Let us go back to the night of 22 May 1844. The Báb is seated with Mulla Husayn in the upstairs room of His house and, two hours and eleven minutes after sunset, announces that He is the promised Messenger of God. That same night a baby boy is born somewhere in Teheran. He is Bahá'u'lláh's son 'Abbas Effendi, later to be known as 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
As you know, His Father was thrown into an underground dungeon in 1852 and there received the Revelation of God. At that time, 'Abbas Effendi was only eight years old. Being the son of a Bábí, He was taunted by other children, who called Him the son of a heretic and threw stones at Him in the street. Once, when 'Abbas Effendi was allowed to visit His Father in captivity and saw how shamefully He had been treated, He was overcome with sorrow. From that moment onwards, He wanted to share all His Father's troubles. And these troubles began immediately after Bahá'u'lláh was released.
When the whole family was exiled to Baghdad, where the jealous Mirza Yahya caused so much trouble that Bahá'u'lláh was forced to go away into the mountains of Kurdistan, you can understand how much 'Abbas Effendi suffered as a result, especially as He did not know whether His Father would ever return. In addition, the nine-year-old boy had already realized, the very first to do so, that His Father was the promised Manifestation of God. From that time on, 'Abbas Effendi wanted nothing but to be His servant. That is why, after His Father's passing, He called himself 'Abdu'l-Bahá (the Servant of Bahá). And His servitude was such as no one can attain. As Bahá'u'lláh said, He was the perfect pupil of the Perfect Teacher, the perfect example of what a Bahá'í should be.
Soon after His Father's return to Baghdad, 'Abdu'l-Bahá became known as a boy who was both wise and loving. Day and night He was tirelessly engaged in helping others. And yet He himself was no more than a child. Later, in Constantinople and Adrianople, people began to call Him 'Master' even though He was still only twenty. Age did not matter as He received even the most learned visitors and answered the questions they had in fact wished to ask Bahá'u'lláh. However, 'Abdu'l-Bahá did not wish His Father to be overburdened and, in order to protect Him, He often took these tasks upon himself. Later on, in 'Akka, people from every walk of life, from the Governor himself to the poorest beggar, began to love and respect Him.
Immediately after their arrival in 'Akka, when everyone was ill, 'Abdu'l-Bahá looked after all the sick until He himself became so ill that for a month His life was in danger. Yet despite all the difficulties experienced in 'Akka, 'Abdu'l-Bahá also had some happy moments during this period. It was here that He married Munirih Khanum. Their union was a long and happy one. Another time of great joy was when Bahá'u'lláh was allowed to leave the prison and go to live in Bahji.
Nevertheless, 'Abdu'l-Bahá experienced much suffering. Particularly after the passing of His Father He had a great deal of sorrow. As you know, Bahá'u'lláh had appointed Him in His Will and Testament as His successor. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was the one to whom the believers must turn and He alone was permitted to interpret His Father's writings. When 'Abdu'l-Bahá assumed this task, some of His relatives were at once offended. His half-brother, Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí, became so jealous that he began to spread all kinds of lies and even succeeded in persuading almost the whole of Bahá'u'lláh's family to take his side. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was left alone, abandoned and betrayed by His own family. His mother had passed away and His sons had also died young. Only His sister, His four daughters, His wife and an uncle remained loyal to Him. The others accused Him of exploitation and other unworthy things. Their only reason for this was that it had been He, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and not they, whom Bahá'u'lláh's followers accepted 'Abdu'l-Bahá as Head of the Faith and expounder of His teachings. The vast majority of Bahá'ís remained loyal and began to carry out the assignments which 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave them.
Only one year after the passing of Bahá'u'lláh the first believers set out for the United States to teach the Faith there. The first American accepted the Bahá’í Faith in 1894, to be followed by many others. Four years later the first American believers came to 'Akka to visit 'Abdu'l-Bahá. They afterwards traveled to various parts of Europe to spread the Bahá'í teachings there, and several of them wrote down what they had seen. One man, who was not a Bahá'í but who visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the turn of the century, wrote a book describing 'Abdu'l-Bahá - the Master, as He was known:
We open the window and look down. We see a crowd of human beings with patched and tattered garments. Let us descend to the street and see who these are. ...Many of these men are blind; many more are pale, emaciated, or aged ...Most of the women are closely veiled, but enough are uncovered to cause us well to believe that, if the veils were lifted, more pain and misery would be seen. Some of them carry babes with pinched and sallow faces. There are perhaps a hundred in this gathering, and besides, many children...
These people are ranged against the walls or seated on the ground, apparently in an attitude of expectation: - for what do they wait? Let us wait with them. We have not to wait long. A door opens and a man comes out. He is of middle stature, strongly built. He wears flowing light-colored robes. On his head is a light buff fez with a white cloth wound about it. He is perhaps sixty years of age. His long grey hair rests on his shoulders. His forehead is broad, full, and high, his nose slightly aquiline, his moustaches and beard, the latter full though not heavy, nearly white. His eyes are grey and blue, large, and both soft and penetrating. His bearing is simple, but there is grace, dignity, and even majesty about his movements. He passes through the crowd, and as he goes utters words of salutation...
He stations himself at a narrow angle of the street and motions to the people to come towards him...In each open palm he places some small coins. He knows them all. He caresses them with his hands on the face, on the shoulders, on the head. Some he stops and questions...To all he says, 'Marhabbah, marhabbah' 'Well done, well done!'...
This scene you may see almost any day of the year in the streets of Akka. There are other scenes like it, which come only at the beginning of the winter season. In the cold weather which is approaching, the poor will suffer, for, as in all cities, they are thinly clad. Some day at this season, if you are advised of the place and time, you may see the poor of Akka gathered at one of the shops where clothes are sold, receiving cloaks from the Master. Upon many, especially the most infirm or cripples, he himself places the garment, adjusts it with his own hands, and strokes it approvingly, as if to say, 'There! Now you will do well.' There are five or six hundred poor in Akka, to all of whom he gives a warm garment each year. On feast days he visits the poor at their homes. He chats with them, inquires into their health and comfort, mentions by name those who are absent, and leaves gifts for all. Nor is it the beggars only that he remembers. Those respectable poor who cannot beg, but must suffer in silence - those whose daily labor will not support their families - to these he sends bread secretly...
All the people know him and love him - the rich and the poor, the young and the old - even the babe leaping in its mother's arms...He is the kind father of all the people... For more than thirty-four years this man has been a prisoner at Akka. But his jailers have become his friends...And how could it be otherwise. For to this man it is the law, as it was to Jesus of Nazareth, to do good to those who injure him. (The Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi, by M.H. Phelps, published in 1903.)
But because of all these successes, the jealousy and hatred of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's half-brother, 'Ali-Muhammad, became intense. He himself had not managed to cause any schism in the Bahá'í community and was obliged to look on while everyone came for help and guidance to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who was now writing numerous letters to the Bahá'ís all over the world, encouraging and advising them. Dr. Khayru'lláh violated Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant when in 1900 he established a pact with Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí and worked against 'Abdu'l-Bahá, trying to seize control of the Faith in the West. Almost none of the American Bahá'ís followed his lead and even though Khayru’llah was their teacher they remain faithful to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Khayru'lláh would continue spreading his poison for two decades, but unsuccessful, finally returned to Syria.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá was engaged in building the shrine for the mortal remains of the Báb, 'Ali-Muhammad at once wrote a letter to the Turkish authorities. He informed them that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was constructing a fortress and that He secretly possessed an army of 30,000 (in reality, there was a handful of visiting pilgrims) with which He was about to overthrow Syria. In addition, he made a number of other dreadful accusations against 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the hope that the authorities might issue an order for His execution. No such order was issued, however. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was more strictly confined as a result, though, and no longer allowed to leave the prison city. He was constantly watched and visitors were no longer welcome.
'In the face of these fresh difficulties 'Abdu'l-Bahá remained calm and continued writing letters to the believers. At times He wrote as many as ninety letters in a day, answering their questions, directing their activities and encouraging them to continue their work. He also carried on, unperturbed, the task of building the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel. As a result, His half-brother's hatred grew and he continued, more fanatically than ever, to spread base lies and make outrageous accusations. Finally, he succeeded in making the authorities so nervous that in 1904 the Sultan appointed a commission to investigate the matter. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was obliged to appear in court on several occasions to hear the charges against Him. Each time He explained to the members of the commission how ridiculous such charges were, saying that wished to execute Him, He would accept their decision. It would be a great honor for Him to be allowed to die for His Faith.'
'Three years later, in 1907, another commission was appointed. Because the four officials who formed this commission had been bribed by His enemies, 'Abdu'l-Bahá refused to meet them. After they had carried on their so-called investigation for a month, they came to a decision. 'Abdu'l-Bahá must be removed from 'Akka. At the same time, however, they heard that there had been an attempt on the Sultan's life and left at once for Constantinople, without ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. When they tried to report to the Sultan that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been found guilty and should be executed, the Sultan was no longer interested. An attempt had been made on his life and be now had more important things on his mind.
Several months later a tremendous revolution convulsed the Turkish Empire. The Young Turks gained a rapid victory and immediately announced an amnesty for all political and religious prisoners. Thus in September 1908, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's forty-year imprisonment came to an end. At last He was free to come and go as He wished. He had entered the prison city as a young man of twenty-four; now He was leaving it, an old man of sixty-four. But despite His years, He wished to set out as quickly as possible for Europe and America to proclaim His Father's Faith. In 1908 Some Answered Questions is published based on interviews by Laura Clifford Barney in ‘Akka. In 1909 the first of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets were published in the West. In September 1910 He left for Egypt, intending to travel to Europe from there. His health was so poor, however, that He was obliged to stay there for almost a year.
He finally arrived in Europe in August 1911. Although He was totally unfamiliar with Western customs and languages and had never before spoken in public, He gave dozens of talks everywhere and spoke to hundreds of people of many races and creeds. Indefatigably, the almost seventy-year-old ‘Abdu’l-Bahá traveled from country to country for two whole years. Beginning in France, He traveled to England, then back to France and afterwards to Egypt, from where He set out for America. There, He visited thirty-eight cities in eight months. Everywhere He went He made such a great impression on His audience that many believed He himself was the Manifestation of God, the Return of Christ. In December 1912 He left the United States and once more traveled to Britain and France, then to Germany, Hungary and Austria. From Vienna He returned via Germany and France to Egypt. Finally, in December 1913, He arrived back in the Holy Land, completely exhausted from so many tiring journeys.
His efforts had been wonderfully successful. Wherever He had spoken, groups of Bahá’ís had been formed who began enthusiastically carrying on His work. Only in Persia (now Iran) was the situation as bad as ever. Bahá’ís continued to be tortured and put to death. And yet the number of believers continued to grow. Today there are about half a million Iranian Bahá’ís spread all over the world.
But let us return to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who was receiving large numbers of visitors daily in His home in Haifa. Suddenly, in February 1914, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá began sending His visitors back to their homelands and refusing to receive any more. No one could understand this. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá knew that soon a great war would break out, making it impossible for the pilgrims to return to their own countries. Six months later the Great War in fact broke out- just as Bahá’u’lláh had prophesied to the kings and rulers of His time. Once again ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was prevented from leaving the city and the Turkish commander threatened that He would be crucified. For two years, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had to live with this threat, conscious that each day could be His last. When the British finally took Haifa on 23 September 1918, there was general rejoicing when it was found that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was safe.
From then onwards ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was again occupied in answering the enormous number of letters which He received from many countries. In 1916-1917, the Tablets of the Divine Plan were sent to America - the global mandate for the spreading of the Faith. He still carried on His work of visiting the poor and the sick, caring for them and giving them money. In the evenings He usually received visitors and told them amusing stories or explained the Bahá’í teachings to them. For three years He guided the world Bahá’í community in this way.
On April 27, 1920 'Abdu'l-Bahá' receives a knighthood for his humanitarian services. His foresight and compassion had saved thousands of people from famine in Palestine after the War due to His personal organization of extensive agricultural operations near Tiberias. He refused to use this title, preferring 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
On 28 November 1921 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away at the age of seventy-seven after a short illness. The following day ten thousand people of every rank and of many different religions, races and nationalities, attended the funeral and mourned the loss of their beloved Master. He was laid to rest, as He had wished, in one of the rooms of the Shrine of the Báb.
By now the Bahá'í community has spread throughout the Middle East, India and North America but most Bahá'ís still resided in Persia. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's last instructions were in an envelope addressed to Shoghi Effendi. In His Last Will and Testament, 'Abdu'l-Bahá appointed Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian and Interpreter of the Bahá'í Faith, the one to whom all Bahá'ís must turn for guidance and whole-heartedly support.