Nor can certain scenes revolving around that majestic and patriarchal
Figure, as He moved through the cities of Europe and America, be ever
effaced from memory. The remarkable interview at which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, while
placing lovingly His hand on the head of Archdeacon Wilberforce, answered
his many questions, whilst that distinguished churchman sat on a low chair
by His side; the still more remarkable scene when that same Archdeacon,
after having knelt with his entire congregation to receive His benediction
at St. John’s the Divine, passed down the aisle to the vestry hand in hand
with his Guest, whilst a hymn was being sung by the entire assembly
standing; the sight of Jalálu’d-Dawlih, fallen prostrate at His feet,
profuse in his apologies and imploring His forgiveness for his past
iniquities; the enthusiastic reception accorded Him at Leland Stanford
University when, before the gaze of well nigh two thousand professors and
students, He discoursed on some of the noblest truths underlying His
message to the West; the touching spectacle at Bowery Mission when four
hundred of the poor of New York filed past Him, each receiving a piece of
silver from His blessed hands; the acclamation of a Syrian woman in Boston
who, pushing aside the crowd that had gathered around Him, flung herself
at His feet, exclaiming, “I confess that in Thee I have recognized the
Spirit of God and Jesus Christ Himself”; the no less fervent tribute paid
Him by two admiring Arabs who, as He was leaving that city for Dublin, N.
H., cast themselves before Him, and, sobbing aloud, avowed that He was
God’s own Messenger to mankind; the vast congregation of two thousand Jews
assembled in a synagogue in San Francisco, intently listening to His
discourse as He demonstrated the validity of the claims advanced by both
Jesus Christ and Muḥammad; the gathering He addressed one night in
Montreal, at which, in the course of His speech, His turban fell from His
head, so carried away was He by the theme He was expounding; the
boisterous crowd in a very poor quarter of Paris, who, awed by His
presence, reverently and silently made way for Him as He passed through
their midst, while returning from a Mission Hall whose congregation He had
been addressing; the characteristic gesture of a Zoroastrian physician
who, arriving in breathless haste on the morning of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
departure from London to bid Him farewell, anointed with fragrant oil
first His head and His breast, and then, touching the hands of all
present, placed round His neck and shoulders a garland of rosebuds and
lilies; the crowd of visitors arriving soon after dawn, patiently waiting
on the doorsteps of His house in Cadogan Gardens until the door would be
opened for their admittance; His majestic figure as He paced with a
vigorous step the platform, or stood with hands upraised to pronounce the
benediction, in church and synagogue alike, and before vast audiences of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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