On Monday morning, March 26, 1916, he was sitting peacefully in his room in Bahji, now and then looking out of the window over the olive grove, beyond the sea and far it seemed into the infinitude. Suddenly he turned his wonderful, penetrating eyes upon me and asked me to chant one of the prayers of Baha’u’llah. As I continued my chant I felt a strange consciousness coming over me a realization of my unworthiness in being permitted to live so long and so near the divine presence of Abdu’l-Baha. When I finished the prayer he looked at me with charming sweetness, that soft, dancing light in his eyes and said: "Thou must be infinitely grateful to Baha’u’llah that He has chosen thee to be with me for so long a time. Surely it must be for a great purpose that is not apparent at the present time. It will become clear in the future. Now bring pen, paper and ink and I will dictate a Tablet for America.
- Ahmad Sohrab (From a talk by Ahmad Sohrab at the Eleventh Annual Mashriqu’l-Adhkar Convention and Baha’i Congress, held in McAlpin Hotel, New York City, April 26th 30th, 1919; Star of the West, vol. 10, no.4, May 17, 1919)
The original Tablet was addressed to Mr. Hooper Harris, New York City, N. Y. care J. H. Hannen, Washington, D. C. It was received August 19, 1916 (Star of the West, vol. 7, no.10, September 8, 1916)