‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Message

Whatever may be said of the practicability of the religion of brotherhood preached by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, no one will deny that his is a beautiful conception of how all the peoples of the earth might and should dwell together. This venerable Persian spoke before two audiences in this city on Sunday last. His plea was simple and direct, being merely a restatement of that part of the ethics of Christ which is best known. Unhappily the same incredulous spirit which exclaimed “impossible” when the Nasarene said “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is alive and dominant still upon earth.

In the coming of this bearded man from the East asking again in effect, “How can a man love his Father in Heaven, whom he hath not seen, if he love not his brother on earth, whom he hath seen?” there is a powerful appeal to the spiritual emotions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá preaches as preached his father and his father’s father. He is 65 years old. For preaching the brotherhood of all men the Turks kept him in prison for 42 years. With the triumph of the Young Turks he was released and at once took up again the work of his fathers. This wise man from the East is a sign of the times. In him is embodied in large degree that new spirit of world-wide unity which so powerfully moves all races in this age. The world is riper for his message than it was in the days of his dead parents. He is an effect more than a cause; without him the world was already turning toward peace and will continue to turn.