A Friend Turned Away in Paris

While ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was living in a Paris hotel, among those who often came to see Him was a poor, black man. He was not a Bahá’í, but he loved the Master very much. One day when he came to visit, someone told him that the management did not like to have him—a poor black man—come, because it was not consistent with the standards of the hotel. The poor man went away.

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When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá learned of this, He sent for the man responsible. He told him that he must find His friend—He was not happy that he should have been turned away. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, ‘I did not come to see expensive hotels or furnishings, but to meet My friends. I did not come to Paris to conform to the customs of Paris, but to establish the standard of Bahá’u’lláh.’

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