March 25, 1912: A burst of steam and great fanfare!

S.S. Cedric

ah! The Journey Begins!  And for these next 18 days on board ship and then the 239 days in America, I will trace the Master's journey!  So picture it, dear friends: He is leaving, from Egypt, on the S.S. Cedric.  Not the Titanic.  Mahmúd is one of the six companions--thank goodness he came along!  

Mahmúd writes: `Abdu'l-Bahá's departure from Ramleh, Alexandria

When `Abdu'l-Bahá was saying farewell amid the tears, lamentations and sadness of the friends and members of the Holy Family who watched their beloved's departure, one of `Abdu'l-Bahá's daughters, Rúhá Khánum, was seriously ill. It was evident that this deeply affected the Master. It was in these circumstances that `Abdu'l-Bahá left Alexandria on the morning of Monday, March 25, 1912. Although He had already bidden the friends farewell and had embraced most of them, many accompanied Him to the ship, expressing their sadness and anguish at their impending separation from Him. After visiting, walking about the ship and receiving His cabin assignment, `Abdu'l-Bahá went to the main hall where He bestowed His love, affection and assurance on each of the friends. After an hour, the friends left the ship in tears. Then the S. S. Cedric, an Italian liner from the White Star Line, set sail, honored to be the means of transporting the Most Holy Being and becoming the focus of the envy of the whole earth.

The ship left the port of Alexandria with a burst of steam and great fanfare. `Abdu'l-Bahá's companions numbered six: Shoghi Effendi, Siyyid Asadu'lláh-i-Qumí, Dr Amínu'lláh Faríd, Mírzá Munír-i-Zayn, ÁqáKhusraw and this servant, Mahmúd-i-Zarqání. After the ship left, `Abdu'l-Bahá went to the first class dining room and gave permission to His companions to have lunch with Him. Although our cabins were in second class, arrangements had been made for us to dine in the first class dining room with Him. `Abdu'l-Bahá remarked at lunch:

The doctor of this ship is an Italian and, as Italians are at war with the Turks, the doctor, imagining us to be Turks and wanting to go to war with us, says that Khusraw's eyes are affected with a disease which will make him unfit to land in America. He wished to examine the eyes of all, but Dr Faríd prevented him.

Then He told Khusraw not to worry, that He would try to intercede on his behalf and not allow them to prevent his travel. He said, `Don't worry; to the extent possible I will not allow you to be sent back. We are ready to give our lives for one another.' `Abdu'l-Bahá then went to His cabin in the upper deck and rested for awhile. . . . 

This evening `Abdu'l-Bahá did not dine in the main hall but instead the waiter brought His dinner to the cabin. After eating He went to the lounge, rested on a comfortable couch for a short time and then returned to His cabin to sleep.

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And so this Luminous Journey begins!  As we celebrate it, let us revel in being "virtual" companions--communing with the Master across time, across space.