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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."
446 stories where humility appears.
While Bahá'u'lláh lived in solitude in the mountains, His family in Baghdad heard of a dervish who had comforted a weeping schoolboy and written him a beautiful copy. Bahíyyih Khánum recalled how they became convinced it was their father.
Haji Mirza Haydar-'Ali tells of a man so afraid of being found with the Kitáb-i-Íqán that he hid it in a stable manger, until he reflected on the fearlessness of its Author and became a believer.
A recollection of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s majestic presence, of the love that flowed from Him to everyone near Him, and of His constant adjuration: “Do as I do. Be as I am.”
As the New York friends met to form their first Local Spiritual Assembly, a cablegram from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent them to Matthew 19:30, and they learned a lesson in humility.
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.
Weakened in health on His third visit to Paris in 1913, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá some evenings took only milk and bread, and on the 27th He moved to a hotel in Rue Lauriston for a few days' rest.
When a child asked why all the rivers of the earth flow into the ocean, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered that the ocean sets itself lower than them all and so draws them to itself.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá never sought publicity and disliked being photographed, saying a picture of oneself emphasizes the personality; in London He at first refused, then consented to make the reporters and the friends happy.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum recalled how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá carried flower-pots two miles in the heat to the tomb of Bahá’u’lláh, and pumped water there until He was too stiff to walk away.
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.
During the 1912 American election year, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said in California that a president should be free of ambition for name and fame and should seek the public good, not his own.
Howard Colby Ives recalled how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá listened patiently to a clergyman's long questions, then spoke to him with such love that the visitor was transformed, and sent him off with an armful of roses.
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.
In The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi called racial prejudice the most vital and challenging issue before the American Bahá'ís, asked both races for a supreme effort, and gave minorities priority when votes or qualifications were equal.
Howard Colby Ives followed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to His room in New York. In the stillness the Master simply asked whether he was interested in renunciation, and Ives, without words, left His presence with his soul treading the heights.
On pilgrimage in ‘Akká in 1909, Juliet Thompson stayed up late instead of resting as the Master had asked, and argued about whether the New York Assembly was united. The next morning ‘Abdu’l-Bahá looked deep into her eyes and took her hand in a clasp of love.
To man, the Essence of God is incomprehensible, so also are the worlds beyond this, and their condition.
On Christmas night 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to a thousand homeless men at a Salvation Army shelter in London; at New York’s Bowery Mission He spoke to the men and gave each the price of a bed.
Howard Colby Ives recalls how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá met every questioner first with silence, listening so completely that He seemed to listen with the speaker’s own ears.
Leroy Ioas recalls the Guardian's humility: Shoghi Effendi never spoke of "the days of the Guardian", and he stopped Ioas from ever mentioning his name in the same breath as the Master's.
Howard Colby Ives asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá three times what detachment meant. The Master said nothing until they reached His room, then turned and gently asked whether he was interested in detachment.
On Christmas night 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to about a thousand homeless men at a Salvation Army shelter in Westminster. He left money for another dinner on New Year’s night, and the men rose to cheer Him.
When Yúnis Khán handed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá a poem full of exalted titles, the Master was deeply grieved and said He considered Himself lower than every believer. Seeing Yúnis Khán's distress, He then comforted him.
In Haifa, thirteen-year-old Bahíyyih Randall saw ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tenderly feed the aged Ḥaydar-‘Alí. When she asked him what he had done to serve the Faith, he said he had not done as much as an ant could do in the path of God.
All the people of the world are, as thou dost observe, in the sleep of negligence.
The connection between God and the creatures is that of the creator to the creation; it is like the connection between the sun and the dark bodies of contingent beings, and is the connection between the maker and the things that he has made.
Know that the conditions of existence are limited to the conditions of servitude, of prophethood, and of Deity, but the divine and the contingent perfections are unlimited.
As to the seven qualifications (of the divinely enlightened soul) of which thou hast asked an explanation, it is as follows: KNOWLEDGE.
The spiritual love of God maketh man pure and holy and clotheth him with the garment of virtue and purity.
TO THE ASSEMBLIES AND MEETINGS OF THE BELIEVERS OF GOD AND THE MAID-SERVANTS OF THE MERCIFUL IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: Upon them be Bahá’u’lláh El-Abhá!
O friend! Be set aglow with the fire of the love of God, so that the hearts of the people will become enlightened by the light of thy love.
All the people have formed a god in the world of thought, and that form of their own imagination they worship; when the fact is that the imagined form is finite and the human mind is infinite.
Mary Maxwell of Montreal married Shoghi Effendi on 25 March 1937 in a simple, private wedding; as Rúḥíyyih Khánum she later served as a Hand of the Cause and travelled to 185 countries and territories.
After his father’s death, Áqá Ḥusayn-i-Áshchí was taken into Bahá’u’lláh’s household and became its cook; he recalled the meagre meals in Adrianople and how Bahá’u’lláh smiled on learning that he counted the coal for each brazier.
Muḥammad-Ibráhím, a coppersmith and poet from Káshán, came to Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, was exiled to Mosul, and spent his last years in Haifa serving travellers. His elegy for the King of Martyrs moved all to tears.
Ḥájí Mírzá Músá, whose father had been devoted to Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad, longed to give Him the house He lived in; Bahá’u’lláh would accept it only by purchase, and revealed a Tablet in Mírzá Músá’s honour.
‘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.
Born in Charleston to formerly enslaved parents, Louis G. Gregory became a Bahá'í in 1909, was seated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at His right in Washington, gave decades to teaching and race unity, and was posthumously named a Hand of the Cause.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers Mashhadí Faṭṭáḥ, who came from Ádhirbáyján with his brother, lost everything he owned, lived content and silent in the prison of ‘Akká, and died of grief after the passing of Bahá’u’lláh.
Mírzá Asadu’lláh Fáḍil of Mázindarán, a scholar who became a Bahá’í in Tihrán, carried out a dangerous mission for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Najaf, taught across America, India and Persia, and wrote a nine-volume history of the Faith.
A learned seeker from Yazd became a carpenter in Baghdad, gathered provisions for the exiles on the road to Constantinople, and served in the ‘Akká barracks, where he revived after Bahá’u’lláh bade that the prayer for healing be chanted.
A respected scholar of Isfahán gave up every comfort to serve Bahá’u’lláh and the believers in ‘Akká; after Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension, unable to bear His absence, he wasted away and died.
Muḥammad-Hádí, a master bookbinder from Iṣfahán, kept the square before Bahá’u’lláh’s house in ‘Akká swept and sprinkled, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls how a bowl of barley soup once cured his long fever.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar, a learned seeker who found the Faith, was chained and jailed again and again in Ṭihrán yet kept safe, and after his death appeared to Him in a dream, saying he had been teaching the Faith.
After Siyyid Kázim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn returned to Karbilá, urged his fellow disciples to scatter in search of the Promised One, and refused their offer to accept him instead. He became the first to believe in the Báb.
Siyyid Ismá‘íl of Zavárih swept the doorstep of Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad with his own turban each dawn. Transformed by His words, he at last gave up his life beside the river, an act Bahá'u'lláh recalls in the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.
After the upheaval at Nayríz, the learned Siyyid Ja‘far-i-Yazdí met public humiliation with joy and endured daily beatings. Freed at last, he reached Bahá'u'lláh, Who revealed the Súriy-i-Nush in his honor.
Sent by Muhammad Shah to investigate the Báb, the renowned divine Siyyid Yahya of Darab met Him three times in Shiraz and was won over by His commentary on the Surih of Kawthar. He later gave his life at Nayriz.
A quiet master carpenter from Káshán joined Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad, endured captivity in Mosul, and after the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh made the glass roof over the inner courtyard of His Shrine.
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.
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.
On the evening of her wedding Munírih Khánum received Bahá’u’lláh’s blessing, then awaited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the bridal room. The service was very simple, with no choir, decorations or cake, just cups of tea.
O thou my sister, my dear sister! Divine wisdom hath decreed this temporary separation, but I long more and more to be with thee again.
Both in the Persian and Arabic Writings of the Primal Point—may the life of all men be offered up for Him—there are several …
The Ancient Beauty, the Most Great Name, has, through the splendours of His grace in this most glorious of all ages, made this world of dust to radiate light.
The letter you have written was received with the utmost joy for it was to us not only a message of love and unity but a message of humble devotion and servitude at the divine Threshold.
In this Day nothing is so important as service. Did not ‘Abdu’l-Bahá voluntarily call Himself the ‘Servant’ of Bahá, manifesting also in His life the perfections of servitude to God and man?
O my dear sister!
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.
One of the fundamental teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that true science and true religion must always be in harmony.
There are, of course, difficulties in the way of the student who seeks to get at the truth about this Cause.
The Báb has been compared to John the Baptist, but the station of the Báb is not merely that of the herald or forerunner.
While we are commanded to overlook the faults of others, and see their virtues, we are commanded, on the other hand, to find out our own faults and take no account of our virtues.
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.
Esslemont records that Persian believers who walked to 'Akká to see Bahá'u'lláh were refused entry to the city, and stood on the plain outside the third moat, from where they could see the windows of His quarters.
Even when the imprisonment was at its worst, the Bahá’ís were not dismayed, and their serene confidence was never shaken.
In consequence of this and other equally unfounded charges, in 1901, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His family, who for more than twenty years had been allowed the freedom of the country for some miles around Akká, were again, for over seven years …
It has been the general characteristic of religion that organization marks the interruption of the true spiritual influence and serves to prevent the original impulse from being carried into the world.
The Bahá’í teaching is at one with science and philosophy in declaring the essential nature of God to be entirely beyond human comprehension.
In the last half century or so, however, a change has come over the spirit of the times, a New Light of Truth has arisen which has already made the controversies of last century seem strangely out of date.
All things manifest the bounty of God with greater or less clearness, as all material objects exposed to the sun reflect its light in greater or less degree.
In 'Akká, after listening kindly to a Western visitor's complaints, 'Abdu'l-Bahá brought in Hájí Mírzá Haydar-'Alí, saying he had had many troubles. Asked about them, he replied that he had never had any.
In Pittsburgh in 1912, when the friends kept asking how He liked His fine hotel rooms, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalled how in the barracks of ‘Akká He had lived for about two years in the morgue so that the crowded families could be at ease.
At dinner on Christmas Eve 1912 in London, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said playfully that two despotic monarchs of the East had not been able to command Him, but the ladies of America and Europe, because they were free, gave Him orders.
At a gathering, a Sufi leader esteemed by Muhammad Shah boasted that he would not trouble to see Jesus Christ at his door. Bahá'u'lláh alone answered him, with a question that left all present speechless.
On his 1941 pilgrimage, ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan knelt to take off the Guardian's boots when Shoghi Effendi's wrist was bandaged, and found one boot had a hole in it and the other had been repaired.
Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl boasted that he could write a better book than the Kitáb-i-Íqán, then found himself unable to write a simple letter. Years later, after praying with tears, he came to faith and found the book an ocean of knowledge.
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 Ṭihrán around 1850, the young Nabíl was asked to take six-year-old ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to school; the child took his hand and said, “We shall walk together.”
The great scholar Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl credited all his learning to Bahá'u'lláh, and when American pilgrims praised him in the presence of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, he wept, feeling unworthy of any praise.
Shaykh Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí recalls going at dawn with his teacher Siyyid Kázim to visit a Youth from Shíráz in Karbilá, and later recognizing that Youth as the Báb.
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.
In 1920, while Shoghi Effendi was resting in Paris on his way to England, the pilgrim Núru’d-Dín Mumtází met him at a gathering, and Shoghi Effendi later visited his party and chanted a prayer for their pilgrimage.
When the Báb asked Mullá ‘Abdu’l-Karím in Shíráz whether he was seeking the Manifestation, he wept, and later told his friends how a vision of Siyyid Kázim and, years afterward, a white bird that spoke those very words to him in prayer had prepared him for that moment.
Mullá Husayn walked from Mashhad to visit the Báb in the castle of Máh-Kú, arriving at Naw-Rúz 1848. The Báb sent him on to Mázindarán, where, reading a manuscript shown him by his host Quddús, he found “God’s hidden treasure.”
After the death of Siyyid Kázim, Mullá Ḥusayn urged his fellow disciples to scatter in search of the Promised One. He spent forty days in prayer at the Masjid-i-Kufih, then travelled by way of Búshihr to Shíráz.
Siyyid Kázim sent his young disciple Mullá Ḥusayn to Iṣfahán to win back the support of a leading cleric. Mullá Ḥusayn obtained a written testimony to Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Kázim, and returned the money the cleric sent him.
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.
Moved by the Tablets ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent to America in 1919, Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn left California for Australia with barely fifteen dollars. Martha Root later found Bahá'í centers wherever they had lived, and was struck by their humility and faith.
‘Alí Khán, the harsh warden of the castle of Máh-Kú, saw the Báb praying by the river at dawn while the gates were still shut, then found Him seated in His room. The Báb's words changed his heart, and his severity gave way to humility.
Adib Taherzadeh retells a Persian story: a king gives up his palace to follow a dervish, only to find the dervish unable to leave behind his small basket. Attachment, he explains, is not only to wealth.
In Káshán the learned Siyyid ‘Abdu’l-Báqí heard the Báb revealing verses yet was unmoved and never asked who He was; when he learned days later, the Báb had gone, and he lived out his days in seclusion.
In Isfahán, a city famed for its clergy, the first to accept the Báb was a humble sifter of wheat, who later set out with his sieve to join the defenders of Shaykh Ṭabarsí; the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh both refer to him.
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.
Jináb-i-Fáḍil's 1924 account of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's life, from His birth on the night of the Báb's declaration through the exiles and His years in 'Akká to His release by the Young Turk revolution of 1908.
In June 1870 Mírzá Mihdí, the Purest Branch, fell through a skylight while praying on the roof of the barracks in 'Akká. Offered recovery by Bahá'u'lláh, he asked instead that his life be accepted as a ransom so that the believers might enter His presence.
When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's wife had a fine new coat made for Him before a visit from the Governor of ‘Akká, He asked her to send it back and have five ordinary coats made for the same price, four of them to give away.
Born at sunrise in Tihrán into a noble family, Bahá'u'lláh never went to school, yet as a youth He explained a question a famous scholar's students could not, and rode to Tihrán to stop an injustice against His father.
During the First World War 'Abdu'l-Bahá grew wheat near Tiberias to feed the hungry of Haifa and 'Akká. In 1920 the British knighted Him for this work, and He came to the ceremony in His old servant's carriage.
A children's introduction to the Báb through the words of people who knew Him: His schoolteacher, a visitor who met Him in Karbilá, and His wife, who saw Him praying late at night.
A fable for children: jealous of her dark twin, Moonshine tells Nightshadow that the creatures fear her, and Nightshadow leaves the sky, until Moonshine learns that each sister is needed and begs her forgiveness.
During His two years in the mountains of Kurdistan, Bahá'u'lláh, dressed as a dervish, comforts a weeping schoolboy and writes out a copy for him. The teacher sees that the writing is royal penmanship.
Muhammad Shah sends his most learned servant, Vahíd, to question the Báb. Over three meetings Vahíd's doubts fall away, and when the Báb offers, unasked, to explain the very chapter of the Qur'an he had in mind, he becomes His follower.
Jealous courtiers tell a king that his favoured servant creeps each night to a far room with a bundle. The king follows and learns the bundle holds the servant's old rags, which he wears each night so that he will always stay grateful.
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.
At dawn in Karbilá, Siyyid Kázim takes a friend to visit a Youth in a green turban. Three days later he points to a ray of sunlight on that Youth's lap, and the friend later learns He was the Báb.
The stern warden 'Alí Khán sees the imprisoned Báb praying by the river, then finds the prison door shut and the Báb seated in His room. His heart is changed, and he brings in the Bábí who had been sleeping outside the town.
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.
At a New York meeting on 14 April 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá compared hearts to mirrors that receive the same sunlight in different degrees, and said that our duty is to polish the mirrors of our hearts.
While living as a dervish in the mountains of Kurdistán, Bahá'u'lláh found a boy weeping because his schoolmaster had punished him for bad writing, and wrote out a copy for him in His own hand.
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!”
After Mullá Ḥusayn recognised the Báb in Shíráz in May 1844, seventeen more seekers found Him, each by his own search. The last was Quddús, whose arrival the Báb foretold the night before.
Muḥammad Sháh sent the learned Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí to Shíráz to investigate the Báb. At their third meeting the Báb revealed, unasked, the commentary Siyyid Yaḥyá had silently resolved to request, and he embraced the Báb's Cause.
After ‘Abdu’l-Bahá saved Haifa’s people from wartime starvation, the British knighted Him in 1920. He came to the ceremony quietly, not in the elegant car sent for Him but in the horse-drawn carriage that His faithful servant Isfandíyár brought for Him.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum describes how, in 1922–24, Shoghi Effendi wrestled with doubts about his own worthiness to succeed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as his letters from those years reveal.
Thornton Chase recalls a meal in ‘Akká in 1907: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would not eat until all His guests were served, then bade them begin with “Bismillah!” and spoke of the love that had drawn them together.
When His wife ordered a fine new coat for a visit from the Governor of ‘Akká, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked her to send it back and have five ordinary coats made for the same price, so that He could give four away.
Stripped of His possessions since the Síyáh-Chál, Bahá’u’lláh lived simply; once He gave a companion bound for Istanbul an old pair of His slippers so that new shoes of the right size could be bought.
The chief divine of Núr sent two of his ablest doctors, Mullá 'Abbás and Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim, to overcome Bahá'u'lláh in argument. They heard Him, gave up their pulpits and standing, and served His Cause; the divine himself declined to debate Him.
Nabíl-i-Akbar, the only disciple Shaykh Murtadá raised to the rank of mujtahid, was found kneeling humbly before Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad. Driven later from Qá'in, he taught in disguise and died penniless in Bukhárá.
Invited to the Plaza Hotel in New York in July 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sat in a small room and declined the manager's offer to show Him the rest. Mahmúd's Diary records why, and records how often that year He refused gifts.
In Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad, a Persian prince asked Ismu'lláhu'l-Asdaq who he was. The renowned teacher answered that he was one of the keepers of the door, then gently won the angry prince over as 'Abdu'l-Bahá listened from a room above.
In Káshán a tradesman thought to be unlettered asked the Shaykhí leader Hájí Muhammad-Karím Khán to show him the Fourth Pillar that the Hájí's own book said every believer must know.
On a train journey from Salt Lake City to California in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of Peter's spiritual education and remembered seeing, as a child in Tihrán, the learned Vahíd fall at the muddy feet of a servant of the Báb.
When Howard Colby Ives wrote in 1912 that his Brotherhood Church had closed for lack of funds, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's reply joked about the philosophy of the age and urged him to give his whole life to spreading the teachings.
In the summer of 1911 Juliet Thompson met two professors from New York near 'Abdu'l-Bahá on Lake Geneva. One lunched with Him and asked his questions; the other stayed away and watched from a window.
During the First World War, when no one could be found to carry a Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Bahá from Haifa to Tihrán, Hájí Ramaḍán, an Arab believer of seventy-five and nearly blind, asked to go, walked there, and came back.
On 13 May 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá lay ill in New York with a high fever. Asked by Juliet Thompson whether He must still go to the peace meeting at the Hotel Astor, He answered that He worked by the confirmations of the Holy Spirit, and went.
In 'Akká, a bookbinder from Iṣfahán kept the square in front of Bahá'u'lláh's house swept and sprinkled at all times, and Bahá'u'lláh would smile and praise what he had made of it.
In October 1912 'Abdu'l-Baha stayed three nights at Phoebe Hearst's house near Pleasanton, California. On the last evening she asked Him to speak to her relatives and guests about the Faith, and He read them a prayer in Arabic.
In Dublin, New Hampshire, in August 1912, the minister Howard Colby Ives spent a Sunday with 'Abdu'l-Bahá and said he would never doubt again. He later wrote that he had spoken many months too soon.
In London in 1911 'Abdu'l-Bahá told a society's representative that knowledge must be put into practice, and told of a learned man who said he understood the Bahá'í teachings but flared in anger at a single question.
In 'Akká in 1897 Dr Yúnis Khán asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá whether the one who would follow Him had already been born. 'Abdu'l-Bahá said it was true, and Yúnis Khán kept the answer to himself for many years.
Juliet Thompson, a painter with debts and a mother to care for, offered the proceeds of photographs of her 1912 portrait of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the House of Worship. The day before He sailed from New York, He told her to keep the money.
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.
In June 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá said He had spoken in America according to the capacity of His hearers. On 16 June, in a Congregational church in Brooklyn, He spoke on the truth of Islam, and no one offered a single objection.
Called in a vision to leave his high rank in India and walk to Chihríq, a dervish reached the imprisoned Báb, received the name Qahru'lláh, and was then sent home by the Báb, alone and on foot.
Resting in a Montclair park in June 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalled days in Baghdád without fifteen paras for a bath. Back at the hotel, two wealthy ladies remarked that He seemed very rich, and He told them what His riches were.
In 'Akká in July 1909, some believers met to settle how the Master's station should be spoken of. At lunch that day 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of Bahá'u'lláh's warnings to the kings and ended by declaring that His only name was 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
In New York in 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá praised Juliet Thompson again and again for her truthfulness, and in November He tested whether her heart was still in the same state.
At Thonon in 1911 Zillu's-Sultán, whose orders had sent Bahá'ís to their deaths, met 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who embraced him and told him never to think of the past again. Later one of the prince's sons wept over his family's deeds.
In April 1912, four years after the Ottoman Empire released 'Abdu'l-Bahá from prison, its ambassador in Washington gave a dinner in His honour, read Him a tribute, and walked Him to His carriage.
George Townshend, once a canon of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, writes that spirituality was the dominant element in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s character, whose single aim was servitude to God.
Ordered to keep the Báb in strict confinement at Máh-Kú, the warden 'Alí Khán watched the local people come to love his Prisoner, and after a strange vision he relaxed his discipline and let pilgrims in.
After Bahá'u'lláh's passing, His eldest Son set aside the exalted titles His Father had given Him and asked to be known only as 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Servant of Bahá.
Late in August 1912 Harry Randall asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá to help his wife Ruth, who had tuberculosis. The Master visited her that afternoon, and two weeks later her doctor found her well.
In Montclair, New Jersey, in June 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá went to the market, oversaw the kitchen and often cooked for His guests, while for Himself a piece of bread and some cheese sufficed.
Ugo Giachery describes being overwhelmed on first entering the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, and Shoghi Effendi explaining that evening the spiritual influence of the earthly remains of the Messengers of God.
Howard Colby Ives recalls ‘Abdu’l-Bahá serving His guests with His own hands while eating nothing Himself, and His simple answer when asked to be honorary chairman of a Bahá’í Assembly.
Howard Colby Ives describes how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught souls: He never argued, pressed a point or told him what to believe, but showed by His own voice and manner how one should be.
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."
In April 1911 Louis G. Gregory visited the Tomb of the Báb on Mount Carmel, where the pilgrims removed their shoes and heard prayers chanted, and that evening met the believers of Haifa.
The fortieth Hidden Word in Arabic — Bahá'u'lláh's image of the soul's rest: that no journey through space and no traversal of the heavens can bring it, save submission to His command and humbleness before His Face.
The fifth Hidden Word in Persian — Bahá'u'lláh's warning that the most negligent of men is he that disputeth idly and seeketh to advance himself over his brother, and His counsel: Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.
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.
Ali Nakhjavani tells believers in South Africa of a short Tablet in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá hopes their relationship to the Cause will be like a ray’s to the sun rather than a flower’s to a garden, and reflects on why.
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 London, inquirers who stayed on at mealtimes were invited to dine. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá led the humblest guest to the seat at His right and put each one at ease, and as many as eighteen might be served by the Master Himself.
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.
In 1923 Shoghi Effendi withdrew to the mountains of Switzerland in complete solitude to find strength for his high office, returning in November before the second anniversary of the Master's ascension.
On the morning of 30 June 1912 in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá served His companions tea with His own hand and told them that every confirmation they received came from Bahá'u'lláh.
Loulie Mathews tried to teach the Faith in Paris through elegant teas, until a visitor scarred by the chains of prison with his Lord showed her how much she had to learn. 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that she would one day be a lion roaring through the Cause of God.
When Dr Yúnis Khán handed the Master a believer's poem addressing Him in exalted terms, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was grieved and affirmed His servitude, then comforted him with such loving words that his anguish turned to joy.
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 April 1912 John Bosch hurried from California to New York to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. When he said he had come three thousand miles to see Him, the Master laughed and answered that He had come eight thousand miles to see John.
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.
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.
Julia Grundy, an early pilgrim, described a simple supper in ‘Akká at which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá welcomed and seated each guest, anointed them with attar of rose and served them Himself.
In ‘Akká, Juliet Thompson told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá she was afraid she was not dressed well enough to meet the Persian believers. He answered that they do not look at the dress but at the heart.
At a Washington reception in April 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá congratulated Admiral Peary on reaching the North Pole and gently observed that, having found nothing there, he had relieved the public mind. Juliet Thompson recorded the scene.
Kanichi Yamamoto, who became a Bahá’í in Hawaii, wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Japanese. When one of his letters arrived that His secretary could not read, the Master said He would rely on the Blessed Beauty and reply.
Mary Maxwell, who grew up in Montreal, married Shoghi Effendi in Haifa in 1937 with no celebration and no elaborate ceremony. Known afterwards as Rúḥíyyih Khánum, she served the Faith for the rest of her life.
Hájí Áqáy-i-Tabrízí was driven from his home in Ádhirbáyján because of his faith. He fled to Adrianople, went with Bahá'u'lláh as a prisoner to ‘Akká, and died there.
Hájí Mírzá Músá wanted to give Bahá'u'lláh the house in Baghdád where He had lived. Bahá'u'lláh refused the gift and had the house bought at a fair price, and it became the Most Great House.
Asadu'lláh Fáḍil, a scholar of Mázindarán, became a Bahá'í after reading Bahá'u'lláh's Tablets, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá later sent him to teach in America, where he spoke to crowded audiences from coast to coast.
A learned man from Yazd became a carpenter and a servant to all the friends, and in the prison of 'Akká, after he had stopped breathing, Bahá'u'lláh told the friends to chant the prayer of Yá Sháfí and he recovered.
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.
Áqá Muḥammad of Iṣfahán served the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, then went to ‘Akká, where he was given the honor of sweeping the ground at Bahá'u'lláh's door.
One by one, eighteen seekers found the Báb, each by his own search, and became His first followers, the Letters of the Living.
Sent by the king to test the Báb, the scholar Siyyid Yaḥyá silently resolved to ask for a commentary on the Súrih of Kawthar. At their third meeting the Báb offered to reveal exactly that.
The warden of Máh-Kú was ordered to keep the Báb shut away. The people nearby came to love the Prisoner, and after a strange vision the warden himself became gentle and let visitors in.
After Bahá'u'lláh passed away, His eldest Son set aside the high titles He had been given and asked to be called by one name only: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Servant of Bahá.
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 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.
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.
On His journey through America in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá often served tea and food to His companions and guests with His own hands.
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.
'Abdu'l-Bahá asked Lua Getsinger to take food to a sick, poor man and care for him. She ran from the dirty house, and He sent her back, telling her He had done it for the man many times.
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.
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.
In 1937 Mary Maxwell of Montreal married Shoghi Effendi in Haifa. Almost no one knew beforehand, and there was no celebration, no wedding dress and no reception.
Shoghi Effendi, the grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was often unhappy at school in Beirut, but he studied hard so that one day he could serve his grandfather and translate His letters into English.
While studying in England, Shoghi Effendi learned that his grandfather 'Abdu'l-Bahá had passed away; back home in Haifa, he learned from the Master's Will that he had been chosen as Guardian.
During her 1909 pilgrimage, Juliet Thompson, held back by shyness, was called to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s room. As she wept, He wiped away her tears and said to her, “Speak. Speak to Me!”
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.
In ‘Akká, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent Lua Getsinger to care for a poor, sick friend of His. When she fled the filthy house, He sent her back to clean it, bathe the man and feed him, as He Himself had done many times.
On her pilgrimage May Bolles heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tell how Bahá’u’lláh stayed three days with a poor hermit in his cave and shared his dry meat, dark bread and spring water as though it were a banquet.
On her 1898–99 pilgrimage May Bolles found joy in the Master’s presence, then spoke unkindly of a fellow believer. His gentle, compassionate gaze at supper moved her to tears, and His smile restored her.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Among those who emigrated and were companions in the Most Great Prison was Áqá ‘Abdu’s-Ṣáliḥ.
These two blessed souls, Mírzá Maḥmúd of Káshán and Áqá Riḍá of Shíráz, were like two lamps lit with God’s love from the oil of His knowledge.
'Abdu'l-Bahá remembers Áqá Riḍá of Shíráz and Mírzá Maḥmúd of Káshán, who walked ahead of Bahá'u'lláh's howdah from Baghdád to Constantinople, cooked and cared for the exiles each night, and served for fifty-five years.
'Abdu'l-Bahá remembers His uncle Mírzá Músá, Áqáy-i-Kalím, the true brother of Bahá'u'lláh, who shared His exiles from Ṭihrán to 'Akká and remained steadfast to the very end.
At a luncheon where His hostess hoped He would speak on Immortality, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told humorous stories instead and recalled how, in prison, He and His companions laughed together each evening. A hush of reverence settled over the group.
Led barefoot from Shimírán to the Síyáh-Chál in 1852, Bahá'u'lláh was abused by the crowds. When an old woman begged to throw a stone at Him, He told His guards not to deny her.
Whether life was relaxed or arduous, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá found humor: in a purring cat, a polar bear in the Paris Zoo, a man reluctant to be seen carrying his own basket, and a letter asking where He was.
Pidar-Ján, a poor old believer in Baghdád, sold socks for a living but was so absorbed in prayer that thieves took them from his outstretched hands. The friends called him Father Dear.
Bahíyyih Khánum, daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, recalls to Lady Blomfield her childhood of danger and exile, her work at her mother's side, and her choice to remain unmarried so as to serve her family.
Mírzá Músá, known as Áqáy-i-Kalím, was Bahá'u'lláh's brother and went with Him into every exile. 'Abdu'l-Bahá remembers his devotion and a day in Baghdád when Bahá'u'lláh called out to him in joy.
Bahá'u'lláh called His eldest Son the Most Mighty Branch, the Master and the Mystery of God. Shoghi Effendi explains what the last title means, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in His own words, asks to be known only as the Servant of Bahá.
In His Will 'Abdu'l-Bahá named His grandson Shoghi Effendi "the sign of God, the chosen branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God." Shoghi Effendi asked the believers to call him only by the name his Grandfather had used.
In Karbilá, Siyyid Káẓim broke off his lesson when the young Báb sat down by the door, and said the Truth was more manifest than the ray of light on that lap. He would not say the name, and his students did not understand.
'Abdu'l-Bahá would not let His birthday be kept, for May 23 belonged to the Báb's Declaration. When the Bahá'ís begged for a day of His own, He gave them November 26. Star of the West records how they kept it.
The Báb told Mullá Ḥusayn that the last of His first eighteen disciples would arrive the next night. The next evening a travel-stained youth recognised the Báb in the street by His gait. He was Quddús, the last of the Letters of the Living and the first in rank.
In A Traveller's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá records the Báb's words calling Himself a dewdrop from a limitless ocean and pointing to One yet to come. Shoghi Effendi explains how the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván fulfilled the Báb's prophecy.
The Báb foretold the coming of "Him Whom God shall make manifest," pointing to the year nine and to a span of nineteen years. Shoghi Effendi shows how both were fulfilled, in the Síyáh-Chál and in the Garden of Riḍván.
After Siyyid Káẓim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn refused his fellow disciples' offer to accept him as the promised One, spent forty days in prayer and fasting at the mosque of Kúfih, and set out on the search that led him to the Báb.
Áqá Muḥammad-i-Qá'iní, the one disciple Shaykh Murtaḍá raised to the rank of mujtahid, met Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád and became Nabíl-i-Akbar. He spent the rest of his life teaching the Faith, hunted and poor, and died far from home.
In Paris in 1913 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked the teacher Stanwood Cobb what he taught, then asked, "Do you teach the spiritual things?" Cobb counted it his most important interview with the Master.
In 'Akká, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent Lua Getsinger to care for a poor, sick friend of His. She fled the filthy house, and He sent her back to clean it and to bathe and feed the man, telling her to see in him the image and likeness of God.
On Christmas night 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to about a thousand homeless men at the Salvation Army shelter in Westminster, and left money so that they could have another dinner on New Year's night.
In 1854 Bahá'u'lláh left Baghdád without a word and lived for two years in Kurdistan as Darvísh Muḥammad. The learned of Sulaymáníyyih came to revere Him, until a messenger from His family found Him and begged Him to return.
Quddús, the last of the eighteen Letters of the Living, went with the Báb on His pilgrimage to Mecca. Held captive in Sárí and later besieged at Shaykh Ṭabarsí, he wrote a vast commentary on a single letter of the Qur'án.
Muḥammad Sháh sent Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí, the most learned divine in Persia, to investigate the Báb. After three meetings in Shíráz he became a believer, and the Báb named him Vaḥíd.
Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl, head of a religious college in Ṭihrán, became a Bahá'í in 1876 and spent the rest of his life teaching the Faith, from Egypt to Paris to Green Acre, yet he wept when believers praised him.
Sent by Muḥammad Sháh to investigate the Báb, the learned Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí, known as Vaḥíd, met Him three times in Shíráz. At the third meeting the Báb revealed, unasked, the commentary Vaḥíd had silently resolved to request.
Howard Colby Ives, a minister who had long searched for God without finding Him, met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York in 1912. His doubts did not end that day; certainty came months later, after the Master had left America.
A Scottish doctor who learned of the Bahá'í teachings in 1914 wrote a book about them and brought it to 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Haifa. The Master discussed it with him and later corrected part of it. It became Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era.
On the exile journey from Baghdád to Constantinople, Mírzá Maḥmúd and Áqá Riḍá walked ahead of Bahá'u'lláh's howdah each day, then cooked and washed up for the believers until midnight. 'Abdu'l-Bahá remembers their humility and contentment.
Darvísh Ṣidq-'Alí, a Súfí poet, found Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád and begged to go with Him into exile as a groom. He walked beside the convoy by day, tended the horses at night, and served Him faithfully all the way to the prison of 'Akká.
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.
Confined in 1847 in the remote fortress of Máh-Kú, the Báb won the love of the people of the district, who looked each morning for a glimpse of Him, and of its stern warden, 'Alí Khán, who after a strange vision relaxed his discipline.
Sent by Muḥammad Sháh to investigate the Báb, the learned Vaḥíd resolved to ask, only in his heart, for a commentary on the Súrih of Kawthar. At their third meeting the Báb offered it unasked and wrote it before him.
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.
Mírzá Muḥammad, a scholar of good family in Iṣfáhán, gave up a life of comfort to go to the prison of 'Akká, where he served Bahá'u'lláh, the believers and the travelling pilgrims day and night.
From 'Akká Bahá'u'lláh wrote to Pope Pius IX, announcing the return of Christ and bidding him leave his palaces and sell his ornaments in the path of God. In 1870 Italian troops seized Rome and the Pope's temporal rule ended.
Lady Blomfield recalls meals with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in her London home: He served guests with His own hands, shared a poor workman’s gift of dry bread, and seated the humblest guests at His right hand.
John Bosch, a Swiss-born believer who felt he could not be a speaker, told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that all he did was give away pamphlets and books; the Master assured him that with him it was the heart that speaks.
On 23 May 1912 Alice Breed baked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá a cake with sixty-eight candles; but He, who had forbidden the celebration of His birthday, spoke only of the Báb’s Declaration and soon left the festivities.
Fred Mortensen, a former street tough, rode under and on top of railway trains to reach Green Acre and meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who, on hearing how he had come, kissed his cheeks and his dirty hat.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalled walking twelve miles in the Baghdád heat to a poor thorn-picker’s hut, where the wife burnt the little cake she made for Him, and called it the best reception He ever attended.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá told a story of a Muslim, a Christian and a Jew caught in a storm at sea to show that prayer can be selfish.
Muriel Ives Barrow Newhall recalled that when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked Bahá’u’lláh why He had never clearly designated the universal language, Bahá’u’lláh replied, "Because no one ever asked Me."
Travelling from ‘Akká to Haifa, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took a seat in the stage coach rather than a private carriage, and gave five francs to a fisherwoman whose family was hungry.
On a twelve-hour train journey from Pittsburgh to Washington in May 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's companions begged Him to take a special compartment or a berth, but He refused.
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.
In New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá invited a believer to come at dawn to learn to pray. After hours kneeling in silence across from the Master, he found himself truly praying, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá told him how to pray.
On May 23, 1912, over a hundred guests gathered at the Breed home in Cambridge, where a cake with sixty-eight candles awaited 'Abdu'l-Bahá; He spoke only of the Báb's Declaration and soon left.
On pilgrimage in 'Akká, Lua Getsinger was sent by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to care for a sick, poor friend of His, and fled from the filthy house. He sent her back, telling her He had done this for the man many times.
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.
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.
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.
Walking behind ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the sands near ‘Akká, Lua Getsinger placed her feet in His footprints. A scorpion’s sting, and the Master’s words afterwards, taught her what it means to walk in His footsteps.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum recalls her marriage to Shoghi Effendi on 25 March 1937: a visit to the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, a simple ceremony in the room of the Greatest Holy Leaf, and no celebration at all.
Unhappy at school in Haifa and Beirut, the young Shoghi Effendi was moved by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Syrian Protestant College, where he aimed all his studies at serving the Master and translating His letters into English.
In 'Akká in 1899 the American pilgrim Ella Goodall Cooper watched the small Shoghi Effendi walk up to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who greeted him with a silent nod; the boy kissed the hem of His robe and ran off to play.
In November 1921 Shoghi Effendi, a student at Oxford, learned from a cable in a London office that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had passed away; back in Haifa, the Master's Will told him he had been appointed Guardian.
Overwhelmed by grief and by his appointment as Guardian, Shoghi Effendi left Haifa in April 1922 with the Greatest Holy Leaf in charge, and in the early years of his ministry sought healing in long, solitary walks in the Swiss mountains.
Monday, November 20th From the beginning of the world until the present time each ‘Manifestation’ sent from God has been opposed by an embodiment of the ‘Powers of Darkness’.
October 16th and 17th, 1911 When a man turns his face to God he finds sunshine everywhere.
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris, November 18th In the teaching of Bahá’u’lláh, it is written: ‘By the Power of the Holy Spirit alone is man able to progress, for the power of man is limited and the Divine Power is boundless.’
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris, November 13th All prejudices, whether of religion, race, politics or nation, must be renounced, for these prejudices have caused the world’s sickness.
4 Avenue de Camöens, October 31st The Divine Reality is Unthinkable, Limitless, Eternal, Immortal and Invisible.
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.
On June 15, 1912, in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told the Bahá'ís that He did not want them distinguished by wealth or worldly success, but by love, justice, steadfastness and service to humanity.
At Green Acre on 16 August 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá described four ways of reaching knowledge and showed that none is reliable alone, spoke on love and the immortality of the spirit, and prayed for the recovery of Sarah Farmer.
At the Hotel Plaza in Chicago on May 2, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá contrasted true consultation with parliamentary quarrelling, and described the disciples of Christ taking counsel together on the mount after His ascension.
At a dinner at the Parsons home in Washington on April 22, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told how a Zoroastrian high priest lost his prejudice against Muḥammad, and compared it with the power that had brought East and West to one table.
When the philosopher Nabíl-i-Akbar visited 'Akká around 1873-74, Bahá'u'lláh revealed for him the Tablet of Wisdom, which speaks of the origin of creation and of the ancient sages who learned from the Prophets.
Question.—It is said in the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 3, verses 13, 14, 15: “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest…
Question.—Is the ablution of baptism useful and necessary, or is it useless and unnecessary?
“And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.”
In *Some Answered Questions*, 'Abdu'l-Bahá argues that the mineral, vegetable, animal and human worlds all need an educator, and that humanity needs a Universal Educator, at once its material, human and spiritual educator, whose power is divine.
Question.—In the Gospel of St. Matthew it is said: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.”
Question.—What connection has the Reality of Divinity with the Lordly Rising-places and the Divine Dawning-points?
Question.—In the Holy Books there are some addresses of reproach and rebuke directed to the Prophets.
It is said in the holy verse: “There is no partner for Him Who is the Dayspring of Revelation136 in His Most Great Infallibility. He is, in truth, the exponent of ‘God doeth whatsoever He willeth’ in the kingdom of creation. Indeed the…
Question.—Is man a free agent in all his actions, or is he compelled and constrained?
There are only four accepted methods of comprehension—that is to say, the realities of things are understood by these four methods.
May the glances of Him Whom God shall make manifest illumine this letter at the primary school.
This is an epistle from this lowly servant to the All-Glorious Lord—He Who hath been aforetime and will be hereafter made manifest.
O ‘Abdu’s-Sáhib! Verily God and every created thing testify that there is none other God but Me, the Almighty, the Best Beloved...
All majesty and glory, O my God, and all dominion and light and grandeur and splendour be unto Thee.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. All praise be unto God Who was Ever-Existent ere created things were called into being, when there was no one else besides Him.
As to those who have debarred themselves from the Revelation of God, they have indeed failed to understand the significance of a single letter of the Qur’án, nor have they obtained the slightest notion of the Faith of Islám …
At the time of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, wert thou to perform thy deeds for the sake of the Point of the Bayán, they would be regarded as performed for one other than God …
Do not say, ‘How can He speak of God while in truth His age is no more than twenty-five?’
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou art in truth the King of kings. Thou dost confer sovereignty upon whomsoever Thou willest and dost seize it from whomsoever Thou willest.
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord my God!
I am aware, O Lord, that my trespasses have covered my face with shame in Thy presence, and have burdened my back before Thee, have intervened between me and Thy beauteous countenance …
I beg Thy forgiveness, O my God, and implore pardon after the manner Thou wishest Thy servants to direct themselves to Thee.
I implore Thee by the splendour of the light of Thy glorious face, the majesty of Thine ancient grandeur and the power of Thy transcendent sovereignty to ordain for us at this moment every measure of that which is good and seemly and to …
If at the time of the appearance of Him Whom God will make manifest all the dwellers of the earth were to bear witness unto a thing whereunto He beareth witness differently, His testimony would be like unto the sun …
Immeasurably exalted art Thou, O my God, above the endeavours of all beings and created things to praise Thee and recognize Thee.
It behooveth you to await the Day of the appearance of Him Whom God shall manifest.
He is God, the Sovereign Ruler, the Ever-Living, He Whose help all men implore.
Let Me set forth some rational arguments for thee. If someone desireth to embrace the Faith of Islám today, would the testimony of God prove conclusive for him?
O God our Lord! Protect us through Thy grace from whatsoever may be repugnant unto Thee and vouchsafe unto us that which well beseemeth Thee.
O Lord! Render victorious Thy forbearing servants in Thy days by granting them a befitting victory, inasmuch as they have sought martyrdom in Thy path.
O My God! I have failed to know Thee as is worthy of Thy glory, and I have failed to fear Thee as befitteth my station.
O My God, O my Lord, O my Master! I beg Thee to forgive me for seeking any pleasure save Thy love, or any comfort except Thy nearness, or any delight besides Thy good-pleasure, or any existence other than communion with Thee.
O My God! There is no one but Thee to allay the anguish of my soul, and Thou art my highest aspiration, O my God.
O People of the Bayán! Be on your guard; for on the Day of Resurrection no one shall find a place to flee to. He will shine forth suddenly, and will pronounce judgement as He pleaseth.
O People of the earth! To attain the ultimate retreat in God, the True One, are we to seek a Gate other than this exalted Being?...
O Qurratu’l-‘Ayn! I recognize in Thee none other except the ‘Great Announcement’—the Announcement voiced by the Concourse on high.
O Ye unto whom the Bayán is given!
Ponder upon the people unto whom the Gospel was given.
Say, God shall of a truth cause your hearts to be given to perversity if ye fail to recognize Him Whom God shall make manifest; but if ye do recognize Him God shall banish perversity from your hearts...
Say, ye will be unable to recognize the One True God or to discern clearly the words of divine guidance, inasmuch as ye seek and tread a path other than His.
Send down Thy blessings, O my God, upon the Tree of the Bayán, upon its root and its branch, its boughs, its leaves, its fruits and upon whatsoever it beareth or sheltereth.
Should a person lay claim to a cause and produce his proofs, then those who seek to repudiate him are required to produce proofs like unto his.
Since all men have issued forth from the shadow of the signs of His Divinity and Lordship, they always tend to take a path, lofty and high.
Since that Day is a great Day it would be sorely trying for thee to identify thyself with the believers.
The acts of Him Whom God shall make manifest are like unto the sun, while the works of men, provided they conform to the good-pleasure of God, resemble the stars or the moon...
The evidences which the people demanded from the Apostle of God through their idle fancy have mostly been rejected in the Qur’án, even as in the Súrih of the Children of Israel [Súrih XVII] it hath been revealed: ‘And they say …
The people, during the absence of the Báb, re-enacted the episode of the Calf by setting up a blaring figure which embodied animal features in human form ...
Through Thy revelation, O my God, Thou hast enabled me to know Thee, and through the radiance of Thine effulgent splendour Thou hast inspired me with Thy remembrance.
Twelve hundred and seventy years have elapsed since the declaration of Muḥammad, and each year unnumbered people have circumambulated the House of God [Mecca].
Verily I am Thy servant, O my God, and Thy poor one and Thy suppliant and Thy wretched creature.
Verily such as ridicule the wondrous, divine Verses revealed through His Remembrance, are but making themselves the objects of ridicule, and We, in truth, aid them to wax in their iniquity.
Verily We made the revelation of verses to be a testimony for Our message unto you.
Vouchsafe unto me, O my God, the full measure of Thy love and Thy good-pleasure, and through the attractions of Thy resplendent light enrapture our hearts, O Thou Who art the Supreme Evidence and the All-Glorified.
O thou dear handmaid of God! Praise thou God, because thou art favoured at His Holy Threshold, and cherished in the Kingdom of His might.
O captive of the love of God! The letter which thou didst write at the time of thy departure hath been received.
O ye two faithful and assured souls! The letter was received. Praise be to God, it imparted good tidings. California is ready for the promulgation of the Teachings of God.
O ye sincere ones, ye longing ones, ye who are drawn as if magnetized, ye who have risen up to serve the Cause of God, to exalt His Word and scatter His sweet savours far and wide!
O my Lord!
O thou distinguished personage, thou seeker after truth! Thy letter of 4 April 1921, hath been read with love.
The teacher, when teaching, must be himself fully enkindled, so that his utterance, like unto a flame of fire, may exert influence and consume the veil of self and passion.
O ye faithful friends, O ye sincere servants of Bahá’u’lláh!
Whoso reciteth this prayer with lowliness and fervour will bring gladness and joy to the heart of this Servant; it will be even as meeting Him face to face.
O spiritual youth! Praise thou God that thou hast found thy way into the Kingdom of Splendours, and hast rent asunder the veil of vain imaginings, and that the core of the inner mystery hath been made known unto thee.
O thou who seekest the Kingdom of Heaven! Thy letter hath been received and its contents noted. The Holy Manifestations of God possess two stations: one is the physical station, and one the spiritual.
In cycles gone by, each one of the Manifestations of God hath had His own rank in the world of existence, and each hath represented a stage in the development of humanity.
The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones …
The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the assembly.
O thou true friend! Read, in the school of God, the lessons of the spirit, and learn from love’s Teacher the innermost truths.
O thou maidservant of God!
In January 1927 the Star of the West printed the obituary of Howard MacNutt, the early New York believer who died on December 26, 1926, and who had compiled, at the request of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Master's American addresses published as The Promulgation of Universal Peace.
In 1914 the Star of the West reprinted a letter from 'Akká describing Indian pilgrims at Haifa, among them a young Hindu of high caste, living in the pilgrim house with Zoroastrians, Jews and Muslims, and the Master's daily service to the people of 'Akká.
Juliet Thompson's diary records how, in April 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had her change a thousand-franc note into quarters for the men of New York's Bowery Mission, and how He gave the coins that were left to a hotel chambermaid.
In June 1913 the Star of the West printed Edward Theodore Hall's tribute to Sarah Ann Ridgway, a silk weaver of Pendleton and the first Bahá'í in Manchester, who taught the Faith there quietly for many years.
Thornton Chase, the first American believer, died in Los Angeles on September 30, 1912, while 'Abdu'l-Bahá was travelling west to California. The Star of the West told of his last days, and less than three weeks later the Master visited his grave.
In Paris in 1913, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked Stanwood Cobb, then teaching at a travel school for boys, whether he taught spiritual things. Cobb answered that there was no time, and the Master’s silence showed him that spiritual things should come first.
Stanwood Cobb took his elderly father to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Boston and was shocked when his father spent the interview expounding his own spiritual views. The Master smiled and listened, and the father came away feeling he had had a wonderful interview.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls that strife grieved Bahá’u’lláh because of the unhappiness it brought others, and that He would take the blame upon Himself to restore peace.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum recalls her marriage to Shoghi Effendi on 25 March 1937: a quiet visit to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, a ring, and no celebration, flowers or wedding dress.
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.
Glory be unto Thee, O my God!
My God! My God! I am a servant, miserable, humbled, submissive and low at the door of Thy Oneness, supplicating Thee with a heart full of Thy love and a face rejoiced at Thy glad-tidings!
My Lord! My Lord! Thou hast caused me to hear the Call, guided me unto the sea of favor, awakened me through Thy fragrant breeze, and quickened me by the spirit of Thy greatest guidance.
O God! O God!
O my Lord! Thou knowest that the people are encircled with pain and calamities and are environed with hardships and trouble.
O thou confident leaf!
O thou darling dear! Turn thy face toward the Supreme Kingdom and chant thou this commune: O Thou Pure God!
O thou faithful servant of the True One! I received thy letter and its contents caused the utmost joy and fragrance within me, because it showed thy firmness in the Cause of God and proved thy steadfastness in the love of the Word of God.
O thou favored maid-servant of God! Thy letter was received. Thou hast expressed joy on account of thy visit to the friends of Chicago.
O thou flame of the Love of God! What thou hast written caused joy, for that letter was like unto a rose-garden whose roses of significances bestowed the sweet odor of the love of God upon the nostrils.
O thou herald of the Kingdom of God!
O thou maid-servant of God who art attracted to the Fragrances of God!
O thou pure soul who art turning toward the Lord of the creatures!
O thou Secretary of the meanings emanated from the hearts of the people of the Kingdom.
O thou sign of the Kingdom and the bird singing with the most wonderful melodies in the rose-garden of Paradise!
O thou that mirror in which the Light of Guidance is printed!
O thou who art advancing to the Dawning-point of Lights! Extend the hands of communion unto the sacred and brilliant Threshold and read the following prayer: O my God!
O thou who art advancing toward the Divine Kingdom! What thou hast written was understood and noted. Thou hast asked concerning the station of this servant.
O thou who art advancing toward the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art anticipating the descent of the Gift of God! The sweetness of the expressions contained in thy words reached the taste of my perception and I was informed of the glorious aim embodied in thy sentences.
O thou who art arisen for the service of the Cause of God!
O thou who art attracted by the Breath of God!
O thou who art attracted by the Speech of Abdul-Baha! Verily I speak unto thee through the tongue of my spirit, from the spiritual direction, and explain for thee the mysteries of the kingdom and the meanings of the sacred, heavenly books.
O thou who art attracted to the Call of the Kingdom! Thy letter was presented and I was informed of thy expression.
O thou who art attracted unto the Beauty of God! Verily I have read thy excellent letter and was gladdened by its wonderful meaning.
O thou who art awakened from the sleep of negligence and forgetfulness!
O thou who art calling in the Name of God and heralding unto the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art commemorating the praises of God!
O thou who art confessing the Oneness of God!
O thou who art controlled by the attraction of the Holy fragrances of the gardens of God’s Kingdom!
O thou who art honored and dear! Thy letter was received and was the source of pleasure, for thou hast not forgotten this imprisoned one and remembered Acca.
O thou who art ignited through the brilliant Flame which is blazing in this Blessed Spot!
O thou who art kindled as a lamp with the Fire of the Love of God!
O thou who art kindled by the fire of the Love of God! Rejoice through the fragrance of God and be attracted by the melodies of the holy birds in the garden of the gifts of God!
O thou who art marching onward to God! I have read thy beautiful letter which contained delicate meanings, and I am made glad by its contents which expressed spiritual feelings.
O thou who art skilled in the Knowledge of God and wise in the Wisdom of the Almighty!
O thou who art submissive and humble before the Holy Threshold!
O thou who art turning to the divine Kingdom! The lengthy epistle was considered. Notwithstanding lack of time and opportunity, on account of exceeding love an answer will be written.
O thou who art turning toward the Kingdom of God!
O thou whose heart hath been filled with the love of the Beauty of God!
O thou whose heart is empty and pure through the Light of the word of God shining therein!
O thou whose heart is moved by a breeze blowing from the Garden of El-Abha!
O ye beloved friends of Abdul-Baha! The detailed letter which you have written was received and it was read with the greatest attention.
O ye friends of this prisoner!
O ye real companions! Day and night Abdul-Baha is engaged in the remembrances of the friends, and time after time doth he associate with them and behold their blessed faces.
O ye servants of the True One and the maid-servants of the Merciful!
O ye sincere ones and ye who are attracted and moved by the breeze of the favor of God!
O ye who are sincere! O ye who are attracted! O ye who are yearning! O ye who are arising for service to the Cause of God, for the promotion of the Word of God and the spreading of the Fragrances of God!
O ye who are sincere! O ye who are firm! O ye who are steadfast! Verily, I received a letter from that brilliant body and Spiritual Gathering—those who have arisen and called out for the Kingdom of God among the peoples of America.
Verily I approach Thee, O my God, in the darkest hour of this dark night, and pray Thee with my inmost heart, while I am moving by Thy fragrances, which are being diffused from Thy Kingdom of Abha, and say: O my Lord …
Verily, I read thy magnificent letter, thy brilliant writing, and found its meanings as the chanting of the verses of guidance and its foundation based on righteousness and piety.
When you assemble in the meeting of teaching (the truth), it is incumbent on you to chant the following supplication and commune: O God, O God!
Your three reports, together with the public announcement, were received.
Tonight we met ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and a large number of believers from all parts of the East at the Feast, or Supper, under the shadow of the Blessed Perfection.
Julia Grundy describes her party's 1905 visit to the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh at Bahjí: the shoes removed at the entrance, the silent prayer at the Tomb, and the tea served afterward in a small side room.
In her 1905 pilgrim notes Julia Grundy records that at dinner 'Abdu'l-Bahá ate entirely with His fingers — and then spoke of respect for one another's customs, and of a food that needs neither knife nor fork: the food spiritual.
“The disciples of Jesus, passing along the road and seeing a dead dog, remarked how offensive and disgusting a spectacle it was. Then Christ turning to them said, 'Yes, but see how white and beautiful are his teeth'—thus teaching that there is some good in everything.”
In an English village the Master gave so many sixpences to children that His hostesses tried to turn away a late visitor with his babies, until ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came out and embraced them all.
An imposing motor-car was sent to bring ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the ceremony at which He was knighted, but seeing the sorrow of His old coachman Isfandiyar, He went in His own carriage instead.
Though Bahá’u’lláh conferred exalted titles on Him, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá never applied them to Himself; after the Ascension He took the name ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Servant of Bahá, and urged the believers to call Him only by it.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá seldom spoke in the first person. Once, while Lua Getsinger and Georgie Ralston talked on during a drive with Him, He opened His eyes and laughed at their words.
At table with His guests, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá received a poor workman's dinner of dry bread and a shrivelled apple, left His own luncheon untasted, and shared the gift with everyone present.
When the prison gates opened, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sold a gift to repair His companions' rooms in the caravanserai, leaving His own damp, flea-infested room to the last; the money ran out before it could be repaired.
Before visiting the Master's home, Amelia Collins's husband anxiously asked her how he should behave. She told him that in the family of 'Abdu'l-Bahá simplicity reigns and nothing but love is accepted.
Mary Hanford Ford describes the practical skill of the women of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's household in 'Akká, and how the Greatest Holy Leaf sewed a simple print dress for a finely dressed Western visitor who had arrived without a trunk.
Speaking to a packed opera house in America, Abu'l-Faḍl felt proud of his success and his mind went completely blank. He turned to Bahá'u'lláh in shame and prayer, and his words returned.
John David Bosch felt he could not be a speaker and instead circulated pamphlets and books. 'Abdu'l-Bahá assured him that he was doing better than talking, for with him it was the heart that spoke.
'Abdu'l-Bahá desired no title but His own name, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He forbade pilgrims to fall at His feet, cooked for His fellow prisoners in 'Akká, and sometimes served His guests Himself.
'Abdu'l-Bahá disliked photographs of Himself and allowed them only to please His friends, explaining that the personality is merely the lamp, while the light within it alone has real significance.
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.
At the Bowery Mission in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed some four hundred of the city’s poorest men, shook every hand and placed coins in each palm; back at His hotel a moved chambermaid resolved to give as He had given.
Grace Robarts begged to serve in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s household in New York. For days He ignored her as she worked from five in the morning until long after midnight; when she grasped the spirit of true service, He welcomed her.
A man in Haifa who disliked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá proudly announced, “I am Moses.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá invited him to serve the people as Moses did; after three long days of His work, the man gave up the name.
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.
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.
After speaking with visitors at Vanners in Byfleet, 'Abdu'l-Bahá walked out alone into the village, where ragged children clustered about Him, mothers followed with their little ones, and even the roughest men fell silent.
On her pilgrimage in 1901, Ethel Rosenberg, the first English woman to embrace the Bahá'í Faith in England, heard 'Abdu'l-Bahá say that we must strive to change our bad qualities into good ones.
At lunch in ‘Akká in 1908, two pilgrims told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that their own faults made them unhappy. He told them to think of the Bounty of God, and smiled as He recalled an Arabic saying about the peacock.
Harry Randall did not want to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but he carried Him a glass of grape juice and was told to sit down. After twenty restless minutes the Master spoke to him of the intellect and the heart.
Staying in a village near London, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave sixpences to the poor children who followed Him. When His hostess and another guest turned away a man who had walked six miles with his babies, the Master came out and embraced them all.
In San Francisco ‘Abdu’l-Bahá kept delaying His departure for a reception in Berkeley, to His hostess’s dismay, until a poor stranger who had walked fifteen miles to see Him rang the bell.
Each week ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked from ‘Akká to visit Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí. When His Father asked Him to ride, He rode, but dismounted as soon as He sighted the Mansion.
A woman who had enjoyed a talk by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America complained that He repeated Himself; smiling, He asked her what it was He repeated, and she could not tell Him.
As he began writing The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi made a remark about America that Rúḥíyyih Khánum found hard to accept; he told her to swallow it, and over the years she came to see the truth in it.
When wealthy Western visitors prepared an elaborate hand-washing ceremony for 'Abdu'l-Bahá, He washed at a small water-trough, dried His hands on the gardener's cloth, and used their preparations for His guests instead.
A pilgrim from Khusf who had seen nothing extraordinary in his first days in 'Akká was overwhelmed in Bahá’u’lláh's presence. Bahá’u’lláh then explained, with the example of a parrot and a mirror, why the Manifestations appear in human form.
On Riverside Drive in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá met a poor man whose trousers were in rags, took him behind some shrubbery and gave him His own, then came back laughing with His aba wrapped around Him.