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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."
45 stories on this theme.
In *Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era*, Esslemont quotes the Cambridge orientalist Edward Granville Browne's account of meeting Bahá'u'lláh at Bahjí in 1890: the face he could never forget, and the words he recalled hearing.
Having in His earlier years of hardship shown how to glorify God in a state of poverty and ignominy, Bahá’u’lláh in His later years at Bahjí showed how to glorify God in a state of honor and affluence.
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.
May Bolles, one of the first Western pilgrims, recalls her journey from Marseilles by way of Port Said to Haifa and the morning she first met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
On April 10, 1911, the day he landed at Alexandria, Louis G. Gregory of Washington met 'Abdu'l-Bahá for the first time. The Master kissed his head, asked after his health and told him, "I am happy to have you here."
Years later Leroy Ioas described the visitors who came to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from dawn onward, and the swift answers with which, in a single moment, He might decide someone’s destiny.
On a drive near Thonon in August 1911, 'Abdu'l-Bahá bought violets from peasant children and stopped at a waterfall. When Juliet Thompson wished she could follow Him all her life, He told her to be happy in the present.
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 Thonon in August 1911, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told Juliet Thompson, through His interpreter, that He bore witness to the purity of her heart and had sent for her out of nothing but affection.
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.
In June 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá sat for the painter Juliet Thompson in New York. At the first sitting, in a cramped and dark entrance hall, He asked her to paint His Servitude to God.
In 'Akká in July 1909, 'Abdu'l-Bahá called Juliet Thompson to His room and asked for the messages she had brought from the American believers. She asked His prayers for her godchild, her brother and a friend.
On a drive near Lake Geneva in 1911, 'Abdu'l-Bahá bought all the violets a group of village children were selling. Later, when Juliet wished she could follow Him all her life, He told her to be happy in the present.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Howard Colby Ives invited 'Abdu'l-Bahá to speak at the church he had named the Brotherhood Church. When 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke on brotherhood, Howard felt ashamed of how little he had lived the word.
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.
'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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
After nine years within the walls of 'Akká, Bahá'u'lláh was persuaded to move to the country, first to Mazra'ih and then to the mansion of Bahjí, where, though still nominally a prisoner, He was honoured by officials and visitors.
In ten years of exile in Baghdád, Bahá'u'lláh's house became a refuge for people of every faith and class. When He left for Constantinople in 1863, crowds wept and pressed forward to embrace His stirrups.
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.
To avoid becoming a cause of discord among the Bábís of Baghdád, Bahá'u'lláh withdrew to the mountains of Kurdistán. For two years He lived there as Darvísh Muḥammad, and the people of the region came to revere and love Him.
During His nine weeks in Paris in 1911, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to a poor congregation in a mission hall, walked through a rowdy crowd that parted for Him, and comforted a weeping widow whose son faced a dangerous operation.
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.
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.
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.
When little Leslie Armstrong of Montreal died in January 1913, his parents recalled that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had filled the boy's hands with fruit, kissed him, and said he would be a shining light for God.
Julia Grundy records a private talk with 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká in 1905. He told her she would be a source of guidance to others and, when she regretted leaving, said she would never be absent.