Persian Teacher Coming Here to Preach Bahá’ísm
[picture caption: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas, Persian leader of the Bahá’ís, who will stay in San Francisco for two weeks.]
‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas, Missionary of Universal Love and Peace, to Speak in Churches
THE BIBLE. — “This book is the holy book of God, of celestial inspiration. It is the Bible of salvation, the noble gospel. It is the mystery of its kingdom and its light. It is the divine bounty, sign of the guidance of God.”
“The news of the battle of Benghazi grieves my heart. I wonder at the human savagery that still exists in the world. How is it possible for men to fight from morning until evening, killing each other, shedding the blood of their fellow men? And for what object! To gain possession of a part of the earth.”
“There is nothing so heart-breaking and terrible as an outburst of human savagery.”
“Man alone, by his spiritual power, has been able to free himself, to soar above the world of matter and make it his servant.”
“As religion inculcates morality, it is therefore the truest philosophy, and on it is built the only lasting civilization.”
“If a person commit a crime against you, you have not the right to forgive him; but the law must punish him, in order to prevent a repetition of that same crime by others, as the pain of the individual is unimportant beside the general welfare of the people.”
“It is clear that the future generation depends on the mothers of today. Is not this a vital responsibility for the woman? Does she not require every possible advantage to equip her for the task? Therefore, surely, God is not pleased that so important an instrument as woman should suffer from want of training in order to attain to the perfections desirable and necessary for her great life’s work.
“Woman must endeavor then to attain greater perfection, to be man’s equal in every respect, to make progress in all in which she has been backward, so that man will be compelled to acknowledge [text missing] equality of capacity and attainment.”
OUT of a prison comes the first missionary from the East to the West. He comes to preach the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, the oneness of humanity, the eradication of prejudice, universal peace.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas, the renowned Persian teacher and head of the Bahá’í assemblies, if they can be said to have any head, is on his way to San Francisco from New York, by way of Denver, and will arrive early this week. He will remain in the city for at least two weeks and most of the city’s churches have extended invitations to him to address their congregations. A committee from the local Bahá’í assembly, headed by Mrs. E. C. Getsinger and Mrs. Ella Goodal Cooper, w[text missing] meet him at the railway station and escort him to the house at 1815 California street, which has been prepared for his residence during his stay here. He will be accompanied by his secretary and two interpreters.
The local Bahá’í Assembly, which consists of nearly [text missing] 00 members, is busy making arrangements to give every one in the city who wishes to hear ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’í a chance to do so, and expects large crowds to gr [text missing] t him wherever he appears. He arrived in New York city last April and since then has visited Washington, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburg, Green Acre, Mo., Montreal, Denver, and everywhere has been most enthusiastically received by large audiences.
RECEPTION IN NEW YORK.
In New York he was ten [text missing] red a reception at the Astor House by the New York Peace Society and latter attended and spoke before the Lake Mohonk Peace Conference. He also spoke at Columbia University, the Bowery Mission and in churches of nearly every denomination in New York city. In all the other cities [text missing] has visited he has been [text missing]
[text missing] broad [text missing] his teachings [text missing] meet with the [text missing] proval of the [text missing]thodox state religion, Bahá’u’lláh was exiled from his native[unreadable text]. With a little band of followers he was sent to Bagdad, thence to Adrianople, and, finally in 1868, to the prison city of Akka, at the foot of Mount Carmel, in Palestine.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not freed until the success of the New Tu [text missing] k movement in 1908, when the new constitution in Turkey was promulgated. When his release was ordered [unreadable text]no lingered for two years more in the place. When asked by friends why he did not leave the prison, he said characteristically:
“I have so many p[text missing] who have no other pla[text missing] not bear to go when [text missing] left behind, besides I ha [text missing] customed to the prison, [text missing] becomes accustomed to the cage; [text missing] door is open, but the bird is in no hurry to fly away.”
Last year ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited Europe. He was introduced to the Church of England by Archbishop Wilberforce, who invited him to occupy his pulpit at St. John’s, Westminster, London. He spoke to a vast audience in the City Temple and at many other places. While in London, he occupied the apartments belonging to Lady Bloomfield in Cadogan Gardens, and before leaving he was entertained by the Lord Mayor of London at a dinner. He also spent several weeks in Paris.
PREACHING UNIVERSAL PEACE.
In discussing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s teachings yesterday, Mrs. Ella Goodal Cooper, said:
“He does not come proselytizing for any particular cult. He is preaching the doctrine of universal love, universal peace, the oneness of God and humanity. The adherents of any religions or the members of any denomination of any church can be a Bahá’í.[unreadable text] ‘Abdu’l-Bahá exhorts them to be better men and women, and act more[unreadable text] conformably to their faith, no matter what it may be. His is a doctrine of love, of kindness.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá speaks in Persian and Turkish and his sermons are repeated by an interpreter. Until he arrives no definite programme of his appearances in the different churches is possible, but it will be announced as soon as possible
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