At the age of 24, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was clearly chief-steward to his father and an outstanding member of the Baháʼí community.
Baháʼu'lláh and his family were – in 1868 – exiled to the penal colony of Acre, Palestine where it was expected that the family would perish.
Arrival in ʻAkká was distressing for the family and exiles.
They were greeted in a hostile manner by the surrounding population and his sister and father fell dangerously ill.
When told that the women were to sit on the shoulders of the men to reach the shore, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá took a chair and carried the women to the bay of ʻAkká.
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was able to procure some anesthetic and nursed the sick.
The Baháʼís were imprisoned under horrendous conditions in a cluster of cells covered in excrement and dirt.
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá himself fell dangerously ill with dysentery, however a sympathetic soldier permitted a physician to help cure him.
The population shunned them, the soldiers treated them the same, and the behaviour of Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahani (an Azali) did not help matters.
Morale was further destroyed with the accidental death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's youngest brother Mírzá Mihdí at the age of 22.
His death devastated the family – particularly his mother and father – and the grieving ʻAbdu'l-Bahá kept a night-long vigil beside his brother's body.
At the age of 24, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was clearly chief-steward to his father and an outstanding member of the Baháʼí community. Baháʼu'lláh and his family were – in 1868 – exiled to the penal colony of Acre, Palestine where it was expected that the family would perish. Arrival in ʻAkká was distressing for the family and exiles. They were greeted in a hostile manner by the surrounding population and his sister and father fell dangerously ill. When told that the women were to sit on the shoulders of the men to reach the shore, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá took a chair and carried the women to the bay of ʻAkká. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was able to procure some anesthetic and nursed the sick. The Baháʼís were imprisoned under horrendous conditions in a cluster of cells covered in excrement and dirt. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá himself fell dangerously ill with dysentery, however a sympathetic soldier permitted a physician to help cure him. The population shunned them, the soldiers treated them the same, and the behaviour of Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahani (an Azali) did not help matters. Morale was further destroyed with the accidental death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's youngest brother Mírzá Mihdí at the age of 22. His death devastated the family – particularly his mother and father – and the grieving ʻAbdu'l-Bahá kept a night-long vigil beside his brother's body.
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá