Visiting 'Abdu'l-Baha Volume 1: The West Discovers the Master, 1897-1911
- Oxford George Ronald 2019
- 286 p. index
Stories illustrating how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught and interacted with others. Among those who visit ‘Akká, some have made great forward strides. Lightless candles, they were set alight; withered, they began to bloom; dead, they were recalled to life and went home with tidings of great joy. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá . . .each pilgrim brings back information and suggestions of a most precious character, and it is the privilege of all the friends to share in the spiritual results of these visits. Shoghi Effendi This two-volume series on pilgrims who visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Holy Land may be seen as a companion to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Their Midst, about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s three-year journey (1910–1913) to Egypt, Europe and North America The present volume covers the time from 1897 until the Master’s departure on His journey to the West, while the second volume begins with His return to Haifa at the end of 1913 and covers the time until His passing in 1921. Virtually all pilgrims and many other visitors wrote down what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, including many of His talks, both formal and informal. Their accounts provide a great wealth of stories that help illustrate who ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in the context of history and how he taught and interacted with others. Most of these accounts come from personal diaries and letters initially written in longhand, though many were later typed. They are to be considered ‘pilgrims’ notes’, but are a fascinating and moving testimony to how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá affected and transformed those He met, described in their own words.