Bahá’í World/Volume 7/Commemoration Twenty-Fifth Anniversary ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Visit to America

From Bahaiworks

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COMMEMORATION OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S VISIT TO AMERICA

BY MARḌÍYYIH NABÍ'L CARPENTER

IT was a long, long trip. The more we traveled, the greater seemed the expanse of the sea. The weather was brilliant and fine throughout; there was no storm and no end to the sea.‎ 

At last the American Bahá’ís were hearing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s voice, seeing Him there before them. It was the afternoon of April 11, 1912; they had met His ship in the morning, and now they gathered to welcome Him at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, in New York. They had thronged the rooms, so that many had to stand; and He had begun to address them:

“How are you? Welcome! Welcome!

“After arriving today, although weary with travel, I had the utmost longing and yearning to see you and could not resist this meeting. Now that I have met you all My weariness has vanished, for your meeting is the cause of spiritual happiness.

“I was in Egypt and was not feeling well; but I wished to come to you in America. My friends said: ‘This is a long journey; the sea is wide; You should remain here.’ But the more they advised and insisted, the greater My longing to take this trip and now I have come to America to meet the friends of God. This long voyage will prove how great is My love for you. There were many troubles and vicissitudes but in the thought of meeting you, all these things vanished and were forgotten.

"I am greatly pleased with the city of New York. Its harbor entrance, its piers, buildings and broad avenues are magnificent and beautiful. Truly this is a wonderful city. As New York has made such progress in material civilization, I hope that it may advance spiritually in the kingdom and covenant of God so that the friends here may become the cause of 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 from which the rays of the bounties of the Blessed Perfection may shine forth to all nations and peoples. This is My highest aspiration. . . .

"I am very happy to meet you all here today. Praise be to God that your faces are shining with the love of Bahá’u’lláh! To behold them is the cause of great spiritual happiness. We have arranged to meet you every day at the homes of the friends.

“In the East people were asking Me, ‘Why do you undertake this long voyage? Your body cannot endure such hardships of travel.’ When it is necessary, My body can endure everything. It has withstood forty years of imprisonment and can still undergo the utmost trials.

"I will see you again. Now I will greet each one of you personally. It is My hope that you will all be happy and that we may meet again and again.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá now shook hands with each one, and left for the Hotel Ansonia.

He had been a prisoner most of His life. Born in Ṭihrán, Írán, on May 23, 1844, at the age of eight He was one of that little band of exiles who crossed the Íránian border, going toward Baghdád. With them He was exiled from prison to prison, and

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Penmanship of the father of Bahá’u’lláh, Mírzá Buzurg.

[Page 215] confined at last in the fortress-city of ‘Akká, on August 31, 1868. Forty years passed; then the Sulṭán, ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd, fell; on August 31, 1908, the gates of ‘Akká were flung open and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went free. He was sixty-four, He had lived forty years in a place where the air broke men and killed them, and there was no pain that had not struck at His heart. He was free now, but He could not rest. He saw mankind on the brink of war; He saw the passing of the old world, and He came West, to lay the foundation of the new. In 1911, He brought the teachings of His Father, Bahá’u’lláh, to Europe. Returning to Egypt, He then sailed for the United States, where He traveled and taught from April 11 to December 5, 1912.

His fellow-travelers on the steamship Cedric, of the White Star Line, spoke with Him, inquiring as to His mission. To one, the owner of an American newspaper, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: ‘I am going to America at the invitation of the Peace Congresses of that place, as the fundamental principles of our 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 of mysteries, this great object is sure to be universally acknowledged and this Cause is certain to encompass the East and the West.” A woman, member of the Unitarian faith, asked Him to give her a message for the Unitarians. He answered her: "The most important of all purposes is to diffuse divine love, amity and accord among the people . . . hence tell your Assembly: Rejoice, the standard of the kingdom of heaven is hoisted! Rejoice, the divine springtime has appeared! Rejoice, the Proclaimer of the kingdom has raised His voice!” On April 8 and thereafter greetings and welcome were wirelessed to the ship by Bahá’í communities from coast to coast. On April 11, crowds of Bahá’ís stood at the pier, waving hats and handkerchiefs, while the Cedric docked. As soon as the gangplank was lowered, newspapermen went aboard to interview ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; they asked the object of His voyage and He said: “Our object is universal peace and the unity of mankind. . . . I have come to America to see the advocates of universal peace. I hope the Peace Congresses of America will come forward and take the first practical step.” They questioned: “How can universal peace be realized?” He said: "Its realization depends upon effecting a change in the ideas of the inhabitants of the world. Today, universal peace is the panacea for all human ills.” "What are those ills?” "One of those ills is the restlessness and discontent of the people under the yoke of the war expenditures of the Powers of the world. What the people earn through labor is extorted from them by the governments and spent for war purposes. . . . Thus the burden on men is becoming more and more unbearable . . .” The reporters asked, "May not peace lead to trouble and may not war help progress?” He answered, "No. Today war is the cause of all trouble! If war can be gotten rid of, all these troubles will disappear . . . However, this cannot be brought into existence except through the education of the people and the development of their thought and ideas.”

The docking of the Cedric in New York with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá abroad was the direct fulfillment of the words of a man of Shíráz, who, sixty-eight years before, at the very hour of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s birth, had proclaimed the coming of a great world Teacher. For sixty-two years now the Báb had lain dead, Persian bullets in His breast. But out of Persia a young nobleman had arisen, and had brought a world Faith. They had seized His jewels and palaces, they had closed Him in an underground pit, and hemmed Him in with guards. They had killed His followers, and not dared to kill Him, and they had exiled Him from one land to another, and the Sháh of Persia and the Sultán of Turkey had used all their power to shut back the words that came from His lips. And He, Bahá’u’lláh, had established His Faith. He had revealed new laws, suited to future world civilization, based on that oneness of the human race and that coming of age of mankind, which His advent proclaimed; He had regenerated and brought into harmony the religions of the past; He had provided for agencies to safeguard His new World Order. And whereas before, once the Founder of a Faith had passed away, His followers turned one against another and destroyed the unity that He had created—Bahá’u’lláh with His own hand appointed an Exemplar, an Interpreter, [Page 216] so that Bahá’ís the world over were bound by their devotion to His eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “The promise,” wrote Bahá’u’lláh, "the promise of all ages is now fulfilled. That which had been announced in the holy writ of God, the Beloved, the Most High, is made manifest.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, standard-bearer of the civilization of the future, set foot in the United States, prototype of the future federation of mankind. In every city, on every train, people crowded close to Him. In New York City alone, during the seventy-nine days He spent there, He made public addresses in, or formal visits to, fifty-five different places. His rooms were filled with visitors wherever He went, all day long, from early in the morning. Philosophers, scientists, ecclesiastics, social workers, educators, diplomats, were found in His audiences, intently listening to Him, studying His presentation of the Bahá’í teachings as the means of regenerating and unifying humanity. Everywhere in editorial comment and publication of news concerning Him, the daily press was reverent and respectful. He addressed Columbia and Leland Stanford Universities; He attended conference at Lake Mohonk, visited the open forum at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine, spoke before scientific associations, socialistic bodies, welfare organizations. Temples and churches, synagogues, women’s clubs, colleges, metaphysical groups—willingly opened their doors to His message. He was guest of honor in leading mansions throughout the country, and He visited as well the homes of the very poor. He addressed Bowery Mission, in the slums of New York. He spoke with all types of men and women; children of all races clung to Him. And never, in all His traveling and teaching, did He accept remuneration, for His service was given without price.

By the shore of the Lake near Chicago, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the foundation-stone of a great Temple; the first world temple, the first sanctuary for all sorts and conditions of men, and all races, and all faiths—ever to be raised in the western hemisphere.

When, in 1937, Bahá’ís throughout the country commemorated in numberless gatherings the twenty-fifth anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s coming to the United States, a special meeting was held in the Temple, marking the arrival of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in New York, April 11, 1912; on this occasion representatives of many groups that had been addressed by Him during His journey, joined with the Bahá’ís to do Him honor. Among the guest speakers, Mrs. Dorothy Bushnell Blumberg, President of the Chicago Branch of the Women’s International League for Peace, said in effect that thinking people, as they see the increase of material comfort and security, do not wish the achievement of these ends to be made at the cost of spiritual values; that a new age of cosmopolitanism is upon us, whose ultimate outcome will be a world race and culture; that those of us who believe in the oneness of the human race are fortunate, and must strive for the enlightenment of the many who will resist the onward march of cosmopolitanism.

Mr. Albert Windust, Chairman, then read from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s address before the New York Peace Society, in part as follows: "Today, there is no greater glory for man than that of service in the cause of the 'Most Great Peace’ . . . His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned and subjected to severe persecutions . . . Through all these ordeals He strove day and night to proclaim the oneness of humanity and promulgate the message of universal peace. From the prison of ‘Akká He 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.”

Another guest, Mr. A. C. MacNeal, President of the Chicago Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, quoted from the address given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá before the Fourth Annual Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People: "According to the words of the Old Testament, God has said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’ This indicates that . . . the perfections of God, the divine virtues, are reflected or revealed in the human reality . . . This is an evidence that man is the most noble of God’s creatures . . . Let us now discover more specifically how he is the image and likeness of God, and what is the [Page 217] standard, or criterion, by which he can be measured and estimated. This standard can be no other than the divine virtues which are revealed in him . . . If a man possesses wealth, can we call him an image and likeness of God? Or is human honor and notoriety the criterion of divine nearness? Can we apply the test of racial color and say that man of a certain hue—white, black, brown, yellow, red—is the true image of his Creator? We must conclude that color is not the standard . . . for color is accidental in nature. The spirit and intelligence of man is the essential. . . . Man is not man simply because of bodily attributes. The character and purity of the heart is all important.”

A third speaker, Mr. Brenes-Mesén, representing the President of the Theosophical Society, conveyed to the Bahá’ís the following message: “Out of the Morning of Eternity, where infinite Wisdom and all embracing Love abide, at intervals, when duty weakens and nations decline, splendorous souls come to this earth again to grace mankind with a new Springtime of faith . . . They come forth to enkindle the dormant fires in the souls of men, to point out once more the guiding star rising on the horizon of a new humanity. Such are the Masters of Wisdom, and Compassion, manifestations of the omnipotent Love, the Holy Spirit.

"To this saintly lineage do belong Bahá’u’lláh, the Splendor of God, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Servant of God. They have brought before the eyes of men, amidst a divided world, the principles of the Unity of Mankind; and in the midst of so many sects, the salutary doctrine of the common foundation of all forms of religion in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit; and amidst the contentious social and economical conflicts of our epoch they remind us of our obligation to do some fruitful labor in the spirit of service, of the need of voluntary sharing of our wealth with others to foster universal peace and that we may realize the brotherhood of men.

"Knowing and without stint admiring those principles, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá set foot in the United States the Theosophical Society bestowed on Him the gracious hospitality of its platform. He was a Teacher and a brother, He had our heartfelt welcome.

"The achievements of Bahá’ísm in this country so magnificently embodied in this Bahá’í House of Worship, are proclaiming the satisfaction that so many souls find in the beauty, the truth and transcendence of the teachings flowing from this wellspring of Wisdom.

“In behalf of the Theosophical Society of America, and at the request of its President, I tender to you, with our congratulations, our cordial wishes for the spiritual prosperity of Bahá’ísm, for we are one in our endeavors of spiritualizing the world.”

In introducing this speaker, the Chairman had remarked that one of the outstanding addresses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Chicago was that delivered before the Theosophical Society, on which occasion He had said: "In the matrix of the mother, we were the recipients of endowments and blessings of God, yet these were as nothing compared to the powers and graces bestowed upon us after birth into this human world. Likewise if we are born from the matrix of this physical . . . environment into the freedom and loftiness of the life and vision spiritual, we shall consider this mortal existence and its blessings as worthless by comparison.”

An extract from the address of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Plymouth Congregational Church was now read, in part as follows: "In our solar system the center of illumination is the sun itself . . . the one source of the existence and development of all phenomenal things . . . But if we reflect deeply we will perceive that the great bestower and giver of life is God; the sun is the intermediary of His will and plan . . . Likewise, in the spiritual realm . . . there must be a center of illumination, and that center is . . . the Word of God . . . the prophet or manifestation of God . . .” Following this, guest-speaker Mr. Kennicott Brenton, House Secretary and Resident of Hull-House, representing Mrs. Kenneth F. Rich, Resident Head of the famous institution founded by Jane Addams—spoke as follows:

"Hull-House is deeply aware of its honor in being invited to join with you in honoring your departed leader. In this we recognize an inner significance. Both this wonderful temple and our busy, homely group of class rooms and workshops are expressions of the [Page 218] same life principle. In yours is a realization of world unity; ours of the common interest uniting neighborhoods and races, ignoring religious and class barriers. Throughout history, the spirit of discord has been able to ‘divide and rule’. Man’s pattern has made him peculiarly susceptible to factional loyalties. We have seen how love of country and adherence to group loyalties can even lead to self-destruction. . . . Hull-House and the things which it has done for the betterment of its neighbors were possible only because it became a rallying point for the combined goodwill of widely separated groups and sections. Accomplishment in prevention of child labor, sweatshops, bad housing, was won by a call to unite the good intention of all factions—never by appeal to factionalism or strife.

"Instead of emphasizing man’s diversity of interest, Jane Addams said: ‘The things which make men alike are finer and better than the things that keep them apart’. . . . Rather than hope for justice from some materialistic system, she knew: ‘Justice can only be worked out upon this earth by those who will not tolerate a wrong to the feeblest member of the community’.

“Both our great leaders have gone on but we recognize in them the spirit which can reclaim the world.”

The Chairman called attention to the fact that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s first public address in Chicago was delivered at Hull-House, and quoted from that address: “There is need of a superior power to overcome human prejudices; a power which nothing in the world of mankind can withstand. . . . That irresistible power is the love of God.”

In introducing the next speaker, Mr. Allen B. McDaniel, of Washington, D. C., member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, the Chairman read from the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá delivered at All-Souls Church: "In Persia, His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh was able to unite people of varying thought, creed and denomination. The inhabitants of that country were Christians, Muḥammadans, Jews, Zoroastrians, and a great variety of subdivided forms and beliefs, together with racial distinctions, such as Semitic, Arabic, Persian, Turk, and others, but through the power and efficacy of religion, Bahá’u’lláh united these differing peoples, and caused them to consort together in perfect agreement. And now let us consider that the American, British, firench, Germans, Turks, Persians, Arabs, are all . . . members of the same household. Why should dissension exist among them? . . . There is no doubt that the only cause is ignorance. . . .” Mr. McDaniel then spoke on “The Gathering of the Peoples and Nations,” ably epitomizing the excerpts from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s addresses that had been read throughout the meeting.

This program, which was followed by a reception, closed with the showing of the motion picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: His arrival by automobile at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Howard MacNutt in Brooklyn, New York; His walking and conversing with Persian interpreters and others, His greeting the children present, His delivery, as He strode back and forth before the large gathering on the grounds, of a message of glad-tidings to all humanity: "Rejoice! . . . The divine Gospel has appeared! Rejoice! . . . The Great Day has come! Rejoice! . . . The glad-tidings and prophecies of the Prophets are fulfilled! Rejoice . . . The Glory of Carmel has shown on the worlds! Rejoice! . . . The East and West have joined hands!”

In memory of that other day when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had dedicated the Temple site, the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, assembled at the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár for their annual Convention, heard the story of how, exactly forty-nine years after Bahá’u’lláh, then a captive about to be exiled from Baghdád, had declared His mission—‘Abdu’l-Bahá His son had laid the corner-stone of the Bahá’í Temple in the heart of the American continent.

During the evening of His arrival in Chicago, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed an audience of several hundred at the last session of the Bahá’í Temple Unity, speaking in part as follows:

“The real temple is the very Word of God; for to it all humanity must turn and it is the center of unity for all mankind . . . Temples are the symbols of the divine uniting force, so that when the people gather there . . . they may recall the fact that the law has been revealed for them and that the law [Page 219] is to unite them . . . That is why His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has commanded that a place of worship be built . . . that all religions, races and sects may come together within the universal shelter . . . It is the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár (the Dawning-Point of the remembrance of God) . . . For thousands of years the human race has been at war. It is enough . . . For thousands of years the nations have denied each other, considering each other as infidel and inferior. It is sufficient . . .” And He closed with a prayer for the American nation: “O thou kind Lord! . . . Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world . . .”

Then the next day, on the windy shores of the Lake, at Wilmette. They had pitched a tent, large enough for five hundred persons, and had made a special entry way to the grounds for the carriage of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; but He entered on foot, walking briskly, a long line of Baha’is following Him. Within the tent, seats had been placed in three circles, with a broad space at the center, reached by nine aisles, At high noon, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá advanced to the inner circle and spoke:

“The power which has gathered you here today notwithstanding the cold and windy weather is indeed mighty and wonderful. It is the power of God, the divine favor of Bahá’u’lláh which has drawn you together . . .

“Thousands of Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs for all religionists will be built in the Orient and Occident, but this being the first one erected in the Occident has great importance . . . It has the same importance as the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in ‘Ishqábád, Caucasus Russia, the first one built there. In Persia there are many; some are houses which have been utilized for the purpose, others are homes entirely devoted to the Divine Cause. . . . But the great ‘Dawning-Point’ has been founded in ‘Ishqábád. It possesses superlative importance. . . .”

Outside the tent, in the woods and fields along the Lake Shore, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá prepared for the breaking of the Temple ground; using first a golden trowel presented by Irene C. Holmes of New York, He then slipped this back into its leather case, and called for other implements; an ax was brought, then a shovel; with these, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and members of every race and nationality present, excavated a place to hold the dedication stone. As each man or woman came forward, his race or nationality was announced: Persia, Syria, Egypt, India, Japan, South Africa, England, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Jews of the world, and the North American Indians, were of those represented; at the end ‘Abdu’l-Bahá set the stone in its place, on behalf of all the peoples of the world. And He said, “The Temple is already built.”

Now, within the Temple, those who had been present that other day were asked to rise; they numbered fifteen. One of them, Mrs. Nettie Tobin of Chicago, was called upon to tell how she had brought, painfully, from far away and as though driven to it, a fragment of limestone rock to the Temple site, and how this had been chosen by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the dedication stone. Mrs. Corinne True of Wilmette, whose devotion to the work of building the Temple was compared to that of a mother rearing her child, gave a brief message of inspiration, and Dr. “Ali-Kuli Khán, sent by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the United States in 1901 to spread the Baha'i teachings, spoke of the work still to be ac- complished in completing the outer ornamentation of the Temple, and of the plan drawn up by the Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi, for the realization of this within the first century of the Baha’i era. This second commemorative gathering, program-chairmen of which were Edna Eastman and Albert Windust, and further participants, Ruth Randall Brown, Nina Matthisen, and Montfort Mills, was climaxed by the darkening of the auditorium, after which the motion picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was thrown upon the screen. In deep silence, the audience watched as the majestic figure of the Center of the Covenant stood before them; many had never viewed this scene before, while some were still left who could remember His face, His walk, and could hear in memory His ringing voice.

“It is My purpose,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said on the day of His arrival in New York, “to [Page 220] set forth in America the fundamental principles of the revelation . . . of Bahá’u’lláh. It will then become the duty of the Baha’is in this country to give these principles unfoldment and application in the minds, hearts and lives of the people.” During the long months of travel, of daily association with hundreds of groups and individuals, He had spared Himself no hardship in order to give to America this fresh revelation of spiritual power, this new Faith, suited to the needs of a new age. Everywhere, at every hour He had taught the principles brought by Baha’u’llah: that each must search after truth for himself; that all races are as one; that all religions are fundamentally one, and have as their purpose the establishment of harmony; that religion, “the sole . . . basis of . . . an ordered and progressive society,” must go hand-in-hand with science; that equal opportunities are to be provided for men and women alike; that extremes of wealth and poverty are to be abolished, that an auxiliary international language is to be adopted; and He had shown that the Bahá’í world system provides the agencies for the establishing of permanent and universal peace.

It was a clear, not a beautiful day when they gathered on board the steamship Celtic to take leave of Him. He spoke to each one, distributed to each the flowers that had been brought. Then He addressed them for the last time:

“This is My last meeting with you, for now I am on board the steamship 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; He is the provider and life-givers all are equally beloved by Him and are His servants upon whom His mercy and compassion descend. Therefore you must manifest the greatest kindness and love to- ward the nations of the world, setting aside fanaticism, abandoning religious, national, and racial prejudice.

“The earth is one nativity, one home, and all mankind are the children of one Father. God has created them and they are the recipients of His compassion. Therefore if anyone offends another, he offends God. It is the wish of our heavenly Father that every heart should rejoice and be filled with happiness; that we should live together with felicity and joy. The obstacle to human happiness is racial or religious prejudice, the competitive struggle for existence and inhumanity toward each other.

“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. He loves them, and loves them equally. As this is true, should the sheep quarrel among themselves? They should manifest gratitude and thankfulness toward God, and the best way to thank God is to love one another.

“Beware lest ye offend any heart, lest ye speak against anyone in his absence, lest ye estrange yourselves from the servants of God. You must consider all His servants as your own family and kindred. Direct your whole effort toward the happiness of those who are despondent, bestow food upon the hungry, clothe the needy and glorify the humble. Be a helper to every helpless one, and manifest kindness to your fellow creatures in order that ye may attain the good pleasure of God. This is conducive to the illumination of the world of humanity and eternal felicity for yourselves. I seek from God everlasting glory in your behalf; therefore this is My prayer and exhortation.

“Consider what is happening in the Balkans. Human blood is being shed, properties are destroyed, possessions pillaged, cities and villages devastated. A world-enkindling fire is astir in the Balkans. God has created men to love each other, but instead they kill each other with cruelty and bloodshed. God has created them that they may cooperate and mingle in accord, but instead they ravage, plunder and destroy in the carnage of battle. God has created them to be the cause of mutual felicity and peace but instead discord, lamentation and anguish rise from the hearts of the innocent and afflicted.

“As to you, your efforts must be lofty. Exert yourselves with heart and soul so that perchance through your efforts the light of [Page 221] Universal Peace may shine and this darkness of estrangement and enmity may be dispelled from amongst men; that all men may become as one family and consort together in love and kindness; that the East may assist the West and the West give help to the East, for all are the inhabitants of one planet, the people of one original nativity and the flocks of one shepherd.

“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. This has been the goal of their guidance and message. The Prophets, saints, seers and philosophers have sacrificed their lives in order to establish these principles and teachings amongst men. Consider the heedlessness of the world, for notwithstanding the efforts and sufferings of the Prophets of God, the nations and peoples are still engaged in hostility and fighting. Notwithstanding the heavenly commandments to love one another, they are still shedding each other’s blood. How heedless and ignorant are the people of the world! How gross the darkness which envelops them! Although they are the children of a compassionate God they continue to live and to act in opposition to His will and good pleasure. God is loving and kind to all men, and yet they show the utmost enmity and hatred toward each other. God is the giver of life to them, and yet they constantly seek to destroy life. God blesses and protects their homes; they ravage, sack and destroy each other’s homes. Consider their ignorance and heedlessness!

“Your duty is of another kind for you are informed of the mysteries of God. Your eyes are illumined, your ears are quickened with hearing. 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. You must therefore be kind to all men; you must even treat your enemies as your friends. You must consider your evil-wishers as your well-wishers. Those who are not agreeable toward you must be regarded as those who are congenial and pleasant, so that perchance this darkness of disagreement and conflict may disappear from amongst men and the light of the divine may shine forth; so that the Orient may be illumined and the Occident filled with fragrance; nay, so that East and West may embrace each other in love and deal with one another in sympathy and affection. Until man reaches this high station, the world of humanity shall not find rest and eternal felicity shall not be attained. But if man lives up to these divine commandments, this world of earth shall be transformed into a world of heaven and this material sphere shall be transformed into a paradise of glory. 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.”

They left the ship and looked up to where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stood on the deck. He was smiling very faintly, His eyes tender, thoughtful, somehow full of sorrow. He waved His hand gently toward them. And they knew that they would never fail Him, and still they wept.