# Pilgrim Letter of Hooper Harris to Mr. Hoar

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Hooper Harris, Pilgrim Letter of Hooper Harris to Mr. Hoar, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Pilgrim Letter of Hooper Harris to Mr. Hoar
> 
> Hooper Harris
> 
> 1907-04
> 
> [page 1]
> 
> This is a letter Berthelin Allien would like to share with the friends. It was written by
> Hooper Harris in 1907. Sophia Englehorn had this letter among her things.
> 
> April 18, 1907
> 
> Dear Mr. Hoar:
> 
> You write me that many of the friends in America are anxious to know my impressions of
> Akka and of 'Abdul-Baha. How shall I write so as not to feed the fires of superstition on
> the one hand, or fail to do justice to the Greatness of the Subject on the other?
> 
> There are times when we find the symbols we call words entirely inadequate and when we
> know that in spite of all efforts to avoid it, we shall be misinterpreted and
> misunderstood. There are some unkind ones who if we allow the heart to express itself
> freely will accuse us of emotionalism and over credulity. And there are others who, if we
> restrain the heart and write of facts as facts, setting them forth in their physical aspect
> only; will accuse us of lack of spiritual comprehension, and almost of infideity,
> however, God knows the heart, and acknowledging responsibility to Him alone, I shall
> endeavor to convey to all interested something of the impressions I received on my visit
> to Akka and the Beloved One in December 1906, now nearly four months ago.
> 
> To begin with, I would to God that all the people of the world could see Abdu'l-Bahá as I
> saw Him and knew Him; then indeed would war, strife and conflict cease, the fire of hell
> and hatred cease to burn, and Peace and Goodwill reign on earth. But if we write of
> Abdul-Baha as a personality, as a man, we must describe Him as the simplest and most
> humble and most natural man in the world. He indulges in no poses, makes no
> pretentions, asserts no superiority, claims no special privileges and in no way whatever
> seeks to impress you with his dignity and importance. He will eat with you, walk with
> you, talk with you, ask about your health discuss the simplest matters with you, and
> answer your most trivial questions; in every sense of the word He is natural and in
> every sense of the word simple. The physical eye will observe no halo, see no sign of
> supernatural power, detect nothing in fact that might not be noticed in any really good,
> simple minded and naturally dignified man. We shall see one who, like all those in this
> world who wholly sacrifice themselves to God, the evil minded can lie about, accuse of
> evil and of ambition, mock at and revile. In a word, Abdul-Baha, will appear to us so
> simple and so natural that we will wonder what it is that some have been able to see in
> Him who have set in circulation certain stories which have appealed powerfully to the
> imagination of many and which may easily, in time, pass into records of signs, wonders
> and miracle. We will find it difficult at first to realize that this simple, dignified, kindly
> and lovable man is the center of a spiritual power of knowledge and inspiration which is
> recreating the world; and is the object of a love and devotion which no man in the history
> of the world except Bahá'u'lláh, Abdul-Baha's Father ever received in his life-time, and
> this love and devotion is not confined to his followers, but is seen in those who know
> nothing of the religion of which He is the center. We will see high Turkish officials (his
> jailers), Turkish women of high rank, and people of all classes and conditions come to
> consult Him on their most important matters, to seek consolation and advice from Him in
> their domestic troubles and to ask for his prayers. Twice a week we will see the poor
> gather around Him to receive gifts from Him, their only benefactor, their only real
> protector, in this prison city of squalor and wretchedness; We will plainly see even with
> the physical eye, that there is something in this simple, unpretentious man, which
> causes all around Him to lean upon Him in all things, and to regard
> 
> [page 2]
> 
> Him with a love and a devotion which prevents His bitter enemies, (a mere handful of
> envious and jealous ones) from speaking ill of Him, except in the most round-about and
> stealthly manner. What is it in this Man that conquers all who come in contact with
> Him? This man to whom all about Him go in their troubles, but who Himself, if He has
> any troubles never mentions them, except to rejoice over them as victories; this Man
> who is so universal that from Him we never hear the word ----s.
> 
> As I write this or these words, tears fill my eyes and run down my cheeks, I whose heart
> has often seemed to him like a stone, a man hard-headed and combative by nature,
> accustomed to giving and receiving blows, one who has never been regarded as
> sentimental or emotional - I, as I recall my impressions of this Man, am obliged to
> confess that my heart melts like wax, that the tears blind my eyes, and that all desire for
> controversy and argument, except as God wills it is taken out of me. What, I repeat, is
> the strange Power of this Man, so simple, so natural, so unassuming, who asks for
> himself no special consideration, or reverence whatever, but continually points us to the
> things of the Spirit and to God. To tell you so as to make myself understood, is beyond any
> power which God has given to me, or to any man. There are some things which the heart
> can comprehend, but the tongue can not utter. (In a Tablet to me the Master once wrote)
> "Turn with thy heart to the heart of Abdul-Baha and the hidden mysteries will be
> revealed to thee". I have obeyed this command and the mystery has been revealed to me.
> But I cannot express it in words, not even He can do that. The Mystery however, is no
> mystery at all to those who can meet Abdul- Baha heart to heart, and this meeting can be
> had, and many have been had without paying a physical visit to Akka. Only through the
> Spirit can the reality and power of this Man be apprended. One is reminded of the words
> of Jesus - "No man cometh unto Me except the Father draw him".
> 
> In spite of all I have said, however, I will try and give you an outer description of the
> Master. First it must be remembered, that he is 63 years old and that he has lived a life
> of imprisonment, of constant anxieties and of hardship. He looks His age, but no sign of
> physical weakness is apparent, on the contrary He impresses you as being full of
> strength and energy, an example of splendid manhood at that age. His hair and beard gray
> and the thoughtful lines on His face are in keeping with His years. His beard is not very
> full, but silvery white and of fine quality. His ahir which is the same color as the beard.
> He wears it about level with His shoulders; while the hair like the beard is inclined to
> thinness, there is as I remember, no sign of baldness. His nose is large, slightly
> acquiline and finely molded. His mouth is large and firm, but without being in the
> slightest degree hard, indicating a combination of firmness and kindness. His forehead is
> high and broad and full giving the impression of great intellectual power. But the
> wonderful thing about the Master's physical personality is His eyes. When I returned to
> Akka the first of June, I shall endeavor to more closely examine and describe those
> wonderful eyes - at this writing I must confess my inability, and to tell what it is about
> them that makes them so remarkable; whether they are black or blue or gray, or a
> combination of colors, I cannot say; in fact, fact, they seemed to change even as I looked
> at them and into them, as I did more than once. Of this I am quite certain, however, that I
> cannot think of Abdul-Baha, nor say my prayers, without seeing these indescribable
> eyes, and more than once since I left Akka they have looked love at me in my dreams. But
> one tires of physicalities, the important matter is to try to realize
> 
> [page 3]
> 
> the fragrance of the spirit that is being wafted from that exile city and from that pure
> heart. Truly, there is that of Akka which cannot be seen with the physical eye, heard
> with the physical ear or understood with the intellect; a something which the heart can
> feel and the soul alone apprehend and which cannot be reduced to the physical symbols we
> call words. When the Master speaks a something is set in motion vibration over and
> above the physical words, a something which is spirit and life and which bestows spirit
> and life; and it would seem that outer words are merely a means of contact, or a physical
> medium of connection between the soul and this spirit and life which is imparted to the
> soul; that which the soul receives from the words, is far more than the mere outer form
> of the words would seem to warrant, for instance, I asked the Master for the answer to a
> question which had troubled me for more than a year. He answered me in a few words
> without apparently and particular effort at explanation, yet His simple statement
> conveyed to me immediately an understanding of the whole matter that perfectly
> satisfied, perhaps the same words spoken by another would have made no impression for
> His answer was a simple statement without proof. Uttered by Him, however, they seemed
> to change the whole current of my thoughts, create a new consciousness in me, and
> supply me with the power of comprehension, so that a matter which had puzzled me for
> more than a year was cleared up in an instant. I trust this will convey to you my meaning
> that the real power at Akka is the power of Love and Knowledge purely spiritual in its
> manifestations, a matter of the heart and of the soul, and has no connection whatever
> with physical miracle and phenomena. To realize who Abdul-Baha is, to understand His
> relation to Bahá'u'lláh and to Christ, to comprehend that He needs no other glorification,
> commendation or exaltation; that He is Abdul-Baha. To know why it is that He commands
> that no other name or title should be given Him and that by no explanation or
> interpretation can the station of Abdul-Baha be made more glorious than it is, one must
> be able with the spiritual eyes to see the things of the spirit. If we are like Him we must
> realize that we are nothing and that God is all - must eliminate the ego - surrender the
> self - and allow God to do His work in us instead of imagining that we have any power to
> accomplish it within ourselves. To be able to apprehend the station of Abdul-Baha is to
> apprehend at least in part the great truth of renunciation of absolute surrender to God;
> how easy to say but how difficult to really understand and to do. It means to be conscious
> of our nothingness and to open our souls and let the Fragrance of the Spirit flow through
> them. To feel that God is in us is doing our seeing, our willing, our thinking and relieving
> us of the responsibility. It is to understand that He is the Great Burden Bearer on whose
> shoulders is the government of all things. Here is the vicarious atonement worth having
> - a vicarious atonement which brings rest and peace and real salvation. Who are we and
> what can we accomplish? It is true that the station of man is very high - but it is high
> because of his capacity to receive God. The breeze of the Spirit blows by the rocks and the
> trees and the animals but they are unconscious of it. Man, however, has the power not
> only to become conscious of it, but to become the instrument of it in the enlightenment of
> mankind and of the verification of the world; and this is a matter of simple faith. When
> we realize that we are nothing and stand humbly before God, we will be clothed upon by the
> 
> [page 4]
> 
> Spirit. Adam and Eve tried to make for themselves garments of fig leaves. Useless, God
> gave them coats of skins. Jesus said "consider the lilies, how they grow; they toil not,
> they spin not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
> one of these. If God then so clothed the grass which today is in the field and tomorrow cast
> into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, "O ye of little faith", with all our
> toiling and spinning and fretting, the best we can do is to clothe ourselves with mere
> garments of fig leaves with mere symbols to hid our ignorence. But those who have found
> the secret of turning to God and with perfect self-surrender and sure faith, receive
> spiritual garment so beautiful that the toiling metaphysical schools with their product of
> so called knowledge becomes a useless trouble and becomes weariness of the flesh. The
> secret of real spiritual power is the renunciation of self and dependance upon God. This
> spirit of renunciation and absolute submission and surrender to God is the spirit in
> which one is bathed in Akka. The lesson of complete reliance upon God for all guidance,
> and for all knowledge is the Great Lesson we receive there and this is the secret of the
> Love that radiates from there. For when we submit to God we realize His love in us and
> radiate it from us. The Master has said that when we "receive the confirmation of the
> Holy Spirit, we need no other teacher"; but we cannot get that confirmation until we
> learn to rely on the spirit wholly. I trust that all may learn this great lesson, and
> cutting themselves from outer personalities, lean entirely upon the inner Reality of
> which the Prophets are the authoritative and confirmed outer manifestation. To be free
> from personality, we must be free from our own personality. Once we have attained this
> freedom other personalities will cease to trouble us. Escaping our own personality, we
> must find refuge in the personality of God, for God has His personality as we have ours.
> And to try to escape it is to go to the other extreme of the exaltation of the Ego and to
> commit spiritual suicide. We are all well.
> 
> With Bahá'í love and greetings,
> Your brother in El Baha,
> Hooper Harris
> Ragoon, April 18, 1907
> 
> These are pilgrims notes, however Mrs. Berthelin Allien would like to tell the friends,
> she knew both of these men. And she says she a is living witness as to the complete change
> in character of Mr. Hooper Harris. "He was a very argumentive type person and always
> looking for a fight, but after his visit with Abdul-Baha, he immediately became the most
> loving and gentle person you can image. It was a miracle!"
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views12363 views since posted 1998; last edit 2025-09-30 14:29 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../harris_hoar_letter;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> Typed 1998 by Robert Stauffer; Proofread 1998 by Thellie Lovejoy.
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> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/733
> Citation: ris/733
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> — *Pilgrim Letter of Hooper Harris to Mr. Hoar (Used by permission of the curator)*