Passing of Abdu'l-Baha Sources

1922.12.16 - Shoghi Returns

Bahá'í Administration

Star of West Vol 13 No 11 (Feb 1923) p299

To the loved ones of Abdu'l-Baha throughout the continent of America.

Dear fellow-workers in the Holy Vineyard of Baha!

Now that my long hours of rest and meditation are happily at an end, I turn my face with renewed hope and vigor to that vast continent the soil of which is pregnant with those seeds that our beloved Master has so tenderly and so profusely scattered in the past. Prolonged though this period has been, yet I have strongly felt ever since the New Day has dawned upon me that such a needed retirement, despite the temporary dislocations it might entail, would far outweigh in its results any immediate service I could have humbly tendered at the Threshold of Baha'u'llah.

I am now confident that the energies of my beloved brethren and sisters across the seas, far from being damped by my sudden disappearance from the field of service, will henceforth be fully maintained, nay redoubled in their intensity, that we may all together carry triumphantly to the uttermost corners of the world the glorious Standard of Baha.

Bereft of all news whatsoever during my hours of restful seclusion, I now feel the more the thrill of the various tidings, few but indeed promising, that have been awaiting my return to the Holy Land. The work of the noble Edifice that the mighty hands of the All-wise Master has reared in this world can suffer no delay, nor can its foundations be made to totter, whatever the apparent obstacles its enemies in their impotent wrath and despair may throw in its way. We need not wait too long, for already from various quarters there comes the news that the awful promises of Abdu'l-Baha regarding the Covenant-breakers have been strikingly fulfilled!

But it behooves us not to dwell for a moment on these doomed and darkened efforts, for the shining light of the Master's unfailing guidance is beckoning us to more constructive service, to nobler and worthier achievements.

We have, not a long time ago, with tearful eyes commemorated the world over the passing hour of our beloved Master. Would to God it has marked in our lives, which we all have consecrated to
His service, a fresh, solemn and unswerving resolution of devotion and fidelity to His Cause

Your brother and co-worker,

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,

December 16, 1922.

1923.---.--- - Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era (1923 & 1980)

The Passing of Abdu'l-Baha

Activities Continued to the End

Abdu'l-Baha's manifold activities continued with little abatement despite increasing bodily weakness and weariness up till the last day or two of His life.

Fri 25 Nov

On Friday, November 25, 1921, He attended the noonday prayer at the Mosque in Haifa, and afterwards distributed alms to the poor with His own hands, as was His wont. After lunch He dictated some letters. When He had rested He walked in the garden and had a talk with the gardener. In the evening He gave His blessing and counsel to a loved and faithful servant of the household who had been married that day, and afterwards He attended the usual meeting of the friends in His own salon.

Mon 28 Nov - Ascension

Less that three days later, about 1:30 A.M. on Monday, November 28, He passed away so peacefully that, to the two daughters watching by His bedside, it seemed as if He had gone quietly to sleep. The sad news soon spread throughout the town and was flashed over the wires to all parts of the world.

Tue 29 Nov - Funeral

The next morning (Tuesday, November 29) the funeral took place:

"... a funeral the like of which Haifa, nay Palestine itself, had surely never seen ... so deep was the feeling that brought so many thousands of mourners together, representative of so many religions, races and tongues. The High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, the Governor or Jerusalem, the Governor of Phoenicia, the Chief Officials of the Government, the Consuls of the various countries, resident in Haifa, the heads of the various religious communities, the notables of Palestine, Jews, Christians, Moslems, Druses, Egyptians, Greeks, Turks, Kurds, and a host of his American, European and native friends, men, women and children, both of high and low

degree ... all, about ten thousand in number, mourning the loss of their Beloved One. ... "O God, my God!" the people wailed with one accord, "Our father has left us, our father has left us!" ... they slowly wended their way up Mount Carmel, the Vineyard of God. ... After two hours' walking, they reached the garden of the Tomb of the Bab. ... As the vast concourse pressed round ... representatives of the various denominations, Moslems, Christians and Jews, all hearts being ablaze with fervent love of Abdu'l-Baha, some on the impulse of the moment, other prepared, raised their voices in eulogy and regret, paying their last homage of farewell to their loved one. So united were they in their acclamation of him, as the wise educator and reconciler of the human race in this perplexed and sorrowful age, that there seemed to be nothing left for the Baha'is to say. -- The Passing of Abdu'l-Baha, by Lady Blomfield and Shoghi Effendi, pp. 11, 12.

Nine Speakers; Resting Place

Nine speakers, all of them prominent representatives of the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities, bore eloquent and moving witness to their love and admiration of the pure and noble life which had just drawn to its close. Then the casket was slowly passed to its simple and hallowed resting-place. Surely here was a fitting tribute to the memory of One Who had labored all His life for unity of religions, of races, of tongues -- a tribute, and also a proof, that His lifework had not been in vain, that the ideals of Baha'u'llah, which were His inspiration, nay, His very life, were already beginning to permeate the world and to break down the barriers of sect and caste that for centuries had alienated Muslim, Christian, Jew, and the other diverse factions into which the human family has been riven.