'Abdu' l-Baha
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`Abdu'l-Bah‡, the eldest Son of Baha'u'll‡h, the Prophet-Founder
of the Bah‡'’ Faith, came to the United States of America for
239 days from April 11, 1912 to December 5, 1912. During that
sojourn He spent 85 days in the City of New York. This treatise
collects some of the most poignant accounts of His visit in New
York City from diaries and autobiographies written by believers
who met and traveled with Him.
His acclaimed station was the "Servant of Baha," a Servant
to the Covenant of His Father's Cause, a divine revelation from
God which initiated a new age in the evolution of humankind. He
was called "The Master" by His illustrious Father, a title
which was also respectfully used by the followers of the Faith
in the United States when referring to `Abdu'l-Baha.
This account capsulizes the range of responses to the unique
Personage of `Abdu'l-Baha, and gives glimpses of His humility,
grandeur, power and purity.
Priceless eyewitness accounts, written records of `Abdu'l-Baha's
addresses, and newspaper as well as magazine articles published
in a number of volumes constitute a thorough chronicle of the
Master's 1912 travels to and throughout the United States of America
and Canada. The present modest contribution to the existing body
of work is in answer to the wish of the Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahamas of the City of New York that tablets addressed by
`Abdu'l-Bahato this community which appeared in a 1932
book entitled `Abdu'l-BahaIn New York, long out of print,
may be published in observance of the 75th anniversary of His
visit.
Authenticated by Shoghi Effendi's letter in the 1932 edition
of `Abdu'l-Baha in New York, these tablets do not appear
elsewhere and dates of circumstances surrounding their utterances
are not known. They, and the historic events which took place
in New York on June 19, 1912, are the basis of New York's distinguished
title of "the City of the Covenant."
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