That night we were sitting together with some members of the Master's family; the room was dimly lighted by candles which cast strange shadows on the walls and low ceiling; the latticed windows opened on to the narrow street flooded with moonlight, and as we sat thus in silence waiting for our Master we heard His voice in the hall, and all arose to greet Him as He appeared on the threshold, and the light of His beautiful countenance was shed upon us.
On Sunday morning we awakened with the joy and hope of the meeting on Mount Carmel. The Master arrived quite early and after looking at me, touching my head and counting my pulse, still holding my hand He said to the believers present: “There will be no meeting on Mount Carmel today. We shall meet elsewhere, Inshá'alláh, [God Willing] in a few days, but we could not go and leave one of the beloved of God alone and sick. We could none of us be happy unless all the beloved were happy.”
We were astonished. That anything so important as this meeting in that blessed spot should be cancelled because one person was ill and could not go seemed incredible. It was so contrary to all ordinary habits of thought and action, so different from the life of the world where daily events and material circumstances are supreme in importance that it gave us a genuine shock of surprise, and in that shock the foundations of the old order began to totter and fall.
The Master's words had opened wide the door of God's Kingdom and given us a vision of that infinite world whose only law is love. This was but one of many times that we saw 'Abdu'l-Baha place above every other consideration the love and kindness, the sympathy and compassion due to every soul. Indeed, as we look back upon that blessed time spent in His presence we understand that the object of our pilgrimage was to learn for the first time on earth what love is, to witness its light in every face, to feel its burning heat in every heart and to become ourselves enkindled with this divine flame from the Sun of Truth, the Essence of whose being is love.
So on that Sunday morning He sat with us for awhile and we thought no more of the meeting on Mount Camel, for in the joy infinite rest of His presence all else was swallowed up.
Next day, Monday, others of our party, who had been up the Nile, arrived, and later our Beloved told us that He would be obliged to go to 'Akka that day as important government matters made His immediate presence there indispensable. Then He told us all to be happy and cheerful for soon we should be in the home of our Heavenly Father, and He bade us be ready to leave for 'Akka on Wednesday morning at about 6 o'clock, and then bade each one a loving farewell.
On Tuesday His daughters and my spiritual mother, Lua, arrived from 'Akka, and on that same afternoon we received visits from several cousins and other members of the holy family who lived in Haifa.
On Tuesday night I told my spiritual mother that the Master evidently did not realize how ill and weak I was or He would never have expected me to leave with the others on Wednesday morning. Oh! We of little faith! No wonder she smiled and shook her head, saying, 'You will soon realize something of the power of 'Abdu'l-Baha.'
It was about dawn[Wednesday] when I awoke, feeling myself stirred by a breeze. I cannot describe what followed, but through my soul was flowing an essence; a mighty, unseen force was penetrating all my being, expanding it with boundless life and love and happiness, lifting and enfolding me in its mighty strength and peace. I knew then it was the Holy Spirit of God and that our Lord was praying for His servants in that blessed dawn, and I arose and prayed and was quite well.
At an early hour we all met and set out in carriages for the holy city[Akka] and the merciful spirit of God never left us as we drove along the shore, drawing ever nearer to the earthly abode of Him who was the Glory of God, His bounty descending like rain upon our souls. Our hearts were too full for words and in reverent silence we gazed upon the walled city as it lay white and clear and beautiful in the still morning light, with the deep blue Mediterranean at its feet and the dome of the luminous sky above.
- May
Maxwell (‘An Early Pilgrimage’)