Dedicating the Temple Grounds at Wilmette

On May 1, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed the friends who had gathered in a large tent on the land bought for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár at Wilmette, Illinois, north of Chicago. Before entering the tent He drove around the site, inspecting its boundaries. After the talk He dug the earth for the foundation with a golden trowel, and when the digging was done He set in place, with His own hand, the stone that Nettie Tobin had brought.

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The talk was taken down by Joseph H. Hannen. He began with the weather and the power that had brought the friends out in it.

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> The power which has gathered you here today notwithstanding > the cold and windy weather is, indeed, mighty and wonderful.

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He went on:

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> Thousands of Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs, dawning points of praise and > mention of God for all religionists will be built in the East > and in the West, but this, being the first one erected in the > Occident, has great importance.

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It had, He said, the same importance as the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in ‘Ishqábád, the first one built, which was then almost completed. He described its design: nine avenues, nine gardens, nine fountains, all arranged *according to the principle and proportion of the number nine.* Around it, He said, they were now building a hospital, a school for orphans, a home for the disabled, a hospice and a large dispensary. *I hope the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Chicago will be like this.*

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He closed with one specific instruction. The friends were to endeavor to make the grounds circular, adjusting and exchanging plots if possible.

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> The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár cannot be triangular in shape. It must > be in the form of a circle.

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The House of Worship at Wilmette was dedicated in 1953.

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*A retelling based on **The Promulgation of Universal Peace** (talk of 1 May 1912 at the Dedication of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Grounds, Wilmette, Illinois; notes by Joseph H. Hannen), with details from **Mahmúd’s Diary** and H. M. Balyuzi’s **‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant**. For the fuller account, see the original.*

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