When the British arrived in Haifa, where the blockade had caused a
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
Haifa (today: Haifa, Israel)

When the British arrived in Haifa, where the blockade had caused a perilous condition for the inhabitants, it was discovered that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had saved the civilian population from starvation. Provisions which He had grown, buried in under-ground pits, and otherwise stored, had been given out to the civilians of every nation living in Haifa. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did this in a military way as an army would give rations, and deep was the gratitude of those women and children who had been saved by His power to see into the future of tragedy and woe as early as 1912, when He began the preparations for the catastrophe which was to overtake that land in 1917 and 1918. When Haifa was finally occupied by the British, reserve provisions had not yet come for the army, and someone in authority approached the Master, as already mentioned. The British Government, with its usual gesture of appreciating a heroic act, conferred a knighthood upon ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 'Abbas, Who accepted this honour as a courteous gift "from a just king."
Source: Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: planning).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/planning
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
The Master's life was very full at this time
The Master's life was very full at this time. Not only did He care for the friends of Abu-Sinan, but in `Akká and Haifa all the poor looked to Him for their daily bread. Even before the war the spectre of starvation had not been very far…
One of Baha’u’llah’s granddaughters remembers His loving nature
Even though Baha'u'llah and His Family lived as prisoners, He tried in every way to make them happy. When Tuba Khanum was a child, she and her sisters had a difficult time.
Two Pink Roses for a Little Girl
A lady in Akka told this story about ‘Abdu’l-Baha and her little daughter: The Master came to visit her child when she was sick.
Among the Children of the East End
In *The Chosen Highway* Lady Blomfield records an afternoon in September 1911 when 'Abdu'l-Bahá visited a poor district of east London — a settlement house among the dock-workers' families — and spoke to a hall of children who had never before heard a man speak as one of them.