April 10, 1912 The day/ evening before arrival!

Hm. . . . I know that the ship sailed into the NY harbor at night on the 10th. But Mahmúd doesn't describe this--he dates his entry the 10th but really describes what occurs on the 11th.  It feels as if there is a lull--just before the JOURNEY actually begins in New York. But surely on the ship there was great excitement and anticipation! 

What I will share today is an excerpt from Rob Stockman's new book, 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America, describing what happens on the ship BEFORE the Master steps onto the shores of America. 

Rob writes:  "On the morning of Thursday, April 11, 1912, the White Star Line’s passenger ship Cedric steamed toward the wharfs of New York Harbor. Standing on the upper deck, wearing a long black oriental cloak flapping in the breeze, with light tan robes underneath and a turban of pure white over His gray locks, was `Abdu'l-Bahá Abbás, the sixty-seven-year-old head of the Bahá'í Faith. According to a journalist and Bahá'í, Wendell Phillips Dodge, who boarded the ship with other journalists when the customs agents went on board, He was a “strongly and solidly built” man of medium height, though He “seemed to be much taller,” weighing about 165 pounds (75 kilograms) and pacing the deck, “alert and active in every moment, his head thrown back and splendidly poised upon his broad, square shoulders”:

A profusion of iron grey hair bursting out at the sides of the turban and hanging long upon the neck; a large, massive head, full-domed and remarkable wide across the forehead rising like a great palisade above the eyes, which were very wide apart, their orbits large and deep, looking out from under massive overhanging brows; strong Roman nose, generous ears, decisive yet kindly mouth and chin; a creamy white complexion, beard same color as his hair, worn full over the face and carefully trimmed at almost full length—this completes an insufficient word picture of this “Wise Man Out of the East.”[1]

Wendell Phillips Dodge (left) 
with Persian translators, in NY

As the ship passed the Statue of Liberty, `Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have “held his arms wide apart in salutation” and to have said, “There is the new world’s symbol of liberty and freedom. After being forty years a prisoner, I can tell you that freedom is not a matter of place. It is a condition. Unless one accept dire vicissitudes he will not attain. When one is released from the prison of self, that is indeed a release.”[2]

It is noteworthy that `Abdu'l-Bahá did not comment about the nature of America when gazing at the quintessential symbol of the American republic, but about the nature of true freedom. He commented on a more mundane symbol of America some minutes later, as the ship approached the wharf, but even then, the “rugged sky line” of lower Manhattan’s skyscrapers seemed to convey a spiritual message to Him:

These are the minarets of Western World commerce and industry, and seem to stretch heavenward in an endeavor to bring about this Universal Peace for which we are all working, for the good of the nations and mankind in general.[3]

As He exclaimed to the Bahá'ís later that day, “I am very much pleased with the City of New York. Its entrance, its wharves, the buildings and the broad avenues are all magnificent and beautiful. Truly I say it is a wonderful city. As New York has made wonderful progress in material civilization, I hope that spiritually it may also advance in the realm of God.”[4]

---

[1] Wendell Phillips Dodge, “Abdul-Baha’s Arrival in America,” Star of the West, vol. 3, no, 3 (Apr. 26, 1912), 3. Much of this account of His arrival comes from the article.

[2] Dodge, ibid, 4.

[3] Dodge, ibid., 4.

[4] Star of the West, vol. 3, no. 10 (Sept. 8, 1912), 4; see also The Promulgation of Universal Peace, 3.

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Morgan Library

Bowery Chapel

 Our day was rather extraordinary. We went to the JP Morgan library and filmed it--taking still photos of the study and library where Abdu'l-Baha wrote a prayer. Then, meeting up with Bani Dugal of BIC, we found ourselves at the Bowery--which was a very moving experience.  Too late to tell the whole story now, but suffice it to say, it was a potent place to imagine Abdu'l-Baha and Juliet Thompson.  


Tomorrow we'll be at Lake Mohonk!