Now I Will Be Your Mother

The great kindness that was such a prominent feature of Shoghi Effendi's character is shown in the manner in which he conveyed to Khánum the news of the death of her beloved mother, May Maxwell:

The devastating news of May Maxwell's passing in Argentina was a terrible shock to Rúhíyyih Khánum. She often repeated the story of how she received this sad news from the Guardian. Four cables had arrived that day and she took them to Shoghi Effendi in his study. He opened each one and then looked up at Rúhíyyih Khánum with a mixture of shock, love and compassion on his face. She said the look frightened her, and she started backing away until she reached the wall. She said she wanted to sink into the wall so deep was the fear engendered in her by that look. Shoghi Effendi went over to her, held her in his arms and broke the news to her with great tenderness. He told her 'Now I will be your mother'. Then he spoke of the high station of May Maxwell in the Abhá Kingdom, of her joy in at long last having reached her heart's desire, of her nearness to her beloved Lord and Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Then gently, in order to dispel her shaking grief, he began to talk to Amatu'l-Bahá in a lighter mood, to describe her mother's activities in the next world, where she was going and what she was doing in that sublime company. She would have been ushered immediately into the presence of Bahá’u’lláh first, of course, he assured her. And no sooner had she come there than she naturally asked permission to tell Him about her precious daughter. But she talked so much that Bahá’u’lláh had finally become tired and had passed her on to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Here again she did nothing but talk about her beautiful daughter, until at length, exhausted, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed her on to the Greatest Holy Leaf. And there she is still, said Shoghi Effendi laughing, there she is still talking about her beloved daughter, stopping every passing member of the Concourse with her opening lines, 'Do let me tell you about my daughter ... !' By the time he reached this point in his narrative, Rúhíyyih Khánum was laughing through her tears. And so with infinite compassion and patience, he comforted her.

Source: Violette Nakhjavání, A Tribute to Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, pp. 37–38.

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: death).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/death