Persian Prophet to Lecture Here

Head of Bahá’í Movement Will Speak at First Congregational Church.

The real live prophet from Persia has arrived in San Francisco. He came Wednesday and has taken a furnished house of his own where he will live for several weeks and receive his friends and followers. He is Abbas Essendi, the visible head of the Bahá’í Movement, which numbers several millions or followers among all the principal religions of the world. Abbas Essendi is sometimes known as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’í, or “The Servant of God,” and the gospel which he is preaching is the gospel of universal peace and brotherhood.

“To be a Bahá’í,” he says, “means to love all the world, to love humanity and to try to serve it; to work for universal peace and universal brotherhood.”

Abbas Essendi will lecture in the First Congregational Church, Oakland, on universal brotherhood Sunday evening. He appears in a black robe with a white turban and with his long beard and gracious presence is said to be a most impressive figure.

At his temporary home, 1815 California street, San Francisco, the Persian prophet will keep open house each evening when he is not engaged in lectures, and will discuss the great world questions in which he is interested.

His life has been filled with persecution and hardship. The movement with which he is connected began 70 years ago, and its founder, The Báb, suffered martyrdom for his faith. The father of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’í succeeded to the headship of the religion and before long was arrested by the Turkish government. He was condemned to perpetual exile in the city of Acre, Palestine. There he died some ten years ago. His son, Abbas Essendi, inherited his sentence of perpetual exile. His doctrine is not antagonistic to Christianity.