The Greatest Holy Leaf Part 8

Entrance door to the House of the Master at 7 Haparsim, where the Greatest Holy Leaf worked from dawn to late at night. Photograph by Farzam Sabetian. Source: Luminous Spot.

Bahíyyih Khánum returned to the Holy Land joyful, relieved, and grateful that her Brother 'Abdu'l-Bahá had safely returned from His journeys to the west.

From the days of Bahá’u’lláh, the Greatest Holy Leaf had taken upon herself the lion’s share of the Holy Family’s practical household affairs, and upon her return Haifa, Bahíyyih Khánum resumed her work.

One of the Greatest Holy Leaf’s important and time-consuming responsibilities was overseeing arrangements for feeding the pilgrims and visitors from east and west who, in increasing numbers, thronged to the Holy Land and to the House of the Master, and she performed this duty with radiance and happiness.

In order to make sure that everything was done on time, Bahíyyih Khánum would rise very early in the morning, open the room where provisions were stored and hand out the ingredients needed for the day’s meals. After this, she would personally supervise every step of the food preparation, then send out the finished dishes to the houses where the eastern and western pilgrims were staying.

Bahíyyih Khánum was adamant that no one should go without food.

The Greatest Holy Leaf went so far as to send food to the home of a member of the Holy Family if they were absent.

All the pilgrims were eager to see their Khánum.

Generally, Bahíyyih Khánum would meet the pilgrims around 4:00 PM for afternoon tea.

Some pilgrims would ask for her blessings, and some pilgrims of Muslim background asked Bahíyyih Khánum to cut their burial shrouds for them, that they might rest in their graves comforted.

The Haifa grain market around 1904. Source: Library of Congress.

The Greatest Holy Leaf never forgot the needy who were not Bahá'ís, and always found time to attend to their needs. She showered her care and attention on poor and homeless orphans, sometimes even housing them in the house of the Master, and her love extended to all, Arab or non-Arab, black or white.

Bahíyyih Khánum taught them courtesy, the art of relating to others, dawn prayers, reading and writing, home management, embroidery, sewing, cooking, studying the verses of God, but also spiritual things such as the importance of fearing of God and spiritual qualities.

In this way, the Greatest Holy Leaf taught them knowledge and good character. She led them on the pathway of guidance, she equipped them with skills to live a good life, she enabled them to become productive members of society, and, for some, prosperous citizens.

One of the enduring aspects of the Greatest Holy Leaf’s sweet and tender character was that she was incredibly loving towards children and always gave them gifts and food.

But more work awaited the Greatest Holy Leaf once she arrived in Haifa.

Now that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in Egypt, she began to prepare for His return to the Holy Land, in the cleverest of ways.

Ibn-i-Aṣdaq in his youth. Source: Bahá'í Heroes and Heroines.

One of the most eminent Bahá'ís in the world in 1913 was Mírzá ʻAlí-Muḥammad-i-Khurásání, more commonly known as Ibn-i-Aṣdaq, one of the four Hands of the Cause appointed by Bahá'u'lláh during His lifetime. Later, Shoghi Effendi would elevate him to the rank of one of the 19 Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh.

While in Ṭihrán, Ibn-i-Aṣdaq had received a telegram from 'Abdu'l-Bahá inviting him to come on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Accordingly, he left with his wife, daughters, and a servant. They arrived in Haifa on 12 November 1913, and stayed in the Master's house for about ten days until 'Abdu'l-Bahá summoned Ibn-i-Aṣdaq to Alexandria.

In her memoirs, Rúhá, one of Ibn-i-Aṣdaq's daughters, recounted that before he left, Ibn-i-Aṣdaq spent an hour in deep conversation with the Greatest Holy Leaf.

No one knew what this confidential conversation was about.

In Alexandria, Egypt, at 7:30 in the evening on 25 November 1913, Mírzá Ahmad Sohrab and his companions joyfully welcomed the new pilgrims—including the Hand of the Cause Ibn-i-Aṣdaq—at the train station.

The next day, on 26 November 1913, 'Abdu'l-Bahá greeted Ibn-i-Aṣdaq who had come to Egypt bearing a message directly from the Greatest Holy Leaf, asking 'Abdu'l-Bahá to return sooner to Haifa in order to allay the anxious hearts of the pilgrims and the members of the Holy Household.

Ibn-i-Aṣdaq recalled that upon hearing this, 'Abdu'l-Bahá smiled and said:

How clever her ruse.

By mentioning the pilgrims and the resident Bahá'ís, the Greatest Holy Leaf had found a way to get 'Abdu'l-Bahá back to the Holy Land as soon as possible.

The S.S. Baron Call, 'Abdu'l-Bahá’s ship as He sails from Egypt to Haifa, arriving on 5 December 1913. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

When Ibn-i-Aṣdaq had returned to Haifa from Alexandria on 2 December 1913, after having delivered the Greatest Holy Leaf's message to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, he mentioned 'Abdu’l-Bahá's physical frailty and extreme fatigue from three constant years of traveling, but he also came bearing momentous news: 'Abdu'l-Bahá was coming home.

As soon as Ibn-i-Aṣdaq had delivered the glad-tidings of the Master's return, the Greatest Holy Leaf and the Holy Family immediately and feverishly began making preparations for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's arrival.

Rúḥá Aṣdaq, Ibn-i-Aṣdaq's daughter, her mother, and sister Huvíyyih began to make rishtih, a Persian noodle dish, a favorite of the Master's, as well as sewing new clothes for ‘Abdu'l-Bahá.

Knowing her brother's fountain-like generosity, The Greatest Holy Leaf told the ladies:

These clothes I shall keep in safekeeping, for as soon as ‘Abdu'l-Bahá hears of His set of new clothes, He will give them away, and I shall not be able to find another set of hands who can do the job as well as you. The usual clothes were too rough on Him.

The elated Bahá'ís knew the Master was coming, but they had no idea when. He could arrive at any moment, and they rushed to make sure everything was absolutely perfect for His arrival.

The evening before 'Abdu'l-Bahá’s arrival in Haifa, 4 December 1913, was a beautiful night with a gentle breeze caressing the sea and the brilliant stars above heralding a bright and clear day.

Early at dawn on 5 December 1913, a ship could be seen in the distance, gracefully aiming its way along the bay.

The Greatest Holy Leaf cast a deep look and said,

O vessel, what is it you bring that makes you sway so gracefully?

It was the Baron Call.

The house of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá at 7, Persian street (now Haparsim). Source: Bahá'í Media Bank, © Bahá'í International Community 2024.

A few hours after the Greatest Holy Leaf had gazed at the approaching ship, wondering about its passengers, the Baron Call approached Haifa harbor and its loud whistle was heard far and wide.

The Master’s house had been prepared for ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's arrival.

The floor of the large, spacious downstairs hall was covered with magnificent rugs, and in the center, a table filled with fruit and delicacies had been placed. Scattered along the walls were a few chairs, but most of the Bahá'ís, pilgrims, and residents sat on the floor.

As was the custom, women and members of the Holy Family were behind a curtain, venerable elderly believers with their white beards on one side, younger ones on the other, all eagerly awaiting ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's entrance.

When the Master alighted from His carriage, the Greatest Holy Leaf and His daughters rushed towards Him and embraced Him. Utterly exhausted from the long trip, the Holy Family ensured He took time to go to His room, rest briefly, and change clothes.

At last, when ‘Abdu'l-Bahá entered the large downstairs hall, everyone rose to their feet and started prostrating on the ground, ignoring the Master's protestations.

'Abdu'l-Bahá’s first words to those gathered around Him were:

Welcome! Welcome!

A chair was set aside for Him to sit on, but ‘Abdu'l-Bahá sat on the floor and gave a short speech about His long journey through the west, His return, and the spiritual beauty of Mount Carmel.

After His daughter Ḍíyá’íyyih Khánum chanted a prayer, the ladies withdrew from the main hall, the men took their place. ‘Abdu'l-Bahá asked Apostle of Bahá’u’lláh Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Furúghí, who had a beautiful voice, to chant a supplication, and the latter obliged, chanting the Tablet of Ru’yà (the Tablet of the Vision). 

Shoghi Effendi with his classmates at Syrian Protestant College in 1913. Shoghi Effendi is indicated with an X on his white jacket. Source: Worldwide Community of Bahá'u'lláh.

There is official date for this story, but 'Abdu'l-Bahá returned to Haifa in December 1913, and that would have been around the time that the students from Syrian Protestant College would begin their winter break.

Shoghi Effendi arrived in Haifa from Beirut around this time to spend his holidays with his adored Grandfather and great-aunt, and, of course the Holy Family and his friends.

When the Greatest Holy Leaf took Shoghi Effendi in her arms, her eyes simply lit up with pure unalloyed joy.

Shoghi Effendi did not look good.

He seemed to have lost weight and he looked frail and weak and the Greatest Holy Leaf did not let that go unnoticed. She questioned her beloved great-nephew:

Why are you so weak? See how the other youth are fit and wholesome.

Shoghi Effendi replied:

I don’t like the food there and can’t eat it.

The Greatest Holy Leaf said:

Then how is it that others seem to like the food and eat it.

Shoghi Effendi responded:

They are able to spend more money and can eat better food.

This episode is important, because it goes to show that even as a 16-year-old Shoghi Effendi was used to a difficult life. He did not eat well, and he most often did not enjoy his studies, which took him far away from his beloved 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Bahíyyih Khánum.

During his vacation, Shoghi Effendi acted very differently from his other friends in Haifa who had also come from Beirut. They would joke and play around, but Shoghi Effendi rarely engaged with those activities. He could always be found reading a book or a newspaper.

He would always sit by the Greatest Holy Leaf, spent most of his free time in her room, listening to her speak, completely engrossed in her fascinating stories.

The 16-year-old future Guardian had a very beautiful and elegant face, but it had a sadness to it, which many people over the years would later remark on. His smile was sweet and he had the lifelong habit of spontaneously breaking out into a heartwarming laughter.

Background image from Freepik.

'Abdu'l-Bahá understood deeply the depth and breadth of Bahíyyih Khánum’s suffering after Bahá'u'lláh’s Ascension.

During the 29 years of His ministry, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote His cherished sister letters which testified to the depth of His extraordinary compassion and empathy, describing in details the sufferings of His saintly sister, showing that He alone understood and even felt her agonizing pain.

The undated Tablet below is deeply moving as 'Abdu'l-Bahá offers Himself as His sister’s unfailing comforter and the entire tone of this excerpt is one of unconditional love and reassurance:

O My well-beloved, deeply spiritual sister!

Day and night thou livest in my memory. Whenever I remember thee my heart swelleth with sadness and my regret groweth more intense. Grieve not, for I am thy true, thy unfailing comforter.

Let neither despondency nor despair becloud the serenity of thy life or restrain thy freedom.

These days shall pass away…From the beginning of time sorrow and anxiety, regret and tribulation, have always been the lot of every loyal servant of God.

Ponder this in thine heart and consider how very true it is.

Wherefore, set thine heart on the tender mercies of the Ancient Beauty and be thou filled with abiding joy and intense gladness.

Poverty was a worldwide issue during World War I, both in Palestine and in England. This photograph shows a food line during the war on Blackburn's Victoria Street. Source: Imperial War Museum.

Shoghi Effendi stated that age seemed to have magnified the tenderness of the Greatest Holy Leaf’s loving heart, and the appalling suffering around her caused the her to extend her love and care to more and more people around her.

The conflict and its attending suffering acted as a catalyst which revealed the true worth of the Greatest Holy Leaf’s character and the energies latent in her heart.

In the depths of World War I, Bahíyyih Khánum reached the height of her spiritual attainments. The many miseries born of war and deprivation steeled her resolve, multiplied her energies, and revealed her deepest potential.

She gave her entire being without thought for her own comfort, she gave freely, she gave selflessly, she gave with utter disinterest, and her influence on all those she came in contact with profound and transformative.

Bahíyyih Khánum was responsible for feeding the poor who, with no place else to go, gravitated to the house of the Master.

When they begged for help, the Greatest Holy Leaf cooked for them, sent them food, or provided to them when they came to the house in person.

Day after day, Bahíyyih Khánum enfolded the helpless victims of the conflict in her abundant love and supremely generous heart.

The greatness of her character and her purity of spirit were unforgettable to those she ministered to. She cheered everyone with her words, her tender comfort, she helped them with food, with money, with clothing.

She sheltered the orphan, healed the sick, and comforted the homeless and wanderers.

The Greatest Holy Leaf also took an active role in supporting 'Abdu'l-Bahá’s various humanitarian activities during the war.

AI illustration generated by Pikaso AI.

The Greatest Holy Leaf was a natural healer, one with deeply intuitive skills.

Not only was the Greatest Holy Leaf infinitely compassionate and empathic, but she had profound insight into the nature of their ailments.

Theh Greatest Holy Leaf prepared home remedies, which she did, according to Shoghi Effendi through “a process of her own” and applied them diligently to the sick.

In her characteristic wisdom and practicality, we are told that the Greatest Holy Leaf turned to professionals when the situation demanded it.

Aabey, a Druze village in Lebanon. There are, unfortunately, no photographs that we could find of Abú Sinán, and so this image is of another mountain-top Druze village in the same geographical region as Abú Sinán. Wikimedia Commons.

Haifa was under real threat of Allied bombardment, enough that ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had the Bahá'ís of the Holy Land temporarily move to the hills east of ʻAkká, where they were sheltered by a kid Druze Shaykh in his village.

The Bahá'ís would live in Abú-Sinán from September 1914 to 5 May 1915.

At ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's request, both a small school and a dispensary were established in the village. 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked two young men to oversee each initiative: Mírzá Badí' Bushrú'í was to run the Bahá'í children’s school and Dr. Ḥabíb Mu'ayyad took charge of the dispensary, but both of them worked under the supervision of the Greatest Holy Leaf.

'Abdu'l-Bahá visited Abú-Sinán every week to supervise the affairs of the community there, only staying a night or two before returning to Haifa. Sometimes, when sick people visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá—because all the local doctors were away, involved in the war effort—He would write them a note, referring them to Dr. Ḥabíb Mu’ayyad in Abú-Sinán:

Áqá Mírzá Ḥabíb, please heal this person.

A Druze family making bread in 1920. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Greatest Holy Leaf shared a home with the ladies of the Holy Family and two American Bahá'ís, Edith Sanderson and Lua Getsinger.

During their time in Abú-Sinán, the Greatest Holy Leaf, then 68 years old, personally prepared everyone’s meals and made sure everyone was fed, sending food to them if they could not come to her.

Although they lacked basic ingredients, and there were shortages of everything, the Bahá'ís in Abú-Sinán never suffered.

There was an ample supply of bread, cheese, olives and figs and they had largely enough to eat. When they managed to get some meat, the Greatest Holy Leaf would prepare meat skewers, called “kabob,” and the Bahá'ís ate them with, in Dr. Ḥabíb Mu’ayyad’s words “indescribable joy.”

Bahíyyih Khánum was the person in charge of everyone’s safety, and she ensured the peace and well-being of the hundreds of Bahá'ís in her care.

The Greatest Holy Leaf was the custodian of the holy relics, and during their 8-month stay in Abú-Sinán, she had brought with her the immeasurably priceless portraits of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb for safekeeping in her room. The portraits were returned to Haifa on 5 May 1915, when they left the Druze village.

During these 8 months between September 1914 and May 1915, , the only two Bahá'ís left in Haifa were 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Hájí Mírzá Ḥaydar-‘Alí, too old and too ill to travel.

After the Holy Family and the Bahá'ís returned to Haifa in 1915, 'Abdu'l-Bahá began telling stories of early believers during the Heroic Age of the Faith, 85 in all, which were later collected under the title Memorials of the Faithful.

A contemporary camel caravan transporting salt in Ethiopia as an illustration of the 20 camels that moved the 140 Bahá'ís back from Abú-Sinán back to Haifa on 4 May 1915. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

After 8 months in the Druze village of Abú-Sinán, the Greatest Holy Leaf, the Holy Family, and the Bahá'ís returned to Haifa on 4 May 1915.

In the afternoon, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been entertaining a number of officers in the garden of His home, after an extremely busy day with Bahá'í farmers from ‘Adasiyyíh, and home visits when the Greatest Holy Leaf arrived with three of the household’s maids.

Everyone was so happy to see them return!

Over the course of the 8 months Bahíyyih Khánum, 'Abdu'l-Bahá’s family and the Bahá'ís from Haifa and 'Akká had been living in Abú-Sinán, they had incrementally had things brought over.

But now, as they were coming home, they brought everything back all at once.

It took 20 camels to carry everything from household utensils, furniture, and beds.

Twenty camels arrived at the house of the Master, kneeling at the gate of the garden, patiently, while they were unloaded.

Once everything had been unloaded, the camel drives asked to come in and have their dinner, something that was no doubt entirely overseen by the Greatest Holy Leaf herself!

A view of the garden at the House of the Master in Haifa. Photograph by Farzam Sabetian. Source: Luminous Spot.

Genevieve Coy was an American Bahá'í earning her Ph.D. in education from Columbia university and specialized in teaching gifted children and psychology. She and three other Bahá'í women, Mabel Paine, Sylvia Paine, and Cora Grey came to Haifa on pilgrimage for a week from 1 to 8 September 1920. A year from then, Genevieve would move to Persia to run the Tarbíyaṭ School for Girls in Ṭihrán.

Genevieve, Mable, Sylvia, and Cora did not see 'Abdu'l-Bahá on 3 September 1920, but they spent a delightful morning speaking with the ladies of the Holy Family and their children. Shoghi Effendi was just getting ready to leave the Holy Land and begin his studies at Oxford University in England.

The afternoon of 3 September 1920 was an exceptional day, because there were no men outside the house of the Master. The tradition at the time in Ottoman Palestine was that women had to wear veils in public and they could not be seen by men outside the family, and there were usually gardeners working, but not that day.

'Abdu'l-Bahá had explained to the Genevieve and her friends that the time had not yet come for Bahá'ís to go against those particular local customs.

The ladies of the Holy Family took the four pilgrims out to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá’s exquisite garden, which He had been developing with His gardeners for about 9 years.

The seeds and cuttings for the great variety of flowers, fruits, and vegetables had been lovingly sent to the Holy Land from Bahá'ís all over the world.

Above the main gateway to the garden was a large, lush, flowering bougainvillea. The women saw peaches, lemons, and pomegranates. 'Abdu'l-Bahá’s daughters picked two varieties of pomegranates, sweet and sour and had the pilgrim women taste them.

This was the first time in months that the Greatest Holy Leaf had been able to enjoy being outside in the garden.

The Greatest Holy Leaf walked along the garden paths, looking at all the plants and trees. Several of these paths were covered trellises, weighed down by beautiful flowering vines. Beneath one of these was a lovely garden bench.