A portrait of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Paris
In the earliest hour today, communities drawn from 2,112 ethnic groups within 188 countries and 45 territories offered prayers, readings, and musical selections in commemoration of the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The son of Bahá’u'lláh and the Center of His Covenant (an instrument which preserves the unity of the worldwide Bahá’í community), ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was born in Tehran on 23 May 1844 (the same day the Báb declared his mission to Mullá Husayn). He accompanied his father through years of imprisonment and was banished from his native Iran to Baghdad, Constantinople, Adrianople, and finally to the then penal colony of Akká, Palestine (situated just across the bay from Haifa).
In 1908, the Young Turks revolution freed all political prisoners of the Ottoman Empire and, in 1910, `Abdu’l-Bahá embarked on a series of visits to Europe and North America to exemplify by word and deed the principles of the Faith of Bahá’u'lláh. By the outbreak of World War I, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had returned to Haifa and, among many other initiatives, organized an agricultural project on the eastern shores of the Galilee which supplied the residents of the area with desperately needed provisions. For this and other humanitarian efforts during the war, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was knighted by the British Mandate of Palestine on 27 April 1920. It was a well-deserved accolade not simply for his magnanimity and generosity during the war years, but for a lifetime of ministering to the needs of humanity (see for example: M.H. Phelps. The Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi… New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1903).
`Abdu'l-Bahá's funeral
So beloved was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, that news of his passing the following year on 28 November 1921 drew ten thousand people of diverse religions, races, and classes. In attendance that day was Sir Herbert Samuel, the first High Commissioner for Palestine under the British Mandate; who, in an address at the Bahá’í session of the World Congress of Faiths held in 1936 in London, recounted:
“I was impressed, as was every visitor, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s dignity, grace and charm. Of moderate stature, his strong features and lofty expression lent to his personality an appearance of majesty. In our conversation he readily explained and discussed the principal tenets of Bahá’í, answered my inquiries and listened to my comments. I remember vividly that friendly interview of sixteen years ago, in the simple room of the villa, surrounded by gardens, on the sunny hillside of Mount Carmel. I was glad I had paid my visit so soon, for in 1921 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá died. I was only able to express my respect for his creed and my regard for his person by coming from the capital to attend his funeral. A great throng had gathered together, sorrowing for his death, but rejoicing also for his life.”
The coffin was tearfully escorted from the base of Carmel to the mountain’s heart, where it was laid to rest within the Shrine containing the precious remains of the Báb and of Anis. The speakers who offered eulogies and addressed the mournful crowd that day represented diverse denominations of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Faiths. As Shoghi Effendi, the grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, related:
“This impressive, triumphal procession was headed by a guard of honour, consisting of the City Constabulary Force, followed by the Boy Scouts of the Moslem and Christian communities holding aloft their banners, a company of Moslem choristers chanting their verses from the Qur’án, the chiefs of the Moslem community headed by the Mufti [of Haifa], a number of Christian priests, Latin, Greek and Anglican, all preceding the sacred coffin, upraised on the shoulders of his loved ones. Immediately behind it came the members of his family, next to them walked the British High Commissioner, the Governor of Jerusalem, and the Governor of Phoenicia. After them came the Consuls and the notables of the land, followed by the vast multitude of those who reverenced and loved him.”
Today, on the anniversary of the hour of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing from this world, pilgrims and the 800 some volunteer staff of the Bahá’í World Centre were privileged to visit the room from which his luminous soul ascended, to gather in a somber and reverent spirit of prayer, and to circumambulate this same Shrine upon the slope of Mount Carmel. As the hour dawned in localities spanning the globe, those who follow Bahá’u'lláh’s teachings, and who strive to mirror the example set by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá through their own daily interactions and deeds, also offered prayers and paid tribute to an unparalleled life of devotion, sacrifice, and service.
The Shrine on Mount Carmel in which are laid the remains of the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Anis Zunuzi. It, along with the Shrine of Bahá’u'lláh, was recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
