From: hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com (Kamran Hakim)
Subject: Re: Some more info on the Baha'is (2)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 17:04:29 GMT


Continuation from part 1:

farzin@apollo3d.apollo3.ntt.JP (Farzin Mokhtarian), you write:

>Let me quote some phrases from the book "God passes by" of Shoughi afandi
>about how they helped british army defeating Othomon government.

>"We learned that when the British marched into Haifa there was some difficulty
>about the commissariat. The officer in command went to consult theMaster.
>"I have corn" was the reply
>"But for the army?" said the astonished soldier.
>"I have corn for the British Army, " said Abdul-Baha

There is no SUCH COMBINATION OF WORDS found in God Passes By. This is 
perhaps why no page number is offered for the fabricated statements 
given above. For the sake of those who may be interested in verifying
this by themselves, "God Passes By" is available in English, printed 
by the US Baha'i Publishing Trust, ISBN 0-87743-020-9. Please check 
your local library. In any case, following is an extract of various 
sections of "God Passes By" dealing with some of the key-words you
have offered in your quotation on this issue:

"No need to dwell on the energetic steps which the English believers 
as soon as they had been apprized of the dire peril threatening
the life of 'Abdu'l-Baha [As a result of war.] undertook to insure 
His security; on the measures independently taken whereby Lord Curzon 
and others in the British Cabinet were advised as to the critical 
situation at Haifa; on the prompt intervention of Lord Lamington, who 
immediately wrote to the Foreign Office to "explain the importance of 
'Abdu'l-Baha's position;" on the dispatch which the Foreign Secretary, 
Lord Balfour, on the day of the receipt of this letter, sent to General
Allenby, instructing him to "extend every protection and consideration
to 'Abdu'l-Baha, His family and His friends;" on the cablegram
subsequently sent by the General, after the capture of Haifa, to London, 
requesting the authorities to "notify the world that 'Abdu'l-Baha is 
safe;" on the orders which that same General issued to the General 
Commanding Officer in command of the Haifa operations to insure 
'Abdu'l-Baha's safety, thus frustrating the express intention of the 
Turkish Commander-in-Chief (according to information which had reached 
the British Intelligence Service) to "crucify 'Abdu'l-Baha and His 
family on Mount Carmel" in the event of the Turkish army being compelled 
to evacuate Haifa and retreat northwards. The three years which elapsed 
between the liberation of Palestine by the British forces and the passing 
of 'Abdu'l-Baha were marked by a further enhancement of the prestige 
which the Faith, despite the persecutions to which it had been subjected,
 had acquired at its world center, and by a still greater extension in 
the range of its teaching activities in various parts of the world."
				God Passes By, pages 305-306

Moreover;

"The coffin containing the remains of 'Abdu'l-Baha was borne to its last 
resting-place on the shoulders of His loved ones. The cortege which 
preceded it was led by the City Constabulary Force, acting as a Guard 
of Honor, behind which followed in order the Boy Scouts of the Muslim 
and Christian communities holding aloft their banners, a company of 
Muslim choristers chanting their verses from the Qur'an, the chiefs of 
the Muslim community headed by the Mufti, and a number of Christian 
priests, Latin, Greek and Anglican. Behind the coffin walked the members 
of His family, the British High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, the 
Governor of Jerusalem, Sir Ronald Storrs, the Governor of Phoenicia, Sir 
Steward Symes, officials of the government, consuls of various countries 
resident in Haifa, notables of Palestine, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and 
Druze, Egyptians, Greeks, Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Europeans and Americans, 
men, women and children. The long train of mourners, amid the sobs and 
moans of many a grief-stricken heart, wended its slow way up the slopes 
of Mount Carmel to the Mausoleum of the Bab.

Close to the eastern entrance of the Shrine, the sacred casket was placed 
upon a plain table, and, in the presence of that vast concourse, nine 
speakers, who represented the Muslim, the Jewish and Christian Faiths, 
and who included the Mufti of Haifa, delivered their several funeral 
orations. These concluded, the High Commissioner drew close to the casket, 
and, with bowed head fronting the Shrine, paid his last homage of farewell 
to 'Abdu'l-Baha: the other officials of the Government followed his example. 
The coffin was then removed to one of the chambers of the Shrine, and there 
lowered, sadly and reverently, to its last resting-place in a vault adjoin-
ing that in which were laid the remains of the Bab.

During the week following His passing, from fifty to a hundred of the poor 
of Haifa were daily fed at His house, whilst on the seventh day corn was 
                                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
distributed in His memory to about a thousand of them irrespective of 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
creed or race. On the fortieth day an impressive memorial feast was held 
in His memory, to which over six hundred of the people of Haifa, 'Akka 
and the surrounding parts of Palestine and Syria, including officials and 
notables of various religions and races, were invited. More than one 
hundred of the poor were also fed on that day.

One of the assembled guests, the Governor of Phoenicia, paid a last 
tribute to the memory of 'Abdu'l-Baha in the following words: "Most of us 
here have, I think, a clear picture of Sir 'Abdu'l-Baha 'Abbas, of His 
dignified figure walking thoughtfully in our streets, of His courteous 
and gracious manner, of His kindness, of His love for little children 
and flowers, of His generosity and care for the poor and suffering. So 
gentle was He, and so simple, that in His presence one almost forgot 
that He was also a great teacher, and that His writings and His 
conversations have been a solace and an inspiration to hundred and 
thousands of people in the East and in the West."
				God Passes By, pages 312-314

The term "corn" appears once in the entire text of "God Passes By", 
which I have quoted above for your information. Perhaps the quote 
suggested above is from the version of "God Passes By" published by 
Muslim sources :-).

>He truly walked the Mystic way with practical feet.

I will not comment on the manner of your scholarship. This is an issue
which I'd like to leave to the judgment of the mindful readers of this
newsgroup.

						Part 2 of 12