A few days later, a villa was rented for the Master and His
family, not far from the Hotel Victoria, [in Ramleh, Egypt, 1911] in a lovely
residential section that lay right next to the beautiful Mediterranean and the
beaches. Like all the villas in that area, it had a garden with blossoms and
flowering shrubs. It was there that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá chose to receive His guests –
a great variety of notables, public figures, clerics, aristocrats, writers as
well as poor and despairing people. I went there often, sometimes on the way
home from school, sometimes on weekends. When I was not in school I spent most
of my time in His garden. I would wait to catch a glimpse of Him as He came out
for His customary walk, or conversed with pilgrims from faraway places. To hear
His vibrant and melodious voice ringing in the open air, to see Him, somehow
exhilarated me and gave me hope. Quite often, He came to me and smiled and
talked. There was a radiance about Him, an almost unlimited kindness and love
that shone from Him. Seeing Him, I was infused with a feeling of goodness. I
felt humble and, at the same time, exceedingly happy.
- Aziz Yazdi (When he was about fourteen years old,
‘Memories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’, published in the online version of ‘The Baha’i
World’; The Baha’i World Center)
