A Wise Man from the East
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A Wise Man from the East
By Felicia R. Scatcherd ("Felix Rudolph")

Reprinted from the "International Psychic Gazette."

W      HEN Abdul Baba first came to England, I
refused all invitations to visit him. I
had met those who had made pilgrim-
ages to his prison-l1ome in Akka, and they
talked so much about "'"fhe Blessed Perfection"
and '' The Manifested Splendour" that, though
interested in what seemed a useful enough
form of hero-worship for those to whon1 it
appealed, I had no desire to see Abbas Effendi
for myself.
Yet from the first moment that I heard of the
Bahai movement I recognised its value, and in
London and Paris promoted its interests when-
ever the occasion occurred.
One day in February, 1907, I met that earnest
Bahai, Mr. Arthur Cuthbert. He introduced his
companion, Mr. Sidney Sprague, as one who had
come from America to spread the Bahai teaching.
Mr. Sprague had been sometime in England,
but progress had been slow, and he was slightly
disheartened.
I took my card from my pocket, and giving
it to Mr. Sprague, said : " tell the Edi tor of the
Review of Revie'le,s I want him to interview you.
If he does this, and becomes your friend, you will
have all the impetus you need.''
That one page interview in the March number
I
of the Revie'lv of T?.evieivs for 1907, written by
t\lr. W. rr. Stead, still seen1s to me one of the
clearest sun1maries of the T3ahai teachings.
Fron1 ti1ne to ti1ne I attend_ed ~ Dahai assetnbly,
but re1nained as aloof from its influence as ever.
In European 'T'urkey \vhere it was i_nost needed
it n1ade little progress.        I had pointed out to
Aluned Riza, then President           of the l"urkish
Chan1 ber, and others, how grievous it \Vas for
their country, that the Young Turk Reformers
,vere mainly         Positivists    or Atheists,      and
suggested the initiation         of a movement that
should attempt to bring out the spiritual truths
of Islam \vhile dropping the accretions of the
ages.      But these well-intentioned       Rationalists
only began to attend the orthodox services in their
mosques, and the people despised them yet more
heartily for this sad surrender. So I had only made
matters worse. I was some,vhat indignant that
the drawing rooms of London, Paris and Ne,v
York \Vere coquetting          with this ne\ver faith,
instead of endeavouring to spread it among the
peoples whence it had sprung, ,vho ,vere in sore
need of its enlightenment.
Then in the spring of 1911, a clear friend
compelled me to accompany her to a reception
of Abdul Baha, then, as now, the guest of
Lady Blomfield, of 97, Cadogan                 Gardens.
The submissive        s,veetness    with    which the
venerable man received the homage of his
followers affected me strongly.            I ,vondered
,vhether, like the gifted Heinrich Heine, he ever
shrank from the burden of an enforced role of
?ivinity.    And an impulse seized n1e to see hi 111
10 converse with an intellectual        and spiritual
peer. But when I cast about to find such a
one, I realised the true greatness of the n1an in
..
...,
\\Those presence I found n1yself. I did not go
forward ,vi th the rest to greet hi1n on this first
occasion. I stood at the door busy with my
thoughts. And as if he knevv these thoughts,
as be passed out, he gave me a playful slap on the
ann, as one would administer reproof to a wilful
child, and his eyes danced vvith merriment.
Again and again I have noticed evidence of his
a \Vareness of the mental states of those around
hin1. And I am assured that this keen intuition
has been observed in his correspondence.     'fhose
,,rhom he has never seen have been amazed to
receive, from the Prophet in Akka, correct
perceptions of conditions pertaining to them in
America.
Then it occurred to me that Mr. Stead vvas
the person I wished to see in converse with the
teacher from the East. During that memorable
111eeting I gained much insight into the characters
of these two remarkable men. Abbas Effendi
was delighted ,vhen he learned that, from its
inception, the Review of Reviews had been already
a pulpit from which the leading tenets of
Bahaism had been vigorously enunciated.
To explain ho\v I obtained         the portrait
published in this month's Gazette, I will quote
from one of my note books :-
Alex:andrz.'a, Sun. 2I Jan., 19I2.  A beautiful morning, my
second Sunday in Egypt.      We are on our way to see Abbas
Effendi, Dr. and l\frs. Platon Drakoules and n1yself. I had
met this ]eader and inspirer of his fellows many times before
under the grey skies of London, when his smile of sunny
welcome seemed to atone for the absence of the sunshine, due
even on an English autumn day.
Years ago, l\fr. Sidney Sprague, had been the guest of
Dr. Drakoules, and had held a Bahaist meeting in the Doctor's
Oxford home, when he had ardently desired that the Greek
Heformer should make the personal acquaintance of the
" Great Teacher from the East." And now by a strange
coincidence th is wish was to be realised, and l\fr. Sprague was
to be the interpreter between these two devoted souls-the
younger standing for _tl~eSocial ~ege_neration of_ i\1ankind, the
elder reprt:senting ~ptntual Illum1nal1on and Umty.
In London surro~tnded by the leaders of Western thought,
Abdul 13aha h;d rendered null and void K.ipling's dictum :
,, For East is East, and vVest is West,
But they twain shall never meet."
Here in the East, I wondered what effect would be produced
upon' us, where his picturesque personality had no longer the
charm of uniqueness.
Vie found him in a villa, opposite the new Victoria Hotel,
Rameleh. Although only 10 a. m., he had been astir for hour;;,
attending to his enormous corresponde nee, and receiving
visitors. Again, in his presence, the old sense of goodness
and simplicity overwhelmed one. The venerable figure in its
Persian costume, was just as unique in its Eastern setting, as
in London.
Of middle-stature, and broadly-built, he yet strikes one at
times, as if he were tall, and is undoubtedly imposing.     0val-
faced, and large-featured,      with heavy eyebrows, a nose
resembling that of General Booth, he has the compelling
personality of all born leaders of men. His grey eyes are
unusually expressive.     In moments of excitement they become
dark and deep in the piercing intensity of their gaze. I
have seen them flash as if generating a kind of lightning, and
then they soften and brighten and change expression with all
the varying moods of his active mentality.    But whether under
the influence of sorrow or joy, indignation or pity, they are
always surcharged with sympathy.       One who knows no word
of Persian can share the emotions of his soul by watching the
lights and shadows in his eyes. When, as often, he closes
them, then one need only follow the movements of his no less
wonderful hands.
I will not dwe11 on the details of the glad welcome, the
oriental hospitality, the fragrant Persian tea, and the groups
of waiting disciples from all quarters of the globe. I will only
summarise the points in the discussion not generally dwt:lt on:-
Dr. Drakou1es asked, whether Abdul Baha did not think
that injustice in industrial arrangements, resulting in antagon-
ism between classes, owing to the existence of extreme poverty
and excessive riches, militated against his teaching3 of Love
and Unity.
He replied, that he could assure him on the authority of his
father, Baha'u'llah, that the legislation of the world was
approaching a time when it would become illegal to own more
than a certain atnount of wealth. He added that the principle
of unity was as~erting itself more and more, and that under its
influence class antagonis1n will be recognised as immoral.
This led' the conversation. to the subject of ethics, especially
in relation lo the lower animals.
Dr. Drakonles asked, whether he did not hold it to be
inunoral to exploit the sub-human races for our benefit, either
in the domains of science, diet, or amusement?
Abdul Ilaha gave a definite reply in the affirmative. That
is, he emphasised his beli~f that the destruction of humble life
for the benefit of hu1nan life was inconsistent with the
principle of Unity. He said, that this teaching would become
accentuated later on. At the present time mankind is not ripe
for certain aspects of truth. Even as Jesus, the Christ,
refrained from saying to the world at large what he deemed
it necessary to impart to his esoteric circle, so he, Abdul Baha,
felt his general teaching circumscribed by the same necessity.
But further manifestation of the Divine would lead to freer and
fuller exposition of the fact of the Oneness of all Life-the
basic principle of unity or love.
\Vhile in Cairo we made the acquaintance of
other members of Abdul Baha's family. His
<laughters came to see us, and ,ve visited the
Bahai centres there, as "''ell as the home of our
good friend l\ir. Sprague, who had married a
niece of the l\tlaster, to vvhose cause he is
devoting his life.
On our return to Alexandria, I went again to
Rameleh, to obtain pern1ission for a Greek
painter, of great talent (Madame 1'halia
Caravias), to make a painting of the Master. This
permission ,vas accorded, mainly> I believe,
owing to his daughter's persuasion.       You see, I
felt unless the prophet adopted the veil the women
,vere casting on one side he could not avoid
portraits being taken. One fine one had already
been made, and he had been photographed
several tin1es without permission.         Then he
gave me the now well-knov;n photo at the head
of this article, with leave to do what I liked
,vith it, so l have let the I~ditor use it for his
l)ortra it c;al lery.
I ,v i~hed i\Ir. Lc \v i s to see :\ lJbas E ffend i
for hi1nself. 1\nd J.,ady Hlo1nfield kindly arran,red 0
an intervie,v for us on the 2nd of Januarv.
t\lr. Child, the \Yell-kno\vn         pahni~t, also
acco111panicd us.         I longed, in tl1e interests ,,f
science, to get i1npressions of those rnarvellous
hands, should :\bdul Baba not object.
t\lr. I..,e\vis put questions on reincarnation,   the
in1n1aculate conception, etc. In ans\vering the
latter question, 1\bdul Baba finished \Vith one of
his quaint observations,          to the effect that to
those ,vho accepted the creation of the first man
,vithout       any hun1an parent, it should not be
difficult to accept the birth of a being ,vi th one
human parent only !
His ans\ver about reincarnation            was ve1v.,
interesting.        In the Contenzporary Review last
year, an article appeared by that able ,vriter,
Constance Maud: in which the i\Iaster's vie\YS on
the subject are given at length.
Then delicious tea '\\'as served in J:>ersian
fashion.        It made n1e feel I ,vas back in Egypt,
and I dared again to 1nake a request.          l~he kind
and eloquent interpreter (Mirza Ahn1ad Sohrab)
explained my wish, and Abdul Baha submitted
to the process of having an impression of his
hands taken, with the utmost graciousness and
good-will, and signed the four imprints, ,vhich
I hope \\till appear in next month's Gazette, ,vi th
l\1r. Child's delineation.
"Now, lvlr. Editor, what are your impressions
of this 1"'eacher from the East?''
He~e is \Yh~t ~e thought. I quote hin1 \\'ith-
out his perm1ss1011,and he will have to let it
stand or fill up the gap it leaves:-
l le is the posll1vc strong man, the father, the pioneer,
the leader, the 1uan of dogged determination and per-
severance;     com'Jiued with the negative genlle man, the
n1other, the shepherd, the man of patience and !-Jmpathy,
intuitive and spiritual, teaching by symbuls and parables,
n\ther than hy logical appeals to tl.e intellect.  Ile is the mp,tic
and the initiate who ha'; received Ids divine iJl11mination in the
~ilence and the solit11des, .incl whose greatest diflicuhy in life
will pnlhably he lo find in this mundane world, audiences to
understa1Hl aml appreciate his mystical inspirations.
No,Y for a ,vord as to the I3ahai religion                 and
its teaching.
'rile existence of a Supre1ne l3ei ng, the Goel of
all religions, and of n spirit in 111an \V hich
survives the death of the body, are regarded as
foundation       principles, never to be called in
question.
'"fhe chief Positive '"l'eachings may he briefly
summed up as follows:-
The union of all races and religions.
'fhe abolition of \Varfare and the establish-
ment of international arbitration.
'Tlle adoption of a universal language.
l"he equality of the sexes.
rvlonogamy,as opposed to celibacy or polygamy
The equal education of all children-girls
as ,vell as boys-as a religious duty.
The exercise of son1e profession, art or trade,
compulsory for all adults
'fhe provision of \vork for all.
'fhe principal Prohibitions       are equally \vise
and essential:-
_-\ny special p~i~stho?d, apart_ fro1n the l_a~ty,
asceticism, or l1v1ng 1n seclusion, mend1c1ty,
slavery, cruelty to ani cnals,. gambling, the
taking of opium and alcoholic beverages, are
all alike, strictly forbidden.
I vri 11 conclude this desu 1tory pa per by
quoting fron1 Abdul l~aha's Tablet to the l1ahais
of linKland--
" O ye Sons and l)aughters of the I(ingdom !

* *
'' It is easy to accept the l{ingdo1n, but it is
difficult to endure therein, for the tests are hard
and heavy. On all occasions the English are
firn1 ... being neither prone to begin a rnatter
... nor ready to abandon it for a Ii ttle reason ...
\ 1erily in every undertaking they show firmness.
"l\1y hope is this :-that the out breathing of the
Holy Spirit be inspired into your hearts; that
your tongues begin to reveal the mysteries
and to expound the meaning and the truth of
the Holy Books. May the friends become
physicians, to cure by the Divine Teachings the
deep-rooted diseases of the body of the wor Id, to
give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, Ii fe
to the dead, and awakening to the sleepers. Be
sure that the blessing of the Holy Spirit \vill
descend upon you, and that the Hosts ofthe
Kingdom will come to your aid.
"Upon you be the Glory of God.''

(Given at Ramleh,       Egypt,    May, 1911.     Translated    by
'"famadum ul l\folk).

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-- A Wise Man from the East (Used by permission of the curator)