To see, hear, or meet Him can never, it seems to me, be a
shock, a startling surprise, or an overwhelming impression. It is a perfectly
natural and simple experience, and may even, at first seem rather
disappointing; but ‘Abdu'l-Baha will ever grow upon you, even if the meeting is
only once. Gradually, you will realize, more and more, what it is you have been
in the presence of and made contact with. Not a personality, nor a dazzling
individual, but so wonderful a state of perfect detachment and consecration
have you encountered that it seems as if you are being lovingly addressed by
the Holy Spirit Itself. It is a great lesson to us of a man's perfect
attainment. We see before our eyes the attitude towards God each one of us ought to assume, so that each one in his place may be fully enabled to love all
mankind abundantly, and act with the greatest wisdom, always shedding round him
joy and happiness. (Star of the West, vol. 2, no. 12, October 16, 1911)
* He was one of the early British Bahá'ís, evidently saw
Bahá'u'lláh from a distance as confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in an unpublished
tablet addressed to him. It appears that he saw Baha’u’llah while He was
walking in the streets in the German colony at Haifa. (Moojan Momen, The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions 1844-1944, p. 234)
