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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
185 stories on this theme.
Riding to a hotel in Chicago, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that He bore the hardships of His travels in America because He feared that, after Him, self-seeking persons might disturb the love and unity of the friends.
When the landlord in New York complained about His many visitors, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not argue but moved out, showering the staff with such love that they felt ashamed and begged Him to stay.
Nettie Tobin, who was not well off, brought a builder's rejected stone to the Wilmette Temple site by baby carriage, streetcar and a borrowed wagon, and the Master used it at the dedication of the land.
Urged to cross to America on the new Titanic, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sailed instead on the slower Cedric. Asked why, He said His heart had not prompted Him to take the Titanic.
In Washington in April 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, though weary, was so moved by the love between Black and white friends at the Dyers’ home that He spoke, likening their union to a string of pearls and rubies.
In New York on 13 April 1912 a young single-taxer asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá what message to take to his friends. The Master laughed and told him that in the Kingdom of God there is plenty of land and no taxes.
After a sleepless night on the train, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reached Denver on 23 September 1912. Within hours He was meeting reporters, and that evening He spoke to a crowded gathering at the home of Mrs. Roberts.
Feny Paulson travelled from Montana to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Salt Lake City and spent a dismal night at the YWCA. His first words to her were about luxury and comfort, and He told her He was her father.
On 13 May 1912, ill with a high fever, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá still went to speak at the New York Peace Society’s meeting at the Hotel Astor, telling Juliet Thompson that He worked by the confirmations of the Holy Spirit.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave freely of love, time, food, money and more while gladly accepting deprivation for Himself. In America He left fine rooms for a simple apartment, yet tipped generously and spoke without pay.
In October 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited Charles Tinsley, a Black believer in San Francisco confined to bed with a broken leg, and told him a parable of a ruler who trained through hardship the subject he loved.
Throughout His travels ‘Abdu’l-Bahá paid His own costs and declined offers of money; in Washington He asked Mrs Parsons to give her gift to the poor instead.
Before speaking at New York’s Bowery Mission in April 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had two thousand-franc notes changed into quarters, and He pressed a gift of silver into the hand of each man there.
In Montreal ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took the streetcar to save a dollar, then gave each of the Maxwells’ servants a pound; at Phoebe Hearst’s estate each servant received ten dollars.
At the dedication of the Wilmette Temple site on 1 May 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá set aside the golden trowel He was given and broke the ground with an ordinary axe and shovel.
Worn out by the train journey from Denver in September 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stopped at Glenwood Springs, bathed in the hot springs with His companions and said He was relieved of fatigue.
On His first morning in Washington, amid many interviews, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent half an hour with Agnes Parsons’ young son Jeffrey, looking at his toys, books and pictures before they went up to the roof to see the view.
With a smile, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told a group in America of a wife who had her husband wipe the dust from her shoes but did not do the same for him, and urged the ladies sometimes to stand up for the rights of men.
New York newspapers could not agree on how many people met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, with reports ranging from about forty to fully a thousand, and some of them added strange remarks of their own.
In Montreal in 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá bought gifts at Henry Birks' jewelry shop to give to people as He traveled. At the Maxwells' home He gave one pound to each of the servants.
At a hotel in Glenwood Springs in 1912, a waiter set no place for Saichiro Fujita because he was a servant; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had a chair brought and seated him among them.
In Dublin, New Hampshire, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called back a ragged old man passing the inn, stepped into a shadow, and gave him His own trousers with a blessing.
After His release in 1908, American believers begged ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to visit. In 1911 He told Juliet Thompson that His invitation to America would be the unity of the believers.
Leaving Buffalo in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá left a dollar for the absent chambermaid, yet refused a driver's overcharge, saying one should never yield to a wrongful demand.
At the Pumpellys’ home in Dublin, New Hampshire, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told a tale with a moral and then a lively Arabian story that filled the room with laughter. On the way home He asked, with a child’s simplicity, whether they were pleased.
At the Unity Feast in West Englewood in June 1912, a sudden storm broke just as the meal was announced. Juliet Thompson watched ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sit at a distant crossroad, His face upturned to the sky, until the clouds raced away.
As the Cedric reached New York on 11 April 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had telegrams sent to the believers in East and West and remarked how easily the ocean had been crossed, while messages of welcome poured in.
Worn out after seeing a hundred and forty people and speaking at the Mortens’ home in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went up to rest, but crowds followed. When Juliet Thompson asked to shut the door, He gently said to let them come.
At the dedication of the Temple site in Wilmette on 1 May 1912, the golden trowel could not break the ground, so ‘Abdu’l-Bahá swung an axe. Women and people of many races then dug, and He declared the Temple already built.
At a crowded meeting in the Hotel Rittenhouse in Philadelphia, some guests had to sit on the floor. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was delighted: the Occident was sitting on the floor like the Orient, and He called it a cause of unity.
Driving up Broadway with Juliet Thompson in April 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá smiled at the electric signs and told His companions that Bahá’u’lláh had loved light and had taught that it should be used freely.
Grieving over a family rift, Juliet Thompson’s mother went through a thunderstorm to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. His words of comfort took away her bitterness, and she regarded it as a miracle.
Asked in New York about the long lives recorded of people in ancient times, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that a family was once called by the name of one person, so later ages mistook the family’s span for one founder’s life.
Near the end of a long address at Stanford University in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked why anyone would fight and kill over the earth, which is in the end only our grave.
The Washington Bahá’ís were divided by the racial customs of the day. When a Unity Feast was booked at a hotel that refused Black guests, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá insisted that all attend, and they sat side by side.
I have come from distant lands to visit the meetings and assemblies of this country.
Today I am most happy, for I see here a gathering of the servants of God.
Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání completed the first volume of his chronicle of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s 1912 journey in America at the end of 1913; at his sudden death the Guardian cabled that his outstanding services would shine evermore.
The life of Thornton Chase, whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called “the first American believer,” from his long spiritual search to his service in Chicago, and the Master’s visit to his grave in 1912.
Ali-Kuli Khan, Persia’s representative in Washington, longed for a prayer to say in moments of sudden need. On the drive from the station, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told him how, as a boy, He had cried “Yá Allah el Mustaghas!” all night before Bahá’u’lláh returned to Baghdad.
In April 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to several hundred men at the Bowery Mission and placed coins in each hand. The quarters left over He gave to a chambermaid, who later came to thank Him and to ask Him to pray for her.
When Corinne True tearfully told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá of the sad things she had had to bear, His answer brought peace to her heart, and she later became a great support for anyone who had lost a loved one.
Agnes Parsons, in whose Washington home ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed in April 1912, recorded His gifts to her family: an ink well for her son, an illuminated manuscript for her husband, and a pair of glasses for her.
O thou Greatest and Most Merciful Holy Leaf!
In the Book of Aqdas, revealed in Akká in 1873, Bahá’u’lláh appealed to America as follows:— O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein ...
In the Book of Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh forbids slavery, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has explained that not only chattel slavery, but also industrial slavery, is contrary to the law of God.
After His release, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá continued the same holy life of ceaseless activity in teaching, correspondence, ministering to the poor and the sick, with merely the change from Akká to Haifa and from Haifa to Alexandria …
In April 1912 John Bosch set out to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and, after a detour to Washington, found Him in New York. The Master told him that with him it was the heart that speaks, and welcomed him as one of the family.
In New York in 1912, John Bosch rode beside ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the way to a luncheon at the Kinneys’ home, and the Master slept on his shoulder for the whole drive.
Speaking at the Bowery Mission in New York in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told of a rainy night when Jesus, with no shelter, called Himself the richest man on earth because God had given Him the poor.
Unable to give money for the Temple, the Chicago seamstress Nettie Tobin hauled a discarded building stone to the Temple site in 1908; on May 1, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá used it when He dedicated the ground.
On the evening of April 21, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá toured the Library of Congress with the Parsons and insisted on seeing each part thoroughly, until the superintendent ordered that the lights be left on.
Early one morning at an inn in Dublin, New Hampshire, 'Abdu'l-Bahá called in a ragged old man, cheered him, and gave him His own trousers, then went back to His dictation as if nothing had happened.
In 1912 Nettie Tobin, a Chicago Bahá'í with little money, hauled a stone a builder had rejected all the way to the House of Worship site, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá used it at the dedication.
As a small Mohawk boy in Ontario, Jim Loft was waved to by 'Abdu'l-Bahá from a passing train. Years later, as a Bahá'í, he returned to his reserve at the Guardian's request to teach the Faith.
Boys who had shouted and thrown sticks at 'Abdu'l-Bahá's party in New York came to meet Him. He welcomed each one, called the only black boy a black rose, and gave them all chocolates.
Thornton Chase, the first Western believer, felt the Bahá'ís were not ready for the Master's visit to California, and died in Los Angeles as He reached San Francisco. He left his Bahá'í papers to John Bosch.
Corinne True's son Davis was critically ill when 'Abdu'l-Bahá visited him in Chicago on 30 April. Davis died while the Master kept Corinne busy; yet she was at the Temple site the next day, and the Master later prayed at the cemetery.
A cleaning woman, ashamed of her rough, work-worn hands, meant only to touch 'Abdu'l-Bahá's robe and slip away. He took her hand, raised her up, looked at it with deep love, and said one word: “Sacrifice!”
Corinne True's daughter Arna feared she had tuberculosis and felt she could not marry Leo Perron. 'Abdu'l-Bahá took her thermometer, broke it in two, and told her she would be well and could marry. She soon recovered.
On an evening visit to the Library of Congress, 'Abdu'l-Bahá insisted on seeing each bronze figure in the rotunda, saying, “When one undertakes to see a thing one should see it.” The superintendent ordered the lights left on.
Travelling east across America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá refused sleeping-car berths so as not to depend on bodily comfort. The next night He had six berths reserved, saying too much austerity was not good, and insisted that all share equally.
During ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s stay at the Parsons home in Washington in April 1912, the household was called together for His short talk and blessing, and He gave each servant a silk handkerchief.
Returning late at night after an exhausting day of speaking in America, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had to be almost carried to His room, yet within fifteen minutes He was calling for His secretary with renewed energy.
On the voyage to America in 1912, American friends asked that the Persians travelling with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá alter their attire to suit the time and place. He replied that there was no harm in it and that such matters were trifles.
In 1912 Lua Getsinger, asked by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to go to California, walked through poison ivy so that she could not travel. He sent her an apple and a pomegranate to cure her, and she went.
In New York in June 1912, before a few days' rest at Montclair, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told the friends of His wish to give an outdoor feast of unity, like a Persian garden, at which all would be His guests.
Howard Colby Ives asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá why he should believe in Bahá’u’lláh. After a long silence the Master spoke of the sincerity a minister's heart must have, and only months later did Ives realize his question had been answered.
On 14 April 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave His first public address in America at New York's Church of the Ascension. Juliet Thompson recalls how He likened material civilization to a lamp's glass and spiritual civilization to its light.
Reluctantly brought to hear ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Boston in 1912, William Randall carried Him some grape juice and was asked to sit. After twenty restless minutes the Master spoke words that became a turning point in his life.
In California, despite fatigue and physical ailments, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá welcomed everyone with a beaming smile and asked, ‘Are you happy?’
In late May 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had to leave His New York lodgings because of the stream of visitors, but when the staff saw His kindness as He departed, they were ashamed and begged Him to stay.
In Minneapolis a rabbi asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to speak in his synagogue. When the Master mentioned His years of imprisonment, the rabbi remarked that we are all in prison in this world, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said He had been resigned and joyful even then.
In New York a young supporter of tax reform asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá what message to take back to friends. Laughing, the Master said to invite them into the Kingdom of God, where there is plenty of land and no taxes on it.
In San Francisco on 22 October 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá foretold a great war and said the generality of mankind would one day reproach statesmen who send them into war while they themselves live in comfort.
At Glenwood Springs, Colorado, in 1912, Saichiro Fujita brought a big watermelon back to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The Master began eating it at once with His hand, declining a knife and fork, and it was shared with all the Bahá’ís.
On a drive through Montreal in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stopped at the quiet Roman Catholic cathedral and went in. There He spoke of the sacrifice of Christ’s disciples, which had carried their faith so far, and urged His companions to follow in their footsteps.
Before leaving New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave Edward Kinney a pair of His boots. When the treasured boots vanished, Mr. Kinney examined his own conduct, prayed for forgiveness, and found them back in their drawer.
In New York in 1912, Lua Getsinger told Grace Robarts that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wished her to marry Harlan Ober, a man she scarcely knew. Grace obeyed, and the Master Himself performed their marriage.
On 19 April 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to three hundred homeless men at the Bowery Mission in New York, then stood at the end of the aisle and pressed coins into the hand of each man as he filed past.
In New York in April 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent for Juliet Thompson's grieving mother, who had opposed her daughter's work for the Faith, and comforted her. The next day she told Juliet that all her bitterness had gone.
At a Washington luncheon in April 1912, asked whether the spirit could heal broken bones, 'Abdu'l-Bahá laughed that all the spirits in the air could not create a salad. Two days later, at the Turkish Embassy, He answered high praise very simply.
Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání kept a record of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's journey through America in 1912, copied it out by hand for 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and was later sent to India to publish it.
At a mission hall in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to three hundred homeless men, then shook each man's hand and gave him coins for a night's bed.
A lady who could not walk longed to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá. When He heard about her wish, He went to her home to see her.
Before leaving Mrs Phoebe Hearst's house in California, 'Abdu'l-Bahá called for the maids, cooks and butler, thanked them, and gave each of them a gift.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá's ship reached New York in April 1912, reporters came on board to ask why He had come. He told them He had come for universal peace and the unity of humankind.
In Boston in 1912, a speaker warned a large audience that a false Christ had come to America. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, speaking next, told them of the truth of all the Prophets of God, and especially of Christ.
In 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá sailed from Egypt to New York on the ship Cedric. He cared for His companions, spoke to the passengers, and had to say goodbye to three friends, Shoghi Effendi among them, at Naples.
On December 5, 1912, many friends came aboard the ship Celtic in New York to say goodbye to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. In His last words to them He said that the whole earth is one globe and all nations are one family.
Nettie Tobin had no money to give, so she brought a stone the builders did not want to the land for a House of Worship. On May 1, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá set her stone in the ground with His own hands.
At a children's event in Brooklyn, Admiral Peary, the explorer of the North Pole, asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá to make a short speech. He had not planned to speak, but His talk captured everyone's attention.
On His last evening in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to students and professors at Columbia University about the powers of the human mind and spirit, and about the love that joins East and West. Afterwards, people did not want to leave Him.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá went to stay in the green hills of New Hampshire, His hostess hoped He could rest. But He said He had come to work and to serve, and He welcomed the many people who came to see Him.
When two Japanese Bahá'ís came to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá in San Francisco, He was very happy and said that their meeting was an historic event.
In a San Francisco synagogue, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about Moses and then asked His Jewish listeners why they should not also praise Christ and Muḥammad.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá left Minneapolis, His friends went with Him to the train. Before He left, He asked them to be kind to the poor and help them.
On His journey through America in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá often served tea and food to His companions and guests with His own hands.
In city after city on His journey across America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá met the children, hugged and blessed them, and gave them flowers and sweets.
'Abdu'l-Bahá could stay only two days in Minneapolis and St. Paul. In that time He spoke at His hotel, a club, a synagogue and two friends' homes.
Nettie Tobin wanted to give something for the new temple, so she brought a rejected stone from Chicago in an old baby carriage. 'Abdu'l-Bahá chose it as the cornerstone.
At the edge of Niagara Falls, 'Abdu'l-Bahá remembered the waterfalls Bahá'u'lláh had loved, and told His companions why He could not stay even half a day.
In a large church in Philadelphia, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about two pathways, the way of nature and the way of religion, and said that religion must bring people together.
In Pittsburgh in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá taught that laws should help the poor and that the rich should give to them from willing hearts.
'Abdu'l-Bahá visited about four hundred poor men at the Bowery Mission, called them His friends and companions, and placed a coin in every hand.
After traveling across America and back, 'Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York in November 1912 and welcomed the many friends and visitors who came to see Him before He sailed away.
About eighteen hundred students filled a university hall at Stanford to hear 'Abdu'l-Bahá speak about science, peace, and the whole human race as one family.
As He left a country house in Milford, 'Abdu'l-Bahá looked at the green countryside all around and began to cry, because He was remembering the sufferings of His Father, Bahá'u'lláh.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá sailed from New York in December 1912, so many friends came to say goodbye that the ship's lounge overflowed. He asked them to live by His teachings, and they waved to Him as the ship sailed away.
A woman's friend warned her that going to hear 'Abdu'l-Bahá might be a trap. He told her it was a trap, but a trap that sets people free.
In a New York church crowded with two thousand people, a crying woman held on to the hem of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's robe, and He comforted her with loving words.
The president of Clark University invited 'Abdu'l-Bahá to visit. He spoke to more than a thousand students and teachers about the value of science, and told the president He would never forget the meeting.
Howard Colby Ives went to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá what renunciation means. The Master talked about something else on the walk back, and then asked Howard a question of His own.
A crowd of boys came to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York. The only Black boy among them was afraid he would not be welcome, but 'Abdu'l-Bahá greeted him, loud enough for all to hear, as a black rose.
A few days before 'Abdu'l-Bahá sailed from America, Howard Colby Ives sat close to Him as He gave His last instructions to His friends, and later put all of the words into his book.
Howard Colby Ives wished he could meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá alone, without even an interpreter. At a crowded New York hotel, 'Abdu'l-Bahá called him over, sent everyone out, and sat with him in silence.
Saying goodbye to 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the ship that took Him from America, Howard Colby Ives knelt and placed the Master's hand on his head. He never forgot how still that hand lay.
After a long, tiring day, 'Abdu'l-Bahá came home so weak that His friends had to help Him inside. Fifteen minutes later His strong voice rang through the house again.
'Abdu'l-Bahá listened while a committee in New York talked things over. Then He stopped at the door and asked them one question.
A boy of about thirteen, the only Black boy in a group visiting 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York, was afraid he might not be welcome. 'Abdu'l-Bahá called him "a black rose" in front of everyone.
On a field beside a great lake, 'Abdu'l-Bahá dug the earth for the first stone of a House of Worship that still stands today, and friends from many lands took turns digging after Him.
In 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá united two American Bahá'ís in marriage. At the wedding, before guests from many countries, He chanted a prayer for them.
A visitor began complaining to 'Abdu'l-Bahá about his country. 'Abdu'l-Bahá told him to speak well of everyone and reminded him of a story about Jesus and a dog.
In Chicago in 1912 young Leroy Ioas bought white carnations for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but asked his father to present them. After the talk, the Master turned to the boy and gave him the red rose from His own coat.
When the Cedric reached New York on 11 April 1912, reporters came aboard to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá why He had come. He told them His object was universal peace and the unity of humankind.
'Abdu'l-Bahá visited Boston three times in 1912. He addressed the Unitarian conference at Tremont Temple and the Free Religious Association at Ford Hall, spoke to journalists about peace, and later stayed a week at Malden.
Mahmúd's Diary records 'Abdu'l-Bahá's voyage on the Cedric from Alexandria to New York in March and April 1912, including the day at Naples when three of His companions, Shoghi Effendi among them, had to leave the ship.
On December 5, 1912, Mahmúd's Diary records, a great crowd of believers from New York and other cities filled the lounge of the SS *Celtic* to bid 'Abdu'l-Bahá farewell. In His parting address He summed up the teaching of His American journey: the whole earth is one globe, and all nations one family.
On May 1, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá dug the ground for the House of Worship at Wilmette with a golden trowel, American delegates and Eastern believers continued the digging, and He set in place the stone Nettie Tobin had brought.
At a children's event given by the Unity Club in Brooklyn on June 5, 1912, Admiral Robert E. Peary asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá to make a short speech. He had not planned to speak, but His talk on education captured everyone's attention.
On 19 April 1912, His last evening in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Earl Hall, Columbia University, on science, the power of the human spirit and the oneness of humanity. Afterwards so many came to meet Him that a planned tour of the university was given up.
From 25 July to 16 August 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá stayed at Dublin, New Hampshire, where Mrs Parsons had hoped He might rest. He said He had come for work and service, and the weeks filled with Tablets, talks and many visitors.
When two Japanese Bahá'ís called on 'Abdu'l-Bahá in San Francisco on 4 October 1912, He called their meeting an historic event, brought about through the power of Bahá'u'lláh.
In July 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá learned that the mother of Mrs Zieglar, unable to walk, longed to see Him. On His return to New York He went straight to her home.
Taking leave of Phoebe Hearst's house near Pleasanton, California, 'Abdu'l-Bahá called for the maids, orderlies, cooks and butler, thanked them, and gave each a gift, while the guests stood by, astonished.
On October 12, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to some two thousand people at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. He honoured Moses, showed how Christ and Muḥammad had upheld Him, and asked why Jews should not now praise Them in turn.
On September 20, 1912, the friends went with 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the station as He left Minneapolis. His parting words asked them to love and help the poor.
On April 23, 1912, at a Washington luncheon given in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's honor by Ali-Kuli Khan, the Master asked for Louis Gregory, who had not been invited, and gave him the seat of honor at His right.
Mahmúd's Diary records 'Abdu'l-Bahá serving tea to His companions with His own hand, cooking for guests, and waiting on the friends at dinner during His 1912 journey through America.
In Washington, Chicago, Kenosha, St. Paul, San Francisco and New York, Mahmúd's Diary records 'Abdu'l-Bahá meeting children during His 1912 journey: embracing and kissing them, taking them on His lap, and giving them flowers and sweets.
In September 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent two days in Minneapolis and St. Paul, speaking at His hotel, the Commercial Club, a synagogue and the homes of Albert Hall and Dr Clement Woolson.
On 1 May 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá dedicated the site of the first Bahá'í House of Worship in the West. For the cornerstone He chose a rejected building stone that Nettie Tobin had brought from Chicago by baby carriage and streetcar.
On 10 September 1912, during His stay in Buffalo, 'Abdu'l-Bahá took the trolley to Niagara Falls, recalled the small waterfalls Bahá'u'lláh had loved in Mázindarán, and told His companions He could not stay even half a day.
In June 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at two churches in Philadelphia. At the Baptist Temple He described the pathway of nature and the pathway of religion, and set out the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
On May 7, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent a day in Pittsburgh. At the Hotel Schenley He met visitors, set out the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh at an evening meeting, and then spoke with a group of philosophers, doctors and journalists.
In April 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at the Bowery Mission in New York to about four hundred poor men, telling them that Jesus Himself had been poor and that the poor are very dear to God. Then He stood at the door and gave each man a coin.
After His journey to California and back, 'Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York in November 1912 and received crowds of friends and seekers until He sailed on the Celtic on 5 December.
On October 8, 1912, at the invitation of its president, David Starr Jordan, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to some 1,800 students and 180 professors at Leland Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto.
As 'Abdu'l-Bahá left a country estate at Milford, Pennsylvania, in June 1912, He looked at its lush greenery and wept, remembering the sufferings of Bahá'u'lláh.
On December 5, 1912, believers crowded aboard the Celtic in New York to bid 'Abdu'l-Bahá farewell. He gave them His parting words, and as the ship sailed, a throng stretching as far as the eye could see waved goodbye.
On May 1, 1912, at the site of the future House of Worship in Wilmette, 'Abdu'l-Bahá dug the ground for the foundation stone with a golden trowel. Believers of many backgrounds followed, and He set the stone in place.
In Dublin, New Hampshire, in August 1912, a woman told 'Abdu'l-Bahá that a friend had warned her the meeting might be a trap. He answered that it was a trap, but one that frees people.
After 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at the Church of the Ascension in New York in April 1912, a weeping woman in the crowd held fast to the hem of His robe, and He calmed her with loving words.
In Chicago in November 1912 a visitor from Russia began complaining to 'Abdu'l-Bahá about his country. The Master told him to speak ill of no one and reminded him of Christ's words about a dead dog.
On 23 May 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá drove from Boston to Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the invitation of its president, G. Stanley Hall, and spoke to more than a thousand students and faculty on the value and importance of science.
The House of Worship at Wilmette began with a petition from the Chicago believers in 1903. 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid its dedication stone in 1912, and the American Bahá'í community built it over the next three decades, finishing the exterior in 1942.
Louis Gregory, an African American lawyer, and Louisa Mathew, an Englishwoman, met as pilgrims in 1911. 'Abdu'l-Bahá expressed the wish that they marry, and on 27 September 1912 they became the first interracial Bahá'í couple in America.
Howard Colby Ives, an unhappy minister, met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York in 1912. Months of study and turmoil followed, and when his Brotherhood Church had to close, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to him that it had happened to free him to call people to the Kingdom.
Resting in Central Park after a visit to the Museum of Natural History, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told a puzzled watchman that one does not lose the material world by attaining the spiritual, just as going upstairs does not mean leaving the house.
In New York in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá held up the book of the Hidden Words and said that whoever does not live up to its words is not of Him.
One June day in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá slept long enough to keep His audience waiting. He told them He had awoken with one word on His lips, ‘Imtiyáz’ (Distinction), and would speak on that subject.
Speaking with physicians in San Francisco in October 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that dogmas contrary to science and reason are a chief cause of irreligion, and He quoted Bahá’u’lláh's words that such matters are an obstacle to progress.
Howard Colby Ives made a special journey to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá about renunciation. On the walk back the Master spoke only of horizons; then, in His room, He asked Ives whether he was interested in renunciation.
Howard Colby Ives recalls a Sunday in New York in April 1912 when some twenty or thirty boys from the East Side came to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and He welcomed the only Black boy among them, before them all, as a black rose.
On May 19, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke on brotherhood at the Brotherhood Church in Jersey City, where Howard Colby Ives was the unpaid minister. Ives, who had named the church, felt ashamed of how little he had lived the word.
On December 2, 1912, three days before He sailed from America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave His last instructions to a group of friends in New York. Howard Colby Ives, sitting close to Him, later quoted the talk in full.
A group of boys from New York's East Side came to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The only Black boy among them feared he might not be welcome, and the Master greeted him before them all as "a black rose."
On a trolley to Newark, Howard Colby Ives shared his copy of Some Answered Questions with the young woman beside him. At the end of the ride she asked who the author was, and the next Sunday she came to hear 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
In April 1912 Howard Colby Ives went without an appointment to the Hotel Ansonia in New York. 'Abdu'l-Bahá beckoned him across a crowded room, sent everyone else out, and sat with him alone.
On 17 July 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá united Harlan Ober and Grace Robarts in marriage. At the evening ceremony, performed by Howard Colby Ives before guests from many lands, the Master chanted a prayer for the couple.
At the farewell aboard the S.S. Celtic in December 1912, Howard Colby Ives knelt and placed 'Abdu'l-Bahá's hand on his head. The hand lay still, and Ives remembered it ever after as a sign of the Master's humility.
After an exhausting day of speaking, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had to be almost carried into the house. Within fifteen minutes He was calling for His secretary with more than His usual energy. An incident recorded by Howard Colby Ives.
'Abdu'l-Bahá listened for half an hour to a meeting of the executive committee of the New York Spiritual Assembly. Then He rose, paused at the door, and asked why they did not execute.
Early one morning in Dublin, New Hampshire, a guest at the inn saw 'Abdu'l-Bahá call back a ragged old man and give him the trousers He was wearing.
On April 19, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to several hundred poor and homeless men at the Bowery Mission in New York, called them His friends and comrades, and afterwards placed silver coins in each man's hand.
At a reception given by the New York Peace Society at the Hotel Astor on 13 May 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told some two thousand people that there is no greater glory than service in the cause of the Most Great Peace.
On April 30, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Hull House, the Chicago settlement house founded by Jane Addams in 1889. With Miss Addams presiding, He spoke to a crowded hall of white and Black listeners on the unity of the races, whose differences of color He likened to the flowers of one garden.
At the dedication of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár grounds in Wilmette on May 1, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá foretold thousands of Houses of Worship in East and West, described the one at 'Ishqábád, and said the Chicago Temple must be circular, not triangular.
In New York on 19 June 1912, as Juliet Thompson painted His portrait, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed Lua Getsinger the Herald of the Covenant and declared Himself the Covenant appointed by Bahá’u’lláh.
Reserved by nature, Sutherland Maxwell first planned to lodge ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a Montreal hotel, but the day before He came bought new furniture for Him and begged Him at the station to stay in their home.
The morning after He arrived in Montréal, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited a sickly girl across the street from the Maxwells and told her parents she must be let out into the sunlight; she soon recovered completely.
On April 30, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told an NAACP conference in Chicago that color is of no importance. That evening, across the road, a tied Bahá’í election ended with Louis Gregory joining the governing board of Bahá’í Temple Unity.
Learning that Juliet Thompson's mother was grieving, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent for her in the midst of a thunderstorm. Though exhausted, He welcomed and comforted her, and the next day she said all her bitterness had gone.
At the Bowery Mission in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke on the station of poverty, then stood by the door and gave coins to each of some four hundred men, with money left over for others.
When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed at Mrs True's home in Chicago in September 1912, visitors filled its rooms, hallways and stairs; when He grew tired, He would take a walk outside and then return.