CONTENTS Frontispiece ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Preface Acknowledgments Introduction A Note from the Publisher Abbreviations
1 Exile and Imprisonment 2 Western Pilgrims 3 Visitors in Haifa
ii vii ix xiii xv xxi xxiii PART I
PART II
4 First Visit to Egypt 5 Arrival in Europe 6 First Visit to England 7 First Visit to France 8 Second Visit to Egypt 9 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Expected in America 10 Arrival in America 11 Washington 12 Chicago 13 Cleveland 14 Pittsburgh 15 Second Visit to New York 16 Boston 17 New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
3 20 37
59 89 92 158 176 192 202 244 262 283 293 299 315 342
the apostle of peace
18 Boston, Dublin, Green Acre, Malden 19 Canada 20 Buffalo 21 En Route to California 22 California 23 Return to the East Coast 24 Departure from America 25 General Articles about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
394 402 445 454 497 552 561 567
Bibliography Notes and References Index
587 602 663
vi
1
EXILE AND IMPRISONMENT References during the Lifetime of Bahá’u’lláh The news that ‘a second Báb’ or ‘the present leader of the Bábís’, as some westerners would call and consider Bahá’u’lláh, was imprisoned in ‘Akká started to circulate in Europe and America, especially in missionary circles, as early as 1868, and in the following years some westerners tried to meet Him personally. One of them was the young orientalist Edward G. Browne (1862–1926), who visited ‘Akká in 1891 and who left for posterity his well-known pen portrait of Him.1 Years before, a German Templer residing in Haifa was also able to meet Bahá’u’lláh and afterwards wrote his impressions in an article which appeared on 20 July 1871 in the Süddeutsche Warte (Stuttgart) and which briefly mentioned ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.2 Most of the time, however, visitors calling on Bahá’u’lláh would be referred to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. One of them was Dr Thomas Chaplin (1853– 1904), a missionary in Syria, who in 1871 wrote a lengthy letter to The London Times about his visit to the ‘Babis’ and which contains what is perhaps the earliest account of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the western press. In the spring of the present year I had an opportunity of visiting the Babs in their place of confinement. Beheyah Allah himself does not readily concede an interview to strangers, and receives only such as are desirous of obtaining from him instruction in religious truth. We were received by his son, who is apparently about 30 years of age, and has a fine intellectual countenance, with black hair and beard, and that sallow, melancholic look which distinguishes nearly all Persians of the intelligent and religious class. He was dressed in a robe of white flannel, with cap of the same material, and a small white turban. Over his shoulders was thrown a brown cloth abbái. He appeared pleased to see us but objected to answer questions 3
the apostle of peace
respecting the origin and history of the sect. ‘Let us speak of things spiritual,’ he said, ‘what you are now asking me is of no importance.’ But on our telling him that people in England would naturally be curious to know in what way so remarkable a religious movement had arisen, and who were the originators of it, he gave us the information here detailed. He had a remarkably earnest, almost solemn manner, spoke excellent Arabic, fluently, and showed a minute and accurate knowledge of the Old and New Testaments, as well as an acquaintance with the history of religious thought in Europe. Our interview lasted two hours, during the whole of which time an animated conversation was maintained. Like a true Oriental, he seldom gave direct answer to a question upon any point of doctrine, but replied by another question, or by an illustration, his object throughout apparently being to convince his questioners of what he considered to be truth. He seemed to speak as one conscious of possessing superior light – as a great teacher might speak to his disciples. ‘Why,’ he inquired, ‘did not the Jews, who at the time of our Lord’s advent were in expectation of their Messiah, believe in him?’ And, assenting to our reply that it was because they misunderstood the Scriptures, he asked whether it might not be the case that Christians in like manner now misunderstood the Scriptures – the inference (not expressed) being that his father was sent by God to teach the true doctrine.3
Chaplin’s letter was the basis of other articles – not always including the section about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá – published in, at least, the United Kingdom,4 the United States,5 Spain6 and Germany.7 In 1874 another missionary, probably Edwin E. Bliss (1817–92), also visited ‘Akká and afterwards briefly mentioned ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in an account for the Bible Society Record (New York): Then I went to Acre and spent that night there, and found that the Moslems now are beginning to have some religious thoughts, especially concerning the divinity of Christ. This was from the new religion of the Babites, which rose in these days. For Abbas Effendi, the son of Beha Allah, has opened a place in Acre, to receive all his people who come for conversation upon their new religion. I learned, too, that they had bought Bibles for reading. We ask God 4
exile and imprisonment
to bring forth, out to this schism, means for the extension of his kingdom.8
Lawrence Oliphant (1829–88), a British citizen residing in Haifa, wrote a series of articles about his experiences in the Holy Land for The Sun (New York). In one of these letters, dated 7 November 1883, he describeed his attempts to see Bahá’u’lláh and briefly mentioned ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.9 Some years later, in an article about his visit to the Sea of Galilee for the English Illustrated Magazine (London), Oliphant stated that ‘I lunched at the bottom of the mountains at the tents of some Erkebat Arabs. They are a small amiable tribe, inhabiting this shore of the lake, numbering about 100 tents, of whom half are tenants of Abbas Effendi, the son of the Persian Holy-man, who lives at Acre, and is chief of the Persian sect of Babs. He has a granary, which we shortly after passed, at the south end of the lake, and owns a good deal of land in this neighbourhood.’10 This article was later published in other journals.11 The politician Sir Mountstuart E. Grant Duff (1829–1906), former governor of Madras and an acquaintance of Oliphant, mentioned in an article for The Contemporary Review (London) that in the course of his travels he visited ‘Akká in early December 1887 and as well as gathering some information about the Bahá’ís, sent a messenger ‘to call on the son of a man who claims, or is said to claim, to be the head of the Persian sect known as the Bâbis’.12 Apparently ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not provide Duff with the kind of information he wanted and the latter concluded that ‘I learnt nothing from the person to whom I have alluded, and his position in the midst of Turkish territory and under the observation of the Turkish authorities is such that he is not likely to know much of what is going on in Persia’. As noted above, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had also been reluctant to speak about the history of the Bábí-Bahá’í movement with Chaplin. Meeting with westerners and speaking with them openly on religion certainly posed a great danger to the already harshly oppressed group of Bahá’í prisoners in ‘Akká. Even in later years, when the conditions of the Bahá’ís in ‘Akká were more relaxed, the chronicle known as A Traveller’s Narrative, written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, was submitted to Browne in Bahjí as an anonymous work. The Druze Amír Amín Arslan (1866–1943), governor of Tiberias and later diplomat in several European cities and in Argentina, was 5
the apostle of peace
able to see Bahá’u’lláh in 1891 and wrote a sympathetic account, not devoid of inaccuracies, for Revue Bleue (Paris), which was published in September 1896. In the course of his article Arslan mentioned that ‘Upon my arrival I hastened to visit Abbas Effendi, the eldest son of the “Word” and responsible for the external relations of the community. I had known him in Beirut, Syria, and bonds of true friendship had quickly developed between us.’ Describing Bahá’u’lláh, Arslan stated that ‘Seeing him struck my imagination in such a way that I cannot better represent him than evoking the image of God the Father surrounded by clouds while commanding in his majesty the elements of nature,’ and further added that ‘my friend Abbas Effendi continues to direct the temporal affairs of the cult; he is of a rare intelligence, and although Persian, he knows in deep our Arabic language. I got from him some letters in Arabic which are masterpieces in their style, thought, and especially in their oriental calligraphy.’13 Visiting the Center of the Covenant After the passing of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá continued to receive visitors who wanted to know about Him and about the religion of which He was now the appointed head. In the spring of 1901 William Elroy Curtis (1850–1911) and William H. Baldwin (1851–1923) and their families visited the Holy Land. Curtis was a journalist on the Chicago Record-Herald, the secretary of the Bureau of American Republics and the author of several travel books. During his travels in Syria and Palestine he sent to his journal a series of letters describing his experiences. While visiting ‘Akká, the party of American travelers met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Curtis afterwards wrote a letter summarizing the history of the Bahá’í Faith, which included comments about the Master and the construction of the Shrine of the Báb: The most interesting prisoner at Acre at present is Abbas Effendi, a learned Persian prophet, who proclaims a new religion, and is the head of the sect known as Babies, or Babites, so called from the word Bab, which means a gate . . . Abbas Effendi is a fascinating mystic, a man of most impressive presence and conversation, and his voice is musical and hypnotizing. He claims to have a church of 300 followers in Chicago, all of the 6
exile and imprisonment
highest social standing, and twelve of whom lived with him here for some time, studying the doctrines, like Paul at the feet of Gamaliel. Dr. Getzinger of Ithaca, NY, left his card upon the table of the great Babite’s reception room, and it still lies there. Down in the corner is the word cosmologist, which, I presume, was intended to describe his profession. I do not know what it means, and Abbas Effendi could not explain. Mrs. Thornburgh, Mrs. Jackson and Miss Josephine Locke of Chicago are devoted disciples and liberal contributors; Miss Helen Ella Cole of Boston and Mrs. Alice Barney and Charles B. Burdettee are among his regular supporters and correspondents, while Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst has been here, and, as usual, left a liberal donation – $30,000 I was told – the most of which was used in the construction of a shrine and temple upon Mount Carmel, above the town of Haifa, where Abbas Effendi intended to bury the remains of his father and establish the center of the church. As the movement is supposed to be secret the Turkish authorities became alarmed at the number of American visitors and their liberal contributions, so Abbas Effendi was prohibited from leaving Acre, and has not been able to complete the shrine. The walls are up, the roof is laid, and part of the interior is finished. For the time being the Babite movement is in a position of arrested development, but Abbas Effendi is full of faith and confidence, and says that if his American supporters are loyal he expects soon to persuade the Turkish authorities to set him free to carry salvation to all the earth.14
Some Christian missionaries and religious scholars also visited ‘Abdu’lBahá. Two of them were the Chicago theologian Samuel Ives Curtiss (1844–1904)15 and the Presbyterian missionary in Syria Henry Harris Jessup (1832–1910), who in their chronicles did not conceal their irritation at the rapid growth of the Bahá’í Faith in Christian countries. ‘It is difficult to regard without indignation the Babite proselytism now being carried on in the United States,’16 stated Jessup, who paradoxically in 1893 had written a paper for the Parliament of World’s Religions in which he mentioned Bahá’u’lláh with sympathy and which had a great influence on the beginnings of the Bahá’í Faith in America. In later years, Jessup published various articles against the Bahá’í Faith, which were reprinted as free pamphlets to coincide with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s travels in the West.17 7
End of this sample. To learn more or to purchase this book, Please visit Bahaibookstore.com or your favorite bookseller.