The Guardian’s sufferings

In this last visit to Haifa I came to understand as never before something of the agony our Guardian has endured. He spoke of it very simply one night and his uplifted gaze, the white purity and beauty of his face are forever graven on my heart. Nothing is too great to suffer for him, no daily discipline, effort or sacrifice, no surrender of all that is upon this earth can even touch the hem of his sacred suffering, the depths of the cup from which he has drunk. With all my heart and soul I thank the Beloved that He gave us such a daughter for him, who is, in the words of the Master, "The apple of His eye and the jewel of His heart." 

- May Maxwell  (From a letter to Katherine Baldwin, Honolulu. February 1939)

First Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Yaounde, Cameroon

First Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Yaounde, the Federal capital of the Republic of Cameroon, 1968. Seated (left to right): Louie Stewart (secretary), Alfred Defang (chairman), and Emmanuel Begoumenie (vice-chairman). Satnding (left o rifgt): David Eyong, Paul Nkono, Jacob Ayukotang, John Ayuk, and Elias Eta (treasurer). Ernest Ayompe was absent 

(Baha'i News, December 1968)

‘Abdu’l-Baha in a garden near His residence in Haifa

1925: The keys to the House of Baha’u’llah in Baghdad, the Most Holy House, are given to the Shí'ahs

“We received last night news that the keys of the houses in Baghdad have been given to the Shi'ites and they had made a regular demonstration on the occasion. We await to see what will be done at last....” (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer dated 14 December 1925; ‘The Unfolding Destiny’)

Ruhiyyih Khanum explains the background, the efforts made by the Guardian and the Baha’i World, and the final unfortunate result:

It was during these years, when Shoghi Effendi was trying so hard to gather about him a group of competent co-workers, that a crisis of unprecedented dimensions burst upon him. The sea of the Cause of God, whipped by the winds of both destiny and chance which blow upon it from the outside world, was now lashed into a storm whose waves beat remorselessly upon Shoghi Effendi's mind, his strength, his nerves and his resources. The blessed House occupied by Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, and ordained by Him, in Shoghi Effendi's words, as a "sacred, sanctified and cherished object of Bahá'í pilgrimage and veneration" had already in the days of 'Abdu'l-Bahá been seized by the "Shí'ahs, after a series of nefarious manoeuvres, but had been returned by the British authorities to its legitimate custodians. When news of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's passing reached the inveterate enemies of the Faith, they once again renewed their attack and laid claim to the House. In 1922 the government took over the keys of the House in spite of the assurance King Feisal had given that he would respect the claims of the Bahá'ís to a building that had been occupied by their representatives ever since Bahá'u'lláh's departure from Baghdad; His Majesty, for political reasons, now went back on his word and in 1923 the keys were most unjustly delivered once again to the "Shí'ahs. From shortly after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá until November 1925 there was a continuous struggle on the part of the Bahá'ís to protect the Most Holy House. The "Shí'ahs had first taken the case to their own religious court from which it was speedily lifted out to the Peace court and then brought before the local Court of First Instance, which decided in favour of the rights of the Bahá'ís. This decision was then taken to the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Iraq, which gave its verdict in favour of the "Shí'ahs.

December 1924: The first National Spiritual Assembly is formed in Africa

The National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt and the Sudan is formed, making it the first Baha’i national body on the continent of Africa. 

(Adapted from ‘God Passess By’, by Shoghi Effendi, and ‘The Babi and Baha’i Religions’, by, Peter Smith)

1912: Being alone with ‘Abdu’l-Baha -- by Howard Colby Ives

Before nine o'clock in the morning I was there, which meant; since I lived some distance from New York, an early start indeed. Already the large reception room was well filled. Evidently others also were conscious of a similar urge. I wondered if they too felt, as I, a burning in the breast.

I remember as if it were yesterday the scene and my impressions. I did not want to talk to anyone. In fact I would not. I withdrew to the window overlooking Broadway and turned my back upon them all. Below me stretched the great city but I saw it not. What was it all about? Why was I here? What did I expect from the coming interview: indeed how did I know there was to be any interview at all? I had no appointment. Plainly all those other folk had come expecting to see and talk with Him. Why should I expect any attention from such an eminent personage?

So I was somewhat withdrawn from the others when my attention was attracted by a rustling throughout the room. A door was opening far across from me and a group was emerging and 'Abdu'l-Baha appeared saying farewell. None had any eyes save for Him. Again I had the impression of a unique dignity and courtesy and love. The morning sunlight flooded the room to center on His robe. His fez was slightly tilted and as I gazed, His hand, with a gesture, evidently characteristic, raised and, touching, restored it to its proper place. His eyes met mine as my fascinated glance was on Him. He smiled and, with a gesture which no word but "lordly" can describe, He beckoned me. Startled gives no hint of my sensations. Something incredible had happened. Why to me, a stranger unknown, unheard of, should He raise that friendly hand? I glanced around. Surely it was to someone else that gesture was addressed, those eyes were smiling! But there was no one near and again I looked and again He beckoned and such understanding love enveloped me that even at that distance and with a heart still cold a thrill ran through me as if a breeze from a divine morning had touched my brow!

Some Western pilgrims in Akka in early 1901

Standing left to right: Charles Mason Remey, Sigurd Russell, Edward Getsinger and Laura Barney; Seated left to right: Ethel Rosenberg, Madam Jackson (in whose house in Paris Lua Getsinger often stayed), Shoghi Effendi, unknown (possibly Helen Ellis Cole), Lua Getsinger, unknown (possibly Emogene Hoagg)