May 16, 1912

Last Day at Lake Mohonk . . . 

I can picture the Master sitting in one of these chairs, rocking and reflecting on the beauty of that place. 

Mahmud writes: "Photographs of `Abdu'l-Bahá were taken together with His party. [I wonder if these exist?] Many dignitaries visited Him and were attracted and ignited by His love. He then expressed His intention to return to New York. The president of the conference  [Albert K. Smiley]  was reluctant for Him to leave. The Master replied, `As I have to see numerous people and speak to many audiences, I must leave.' The president remained in the presence of the Master with great reverence until He left. The Beloved presented the president with a good quality Persian carpet, for which he was very thankful."

The story of the carpet is really quite funny.  "The night before `Abdu'l-Bahá left Lake Mohonk, He gave Dr Zia Bagdadi the key to His New York apartment, requesting him to bring back a Persian rug by 10:00 a.m. the following day. Since no trains ran at night, Dr Bagdadi jumped on the caboose of a moving train heading for New York. He collected the rug, caught an early morning train back to Lake Mohonk, hitched a ride with the mail carrier and arrived back at the conference site at 10:00 a.m., just as `Abdu'l-Bahá was shaking hands with Mr Smiley in farewell." (See Ward, 239 Days, pp. 68–69.) The rug resembled one the Smileys had owned but had been burned up in a fire, so Smiley was very pleased by the gift.

Can you imagine being Dr. Bagdadi, determined to do the bidding of `Abdu'l-Bahá, yet thwarted by circumstances, and then finding a way? Or being the mail carrier who gave him a ride and hearing about the purpose for this carpet? 

`Abdu'l-Bahá did have a way of getting what He needed--and a way of knowing what others "needed"!  It must have been hard to leave that place of beauty, where peace was the focus. 

Mahmud writes: "When the Master returned to New York, the friends came to see Him. They were delighted to hear that so many at the conference were attracted and paid attention to the Master's address. A few days later the talks He had given at the conference were published in a New York newspaper and thus provided guidance to many."

I don't think we have the actual talks, as they are not published in PUP or SOW. Not sure the newspaper versions are available either--but will check into this.