Master Well and Protected

In its issue of the 16th of October, 1918, the *Star of the West* reproduced a telegram that had reached its office in Chicago from Boston on the 4th of October. It had been sent by William H. Randall, and it read:

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> Just received cable from London saying official cable received > there states Master well and protected. Notify friends. Abhá > greetings.

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Beneath it the editors wrote: "Momentous changes are taking place in the Holy Land. The doors of communication between Abdul-Baha and the outer world, are opening." The full significance of these events, they added, could not yet be grasped. They likened the news to "the appearance of the sun after long obscurity."

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During the First World War the American believers had been cut off from 'Abdu'l-Bahá for long periods. British forces took Haifa on the 23rd of September, 1918.

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Shoghi Effendi later recorded in *God Passes By* the steps that had been taken for the Master's safety. When the English believers learned of the danger to His life, they acted at once, and the British Cabinet was told of the critical situation at Haifa.

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Lord Lamington wrote to the Foreign Office to "explain the importance of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's position," and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour, sent a despatch to General Allenby instructing him to "extend every protection and consideration to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, His family and His friends." According to information that had reached British Intelligence, the Turkish Commander-in-Chief had intended to harm 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His family if his army had to evacuate Haifa.

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Allenby gave orders to the commander of the Haifa operations to ensure the Master's safety, and after the capture of the town he cabled London, asking the authorities to "notify the world that 'Abdu'l-Bahá is safe."

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The link between the American believers and 'Abdu'l-Bahá was open again. At their first convention after the war, in 1919, the *Tablets of the Divine Plan*, which He had addressed to the believers of North America during the war years, were unveiled.

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*A retelling based on the **Star of the West**, Volume 9, No. 12 (October 16, 1918), with the account of the Master's protection in Shoghi Effendi's* God Passes By *(chapter XX). For the fuller account, see the originals.*

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