that befell the least significant of creatures, whether friend or foe, no
one who knew her well could doubt. And yet such was the restraining power
of her will--a will which her spirit of self-renunciation so often prompted
her to suppress--that a superficial observer might well be led to question
the intensity of her emotions or to belittle the range of her sympathies.
In the school of adversity she, already endowed by Providence with the
virtues of meekness and fortitude, learned through the example and
exhortations of the Great Sufferer, Who was her Father, the lesson she was
destined to teach the great mass of His followers for so long after Him.
Armed with the powers with which an intimate and long-standing
companionship with Baha'u'llah had already equipped her, and benefiting by
the magnificent example which the steadily widening range of
'Abdu'l-Baha's activities afforded her, she was prepared to face the storm
which the treacherous conduct of the Covenant-breakers had aroused and to
withstand its most damaging onslaughts.
Great as had been her sufferings ever since her infancy, the anguish of
mind and heart which the ascension of Baha'u'llah occasioned nerved her,
as never before, to a resolve which no upheaval could bend and which her
frail constitution belied. Amidst the dust and heat of the commotion which
that faithless and rebellious company engendered she found herself
constrained to dissolve ties of family relationship, to sever
long-standing and intimate friendships, to discard lesser loyalties for
the sake of her supreme allegiance to a Cause she had loved so dearly and
had served so well.
The disruption that ensued found her ranged by the side of Him Whom her
departed Father had appointed as the Centre of His Covenant and the
authorized Expounder of His Word. Her venerated mother, as well as her
distinguished paternal uncle, Aqay-i-Kalim--the twin pillars who, all
throughout the various stages of Baha'u'llah's exile from the Land of His
Birth to the final place of His confinement, had demonstrated, unlike most
of the members of His Family, the tenacity of their loyalty--had already
passed behind the Veil. Death, in the most tragic circumstances, had also
robbed her of the Purest Branch, her only brother besides 'Abdu'l-Baha,
while still in the prime of youth. She alone of the family of Baha'u'llah
remained to cheer the heart and reinforce the efforts of the Most Great
Branch, against Whom were solidly arrayed the almost entire company of His
faithless relatives. In her arduous task she was seconded by the diligent
efforts of Munirih _Kh_anum, the Holy Mother, and those of her daughters
whose age allowed them to assist in the accomplishment of that stupendous
achievement with which the name of 'Abdu'l-Baha will for ever remain
associated.
With the passing of Baha'u'llah and the fierce onslaught of the forces of
disruption that followed in its wake, the Greatest Holy Leaf, now in the
hey-day of her life, rose to the height of her great opportunity and
acquitted herself worthily of her task. It would take me beyond the
compass of the tribute I am moved to pay to her memory were I to dwell
upon the incessant machinations to which Muhammad-Ali, the arch-breaker of
the Covenant of Baha'u'llah, and his despicable supporters basely
resorted, upon the agitation which their cleverly-directed campaign of
misrepresentation and calumny produced in quarters directly connected with
Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid and his advisers, upon the trials and investigations
to which it gave rise, upon the rigidity of the incarceration it
reimposed, and upon the perils it revived. Suffice it to say that but for
her sleepless vigilance, her tact, her courtesy, her extreme patience and
heroic fortitude, grave complications might have ensued and the load of
'Abdu'l-Baha's anxious care would have been considerably increased.
And when the storm-cloud that had darkened the horizon of the Holy Land
had been finally dissipated and the call raised by our beloved
'Abdu'l-Baha had stirred to a new life certain cities of the American and
European continents, the Most Exalted Leaf became the recipient of the
unbounded affection and blessings of One Who could best estimate her
virtues and appreciate her merits.
The decline of her precious life had by that time set in, and the burden
of advancing age was beginning to becloud the radiance of her countenance.
Forgetful of her own self, disdaining rest and comfort, and undeterred by
the obstacles that still stood in her path, she, acting as the honoured
hostess to a steadily increasing number of pilgrims who thronged
'Abdu'l-Baha's residence from both the East and the West, continued to
display those same attributes that had won her, in the preceding phases of
her career, so great a measure of admiration and love.
And when, in pursuance of God's inscrutable Wisdom, the ban on
'Abdu'l-Baha's confinement was lifted and the Plan which He, in the
darkest hours of His confinement, had conceived materialized, He with
unhesitating confidence, invested His trusted and honoured sister with the
responsibility of attending to the multitudinous details arising out of
His protracted absence from the Holy Land.
No sooner had 'Abdu'l-Baha stepped upon the shores of the European and
American continents than our beloved _Kh_anum found herself well-nigh
overwhelmed with thrilling messages, each betokening the irresistible
advance of the Cause in a manner which, notwithstanding the vast range of
her experience, seemed to her almost incredible. The years in which she
basked in the sunshine of 'Abdu'l-Baha's spiritual victories were,
perhaps, among the brightest and happiest of her life. Little did she
dream when, as a little girl, she was running about, in the courtyard of
her Father's house in Tihran, in the company of Him Whose destiny was to
be one day the chosen Centre of God's indestructible Covenant, that such a
Brother would be capable of achieving, in realms so distant, and among
races so utterly remote, so great and memorable a victory.
The enthusiasm and joy which swelled in her breast as she greeted
'Abdu'l-Baha on His triumphant return from the West, I will not venture to
describe. She was astounded at the vitality of which He had, despite His
unimaginable sufferings, proved Himself capable. She was lost in
admiration at the magnitude of the forces which His utterances had
released. She was filled with thankfulness to Baha'u'llah for having
enabled her to witness the evidences of such brilliant victory for His
Cause no less than for His Son.
The outbreak of the Great War gave her yet another opportunity to reveal
the true worth of her character and to release the latent energies of her
heart. The residence of 'Abdu'l-Baha in Haifa was besieged, all throughout
that dreary conflict, by a concourse of famished men, women and children
whom the maladministration, the cruelty and neglect of the officials of
the Ottoman Government had driven to seek an alleviation to their woes.
From the hand of the Greatest Holy Leaf, and out of the abundance of her
heart, these hapless victims of a contemptible tyranny, received day after
day unforgettable evidences of a love they had learned to envy and admire.
Her words of cheer and comfort, the food, the money, the clothing she
freely dispensed, the remedies which, by a process of her own, she herself
prepared and diligently applied--all these had their share in comforting
the disconsolate, in restoring sight to the blind, in sheltering the
orphan, in healing the sick, and in succouring the homeless and the
wanderer.
She had reached, amidst the darkness of the war days the high water-mark
of her spiritual attainments. Few, if any, among the unnumbered
benefactors of society whose privilege has been to allay, in various
measures, the hardships and sufferings entailed by that Fierce Conflict,
gave as freely and as disinterestedly as she did; few exercised that
undefinable influence upon the beneficiaries of their gifts.
Age seemed to have accentuated the tenderness of her loving heart, and to
have widened still further the range of her sympathies. The sight of
appalling suffering around her steeled her energies and revealed such
potentialities that her most intimate associates had failed to suspect.
The ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha, so tragic in its suddenness, was to her a
terrible blow from the effects of which she never completely recovered. To
her He, Whom she called 'Aqa', had been a refuge in times of adversity. On
Him she had been led to place her sole reliance. In Him she had found
ample compensation for the bereavements she had suffered, the desertions
she had witnessed, the ingratitude she had been shown by friends and
kindred. No one could ever dream that a woman of her age, so frail in
body, so sensitive of heart, so loaded with the cares of almost eighty
years of incessant tribulation, could so long survive so shattering a
blow. And yet, history, no less than the annals of our immortal Faith,
shall record for her a share in the advancement and consolidation of the
world-wide Community which the hand of 'Abdu'l-Baha had helped to fashion,
which no one among the remnants of His Family can rival.
Which of the blessings am I to recount, which in her unfailing solicitude
she showered upon me, in the most critical and agitated hours of my life?
To me, standing in so dire a need of the vitalizing grace of God, she was
the living symbol of many an attribute I had learned to admire in
'Abdu'l-Baha. She was to me a continual reminder of His inspiring
personality, of His calm resignation, of His munificence and magnanimity.
To me she was an incarnation of His winsome graciousness, of His
all-encompassing tenderness and love.
It would take me too long to make even a brief allusion to those incidents
of her life, each of which eloquently proclaims her as a daughter, worthy
to inherit that priceless heritage bequeathed to her by Baha'u'llah. A
purity of life that reflected itself in even the minutest details of her
daily occupations and activities; a tenderness of heart that obliterated
every distinction of creed, class and colour; a resignation and serenity
that evoked to the mind the calm and heroic fortitude of the Bab; a
natural fondness of flowers and children that was so characteristic of
Baha'u'llah; an unaffected simplicity of manners; an extreme sociability
which made her accessible to all; a generosity, a love, at once
disinterested and undiscriminating, that reflected so clearly the
attributes of 'Abdu'l-Baha's character; a sweetness of temper; a
cheerfulness that no amount of sorrow could becloud; a quiet and
unassuming disposition that served to enhance a thousandfold the prestige
of her exalted rank; a forgiving nature that instantly disarmed the most
unyielding enemy--these rank among the outstanding attributes of a saintly
life which history will acknowledge as having been endowed with a
celestial potency that few of the heroes of the past possessed.
No wonder that in Tablets, which stand as eternal testimonies to the
beauty of her character, Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha have paid touching
tributes to those things that testify to her exalted position among the
members of their Family, that proclaim her as an example to their
followers, and as an object worthy of the admiration of all mankind.
I need only, at this juncture, quote the following passage from a Tablet
addressed by 'Abdu'l-Baha to the Holy Mother, the tone of which reveals
unmistakably the character of those ties that bound Him to so precious, so
devoted a sister:
'To my honoured and distinguished sister do thou convey the expression of
my heartfelt, my intense longing. Day and night she liveth in my
remembrance. I dare make no mention of the feelings which separation from
her has aroused in my heart, for whatever I should attempt to express in
writing will assuredly be effaced by the tears which such sentiments must
bring to my eyes.'
Dearly-beloved Greatest Holy Leaf! Through the mist of tears that fill my
eyes I can clearly see, as I pen these lines, thy noble figure before me,
and can recognize the serenity of thy kindly face. I can still gaze,
though the shadows of the grave separate us, into thy blue, love-deep
eyes, and can feel in its calm intensity, the immense love thou didst bear
for the Cause of thine Almighty Father, the attachment that bound thee to
the most lowly and insignificant among its followers, the warm affection
thou didst cherish for me in thine heart. The memory of the ineffable
beauty of thy smile shall ever continue to cheer and hearten me in the
thorny path I am destined to pursue. The remembrance of the touch of thine
hand shall spur me on to follow steadfastly in thy way. The sweet magic of
thy voice shall remind me, when the hour of adversity is at its darkest,
to hold fast to the rope thou didst seize so firmly all the days of thy
life.
Bear thou this my message to 'Abdu'l-Baha, thine exalted and
divinely-appointed Brother: If the Cause for which Baha'u'llah toiled and
laboured, for which Thou didst suffer years of agonizing sorrow, for the
sake of which streams of sacred blood have flowed, should, in the days to
come, encounter storms more severe than those it has already weathered, do
Thou continue to overshadow, with Thine all-encompassing care and wisdom,
Thy frail, Thy unworthy appointed child.
Intercede, O noble and well-favoured scion of a heavenly Father, for me no
less than for the toiling masses of thy ardent lovers, who have sworn
undying allegiance to thy memory, whose souls have been nourished by the
energies of thy love, whose conduct has been moulded by the inspiring
example of thy life, and whose imaginations are fired by the imperishable
evidences of thy lively faith, thy unshakable constancy, thy invincible
heroism, thy great renunciation.
Whatever betide us, however distressing the vicissitudes which the nascent
Faith of God may yet experience, we pledge ourselves, before the
mercy-seat of thy glorious Father, to hand on, unimpaired and undivided,
to generations yet unborn, the glory of that tradition of which thou hast
been its most brilliant exemplar.
In the innermost recesses of our hearts, O thou exalted Leaf of the Abha
Paradise, we have reared for thee a shining mansion that the hand of time
can never undermine, a shrine which shall frame eternally the matchless
beauty of thy countenance, an altar whereon the fire of thy consuming love
shall burn for ever.
7: ENTREAT SORROW STRICKEN AMERICAN BELIEVERS ...
(39) ENTREAT SORROW STRICKEN AMERICAN BELIEVERS NEVER ALLOW CONSCIOUSNESS
THEIR AGONIZING LOSS PARALYZE DETERMINATION PROSECUTE AN ENTERPRISE ON
WHICH ADORED OBJECT OUR MOURNING CENTRED HER BRIGHTEST HOPES.
8: YOUR MESSAGE ALLEVIATED LOAD MY AGONIZING ...
(40) YOUR MESSAGE ALLEVIATED LOAD MY AGONIZING SORROW. NOTHING LESS
INFLEXIBLE RESOLVE CARRY OUT HER DEAREST PARTING WISH HOLD FAST CAUSE HER
ALMIGHTY FATHER CAN LIFT ITS CRUSHING BURDEN.
9: PRAY ASSURE AMERICAN BELIEVERS BEHALF HOLY ...
(41) PRAY ASSURE AMERICAN BELIEVERS BEHALF HOLY FAMILY MYSELF ABIDING
APPRECIATION NUMEROUS EVIDENCES THEIR VALUED SYMPATHY. OUR SORROW-LADEN
HEARTS MUCH RELIEVED FILLED WITH GRATITUDE. OUT OF PANGS OF ANGUISH WHICH
BEREAVED AMERICA EXPERIENCED IN HER SUDDEN SEPARATION FROM 'ABDU'L-BAHA
ADMINISTRATION GOD'S MIGHTY FAITH WAS BORN. MIGHT NOT HER PRESENT GRIEF AT
LOSS BAHA'U'LLAH'S PRECIOUS DAUGHTER RELEASE SUCH FORCES AS WILL ENSURE
SPEEDY COMPLETION MA_SH_RIQU'L-A_DH_KAR THE ADMINISTRATION'S MIGHTY
BULWARK, SYMBOL OF ITS STRENGTH AND HARBINGER ITS PROMISED GLORY.
10: Your valued message brought strength and ...
(42) Your valued message brought strength and solace to my aching heart. I
deeply appreciate the sentiments of my invaluable fellow-workers, who have
by their eminent, their unforgettable and unique services, contributed so
powerfully in brightening the closing days of her precious life. The
services each of you has rendered to our beloved Cause brought much joy
and hope to her in the evening of her life, and are, therefore, highly
meritorious in the sight of the Almighty. May He bless abundantly your
work in the Divine Vineyard, and enable you to render still greater
services in the days to come.
11: I deeply appreciate your sympathy. My loss ...
(43) I deeply appreciate your sympathy. My loss is tremendous and my
sorrow so profound. I will pray that you, who have felt the power of her
spirit at so advanced an age may be enabled to mirror forth its splendour
and reveal its beauty to the world. I will continue to pray in your
behalf. You are often in my thoughts. Rest assured and persevere in your
devoted efforts.
12: I greatly value your sympathy in my cruel, ...
(44) I greatly value your sympathy in my cruel, my irreparable loss. My
only comfort is the assurance of her devoted lovers to remain firm and
steadfast in the Cause and to strive to follow in her footsteps. The
example of her life is our solace, our inspiration and strength. May the
Beloved aid you to follow in her way, and to perpetuate her glorious
memory.
13: Your sweet and touching message imparted ...
(45) Your sweet and touching message imparted strength and solace to my
heart. I value the sentiments you express and am deeply grateful. My grief
is profound and my only comfort is the thought that her many lovers, East
and West, are straining every nerve to promote those very ideals for which
she suffered and toiled all the days of her eventful and sacred life. I
will continue to pray for your welfare and success from the depths of my
heart. Rest assured.
14: My great love for the Greatest Holy Leaf and ...
(46) My great love for the Greatest Holy Leaf and my attachment to each
one of you prompt me to add these few words in person and to express to
you my gratitude for the expression of your valued sympathy. I greatly
value your message, and will pray that the Almighty may bless your efforts
in the service of a Cause for the sake of which our loved _Kh_anum
sacrificed her precious life.
15: The many evidences of your increasing zeal ...
(47) The many evidences of your increasing zeal and activities in the
service of our beloved Cause, have to a great measure, relieved my
sorrow-laden heart. I will continue to pray for your unsparing efforts,
and wish you to persevere, whatever the vicissitudes which this immortal
Faith may encounter in future. Rest assured, and never feel
disconsolate...
The celebration of Baha'i festive anniversaries, I feel, should also be
suspended during a period of nine months.
16: Your highly impressive and touching message ...
(48) Your highly impressive and touching message brought much relief to my
weary soul. I thank you from the depths of my heart. I greatly value the
sentiments expressed on behalf of a local community, the members of which
have, by their services, their devotion and loyalty, contributed, to so
great an extent, to the joy and satisfaction of the hearts of both
'Abdu'l-Baha and the Greatest Holy Leaf. My great attachment to each one
of you, as well as my immense love for our departed and beloved _Kh_anum,
have prompted me to add these few words in person. I will continue to pray
for the success of your efforts, as well as for your spiritual
advancement.
17: The passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf has ...
(49) The passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf has filled my heart with
unutterable sorrow. My comfort is the thought that the measure of success
achieved, under your wise and able leadership, by the collective efforts
of the American believers has brightened considerably the last days of her
precious life. Would to God that the continued endeavours of this little
band of her devoted lovers who have brought so great a joy to her blessed
heart, may bring further satisfaction to her soul, and realize, at the
appointed time, her dearest wish and fondest hopes for the Cause in your
land. To complete the Temple, to clothe its naked dome, and terminate its
exterior elaborate ornamentation, is the best and most effective way in
which the American believers, the recipients of her untold favours, can
demonstrate their fidelity to her memory and their gratitude for the
inestimable blessings she showered upon them.
18: O well-loved friend, ...
(50) O well-loved friend, The emotions that have possessed my grieving
heart are such that they cannot be put into words, and tongue and pen are
helpless to describe them. The one consolation of this servant is the
steadfastness and the redoubled services of those dearly-loved ones in
Iran, and the good news of energetic efforts being exerted by the friends
in that land. This is what dissipates the clouds of my grieving, and
dispels the darkness of my anguish, and quiets the flames that consume my
very being, and casts a ray of joy across the darkened sky of my agonized
and stricken heart.
19: I wish to add a few words in person as a ...
(51) I wish to add a few words in person as a token of my deepfelt
appreciation of your loving message of sympathy in the great loss the
family of 'Abdu'l-Baha and myself have sustained. My prayer for each one
of you is that the Almighty may aid you to perpetuate her glorious memory,
to walk in her footsteps and to transmit to future generations the
tradition she has bequeathed to us all.
20: I am moved to add a few words with my ...
(52) I am moved to add a few words with my own pen, to what has been
written on my behalf, renewing my plea to you and through you, to each
member of your beloved community, to prosecute, with undiminished vigour
the enterprise which you have so splendidly inaugurated. The Greatest Holy
Leaf, from her retreat of Glory, is watching over you, is interceding for
every one of you, and is expecting you to play your part in the great
task, with which the prestige of her Father's glorious Cause is so closely
associated. You have, while she lived amongst us, contributed to a
remarkable degree to the brightening of her earthly life. By your
persistent, your heroic endeavours you will, I am sure, bring added joy to
her soul, and will vindicate afresh your undying loyalty to her memory.
21: The passing of the beloved Khanum has ...
(53) The passing of the beloved _Kh_anum has plunged me in unspeakable
sorrow. What a gap she has left behind her! It is terrible to contemplate.
Your message, which I greatly value, lessened considerably the burden of
my grief as I am fully conscious of the extent to which you have, in so
many different ways, contributed to her physical well-being, and to the
joy and satisfaction of her soul. We are all indebted to you for the many
evidences of your loving and unfailing solicitude for her welfare, and we
can only pray at her grave that her spirit may intercede for you before
the throne of her glorious Father, and aid you to accomplish still greater
things for a Cause, in the path of which she toiled and suffered all the
days of her precious life.
22: I greatly value the expression of your ...
(54) I greatly value the expression of your loving sympathy and am greatly
relieved by the sentiments your message conveyed. I will pray that you may
be assisted, individually and collectively, to follow her inspiring
example, to bring happiness to her soul, and to proclaim far and wide the
purity of her life, the immensity of her love, and the supreme nobility of
her character.
23: I wish to express to your distinguished ...
(55) I wish to express to your distinguished assembly my gratitude for the
action they have taken in reproducing in facsimile my humble tribute to
the Greatest Holy Leaf. The hundred copies you sent me have been received
and are splendid reproductions of the original. The finest and most
enduring tribute which can be paid to her memory lies within the grasp,
and constitutes the supreme opportunity, of the American believers. Her
earthly life, as it drew to a close, was much brightened by the brilliant
accomplishments of her devoted lovers in the American continent. May her
pure angelic soul in the realms beyond derive added satisfaction from the
uninterrupted progress and the eventual completion of an enterprise on
which she had centered the one remaining joy of her life.
24: O ye who share my anguish and are my ...