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October 13, 2013

An example of love and compassion shown by Munirih Khanum (‘Abdu’l-Baha’s wife)

May Maxwell, who was among the first group of Western pilgrims to visit ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Akka in 1898-99, has left a brief description of a touching and heart-warming incident. Munirih Khanum, the wife of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, whom she refers to as Holy Mother, was consoling a young American woman who was overcome by feelings of sadness because her parents had not accepted the Baha’i Faith:
On one occasion one of the American believers was distraught and crying and said to the Holy Mother that she felt like an orphan because her parents did not believe. The wife of our Master took the girl in her arms, laid her head on her breast and told her that she was now her mother; therefore she should be comforted. Then she took her into the presence of the Master and sitting on the floor before Him in the most natural manner, still holding the girl close to her loving heart, told Him all. 
(May Maxwell, ‘An Early Pilgrimage’)