the Master's money would not be enough for so many. Instead some was left over, and it was given to other poor people and children outside.
A retelling based on The Promulgation of Universal Peace ('Abdu'l-Bahá), talk of 19 April 1912 at the Bowery Mission, New York, with details from The Diary of Juliet Thompson and Mahmúd's Diary. For the fuller account, see the originals.
Cite this story
'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1922). *The Promulgation of Universal Peace*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/
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