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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."
89 stories on this theme.
British guns were trained on Jerusalem, then held by the Turks. Reluctant to fire on the holy city, the British command asked headquarters what to do and was told to pray. Not a gun was fired.
Before the First World War ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had villagers grow and store corn, which fed the poor of Haifa and ‘Akká through the famine years. After the British occupation He was knighted, in April 1920.
Four months after the death of the Purest Branch, the exiles were moved out of the barracks of ‘Akká. Bahá’u’lláh and His family went to the house of Malik; most companions lodged in the Khán-i-‘Avámid, later the first pilgrim house.
A biography of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from His childhood in Tehran and long years of exile and imprisonment to His ministry as Center of the Covenant, His journeys to the West, His writings and His passing in Haifa in 1921.
Four brothers living near Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad were drawn to Him by watching Him come and go, and later bore captivity in Mosul with patience. ‘Abdu'l-Bahá remembers each of them and their uncle.
Ḥájí ‘Abdu’lláh left Persia for the Holy Land, farmed for a time at Ghawr near Tiberias while spending much of his time in prayer, then settled near Bahá’u’lláh at Junayna, where he passed away.
Early in his Guardianship, Shoghi Effendi used the gift of an Iraqi Bahá’í, Haji Mahmud Qassabchi, to add three rooms to the Shrine of the Báb, and named a door of the Shrine after him.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers Mírzá Ḥasan, the great Afnán, a learned kinsman of the Báb who settled near Bahjí, studied the stars by night, and did not long survive the passing of Bahá’u’lláh.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers Ḥájí Muḥammad Khán, a Balúch mystic whose long search for a spiritual guide ended in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh; he settled near Him in the Holy Land and passed away beside the Shrine of the Báb.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers Hájí Muhammad-Ridá of Shíráz, a humble believer who served the Afnán, attended Bahá’u’lláh in the Holy Land, and died in Sidon, often praised by the Blessed Beauty.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers two believers from Ádhirbáyján who lived near Adrianople, missed the exile to ‘Akká, followed on their own, farmed outside the city, and died of fever giving thanks to God.
Bahá’u’lláh’s son Mírzá Mihdí, the Purest Branch, fell through a skylight in the ‘Akká barracks in 1870 and offered his life so that the believers might attain his Father’s presence; in 1939 Shoghi Effendi reburied him on Mount Carmel.
Seeing that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had no time even to bathe, Yúnis Khán and Mírzá Ḥaydar-‘Alí arranged for the pilgrim architect Ustád Áqá Bálá to build a small bath in His house. Three days later the Master asked if it was finished, and answered with a story.
The Montreal architect William Sutherland Maxwell, husband of May Maxwell, spent his last years serving Shoghi Effendi in Haifa and designed the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb.
Major Tudor Pole recorded, while noting that he could not vouch for it at first hand, how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá foretold that ‘Akká would be surrendered to two unarmed British soldiers, and how that came about.
O my spiritual sister! Thou didst go away to Haifa, supposedly for only three or four days. Now it becometh apparent that the spiritual power of the Shrine hath brought thee joy and radiance, and even as a magnet is holding thee fast.
O my spiritual sister! God be praised, through the Ancient Beauty’s grace and bounty, we have set foot safe and sound upon this shore, and arrived in this town ...
O my affectionate sister! God be praised, through His grace and favour, my health and well-being are now restored, but it is very hard for me to bear thine absence.
BLESSED REMAINS PUREST BRANCH AND MASTER’S MOTHER SAFELY TRANSFERRED HALLOWED PRECINCTS SHRINES MOUNT CARMEL.
It is not unknown to those who stand firm in the Covenant and Testament of God that the centre of violation and his associates, from the day of the ascension of the Ancient Beauty, may His Great Name be ever exalted …
O loved ones of God, These two precious and most exalted treasures, these two keepsakes of the sacred Beauty of Abhá, have now been joined to the third trust from Him, that is, to the daughter of Bahá and His remnant, the token of the Master’s Remembrance.
70 ...as a further testimony to the majestic unfoldment and progressive consolidation of the stupendous undertaking launched by Bahá’u’lláh on that holy mountain, may be mentioned the selection of a portion of the school property…
The raising of this Edifice will in turn herald the construction, in the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of several other structures...
The steps of her holy resting-place represent Local Spiritual Assemblies, not individual believers.
After the construction of the Báb’s Shrine on Mount Carmel, it was the wish and intention of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—may our lives be sacrificed for His holy dust—to open a path that would lead directly from the Shrine to the German Avenue.
All praise be unto the Court of Holiness, that God has drawn certain blessed souls, entities delicate and pure, unto a realm where they have no desire save the good-pleasure of the Beloved; where …
It was sometime ago that I received your kind and encouraging letter through your honourable secretary.
Seated by the window of a Pilgrim House in Haifa on February 14, 1914, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá foretold that Akká and Haifa would join into one mighty metropolis, and that Mount Carmel would become a sublime spectacle of light.
Bahá’u’lláh indicated in many ways that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was to direct the Cause after His own ascension.
During the winter of 1919–1920 the writer had the great privilege of spending two and half months as the guest of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Haifa and intimately observing His daily life.
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.
Even when the imprisonment was at its worst, the Bahá’ís were not dismayed, and their serene confidence was never shaken.
At last the imprisonment was mitigated. A mobilization of Turkish troops occurred and the barracks were required for soldiers.
He was then in His seventieth year, and His long and arduous labors, culminating in these strenuous Western tours, had worn out His physical frame.
In an account by 'Abdu'l-Bahá quoted in *Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era*, the Master tells how, after Bahá'u'lláh three times declined to leave 'Akká with the words "I am a prisoner," an Arab shaykh of the city pleaded with Him for a whole hour until He consented to go to the mansion of Mazra'ih.
The title “Bahá’u’lláh” is the Arabic for “Glory of God,” and this very title is frequently used by the Hebrew prophets for the Promised One Who is to appear in the last days.
After the Báb’s martyrdom, His remains, with those of His devoted companion, were thrown on the edge of the moat outside the city wall.
A remarkable instance of the foresight of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was supplied during the months immediately preceding the war.
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.
After Bahá'u'lláh's passing, 'Abdu'l-Bahá made a garden by His Father's Shrine and carried water for it Himself. On Holy Days He led the pilgrims, carrying pots of flowers, to the Shrine.
In a children's class, Ms. Bates uses chains no one can break to explain how Bahá'u'lláh, though still a prisoner, walked out of the prison of 'Akká after nine years and made His home in a mansion.
Sent by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to care for a poor, sick friend in 'Akká, Lua Getsinger fled from the filthy house. The Master sternly sent her back to serve him, as He Himself had done many times.
'Abdu'l-Bahá walked rather than rode to visit His Father, saying He would not ride where Christ had walked. Later He insisted on the ordinary stagecoach, asking why He should travel in a carriage when the poor need money.
In His last days 'Abdu'l-Bahá still gave alms to the poor, blessed a servant's wedding and received visitors. He passed away in the early hours of 28 November 1921, with two of His daughters beside Him.
In December 1939 Shoghi Effendi moved the remains of the Purest Branch and his mother, Navvab, from their graves in 'Akka to Mount Carmel, placing the remains in new coffins with his own hands and carrying them on his shoulder.
Muḥammad-Hádí, a bookbinder and illuminator from Iṣfáhán, kept the square before Bahá'u'lláh's house in 'Akká so clean that Bahá'u'lláh said he had turned it into the bridalbower of a palace.
When a car given to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reached port as a weekend began, Shoghi Effendi went to officials' homes for their signatures and had it at the Master's door though it was not a business day.
Leroy Ioas praised the way Shoghi Effendi had built the Administrative Order. The Guardian answered that he had no blueprint: God guided him one step at a time, and the Bahá’ís must share his confidence in that guidance.
Leroy Ioas describes Shoghi Effendi’s day in Haifa: prayer from 5:30 in the morning, his vast mail, the pilgrims from East and West and the International Bahá’í Council, until late at night, every day of the week.
At a feast on the first day of Ayyám-i-Há, nearly two hundred believers gathered in a tent at Mazra'ih, and Bahá'u'lláh called Ḥájí Muḥammad-Ṭáhir-i-Málmírí by name to sit at His table.
Nine days before His passing, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed a talk in Haifa to John Bosch, the only Westerner present, explaining that hearts can speak without words and that real love shows itself in self-sacrifice.
On 4 July 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá took Juliet Thompson and other pilgrims to Bahjí, sat on the floor to sweeten the children's tea, led the pilgrims to the Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh, and told them that the world is one.
Ḥájí ‘Abdu’lláh left Persia for the Holy Land, farmed for a time at Ghawr near Tiberias while spending much of his time in prayer, and then settled near Bahá'u'lláh at Junayna.
Early in his ministry the Guardian added three rooms to the Shrine of the Báb, paid for by Haji Mahmud Qassabchi of Iraq. One of the Shrine's doors is named after him.
Mírzá Ḥasan, a relative of the Báb, was a merchant and scholar who came to love Bahá'u'lláh deeply. He settled near Bahjí to be close to Him, and died soon after Bahá'u'lláh's passing.
Ḥájí Muḥammad-Riḍá of Shíráz served one of the Báb's relatives for many years, then came to the Holy Land and spent a long time near Bahá'u'lláh, Who often spoke in his praise.
Muḥammad-Hádí, a gifted bookbinder from Iṣfahán, left his home to live near Bahá'u'lláh in ‘Akká. He kept the square in front of Bahá'u'lláh's house so clean that Bahá'u'lláh praised him for it.
'Abdu'l-Bahá's gardener said grass would not grow in that land, but Shoghi Effendi kept sending for seed until his lawns grew.
On a July morning in 1909 at Bahjí, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sat on the floor among four children, sweetened their tea and fed it to them. Later, looking out over the sea, He said that America and the Holy Land are one.
Ḥájí ‘Abdu’r-Raḥím of Yazd was a precious soul, from his earliest years virtuous and God-fearing, and known among the people as a holy man, peerless in observing his religious duties, mindful as to his acts. His strong religious faith…
Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá was a blazing light.
Khurshíd Begum, who was given the title of Shamsu’d-Ḍuḥá, the Morning Sun, was mother-in-law to the King of Martyrs.
Sulaymán Khán was the emigrant and settler who was given the title of Jamálí’d-Dín.
One of the emigrants who died along the way to the Holy Land was Zaynu’l-Ábidín of Yazd.
In 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid the remains of the Báb in the Shrine He had built on Mount Carmel. Twelve years later, after His own funeral, His coffin was lowered into a vault beside that of the Báb in the same Shrine.
After the Great War lifted the danger to His life, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent His last three years receiving pilgrims, revealing Tablets and helping the poor, until He passed away in November 1921.
On the Tuesday after 'Abdu'l-Bahá passed away in Haifa in November 1921, no fewer than ten thousand people of every religion and race followed His coffin up Mount Carmel, where nine speakers of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian Faiths gave funeral orations.
Between 1948 and 1953 Shoghi Effendi raised an arcade, drum and golden dome around the plain stone Shrine 'Abdu'l-Bahá had built for the Báb on Mount Carmel. When it was finished he called it the "Queen of Carmel."
On Naw-Rúz 1909, after the Báb's remains had been hidden and moved for decades, 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid them with His own hands in the Shrine He had built on Mount Carmel, and wept so that all who were present wept with Him.
In the First World War the Ottoman commander Jamál Páshá, turned against 'Abdu'l-Bahá by false accusations, threatened to crucify Him. The threat was never carried out: the general's campaigns failed and he fled in defeat.
Anna Kunz, one of the last pilgrims to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in 1921, later recalled above all His great simplicity, His humility and His boundless love.
'Abdu'l-Bahá's gardener said lawns would not grow in Palestine. Shoghi Effendi cabled friends and relatives and finally wrote to seed firms himself, and in time had lawns that satisfied him.
During His last visit to Haifa in 1891, Bahá'u'lláh pitched His tent near the Carmelite monastery on Mount Carmel and revealed the Tablet of Carmel, which is considered the charter of the Bahá'í World Centre.
Leroy Ioas recalled Shoghi Effendi telling how, unwilling to become Guardian after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing, he went to the mountains of Switzerland and fought with himself until he conquered himself, and that every Bahá’í must do the same.
In October 1918, soon after British forces took Haifa, the *Star of the West* printed a telegram with the news the American Bahá'ís had waited for through the war: *Master well and protected.*
On 27 April 1920 'Abdu'l-Bahá was knighted at Haifa for His relief of famine in the Holy Land during the First World War. The Star of the West printed a Persian believer's account of the ceremony.
In early 1922 the Star of the West printed the first detailed American accounts of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Haifa on 28 November 1921 and of His funeral on Mount Carmel.
O Lord! O Beloved! The truthful servant, Mr. ........, abandoned home, left his native land and crossed the great ocean until he reached the shore of the Holy Land and arrived at the Blessed Spot.
O thou leaf who art moved by the Breeze of God!
O thou who has turned towards the Lights of the Alliance!
O thou who hast attained to Truth! I beg of God that the divine light which is spoken of in the Twelfth Chapter of John may shed its rays upon thee forever, so that thou mayest always be in light.
To the beloved of God in Persia! O ye dear friends of Abdul-Baha! It is some time since any heart-thrilling melody hath reached the ear of life from certain countries, and life and conscience have not found happiness and joy.
“The history of Mount Carmel is holy history. A spiritual atmosphere surrounds this 'Mountain of God.' Elijah and Jesus spent part of their precious lives upon it. ‘Abdu'l-Bahá loves Mount Carmel and has often visited it, sometimes…
Leroy Ioas recalls the evening Shoghi Effendi shared news that a discouraged pioneer on a Pacific island, whom he had urged again and again to stay, now had two spiritual assemblies.
Jináb-i-Fádil, disowned by his father for becoming a Bahá’í, thought of asking ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to forgive him; the next day the Master told him that many souls would be forgiven because of his faith.
In a prayer for a memorial gathering, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls Fáṭimih Begum, widow of the King of Martyrs: her sufferings after his martyrdom, her patience, and her years of humble service in the Holy Land.
Hurrying to breakfast without her morning prayers, Lua Getsinger met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the hallway, and He told her never to eat material food in the morning until she had had spiritual food.
When Thornton Chase, a member of Chicago's all-male House of Spirituality, asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá about the Temple, He told the three visiting men to consult Corinne True, to whom He had given complete instructions.
Hand of the Cause Leroy Ioas recalls the contrast between Shoghi Effendi's slight, refined frame and the power with which he spoke, and how closely the Guardian resembled 'Abdu'l-Bahá.