Tag: Abdu’l-Baha

Charity saved him from ill-feted Titanic voyage . . .

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‘Abdu’l-Bahá - who didn't take the ill-feted Titanic voyage.
In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent from April to December touring North America. He is shown here (at center) with Bahá’ís at Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1912. Reprinted with permission of the Bahá’í International Community.

There has been some epic storytelling over the past few weeks marking the one hundred years ago since the “unsinkable” Titanic sank into the North Atlantic, taking with her more than 1,500 lives.

Of all the stories, one of the most extraordinary is that of a 68-year-old Persian who was supposed to be on the ill-fated vessel but wasn’t – it turns out – actually there.

Abbas Effendi – known as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or “the Servant of God” – was feted by the press in both Europe and the U.S. as a philosopher, a peace apostle, even the return of Christ. His American admirers had sent him thousands of dollars for a ticket on the Titanic, and begged him to ride in the greatest of opulence.

His saving grace for that ill-feted journey was that he declined and gave the money to charity.

On Friday the 13th . . .

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On Friday the 13th, an extra ‘thought for the month’  from Thames Valley Baha’i Community . . . taken from The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Pages 194-197: gr4, author ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982 second edition):
 
 “Such suppositions regarding lucky or unlucky numbers are purely imaginary. The superstition concerning thirteen had its origin in the fact that Jesus Christ was surrounded by twelve disciples and that Judas Iscariot was the thirteenth member of their gathering. This is the source of the superstition, but it is purely imaginary. Although Judas was outwardly a disciple, in reality he was not.
 
“Twelve is the original number of significance and completion. Jacob had twelve sons from whom descended twelve tribes. The disciples of Jesus were twelve; the Imáms of Muḥammad were twelve. The zodiacal signs are twelve; the months of the year are twelve, etc.”
 
The words were taken from a talk by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, delivered in New York at the home of Mr and Mrs Howard MacNutt, 935 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York on 16 June 1912.
More details from Bahai Reference Library.