Freed from Depression in ‘Akká

Stanwood Cobb remembers his visit to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the prison-city of ‘Akká in February 1908, when he was a teacher at Robert College in Constantinople:

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“On the occasion of this visit I had been under a severe strain at Robert College, due to disciplinary troubles. That was one of the reasons for my diversionary trip to Egypt. Also I had been slowly recovering in previous years from a nervous depression due to overwork at Dartmouth. I had been earning my way through Dartmouth, and also at the Harvard Divinity School. At times I would feel so depressed that I should have been glad to have found a hole in the ground, crawled into it, and pulled the hole in after me. …

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“‘Abdu’l-Bahá came into my room one morning without His translator. He sat beside me and took one of my hands in both of His and held it for a minute or two. He had not at any time inquired as to my health. He knew. From that moment on I found myself permanently relieved of these depressive moods. No matter how hard the going, I have always since then been glad to be alive. …

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“Needless to say, the ensuing spring at Robert College was one of the most glorious periods of my life. Never had the birds sung so sweetly, the flowers and shrubs bloomed so exquisitely, the golden sunshine seemed so intoxicating. As for my disciplinary troubles at the college, they vanished like mist which the sunshine dispels. My pupils, some of whom had been carrying knives and revolvers, loved me again and more than ever. Such was the magic power that I brought from ‘Akká.”

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