Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Hussein Ahdieh, Abdu'l-Baha in New York, Hong Kong: Juxta Publishing Co., 2012, bahai-library.com.
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‘Abdu’l-Bahá in New York
Centenary of His Visit to America

By
Hussein Ahdieh and Hillary Chapman

Cover: Childe Hassam: Flags on the Waldorf, 1916

Copyright © 2012 by Hussein Ahdieh. All Rights Reserved.
Preface
Of all the historical, religious and cultural events in the history of the United States, the
arrival of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1912 was, for his devotees, the most important event of all. Many
people--from all parts of society--had the honor to meet him, attend his talks, benefit from
his wisdom and witness his benevolence and humility. For many of these individuals, their
encounter with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was life-altering: he touched the depths of their souls and
awakened them spiritually.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was, according to his devotees, the ‘Mystery of God’, the expounder and the
Center of the Covenant of a new Faith, the Bahá’í Faith, inaugurated by his father,
Bahá’u’lláh who announced that the dawn of a unique chapter in the religious history of the
world had broken. “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch”, announced
Bahá’u’lláh to all nations and the whole mankind, particularly to those who were steeped in
their own prejudices and bigotry. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came to America to expound on the precepts
of the new Faith inaugurated by his father. He came here to show us by the force of
example, the true meaning of being a Bahá’í: humility, steadfastness, equity and kindness
toward everybody regardless of his race, creed and place of birth. He showed people how to
be a true follower of Bahá’u’lláh.

This book recounts his days in the city of New York. The authors hope that this account will
help the reader to:

1) Gain a deeper understanding of the spiritual concepts and social principles of the
Bahá’í Faith as explained by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
2) Understand about the social context of the people of New York whom ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá met and their beliefs and concerns,
3) Learn about the lives of early Bahá’ís, their personal stories, beliefs and
aspirations, the struggles and successes they had in building communities, and
the development of their understanding of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.

The authors hope that this re-telling of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s days in New York City will be both
inspiring and illuminating and bring the reader closer to this unique figure in spiritual history
whose life will serve as a model of the true spiritual and ethical life for centuries to come.

The authors deeply appreciates the invaluable assistance in preparing this book of many
friends including Dr. Tahereh Ahdieh, Dr. Iraj Ayman, Anita Chapman, Bob Harris, Robert
Hanevold, Kathryn Jewett Hogenson, Tatiana Azad Jordan, Rosann Velnich, Dr. Iraj
Misaghi, Prof. Michael L. Penn, Dr. Anne Perry, Mike Relph, Pieter Ruiter, Dr. Hooshmand
Shehberadaran, Mouhebat Soubhani, Dr. Robert Stockman, Prof. Christopher White.

Hussein Ahdieh, Hillary Chapman
Drawing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Khalil Gibran

My name is `Abdu'l-Bahá [literally, Servant of Baha]. My
qualification is `Abdu'l Bahá. My reality is `Abdu'l-Bahá. My praise
is `Abdu'l-Bahá. Thraldom to the Blessed Perfection [Bahá'u'lláh] is
my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all the human race
my perpetual religion… No name, no title, no mention, no
commendation have I, nor will ever have, except `Abdu'l-Bahá. This is
my longing. This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is
my everlasting glory.”
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Arrival ~ The Ansonia Hotel ........................................ 1
Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples ....................... 5
Chapter 3: Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message ........... 14
Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty ..................... 21
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk ........................... 36
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor ............................ 47
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” ............................................................. 57
Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey ............................................ 66
Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America ....................................... 74
Endnotes .................................................................................................... 86
Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká

Chapter 1: The Arrival ~ The Ansonia Hotel
Out on the plain of ‘Akká in Palestine, Bahá’u’lláh, who claimed to be Presence of God on
earth, the Manifestation of God for this Day, ascended a few hours after midnight on May
29, 1892. That same day, His body was buried next to the mansion at Bahji where He lived
His last years.

Nine days later, in front of witnesses and a large group of Bahá’ís, Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and
Testament, the Book of the Covenant, was read aloud for the first time. The Book of the
Covenant instructed all the believers--to “turn, one and all, unto the Most Great Branch”. As
everyone knew, this title applied to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’u’lláh’s beloved son.

For the first time in recorded history, the Manifestation of God had left behind an explicit
Will and Testament designating a successor. Bahá’u’lláh had placed in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the
unique authority to interpret the Sacred Texts. All Bahá’ís would now turn to him alone as
their source of authority.

So it was that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá became the living embodiment of the Covenant which
Bahá’u’lláh had established with His followers. Guidance and consolation flowed out from
him. He sent teachers to carry the Glad Tidings to other parts of the world including the
United States. He fed the poor and cared for the sick.

In 1909, the Sultan of the Ottoman Turks, who ruled Palestine, was overthrown. ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá, who had been a prisoner and an exile almost his entire life, was now free to leave.

When American believers learned the news that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá could now travel, they
implored him to come to the United States. But they had struggled to be unified among
themselves.

Chapter 1: The Arrival ~ The Ansonia Hotel 1
‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote back to them:

“[…] In view of the differences among the friends and the lack of unity […] how can
'Abdu'l-Bahá hasten to those parts? […] If the friends […] long for the visit of
'Abdu'l-Bahá they must immediately remove from their midst differences of opinion
and be engaged in the practice of infinite love and unity […] Under such a condition,
how can they arise to guide the people of the world and establish union and
harmony between the nations of the earth? […] Verily, verily, I say unto you, were it
not for this difference amongst you, the inhabitants of America in all those regions
would have, by now, been attracted to the Kingdom of God, and would have
constituted themselves your helpers and assisters […] I beg of God to confirm you
in union and concord that you may become the cause of the oneness of the kingdom
of humanity.” 1

By 1912, the time had come to make the long and arduous journey to the United States
despite the physical frailty of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá caused by years of harsh living conditions as an
exile and a prisoner and of managing a large extended family and a group of followers in
exile. On March 25th, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá boarded the large steamer, the S.S. Cedric, bound for the
West.

On March 30th, after the Cedric passed the Rock of Gibraltar into the open Atlantic, ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá remarked:

“In past ages crossing the ocean was not as easy as it is now. Up to the present time
no one has traveled, with a purpose like ours, from Persia to America. Some have
made the journey but it was for their personal gain or for trivial motives. Ours may
be said to be the first voyage of Easterners to America. I have strong hopes of divine
assistance - that He will open the doors of victory and conquest on all sides. Today,
all the nations of the world are vanquished, and victory and glory revolve around the
servants of the Blessed Perfection. All aims will come to naught except this mighty
aim. Hardship and debasement in this path are, therefore, comfort and honor, and
affliction a blessing.” 2

‘Abdu’l-Bahá blessed the children on board. Passengers sought him out. Their admiration
for him grew with each day;; soon, they took their hats off as they passed him on deck. He
taught anyone who would listen about Bahá’u’lláh and the needs of the day. He received
telegrams from Bahá’í groups all over the States.

The Cedric crossed the ocean which had calmed down, day by day approaching the
continent:

“I am going to America at the invitation of peace congresses, as the fundamental
principles of this Cause are universal peace, the oneness of the world of humanity
and the equality of the rights of men. As this age is the age of lights and the century

Chapter 1: The Arrival ~ The Ansonia Hotel 2
of mysteries, this lofty purpose is sure to be universally acknowledged and this Most
Mighty Cause is certain to embrace the East and the West.” 3

The huge boat carrying the Master soon came into view:

“We shall be at sea for another day. Steam power is truly a wonderful thing. If there
were no such power, how would the vast oceans have been crossed? What wonderful
means God has supplied and what confirmations the Blessed Beauty has conferred.
Otherwise, how could we be here? What have we in common with these places?” 4

In the evening of April 10th, the large black hull of the S.S. Cedric moved through the dark
swells outside of New York Harbor.

The next morning, Irish dockworkers looked out over the water and saw a tug boat pulling
the SS Cedric across the harbor. Mist rolled in.

KKK

Several reporters had ridden on the tug boat to the quarantine station where they could
board the Cedric. Once on board, they sought out ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who was on the upper deck.
They were astonished at the profound joy in his expression. He greeted the reporters:

“The pages of swiftly appearing newspapers are indeed the mirror of the world […]
But it behooveth the editors of the newspapers to be sanctified from the prejudice of
egotism and desire, and to be adorned with the ornament of equity and justice." 5

Passing the Statue of Liberty, he held out his arms towards it:

“There is the new world's symbol of liberty and freedom. After being forty years a
prisoner I can tell you that freedom is not a matter of place. It is a condition. Unless
one accept dire vicissitudes he will not attain. When one is released from the prison
of self, that is indeed a release." 6

Reporters asked him about the purpose of his coming to America:

“Our object is universal peace and the unity of humankind.” 7

“Its realization is through the attraction and support of world public opinion. Today
universal peace is the panacea for all human life.” 8

“One of these ills is the people's restlessness and discontent under the yoke of the
war expenditures of the world's governments. What the people earn through hard
labor is extorted from them by the governments and spent for purposes of war. And
every day they increase these expenditures. Thus the burden on men becomes more

Chapter 1: The Arrival ~ The Ansonia Hotel 3
and more unbearable and the tribulations of the people become more and more
severe. This is one of the great ills of the day.” 9

“If all would lay down their arms, they would be freed from all difficulties and every
misery would be changed into relief. However, this cannot be brought about except
through education and the development of people's thoughts and ideas.” 10

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words touched on their hopes and fears. The reporters took notes as ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá spoke. They were all keenly aware of the delicate balance of powers between the
European states and how easily it could disintegrate into all-out warfare.

The SS Cedric reached the dock. There was a great festive mood at the arrival of the great
ship. People shouted greetings from the deck to the dock and back. The crew rushed about
calling out instructions and setting up the disembarkation. A deep horn bellowed.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá requested that Edward Kinney--whom he had named ‘Saffa’--come aboard.
Edward ‘Saffa’ Kinney and his wife, Vafa, had been to the Holy Land on pilgrimage.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá instructed him to tell the other Bahá’ís who waited below to proceed to the
Kinney home and await his arrival. 11

Mr. Kinney went out to give ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions to the waiting believers. Mist came
over the pier. 12 The Master stepped off the gangplank onto the ground of the United States
like a benediction.

KKK

Juliet Thompson waited with her two friends Marjorie Morton and Rhoda Nichols, who was
holding a long box of lillies. 13 Juliet lived in a brownstone on 10th St. in Greenwich Village
which had become a haven for free thinkers and artists such as herself. She painted and
wrote and read the manuscripts of her neighbor, Khalil Gibran, the famous Lebanese poet.
She was honest and trusting to a fault and completely open to spirit of the age. 14 She had
also seen the vision of the future in the Bahá’í teachings and had become profoundly
devoted to the figure of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to whom she had already made several pilgrimages.

The three women waited over by the entrance to the pier, pressed against the window.
Though others had left following the instructions, Marjorie refused to leave before she had
seen him. The car of Mountfort Mills, a local Bahá’í, rolled up to the entrance. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
stepped forward to climb into it. As he did so, he turned his head in the direction of Juliet
and smiled. 15

Chapter 1: The Arrival ~ The Ansonia Hotel 4
Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples
Edward Kinney had been born during the civil war in New York City. A talented musician,
he had studied with the famous Czech composer Anton Dvorak and subsequently worked as
a choirmaster, church organist, composer
and voice teacher. His wife, Carrie Kinney,
had been born into a wealthy New York
family. She had dreamed of becoming a
doctor to which her parents objected,
instead presenting her with a series of
socially appropriate suitors whom she all
rejected. In 1893, a year after the passing of
Bahá’u’lláh, she met Edward and, over the
objections of her parents, they married two
years later.

One day, Edward’s old friend, Howard
MacNutt, had invited him to the house to
hear “some glorious news”. The Kinneys
took a horsecab up to the Bronx and that
evening learned of the claims of Bahá’u’lláh.
As the couple rode home in the dark, it was Abdu’l-Bahá with Edward & Carrie
Kinney and children
clear that Edward had been touched by this
powerful announcement while Carrie was
disturbed by the news though she later became a believer. That night, Edward wrote to
‘Abdu’l-Bahá for confirmation. One month later, he received a reply from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
written in red ink which read: “You have been chosen”.

Since that time, the Kinneys had made two pilgrimages to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and served in Egypt
for a year following the Master’s request to found a hospital for tuberculosis patients. When
they returned to New York City, they opened their spacious home at 780 West End Ave. for
Bahá’í gatherings. 16

Now on April 11th, 1912, they prepared their home for a great blessing: a visit from ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá.

KKK

Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 5
After leaving the pier, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, accompanied by Howard MacNutt and Mountfort
Mills, had been driven to the Hotel Ansonia at 73rd and Broadway. His suite was on the
seventh floor of the seventeen-floor building and consisted of two bedrooms, a bathroom,
and a drawing room. 17 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá always insisted on paying the way for himself and his
companions and never accepted the financial assistance offered to him by the Bahá’ís.

Among those who visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that morning at the Ansonia was John Bosch who
had traveled day and night by train from California to see the Master. Bosch, who had
immigrated from Switzerland in 1879, had been trained as a winemaker and worked for a
prosperous winery in Sonoma County. One evening, he saw a friend on the train traveling
home from San Francisco. She was reading Myron Phelps’s Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi.
The two talked about spiritual matters---Bosch was actively seeking at the time;; his friend
invited him to meetings at the home of Mrs. Cooper in Oakland. Over the next months,
Bosch attended the meetings though he sometimes had difficulty deciding whether to go to
his Masonic Lodge--where he had been a longtime member--, the saloons of San Francisco,
or the Oakland Bahá’í meetings. He developed a friendship with Thornton Chase which
included staying in nearby hotels when they were in San Francisco at the same time;; they
would talk for a long time about the Faith and John would offer to walk Chase back to his
hotel but when they got there, they kept talking about the Faith for such a long time that
Chase would offer to walk Bosch back to his hotel. Bosch became a Bahá’í. He wrote to
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “[…] may my name be entered in the Great Book of this Universal Life[…]
My watch word will be “Justice.””. 18

On this cold April day, Bosch rode in the first of three cars rolling towards the Kinney
home. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá rested his head on Bosch’s shoulder and closed his eyes and let himself
nap in the sway of the automobile. John tried to stay absolutely still so as not to wake the
Master. 19

At the Kinneys, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was greeted by many joyful faces. He was seated in the middle
of the dining room. Juliet Thompson and Marjorie Morten sat on the floor close to him.
Rows and circles of people spread out from him with all the doors of the large rooms
opening into each other. He turned his head slowly looking with compassion upon person
after person. 20

When he began speaking, a great spiritual power flowed out:

“I am greatly pleased with the city of New York. Its harbor entrance, its piers,
buildings and broad avenues are magnificent and beautiful. Truly, it is a wonderful
city. As New York has made such progress in material civilization, I hope that it may
also advance spiritually in the Kingdom and Covenant of God so that the friends
here may become the cause of the illumination of America, that this city may become
the city of love and that the fragrances of God may be spread from this place to all
parts of the world. I have come for this. I pray that you may be manifestations of the
love of Bahá’u’lláh, that each one of you may become like a clear lamp of crystal

Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 6
from which the rays of the bounties of the Blessed Perfection may shine forth to all
nations and peoples. This is my highest aspiration.” 21

After the Master had finished, he offered to greet people individually. Many pressed in
around him and asked him for prayers of assistance and touched his light colored cloak as he
left. 22

In the back of the crowd, Howard Colby Ives looked eagerly towards ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but
could not reach him. Ives had been educated as a Unitarian minister and had served in
several small parishes in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and
New Jersey. He had begun an informal ‘brotherhood’ of
men devoted to the Holy Spirit who met once a week in a
Masonic Lodge so as to include a broader range of people
than a denominational church. One of the Board
members of that group, Clarence Moore, a humble and
kindly man, told Ives about his interest “in a world-wide
movement which seems to have great spiritual and social
significance”. Though skeptical, Ives read through the
notes Clarence had taken after hearing about this
‘movement’ and was intrigued. He received an invitation a
few days later to a Bahá’í meeting and went because of his
love for his friend Clarence. Though he went
begrudgingly and remembered nothing of it, it was there
that he met Mountfort Mills. Mills taught Ives about the
Bahá’í Faith over the next few weeks. Ives was much
tormented by what he read and heard and, most
especially, with the difficulty he had with offering
personal prayer. 23 Soon it was the spring of 1912, and he
Howard Colby Ives
looked to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit for answers. Though Ives
was not able to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that afternoon at the
Kinneys, his life was on the verge of being completely changed.

KKK

Howard Colby Ives had to get up very early the morning of Friday, April 12th, to make it in
to the Hotel Ansonia from his home in New Jersey to try to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. By the time
he arrived a little before 9 a.m., the waiting room in the Ansonia was already full with those
who wished to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. 24

There were reporters there who wanted to know who ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was exactly--“I am not a
prophet;; I am a servant of God”--and why had he come to the United States--“I have come
to visit the peace societies of America because the fundamental principles of our Cause are
universal peace and the promotion of the basic doctrine of the oneness and truth of all
divine religions”. There were phone calls from believers inquiring about him and letters to
be written to Bahá’í assemblies in the country. 25
Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 7
Ives was in a very emotional state so he walked away from the others to a window with a
view of Broadway wondering what he was doing there with no appointment while so many
others waited. Then a door opened from across the room, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came out and
said farewell to the people with whom he had been speaking. The morning sun gathered all
around his cloak, he adjusted his fez which had tilted slightly on his head, and looked directly
at Ives. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá beckoned him. Ives saw no one else near him to whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
could have been gesturing. Amazed, he walked towards the Master who led him into the
private room and dismissed everyone else within it, including the interpreter who seemed
surprised at this.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked with Ives over to two chairs near the window. He grasped Ives’s hand
even more tightly and said softly in English: “You are my very dear son.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
looked at him intently. The Master’s very being was taking him in. Howard felt as though
this was the first time another person had ever truly seen him. The turmoil that had agitated
Ives’s soul was released in tears of joy. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wiped these tears away while exhorting
him to be happy. A long and full silence passed between them. A great peace came over
Howard. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá rose up, laughed heartily, took him in his arms with a powerful hug
and led him to the door. A new life had begun for Howard Colby Ives.

KKK

During these days, newspapers covered events such as, “President Taft forms the US
Chamber of Commerce”;; “the Titanic, largest boat in the world, leaves port for NYC”;; “new
Packard automobile company in Long Island City”;; “NY Highlanders have become the NY
Yankees and will start the new season in their new pinstripe uniforms”. 1

They also printed photos of the Master. The New York Times headline read: "ABDUL
BAHA HERE”:

"[…]he and his father, Ben Ullah [Bahá'u'lláh] were exiled by the Turkish
Government fifty years ago. “Abdul Baha comes to us on a mission of peace and will
deliver one of his principle addresses before the Peace Conference at Lake Mohonk.
[…]" 26

The New York City Evening Sun announced: "AN APOSTLE OF PEACE. […] The
keynote of Abdul Baha's philosophy is that men serve God best by serving their kind. […]” 27

These are made up headlines based on actual events during the Spring/ Summer of 1912.
Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 8
The New York City Sun had this article:

"DISCIPLES HERE HAIL ABDUL BAHA "[…] [He] was welcomed reverently by
more than three hundred of his American disciples yesterday. […] Catholics,
Protestants, Jews and Mohammedans joined in the reception. […]” 28

While traditional Protestants, such as Episcopalians and Presbyterians, had made up the
powerful families of New York, now the Irish Catholics were in political ascendancy. Jews,
while numerous, were still a society apart. They had begun, though, to create aid societies
and would soon make a great mark on New York City.

The New York City Evening World emphasized another aspect of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s teaching:

"ABDUL BAHA ABBAS, HEAD OF NEWEST RELIGION, BELIEVES IN
WOMAN SUFFRAGE AND DIVORCE. […] members of the sect were known
originally as Babists, after The Bab, but they are now called Bahais, after the Bahas,
father and son. […] Of course nobody could be named Baha without having a beard.
[…] He has brought a suite of five very Oriental gentlemen. […] Abdul Baha is really
a delightful prophet. He says he isn't a prophet, by the way, but 'only a servant of the
servants of God.'” 29

Though New York City teemed with immigrant women who worked constantly in homes
and factories for low or no wages, the right to vote would not be given to any women for
another eight years.

KKK

Howard MacNutt and his wife, Mary, were taught about the Bahá’í Faith from a Syrian
doctor, Ibrahim Kheiralla, who was the first person to teach the Faith in the United States.
Kheiralla appointed MacNutt as the Bahá’í
‘teacher’ of New York City. The MacNutts used
their home at 731 St. Nicholas Ave. for Bahá’í
gatherings as well as the second home they
bought at 935 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn in
1902. 30 They were most likely the first to hold
Bahá’í feasts in their home in the United States
after returning from their pilgrimage in 1905. 31
Howard soon began to study Persian and Arabic
which allowed him to assist Ali Kuli Khan, a
young Persian believer who lived in the United
States, in translating the Book of Certitude, the
Kitab-i-Iqan. 32 Howard MacNutt

Howard spent much of his Bahá’í life serving on administrative bodies. On December 7th,
1900, he was elected to the first Board of Counsel of New York City. He represented the
Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 9
Bahá’ís of New York at the 1909 ‘Bahá’í Temple Unity Convention’, the first Bahá’í National
Convention of any kind. 33 He also took a great interest in the development of the Bahá’í
School at Green Acre, Maine. 34

The Bahá’í group of New York City, though, struggled to be unified. The Syrian doctor who
had taught many of them had turned against ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and taught his own version of the
Bahá’í Faith. Also, two of the main members of the New York group—Howard MacNutt
and Arthur P. Dodge—had conflict with one another. Arthur P. Dodge was a popularizer of
the Faith who wanted to reach the masses by producing a magazine with spiritual guidance;;
MacNutt was more of an aristocrat and thinker. The two men had very different
understandings of the station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Dodge believed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to be the
returned Christ, a Manifestation of God, but MacNutt thought ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a man who
had attained his station through his service and spiritual virtues. 35

The New York Bahá’ís met in privates homes so different groups formed around these
different home meetings. Each home meeting had a somewhat different understanding of
the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. The Brooklyn Bahá’ís tended to meet on their own.
Howard MacNutt founded a Board of Counsel for the Bahá’ís living in Brooklyn after he
was not elected to the New York Board, which met in Manhattan. 36 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, informed
of the tensions within the New York group, wrote to it, to tell it to expand the number of
believers serving on the board to twenty seven. Later he told Juliet Thompson that he had
done this so that all the different parties, including MacNutt, would be included;; he told the
New York Board that women should be allowed to serve. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed the Board
as the “Spiritual Assembly” so this became the new title. 37

Howard MacNutt had only a partial understanding of the Bahá’í Faith--like many Bahá’ís of
his time--because very few of the Bahá’í Writings had been translated. Believers learned
more about Bahá’í beliefs and practice from the returning pilgrims who had visited ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá. The pilgrims had seen how the Master lived his life and had taken notes on his
explanations of the teachings. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit in 1912 helped enormously in educating
the believers about Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings. Most Bahá’ís blended personal interests and
previous beliefs into their knowledge of the teachings of the Faith. For example, Howard
MacNutt had been very interested in a form of Hinduism which taught that God was ‘in
everything’, pantheism, and believed that the unity of religions taught by Bahá’u’lláh meant
the ‘blending’ of religions. Other Bahá’ís held onto popular beliefs and practices such as
telepathy. When individuals insisted on such beliefs there was real friction between the
Bahá’ís.

One thing was certain about Howard Macnutt--after meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on pilgrimage in
1905, he believed that the power of love could bind people and communities together.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá had told him to tell the Bahá’ís in New York, “My love is my face;; take it to
them;; tell them to see me in their love for each other.” 38

On the afternoon of April 12th, the MacNutts were privileged to open their home in
Brooklyn to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and give the opportunity to many guests to experience his love.
Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 10
At the MacNutt home, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá emphasized that unity was the purpose of Divine
Revelation--which many Bahá’ís did not realize---and that love was the means of creating
this unity. He contrasted this fundamental spiritual teaching with the wars that had broken
out in other parts of the world:

“The purpose of the creation of man is the attainment of the supreme virtues of
humanity through descent of the heavenly bestowals. … It is so, likewise, in the
spiritual world. That world is the Kingdom of complete attraction and affinity. It is
the Kingdom of the One Divine Spirit, the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the affinity
and love manifest in this meeting, the divine susceptibilities witnessed here are not of
this world but of the world of the Kingdom. … Through His (Christ) death and
teachings we have entered into His Kingdom. His essential teaching was the unity of
mankind and the attainment of supreme human virtues through love. … Can you
find in His words any justification for discord and enmity? … If you should
announce that Italy was a barbarous nation and not Christian, this would be
vehemently denied. But would Christ sanction what they are doing in Tripoli? …
Whenever discord prevails instead of unity, wherever hatred and antagonism take the
place of love and spiritual fellowship, Antichrist reigns instead of Christ. … We have
been brought together here by the power of His Word—you from America, I from
Persia—all in love and unity of spirit. Was this possible in former centuries? If it is
possible now after fifty years of sacrifice and teaching, what shall we expect in the
wonderful centuries coming?” 39

Later on that day, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke at Miss Phillip’s studio on 39 West 67th St.. The large
room was lit from above and cast shadows on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s face such that it looked very
rugged and even more powerful. 40 To this audience, he again emphasized love and that the
expression of love is service to others. He also tried to awaken in the listeners a sense of the
importance of the time in which they lived:

“Therefore, order your lives in accordance with the first principle of the divine
teaching, which is love. Service to humanity is service to God. … Do you appreciate
the Day in which you live? … These are the days of seed sowing. … This is the
springtime of Bahá’u’lláh. The verdure and foliage of spiritual growth are appearing
in great abundance in the gardens of human hearts. Know ye the value of these
passing days and vanishing nights. Strive to attain a station of absolute love one
toward another.” 41

The following morning, Saturday, April 13th, clerics came to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the
Ansonia. He pointedly told them that the “ministers of religion” were partly responsible for
the spiritual apathy into which people had sunk. Religion, though, must go hand in hand
with reason and science and, as a result, it had become imitation so they must relate religion
to scientific knowledge. 42

Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 11
Rev. Bixby, who had written an inaccurate article on the Faith for the North American
Review, was one of the ministers who interviewed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that morning. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
presented to him a view of religions which allowed one to see their common foundation
without being confused by theological dogma or cultural variety.

Bixby: “What is understood to be the relation between the manifestation in
Baha’o’llah and the manifestations in Moses, Jesus and others?”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “It is one basis, one foundation. Abraham proclaimed the Truth,
Moses raised the standard of Truth. Jesus established the Truth. …”

Bixby: “By what authority is BAHA'O'LLAH placed with Abraham, Moses and
Jesus?”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Today we believe BAHA'O'LLAH to be an educator of humanity, as
Abraham, Moses and Jesus were educators. … What is the function of a teacher and
educator of humanity? By what evidence shall we recognize him? … For the aim and
function of an Educator is to train the children of humanity. This is His greatest
power;; -- that He has power to uplift humanity. Bahá’u’lláh either taught higher
lessons or did not. If He did, He has fulfilled His claim. …”

Bixby: “Has Bahá’u’lláh done this?”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Yes! In Persia especially He has accomplished this miracle of training
and education. …”

Bixby: “How can we receive more from the Teachings of Baha’o’llah than from the
Words of Jesus?”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Jesus and the former Prophets laid the foundation of the Cause of
God, -- the Heavenly Kingdom. But their followers forget and overlook the
foundation. Christ said, "Ye must be born again of water and spirit." "As children
from the womb, so must ye be born again of Spirit." The essence of His meaning
was that His real followers would become free from worldly imperfections;; … These
are the real Christians. … Now Baha’ullah came and brought a new life into the
hearts of mankind. … Under the influence of Bahá’u’lláh’s words, he (Mírzá Abul
Fazl, a prominent Bahá’í) arose to serve this Cause. He was thrown into prison two
years;; … Under all conditions of distress and suffering, he was thankful and filled
with happiness, … This is the strongest proof that the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have
within them the same power to mould and influence human lives as the Teachings of
Jesus. …” 43

‘Abdu’l-Bahá concluded the interview by placing a large number of white roses into the
Reverend’s arms as an expression of the “love and fragrance of the Bahá’í Spirit”. 44

Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 12
In the afternoon, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá approached the theme again of the common source of all
religions and the continuing and progressive nature of Revelation, when he spoke at the
home of Mrs. Morten. This time he described it in organic and naturalistic terms:

“The spiritual world is like unto the phenomenal world. They are the exact
counterpart of each other. … When we look upon the phenomenal world, we
perceive that it is divided into four seasons;; … When the season of spring appears in
the arena of existence, the whole world is rejuvenated and finds new life. … The
appearances of the Manifestations of God are the divine springtime. When Christ
appeared in this world, it was like the vernal bounty;; the outpouring descended;; the
effulgences of the Merciful encircled all things;; the human world found new life.
Even the physical world partook of it. The divine perfections were upraised;; souls
were trained in the school of heaven so that all grades of human existence received
life and light. … the season of winter came upon the world;; the beauties of spring
vanished;; the excellences and perfections passed away;; the lights and quickening
were no longer evident;; the phenomenal world and its materialities conquered
everything;; the spiritualities of life were lost;; … Bahá’u’lláh has come into this world.
He has renewed that springtime. …” 45

He spoke while standing on the stairs because the audience was so large. At one point in his
description of the seasons he said, “Va tábistán”, then there was silence. He looked over at
his excellent translator, Ahmad, who uncharacteristically could not find the word. ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá, realizing this, smiled and said: “Summer”.

When he was finished, over a hundred people came up to shake his hand, to ask for a
blessing, to present their children, or to show him a tablet which he had written to them.
Exhausted, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá began to make his way upstairs but they pleaded for him to stay a
little longer. 46 A taxi driver asked what message he should take back to his friends, and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered: "Tell them to come into the Kingdom of God. There they will find
plenty of land and there are no taxes on it." 47

Later that evening, the Master was lying down from fatigue. He received a visit from Juliet
Thompson and her mother. Earlier that day, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had inquired about her mother
and Juliet answered that her mother grieved because her son was marrying a woman who did
not want to know their family. So ‘Abdu’l-Bahá invited Juliet to bring her mother to him.
Juliet, knowing her mother’s opposition to her involvement in the Faith and because there
was a thunderstorm that day, didn’t think her mother would accept but she did. Once in
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s room, Juliet’s mother approached him shyly and got down on her knees next
to his bedside. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá welcomed her and comforted her by praising Juliet and
exhorting her to trust in God. She expressed her love for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who assured her that
his heart knew that. The next day, her mother’s bitterness was gone. 48

Chapter 2: First Days ~ In the Homes of the Disciples 13
Chapter 3:
Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message
Juliet Thompson was in love with Rev. Percy Grant, the rector of the Church of the
Ascension, a large church down the street from her
home. This Church was founded in 1827 as an
evangelical church and had remained active in social
causes. A new, gothic style building was built
because the congregation had grown much larger
and a fire had burned down the first building. Rev.
Grant had been appointed its rector in 1893 49 and
had come to know Juliet because she was one of the
congregants. Their friendship had grown but Juliet
was unsure about marrying him.

Rev. Grant had spoken out against the Faith from
his pulpit but, after learning that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was
coming to the States, he seemed to have a change of
heart and wrote to Juliet:
Juliet Thompson
“If his friends in this city would feel any
value or assistance in having him speak at
the eleven o'clock service in the Church of the Ascension, in place of my sermon, I
shall be more than happy to invite him to the Ascension pulpit in my place. I should
like to show so important and splendid a person, and those who love him, whatever
hospitality and goodwill can be expressed in this town, by such a plan.” 50

‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived in the rectory at ten-thirty Sunday morning, April 14th, and was taken to
an upper room as the Sunday school classes were going on downstairs. There, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
waited with Edward Getsinger, Juliet Thompson, and the Persian believers who
accompanied the Master. Rev. Grant came in to greet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As the group waited,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá teased Juliet lovingly and inquired after the wellbeing of her mother. She, in
turn, asked after the health of Ruha Khanum, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s daughter, to which he

Chapter 3: Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message 14
answered: “I have put her in the hands of the Blessed Perfection," said our Lord, "and now I
don't worry at all.” 51

By the beginning of the service, the Church of the Ascension was filled to capacity. The altar
was wreathed with calla lilies. Dr. Grant began the
morning with a reading of prophecy from the Old
Testament related to this appointed Day of fulfillment.
Next he chose the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians
from the apostle Paul:

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but
do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or
a clanging cymbal. … Love never fails. But where
there are prophecies, they will cease;; where there
are tongues, they will be stilled;; where there is
knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part
and we prophesy in part, but when completeness
comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a
child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put
the ways of childhood behind me. For now we Rev. Percy Grant
see only a reflection as in a mirror;; then we shall
see face to face. Now I know in part;; then I shall
know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and
love. But the greatest of these is love.” 52

The choir then burst into “Jesus lives”. Dr. Grant stepped into the vestry and walked out
hand in hand with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. They stood for a moment by the altar under a mural
showing the Resurrection. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was seated in the chair near the altar reserved for a
bishop, the representative of Christ who had the church’s teaching authority for the City and
oversaw all churches in a region. Over the chair hung a Greek-style wreath symbolizing the
victory of Christ through His Suffering. 53

Dr. Grant introduced the Master who then rose and walked over to the steps of the altar. He
looked out lovingly over the packed church. As he spoke, he asserted that unity was the
purpose of religion and the way to peace in the world:

“Today the world of humanity is in need of international unity and conciliation. To
establish these great fundamental principles a propelling power is needed. It is selfevident that the unity of the human world and the Most Great Peace cannot be
accomplished through material means. They cannot be established through political
power, for the political interests of nations are various and the policies of peoples are
divergent and conflicting. They cannot be founded through racial or patriotic power,
for these are human powers, selfish and weak. The very nature of racial differences
and patriotic prejudices prevents the realization of this unity and agreement.
Chapter 3: Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message 15
Therefore, it is evidenced that the promotion of the oneness of the kingdom of
humanity, which is the essence of the teachings of all the Manifestations of God, is
impossible except through the divine power and breaths of the Holy Spirit.” 54

He praised Jesus Christ again, describing the Manifestation of God in terms of being an
‘educator’:

“Jesus Christ came to teach the people of the world this heavenly civilization and not
material civilization. He breathed the breath of the Holy Spirit into the body of the
world and established an illumined civilization. Among the principles of divine
civilization He came to proclaim is the Most Great Peace of mankind.” 55

He also warned of the spiritual danger lurking in materialism:

“The world of humanity is submerged in a sea of materialism. The rays of the Sun of
Reality are seen but dimly and darkly through opaque glasses. The penetrative power
of the divine bounty is not fully manifest.” 56

These ideas may well have resonated with this devout big city audience aware of the very
delicate balance of power between the great nations of Europe and mindful in their day to
day lives of the many social problems of the poor and needy in their burgeoning city.

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had concluded he raised his palms upward and offering a prayer near
the altar, “… Verily, this congregation is seeking Thy path, searching for Thy mystery, …”. 57
Dr. Grant and other clerics bowed their heads as they listened. The service broke up with
the recessional hymn “Christ our Lord has risen again”. 58

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was taken back into the Rectory. Groups of parishioners moved forward to
greet him and seek his blessing. Bahá’ís sang “Allah-u-Abha”. One woman cried as she held
the hem of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s robe. He calmed her with his loving kindness. 59

The Master asked to see Dr. Grant, but he had been detained in the Church. Mountfort
Mills walked out with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the car. Dr. Grant’s mother then ran into the room
looking side to side for the Master. She wanted his blessing. She made her way out to the
black car in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sat. When she got to the car, she knelt in the street. The
Master placed his hands on her head. 60

Juliet Thompson went back in to the empty church to thank Dr. Grant. This had been a day
of days for her. For years she had struggled with her attendance at this church and her
relationship with Dr. Grant. This had been a day of fulfillment in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
presence in this church had proclaimed the Resurrection—that this time was the appointed
Day. She wanted to thank Dr. Grant who had been so dynamic during the service. The last
parishioner had left. She walked up to him. They clasped hands. He smiled and called her,
“My darling”. Instead of the spiritual energy she had seen during the service, Juliet now saw

Chapter 3: Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message 16
in his face a strange falseness which snapped her out of her feelings for him. She turned
away. 61

KKK

That afternoon, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke at the Union Meeting of Advanced Thought Centers in
the Carnegie Hall building on 57th St. Using the imagery of sun and mirrors, he related the
oneness of God to the goal of the oneness of humanity and the need for love to accomplish
this.

God’s Revelation, like the sun’s light and warmth, is for everyone:

“The world of creation, the world of humanity may be likened to the earth itself and
the divine power to the sun. This Sun has shone upon all mankind. In the endless
variety of its reflections the divine Will is manifested. Consider how all are recipients
of the bounty of the same Sun. At most the difference between them is that of
degree, for the effulgence is one effulgence, the one light emanating from the Sun.
This will express the oneness of the world of humanity.” 62

To receive the Holy Spirit--God’s light--individuals must cleanse themselves of this world:

“The most important thing is to polish the mirrors of hearts in order that they may
become illumined and receptive of the divine light.” 63

The more human beings do this, the more the world will be unified and illumined:

“This means the oneness of the world of humanity. That is to say, when this human
body politic reaches a state of absolute unity, the effulgence of the eternal Sun will
make its fullest light and heat manifest.” 64

Love is the quality which God bestows to unify people. Jesus Christ and Bahá’u’lláh caused
love to appear in the hearts of their followers:

“All the Prophets have striven to make love manifest in the hearts of men. Jesus
Christ sought to create this love in the hearts. He suffered all difficulties and ordeals
that perchance the human heart might become the fountain source of love.” 65

“About sixty years ago Bahá’u’lláh appeared upon the eastern horizon. He caused
love and unity to become manifest among these antagonistic peoples. He united
them with the bond of love;; …” 66

KKK

Among the many visitors who came to speak with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the next morning, Monday,
April 15th, was Mr. Hudson Maxim, an inventor and scientist who was an expert in

Chapter 3: Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message 17
explosives. Hudson was very interested in issues related to the prevention of international
war through the build-up of armaments. In the course of the interview, he attempted to
counter and challenge ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

“Maxim: “I understand you are a messenger of peace to this country. What is your
opinion about modern war? …”

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Everything that prevents war is good.”

“Maxim: “Evolution has now reached a period in the life of nations where
commerce takes the place of warfare. Business is war, cruel, merciless.”

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “True! War is not limited to one cause. There are many kinds of war
and conflict going on … this is the very civilization of war.”

“Maxim: “Do you consider the next great major war necessary?”

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “I hope your efforts may be able to prevent it. Why not try peace for
a while? If we find war is better, it will not be difficult to fight again;; …”

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “In ancient times when nations fought against nation, probably onethousand would be killed in battle, … but in modern times the science of war has
reached such a stage of perfection that in twenty-four hours one-hundred thousand
could be sacrificed, …”

“Maxim: “Fewer are killed in modern engagements that in battles of ancient times;;
the range is longer and the action less deadly.”

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “… In modern warfare there are bombs which kill men like stripping
leaves from a tree. …”

“Maxim: “The effect of a bomb is not so great as expected. Most of its force is
expended upward in the air. …”

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “The greatest intelligence of man is being expended in the direction
of killing his fellow-man. … You are a celebrated inventor and scientific expert
whose energies and faculties are employed in the production of means for human
destruction. … You must expend your energies and intelligence in a contrary
direction. You must discover the means of peace;; … Then it will be said by the
people of the world, this is Mr. Maxim, inventor of the guns of war, … who has put
an end to the strife of nations and uprooted the tree of war. …” 67

From the great issues of war and peace, the Master went on to give some paternal and
personal advice to Juliet Thompson regarding Dr. Grant. He asked her to convey to him his
deep appreciation for his assistance at Sunday’s program and that the day would be
Chapter 3: Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message 18
remembered for centuries to come. He said he loved Dr. Grant but that Juliet must keep her
relationship with him, “absolutely formal”. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that the rectorship of the
church was in the way of his becoming a believer. 68

‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent the afternoon speaking to guests at the
home of Mountfort Mills. Mountfort was an international
lawyer who had become a Bahá’í in 1906 and made two
pilgrimages to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Holy Land before 1909.
He had begun what would be a distinguished life of service.
He would serve as the first Chairman of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the U.S. and Canada, preparing the
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws adopted by the National
Assembly in 1927, and a trustee of Bahá’í Temple Unity—
the body coordinating the building of the Temple. Acting
on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, he would appeal the case of
the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad to the League of
Nations, which took him twice to Baghdad where he would
have an audience with the King, and be the victim of a
brutal physical assault which affected him the rest of his
life. The League of Nations rendered a favorable verdict. Mountfort Mills
Shoghi Effendi would write about Mills: “He has truly
acquitted himself in this most sacred task with exemplary distinction and proved himself
worthy of so noble a mission. I request you to join me in my prayers for him …” 69

At the Mills home, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke of man’s reality in relation to nature and God.
Nature was bound by its own laws:

“The phenomenal world is entirely subject to the rule and control of natural law.
These myriad suns, satellites and heavenly bodies throughout endless space are all
captives of nature.” 70

Man is physical but also has another reality which allows him to go beyond nature:

“All live within the bounds of natural law, and nature is the ruler of all except man.
Man is not the captive of nature, for although according to natural law he is a being
of the earth, yet he guides ships over the ocean, flies through the air in airplanes,
descends in submarines;; therefore, he has overcome natural law and made it
subservient to his wishes.” 71

Man is a part of nature but has spiritual qualities not found in the whole of nature:

“If we accept the supposition that man is but a part of nature, we are confronted by
an illogical statement, for this is equivalent to claiming that a part may be endowed
with qualities which are absent in the whole. For man who is a part of nature has

Chapter 3: Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message 19
perception, intelligence, memory, conscious reflection and susceptibility, while nature
itself is quite bereft of them.” 72

God has given man these capacities:

“The truth is that God has given to man certain powers which are supernatural.” 73

The spiritual faculty connects man to God and generates the love which can bind the hearts
of people together:

“I am very happy and hopeful … that the oneness of human world-power, the love
of God, may enkindle the hearts, and that international peace may hoist its standards,
influencing all other regions and countries from here.” 74

Chapter 3: Church of the Ascension ~ Bahá'u'lláh's Message 20
Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty
The following morning, Tuesday, April 16th, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá agreed to speak to the homeless
men at the Bowery Station on the coming Friday. This opportunity was the result of efforts
made by Juliet Thompson.

Juliet had been asked several times by Dr. Hallimond to come to this Mission which served
homeless men and speak to the men about the Faith. Her
mother had forbidden her from going to that part of town.
But Juliet agreed after the third request and used the pretext
of going to have dinner with a friend as a way of getting out
of the house to go to the Bowery. That night, sleet came
down through a bitter cold. The Mission was packed with
homeless men trying to find warmth. Among the men, was
John Good, who had been in and out of prison his whole
life and had just gotten out of his latest stint at Sing Sing
prison. He had been hung by his thumbs in Sing Sing for
his violent behavior and had come out filled with hate and
believing in nothing. When she spoke, Juliet explained that
‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been in prison for years and had come
out filled with love. At the end of her talk, Dr. Hallimond
requested a visit from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when he came to New
York City and invited those men who wished to come to a
regular Wednesday night study of 1 Corinthians 13. Thirty Bowery Mission today
men expressed interest, including John Good and his
friend, an Irishman named Hannegan who struggled with alcoholism. Juliet later admitted to
her mother where she had been, but her mother was so moved by the story that she
supported her efforts after that.

So on this Tuesday morning, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave Juliet and Edward Getsinger each a
thousand franc note and instructed them to change it into quarters and bring them to the
Mission when he spoke there. He said that he loved the poor and wished to give them some
money. 75

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 21
That afternoon, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke with a group of Bahá’ís from New Jersey. He predicted
that in the future, people would think of themselves as having a global rather than national
identity:

“The people of the future will not say, “I belong to the nation of England, France or
Persia”;; for all of them will be citizens of a universal nationality—the one family, the
one country, the one world of humanity—and then these wars, hatreds and strifes
will pass away.” 76

Bahá’u’lláh’s Message had helped to create unity between Persians of different religious
backgrounds:

“Bahá’u’lláh appeared in a country which was the center of prejudice. … They
considered the killing of others who did not agree with them in religious belief an act
of worship. Bahá’u’lláh established such unity and agreement between these various
communities that the greatest love and amity are now witnessed among them.” 77

This unity, this oneness, was the remedy for the world’s ills, the grace of Bahá’u’lláh was its
cause, and love, its agent:

“The body of the human world is sick. Its remedy and healing will be the oneness of
the kingdom of humanity. … Its illumination and quickening is love. … It is my wish
and hope that in the bounties and favors of the Blessed Perfection we may find a
new life, acquire a new power and attain to a wonderful and supreme source of
energy so that the Most Great Peace of divine intention shall be established upon the
foundations of the unity of the world of men with God. May the love of God be
spread from this city, from this meeting to all the surrounding countries. …” 78

He hoped that America would be the country to send this love throughout the world.

KKK

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in a moment of rest, again gave Juliet Thompson personal guidance. As he lay
back on a pillow with May Maxwell’s infant child moving on him, he expressed his love and
appreciation for Dr. Grant. Juliet responded that she thought her heart was now “severed”
from him but could not be sure of this—only God could change a love so deep. ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá asked her if she could transfer that love to God, and she assured him she could.
Laughing, he said: “That will be enough! I shall try to make no more marriages, when you
have really given up, he will come after you. I love Dr Grant very, very much, but I want to
protect you.”

KKK

In describing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to the Church of the Ascension, the New York Herald
brought up a controversy which reflected the small mindedness of a few churchmen:

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 22
“Some of the congregation … and members of other Episcopal churches expressed
astonishment that a religious leader not professing Christianity should have been
invited to preach and permitted to offer prayer within the chancel at a regular
Episcopal service. … It was said that Canon Nineteen of the Episcopal Church
forbids any one not episcopally ordained from preaching in an Episcopal pulpit
without consent of the bishop. There is no provision against a non-ordained person
offering prayer within the chancel, it was said, because no such contingency was
anticipated.” 79

The biggest story in the newspapers, though, was the unbelievable one about the sinking of
the largest ship ever built, the Titanic. Who could have imagined such a thing?

KKK

On Wednesday, April 17th, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to people at the Hotel Ansonia about the
nature of human knowledge. He asserted that, “All human standards of judgment are faulty,
finite”. We ‘know’ through sense perception, reason, traditions, and inspiration, and that all
of these ways of knowing are subject to their own limitations. The senses can be easily
mistaken such as when one sees a mirage. Reason has produced many conflicting opinions
throughout history and the discoveries and theories of one era are disproved or updated in a
future time. Traditions are based on human interpretation of Scripture but the human mind
cannot encompass the Divine and, therefore, this interpretation will always be faulty.
Inspiration can be caused by evil as well as good desires. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá concluded:

“What then remains? How shall we attain the reality of knowledge? By the breaths
and promptings of the Holy Spirit, which is light and knowledge itself. Through it
the human mind is quickened and fortified into true conclusions and perfect
knowledge.” 80

‘Abdu’l-Bahá had invited believers to the Kinneys later that same day for a supper which he
would serve personally. He had expressed the hope that both white and black people would
come. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wanted to demonstrate the teaching of unity in action through his own
loving, service-oriented behavior;; he wanted to show that this Teaching of Bahá’u’lláh was a
standard by which the devotion of a Bahá’í group could be measured and a goal toward
which all Bahá’ís could strive in their interactions with others.

Unity had to become a reality for the world to become illumined by the “Sun of Truth” but
this outcome depended on individual efforts:

“The world has become a new world. … Therefore, it is requisite that we must
develop capacity and divine susceptibility in order that the merciful bounty of the
Sun of Truth intended for this age and time in which we are living may reflect from
us as light from pure crystals.” 81

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 23
“The bounties of the Blessed Perfection are infinite. We must endeavor to increase
our capacity daily, to strengthen and enlarge our capabilities for receiving them, to
become as perfect mirrors. The more polished and clean the mirror, the more
effulgent is its reflection of the lights of the Sun of Truth.” 82

Human beings have different capacities but this must not be cause for disunity because
diversity was more pleasing than uniformity:

“As difference in degree of capacity exists among human souls, as difference in
capability is found, therefore, individualities will differ one from another. But in
reality this is a reason for unity and not for discord and enmity. If the flowers of a
garden were all of one color, the effect would be monotonous to the eye;; but if the
colors are variegated, it is most pleasing and wonderful.” 83

On the following day, 84 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave a presentation on the life of Bahá’u’lláh for the
first time in the United States at the Emery home on W. 90th St.;; Marshall Emery and his
brother were architects, and Henry had designed the front of the Bowery Mission. 85 In his
account of Bahá’u’lláh’s life, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá described a life that would have sounded familiar
to those who had read about the life of Jesus in the Bible. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke of
Bahá’u’lláh’s innate knowledge;; the boy Jesus, without schooling, had amazed those in the
synagogue with his understanding of Jewish Scripture. Bahá’u’lláh had been high born in
society but renounced the world to serve the poor;; the Gospel of Luke is an account of
Jesus’s life filled with stories of his renunciation of the material world and concern for the
downtrodden. Bahá’u’lláh spent a period of seclusion in the wilderness;; Jesus was tested
spiritually for forty days in the wilderness.

In his overview, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá dwelt for awhile on another theme that would have been
familiar to Christians: God’s Will triumphing over the seemingly superior forces of the
world. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke of Bahá’u’lláh’s Proclamation to the Rulers of the world and of
the inexorable rise of His Faith despite His Captivity. He finished by emphasizing that
Bahá’u’lláh had born all of that suffering:

“… in order that our hearts might become enkindled and radiant, our spirits be
glorified, our faults become virtues, our ignorance be transformed into knowledge;; in
order that we might attain the real fruits of humanity and acquire heavenly graces;; in
order that, although pilgrims upon earth, we should travel the road of the heavenly
Kingdom, and, although needy and poor, we might receive the treasures of eternal
life.” 86

KKK

Juliet Thompson was born in Washington DC, in 1873, of Irish descent. Early on she
showed a talent for painting and was able to make money as a teenager selling her pastel
portraits. The money became necessary because her father died when she was twelve, and he
had left the family with little money. While living in New York City, she had become ill with
Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 24
dyptheria and overheard the doctor telling her mother that she would not survive. In a
dream, Juliet saw the face of a “most wonderful-looking man” 87 who reassured her that she
would get better. Some years later, while studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, Juliet saw a
photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and recognized him as the man from her dream. She became a
Bahá’í there in 1901. In Paris, she met many believers such as May Bolles, the first Bahá’í to
live in Europe, Lua Getsinger, Thomas Breakwell, the first English believer, and Hippolyte
Dreyfus, the first French believer. Juliet had the great fortune to be educated in the Faith by
one of its foremost teachers and scholars, Mírzá Abu’l Fadl. She was able to make a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with her friends the Kinneys in 1909, and
a trip to Europe to see the Master again in 1911. 88

When she moved to New York City, she made her home in Greenwich Village, on W. 10th
St. near Fifth Ave.. This neighborhood had become a haven for artists and writers, and she
fit right in. Washington Square Park, a few blocks south, was the heart of the village and
reflected the changing nature of the area. On the north side were the large homes of wealthy
business families. These were shuttered during the summer as the families left for their
country homes. When they returned and the social season began, one would see well
dressed, affluent New Yorkers stepping out of the doors of expensive automobiles opened
by men dressed in livery clothes and then onto red velvet carpets protected by canvas
canopies raised overhead.

Washington Square bustled with life--much of it contrasting to the lives of these wealthy
families. In the evenings, one could listen to a young man preaching fervently about the
equality of men and women on the northeast corner of the square. The sounds of a cornet
could be heard inviting people to a movie on the corner of Thompson St. and the Square.
Children gathered around men who were grinding hand organs. A band of musicians hired
by the City would be entertaining people in the Square. A sidewalk cart sold warm chestnuts.
Men and women down on their luck slept on some of the benches and were regularly
awoken and moved along by the policemen who patrolled the streets from each corner. In
the fall, an old white horse pulled a cart around the Square while men dressed in brown
uniforms tossed in the piles of leaves. As the weather turned cold, the fountains in the
Square were wrapped in straw.

Artists and writers had gradually moved into the dilapidated buildings, cottages and frame
houses south of the Square. An artist who was new to the area would have to first make a
stop at Pepe’s real estate office who knew every room in the area and how to make studio
space out of the holes in the wall in old factory buildings. Pepe would send the new young
struggling artist out on the street with a list of places for rent. Every building was constantly
in transition from its former uses. One local writer lived in a garret of a one hundred year
old building which had begun as a tool house for undertakers, then become the home of a
Governor, then a stage-house for stage coaches waiting to carry the mail, then a roadhouse
for people, then a saloon and then an inn. Washington Square itself had originally been a
potter’s field. This area had been home to the pamphleteer Thomas Paine, and writers Edgar
Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, and O. Henry, among many others. Its
cheap rents, bustling atmosphere of small restaurants, shops and tiny obscure theaters--
Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 25
described by one writer as being for, “people who cannot act, who have no originality in any
direction, who are amateur playwrights, gather together, rent rooms some where … and play
theatre”--were all attractions for artist and writers. 89

This was an age when more people were searching outside of mainstream churches for
alternatives or broader belief systems, possibly sensing that the times were changing. Among
these alternatives were spiritualism, the belief that God is transcendent and cannot be
described in anthropomorphic terms and that spirits can contact us from the next world,
theosophical societies, which taught that God was everywhere, that human nature was
ultimately Divine and that sickness could be healed through ‘right thinking’, and Hinduism
and Buddhism which were only taught or understood in fragments. These movements
tended to have a more universal view of God and salvation than traditional churches, and
people were more willing to discard or go beyond long accepted church doctrines. Many of
these seekers continued to be Christian in terms of its social and spiritual teachings and
some involvement in a church. For some, the Bahá’í Faith appeared to be one of these
‘alternatives’, with a charismatic rather than formal community structure, and, as far as
people knew, with general spiritual teachings such as the unity of the human race and the
promotion of world peace which echoed what many people regarded as the needs of the day
and which did not challenge their already held opinions on other subjects. In this sense, the
pre-World War I ‘spirit of the age’ reflected some aspects of Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings.

Greenwich Village was also home to free thinkers who had political leanings, most notably,
anarchists, who saw governments as oppressive and emphasized personal freedom, and
communists, who believed in a classless egalitarian society where government controlled the
means of production to ensure social and economic equality. These kinds of political views
had grown in response to the terrible conditions of workers in industrialized societies. There
were also many trade unionists who advocated for workers’ rights. In his talks in the United
States, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would bring a broader spiritual perspective to each of these issues by
explaining the need for a Divine Educator, the nature of true spirituality, the necessity of
both social justice and social order, and the meaning of true equality, among others.

Juliet Thompson chose to live in this powerful mix of new ideas and changing culture when
she moved to W. 10th St. This house would also be home to other artists and writers during
her many years there. The residents of the house often shared their work with each other.
Salons sponsored by a patron where artist writers and thinkers could gather to discuss
current topics of interest in art, spirituality and politics took place regularly in this part of the
city. 90 Juliet was a painter and a writer and had profound spiritual sensibilities. While she did
attend the Church of the Ascension off and on, she trusted her personal experience when it
came to matters of faith which helped her to respond to the Bahá’í message. Among Juliet’s
closest friends was a well-known writer and artist and a fellow seeker: Khalil Gibran.

Gibran lived across the street from Juliet in 51 W. 10th St.. He had been born in northern
Lebanon, then a part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. His mother’s family included a
bishop in the Syrian Church. Too poor to go to school, he was educated in the Scriptures by
local priests. As a young person, Gibran dreamed of creating unity and understanding
Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 26
between the two great faiths which dominated his homeland, Islam and Christianity, and had
been in violent conflict a few years before his birth. His mother left Lebanon for the United
States after his father was imprisoned for embezzlement. To develop his obvious artistic
talents in drawing and painting, he studied in Beirut, Boston and Paris, under Auguste
Rodin. Throughout his life he maintained an intense feeling for the figure of Jesus Christ
whom he re-imagined in his writing in different ways than that of traditional churches.

Like many people of this time, Gibran’s spiritual beliefs tended towards the theosophical,
and he wasn’t sure if a Divine Manifestation was necessary and that, instead, individuals
could perfect themselves and come into contact with God. 91 Juliet visited his studio and
praised his work as did Marjorie Morten, a patron of the arts, who was also a Bahá’í. Gibran
became such close friends with Juliet that he often let her read his drafts. 92

Juliet introduced the Bahá’í Faith to Gibran by giving him Bahá’u’lláh’s “Hidden Words” in
Arabic. Profoundly moved, he described them as “stupendous literature”. 93 Gibran also met
‘Abdu’l-Bahá through Juliet. The Master’s powerful spiritual presence greatly influenced his
work, especially his 1928 book, Jesus Son of Man. Gibran’s The Prophet, written a few years
earlier, would go on to influence generations of people who hungered for spiritual
inspiration. 94

Gibran spent the winter of 1912 as a recluse;; he was so absorbed in his work that he would
hardly eat, instead drinking strong Turkish coffee and smoking. But as spring of 1912
arrived, he began to rejoin the social world. He came to adore ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In explaining
why ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was such an inspiration for his book on Jesus, he said, “For the first time I
saw form noble enough to be a receptacle for the Holy Spirit.” 95

Very early on the morning of April 19th, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sat for a portrait painted by Gibran.
They had met three times previously about the portrait;; Gibran had also acted on those
occasions as an interpreter. The night before he hadn’t been able to sleep. After an hour of
painting, the twenty-five onlookers in the room began exclaiming that he had captured the
soul of the Master in his portrait. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said to him in Arabic: “Those who work with
the Spirit work well. You have the power of Alláh in you," and, quoting Mohammed, said:
"Prophets and poets see with the light of God". Gibran recorded that in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's
smile, "there was the mystery of Syria and Arabia and Persia.” In the days and weeks that
followed this sitting, Gibran felt a new surge of energy and spirit flowing through him. 96

KKK

After his portrait was painted, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went to speak at Columbia University’s Earl
Hall. Columbia University dated back to the mid-1700’s and became one of the nation’s
earliest centers for graduate education. Over the decades, the University distinguished itself
for its schools of law, which produced two Supreme Court Justices, its school of journalism,
and its school of international relations. It contributed enormously to different fields of
science: modern anthropology founder Franz Boaz, modern genetics pioneered by Thomas

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 27
Hunt Morgan, an integrated approach in medicine developed at Columbia-Presbyterian, and
important advances made in psychology.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent much of his talk explaining that while man was a part of nature, he also
transcended it through the use of his intellectual capacity for scientific investigation. Man,
therefore, was “the most noble part of creation, the governor of nature”. 97 But, as ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá always did, he now brought in the other dimension of man’s life—the spirit:

“As material knowledge is illuminating those within the walls of this great temple of
learning, so also may the light of the spirit, the inner and divine light of the real
philosophy glorify this institution.” 98

And the main principle of this “Divine philosophy” was the oneness of humanity which was
brought about by love, in the same way that the Manifestations of God were all one who
proclaimed peace to the world. The purpose of religion was not the negation of reason and
science nor the establishment of competing doctrines and sects:

“The divine purpose is that men should live in unity, concord and agreement and
should love one another.” 99

‘Abdul-Bahá exhorted the students, professors and others to the promotion of religion, “and
the religion of God is absolute love and unity”. 100

KKK

Back at the Ansonia, one of the many people who had come to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a
reporter from the New York Tribune, Mary Williams, who went by the pen name, “Kate
Carew”. Raised part of her childhood in the mining camps of the California Sierras, she had
studied art at the San Francisco School of Design and had become an illustrator for the San
Francisco Examiner. After she moved to New York City, Joseph Pulitzer hired her to work at
the New York World where she specialized in illustrated interviews. 101 Pulitzer had been
engaged in an intense rivalry with William Randolph Hearst, who owned the New York
Journal and whose mother was a follower of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Pulitzer and Hearst developed a
sensationalist form of journalism called “yellow journalism” which sent newspaper sales
rocketing;; the circulation of the World, for example, increased 4,000%. 102 Several times while
in the United States, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá admonished journalists to be fair and accurate in their
reporting

Over her career she would interview many of the famous people of the age such as actress
Sarah Bernhardt, the writers Mark Twain and Jack London, the poet W. B. Yeats, the artist
Pablo Picasso, the political leaders Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt, the
filmmaker D. W. Griffith, the banker J. P. Morgan, and the inventors the Wright brothers. 103
She approached her work of interviewing and drawing caricatures of famous people with
dark humor:

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 28
“One broiled live celebrity per week was the diet prescribed and rigorously enforced
by my uncompromising editor, and he organized a staff of one, whose duty it was to
hunt down the designated victims. The staff would make an appointment, and I
would follow with the instruments of torture, consisting of an inquiring eye and a
stub of pencil.” 104

Including her boss, Joseph Pulitzer--“Joseph Pulitzer is pre-eminently a publicist in
journalism” 105

Politicians--“most of the victims were politicians and statesmen--unless it be true, as I am
prepared to believe, that a statesman is only a politician who happens to be dead.” 106

And, of course, lawyers –

“the history of most of my interviews has been a frantic effort to penetrate beneath
the crust of the politician in search of the man. In this process I have discovered
many public men to have something almost human about them, and only when they
are lawyers do they object to having it known.” 107

Now, she brought her breezy cynicism and caustic eye to her interview with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

“On my way to the more rarefied atmosphere of the upper floors I found myself
hoping that the Baha would tell me I had a lovely soul. They say he finds out the
strangest things about you. […] I felt all sorts of mystic possibilities awaited me the
other side of the door. […] At my finger's pressure on the bell the door flew open
with a most unholy speed. No fumes of incense, no tinkling bells, no prostrate
figures and whispered benedictions. […]” 108

After she had waited awhile in the anteroom, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came in. Her cynicism began to
ebb in the Master’s presence:

“He is scarcely above medium height, but so extraordinary is the dignity of his
majestic carriage that he seemed more than the average stature. […] While slowly
making the round of the room his soft, penetrating, faded eyes studied us all, without
seeming to do so.” 109

The translator related to Mary how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wept during the play he had just seen, The
Terrible Meek. She became aware of the power of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sincerity and heartfelt,
unencumbered directness:

“I can imagine repeating his phrases to some of my clever friends, who would be
sure to say: "Why, that's as old as the hills. I don't see anything to make a fuss about
in that." But the time honored words, even repeated by an interpreter, are so fraught
with the Baha's wonderful personality that they seem never to have been uttered
before. His meaning is not couched in any esoteric phrases. Again and again he has
Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 29
disclaimed the possession of hidden lore. Again and again he has placed the
attainments of the heart and soul above those of the mind.” 110

Then it was her turn to have a private interview, and she was invited into ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
chamber. Now, she was able to observe the Master close-up, and she sensed the depth of his
wisdom, the result of his close connection to the kingdom of God:

“His beautiful voice, like a golden echo, follows close the termination of each
sentence. The master looks very spirituelle. He is in a relaxed attitude. […] So much
more akin to the spirit world than this does he seem that I find myself often
addressing Dr. Fareed personally, referring to him in the third person. "Do you think
our luxury degenerate," I ask, "as in this great hotel?" Abdul Baha strokes his long
white beard. "Luxury has a limit. Beyond that limit it is not commendable. There is
such a thing as moderation. Men must be temperate in all things." 111

She moved through her questions and soon it was time to go:

“I noticed a trembling of the eyelids and that the gestures of arranging his turban and
stroking his beard were more nervously frequent. Dr. Fareed answered to my inquiry,
"Shall I go now?" "He has been giving of himself to every one since 7 o'clock this
morning. I am a perfect physical wreck, but he is willing to go on indefinitely." Abdul
Baha opened the half-closed eyelids to say: "I am going to the poor in the Bowery
now. I love them." 112

‘Abdu’l-Bahá and friends made their way down the hall with the Master holding the urbane
reporter’s hand:

“I was invited to accompany them […] Can you picture your Aunt Kate and Abdul
Baha going to it, hand in hand, through the Ansonia corridors? Perhaps the guests
didn't gurgle and gasp! Perhaps! I did feel rather conspicuous, but I braced myself
with the thought of the universal brotherhood and really got along fairly well.” 113

They got into the car of Mountfort Mills, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reminded Mary about service,
truthfulness--and the press:

"Remember, you press people are the servants of the public. You interpret our
words and acts to them. With you is a great responsibility. Please remember and
please treat us seriously." 114

KKK

The car of Mountfort Mills drove south down the avenues of New York City past Park Ave.
and Fifth Ave. mansions of wealthy old American families from the novels of Edith
Wharton who summered on their upstate estates, to the teeming tenements of the Bowery
on Manhattan’s lower east side where hundreds of men awaited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s arrival.
Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 30
The energy of this great port city came from the constant flow of immigrants who arrived by
the hundreds of thousands from countries where economic opportunity had been hard to
come by and where persecution had been plentiful. Huge boats disgorged Italians, Greeks,
Hungarians, Poles, Slovaks Bohemians, Russians, and Russian and Polish Jews, into
tenements which often had unhealthy living conditions and towards jobs with often even
more hazardous working conditions.

The plight of the city’s lower classes had been brought to light by Jacob Riis’s How the other
half lives a book of shocking photographs documenting the lives of the poor. This set in
motion studies, inspections and laws to improve living conditions in the tenements which
were home to two thirds of the population of the city in 1900. 115 The Tenement House Law
of 1901 mandated better sanitary conditions, fire escapes, private toilets and access to light.
By 1909, there had been progress in improving conditions and stopping the spread of
cholera, typhus, and small pox, which resulted in a very high infant mortality. Still, in 1909,
there were 96,000 rooms for rent in the city with no windows. 116

‘Abdu’l-Bahá had commented on the possible ill-effects of living in such crowded
conditions:

“America will make rapid progress in the future but I am fearful of the effects of
these high buildings and such densely populated cities;; these are not for the public
health.” 117

Tenements were three to seven story buildings whose insides had been subdivided multiple
times. What made them tenements was their location in undesirable neighborhoods near
where the immigrants worked in factories, docks, slaughterhouses, and power stations, and
by the number of years the immigrants had lived in the United States. In other parts of the
city, these dwellings were called apartments. The use of the word tenement reflected the
economic realities of those who lived in them. It derived from the Latin “ternere”--to
hold—to pack in as many people as possible for economic reasons. The word ‘apartment’
derived from the Latin word ‘partare’--to divide--so that individual families could have
privacy and greater comfort.

The tenants of the tenements worked ceaselessly to build new lives and keep their homes as
clean as they could under such crowded conditions. Laundry flapped in the wind across the
streets and courtyards. The delicious smell of foods from all over Europe mingled in the
halls. In the kitchens people bathed in the sink or portable tubs with water heated on the
stove. In larger buildings, a widow had the job of cleaning the halls and sweeping the
sidewalk out front in return for living there rent free. Everyone did their best to battle the
mice, rats and roaches that scurried about by the hundreds of thousands in the dark recesses
of the building—it hadn’t been that long ago that pigs roamed the streets. In the evenings,
the streets were lively with the tenants preferring to be outside rather than inside their hot
rooms.

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 31
Another constant bustle in these neighborhoods was that of families moving as much as one
to six times a year as they sought to go from ‘tenements’ to ‘apartments’ and, if they were
fortunate, to New Jersey or Long Island;; some less fortunate were going in the other
direction--from tenements to less desirable tenements, to rooms, to the street. 118

The Bowery was a neighborhood which held the promise of immigrant life as well as the
reality of its poverty. For two generations, the Bowery had experienced a great rise in crime
and homelessness. So, when the Rev. Albert Gleason Ruliffson was looking in 1879 for a
mission field where he could carry out the social mission of rescuing the poor in imitation of
Christ, he chose the Bowery rather than go to faraway countries. 119

‘Abdu’l-Bahá had spent his whole life in near eastern societies that had no health inspectors,
no codes that could be enforced, no governments who responded to the needs of those they
governed, no system for improving the common good, no soup kitchens, no homeless
shelters, no independent judiciaries. These societies had long allowed the initial civilizing and
humanizing influence of Islam to become degraded. If you were poor, sick, homeless, alone,
and you lived in ‘Akká, Palestine, you were on your own, unless ‘Abdu’l-Bahá knew you, in
which case, you would be visited and provided succor by his own hand.

Now, on this evening in downtown New York City, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked towards the
Bowery Mission in the same spirit as those who had founded it—to follow God’s Will in
serving those in need.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá approached the Bowery still holding the hand of Mary Williams. Young ladies
and members of higher society were there to greet him with gifts of flowers. Several hundred
men who made their homes on benches, alleys, church steps and cardboard boxes went into
the Mission chapel next to the eating area. 120

Juliet Thompson and Edward Kinney met them inside the chapel with large bags of quarters.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was invited to sit on the platform and the other Bahá’ís sat behind him,
including Howard MacNutt, Mountfort Mills, Mr. Grundy, Mr. Hutchinson and the Persian
believers. Dr. Hallimond, who had taught classes with Juliet Thompson to the homeless
men, asked her--to her dismay--to introduce ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. 121

So it was that the son of the returned Christ stood before these destitute men and
introduced himself as a family member:

“I consider you my relatives, my companions;; …” 122

He then called them his “comrades”, a term that would often be used in the turbulent times
of the early 20th century to refer to a fellow revolutionary. The revolution to which ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá called people was one of the transformation of the human heart through the love of
God which would cause a person’s heart to perceive the world in a way which went well
beyond convention, sophistication, reason, and calculation. All that was weak, was strong, all

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 32
that was poor, was rich, all that was broken, was whole, all that was scarred, was beautiful, all
that was forgotten, was remembered, all that was as nothing was Divine:

“You must be thankful to God that you are poor, for Jesus Christ has said, “Blessed
are the poor.” 123

“Therefore, you must be thankful to God that although in this world you are
indigent, yet the treasures of God are within your reach;; and although in the material
realm you are poor, yet in the Kingdom of God you are precious. Jesus Himself was
poor. He did not belong to the rich.” 124

“Therefore, you are the disciples of Jesus Christ;; you are His comrades, for He
outwardly was poor, not rich. Even this earth’s happiness does not depend upon
wealth.” 125

“Our hope is in the mercy of God, and there is no doubt that the divine compassion
is bestowed upon the poor. Jesus Christ said so;; Bahá’u’lláh said so. While
Bahá’u’lláh was in Baghdád, still in possession of great wealth, He left all He had and
went alone from the city, living two years among the poor. They were His
comrades.” 126

“Therefore, we will thank God that we have been so blessed with real riches.” 127

‘Abdu’l-Bahá finished by invoking the highest station to which a person could attain:

“I ask you to accept ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as your servant.” 128

The men filed out into the night. As each man passed the Master, he greeted him and gave
him a coin. One of these men was John Good. John said later that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave more
to those who were more destitute. Each man had money to pay for a bed that night. 129

Mary Williams’s “last view of Abdul-Baha was as he stood at the head of the Bowery
Mission line, a dozen or more derelicts before him, giving to each a bit of silver and a word
of blessing.” 130 By the end of the evening she, a caricaturist and interviewer steeped in
sophistication had grown, “… a little tired of mere words, dealing in them the way I do, but
that demonstration of Abdul Baha's creed did more to convince me of the absolute sincerity
of the man than anything else that had happened.” 131

This evening, Hannegan, a local man who struggled with his alcoholism, had gotten drunk
again and slept through ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit which he had very much wanted to attend. He
was known in the Bowery as a ‘tough’. He heard that ‘Abdu’-Baha would be speaking in
Flatbush, Brooklyn, in the coming days. When the day came, he had no money. So he
walked from the Bowery all the miles out to Flatbush and heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Around
midnight later that night, John Good, his friend, found him in his room inebriated. John
asked him about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Hannegan answered, “He is the Light of the World.” 132
Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 33
The Master was driven back that night up Broadway to the Ansonia, accompanied by Juliet
Thompson, Valíyu’lláh Khán and Ahmad. Seeing all the bright lights, he remembered his
Father’s desire that there should be light.

Juliet exclaimed, "It is marvelous to be driving through all this light by the side of the Light
of lights."

The Master answered: "This is nothing. This is only the beginning. We will be together in all
the worlds of God. You cannot realize here what that means. You cannot imagine it. You
can form no conception here in this elemental world of what it is to be with Me in the
Eternal Worlds."

Juliet cried, "Oh, with such a future before me how could my heart cling to any earthly
object?"

‘Abdu’l-Bahá turned to her suddenly, "Will you do this thing? Will you take your heart from
this other and give it wholly to God?"

"Oh, I will try!" She answered.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá laughed heartily at this, "First you say you will and then that you will try!"

"That is because I have learned my own weakness. What can I do with my heart?" Juliet
responded.

The Master spoke seriously: "I am very much pleased with that answer, Juliet." 133

At the Ansonia he served dinner to those who had been with him at the Bowery. He spoke
of the play The Terrible Meek, about the Crucifixion of Jesus, which he had seen. With great
power and in the light of a big round lamp overhead, the Master spoke of the life of Christ,
its symbolic inner meanings, His Suffering, and His Crucifixion. When he had finished, no
one moved. Juliet had not touched her dinner. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said to her “Eat, Juliet”. 134

After dinner, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made his way to his suite, a maid walked past who had earlier
described the Master as a great saint. There were some coins left over from the Mission trip.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked the maid to hold out her apron and then poured all of the coins into her
apron. After the Master had gone in, Mr. Grunday explained to her where they had all been
and of the works of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the poor. She responded that she would give every
cent to charity.

Inside, someone asked the Master if charity was advisable, to which he responded,
“Assuredly, give to the poor. If you give them only words, when they put their hands into
their pockets after you have gone, they will find themselves none the richer for you!” 135

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 34
As he said this, there was a light tapping on the door. The maid came and approached the
Master and said tearfully: “I wanted to say goodbye, Sir,” – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was leaving the
next day for Washington DC – “and to thank you for all your goodness to me--I never
expected such goodness--and to ask You … to pray for me”. 136

Chapter 4: The Bowery Mission ~ Wealth and Poverty 35
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk
Two years after 1912, Europe descended into hell.
World War I caused the deaths of 8,528,831 soldiers, wounded 21,189,154, and resulted in
the disappearance of 7,750,919 more. 137 Roughly 6,800,000 civilians died because of famines
in Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and
Africa, and the Armenian genocide. 138
The War helped set off the Russian
civil war which resulted in about two
million combat deaths, five million
due to starvation, two million lives
swept away in epidemics.

One in two young men who set foot
on the battlefields of World War I
perished.

An entire generation of Europeans
devoured itself.
British soldier in trenches, WWI
People believed this war had such
promise. Hundreds of thousands of young men signed up for a chance at glory and to travel
to foreign lands. It was going to be a “Great”, and short, war. Once it began, though,
Europe spiraled out of control with each means of killing having to be topped by an even
more destructive means.

At the second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915, the French soldiers who were holding the
line could see a yellow-green gas cloud rolling towards them. They thought it was a trick with
the Germans behind the cloud. They held the line. The cloud of chlorine gas engulfed them
and when the soldiers breathed in, the chlorine entered their airwaves and destroyed their
respiratory system. 139

Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 36
So the other side responded by developing its own use of chlorine gas. But with chlorine, the
coughing it caused did not allow the gas to enter the soldier’s lungs quickly enough so
Phosgene was used which did not make the soldier cough, and, therefore, he inhaled more
and died sooner. Then mustard gas came into use which caused severe internal and external
blistering. 140

The Great War started off fast. But hundreds of miles of deep trenches were built with a ‘no
man’s land’ between them, and the Great War became an endless, violent slog. ‘Life’ in the
trenches meant … rainwater turning the ground into mud which caused ‘trench foot’--
gangrene brought on by the soldiers’ permanently wet feet, followed by the amputation of
their legs … millions of brown rats running across the men’s faces at night, gnawing at the
corpses … the never ending lice causing ‘trench fever’ which could only be cured by leaving
the trench for twelve weeks … relieving the ‘stand to’ at dawn with the ‘morning hate’ when
the soldiers discharged intense machine gunfire at the opponent on the other side of no
man’s land … the novice, who can’t control his curiosity, raising his head above the trench
to look around and then is shot by a sniper 141…

Shells fell constantly, giving soldiers in the trenches ‘shell shock’—a term used to describe
extreme trauma resulting in corresponding physiological reactions: snipers losing their site,
soldiers who had used bayonets in others faces developing severe facial tics, those who had
knifed the enemy soldier in the abdomen developing extreme stomach cramps,
uncontrollable diarrhea, constant, extreme anxiety … many symptoms only beginning after
the war had ended. 142

The hidden costs of war included broken lives, constant nightmares, abandoned families,
inability to sleep and eat regularly, to be ‘normal’. Studies began to proliferate about what
caused shell shock. What had happened to these men--was it their nerves, their psyches?
Were they abnormal? Or too normal? Why couldn’t a man plunge a bayonet into his fellow
man while looking into his eyes and hearing the blood gurgle out of his throat and then
return to normal life and read his evening newspaper, smoke a cigarette and be at work on
time?

Wilfred Owen entered World War I as a shy, sensitive and deeply religious English boy, who
sought to understand God’s Will and live life in imitation of Christ. He set his memories of
the War down in poems. He was remembering being in the trenches, shells dropping
constantly when he wrote “The Sentry”, a poem about coming across an injured sentry in a
trench:

“There we herded from the blast
Of whizz-bangs, but one found our door at last, Buffeting eyes and breath, snuffing
the candles,
And thud! flump! thud! down the steep steps came thumping
` And sploshing in the flood, deluging muck -
The sentry's body;; then his rifle, handles
Of old Boche bombs, and mud in ruck on ruck.
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 37
We dredged him up, for killed, until he whined
'O sir, my eyes - I'm blind, - I'm blind, I'm blind!'
Coaxing, I held a flame against his lids
And said if he could see the least blurred light
He was not blind;; in time he'd get all right.
'I can't' he sobbed. Eyeballs, huge-bulged like squids',
Watch my dreams still;; but I forgot him there
In posting Next for duty, and sending a scout
To beg a stretcher somewhere, and flound'ring about
To other posts under the shrieking air.” 143

Combat shell shocked Wilfred Owens. He was taken to a hospital to recover and then
returned to the front. Back in combat, he was no longer the sensitive boy with a heart that
aspired but a hardened soldier who had let go of Jesus in no man’s land. In Shrewsbury,
England, on November 11th, 1918, the doorbell rang at the Owens home;; a telegram arrived
informing his parents that their son Wilfred had been killed. On November 4th, one week
before the end of the war, German machine gun fire found him. He was twenty-five years
old. 144

So when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá returned to New York City from Washington DC and spoke about
peace, he wasn’t the grandfather speaking in reassuring tones to his little granddaughter, the
teacher admonishing children in the playground about getting along, the benevolent
patriarch offering the vague promise of salvation. He spoke on behalf of every young man
who would breathe in mustard gas which turned his insides and outsides into blisters, who
would die in a trench and whose body would be gnawed by rats, who was so terrified at the
moment of being attacked and, clutching his rosary, could turn nowhere for help … He
spoke for the woman who would wake up frightened in the night wondering why her
husband kept jumping up and screaming, failing at everything, leaving their children,
wandering the streets, disappearing … who lived out her years as an embittered lonely
widow taking tickets on the streets of Paris so a person could use the public lavatory …

Or, as the Master put it:

“What shall atone for the sufferings and grief of mothers who have so tenderly cared
for their sons? What sleepless nights they have spent, and what days of devotion and
love they have given to bring their children to maturity! Yet the savagery of these
warring rulers causes great numbers of their victims to be torn and mutilated in a
day. What ignorance and degradation, yea even greater than the ferocious beasts
themselves!” 145

In the days after his return from Washington DC, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá focused on peace as the
most urgent issue facing the world.

In these talks, he gave people a broader worldview than the ones to which they had been
accustomed and a framework in which all could work harmoniously towards peace. The
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 38
cornerstone of this worldview was that God is one and reality is one. The more people
investigate reality and free themselves from man-made traditions, the greater will be the
unity between them and war will give way to peace. The Manifestations of God had all
taught reality and these Teachings were the source of unity and progress.

At the Unity Church in Montclair, New Jersey, on May 12th, the Master spoke on the
oneness of God and His Revelations:

“… the human is finite while the essence of Divinity is infinite. Whatever comes
within the sphere of human comprehension must be limited and finite. As the
essence of Divinity transcends the comprehension of man, therefore God brings
forth certain Manifestations of the divine Reality upon Whom He bestows heavenly
effulgences in order that They may be intermediaries between humanity and Himself.
These holy Manifestations or Prophets of God are as mirrors which have acquired
illumination from the Sun of Truth, …” 146

“The Sun of Divinity and of Reality has revealed itself in various mirrors. Though
these mirrors are many, yet the Sun is one. … Consider how one and the same light
has reflected itself in the different mirrors or manifestations of it. There are certain
souls who are lovers of the Sun;; they perceive the effulgence of the Sun from every
mirror … those who adore the mirror and are attached to it become deprived of
witnessing the light of the Sun when it shines forth from another mirror.” 147

“As this is the radiant century, it is my hope that the Sun of Truth may illumine all
humanity. … may souls become resuscitated and consort together in the utmost
harmony as recipients of the same light. … May the light of love shine forth and
illumine hearts, and may human lives be cemented and connected until all of us may
find agreement and tranquility beneath the same tabernacle and with the standard of
the Most Great Peace above us move steadily onward.” 148

In the guest book of the church, he wrote this prayer:

“… Even in this Church we have raised our voice to Thy Kingdom like unto Elijah.
O God! Attract the members of this Church to thy Beauty, …” 149

Later that day, the Master spoke at a meeting of the International Peace Forum, held in the
Grace Methodist Episcopal on W. 104th St.. The International Peace Forum would go on to
publish speeches on peace by President William Howard Taft (1909-1913). President Taft--
later named the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court--believed that world peace
could most effectively come about through international arbitration. 150 After the cataclysm
of World War I, he pushed for a strong League of Nations to prevent war.

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke at the International Peace Forum, he brought the spiritual
perspective of the human reality: religion was one because it dealt with reality but people had
created imaginary distinctions which then led to conflict:
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 39
“Inasmuch as all are founded upon one reality which is love and unity, the wars and
dissensions which have characterized the history of religion have been due to
imitations and superstitions which arise afterward. …” 151

“Other wars are caused by purely imaginary racial differences;; for humanity is one
kind, one race and progeny, inhabiting the same globe. In the creative plan there is
no racial distinction and separation … Therefore, false distinctions of race and native
land, which are factors and causes of warfare, must be abandoned. …” 152

Religions were “founded upon one reality which is love and unity”, and existed for peace.
Bahá’u’lláh had come to bring about “the Most Great Peace and international arbitration”.
He …

“…wrote to all the kings and rulers, encouraging, advising and admonishing them in
regard to the establishment of peace, making it evident by conclusive proofs that the
happiness and glory of humanity can only be assured through disarmament and
arbitration.”

It was the Divine Intention that human beings love one another and that the Divine
Intention surely must be superior to that of the human being:

“If God did not love all, He would not have created, trained and provided for all.
Loving-kindness is the divine policy. Shall we consider human policy and attitude
superior to the wisdom and policy of God?” 153

The following day, May 13th, at his talk before the New York Peace Society in the Astor
Hotel, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá elaborated on these points:

“From the prison of ‘Akká He (Bahá’u’lláh) addressed the kings and rulers of the
earth in lengthy letters, summoning them to international agreement and explicitly
stating that the standard of the Most Great Peace would surely be upraised in the
world. … This has come to pass. The powers of earth cannot withstand the
privileges and bestowals which God has ordained for this great and glorious century.
… Man can withstand anything except that which is divinely intended and indicated
for the age and its requirements. …” 154

The age which Bahá’u’lláh’s life had ushered in would be characterized by peace and unity
and no human power could stop this. The Master praised the ‘human power’ of the
peacemakers as Jesus had done in the Beatitudes:

“Now—praise be to God!—in all countries of the world, lovers of peace are to be
found, and these principles are being spread among mankind, especially in this
country. …” 155

Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 40
The individuals who introduced ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the New York Peace Society Meeting all
reflected an ecumenical spirit and willingness on the part of the ‘peacemakers’ of that time to
work together. Each echoed ideas which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had set forth in his talks. The Rabbi
Dr. Wise hoped that they--people of different faiths--were “meeting not at all in the spirit of
tolerance and toleration, but in the spirit of fellowship” 156 and that “religion and war are
incompatible terms”. 157 Mrs. Anna Spencer, a member of the Ethical Society, an
organization which stressed human potential, individual responsibility, and dialogue for the
betterment of the world, noted that the causes of war were racial and religious prejudice and
the desire of one group for domination over another. Dr. Percy Grant of the Church of the
Ascension, said “we must get down below our discussion of Christian, Hebrew, Ethical
Culture, whatever the discussion may be, to the spirit of life and of brotherhood”. 158 Prof.
William Jackson from Columbia University, who had been to the site of the Báb’s execution
in Tabriz, asserted that “he (the Báb) was a martyr to Peace and Love” 159 and that “his
Successor (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) comes to us from the Orient to assure us that this Message of
Peace is still being sounded and that we in the West and they in the East are really one in
heart”. 160

The New York Peace Society had itself been one of the groups of “lovers of peace”. It was
the oldest Peace Society in the United States having been in existence in several incarnations
since 1815, and, in the years before World War I, had gotten the backing of the very wealthy
industrialist, Andrew Carnegie. 161 While essentially pacifist in nature, it was not passive—it
pushed for courts of arbitration within which nations could resolve their disputes and
supported President Taft’s view that international arbitration was the path to international
peace and calling for the establishment of a “Supreme Court for International Justice” 162
through a Congressional resolution. While non-denominational in affiliation, its mission was
couched in terms of ‘true religion’ and the ‘spirit of Christianity’. Its parent group, the
American Peace Society, launched a petition which resulted in the Hague Convention of
1907, an international meeting convened to draw up guidelines and resolutions for an
internal structure for arbitration between nations.

KKK

On May 14th, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá left New York City to participate in the most important public
event he would attend in the United States: the Peace Conference at Lake Mohonk,
organized by the International Peace Society. He took the train up to the town of New Paltz,
New York, where he and his entourage were picked up by landaus sent by the Conference
organizers. 163 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was overjoyed as they rolled through the mountainous
countryside:

“…he was so exhilarated by the beauty of nature, charming sceneries of mountains,
valleys, plains and the verdant forest of trees and wild flowers that he [`Abdu'l-Bahá]
burst into songs of happiness commanding others also to sing. Lua and Fareed
Fareed sang some Persian songs written by Abdul Baha, then Mr. Mills being a good
singer was asked to sing. All through the seven miles [sic] drive the party of four sung
in whole and in turn while Abdul Baha out of the sheer joy applauded them. It was a
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 41
never [sic] memorable incident which has seldom happened in the life of the Master
and Doctor Fareed could not remember throughout all his service and travel with
Abdul Baha of a similar occasion.” 164

The property on Lake Mohonk where the Conference was being held had been purchased by
Albert and Alfred Smiley in 1869 165 with the
money that Albert and his wife had saved.
Alfred, who had run a farm in upstate New
York, helped him develop it. The brothers
worked on the property with an eye for
conservation and beauty. They kept much of
the wilderness and also added gardens and
hiking paths dotted with gazebos where
visitors could take in the views. 166 The hotel
built by the lake consisted of nine buildings of
eclectic architecture from castles to chalets
which were surrounded by rolling hills, forest
and gardens. 167 Their intention was to develop Lake Mohonk Conference Center today
a spiritual retreat which could serve as a place
to cultivate progressive ideas which could be
used for the betterment of the world.

The impetus for organizing the Peace Conferences came from the Quakerism of the Smiley
brothers. Quakerism was a form of Christianity that had its roots in middle 17th century
England. It taught the possibility of an authentic personal relationship with God and the
importance of living a life which testified to the truth of that relationship. While Quakers did
not have a specific creed, they were intensely Christian in their devotion to Scripture. 168 To
testify to the presence of God within them, the “Inner Light”, Quakers worked for the
abolition of slavery--excluding anyone from membership after 1776 who did not free their
slaves--, 169 the advancement of the rights of women, prison reform, 170 better treatment of
patients in asylums, the rights of Indians, and the alleviation of poverty, and they worked
against war of all kinds. 171

The International Peace Society, also known as the Society for the Promotion of Universal
and Permanent Peace or the London Peace Society, was founded in 1816 by Albert K.
Smiley who was a philanthropist, had served as the Secretary of the Interior of the United
States, and had run a Friends School. 172 The Society organized the Lake Mohonk
Conferences on International Arbitration which were held every year since 1895 to gather
like minded ‘peacemakers’ together and “for the purpose of creating and directing public
sentiment in favor of international arbitration, arbitration treaties and an international
court”. 173 It had brought hundreds of important leaders from different walks of life including
William Howard Taft and Andrew Carnegie, who founded the Carnegie Endowment for
Peace through his contact with the Smiley brothers. This Conference had played an
important role in bringing about major peace efforts such as the Hague Conference, the
World Peace Foundation and the League to Enforce Peace. 174
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 42
Prior to this visit by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, several Bahá’ís had been in regular contact with the
Smiley brothers and the organizers of the Lake Mohonk Conference. Mason Remey had
written to Albert Smiley on April 25th, 1911, and introduced the Bahá’í Faith to him as a
‘peace movement along religious lines”. 175 He included with the letter an essay on the Faith
entitled “The Esperanto of Religions” in which he boldly asserted that, “Its (the Bahá’í
Faith) unique object and mission is establishing a universal religion embracing all peoples,
religions and races, thus forming the spiritual basis of the great universal civilization which is
so rapidly approaching”. 176 Mírzá ‘Alí Kuli Khán who lived in Washington DC for his job as
the Charge d’Affaires at the Persian Embassy and who helped with much of the
correspondence between ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Bahá’ís in the Untied States, was invited to
speak at the 1911 conference as a part of the international section of the program. He did
not mention the Bahá’í Faith but his talk echoed the statements of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He praised
the American nation for promoting “international comity” 177 and “human solidarity”, 178
encouraged the peace movement to educate the people of the world in such principles,
advocated for a greater concern for poorer nations by richer nations, and defended the
potential of Persia by enumerating many of the progressive steps which were being made in
Persia at that time and asserting that Persia had a very distinguished history. 179

The main contact for the invitation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Lake Mohonk Conference was
Mírzá Ahmad Sohrab. Sohrab, a Bahá’í living in
Washington DC, was the treasurer of the Persian American
Educational Society, an organization founded to “bring
these two countries together in ties of mutual interests:
commercial, educational, moral and intellectual”. 180 On
September 1st, 2011, he forwarded two tablets by ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá for Mr. Smiley, dated August 22nd, 2011, which
Sohrab had translated. In the cover letter, Sohrab states
that, “having written to Him (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) about the Lake
Mohonk Conference and its objects and the courtesy you
extended to me, he writes you these wonderful
“Tablets”.” 181 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in these tablets expressed his
great respect for the efforts the Conference had made in
the cause of peace, and how Bahá’u’lláh had established the
principle of the oneness of humanity in this century and the
need for universal peace. 182

Around this same time, ‘Alí Kuli Khán had received from Lua Getsinger & Sohrab
Mr. Phillips, the secretary of the Lake Mohonk Conference,
the compilation of talks--which included his--from the
previous year’s Conference, and Khan wrote back that he would forward this book of talks
on peace to the Persian government, and to some of the “leaders of public opinion” 183 in
Persia. 184

Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 43
Sohrab acted as the coordinator between ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Conference organizers;; 2 he
distributed autographed photographs of the Master and prepared a statement on his visit
under the heading of the Persian American Educational Society. This statement described
‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the “head and center of the Bahai Movement”, Bahá’u’lláh as an “Advocate
for Peace”, and the Bahá’í Faith as a movement for religious unity and world peace with
followers in the “millions”. 185 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá cabled Mr. Phillips on May 4th that he would
speak on, “The oneness of the reality of human kind”. 186

‘Alí Kuli Khán wrote Mr. Phillips that he would not be able to attend the conference due to
his embassy duties. 187 A circular went out from Mr. Phillips to the newspapers announcing
the Conference and described it in terms of creating interest and curiosity in the
“approaching Third Hague Conference, the proposed international court of arbitral justice,
and arbitration treaties, general and particular.” One of the major goals of these Hague
Conferences was to create an international court of arbitration within which nations would
resolve their disputes instead of resorting to warfare;; as the circular went around, an
arbitration treaty was being written between France and England which was supported by
President Taft. 188

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s presentation took place in the evening of Wednesday, May 15th, as a part of
the international section of the Conference. 189 Some two-hundred and fifty guests were
present for the address. 190 The Master extolled the new century:

“This is the century of light and of bounty. In the past, the unity of patriotism, the
unity of nations and religions was established;; hence this century is greater than the
past.” 191

The Master then introduced the figure of Bahá’u’lláh:

“At such a time as this (a time of turmoil and war), His Holiness, Baha'u'llah
appeared. He proclaimed the oneness of the world of humanity and the greatest
peace (Most Great Peace). He wrote to all the kings and addressed epistles to all the
religionists of Persia, and all the souls who accepted His platform and emulated
and followed His teachings--whether Christians, Mohammedans, Jews or
Zoroastrians--were united and attained the greatest amity and unity.” 192

‘Abdu’l-Bahá followed this universal declaration of a new day by listing eight principles of
Bahá’u’lláh, including the investigation of reality for oneself, the oneness of humanity, the
equality of men and women, the agreement of science and true religion, the eradication of all

In November, 2011, Sohrab wrote to Mr. Phillips that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in London and that he was going to
meet him in Paris as a part of his work with the Persian American Educational Society. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would be
visiting the United States, and Sohrab offered that he might be able to persuade ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to come to the
Lake Mohonk Peace Conference if Mr. Smiley invited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá directly. A reply came quickly from Mr.
Phillips expressing interest in having ‘Abdu’l-Bahá come to the 1912 Conference. Sohrab wrote back from
Paris to Mr. Phillips that he would be returning to the United States in January with a letter of acceptance and
an autographed photograph from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. (Swarthmore College Peace Collection)
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 44
forms of prejudice, the appearance of social justice through the moderation of wealth and
poverty, religion and the necessity of the Holy Spirit in changing human society. 193 In fifteen
minutes or less, the Master had made the Great Announcement directly and fully to this
distinguished audience of people who were working towards the common goal of world
peace.

Sohrab sent a telegram later at night to Agnes Parsons, a Bahá’í in Washington DC, that
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s presence and words had “fired the hearts” 194 of the attendees because the talk
had been like a “conflagration” 195 which was met with the longest applause of the evening.
The audience would have wanted the Master to speak longer but he was fatigued. Many
sought to shake his hand, and Mr. Smiley praised ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and spoke reverently about
the new teachings. Mrs. Smiley presented ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with a pendant from the
conference. 196 Later on that summer, a prominent Reverend from New York would
remember the talk as the “most remarkable” 197 one he had ever heard.

The Master received the kind words with graciousness and equanimity. But what he wanted
was action. To Dr. Zia Baghdadi, who was with him at Mohonk, he said:

“Once I wrote to the friends in Persia with regard to peace congresses and
conferences, that if the members of the conferences do not succeed in practicing what
they say, they may be compared to those who hold a meeting to discuss and form firm
resolutions about the sinfulness and harmfulness of liquors, but, after having the
meeting, occupy themselves in selling liquors... Now we must not only think and talk
peace but we must develop the power to practice peace so that... peace may permeate
the whole world.” 198

The Master stayed at the scenic resort for another day. Photographs of him were taken, he
blessed many with kind words, smiles, and solicitous advice. He told Dr. Bahgdadi that he
wished he had a Persian rug to give Mr. Smiley as a gift. Baghdadi rushed back to the City by
train that very night, picked up the rug at their apartment in the pre-dawn hours, made it
back to the Mohonk area by train and arrived at the Conference center--after hitching a ride
on the mailman’s wagon--just as the Master was shaking Mr. Smiley’s hand. And then the
Master departed for New York City.

The Lake Mohonk Conference came and went but the Third Hague Conference never took
place as the violent eruption of World War I could not be stopped by human agency.

While the Hague Conferences did not succeed in their goals, they prefigured the
international institutions which would develop later in the century, and the development of a
body of international law which would allow nations to come to agreement in a wide variety
of areas from peace-keeping to the environment, from world trade to the oceans and outer
space, from economic development to the rights of children.

And while the Lake Mohonk Peace Conferences didn’t stop the catastrophe of World War I
the determined efforts by the peacemakers of the world, did change history.
Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 45
x In the first decade of the 20th century there were wars of many kinds. In the last
decade of the 20th century most wars would be intra-state wars—civil wars, and nonstate conflict (terrorism), not inter-state conflicts of which there are about four in
2012 (US/Afghanistan, N. Korea/S. Korea (a ‘cold’ conflict), India/Pakistan, and
Congo/neighboring states)
x In gross estimates, there was a 75% drop in war-related deaths between the first and
second half of the 20th century;; most of the deaths in the second half of the 20th
century were civilian deaths. 199
x After the Second World War, major international institutions came into being
providing legally recognized forums for the prosecution of war criminals, the
arbitration of disputes between nations, the development of international trade
agreements and associations, the disbursement of international aid, the coordination
of the eradication of diseases, and the maintenance and use of peace-keeping forces,
among other areas.

One hundred years after 1912, these developments are astonishing in that war between
nations has become unacceptable by international law and by the demands of the
interdependent world market economy. References to an ‘international community’ have
become the norm, and, several times this ‘community’ has worked together to prevent
conflict or the slaughter of civilians.

Many people, especially women, still suffer greatly because of civil war, insurgencies and
terrorism. But one can reasonably say that by the early 21st century, peace between nations
has broken out.

Chapter 5: Groundwork for Peace ~ Lake Mohonk 46
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor
In the weeks after the Lake Mohonk Conference,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke in depth about the working
of the spiritual world—the Nature of God and
the Manifestations of God, the Reality of Man,
and the Holy Spirit’s movement through the
world.

In these talks ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke of ‘reality’, only
rarely using the word ‘truth’. ‘Reality’ is simply
what it is and, as people look into reality, they find
that the underlying ‘reality’ is one. So as people
study reality, they move closer to realizing their
oneness as physical and spiritual beings: “…
reality must be investigated;; for reality is one, and
by investigating it all will find love and unity”. 200

God is the transcendent and unknowable reality
from which all existence flows:

“The Fatherhood of God, His lovingkindness and beneficence are apparent to
all. In His mercy He provides fully and
amply for His creatures, and if any soul Portrait of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Juliet Thompson
sins, He does not suspend His bounty. All
created things are visible manifestations of
His Fatherhood, mercy and heavenly bestowals.” 201
(Talk at the reception at the Metropolitan Temple, May 28th)

“God is eternal and ancient—not a new God. … The sovereignty, power, names and
attributes of God are eternal, ancient. His names presuppose creation and predicate
His existence and will. We say God is Creator. This name Creator appears when we
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 47
connote creation. We say God is the Provider. This name presupposes and proves
the existence of the provided. God is Love.” 202
(Talk at the Theosophical Lodge, May 30th)

Human beings are limited and dependent compared to the Divine Reality which is unlimited
and independent. 203 So God Manifests Himself in human form--the person of the
Manifestation of God--in whom all the Divine Attributes are reflected. This Manifestation of
God is like a perfect mirror reflecting the Sun which is God;; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sometimes
described God as the “Sun of Reality”.

Of Jesus, who was a Manifestation of God, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote:

“Consider the statement recorded in the first chapter of the book of John: “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
This statement is brief but replete with the greatest meanings. … Heretofore the
doctors of theology have not expounded it but have restricted it to Jesus as “the
Word made flesh,” the separation of Jesus from God, the Father, and His descent
upon the earth. In this way the individualized separation of the godhead came to be
taught. The essential oneness of Father, Son and Spirit has many meanings and
constitutes the foundation of Christianity. Today we will merely give a synopsis of
explanation. Why was Jesus the Word? In the universe of creation all phenomenal
beings are as letters. Letters in themselves are meaningless and express nothing of
thought or ideal—as, for instance, a, b, etc. Likewise, all phenomenal beings are
without independent meaning. But a word is composed of letters and has
independent sense and meaning. Therefore, as Christ conveyed the perfect meaning
of divine reality and embodied independent significance, He was the Word. He was
as the station of reality compared to the station of metaphor. There is no intrinsic
meaning in the leaves of a book, but the thought they convey leads you to reflect
upon reality. The reality of Jesus was the perfect meaning, the Christhood in Him
which in the Holy Books is symbolized as the Word.”

“The Word was with God.” The Christhood means not the body of Jesus but the
perfection of divine virtues manifest in Him. Therefore, it is written, “He is God.”
This does not imply separation from God, even as it is not possible to separate the
rays of the sun from the sun. The reality of Christ was the embodiment of divine
virtues and attributes of God. For in Divinity there is no duality. …” 204
(Talk at the Kinney home, May 29th)

A person comes nearer to God by striving to develop spiritual qualities:

“Nearness to God is dependent upon purity of the heart and exhilaration of the
spirit through the glad tidings of the Kingdom. Consider how a pure, well-polished
mirror fully reflects the effulgence of the sun, no matter how distant the sun may be.
As soon as the mirror is cleaned and purified, the sun will manifest itself. The more

Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 48
pure and sanctified the heart of man becomes, the nearer it draws to God, and the
light of the Sun of Reality is revealed within it.” 205

“Therefore, we learn that nearness to God is possible through devotion to Him,
through entrance into the Kingdom and service to humanity;; it is attained by unity
with mankind and through loving-kindness to all;; it is dependent upon investigation
of truth, acquisition of praiseworthy virtues, service in the cause of universal peace
and personal sanctification. In a word, nearness to God necessitates sacrifice of self,
severance and the giving up of all to Him. Nearness is likeness.” 206
(Talk at the Mount Morris Baptist Church, May 26th)

Without developing these spiritual capacities, the human being remains in the dark:

“Behold how the sun shines upon all creation, but only surfaces that are pure and
polished can reflect its glory and light. The darkened soul has no portion of the
revelation of the glorious effulgence of reality;; and the soil of self, unable to take
advantage of that light, does not produce growth. The eyes of the blind cannot
behold the rays of the sun;; only pure eyes with sound and perfect sight can receive
them.” 207 (Talk at the Mount Morris Baptist Church, May 26th)

“…we must ever strive for capacity and seek readiness. As long as we lack
susceptibility, the beauties and bounties of God cannot penetrate. Christ spoke a
parable in which He said His words were like the seeds of the sower;; some fall upon
stony ground, some upon sterile soil, some are choked by thorns and thistles, but
some fall upon the ready, receptive and fertile ground of human hearts. When seeds
are cast upon sterile soil, no growth follows. Those cast upon stony ground will grow
a short time, but lacking deep roots will wither away. Thorns and thistles destroy
others completely, but the seed cast in good ground brings forth harvest and
fruitage. In the same way, the words I speak to you here tonight may produce no
effect whatever.” 208
(Talk at the Mount Morris Baptist Church, May 26th)

The Manifestations of God have all been the perfect reflections of the Divine Reality and,
since Reality is One, have all been united in purpose:

“The divine Manifestations since the day of Adam have striven to unite humanity so
that all may be accounted as one soul. The function and purpose of a shepherd is to
gather and not disperse his flock. The Prophets of God have been divine Shepherds
of humanity. They have established a bond of love and unity among mankind, made
scattered peoples one nation and wandering tribes a mighty kingdom. They have laid
the foundation of the oneness of God and summoned all to universal peace. All
these holy, divine Manifestations are one. They have served one God, promulgated
the same truth, founded the same institutions and reflected the same light. Their
appearances have been successive and correlated;; each One has announced and
extolled the One Who was to follow, and all laid the foundation of reality.” 209
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 49
(Talk at the reception at the Metropolitan Temple, May 28th)

Religious forms are man’s living response to the Manifestation of God but attachment to a
particular form of religion brings about imitation and man-made traditions and obscures the
light of reality:

“Imitation destroys the foundation of religion, extinguishes the spirituality of the
human world, transforms heavenly illumination into darkness and deprives man of
the knowledge of God. It is the cause of the victory of materialism and infidelity
over religion;; it is the denial of Divinity and the law of revelation;; it refuses
Prophethood and rejects the Kingdom of God.” 210
(Talk at Town Hall, Fanwood, NJ, May 31st)

“Likewise, the divine religions of the holy Manifestations of God are in reality one,
though in name and nomenclature they differ. Man must be a lover of the light, no
matter from what dayspring it may appear. He must be a lover of the rose, no matter
in what soil it may be growing. He must be a seeker of the truth, no matter from
what source it come. Attachment to the lantern is not loving the light.” 211
(Talk at the reception at the Metropolitan Temple, May 28th)

Religion has two aspects:

“The first is essential. It concerns morality and development of the virtues of the
human world. This aspect is common to all. It is fundamental;; it is one;; there is no
difference, no variation in it. As regards the inculcation of morality and the
development of human virtues, there is no difference whatsoever between the
teachings of Zoroaster, Jesus and Bahá’u’lláh. In this they agree;; they are one. The
second aspect of the divine religions is nonessential. It concerns human needs and
undergoes change in every cycle according to the exigency of the time.” 212
(Talk at the Church of the Ascension, June 2nd)

While buildings such as churches and synagogues are centers where people can gather, the
“…real Collective Centers are the Manifestations of God … the real divine temple and
Collective Center of which the outer church is but a symbol” 213 and that, “Today Bahá’u’lláh
is the Collective Center of unity for all mankind”. 214

While there are many different religions in outward form, “Bahá’u’lláh taught that reality is
one and not multiple, that it underlies all precepts and that the foundations of the religions
are, therefore, the same”. 215

But the seeker must differentiate between the lamp and the light, tradition and truth, and
would have to “investigate reality” where he would find that “the foundation of the divine
religions is reality;; were there no reality, there would be no religions”. 216 The seeker would
then see that the multiplicity of religions is an illusion created by traditions, prejudice and
blind imitation. At his talk at the Central Congregational Church in Brooklyn on June 16th,
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 50
he illustrated this point by explaining that in the Qur’an Muhammad asserts the Truth of
Jesus’s Mission and scolds His own followers for not having been followers of Jesus. 217

Religion was also more than the salvation of individuals, it was the salvation of the world:

“The time has come when all mankind shall be united, when all races shall be loyal to
one fatherland, all religions become one religion, and racial and religious bias pass
away. It is a day in which the oneness of humankind shall uplift its standard and
international peace, like the true morning, flood the world with its light.” 218
(Talk at the Theosophical Lodge, May 30th)

“Tonight I am very happy in the realization that our aims and purposes are the same,
our desires and longings are one. This is a reflection and evidence of the oneness of
the world of humanity and the intention toward accomplishment of the Most Great
Peace. … In the world of existence there are no greater questions than these.” 219
(Talk at the Theosophical Lodge, May 30th)

“…we must lay aside all prejudice—whether it be religious, racial, political or
patriotic;; we must become the cause of the unification of the human race. Strive for
universal peace, seek the means of love, and destroy the basis of disagreement so
that this material world may become divine, the world of matter become the realm of
the Kingdom and humanity attain to the world of perfection.” 220
(Talk at Town Hall, Fanwood, NJ, May 31st)

Bringing this peace, this great unification about would require “knowledge, volition and
action” 221 on the part of individuals aided by the Power of God circulating throughout
creation:

“In the same manner the bestowals of God are moving and circulating throughout
all created things. This illimitable divine bounty has no beginning and will have no
ending. It is moving, circulating and becomes effective wherever capacity is
developed to receive it. In every station there is a specialized capacity. Therefore, we
must be hopeful that through the bounty and favor of God this spirit of life infusing
all created beings shall quicken humanity, and from its bestowals the human world
shall become a divine world, …” 222
(Talk at the Theosophical Lodge, May 30th)

“Consider how nothing but a spiritual power can bring about this unification, for
material conditions and mental aspects are so widely different that agreement and
unity are not possible through outer means. It is possible, however, for all to become
unified through one spirit, just as all may receive light from one sun. Therefore,
assisted by the collective and divine center which is the law of God and the reality of
His Manifestation, we can overcome these conditions until they pass away entirely
and the races advance.” 223
(Talk at the Church of the Ascension, June 2nd)
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 51
The Manifestations of God, having both a human and a Divine Reality, know what humanity
needs:

“The world of humanity may be likened to the individual man himself;; it has its
illness and ailments. A patient must be diagnosed by a skillful physician. The
Prophets of God are the real Physicians. In whatever age or time They appear They
prescribe for human conditions. They know the sicknesses;; They discover the hidden
sources of disease and indicate the necessary remedy. … In this present age the
world of humanity is afflicted with severe sicknesses and grave disorders which
threaten death. Therefore, Bahá’u’lláh has appeared.” 224
(Talk at Kinney home, June 17th)

The ailment afflicting humanity in this day is “lack of love and absence of altruism”. 225 This
would be healed if “… the friends of God must adhere to the power which will create this
love and unity in the hearts of the sons of men …” 226 because “… the spiritual teachings of
the Religion of God can alone create this love, unity and accord in human hearts”. 227

In these talks of May/June 1912 and others, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid out an entirely new vision of
religion, one which freed the Divine Teachings from the man-made forms in which they had
become trapped. He acknowledged the religious forms of the past while challenging the
listener with the claim that these outward forms were transitory and that a new Divine
Revelation had appeared—that God was alive and that His Spirit was moving in the world.
This can be seen in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanation of the Divine Reality of Jesus which allowed
the Christian to hold on to the Divinity of Jesus while being able to consider that the Christ-
Spirit had returned in the human figure of Bahá’u’lláh. And while ‘Abdu’l-Bahá challenged
Christians and others, he never belittled the value of the work of their churches and
organizations.

As a teacher, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke in a straightforward manner using simple metaphors and
analogies to explain deeper truths. He used different approaches depending on the audience
to which he spoke and used these approaches as bridges over which the listeners could cross
into a deeper understanding of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. When he spoke at the Brotherhood
Church in Jersey City, NJ, a non-denominational church organized by Howard Colby Ives
who was a Unitarian minister, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá focused on the meaning of true brotherhood
and then used that to show how Bahá’u’lláh had caused true brotherhood between His
followers and the importance of spiritual over material bonds. To the Theosophical Society,
which believed that humans were parts of a spiritual whole and could improve through
conscious awareness, he spoke of the ability of people to advance spiritually through
“knowledge, volition, and action” 228 when aided by the Divine Power. At the Church of the
Ascension on June 2nd, he began by speaking about the church building as a center for unity,
and then he compared this kind of center of unity to the person of the Manifestation of God
who was the collective center for the unification of the whole human race.

Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 52
In these weeks after the Lake Mohonk Conference, the Master also made important
predictions and statements about the future. During a rare question and answer session at
the Church of the Ascension on June 2nd, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá suggested that “the United States
may be held up as the example of future government—that is to say, each province will be
independent in itself, but there will be federal union protecting the interests of the various
independent states”, 229 and that “to cast aside centralization which promotes despotism is
the exigency of the time”;; 230 despotism had been the history of the Kingdoms of the Near
East including Persia--in the early 1900’s the verb ‘to elect’ did not even exist in the Persian
language. 231 He also asserted emphatically that woman’s suffrage was key to the
establishment of international peace. 232 The movement for woman’s suffrage paralleled the
lifespan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: the women’s movement began officially at the Seneca Falls
Convention in 1848 and the constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to
vote was passed in 1920, not long before the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. At this same
question and answer session, someone asked the extraordinary question, “What will be the
food of the united people?” 233 The Master answered that in time people would eat less meat
and more grain as this is what human bodies had been designed to do. 234 On the evening of
June 11th at 309 West 78th St., while stressing the primary importance of the spiritual life,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá also emphasized the moral necessity and value of work:

“In this great Cause the light of guidance is shining and radiant. Bahá’u’lláh has even
said that occupation and labor are devotion. All humanity must obtain a livelihood
by sweat of the brow and bodily exertion, at the same time seeking to lift the burden
of others, striving to be the source of comfort to souls and facilitating the means of
living. This in itself is devotion to God. Bahá’u’lláh has thereby encouraged action
and stimulated service. But the energies of the heart must not be attached to these
things;; the soul must not be completely occupied with them. Though the mind is
busy, the heart must be attracted toward the Kingdom of God in order that the
virtues of humanity may be attained from every direction and source.” 235
(Talk at 309 West Seventy-Eighth Street, New York, June 11th)

Issues concerning labor--safety, pay, hours, working conditions, child labor--were very
important social issues in the early 1900’s, especially in a place like New York City with its
millions of workers, many of them unskilled.

KKK

All of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talks were for both the general public and the Bahá’ís;; the Master made
no distinction when teaching. At the same time, there was a core of believers who made up
the ‘Bahá’í community’, who were trying to organize themselves to spread the Bahá’í
teachings.

The organization of the Bahá’í community in New York City began in 1900 with the arrival
of the first Persian Bahá’í teacher to come to the United States, ‘Abdu’l-Karím-i-Tihrání. He
was sent by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to North America for the purposes of “spreading unison and
agreement”. 236 The Faith had originally been brought to the United States by Ibrahim
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 53
Kheiralla but this teacher had been spreading his own ideas mixed in with Bahá’í teachings.
He eventually disobeyed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá outright, which led to a fracturing of the American
Bahá’í community with many leaving the Faith altogether. Tihrání, with the help of Howard
MacNutt and Anton Haddad, drafted a set of “rules and laws” for the governance of the
community which were then sent to the Master for approval. 237

A Board of Counsel was elected on December 7th, 1900. The Bahá’ís chose as members
Arthur P. Dodge, Hooper Harris, William H. Hoar, Andrew Hutchinson, Howard MacNutt,
Frank E. Osborne, Edwin A. Putnam, Charles E. Sprague, and Orosco C. Woolson. All the
members were male because of a misunderstanding of the passages in Bahá’u’lláh’s Book of
Laws referring to the membership of the House of Justice. 238 For a whole decade, the Board
lacked unity due to personality conflicts 3 and varying understandings of the Bahá’í teachings.
This disunity rendered it much less effective than the Bahá’í administrative body in Chicago
called the ‘House of Spirituality’. The Board did manage to hold regular meetings but how
the community grew and how it was consolidated are unknown due to a lack of records, a
result of the disagreements among the men. The members of the Board in New York City
were highly educated making it harder for them to give up their own ideas. After the
resignation of Arthur P. Dodge, one of its most prominent members, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to
him:

“There can be no greater harm for the Cause of God today than disunion, however
small it may be! Consequently exert yourself to the utmost to gladden the hearts and
to be the channel of fragrance and joy to mankind … [show] to the whole human
race the utmost kindness;; then how much more you must be kind to the spiritual
friends [Bahá’ís]!” 239

Though women did not serve on the Board, Gertrude Harris, the wife of Hooper Harris,
helped organize the women into a ‘Bahá’í Unity League for Ladies’ 240 Women such as
Gertrude Harris, Juliet Thompon, Isabella Brittingham, Marjorie Morten, Lua Getsinger,
among many others, played a very active role in the development of the community.

Still, the Bahá’ís met and the community’s life developed. Feasts were also held regularly and
included friends of the Faith. 241 The Bahá’ís celebrated a Holy Day in honor of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
called the “Feast of the Master”, the Day of the Covenant. 242 They gathered for worship on
Sundays:

“… as I entered the Assembly singing ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’, a song I always
loved. It is stirring and inspires hope and courage. Here I was impressed by the
wonderful love among the believers. What a contrast to the world of strife and
commotion without!” 243

Circular letters went out to community members of which it is estimated there were about
one-hundred. 244 The Board and two other small groups of believers in the City published

See p. 10 above
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 54
materials on the Faith early on, and there were funds and experienced writers and publishers
in the community but the disunity hampered the publishing effort. 245 The New York
Community even decided to write to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in March of 1908, for permission to
begin a Temple fund to raise “funds for the purchase of a suitable headquarters for our
assembly in the city of New York”, 246 to which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied that, “In the future,
God Willing, there will be erected throughout all the regions of America--and, in particular,
in New York--temples of outstanding beauty and dignity … . For the present, however, be
ye content with a rented property”. 247

The disunity which affected the New York Baha’is continued, such that by 1909 a younger
group of believers was actively seeking to change the membership of the Board of Counsel.
The believers had no knowledge or guidance on how to conduct Bahá’í elections. Several
active believers who were not re-elected, such as Howard McNutt, started a Board of
Counsel in Brooklyn, the Borough in which they lived. The 1910 elections saw another great
turnover in membership. To try to unify the believers, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to them and told
them to expand the membership of the Board to twenty-seven members. The Master wanted
all the different factions in the community to be included thereby helping them resolve their
differences. This time, He instructed them to include women;; Isabella Brittingham was
elected the secretary, and she wrote to the Master to let him know that the elections had
been harmonious. At this time, the Board changed its title to reflect the Master’s use of
‘mahfil-i-rawhání’ when referring to consultative bodies. The Board would now be called:
‘Spiritual Assembly’.

On the evening of June 12th, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá met with the Assembly 4. Juliet Thompson
described Board meetings as “deadly”. 248 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá provided them with the metaphor of
the telegraph by which the members could guide the spirit of their consultations. Knowing
that the illness of the believers in New York City was disunity, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá prescribed the
remedy which was unity achieved through the investigation of reality coupled with an
individual commitment to love of God over love of self:

“It is my hope that the meetings of the Bahá’í Assembly in New York shall become
like meetings of the Supreme Concourse. When you assemble, you must reflect the
lights of the heavenly Kingdom. Let your hearts be as mirrors in which the radiance
of the Sun of Reality is visible. Each bosom must be a telegraph station—one
terminus of the wire attached to the soul, the other fixed in the Supreme
Concourse—so that inspiration may descend from the Kingdom of Abhá and
questions of reality be discussed. Then opinions will coincide with truth;; day by day
there will be progression, and the meetings will become more radiant and spiritual.
This attainment is conditioned upon unity and agreement. The more perfect the love
and agreement, the more the divine confirmations and assistance of the Blessed
Perfection will descend. May this prove to be a divine meeting, and may boundless
bestowals come down upon you. Strive with all your hearts and with the very power

In the Promulgation of Universal Peace, the Board of Counsel is referenced as the ‘Open committee’. The
title ‘Spiritual Assembly’ was also now in use. These three titles refer to the same thing at this time.
Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 55
of life that unity and love may continually increase. In discussions look toward the
reality without being self-opinionated. Let no one assert and insist upon his own
mere opinion;; nay, rather, let each investigate reality with the greatest love and
fellowship. Consult upon every matter, and when one presents the point of view of
reality itself, that shall be acceptable to all. Then will spiritual unity increase among
you, individual illumination will be greater, happiness will be more abundant, and
you will draw nearer and nearer to the Kingdom of God.” 249

Chapter 6: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Teacher, Sage and Pastor 56
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant”
Many of the early American Bahá’ís were steeped in Christianity;; the first teaching of the
Faith in the 1890’s had been about the Faith as
fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. It was not unusual
for Bahá’ís to continue to be involved in their
churches. Hymns were a regular part of any
worship. By the 1900’s American Bahá’ís generally
approached the Faith in two different ways. One
group understood sacred scripture to be the
absolute and only standard for knowing and
understanding truth. The other group--especially
prominent in the case of New York City--were
people who tended to have highly developed
personal ideas regarding society, spiritual truth, and
politics, and who emphasized their own personal
experience as a guide to belief rather than scripture
or church. The New York Bahá’ís were made up of
successful businessmen, artists, and writers, who
tended to have confidence in their own views.
These Bahá’ís held numerous beliefs that were
Center of the Covenant
‘alternatives’ to church teaching, Biblical teaching,
and the Bahá’í Writings, with which many were not yet familiar since few Writings were
actually available to them. 250

Among these beliefs was reincarnation, which had been taught by Ibrahim Kheiralla and
which interested other believers who had studied Hinduism on their own. Thornton Chase,
the first American Bahá’í, had believed in reincarnation prior to being corrected by ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá;; Chase was very obedient to the Master and was able to let this belief go. Chase’s
letters, though, show that many other Bahá’ís continued to believe in reincarnation. 251
Howard MacNutt had been very interested in Hindusim and, even after becoming a Bahá’í,
he tended to combine his understandings of Hinduism with the Bahá’í teachings. For
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 57
example, he taught that Bahá’u’lláh would bring unity in the world by blending religions
together and, in his book, Unity Through Love, he put forth pantheistic beliefs that God is in
nature and imminent in humanity, meaning the Divine Will would appear in the human
soul. 252 As a result of this inaccurate description of the Bahá’í Teachings, few of his talks
were recorded or printed. Over time, there were fewer requests for him to speak publicly
about the Faith. Of course, MacNutt was expressing his own understanding and meant no
malice, nor did he intend to distort the teachings of the Faith which he believed in deeply. 253

In another example of alternative beliefs among Bahá’ís, Charles Mason Remey remembered
an active Bahá’í in New York City who told people that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was sending her
tablets by telepathy;; this continued until ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived in New York City and told her
to stop. 254 Percy Woodcock, one of the most active New York Bahá’ís, was fascinated by
astrology, asceticism, and Egyptian pyramids;; he believed that the building of a House of
Worship would attract the ancient power of the pyramids. This presented a challenge to the
Board especially as Percy was a well-liked teacher of the Faith. 255 Isabella Brittingham had to
give a talk multiple times around 1905 entitled “The Phenomenal World” to counter
prevalent beliefs in psychics among Bahá’ís. She taught that psychic powers existed but were
different from the spiritual perceptions which lead one nearer to God, and that spiritual
growth came from knowledge of Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God, obedience to the
Divine Laws, and service to others, exactly as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had taught. 256

Believers like Isabella Brittingham helped the Bahá’ís gain a truer understanding of the Faith.
She descended from an old American family that included a signer of the Declaration of
Independence. Deeply rooted in Biblical prophecy, she became a Bahá’í in 1898, after
coming to believe that the Bible had predicted the coming of Bahá’u’lláh in symbolic terms.
She made a first pilgrimage to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká in September, 1904, after the Master
had been incarcerated again in the ‘Akká prison, and a second in 1909. She became an ardent
teacher of the Faith and traveled with the support of her husband James, also a devout
Bahá’í. Beginning in March of 1910, she served on the Unity Band whose members were to
correspond with Women’s Assemblies of the Orient. Dr. Susan Moody, a believer whom
Isabella had deepened, and her niece, Elizabeth Stewart, moved to Iran where they founded
a medical practice for the poor. 257 Isabella wrote an essay, “The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh”,
that contained accurate descriptions of the Bahá’í Teachings, including the Station of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. She described the station of the Master as being the Center of the Covenant,
“He who knows no station save that of servitude, humility, and lowliness to the Beloved of
El-Baha”. 258

The station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the central point about which Bahá’ís in New York City
were unclear. Even a believer as experienced as Edward Getsinger, who had been to ‘Akká
three times for a total of six months and who had listened to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá numerous times
as well as having studied with numerous Persian teachers, continued to equate ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
as “The Christ of this generation to the Gentiles, and not what He in His humility chooses
to claim for Himself – a servant”. 259

Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 58
Arthur P. Dodge’s main orientation was as someone who was anti-church;; he saw the
churches and Christian beliefs as hopelessly corrupted. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, for him, was the
returned Christ who would re-infuse religion with a true spirit. Dodge was a man with a wide
array of talents despite his limited education. Early in life he had been a drummer boy in his
father’s Union regiment in the Civil War. He had become a reporter at the age of sixteen, a
self-taught lawyer, a publisher who dreamed of publishing a national magazine to educate the
masses, and a mechanical engineer who designed engines and built a company with valuable
patents. He married Elizabeth Day with whom he had six children. He first heard of the
Faith through his father in 1895 who had been told of it by Dr. Sarah J. Burgess. His father
was in deep grief over the loss of his daughter, Anna, and was very receptive to the teachings
which helped him weather his bereavement. Dodge and his wife took Kheiralla’s entire series
of lessons when they were given in New York City, and he became a devoted lifelong
teacher of the Faith. He was elected the first ‘president of the New York Bahá’ís in 1898,
went on pilgrimage to ‘Akká with his wife and two sons in 1900, and, in 1901, he wrote and
published the first introductory book on the Bahá’í Faith by a Western believer, The Truth of
It: The Inseparable Oneness of Common Sense—Science—Religion. Much of this book, however, was
an attack on the clergy, the corruption of organized religion, and scientists. 260 When there
were personality clashes with Dodge among the Bahá’ís in New York City, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
wrote to them:

"This personage is a believer and assured;; he is attracted, enkindled and of the
utmost sincerity. The believers of God must have the utmost consideration toward
him;; they must not avoid him;; they must seek his companionship in a cheerful
manner. . . . The point is this: the believers must associate with Mr. Dodge with joy
and love." 261

Dodge later served as a delegate in 1912 and 1913 to the Bahá’í Temple Unity Conventions.
In his later years he moved to Long Island and helped found the community of Hempstead.
His faith helped to reduce his anger towards the churches. 262

‘Abdu’l-Karim Tihrání, a Persian teacher, had a book published in 1900 that contained his
talks in Chicago, Kenosha and New York City, Addresses by Abdel Karim Effendi Teherani:
Delivered before the New York and Chicago Assemblies. The talks focused on the importance of
obedience to the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, and he calls ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the ‘Center of the
Covenant’ fifty-four times in these talks. All of this was to counter the problems that had
arisen from the false teachings of Kheiralla and his disobedience to the Master. This
publication was the first time American Bahá’ís were hearing the term and concept of a
‘Covenant breaker’. 263

Though Tihrání had not spent much time in New York City, the City was a transit point for
pilgrims going to and from ‘Akká who, on their return, told the believers what they had
heard directly from the Master. These talks and notes by pilgrims were a rich source for
understanding the Faith though, in time, they would not be considered authoritative. In the
Autumn of 1900, the Getsingers, the Dodges, and the Hoars made a pilgrimage to ‘Akká.
There, they learned directly from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the true Bahá’í teachings, dispelling
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 59
erroneous notions spread by Kheiralla—most shockingly, that Bahá’u’lláh did not teach the
reincarnation of souls. When the pilgrims returned, Dodge published a compilation of Bahá’í
Writings and tablets they had received from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets from Abdul Beha Abbas to
Some American Believers in the year 1900. 264 His sons, William Copeland Dodge and Wendell
Phillips Dodge published in 1901, Utterances of Abdul Beha Abbas to two young men, American
pilgrims in Acre, 1901. 265

After the pilgrims had returned, two Persian teachers Mírzá Asadu’lláh and Hájí Hasan-i-
Khurásání and two translators arrived to deepen believers in November, 1900. Asadu’lláh
was one of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s most trusted assistants—he had been given the sacred task of
transporting the remains of the Báb from Iran to the Holy Land. These Persian teachers
were instrumental in helping the New York Bahá’ís form the Board of Counsel, though they
were not able to stay long enough to correct the ideas left by Kheiralla’s false teachings. 266

Another Persian teacher who introduced more of the Bahá’í Teachings to American
believers was Anton Haddad. During 1901 and 1902, he wrote and published several works.
In The Maxim of Bahaism, he explained the necessity for a new Manifestation, and he made a
fifty three point summary of the Laws contained in Bahá’u’lláh’s Book of Laws. In The Station
of the Manifestation and the Greatness of this Day, he showed that the coming of Bahá’u’lláh was
the cause of the many advances in their time and that science was inherently in agreement
with religion. Lastly, in Divine Revelation the Basis of All Civilization, he endeavored to show that
Divine Revelation was the source and motive power of human and social progress, and he
quoted directly from Bahá’u’lláh’s Book of Laws and His “Words of Wisdom”. 267

In 1901, the finest scholar in the Bahá’í world, Mírzá Abu’l-Fazl, arrived in the United States.
He was fifty-seven by then, frail of health, and found himself in cold climates for the first
time;; he had left behind in Egypt his library, students, and scholarly resources. Abu’l-Fazl
wrote a book for the American believers, The Bahá’í Proofs. In this profound work, he
included biographies of the Central Figures of the Faith, a summary of the history of the
Faith to 1900, detailed comparisons between the Bahá’í Faith and the Abrahamic Faiths, an
explanation of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings in terms of God’s relationship to man, man’s
relationship to himself, and God’s relationship to society. He also made a short list of
Bahá’u’lláh’s social principles, and wrote introductions of four other religions asked for by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Abu’l Fazl spent most his time in the United States in Washington DC. The
Bahá’í Proofs was a highly sophisticated, closely reasoned source, the likes of which Americans
had not read before. Most likely, the Americans were not able to appreciate its depths;; Abu’l-
Fazl used his extensive knowledge of Bahá’í Scripture, Aristotelian logic, Arabic, Persian, and
Islamic theology and history, while Americans were asking him to interpret their dreams.
Over the course of the 20th century, it was the only book from the early part of the century
to be reprinted. 268

Even with these explanations of the Station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, there continued to be
differences on this subject among the believers. In 1907, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to the
Consultative Assembly of New York and both clarified the Station of Bahá’u’lláh and the
Báb as being that of the Returned Christ and elevated Servitude to the Highest Station:
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 60
“You have written that there is a difference among the believers concerning the
‘Second Coming of Christ’. Gracious God! Time and again this question hath
arisen, and its answer hath emanated in a clear and irrefutable statement from the
pen of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, that what is meant in the prophecies by the ‘Lord of Hosts’
and the ‘Promised Christ’ is the Blessed Perfection [Bahá’u’lláh] and His Holiness
the Exalted One [the Báb]. This clear and irrefutable statement must provide, for
all, the foundation of their belief. My name is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. My qualification is
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. My reality is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. My praise is ‘Abdu'l-Bahá. Thraldom to
the Blessed Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all the
human race my perpetual religion […] No name, no title, no mention, no
commendation have I, nor will ever have, except ‘Abdu'l-Bahá. This is my longing.
This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting glory […]
O Friends of God! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is not the return of Christ, but the very
embodiment of servitude.” 269

It is hundreds of Tablets like this that provided the American believers with their greatest
source of knowledge concerning the true Bahá’í Teachings and for understanding what it
meant to live a Bahá’í life. The tablets were translated, typed, and mailed to Bahá’í
communities and exchanged between communities and individuals so that they provided a
steady source of infallible guidance. It is important for posterity to remember that these
tablets were written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in response to specific questions asked by the
believers, so the subjects of the Tablets represented the interests of the questioners. These
tablets do not represent an effort by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to give a systematic theology of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation;; much of the Master’s guidance was pastoral--how people could
live together in communities or which virtues were important, for example--as he sought to
instruct the believers in how to live a Bahá’í life both individually and collectively. These
tablets should be understood in this context.

In a July, 1912, edition of the Star of the West, a bi-monthly publication about the Faith,
Charles Mason Remey explained the Station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the readers:

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s life of service is the Center of the life of the Kingdom which is the
Bahá’í Cause. His servitude to God and service to mankind is the heart from which
the life force of the Kingdom is flowing to all the members of that growing spiritual
body. He is the interpreter and the expounder of Holy Writ. BAHA’O’LLAH
commanded all to turn to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who is the Greatest Branch – branched
from the Pre-existent Root – the Center of the Covenant of God.” 270

That same edition of Star of the West included a tablet from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Mason Remey
on the subject of the Covenant:

“Likewise with the trace of the Supreme Pen He (Bahá’u’lláh) has taken a Great
Covenant and Testament after His Departure they must obey the Center of the
Covenant and must not deviate one hair’s breadth from obedience to him. He has
commanded in the most explicit terms in two instances in the Book of Akdas and
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 61
He has appointed most unmistakably the interpreter of the Book. In all Tablets,
especially the chapter of “Branch,” whose meanings are all ‘Abdu’l-Bahá– that is,
“the Servant of Baha” – everything that is necessary is revealed from the Supreme
Pen. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the interpreter of the Book, he says that the chapter of
“Branch” means ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and nothing else.” 271

That summer, The Bahá’í Proofs, an essay by Abu’l Fazl, was published in the United States. In
it, he explained ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s station in clear and direct terms grounded in the Bahá’í
Writings:

“To the people of Faith, the clear appointment of the Center of the Cause, after the
Departure [Death] of the Manifestation [Baha’o’llah], is considered the most important
point in religious matters, as it is the greatest channel which connects the servants of
God with the Holy Divine Truth. They are all sure and convinced that the CENTER
OF THE COVENANT is no other than His Holiness, ‘‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ;; for, apart
from the Divine signs that are manifest in Him, BAHA’O’LLAH clearly and
implicitly, verbally and in writing, directed all of His servants to the blessed Person
of ‘‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ, and, under all circumstances, clearly showed that He was far
distinguished above others, in order that all the servants should look unto Him
alone, and follow His Commands. For it is only through His explanation and
decision that all discord is removed. … He prior to His Departure, revealed the
Kitab-el-A’hd [Book of the Covenant, the Will of BAHA’O’LLAH]. This He wrote
with His own blessed Hand and Seal, … . In this Book (His Covenant) He clearly
indicated that the purpose of the “Branch extended from the Ancient Root,”
revealed in the blessed Verse of Akdas, was the Center of the Circle of Names, the
Exalted Branch of the Blessed Tree of ABHA, His Holiness ABDUL-BAHA. Then
He, for the second time, enjoined, through an unchangeable and irrefutable
command, all His “branches,” “twigs,” (relatives) and the Bahá’ís without exception,
to look unto that Dawning-Place of Divine Light, and to know Him as the Source
and Origin of the commands and prohibitions of the Heavenly Religion.” 272

At the time, the Star of the West printed this encouragement by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá concerning
this work by Abu’l-Fazl:

“In reality, this treatise is the Sharp and Brilliant Proof which has emanated from the
breath of the pen of servitude to the Blessed Perfection.” 273

In the same November edition of Star of the West, a talk by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was reprinted:

“His Holiness BAHA’O’LLAH covenanted, not that I (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) am the
Promised One, but that Abdul-Baha is the expounder of the Book and the
CENTRE OF HIS COVENANT, and that the Promised One of BAHA’O’LLAH
will appear after one thousand or thousands of years. … In case of difference,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá must be consulted. … After ‘‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whenever the Universal House of
Justice is organized it will ward off differences. …” 274
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 62
That edition also printed Bahá’u’lláh’s Book of the Covenant, which was Bahá’u’lláh’s ‘Will and
Testament’:

“He hath forbidden dispute and strife with an absolute prohibition in the book (Kitab
el-Akdas). … “This is the TESTAMENT OF GOD, that the Branches (Aghsan), Twigs
(Afnan), and Relations (Muntessabeen), must each and every one look to the Greatest Branch
(Ghusn Azam). …” 275

KKK

Mrs. Gibbons, a Bahá’í, had written the Master before his coming to the United States,
requesting that her own daughter be allowed to paint his portrait. In his reply he consented
to this request and added, according to Mrs. Gibbons, that Juliet Thompson would paint a
portrait of him. Juliet Thompson had long dreamed that she would paint the face of
Christ. 276

During the month of June, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá allowed Juliet Thompson to paint his portrait
telling her to paint his “Servitude to God”. She completed it over the course of six sittings
which took place over multiple days in different rooms. Juliet remembered that fourth sitting
on June 19th because of an extraordinary experience she and Lua Getsinger had on that day.
As the Master prepared to sit for the portrait, he turned to Lua Getsinger who was also in
the room and told her in Persian that these sittings made him sleepy. He sat down and
closed his eyes. Juliet studied him but found that she could not begin painting because
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s countenance reflected the dignity and peace of the Divine Realm. 277

Then, as though awakened by the Holy Spirit, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá opened his eyes and with great
power said:

"I appoint you, Lua, the Herald of the Covenant. And I AM THE COVENANT,
appointed by Bahá'u'lláh. And no one can refute His Word. This is the Testament of
Bahá'u'lláh. You will find it in the Holy Book of Aqdas. Go forth and proclaim, 'This
is THE COVENANT OF GOD in your midst.'" 278

A great joy seemed to fill Lua while Juliet wept at witnessing this extraordinary moment of
spiritual force flowing through the Master. Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá became quiet again. The Holy
Spirit receded, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the man re-emerged. He smiled at Juliet and told her that
she must stop crying since she would not be able to paint through tears. 279

In the afternoon of that same day He sent Lua Getsinger downstairs to speak about the
Covenant to the visitors waiting there. 280 When he went down later, 5 he read from
Bahá’u’lláh’s ‘Tablet of the Branch’ and spoke with great power on the Covenant. 281

In Mahmoud’s Diary, Mahmoud states that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke about the ‘Tablet of the Branch’ at a “public
meeting” but this meeting was not recorded in Promulgation of Universal Peace. Juliet Thomspon’s diary does not
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 63
‘Abdu’l-Bahá designated New York City, the ‘City of the Covenant’. 282

KKK

Differences of understanding about the Station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would continue despite the
numerous Tablets, notes from returning pilgrims, articles, reprints of talks, and translations
of the Book of the Covenant and the Tablet of the branch in the Star of the West, until 1934,
the year Shoghi Effendi wrote The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh. The Dispensation gave definitive
explanations to Bahá’ís regarding the Natures and Stations of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Also, by the 1930’s enough of a distinctive ‘Baha’i way of life’ had appeared so
that the points in the Dispensation could be fully appreciated and would replace the personal
opinions of believers.

Shoghi Effendi explained that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not an ordinary man nor was he the
Manifestation of God:

“For wide as is the gulf that separates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from Him Who is the Source of
an independent Revelation, it can never be regarded as commensurate with the
greater distance that stands between Him Who is the Center of the Covenant and
His ministers who are to carry on His work, whatever be their name, their rank, their
functions or their future achievements.” 283

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the ‘Mystery of God’ who functioned as the Center of the Covenant and
perfect Exemplar, a guide for all believers:

“He is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the Center and
Pivot of Bahá’u’lláh’s peerless and all-enfolding Covenant, His most exalted
handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings,
the unerring Interpreter of His Word, the embodiment of every Bahá’í ideal, the
incarnation of every Bahá’í virtue, the Most Mighty Branch sprung from the Ancient
Root, the Limb of the Law of God, the Being “round Whom all names revolve,” the
Mainspring of the Oneness of Humanity, the Ensign of the Most Great Peace, the
Moon of the Central Orb of this most holy Dispensation—styles and titles that are
implicit and find their truest, their highest and fairest expression in the magic name
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He is, above and beyond these appellations, the “Mystery of God”—
an expression by which Bahá’u’lláh Himself has chosen to designate Him, and which,
while it does not by any means justify us to assign to Him the station of
Prophethood, indicates how in the person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the incompatible

record ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talk to the visitors that day either. She writes “In the afternoon of that same day He sent
Lua down to the waiting people to "proclaim the Covenant";; then a little later followed her and spoke Himself
on the station of the Centre of the Covenant, but not as He had done to Lua and me. The blazing Reality of it
He had revealed in His own Person to us. To them He spoke guardedly, even deleting afterwards from our
notes some of the things He had said.” These notes have not been preserved.
Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 64
characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have
been blended and are completely harmonized.” 284

Chapter 7: “I am the Covenant” 65
Unity Feast in New Jersey

Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey
Newspapers and visitors often described ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with words such as “dignified”,
“Christ-like”, “Divine”;; those who were able to spend more time with him personally also
experienced his emotional expressiveness and affection, his naturalness and spontaneity and
his practical approach to living.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá readily expressed his emotions from the welcoming smile with which he
greeted people to laughter and, even, tears. For example, one Friday afternoon in July, Dr.
Percy Grant came to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Grant was in a combative mood possibly due to his
jealousy over the devotion Juliet had to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The Master greeted him with a warm
welcome. As they spoke, Grant kept questioning and debating ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at one point
making a very emphatic point with, according to Juliet Thompson, the air of a victor. Rather
than be offended or reactive, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá burst out laughing and offered another point of
view. Gradually, Grant’s combativeness lessened when confronted by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s humble
good humor. 285 One afternoon in Montclair, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá retold the story of the martyrdom
of ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb-i-Shírází. As he remembered the suffering of this young martyr, the
Master’s entire countenance became ecstatic, and he began singing the “Martyr’s song”. 286
He felt sorrow keenly as well, especially when he thought of his Father. When the hotel
manager asked him in early July if he would like a tour of the rest of the large hotel, he
declined telling the believers:

“When I see magnificent buildings and beautiful scenery, I contrast them with
memories of the prison and of the persecutions suffered by the Blessed Beauty and
my heart is deeply moved and I seek to avoid such sightseeing excursions.” 287

Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey 66
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was so genuinely affectionate that he was able to pierce through the barriers of
social convention and touch people’s hearts. When Howard Colby Ives began to shed tears
during their first encounter, the master wiped these tears away with his own fingers. After
Kate Carew, the hardened reporter, had finished her interview with him, he led her down the
hall through the lobby while holding her hand--much to her astonishment. When Juliet
Thompson’s maid, Mamie, wanted her little boy, George, to be blessed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the
Master picked up the little boy and without ceremony placed him on his knee and caressed
and played with him;; this boy went on to practice medicine.

The Master responded to people with open-hearted friendliness--the race, appearance,
disposition, class or gender of a person made no difference whatever. He met two African
American youth in early July and encouraged them in their spiritual lives, giving them
Persian names--‘Mubárak’, for the man, ‘Khush Ghadam’, for the woman. Though the
United States during these years was steeped in racial segregation, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá disregarded
these social conventions completely and actively set an example of inter-racial fellowship
during his visit to Washington DC. 288 Another day in early July, he went out for a stroll and a
Greek man came up to him and brought over his friends as well. The Master spoke to them
about Greek philosophers and encouraged their own moral improvement. 289 On an
especially hot July day, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had consented to visit the Natural History Museum.
After the visit, he sat under a birch tree in an area where people were not supposed to sit.
The elderly Jewish watchman who had let the Master’s party in earlier approached and said
he would like to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá because he seemed like a great man. As the watchman
approached him, the Master turned around, smiled and invited the elderly man to sit next to
him. He replied that he couldn’t because of the rules but that the Master could. So as to be
able to speak with the elderly watchman, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stood up and turned to him. 290 In
another incident, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was walking on the sidewalk towards the home of the
Harrises on 95th St.. Many children were playing, jumping rope and hula hooping outside.
When they saw ‘Abdu’l-Bahá pass by, they all followed him with his powerful stride and long
white robe and beard. Once the Master had gone into the building, the children all waited
around the stoop, and Juliet Thompson spoke to them. Her friend Rhoda Nichols went
inside to let ‘Abdu’l-Bahá know what was happening out front. She returned with an
invitation for the children to come the following night to the Kinneys for dinner. 291

‘Abdu’l-Bahá moved according to the spirit, and this made him very spontaneous. Edward
Getsinger had to plan many of the Master’s appointments, an exhausting job. Edward wrote
to Agnes Parsons, a Bahá’í in Washington DC:

“Now one more important thing: -
We have tried to have ‘Abdu’l-Bahá say that he would for certain be your
guest, but without avail. He said “I cannot be bound in any place or arrangement
before the day arrives. The spirit arranges to set the contingencies.” I said “then if
you might want an apt. by yourself, it is best I write to have one found. He said “very
well, but do not engage it, if I like it when I see it, I will choose it, if not, then I don’t
want it”. 292
Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey 67
And, in regards to a press conference in DC, Edward wrote:

“I wrote the Turkish Ambassador before I left, leaving the presentation in abeyance,
pending his arrival. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said “that if my presentation to the Press includes
also my declaration of citizenship of any country, then I will decline, as I am a citizen
of the world.” 293

Often, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá enjoyed going to Riverside Park near his living quarters to simply lie
down in the grass for a rest. 294 When a Greek friend asked him to come meet his friends in a
park, they took the subway together, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sat down in the grass and spoke to
the friends as they approached him. 295 Though the Master was always polite, he was never
mannered or pretentious. His comments and responses were always natural, truthful and
heartfelt. When he met Admiral Peary on May 5th, at the Union League in Brooklyn, he
offered this wonderfully nuanced praise according to Juliet Thompson:

“`for a very long time the world had been much concerned about the North Pole,
where it was and what was to be found there. Now he, Admiral Peary, had discovered
it and that nothing was to [be] found there;; and so, in forever relieving the public
mind, he had rendered a great service.'” 296

As well as the sincere exhortation he gave him directly:

“`I hope that you will raise the standard of universal peace.'” 297

The Master also took a very hands-on approach to daily life. He met with group after group,
and privately with many individuals, getting to know people, their questions and concerns
personally. He spent countless hours on letter writing. In June, he spoke of this to some
Bahá’ís in Montclair, NJ:

“After the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh I did everything within my power to promote
the Cause of God. I clung to spiritual methods and rendered such servitude at the
Threshold of God so that the divine Cause might advance throughout the world.
And my correspondence was so heavy that, at the time of the death of an American
maidservant of God, my letters to her were counted and numbered sixty-seven;; so
you can imagine the situation!”

In late June, he moved to a house in Montclair, NJ, a suburb of New York City, to escape
the city heat. He invited guests there and bought the food for them himself in the market,
supervised its preparation and served it himself. 298

Before leaving for New Jersey, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had invited the Bahá’ís in New York City for a
unity feast to be held on June 29th at Roy Wilhelm’s family home in West Englewood, NJ:

Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey 68
“I am about to leave the city for a few days rest at Montclair. When I return, it is my
wish to give a large feast of unity. … It must be outdoors under the trees, in some
location away from city noise—like a Persian garden. The food will be Persian food.
When the place is arranged, all will be informed, and we will have a general meeting
in which hearts will be bound together, spirits blended and a new foundation for
unity established. All the friends will come. They will be my guests. They will be as
the parts and members of one body. The spirit of life manifest in that body will be
one spirit. The foundation of that temple of unity will be one foundation. Each will
be a stone in that foundation, solid and interdependent. Each will be as a leaf,
blossom or fruit upon one tree. For the sake of fellowship and unity I desire this
feast and spiritual gathering.” 299

The town of West Englewood later became Teaneck which gained the distinction of being
the first town in the nation where a white majority voted for school integration. 300 Roy and
his father lived in West Englewood and commuted daily to their coffee company’s offices in
the City.

Roy Wilhelm was born in Ohio, the Christian heartland of the United States. His
grandmother, mother, and father were all seekers. They wanted to go beyond church
doctrine and learn about new philosophies and religious thought. His grandmother especially
sensed that they were living in a New Day, a ‘Promised Day’. Roy’s mother befriended a lady
who lived nearby, Laura Jones, who was also on a spiritual search. When Jones moved to
Chicago, she came into contact with Bahá’ís and sent Bahá’í pamphlets to Mrs. Wilhelm who
straightaway became a believer after reading them. Roy was skeptical about his mother’s
conversion as she had been interested in many new religious ideas. While he continued his
profession as a traveling salesmen for his father’s coffee company, he also attended Bahá’í
meetings in New York City. When the Dodges returned from a nine-day pilgrimage to
‘Akká, they rented a home to which they invited seekers. Going to these gatherings, Roy
became very attracted to the Faith though he knew only a little bit about its teachings. In
1907, he and his mother made a pilgrimage to ‘Akká where they stayed in the prison with
‘Abdu’l-Bahá for six days. Roy remembers:

“During our last meal ‘Abdu’l-Bahá always broke a quantity of bread into His bowl;;
then asking for the plates of the pilgrims. He gave to each of us a portion. When the
meal was finished, He said: I have given you to eat from My bowl – now distribute
My Bread among the people.” 301

Roy became a confirmed believer. He would go on to serve on the National Spiritual
Assembly, on the editorial Board of Star of the West, and as a traveling teacher who also
underwrote the efforts of others such as Martha Root. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá placed great trust in
Roy, writing to him, “The sight of your portrait brought joy to My heart, because it is
luminous and celestial …” 302 The Master directed much mail for other believers to Roy.
When Shoghi Effendi suddenly became the head of the Faith, he invited Roy, among other
believers, to come to Haifa and consult with him about the Bahá’í world. He praised him for
his “saintliness, indomitable faith, outstanding services …” 303
Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey 69
The day of the unity feast came. Chairs for the guests had been set up in a circle under the
evergreen trees. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who that morning had ridden four trains in the June heat to
get to West Englewood, entered the circle. A carpet of flowers covered the lawn. The air was
pure, a breeze picked up. 304 The Master painted a magnificent panorama of the future that
would be possible if the believers were united, joyous, grateful, and selfless:

“ … Since the desire of all is unity and agreement, it is certain that this meeting will
be productive of great results. … This is a new Day, and this hour is a new Hour in
which we have come together. Surely the Sun of Reality with its full effulgence will
illumine us, and the darkness of disagreements will disappear. … Such gatherings as
this have no equal or likeness in the world of mankind, where people are drawn
together by physical motives or in furtherance of material interests, for this meeting
is a prototype of that inner and complete spiritual association in the eternal world of
being.
True Bahá’í meetings are the mirrors of the Kingdom wherein images of the
Supreme Concourse are reflected. In them the lights of the most great guidance are
visible. … Hundreds of thousands of meetings shall be held to commemorate this
occasion, and the very words I speak to you today shall be repeated in them for ages
to come. …

Rejoice, for the heavenly table is prepared for you.
Rejoice, for the angels of heaven are your assistants and helpers.
Rejoice, for the glance of the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh, is directed upon you.
Rejoice, for Bahá’u’lláh is your Protector.
Rejoice, for the everlasting glory is destined for you.
Rejoice, for the eternal life is awaiting you.
How many blessed souls have longed for this radiant century, their utmost hopes
and desires centered upon the happiness and joy of one such day as this. … God has
favored you in this century and has specialized you for the realization of its blessings
…
First, you must become united and agreed among yourselves. … In the path of God
one must forget himself entirely. … It is my hope that you may become like this” 305

The Master anointed each guest with attar of rose. 306 When he finished, the sound of
thunder could be heard and dark clouds were gathering. Juliet Thompson remembers
‘Abdu’l-Bahá at that point walking a little way down the road with a few of the Persian men
and seating himself in a chair which had been left there, then raising his face to the sky. A
strong wind blew and parted the rain filled clouds, and the feast could continue. 307 The
guests ate Persian pilaf, sherbet and sweet. 308

Many guests lingered late into the evening. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sat in a chair on the top step of the
porch surrounded by Juliet Thompson, Lua Getsinger, May Maxwell, Marjorie Morten, Silvia
Gannett, and a young man, Neval Thomas. Out in front of him sat many guests holding long
thin candles which sparkled in the gathering dusk--“like great moths and the burning tips of
Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey 70
the tapers they waved like fireflies darting about” 309--seekers who by their nature could not
pull themselves away from the presence of the Master.

KKK

‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent the night is West Englewood. The following day, Sunday, June 30th, he
was invited to the home of the Persian Consul General, Mr. Topakyan, in Morristown, NJ. 310

The irony of this invitation was that in Persia itself, Bahá’ís were being actively persecuted.
The machinations of clerics, government leaders, and Covenant breakers had caused the
banishment and imprisonment of Bahá’u’lláh and His family and decades of suffering for
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Persecutions of Bahá’ís were increasing again as a result of the breakdown of
the authority of the Qajar dynasty that ruled Persia.

Mr. Topakyan had met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá before at the May 13th meeting of the New York Peace
Society. On that evening he had extolled ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s position with respect to Persia, the
land that had persecuted him:

“Our guest of honor has stood as a Prophet of enlightenment and peace for the
Persian Empire, and a well-wisher of Persia may well honor him. … I am happy to
say that Abdu’l-Baha is the Glory of Persia today.” 311

At this lunch, Mr. Topakyan showed great deference to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and had invited several
prominent public people, reporters, and photographers.

During ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s time in New York City, creative people and activists wanted to meet
him. Louis Potter, a nationally known sculptor, was an active seeker in his spiritual life and
came to visit in May. He had traveled for his art as far as Africa and Alaska where he
sculpted the Tlingit Eskimos in 1905. 312 He also made a medallion with the image of ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá. 313 Potter was greatly moved by meeting the Master, but he chose to continue his
spiritual search and went out to the West Coast where he met a ‘Chinese mystic’ and
herbalist who gave him extract from a peach tree root which killed him. 314

At a reception in the home of Mrs. Tatum in May, Sarah Graham Mulhall sought out the
presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Her father and brother had been deeply involved in researching
the effects of drugs on the human body and had died, possibly as a result of their dangerous
work. The Master strongly encouraged her to continue in this line of work. She went on to
become the first Narcotics Commissioner for the City of New York, appointed by Gov. Al
Smith. She personally led a drug raid on wealthy men, some of whom were great supporters
of St. John’s and St. Patrick’s Cathedrals. The men were all brought to trial, though the
Commissioner’s office was eventually abolished under pressure from the Bishop. 315

Khán Báhádúr Alláh-Bakhsh, the Governor of Lahore, Pakistan, had become interested in
meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after learning of the Faith from Juliet Thompson. The elderly
governor spent a long time with the Master and later wrote Juliet that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the
Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey 71
“Divine Light of today”. 316 The Master had responded to this governor’s spiritual interests.
Otherwise, he might not have agreed to meet with politicians as they often just wanted to
bolster their own image. For instance, he did not accept the Mayor of New York City’s
request that he be his guest in the reviewing stand for the City’s Fourth of July parade,
sending representatives instead. 317

‘Abdu’l-Bahá always gave of his time and energy when it was to create unity among the
believers. For example, he participated in the July wedding of Harlan and Grace Ober.
Harlan Ober had been asked in 1907, after having been a Bahá’í for only a few months, to
go with Hooper Harris on a teaching trip to India and Burma. India and Burma were, after
Persia and the United States, the third area in the world with a significant concentration of
Bahá’ís, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was eager to have Western believers go there as a way of uniting
East and West. 318

The Master was not averse to using different means to publicize his visit as this would create
greater awareness of the Faith. Soon after he arrived in New York City, a moving picture
company asked permission to film him. Some Bahá’ís were against this as the Master’s image
would be shown in theaters, but he readily approved. In the footage, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
approaches the camera while exhorting Bahá’u’lláh to bless this effort as a means of
spreading the Faith. 319

KKK

Hearst’s Magazine wrote of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

“One distinguishable and peculiar thing about Abdul-Baha is that he does not make
war upon, or even criticize, any other religious faith. … No man of recent times has
shown such a magnificent affirmative spirit as this man Abdul-Baha. … He listens
with much appreciation and sympathy and when he speaks it is slowly, distinctly, and
most impressively. He knows what he is saying. His heart is full and his emotions are
brimming, although kept well under control. … He is reverential, respectful, filled
with great and holy zeal. And this zeal takes the form of a message of unification to
the world.” 320

Though an editorial in the Independent, gave a more cynical description:

“Bahaism is not to be classed with the freak or fake religions which arise among us
or are brought to us from abroad. Perhaps there are among its American disciples
some of the class who take up with bahaism because bridge is going out. …” 321

“His message, coming from the most turbulent and dissentious country of the globe,
is an appeal for love, peace and unity. He shows how strife and enmity defeat the
aims of humanity in every field. … A strange offshoot from Mohammedanism in
these latter days–this religion of universal peace, mutual toleration and equal rights.
Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey 72
Tho its lessons may be most needed in Islam, yet they are far from being superfluous
to Christendom.” 322

Harper’s Weekly published an article with a broader view titled, “A Ray from the East”, :

““Inasmuch,” says Abdul-Baha Abbas, “as the reality of religions is one, and the
difference is one of imitations, but religion essentially is one, the existing religions
must give up the imitations in order that the Reality may enlighten them all, may
unite humanity. … God has created all humanity;; He has provided for all;; He
preserves all, and all are submerged in the ocean of his mercy. … It must have
become quite clear long ago to readers that we have here exactly the same thoughts,
expressed in almost exactly the same words, as have made the material of religious
urging and teaching for hundreds of years. Paul said, at Athens, before the sixtieth
year of our era, exactly what Abbas Effendi repeats, in Chicago, at the beginning of
the twentieth century.” 323

The July 1st edition of the New York Times announced that Woodrow Wilson had been
nominated to be the candidate of his party. As President, Wilson would push for an
international organization to help bring about and maintain international peace. Shoghi
Effendi would write of Wilson:

“To [America’s] President, the immortal Woodrow Wilson, must be ascribed the
unique honor, among the statesmen of any nation, whether of the East or of the
West, of having voiced sentiments so akin to the principles animating the Cause of
Bahá’u'lláh, and of having more than any other world leader, contributed to the
creation of the League of Nations—achievements which the pen of the Center of
God’s Covenant acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, …” 324

Chapter 8: The Unity Feast ~ New Jersey 73
Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America
After his stay in New Jersey, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent the first two weeks of July in New York
City before embarking on a cross-country
rail trip. He spoke most days to seekers at
the Champney home at 309 West 78th St.
which he had rented.

On July 1st, the Master spoke about wealth
distribution, a topic which was on the minds
of the many people who were attracted to
the socialist and communist ideals of social
leveling and the sharing of wealth. The 20th
century would see social leveling in Russia
and China resulting in extraordinary levels
of state-sponsored famine, torture, and
executions, with death estimates which are
incomprehensible. The answer was the
individual’s adherence to spiritual reality:

“When a rich man believes and
follows the Manifestation of God, it
is a proof that his wealth is not an
obstacle and does not prevent him
‘Abdu’l-Bahá Leaving the U.S.
from attaining the pathway of
salvation. After he has been tested
and tried, it will be seen whether his possessions are a hindrance in his religious life.
But the poor are especially beloved of God. Their lives are full of difficulties, their
trials continual, their hopes are in God alone. Therefore, you must assist the poor as
much as possible, even by sacrifice of yourself.” 325

Distribution of wealth was a responsibility of governments and individuals:

Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 74
“The greatest means for prevention is that whereby the laws of the community will
be so framed and enacted that it will not be possible for a few to be millionaires and
many destitute.” 326

Each person had a place and a role:

“Each in his station in the social fabric must be competent—each in his function
according to ability but with justness of opportunity for all.” 327

Social leveling was completely contrary to the natural order of human life;; justice was the
operating principle at every level of human society.

In the next series of talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá presented Bahá’u’lláh as the source of authority
whose Word determined reality:

“Bahá’u’lláh says, “The universe hath neither beginning nor ending.” He has set aside
the elaborate theories and exhaustive opinions of scientists and material philosophers
by the simple statement, “There is no beginning, no ending.” 328

“In this century when the beneficent results of unity and the ill effects of discord are
so clearly apparent, the means for the attainment and accomplishment of human
fellowship have appeared in the world. Bahá’u’lláh has proclaimed and provided the
way by which hostility and dissension may be removed from the human world. He
has left no ground or possibility for strife and disagreement.” 329

“The teachings specialized in Bahá’u’lláh are addressed to humanity. He says, “Ye are
all the leaves of one tree.” He does not say, “Ye are the leaves of two trees: one
divine, the other satanic.” He has declared that each individual member of the
human family is a leaf or branch upon the Adamic tree;; …” 330

“Bahá’u’lláh declared that religion is in complete harmony with science and reason. If
religious belief and doctrine is at variance with reason, it proceeds from the limited
mind of man and not from God;; therefore, it is unworthy of belief and not deserving
of attention;; … Reason is the first faculty of man, and the religion of God is in
harmony with it. Bahá’u’lláh has removed this form of dissension and discord from
among mankind and reconciled science with religion by revealing the pure teachings
of the divine reality. This accomplishment is specialized to Him in this Day.” 331

“Bahá’u’lláh said that God has sent religion for the purpose of establishing
fellowship among humankind and not to create strife and discord, for all religion is
founded upon the love of humanity.” 332

“Other sources of human dissension are political, racial and patriotic prejudices.
These have been removed by Bahá’u’lláh. He has said, and has guarded His
statement by rational proofs from the Holy Books, that the world of humanity is one
Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 75
race, the surface of the earth one place of residence and that these imaginary racial
barriers and political boundaries are without right or foundation.” 333

“Diversity of languages has been a fruitful cause of discord. … Sixty years ago
Bahá’u’lláh advocated one language as the greatest means of unity and the basis of
international conference. He wrote to the kings and rulers of the various nations,
recommending that one language should be sanctioned and adopted by all
governments. According to this each nation should acquire the universal language in
addition to its native tongue.” 334

“Lack of equality between man and woman is, likewise, a cause of human dissension.
Bahá’u’lláh has named this as an important factor of discord and separation, for so
long as humankind remains unequally divided in right and importance between male
and female, no unity can be established.” 335

The day after the Master made most of these comments at the All Souls Unitarian Church at
Fourth Ave. and Twentieth St., he spoke on thankfulness at the home of Dr. Florian Krug
and Mrs. Grace Krug. The Bahá’í women met weekly at the Krug home. 336 The Krugs would
be present in ‘Akká the evening ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away in November, 1921;; Dr. Krug
took photos of the funeral. 337 Grace remembers the evening of the passing of the Master:

“We retired as usual, but Dr. Krug had a premonition that he would be called to the
Master's bedside before morning. About one fifteen o'clock we were awakened by
screams from the Master's house, "Come Dr. Krug, the Master, the Master!" Like a
flash, the Doctor was up, dressed, out of the room and across the garden into the
house. You see, friends, had we not occupied Abdu'l-Baha's room over the garage,
Dr. Krug could not have reached the Master so quickly. I stood absolutely petrified
with fear. Finally I was able to slip a one piece dress over my night robe and rushed
after the Doctor. Friends, how can I describe that scene in the Master's bedroom!
Dr. Krug stood in the center, his hand raised, saying: "Silence, our Beloved Master
has ascended." I ran to His bedside and there He lay in the majesty of death. His
lovely eyes were still open, but the light of love and understanding that had for so
many years cheered the souls of men was gone! My, first thought was, my Adored
One is freed from our endless questions, freed from His life of servitude and
headaches. I turned and knelt at the feet of His sister, the Greatest Holy Leaf, put
my head in her lap and in that agonized moment, she stroked my head and tried to
comfort me. Friends, not one thought of herself! God has never created a more
glorious woman than she!" 338

After the visit to the Krug home, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá left New York City for four months on a trip
that would take him to the West coast and back. During these months, war broke out in
Europe, just as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had warned. The First Balkan War pitted the Bulgarians,
Greeks, Albanians and Montenegrans, against the Ottoman Empire over control of the
Ottoman’s European provinces. It was this same part of the world which lit the fuse that
became the conflagration of World War One in 1914. The war may have raised the prejudice
Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 76
among Americans towards Turks as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Persian believers were turned
down at some hotels because the staff thought they were Turks. 339

KKK

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá returned to New York City in mid-November after his cross-country
teaching trip, he rented the Champney house at 309 West 78th St.. The house was near
Riverside Park which ran for four miles along the Hudson River. This park was designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted, a genius who had no college education but became the
superintendent of Central Park in New York City and head of the organization that later
became the American Red Cross. He was also passionate about preserving nature for the
public good and worked on the preservation of Yosemite Valley and Niagara Falls. His firm
worked on over five hundred projects, including college campuses and the grounds of the
Capitol Building in Washington DC. The true impact of his life’s work was only realized
later. Near the end of his life, he had a complete mental breakdown and died in an asylum.

The beauty of Olmsted’s Riverside Park was much appreciated by the Master. When he
needed a break from the constant interaction with people, he liked to go to the Park and be
refreshed by nature. Sometimes he lay down in the grass, other times he sat on a bench or
walked.

On November 12th, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá granted a private meeting to one of the most influential of
all Americans: Andrew Carnegie. Born in Scotland, Carnegie grew up poor because his
father, a weaver, was made redundant by new steam-powered looms which put many
weavers out of work. The knowledge that his father had to beg for work deeply affected
him, and his mother decided to move the family to Pittsburg, PA, to try making a better life.
Carnegie worked his way up the Pennsylvania Railroad and then moved into the iron and
steel business where he showed his genius for seeing where things were going in the world.
By 1900, his company was producing more steel than Great Britain. While he had the drive
and talent for making money, Andrew was also deeply interested in the rights of workers,
though the Homestead Strike in 1892 in which his workers were killed, damaged his image,
and in international peace—he was one of the first prominent citizens to call for the League
of Nations. He endowed the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, which today houses
the World Court. 340 He sold his steel company for $480 million to J.P. Morgan, another titan
of American industry, who, by his sixties, may well have been the richest man in the world. 341
He was determined to contribute his money to the betterment of society and went on to give
away $350 million by building thousands of libraries--an employer’s small library which he
had used to educate himself had been available to him as a teenager--and endowing
institutions of higher learning (Carnegie Mellon University), cultural institutions (Carnegie
Hall, NYC), think tanks (Carnegie Endowment for Peace), research institutions (Carnegie
Institute of Washington for scientific research), trusts to directly assist people (Carnegie
Dunfermline Trust to assist the residents of Dunfermline Scotland where Carnegie was
born), among many others. 342

Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 77
Carnegie’s interest in the rights of workers, international peace and the betterment of society,
may well have led him to seek an interview with the Master. After this private interview, the
two corresponded and one of these letters was the basis of an article published in the New
York Times in 1915, though it was written just a year and a half before World War One
exploded:

“To the noble personage, his Excellency Mr. Andrew Carnegie:
May God assist him!

… All the leaders and statesmen of Europe are thinking on the plane of war and the
annihilation of the mansion of humanity, but thou (Carnegie) art thinking on the
plane of peace and love and the strengthening and reinforcement of the basis of the
superstructure of the human world. They are the heralds of death, thou art the
harbinger of life. The foundations of their palaces are unstable and wavering and the
turrets of their mansions are tottering and crumbling, but the basis of thy structure is
firm and unmovable …

…Today the most important object of the kingdom of God is the promulgation of
the cause of universal peace and the principle of the oneness of the world of
humanity. Whosoever arises in the accomplishment of this preeminent service the
confirmations of the holy spirit will descend upon him …

… Therefore, before long a vast and unlimited field will be opened before your view
for the display of your powers and energies. You must promote this glorious
intention with the heavenly power and the confirmation of the holy spirit. I am
praying in thy behalf that thou mayest erect a pavilion and unfurl a flag in the world
of peace, love, and eternal life …” 343

‘Abdu’l-Bahá also blessed J.P. Morgan, the leading American industrialist and a
benefactor of schools, hospitals and museums, when he visited the Morgan Library,
which housed Morgan’s art and book collection, on E. 36th St.. He wrote the following in
the guest book, translated by Dr. Amin Farid:

“O, Thou Generous Lord, verily this famous personage has done considerable
philanthropy, render him great and dear in Thy Kingdom, make him happy and
joyous in both worlds, and confirm him in serving the world of humanity, and
submerge him in the sea of Thy Favors.” 344

KKK

‘Abdu’l-Bahá made great efforts to unify believers in the United States by counseling and
guiding them both in person and in writing with a spirit of loving affection, and hosting
them in gatherings to promote unity.

Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 78
Individuals often struggled to put into practice the spiritual teaching the Master gave them,
especially when it came to unity. Juliette Thompson had been engaged to Mason Remey but
then broke it off. They made every effort to avoid each other. Then she resolved to go to
him and recommend that they visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá together and say that they were reconciled
and would be brothers and sisters in the Cause. Before this happened, another believer told
her that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wished for Juliet to marry Remey. Juliet went directly to the Master
who told her the believer had misunderstood;; according to Juliet he answered, “I never
interfere. Mrs. Hopper came and told me that she wanted to unite you and Mr. Remey. I said
'Very well, try.' But it is just as I wrote you long ago. Unless there is perfect agreement--
perfect harmony--love, these things are not good”. 345 Juliet interpreted this statement just in
terms of her and Remey, not any deeper than that for she resolved after this never to see
Remey again. 346

He always counseled individuals lovingly but, when it came to Covenant breaking, he took a
more severe, corrective approach. Dr. Ibrahim Kheiralla had been the original teacher of the
Faith in the United States, and many people had become interested in the Faith through him
so when he returned from pilgrimage and broke the Covenant by turning against the Master,
many became estranged from the Faith. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá characterized Covenant-breaking as a
spiritual poison. Bahá’ís must absolutely shun the Covenant-breaker to prevent the
contagion from spreading. The Covenant was the pivot around which the Bahá’í community
was united, so breaking the Covenant fragmented it and could, if allowed, cause conflict on a
much larger scale impairing the very mission of the Faith.

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came to the United States, he commissioned Howard MacNutt to go to
Chicago where Kheiralla’s Covenant-breaking had done the most damage and tell the
believers in clear and certain terms that they must have no interaction with the Covenantbreakers and to warn them of the consequences of this poison. This may have been a
difficult task for MacNutt whose spirituality was focused on the idea of ‘unity through love’
and who had been appointed by Kheiralla as the ‘teacher’ of New York City. When he
returned, it was clear that MacNutt had not carried out the task fully. On November 15th,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá showed MacNutt a letter recently written by MacNutt to a Dr. Nutt who
continued his friendship with Kheiralla, and the Master had to warn him that continuing
contact like this placed MacNutt in danger. 347 MacNutt had also written to Dr. Zia Baghdadi
that he had found the wavering believers in Chicago to be “angels”. 348

MacNutt’s lack of firmness must have saddened ‘Abdu’l-Bahá;; he had told Juliet Thompson
that he measured the love of the believers by their degree of obedience. So in the evening of
November 19th, MacNutt came to meet the Master again at the Kinney home and went into
a private audience with him on the second floor. An eager crowd had gathered below to hear
the Master. As the two emerged, Juliet Thompson heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tell MacNutt to go
downstairs and say to the crowd “I was like Saul. Now I am Paul, for I see”, to which
MacNutt astonishingly replied, “But I don’t see”. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá then commanded him to
follow through with this, and MacNutt went downstairs and spoke those words to the
assemblage. As he spoke, somewhat hesitatingly, the Master was listening from upstairs and

Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 79
closed his eyes as if in prayer. When MacNutt came back upstairs the Master embraced
him. 349

But it seems that MacNutt continued to waver. In a cable to Ali Kuli Khan April 16th, 1913,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote, "MACNUTT REPENTED FROM VIOLATION OF COVENANT
BUT WAS NOT AWAKENED." It would take several more months of correspondence
for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to be satisfied with MacNutt’s convictions and recognize him as a Baha’i
again. MacNutt would continue his life of service. When he retired to Miami, he actively
taught the Faith to African-Americans, having finally overcome his feelings of racism. 350

On the 18th, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had dinner with the poet Frank K. Moxey and his wife. The
following year in July, while he was in Port Said, Egypt, he received a packet of Mr. Moxey’s
poems. He asked that the titles be read to him and then that the poem on the Báb be
translated. The Master was moved by the poem and expressed the hope that Moxey would
continue to write such poetry as America needed a Bahá’í poet while there were many in
Persia. 351

KKK

During these last two weeks in New York City, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá continued to instruct the
believers, but he turned down most offers to speak publicly. At the home of Juliet
Thompson on November 15th, he gave an uncharacteristically long talk on the life of
Bahá’u’lláh and enumerated some of the fundamental principles taught by Bahá’u’lláh. The
following day, he explained the purpose of the Manifestation of God which must have
radically changed the perceptions of his audience about religion because he asserted that the
Manifestations of God had come to ‘train’ and ‘educate’ the souls of people not raise up new
buildings:

“The purpose of the appearance of the Manifestations of God is the training of the
people. That is the only result of Their mission, the real outcome. The outcome of
the whole life of Jesus was the training of eleven disciples and two women. Why did
He suffer troubles, ordeals and calamities? For the training of these few followers.
That was the result of His life. The product of the life of Christ was not the churches
but the illumined souls of those who believed in Him. Afterward, they spread His
teachings.” 352

At the Moxey home on the 18th, he continued with this theme challenging people’s standard
conception of religion:

“The supreme and most important happening in the human world is the
Manifestation of God and the descent of the law of God. The holy, divine
Manifestations did not reveal themselves for the purpose of founding a nation, sect
or faction. They did not appear in order that a certain number might acknowledge
Their Prophethood. They did not declare Their heavenly mission and message in
order to lay the foundation for a religious belief. Even Christ did not become
Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 80
manifest that we should merely believe in Him as the Christ, follow Him and adore
His mention. All these are limited in scope and requirement, whereas the reality of
Christ is an unlimited essence.” 353

At the home of the Kinneys, the Master exhorted believers to develop the Divine virtues,
challenging them with the standard of a true Bahá’í:

“You must manifest complete love and affection toward all mankind. Do not exalt
yourselves above others, but consider all as your equals, … Never speak
disparagingly of others, but praise without distinction. … Recognize your enemies as
friends, and consider those who wish you evil as the wishers of good. … Act in such
a way that your heart may be free from hatred. … Do not complain of others.
Refrain from reprimanding them, and if you wish to give admonition or advice, let it
be offered in such a way that it will not burden the bearer. … Beware! Beware! lest ye
offend any heart. … Be the source of consolation to every sad one, assist every weak
one, be helpful to every indigent one, care for every sick one, be the cause of
glorification to every lowly one, and shelter those who are overshadowed by fear.

In brief, let each one of you be as a lamp shining forth with the light of the virtues of
the world of humanity. Be trustworthy, sincere, affectionate and replete with chastity.
Be illumined, be spiritual, be divine, be glorious, be quickened of God, be a
Bahá’í.” 354

When the believers tried to give him gifts, he told them that the greatest gift they could give
him was their unity.

At the Kinney home on December 2nd, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá again gave a talk in which he set forth
the principles brought by Bahá’u’lláh as well as re-emphasizing the need for a Covenant and
its unique place in the history of religion:

“As to the most great characteristic of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, a specific
teaching not given by any of the Prophets of the past: It is the ordination and
appointment of the Center of the Covenant. … To ensure unity and agreement He
has entered into a Covenant with all the people of the world, including the
interpreter and explainer of His teachings, so that no one may interpret or explain
the religion of God according to his own view or opinion and thus create a sect
founded upon his individual understanding of the divine Words. The Book of the
Covenant or Testament of Bahá’u’lláh is the means of preventing such a possibility,
… There are some people of self-will and desire who do not communicate their
intentions to you in clear language. … Yet there are some who for the sake of
personal interest and prestige will attempt to sow the seeds of sedition and disloyalty
among you. To protect and safeguard the religion of God from this and all other
attack, the Center of the Covenant has been named and appointed by Bahá’u’lláh.” 355

Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 81
He gave only three talks in public forums during these last weeks. The first took place on
November 17th, at the Genealogical Hall. The New York Genealogical and Biographical
Society was founded in 1869, the purpose of which was "to discover, procure, preserve and
perpetuate whatever may relate to Genealogy and Biography, and more particularly to the
genealogies and biographies of families, persons and citizens associated and identified with
the State of New York", 356 and it had grown rapidly such that by 1912 it was purchasing
another building. 357 Possibly because of the name of the hall, the Master spoke there about
the development of society and how the human race had reached its stage of maturity.

Another public talk was given at the Theosophical Society on December 4th. The Society had
been founded in 1875 as a center for the application of teachings of an extraordinary
woman, Helena Petrovan Blavatsky. She was born in Russia, married the governor of an
Armenian province, traveled constantly to many parts of the world, became an accomplished
musician, writer, self-proclaimed psychic and mystic, lived for awhile in Tibet and founded
the Theosophical Society based on her spiritual ideas. She met an Indian guru in London and
accepted him as her spiritual teacher and master because she had seen him in her childhood
dreams. 358 The Theosophical Society taught that all existence was an interdependent whole,
that this Reality which flowed through all things was transcendent, and that each human
being had unique value. As a result, theosophists emphasized the equality and brotherhood
of all people, the value of all religious traditions and the importance of altruism in human
behavior. So, during his visit to the Theosophical Society, the Master touched on these
subjects and spoke of the nature of reality and of Divinity, the common purpose of the
Manifestations of God, and the spiritual reality of man. 359

The most significant public appearance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in those final weeks was the public
celebration of the Day of the Covenant on November 23rd. A banquet was organized by the
believers at the Great Northern Hotel at 118 W. 57th Street. This hotel would soon be one
of the few in the City to welcome unaccompanied women travelers without making them
adhere to strict rules. It advertised itself as “Quiet hotel;; patronized by women traveling
alone” where one could get a single room for $2. 360 But, in 1912, the hotel did not admit
African-Americans. The Baha’is tried to convince the management to allow them to invite
their African-American friends but the hotel vehemently refused citing business concerns
that if they allowed African-Americans in, “no respectable person will ever set foot in it, and
my business will go to the winds”. 361

Chandeliers dangled from the ceiling of the banquet hall over two long rectangular tables at
which sat the guests. To the side, several other round tables were arranged behind large
pillars for additional guests. The attire was formal. Flowers and crystal festooned the cloth
covered tables. Light from electric bulbs sparkled in the glasses. At the front of the room the
honored guests from Persia sat at a long table in front of flags of the United States and
Persia, including Mr. Topakyan, the Persian consul general. 362

When the Master walked in, all stood up and cried out, “Alláh’u’Abhá”!

Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 82
“The effect of such an assembly as this is conducive to divine fellowship and
strengthening of the bond which cements and unifies hearts. This is the
indestructible bond of spirit which conjoins the East and West. By it the very
foundations of race prejudice are uprooted and destroyed, the banner of spiritual
democracy is hoisted aloft, the world of religion is purified from superannuated
beliefs and hereditary imitations of forms, and the oneness of the reality underlying
all religions is revealed and disclosed. … Every limiting and restricting movement or
meeting of mere personal interest is human in nature. Every universal movement
unlimited in scope and purpose is divine. The Cause of God is advanced whenever
and wherever a universal meeting is established among mankind.” 363

He exhorted the attendees to:

“…endeavor that your attitudes and intentions here tonight be universal and
altruistic in nature. Consecrate and devote yourselves to the betterment and service
of all the human race. Let no barrier of ill feeling or personal prejudice exist between
these souls, for when your motives are universal and your intentions heavenly in
character, when your aspirations are centered in the Kingdom, there is no doubt
whatever that you will become the recipients of the bounty and good pleasure of
God.” 364

After he had spoken, the Master walked around the room and blessed each guest with a drop
of attar of rose--the extract from the petals of roses--from his own hands;; Juliet Thompson
felt her whole being “wake and sparkle” 365 when the drop of rose water touched her. The
guests then sang a hymn in praise of the Master as he sat down.

To make up for the shameful exclusion of the African-American believers and friends from
the hotel banquet, a feast was held for them at the Kinney home the next day. The white
Bahá’í women believers served the food. Of this occasion, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:

“Today you have carried out the laws of the Blessed Beauty and have truly acted
according to the teachings of the Supreme Pen. Behold what an influence and effect
the words of Bahá’u’lláh have had upon the hearts, that hating and shunning have
been forgotten and that prejudices have been obliterated to such an extent that you
arose to serve one another with great sincerity.” 366

KKK

A Tribune article of the 24th, titled “ABDUL-BAHA GOING AWAY”, announced the
Master’s departure:

“Abdul-Baha, Abbas Effendi, the Persian Prophet and center of the Bahai
movement, received assurances of unswerving loyalty last night from members of
the Bahai assembly of New York City, who gathered at a farewell dinner in his honor
at the Great Northern Hotel.” 367
Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 83
KKK

The day of departure came. Several Bahá’ís accompanied him from the Emery home to the
ship. Once there, more Bahá’ís arrived and walked up with him into a large cabin room. He
stood up and spoke to them one last time, challenging them:

“This is my last meeting with you, for now I am on the ship ready to sail away. These
are my final words of exhortation. I have repeatedly summoned you to the cause of
the unity of the world of humanity, announcing that all mankind are the servants of
the same God, that God is the creator of all;; … Your eyes have been illumined, your
ears are attentive, your hearts knowing. You must be free from prejudice and
fanaticism, beholding no differences between the races and religions. You must look
to God, for He is the real Shepherd, and all humanity are His sheep. … Consider
how the Prophets Who have been sent, the great souls who have appeared and the
sages who have arisen in the world have exhorted mankind to unity and love. This
has been the essence of their mission and teaching. … You must, therefore, look
toward each other and then toward mankind with the utmost love and kindness. You
have no excuse to bring before God if you fail to live according to His command,
for you are informed of that which constitutes the good pleasure of God. You have
heard His commandments and precepts. … It is my hope that you may become
successful in this high calling so that like brilliant lamps you may cast light upon the
world of humanity and quicken and stir the body of existence like unto a spirit of
life. This is eternal glory. This is everlasting felicity. This is immortal life. This is
heavenly attainment. This is being created in the image and likeness of God. And
unto this I call you, praying to God to strengthen and bless you.” 368

He sat back down in the corner of the large cabin room. Bahá’ís came up and crowded
around him. Off to the side, Juliet Thompson wept quietly.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá had gone across the American continent and back, spoken with people from
the highest positions to the humblest positions in American society, exemplified in every
aspect of his behavior the unity of the human race and, most of all, explained the Teachings
of His Father.

The words he had spoken during these months would be memorialized in writing, and they
would be a source of inspiration to people long after he had passed away.

The waves slapped the hull of the Celtic. The wind blew hats off some of the onlookers. The
Master’s light colored cloak and fez and long white beard contrasted with the grey
background of the boat as he stood on the ship’s deck. He looked out over the crowd below
and raised his hand like a benediction.

He had done all he could do. Now, it was up to the believers whose feet remained on the
ground.
Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 84
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Riverside Park

“Bless Thou, O King of Kings, the city of New York! Cause the friends
there to be kind to one another. Purify their souls and make their hearts
to be free and detached. Illumine the world of their consciousness.
Exhilarate their spirits and bestow celestial power and confirmation
upon them. Establish there a heavenly realm, so that the City of Bahá
may prosper and New York be favoured with blessings from the Abhá
Kingdom, that this region may become like the all-highest Paradise, may
develop into a vineyard of God and be transformed into a heavenly
orchard and a spiritual rose garden.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, NewYork City, 1912

Chapter 9: Last Days ~ Farewell to America 85
Endnotes
Allan L. Ward, 236 Days: Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America, (Wilmette Il: Baha’i
Publishing Trust 1979) 4-5
Mahmud Zarqani, Mahmud’s Diary, Trans. by Mohi Sobhani with Shirley Marcias, (Oxford
UK: George Ronald 1998) 28
Ibid 30
Wendell Phillips Dodge, quoted in Ward, 236 Days: Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America, 13
Ibid 14
Zarqani 35
Ibid, 35-36
Robert H. Stockman, The Baha’i Faith in America: Early expansion, 1900-1912, (Oxford,
UK: George Ronald 1995) 337-339
Juliet Thompson, Diary of Juliet Thompson, June 2002, viewed: September 20th, 2011,
http://bahai-library.com/books/thompson/2.html Chapter 3
Ibid, Chapter 4
Marzieh Gail, “At 48 West 10th St”, viewed: August 3rd, 2011
http://bahai-library.com/books/thompson/2.html
Thompson Chapter 4
Whitehead, O.Z, Some early Baha’is of the West, (Oxford UK: George Ronald 1976) 44-
Zarqani, 38
Marzieh Gail, Dawn over Mount Hira and other essays, (Oxford UK: George Ronald
1976) 203-204
Ibid 208
Thompson, Chapter 4
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, (Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust
1982) 3
Zarqani, 38
Ives, Howard Colby, Portals to Freedom, (Oxford UK: George Ronald 1990) 22-27
Ibid 29
Zarqani, 38-39
Ward 17
Ibid 18
Whitehead, 35-36
Robert Stockman, “MacNutt, Howard”, viewed: June 10th, 2011
http://bahai-library.com/stockman_macnutt
Endnotes 86
Stockman, The Baha’i Faith in America: Early expansion, 1900-1912, 233
Ibid 308
Whitehead, 36
Stockman, 206-209
Ibid 206-209
Whitehead, 38
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 4-7
Thompson, Chapter 4
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 8-9
Zarqani, 40
Gertrude Buikema, Albert Windust, Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, editors, Star of the West, Vol.
III Chicago (Aug 1, 1912) No. 8, 5
Ibid 8
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 9
Zarqani, 41
Thompson, Chapter 4
Ibid Chapter 4
No author given, “Parish history”, August 13th, 2011, viewed: August 13th, 2011,
http://ascensionnyc.org/history/
Thompson, Chapter 3
Ibid Chapter 4
New International version, “1 Corinthians 1”, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/
Viewed: December 11th, 2011
Thompson, Chapter 4
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 11-12
Ibid 12
Thompson, Chapter 4
Zarqani, 43
Thompson, Chapter 4
Ibid Chapter 4
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 14
Ibid 14
Star of the West, Vol. III, No. 7, 5, 10-11
Thompson, Chapter 4
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States and Canada, the Baha’i
World: A Biennial International Record, Vol. XI, (Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing
Committee, 1952) 509-510
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 17
Endnotes 87
Ibid 17
Thompson, Chapter 4
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 19
Ibid 19
Ward, 23
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 22
Ibid 23
The sources differ on the events of April 18th and 19th, 1912:

x Juliet Thompson records ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talk at the Bowery Mission and attendance
at the play, “The Terrible Meek”, as being on April 19th. She doesn’t mention the
Earl Hall talk.
x Mahmoud Zarqani lists the Bowery Mission visit and the talk at the Emery home as
being on the 18th. He doesn’t mention “The Terrible Meek”.
x In the “Promulgation of Universal Peace”, the talk at the Emery home is on the 18th
and Earl Hall and the Bowery Mission are on the 19th.
x Allen Ward has “The Terrible Meek” and the Bowery Mission on the 18th and Earl
Hall on the 19th.
x Kate Carew, the newspaper reporter, gives an account of her visit with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
which has Earl Hall (“that day”), “The Terrible Meek” (“theater today”) and the
Bowery Mission on the same day.

The key points in establishing the sequence of events are below:

x The two first-hand witnesses, Juliet Thompson and Kate Carew state that ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá went to see the “Terrible Meek” on the same day as the visit to the Bowery
Mission.
x There is agreement in the sources which mention it that Earl Hall was on the 19th.
x The talks at the Emery home and the Bowery Mission must have been in the
evenings because ‘Abdu’l-Bahá begins them with “Tonight…”. So they could only
have been on the 18th and 19th respectively as there are no other nights available.

As a result of these conclusions, the authors have made the following reconstruction of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s schedule:

1. Thursday, April 18th:
a. Interviews at the Hotel Ansonia during the day
Endnotes 88
b. Talk at the Emery home in the evening

2. Friday, April 19
a. Portrait by Khalil Gibran
b. Earl Hall
c. The Terrible Meek
d. The Bowery Mission
Joyce Mendelsohn, The Lower East Side remembered and revisited: a history and guide
to a legendary New York neighborhood, (NY, NY: Columbia University Press
September 11th, 2009)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 28
Juliet Thompson quoted in Whitehead, 76.
Whitehead, 76-77
Guido Bruno, “Fragments from Greenwich Village”, December 19th, 2010, viewed: July
19th, 2011
http://www.bohemianlit.com/full_text/bruno/fragments.htm
No author given, “Ephemeral New York”, January, 2008, viewed: July 23rd, 2011,
http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/tag/greenwich-village-in-the1910s/
Marzieh Gail, “Juliet remembers Gibran as told to Marzieh”, WORLD ORDER: A
Bahá'í Magazine, vol. 12, Number 4 (Summer 1978) 29-31, July 1st, 2011, viewed:
July 1st, 2011
http://bahai-library.com/histories/juliet.gibran.html
Marzieh Gail, “Juliet remembers Gibran as told to Marzieh”, 29-31
Kahlil Gibran quoted in Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins, Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet,
(Oxford: Oneworld, 1998), 123-126
Ibid 123-126
123-126
123-126
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 30
Ibid 31
Barbara Schmidt, “Kate Carew, “The only woman caricaturist””, April 9th, 1997, viewed:
August 3rd, 2011
http://www.twainquotes.com/interviews/confessions.html
Brian, Denis, Pulitzer: A Life, (NY, NY: John Wiley and Sons 2001), 129
Schmidt (no page number on web site)
Schmidt
Schmidt
Schmidt
Schmidt
Ward 27
Ibid 28
Endnotes 89
No author given, “Tenements”, July 15th, 2011, viewed: July 15th, 2011,
http://www.history.com/topics/tenements
Maggie Blanck, “New York City, Tenement life”, May, 2010, viewed: August 2nd, 2011,
http://maggieblanck.com/NewYork/Life.html
Zarqani, 41
Blanck
No author given, “Our history in brief”, viewed: July 7th, 2011,
http://www.bowery.org/about-us/history/#1890s
Ward, 33
Thompson, Chapter 4. She does not list the names of the “Persian believers”.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 32
Ibid 32
32-33
Thompson, Chapter 4
Ward, 35
Ibid 34
Thompson, Chapter 4
Ibid Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Chapter 4. According to “Mahmoud’s Dairy” ( Zarqani 47) “..some money was left over;;
which was given to other destitute people and children outside the Bowery.”
US Department of Justice, “WW I casualties and death tables”, viewed: July 30th, 2011
http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html
Michael Clodfelter, Warfare and Armed Conflicts - A Statistical Reference to Casualty and
Other Figures, 1500–2000 2nd Ed., (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company 2002)
Michael Duffy, “Weapons of war – Poison gas”, August 22, 2009, viewed August 10th,
2011
http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/gas.htm
Duffy, “Weapons of war – Poison gas”
Michael Duffy, “Life in the Trenches”, August 22, 2009, viewed August 10th, 2011
http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/trenchlife.htm
Prof. Joanna Bourke, “Shell Shock during World War One”, last updated March 10th,
2011, viewed: August 11th, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/shellshock_01.shtml

Endnotes 90
No author given, “Wilfred Owen, The Sentry”, 2006, viewed: July 20th, 2011,
http://www.englishverse.com/poems/the_sentry
Saxon books, “Wilfred Owen”, 1999, viewed: July 20th, 2011,
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owena.htm
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 119
Ibid 114
115-116
Zarqani 91
Paolo Enrico Coletta, Presidency of William Howard Taft, (Kansas: University of Kansas
Press 1973) ch. 9
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 117-118
Ibid 118
Star of the West, Vol. III, No. 8, 11
Ibid 11
12-13
No author given, “New York Peace Records, 1815-1940”, viewed: August 13th, 2011
http://www.gale.cengage.com/servlet/ItemDetailServlet?region=9&imprint=000&ti
tleCode=SR632&type=4&id=D3575
Advocate for Peace, Vol. LXXII, #5 Boston May, 1910, American Peace Society,
publisher
Zarqani, 100
Ahmad Sohrab to Agnes Parsons, May 15, 1912, Agnes Parsons Papers, quoted in Robert
Stockman, ‘Abdu’l-Baha in America, (Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust 2012)
Sheperd, “Mohonk Mountain House”
Janet Ruhe-Schoen, “Who Will Bell the Cat?”, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá'í at Lake Mohonk, (not yet
published)
Ibid
No author given, “What do Quakers believe?”, July 7th, 2011, viewed: July 7th, 2011
http://www.quakerinfo.org/quakerism/beliefs
Sok Hon Ham, "Friends", New Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 26, 15th ed., (Chicago IL:
Encyclopaedia Britannica publisher 1985) 255
Sok Hon Ham, Malssum/Quaker Sampaeknyon [The Messages & Friends for 300 Years;;
The History of Quakers], (Seoul: Hankilsa, 1988) 275
http://www2.gol.com/users/quakers/T&QNotes.htm
Sok Hon Ham, Malssum/Quaker Sampaeknyon
International Peace Society, “International Peace Society Records, 1917-1948”, viewed:
August 28th, 2011
http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/CDGB/intpeacesociety.htm
Endnotes 91
Ruhe-Schoen
Sheperd, “Mohonk Mountain House”
Letter of Charles Mason Remey to Albert K Smiley, April 25th, 1911, Records of the Lake
Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, 1895-1937 (bulk 1895-1918)
Collection: DG 054, Swarthmore College Peace Collection, Swarthmore, PA
Ibid
Mírzá ‘Alí Kuli Khán, “The conditions of universal peace”, May 24th, 1911
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Ibid
Ibid
“Persian American Educational Society”, Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Ahmad Sohrab to Mr. Phillips, letter dated September 1st, 2011, Swarthmore College
Peace Collection
Abdul Baha Abbas to Mr. Phillips, secretary fo the Lake Mohonk Peace Conference,
translated by Ahmad Sohrab, August 22nd, 1911. In a letter dated September 28th,
1911, from Mr. Phillips to Mr. Smiley, Mr. Phillips notes that, “Abdul Baha Abbas is
evidently a person of considerable not and Mr. Sohrab obviously considers the
document one of great value.” Swarthmore College Peace Collection
‘Alí Kuli Khán to Mr. H. C Phillips, letter dated October 17th, 1911, Swarthmore College
Peace Collection
Ibid
Persian American Educational Society, “An advanced statement concerning Abdul Baha’s
approaching visit to the United States”, Swarthmore College Peace Collection
‘Abdu’l-Bahá telegram to Mr. H. C. Phillips, May 4th, Swarthmore College Peace
Collection
Mírzá ‘Alí Kuli Khán to Mr. H. C. Phillips, May 13th, 1911
Anderson, Judith Icke, William Howard Taft, and intimate portrait, (NY, NY: WW
Norton and Co 1981) 276
“General Program”, Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, Eighteenth
Annual Conference May 15-17, 1912
Stockman
“Second Session”, Report of the Eighteenth Annual Lake Mohonk Conference on
International Arbitration, May 15th, 16th, and 17th, 1912,” 42
Ibid 43
42-44
Telegram from Ahmad Sohrab to Agnes Parsons, quoted in Stockman
Ibid
Zarandí, 101
Rev. Frederick Lynch, at the Metropolitan Temple in New York “Address at
Metropolitan Temple Reception,” Star of the West, vol. 3, no. 7 (July 13, 1912), 15,
quoted in Stockman
To Zia Baghdadi, quoted in Ruhe-Schoen
In the wars of the twentieth century about 120 million people were slaughtered. At the
beginning of the century 90 percent of those war casualties were soldiers. As the
Endnotes 92
century ended over 90 percent of war casualties were civilians. Modern war is a direct
assault on the innocents . . .” Norman Etherington quoted in Douglas Mattern,
“Humanity’s Juncture”, The Humanist, 60:9, 2000, quoted in “Making Peace”, edited
by Barry Hindess and Margaret Jolly, 2001, viewed: October 10th, 2011
http://www.imaginarymuseum.org/MHV/PZImhv/HindessThinkingPeace.html
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 127
Ibid 150
158-9
172-3
154-5
147-8
Stockman, The Baha’i Faith in America: Early expansion, 1900-1912, 18
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 167
Ibid 170
170-171
‘Abdu’l-Bahá quoted in Stockman, The Baha’i Faith in America: Early expansion, 1900
1912, 17
Ibid 17
Endnotes 93
Thompson, Chapter 4
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 183
Stockman, The Baha’i Faith in America: Early expansion, 1900-1912, 126-7
Ibid 32
Howard MacNutt, Unity through Love, 9, quoted in Stockman, Baha’i Faith in America:
Early expansion, 1900-1912, 241
Ibid 240-241
Whitehead, 131-135
Isabella Brittingham, The Revelation of Bahá-ulláh, quoted in Whitehead, 132
Edward Getsinger to the North Hudson Board of Council in May 1903, quoted in
Stockman, Baha’i Faith in America: Early expansion, 1900-1912, 407
Robert H. Stockman, “Dodge, Arthur Pillsbury”, Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project, August
15th, 2008, viewed: December 11th, 2011
http://www.bahai-encyclopedia-project.org
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a letter to Ahmad Sohrab in Washington DC, June 16th, 1907, quoted in
Stockman, Baha’i Faith in America: Early expansion, 1900-1912, 209-210
Robert H. Stockman, “Dodge, Arthur Pillsbury”
http://www.bahai-encyclopedia-project.org
Stockman, Baha’i Faith in America: Early expansion, 1900-1912, 21-22
Ibid 31-33
36-37
87-91
80-86
Star of the West v. III, # 7, July 13, 1912, 9
Ibid 16-17
Star of the West v. III, # 14 Nov. 23, 1912, 5
Star of the West v. III #11, September 27th, 1912, 2
Star of the West v. III #14, November 23rd, 1912, 10
Ibid 7
Endnotes 94
Thompson, Chapter 4
Ibid Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Zarqani, 137. Mahmoud has this happening on the wrong day, Tuesday, June 18th, 1912.
Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, (Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust 1979) 288. The
talk which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave later that day of the sitting with Juliet Thompson
described in this section is not recorded in any of the sources. Shoghi Effendi tells us
that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá named New York City, the City of the Covenant.
Shoghi Effendi, “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh,
(Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust 1979) 132
Ibid 134
Thompson, Chapter 4
Zarqani 141-142
Ibid 155
Thompson, Chapter 4
Ibid Chapter 4
Velda Piff Metalmann, Lua Getsinger, Herald of the Covenant, (Oxford, UK: George
Ronald 1997) 151
Ibid 151
Thompson, Chapter 4
Zarqani 159
Thompson 272-273?
Zarqani 65
Ibid 142
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 206-207
No author given, “Decades of Pride Shattered", The New York Times, April 12, 1990,
viewed: September 30, 2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/12/nyregion/decades-of-pride-shattered.html
Roy Wilhelm quoted in Baha’i World, vol. IX, 807, quoted in Whitehead, 89-80
Whitehead, 98
Ibid 99
Zarqani 148-149.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 213-215
Zarqani 150
Thompson, Chapter 4
Zarqani 151
Thompson, Chapter 4
Zarqani 152-3
Star of the West, vol. III, #8, August 1, 1912, 13
No author given, “Biography of Louis Potter”, viewed September 18th, 2011,
Endnotes 95
http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=2
6516
Samuel Pennington, “One American Art Medal Series”, viewed September 15th, 2011
http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/medals/medalscolumn2.htm
No author given, “Peach poison killed Potter”, New York Times, September 1st, 1912
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=F70B1EF83D5417738DDDA80894D1405B828DF1D3
Thompson, Chapter 4
Ibid Chapter 4
Zarqani 156
Stockman, 266-271
Star of the West vol. III, 9/8, #10
Hubbard, “A Modern Prophet”, Hearst’s Magazine, July, 1912, quoted in Ward, 105-107
Ibid 112-113
115-116
Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, (Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust 1980) 36
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 216
Ibid 216
231-2
Zarqani 387
Editor, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, “Dr. Florian
Krug”, viewed: September 20th, 2011
http://centenary.bahai.us/photo/dr-florian-krug-d-1924
Grace Krug, "Accounts of the Passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha", quoted in World Order vol. 7,
No. 2, by Florian & Grace Krug, 38-41, quoted in “Dr. Florian Krug d. 19124”,
viewed: October 2nd, 1912
http://centenary.bahai.us/photo/dr-florian-krug-d-1924
Zarqani 387
No author given, “Andrew Carnegie”, viewed: October 3rd, 2011
http://www.vredespaleis.nl/
No author given, “Andrew Carnegie”, viewed: October 4th, 2011
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/peopleevents/pande01.html
No author given, “Andrew Carnegie’s legacy”, viewed: Ocotber 4th, 2001
http://carnegie.org/about-us/foundation-history/about-andrew-carnegie/carnegiefor-kids/andrew-carnegie-legacy/
Endnotes 96
Star of the West, vol. VI, no 11, September 27 1915,

And: No author given, “Carnegie exalted by Bahaist leader”, New York Times, September
5th, 1915
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9E06E5DC1731E733A05756C0A96F9C946496D6CF
Ward 186-7
Thompson, Chapter 4
Ibid Chapter 4
Robert Stockman, “MacNutt, Howard”
Thompson, Chapter 4 369-372
Chapter 4 369-372
Robert Stockman, “MacNutt, Howard”
'Abdu'l-Bahá and Mírzá Ahmad Sohrab, “Abdul-Baha in Egypt”, (NY, NY: J.H. Sears and
Company Inc. 1929) 51
http://bahai-library.com/sohrab_abdulbaha_egypt#51
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 437
Ibid 442-443
455-6
No author given, “History of the NYG and B”, viewed: October 5th, 2011
http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/history-nygbs
Ibid
Adapted from Boris de Zirkoff, “Biographical article on H. P. Blavatsky”, Theosophia,
(LA, CA), Summer 1968, 3-8
http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/longseal.htm
No author given, “The Emily Sellon Memorial Library”, viewed: October 5th, 2011
http://www.theosophy-ny.org/836.html
Fremont Rider, New York and vicinity, including Newark, Yonkers, and Jersey City, (NY,
NY: Henry Holt and Company 1916) 12
http://www.archive.org/stream/ridersnewyorkcit00riderich/ridersnewyorkcit00rider
ich_djvu.txt
Zarqani 407
Ibid 405
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 447-448
Ibid 448
Thompson, Chapter 4
Zarqani 407
Ward 188
Ibid 468-470

Endnotes 97

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