- 1907-02-25 —
Subsequent to the visit the booklet Table Talks of Abdul Baha Taken Down in Persian by Mirza Hadi at Acca, Feb 1907. Notes Taken by Corinne True was published by the Bahai Publishing Society of Chicago with a translation by A. U. Fareed. It had a cover title of Notes Taken at Akka. [Collins 3.138 p14]
- The original unauthorized publication can be found at Bahá'í Library Online.
- 1911-03-10 —
'Abdu'l-Bahá sent Lua Getsinger and Dr Ameen Farid to California where they spoke to some 5,000 people delivering lectures on "Bahá'í Reformation" or referring to it in the course of lectures on other subjects. She spent two weeks visiting friends in Chicago and then departed for California on the 10th of March. [LGHC123]
- Among the groups contacted were the Scottish Rite Masons, the Knights Templar, the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, some literary clubs, a Unitarian congregation in Almeda, a large group of Japanese, the "World's Spiritual Congress", the Church of the Golden Rule, the Auxiliary of the Juvenile Court, with Persian, Turkish, Egyptian and Jewish ladies, the Federation of Women's club, the faculty members of the University of California and of Stanford University, the crew of the battleship S.S. California, and prisoners in San Quentin. They also went to Tijuana, Mexico, where a civil war was in progress, and where she served as a volunteer nurse for the Red Cross while Dr Fareed served as surgeon to the wounded. [LDNW25; SBBH1p126; SoW Vol 2 No 13 p6-7; SoW Vol 2 No 14 p13-14; SoW Vol 2 No 16 p12-13]
- Dr Fareed met President Taft at a luncheon of the Union League Club, and also at the
dedication of the ground for the 1915 Panama Exposition. He had an opportunity
for a few minutes to speak privately to the President when, as a Bahá'í, he congratulated
him upon his efforts for Arbitration Treaties and promotion of Peace between
nations. Thus the President was informed of the goal of the Bahá'í Movement, and its
sympathy with all efforts far the Unity and Peace of the world. [SoW Vol 2 No 14 p13]
- Some time before the end of 1911 Dr. Fareed returned to Egypt. See the same reference for a report from Ella Goodall Cooper on the progress of the teaching work in California. [SoW Vol 2 No 16 p12-13]
- Some of Lua's talks were:
- December 17th, 1911 at the California Club Hall in San Francisco. [LGHC358]
- January 6th, 1912 at the Bellevue Hotel in San Francisco. [LGHC373]
- January 16th, 1912 at the Bellevue Hotel in San Francisco. [LGHC375]
- Lua Getsinger travelled to Chicago to meet Him and to attend the dedication of the land for the Temple. 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked her to participate in the ground-breaking ceremony by turning over a shovelful of earth. [LDNW26-27] iiiii
- 1912-10-16 —
`Abdu'l-Bahá returned to San Francisco. Mrs Hearst asked Him if she could accompany Him. [AB308; 239 Days; MD330]
- "Alas, even the benefits of this heavenly visit were tarnished by the actions of one member of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's entourage...there was one spoiler, the nephew of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's wife, Dr Ameen Fareed....Fareed would never have been allowed on Phoebe's property had he not been accompanying the Master because she had had difficulties with him and his father years before. Fareed took advantage of the Master's visit to the Hacienda to forge a letter, purportedly from 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself, asking her for funds. Phoebe was all too familiar with people trying to get her money and did not take the bait. It further confirmed that her wariness in associating with many in the Bahá'í community was justified." [LWS261]
- 1913-08-01 —
With his final year of high school over, Shoghi Effendi hastened from Beirut to Ramleh to join the Master. He, the Greatest Holy Leaf and the eldest daughter of `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Egypt. [PG9 AB401]
- During this period Tammaddun'ul-Mulk (who had been in London during `Abdu'l-Bahá first visit) attempted to divide the Bahá'ís of Tehran and Dr Amínu'llah Farid's increasingly erratic behaviour brought Him much suffering and sorrow. [AB402]
- 1914-01-21 —
Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl-i-Gulpáygání, Apostle of Bahá'u'lláh, passed away in Cairo. [AB404; BBD67]
... 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.
Among his works are:
- 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.
- See the Wikipedia page for links to his works.
- See Bahá'í Library for a list of works by or about him.
- 1914-06-22 —
The defection of Dr Amín Faríd, (b. 1882, d. 1953)`Abdu'l-Bahá's translator while in America, became known publicly. His mother was a sister of Munirih Khanum, wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [CB341, AB407]
- For his activities against `Abdu'l-Bahá see AB230, 402, 407–9.
- Dr. Aminu'lláh Faríd travelled to Europe in defiance of the wishes of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. In the absence of Lady Blomfield in London, a meeting at the Kingsway Hall had been arranged for him. Dr Lutfu'lláh prevented Dr Farid from speaking. Mason Remey and George Latimer were in London at the time. 'Abdu'l-Bahá also sent Dr Habibu'lláh Khudákhsh (later called Dr Mu'ayyad) and 'Azízu'lláh Bahádur to go to Europe to counter his activities. They were in Stuttgart when the war broke out. He recalled all four to the Holy Land (Sep-Oct). [AB407-409; Concerning Covenant-breakers: Excerpt by 'Abdu'l-Bahá translated by Ahang Rabbani] iiiii
- Laura and Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney were dispatched to the United States where Mrs. Chevalier had been acting as Dr. Farid's emissary. [AB408]
- See the message from Shoghi Effendi in MBW53-54.
- For a description of his activities as a young man in 'Akká see M9YA108.
When Aminu'llah Farid (Ameen Ullah Fareed) left the United States in 1913, and settled in Cairo as he had been instructed by 'Abdul'-Bahá. (He had displeased Him during the western journey by appealing to the wealthier American Bahá'ís for money. He had been rebuked and had apologized three times but on the fourth instance he was sent away. 'Abdu'l-Bahá revealed that Fareed had been soliciting funds from visitors to Haifa to build a hospital on Mount Carmel. When built, he lived in it himself and later rented it. While in North America he obtained yet more money claiming that he had to mortgage the hospital.) On the 24th of November 1913 he married a rich American, Gladys Elaine Hoerber of Chicago, whom he had presumably met while he was studying homeopathic medicine in Chicago.
He travelled from Egypt to Europe and on the 21st of June, 1914 he arrived in London with his wife, his mother Radiyyih Khánum, his sister Farhangíz and her husband, Sydney Sprague and their infant son. The next day a telegram arrived from 'Abdu'l-Bahá expelling Fareed and his family from the Bahá'í community. Mason Ramey and George Latimer were in London at the time en route to Haifa. They assisted the community in understanding the implications. Both families were refused entry to a Unity Feast that had been scheduled. Fareed's father, Mírzá Asadu'lláh and his maternal uncle, Sayyid Yahyá arrived in London with a story that he had consulted with 'Abdu'l-Bahá about Fareed's situation and had come to an agreement, but that he had lost the letters from 'Abdu'l-Bahá that he had brought with him addressed to the Bahá'í community. It was soon evident that Asadu'lláh had sided with his son in the matter. Mírzá Asadu'lláh Isfahaní, his son Fareed, as well as his daughter Farhangíz and her husband, Sydney Spraque, were all prohibited from partaking in the Bahá'í community. They associated with the New Thought and psychic community in London teaching their own version of the Bahá'í faith and spiritual practice. They left Britain for America arriving from Liverpool on the 14th of October, 1915 and finally settled in Los Angeles where Sprague took up a career as writer of musical plays, Mirza Asadu'llah, his daughter Farhangiz Sprague and son Fareed began lecturing on religion and Iranian culture. Fareed also had a medical practice.
[LGHC208; The Bahá'í Community of the British Isles 1844-1963 p288-293]
- 1943-08-16 —
The passing of Sydney Sprague (b. Oshkosh WI in 1875) in Los Angeles. He was buried in Inglewood Cemetery. His grave is beside that of Tom Collins, husband of Amelia Collins, and lies just across the road from the grave of Thornton Chase, "First Bahá'í of America." [BW9p633-635]
- During a pilgrimage in late 1904 'Abdu'l-Bahá suggested he visit the Bahá'ís of the East. He toured India and Burma from December 1904 until the summer of 1905 becoming the first Western Bahá'í of go to the far Orient fulfilling Bahá'u'lláh's prophecy the "The East and West shall embrace as lovers". [YBIB6] iiiii
- See YBIB55-60 For the story of Kai Khosroe, the Zoroastrian Bahá'í from Bombay who gave his life while nursing Sprague in Lahore when he was deathly ill with typhoid fever.
- In 1908 he became a resident of Tehran, first teaching in the Bahá'í school and, when he returned the following year, he became principal.
- He married a niece of 'Abdul'-Bahá and became a brother-in-law of Ameen Fareed. When Fareed was expelled from the Faith in 1914 Sprague and his wife as well as his father-in-law followed. Fareed's father was Mírzá Asadu'lláh-i-Isfahání, the emissary who had taken the remains of the Báb from Iran to the Holy Land [Efforts to preserve the remains of the Bab]. Sprague applied to be reinstated in 1931 (or 1937) and was finally accepted in 1941, two years before his passing. [BW9p633-635]
- He married Farahangiz Khanum on the 20th of July, 1910, a day selected by 'Abdu'l-Bahá so that Stanwood Cobb could attend. The Bahá'í wedding was performed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the legal ceremony was conducted by a mullá four days later. [BN Vol 1 No 12 October 1910 p 7]
- He made a teaching trip to South America and died soon after his return to the United States. [AB409]
- He was the author of The Story of the Bahai Movement published in London in 1907 and A Year with the Bahá'ís of India and Burma in May of 1908. [YBIBxi] iiiii
- 1954-12-16 —
Shoghi Effendi announced the death of Avarih in Iran, "CONDEMNED POSTERITY MOST SHAMELESS, VICIOUS, RELENTLESS APOSTATE ANNALS FAITH, WHO THROUGH CEASELESS VITRIOLIC ATTACKS RECORDED VOLUMINOUS WRITINGS CLOSE ALLIANCE ITS TRADITIONAL ENEMIES, ASSIDUOUSLY SCHEMED BLACKEN ITS NAME SUBVERT FOUNDATIONS ITS INSTITUTIONS.
- In the same message he announced the death of Ameen Fareed in North America; "HISTORY WILL RECOGNIZE ONE MOST PERFIDIOUS AMONG KINSMEN INTERPRETERS CENTER COVENANT, WHO, DRIVEN BY UNGOVERNABLE CUPIDITY COMMITTED ACTS CAUSING AGONIES GRIEF DESTRESS BELOVED MASTER CULMINATING OPEN ASSOCIATION BREAKERS BAHA'U'LLAH'S COVENANT HOLY LAND."
- Likewise he announced the death of Falah in Turkey; "CHIEFLY REMEMBERED PRIDE, OBSTINACY INSATIABLE AMBITION IMPELLING HIM VIOLATE SPIRITUAL ADMINISTRATIVE PRECEPTS FAITH."
- Ne'matullah Falah had left Iran at the time of Baha'u'llah's exile and had finally settled in Iskenderun, Turkey, where he had become a successful businessman. He had been appointed Honorary Iranian Consul in that city, a post he had taken upon the explicit encouragement of the Master, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Upon his accession to the Guardianship Shoghi Effendi had considered that it would serve the Cause better if Baha'is refrained from all political activities. He therefore asked Falah to resign his post. This Falah refused to do, especially as he had a letter from the Master urging him to take the post. This resulted in the expulsion of Falah and his family from the Cause.
[Bahá'í History]
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