• The letter. [SoW Vol 2 No 15 December 12, 1911 p3]
• While crossing the Atlantic on the S.S. Cedric He told a newspaperman, "I am going to America at the invitation of the Peace Congresses of that place, as the fundamental principles of our Cause are universal peace, the oneness of the world of humanity and the equality of the rights of men..." When the ship docked in New York and the plank was lowered, the press clambered aboard to interview him and he told them, "Our object is... the unity of mankind... I have come to America to see the advocates of universal peace..." [Who Will Bell the Cat: The Story of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Visit to Lake Mohonk by Janet Ruhe-Schoen]
• These meetings at Lake Mohonk were instrumental in the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. [Wikipedia]

• Juan Cole has suggested this talk took place at the Dreyfus residence on the evening of Saturday the 18th of November. [`Abdu'l-Baha on Democracy and the Separation of Religion and State]
• Another translation of the talk can be found in Sen McGlinn's book, Church and State: A Post Modern Political Theology p223-226; 404-409.

• This talk was published in the Star of the West Let There be Peace.

In a comment not in the transcript of the talk in Promulgation of Universal Peace He is recorded as having said that the Italians left their country:

"in order to persecute the poor Arabs…is nothing else than avarice and greediness".

To Him the occupation of Libya was "an illegal assault.

[Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Bahá's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p19]

• Later in the day He spoke at the home of Mademoiselle Gastea, An Address on Truth. It was published in SoW Vol 2 No 18 February,1912 p3-6.

The Second Congress was held at The Hague, August 22–27, 1912. Twenty-three countries sent official government delegates. Over 1,000 members were officially enrolled for the congress. Over 200 papers of some 2,000 words each were contributed and appeared in the five published volumes of more than 1,200 pages. [Wikipedia]

From Alexandria, Egypt, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent a paper called Universal Education.

One incident in particular, the East St. Louis Race Riot, also called the East St. Louis Massacre, was a major catalyst of the silent parade. This horrific event drove close to six thousand blacks from their own burning homes and left several hundred dead.

By this time, Bahá'í students from Haifa and 'Akká, as well as Persia, Egypt, and Beirut, had attended SPC (later called the American University at Beirut) for about a decade, in increasing numbers over the previous few years. There were no comparable institutions in their own countries, and attending universities in Europe or America was not yet practical for most. As SPC became a popular choice, the prospect of joining an existing group of Bahá'í students was an additional attraction. A sizable group of students as well attended the Université Saint-Joseph (USJ), also in Beirut. Together, they constituted a single coherent group, meeting together, visiting each other, and collaborating, for example, in the activities of the "Society of the Bahá'í Students of Beirut," which had been formed in 1906. ['Abdu'l-Bahá and the Bahá'í Students]

Some historians claim that the racial terror connected with "Red Summer" began as early as 1917 during the bloody massacre that occurred in East St. Louis, Illinois, a barbaric pogrom that would eventually set the stage for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst episodes of post-Civil War racial violence ever committed against Black Americans. The Tulsa Massacre left as many as 300 Black people dead and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of Greenwood, an all-Black community so wealthy, the philosopher Booker T. Washington called it "Negro Wall Street." [Red Summer: When Racists Mobs Ruled]

At a Feast held in the home of Mr and Mrs Leo Perron in Chicago it was decided to write a supplication to 'Abdu'l-Bahá asking Him to come to America. The idea was approved by the Spiritual Assembly and a letter was sent to all other assemblies to solicit signatures for the petition. In the early part of January all the signatures were received and sent to Akka along with the supplication. [SoW Vol 10 No 3 August 1, 1919 p168; p156]

'Abdu'l-Bahá's response, translated by Shoghi Effendi, can be found on p154-155.

The book was in high demand and the Society had sold all its copies so they asked Laura Barney for permission for a second publishing. She took the opportunity to make some corrections and added "one lesson". She asked that the copyright of the book be put in her name in the United States. [LB174-175]

"Each one of you should have a copy. Read, memorize and reflect upon it. Then, when accusations and criticisms are advanced . . . you will be well armed."[The Brilliant Proof]

The Brilliant Proof was first translated by Ali Kuli Khan and published by the Bahá'í News Service in Chicago in 1912 in which it said: "Written in response to published attacks on the Bahá'í Religion by the British clergyman Peter Z Easton" (1846-1915). [Collins7.15 p41]

Peter Easton (1846-1915) was a Presbyterian in the Synod of the Northeast in New York who had been stationed in Tabriz from 1873 to 1880. While 'Abdul'Bahá was in England Easton attempted to meet and challenge him. He made those around him uncomfortable and 'Abdu'l-Bahá withdrew him to a private conversation and then after which he left. Later he was able to have printed a polemic attack on the religion, Bahaism — A Warning, in the Evangelical Christendom newspaper of London (Sept.-Oct. 1911 edition.) It was published in the Appendix of The Brilliant Proof (p70-80) [Bahaipedia]

For more on Peter Easton see 'Abdu'l-Bahá (p149-152).

Lady Blomfield in her book The Chosen Highway (p183) described such a visit and the affect it had on 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

The main provisions included the following:

After defeating the Ottoman army they confiscated on large scale the lands of the Arab peasants on which Italian settlements were established and large numbers of Italian settlers were brought in for the cultivation of cash products. The war cost Italy 1.3 billion lire, nearly a billion more than Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti had estimated before the war. This ruined ten years of fiscal prudence.

This war is notable for the introduction of new military technologies including the use of the airplane for reconnaissance and bombing. It also included the first instance of an airplane being shot down by ground fire.

The Italians also used a wireless telegraph network established with the help of the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi.

This war is considered by historians as a precursor of the First World War. Members of the Balkan League, seeing how easily Italy defeated the Ottomans and motivated by incipient Balkan nationalism, attacked the Ottoman Empire in October 1912, starting the First Balkan War a few days before the end of the Italo-Turkish War. [Wikipedia]

The Battle of Benghazi was a preliminary to the fascist invasion of Ethiopia and Italy's ambitions to establish its own colonial empire. [Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p18]

These individuals were accused of collaborating with the British and the French and were seen as leaders of the Arab nationalist movement. The day has become to be known as "Syrian Martyrs Day". [Wikipedia; Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p21]

See Talk 23 June 1913 for a provisional translation of the talk by Adib Masumian. As mentioned in the footnotes the unnamed man was Cardinal John Murphy Farley of New York.

See a provisional translation of a talk Àbdu'l-Bahá gave in Port Said on the 23rd of Jun 1913 on His meeting with the Cardinal.

In the afternoon He gave a public talk at the home of Mrs Sidney Roberts and in the evening He spoke at the Church of the Messiah. [MD357; 239Days175]

By December the article found its way to Mirzá Abu'l-Fazl in Beirut who wrote a fitting response to the attack on the Faith. Abu'l-Fazl signed it, and mailed it to 'Àbdu'l-Bahá, "so that He can, in his wisdom, decide what to do with it."

Àbdu'l-Bahá received the manuscript in New York on June 19, 1912. He had it translated and printed, and called it The Brilliant Proof. "Each one of you should have a copy," he told the Americans. "Read, memorize and reflect upon it. Then, when accusations and criticisms are advanced . . . you will be well armed." [239 Days Website]

For obvious reasons, the treatment of aviation matters was a subject at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. The conference was the first political effort to develop the doctrines of international law relating to aerial navigation. Delegates disagreed about the right of foreign aircraft to fly over national territory. It was resolved to create an Aeronautical Commission charged to prepare a convention on international aerial navigation. The result was the creation of the International Commission for Air Navigation under the authority of the League of Nations. This Paris Convention was the first successful attempt at common regulation of international air navigation and laid the foundations of air law.

A proposal was formally taken up by France and submitted to the other principal Allied powers who received it favourably. This action then resulted in the drawing up of the International Air Convention, which was signed by 26 of the 32 Allied and Associated powers represented at the Paris Peace Conference and was ultimately ratified by 38 States. It should be noted that this Convention took over all the principles that had already been formulated by the Conference that had been held in 1910 in Paris. The Convention was ultimately in force for thirty-three States by 1940.

The U.S. government extended an invitation to 55 States to attend an International Civil Aviation Conference in Chicago in 1944. Known then and today more commonly as the 'Chicago Convention', this landmark agreement laid the foundation for the standards and procedures for peaceful global air navigation. It set out as its prime objective the development of international civil aviation "…in a safe and orderly manner", and such that air transport services would be established "on the basis of equality of opportunity and operated soundly and economically." On 4 April 1947, upon sufficient ratifications to the Chicago Convention, the International Civil Aviation Authority came into being. The first official ICAO Assembly was held in Montreal in May of that year. On 3 October 1947 the ICAO became a UN specialized agency.

Today the ICAO has 193 Members States with headquarters located in the Quartier international de Montréal of Montreal, Quebec, Canada with seven Regional Offices throughout the world. [Chicago Convention; 1919 Paris Convention; ICAO website]

"If the Zionists will mingle with the other races and live in unity with them, they will succeed. If not, they will meet certain resistance. For the present I think a neutral government like the British administration would be best. A Jewish government might come later.

"There is too much talk today of what the Zionists are going to do here. There is no need of it. Let them come and do more and say less.

"The Zionists should make it clear that their principle is to elevate all the people here and to develop the country for all its inhabitants. This land must be developed, according to the promises of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zachariah. If they come in such a spirit they will not fail. [SoW Vol 10 Issue 10 September 8, 1919 p194-195]

A short biography: Blance Rachel Mirra Alfassa (b. 21 February 1878, d. 17 November 1973 Pondicherrry, India). She was the daughter of Sephardic Jews from Turkey and Egypt. She studied art at the Academy des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1897 she married the French painter Henry François Morisott and they had a son (b.1898). They divorced in 1908 and she married the French lawyer Paul Antoine Richard. Around 1905 she became involved with the occult movement, first in France and from 1906-10907 in Algeria. In 1914 she and Paul left for India and met the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo at Pondicherry. They returned to France briefly 1915-1916 and from 1916 to 1920 she and Paul were in Japan. In 1920 they returned to Pondicherry and from then until the end of her life she was associated with Sri Aurobindo's ashram. After his passing in 1950 she became the head and was know as "the Mother". [ABF339n815]

Three of her books are: Words of Long Ago by The Mother (Mirra Richard), Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publications 1994, The Mother-Collected Works Vol 2-Words of Long Ago and The Mother (Questions and Answers 1950-51.

Paul Richard's biographical book was called Without Passport: The Life and Work of Paul Richard covers the period from his birth to 1919. He was a lawyer in the Paris Court of Appeals and it is likely that he learned of the Faith from Hippolyte Dreyfus.

Those elected to the Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity were: Albert H. Hall, (President), Mrs. Annie L. Parmerton, (Vice-President), Mr. Alfred E. Lunt, (Secretary), Mr. William H. Randall, (Assistant Secretary), Mrs. Corinne True, Mr. Bernard M. Jacobsen, (Treasurer), Mr. William C. Ralston, Mr. Edward B. Kinney, and Mr. Mountfort Mills.

The British army took the city in the 1st Battle of Haifa: The battle was won due to a courageous uphill assault by the Jodhpur Lancers of the Indian Army who took the German and Turkish artillery and machine gun emplacements on top of Mount Carmel by surprise. This attack is believed to have been one of the last cavalry charge in modern military history. Each year, on this date, the Indian Army commemorates this victory as Haifa Day. [AY104; BBR335; DH148, Scroll In 68095]

• While there He encountered Zillu's-Sultán, the eldest son of the Sháh of the time, Násirid-Dín Sháh. It was he who had ratified the execution of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs and at least 100 others. The whole family was in exile in Geneva at this time. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was very courteous to this man who had been such an inveterate enemy of the Cause. [DJT172, AY19, GPB201] .
• The Master sent for Juliet Thompson who had been waiting in London for His permission to join Him.
• During His stay he had a visit from Annie Boylan, a member of the New York community that was experiencing disharmony. Unaware of Bahá'í election procedures, a group that was unhappy with the disunity and ineffectiveness of the Council had organized a vote to be rid of several of its Council members. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had written to the community a short time before recommending that the Council be expanded from 9 to 27 members so that all factions could be represented. He also recommended that women be included on the Council and that the name be changed to "the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New York". This apparently addressed the problem of disunity because the New York community went on to contribute significantly to the progress of the Faith on a national level. [DJT181, BFA2p338]
• Horace Holley, who lived at Quattro Torri, Siena, Italy at the time, along with his wife Bertha Herbert and baby daughter Hertha, visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the 29th and 30th of August. Please see his Religion for Mankind p 232-237 for a pen portrait of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
• He met with Elizabeth Stewart and Lillian Kappes who were on their way to Tehran. [find reference]
• It would appear that He returned to Marseilles and travelled to London by sea. [SCU22-23]

"Mírzá Mahmúd was a careful and faithful chronicler and engaged in assembling and publishing his work with the permission of the beloved Master . . ." (The Universal House of Justice - a letter dated April 30, 1984 addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States).

• He was the younger half-brother of Bahá'u'lláh and a follower of the Báb who conferred on him a high station and leading role in the Bábí community. Later he became an opponent of Bahá'u'lláh. Shoghi Effendi described him as "the arch-breaker of the Covenant of the Báb." GPB165
• He was known as Azal (Eternity or Pre-eternity) and Subh-i-Azal (Morning of Eternity) and his followers become known as Azalís.
• He had been deserted by most of his followers and was given a Muslim funeral. [BKG426; GPB233]
• Years later the sons of Mírzá Yahya and their relatives reconciled themselves to the authority of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [CH237-238]

Talk at Reception at Metropolitan Temple, Seventh Avenue and Fourteenth Street, New York. [PUP150]

News reached Àbdu'l-Bahá of the impending conflict in the Balkan Peninsula. [Àbdu'l-Bahá in America

'Abdul'-Bahá and His party embarked from Alexandria on the White Star Line Liner RMS Cedric for New York via Naples. They departed Naples on the 30th of March and made a call at Gibraltar. Three of His party were forced to leave the ship for supposed "medical' reasons. Among them was His grandson, Shoghi Effendi. [AB171; GPB281; ABF274; ABTM50-52; SYH50-51]

Having heard that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in Los Angeles, Mabel Rice-Wray took children Edris and Colston to the hotel where the Master was staying. They spent over an hour with 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His room. Both Edris and Colston sat on 'Abdu'l-Bahá's knee and were given cookies. Some years later, in response to a letter from their mother, 'Abdu'l-Bahá bestowed the name Rawshan ("brilliance") on Edris, and Ruqi on Colston, and revealed in their honour the well-known prayer for children that begins: "O my Lord! O my Lord! I am a child of tender years. Nourish me from the breast of Thy mercy ... " [Find a grave Edris Rawshan Wray]

Austria declared war on Serbia.

Note: Memories of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Ali M Yazdi says that He returned to Ramleh on the 3rd of July.

Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said: "the freedom of Europeans, that an individual is free to do whatsoever he desires as long as he does not harm any other person," and says "In the religion of God, there is no freedom of action. Man cannot transgress the law of God, even if no harm is done to others. For the purpose of the law of God is education, for others and for oneself. In the sight of God, to harm oneself is the same as to harm someone else, and both are blameworthy." [Message 9 May 2014]

... learned apologist . .. (one of the) successive messengers despatched by 'Abdu'l-Bahá (who) succeeded in rapidly dispelling the doubts, and in deepening the understanding of the believers, in holding the community together, and in forming the nucleus of those administrative insitutions which, two decades later, were to be formally inaugurated through the explicit provisions of'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament. Shoghi Effendi
• He became a believer in 1876. [RoB3p91-107]
• He was named as an Apostle of Bahá'u'lláh.
• For biographical information see EM263–5; SDH113; RoB3p433-441; SBNB208-225
• See BW17p625 for Highlights in the life of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl based on an article by R Mehrabkani
• His resting place is now next to that of Lua Getsinger in the Bahá'í cemetery in Cairo. [BW9p87]
• His numerous works include Fará'id (The Peerless Gems) 1898; The Brilliant Proof; 1912; Bahá'í Proofs, 1902; and Al-Duraru'l-Bahíyih (The Shining Pearls, published in English as Miracles and Metaphors), 1900. [BBD7]
• Find a grave.
• See AY103, Star of the West, vol. IV, no. 19, pp. 316–7 and Bahá'í Proofs p17-18 for the story of how Ameen Fareed entered and secretly remained in Mírzá's house, between the time of Mírzá's death and his burial, and removed precious manuscripts which, slightly changed, he would spread among the believers in an attempt to undermine their unity at a later time.
• 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl in His home in Haifa on 21 and 22 January, 1914 as reported in SoW Vol 9 No 3 April 28, 1918.

• Borhān-e lāmeʿ, translated and published as The Brilliant Proof (1912),
• al-Ḥojaj al-bahīya, translated and published as Miracles and Metaphors (1981).
• A selection of his shorter works, entitled Letters and Essays (1985), is also available in English.
• His other works such as al-Farāʾed, Šarḥ-e Āyāt-e Mowarraḵa, Kašf al-ḡeṭāʾ, and a few collections of his shorter works exist in Arabic and Persian.

• The Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration was founded in 1895 and was held annually until 1917 for the purpose of creating and directing public sentiment in favour of international arbitration, arbitration treaties, and an international court. For archives see Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
• These meetings at Lake Mohonk were instrumental in the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. [Wikipedia]
• Picture.
• 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent Zia Baghdadi back to the city to obtain a carpet to be used as a gift for the president of the International Peace Society and His host, Mr Smiley. Baghdadi rode a freight train to New York, awoke the sleeping residents at 2 a.m., boarded the first train for Lake Mohonk, begged to ride on the mail run and arrived just as 'Abdu'l-Bahá was shaking Smiley's hand at 10 a.m. [Luminous Journey 58:00] iiiii
• See Who Will Bell the Cat: 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Lake Mohonk by Janet Ruhe-Schoen.
• See "The Cause of Universal Peace: 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Enduring Impact" by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson. This article looks at the circumstances around 'Abdu'l-Bahá's participation in the 1912 Lake Mohonk Arbitration Conference and the urgency and timeliness of His message over the subsequent decades. The article also reviews efforts of the Bahá'í community to promote world peace in the decades that followed.
• See a photo of Lake Mohonk in the article The Cause of Universal Peace; 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Enduring Impact by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson.