The Knighting of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

In its issue of 31 December 1920 (Volume 11, No. 16), the *Star of the West* printed, under the heading "The Knighting of Abdul-Baha," a photograph taken in the garden of the Military Governor at Haifa on 27 April 1920. On that day 'Abdu'l-Bahá was invested with the insignia of the Knighthood of the British Empire.

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The honour recognised His work for the people of the Holy Land during the First World War. When the war brought famine, the Master had grain grown on lands in the Jordan Valley and by the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias, and the wheat was given to the hungry. After the British took Palestine, their authorities wished to acknowledge what He had done to relieve the suffering of those years. He accepted the honour as the gift of a just king, but He never used the title.

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The *Star* printed part of a letter about the day from Abbas Guli, the Persian believer in charge of the Tomb of the Báb, to a Bahá'í in America. Dr. Zia Bagdadi wrote it out in English for him:

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> Friends from all parts of the world are here. They have come from > America, Persia, India, Russia, Italy, France, England, Mesapotamia, > Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and all are rejoicing notwithstanding the > great unrest of the world. . . . Today in the presence of the Bahais, > the notables of the country, the leaders of all religions, while the > English soldiers were saluting and the military music was playing, the > Master received the highest gold medal sent by the King of England. > It was a very happy occasion.

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*A retelling based on **Star of the West**, Volume 11, No. 16 (December 31, 1920), "The Knighting of Abdul-Baha," with background from H. M. Balyuzi, 'Abdu'l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant. For the fuller account, see the original.*

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