- 1903-03-21 — The passing of Gabriel Sacy, (b. Alexandria c. 1860) a Syrian Christian who had become a Bahá'í after contacting Mírzá Ábu'l-Faḍl and others in Cairo. He was the author of Du Règne de Lieu et de l'Agneau conn sour le nom de Babysme: se trove chez l'Auteur au Caire. It was printed privately in Cairo and dated June 12, 1902. [Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion compiled by E G Browne p185; ABF135]
Also written by him was a booklet called Proofs that was published in Arabic in Cairo in 1902. It is believed to be the first book published in Arabic about the Faith although unpublished manuscript written in Arabic were circulated in Russia and the UK prior to this time. [A posting by Rowshan Mustapha 17 February 2024 on the tk list]
L'implantation de la foi baha'ie en France et impact de la venue de Abdu'l Baha à Paris au début du XXème siècle Mémoire D.E.S. de Natalia Behnam includes him among the first Bahá'ís in France. iiiii
Àbdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said of him:
His value will be known in the future. He enkindled for you a lamp which shall never be extinguished. He laid for you a foundation which shall not be destroyed throughout centuries and cycles. He planted for you a tree whose root is firm in the ground, whose branches have ascended to heaven and its fruits are shared by all throughout all the seasons. Mr De Sacy was in reality a divine man. In Syria there was no one like him. He was like a torch. He was the essence of sanctity. Whenever a person looked into his face, if he was unhappy, he wold be made happy. [ABF355-356]
- 1903-05-00 —
Russian poet Isabella Grinevskaya wrote the play "Báb" which was performed in St. Petersburg in 1904 and again in 1914 and once again in 1917. It was translated into French and Tatar (and later into German by Friedrich Fiedler) and lauded by Leo Tolstoy and other reviewers at the time. It is reported to have been Tolstoy's first knowledge of the Faith.
- 1910-08-29 —
`Abdu'l-Bahá departed for Egypt on board the steamer Kosseur London accompanied by two attendants, Mírzá Munír-i-Zayn and 'Abdu'l-Husayn. Upon arrival he telegrammed the Bahá'í in Haifa that he was in Egypt. Shoghi Effendi was asked to come two days later. [AB133-168; ABF5; BBRXXX; GPB280; AB134-135; Bahá'í News #12 16Oct1910 pg206; the Message from the Universal House of Justice dated August 29, 2010]
- See letter from Sydney Sprague to Isabella Brittingham which indicates that He left sometime before this date.
- GPB280 and AY84 say He departed in September.
- After one month in Port Said He embarked for Marseille but turned back to Alexandria owing to His health. In a letter to Munírih Khánum He stated that His intention was to proceed to America or South Africa. [GPB280, ABF5]
- He stayed for a few days in the Victoria Hotel but then moved to a rented house in Ramleh, a suburb of Alexandria, where He stayed for about one year. [GPB280, AB136; Memories of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Ali M Yazdi (1899-1978) who was a child at the time.]
- Early in May of 1911 he moved to Cairo and took up residence in nearby Zaytún. [AB138]
- It was during this period that a sudden change occurred. A journalist who had previously been hostile towards Him took a new tone. [AB136]
- The Russian poet Isabel Grinevsky, the Oriental Secretary of the British Agency, Ronald Storrs, Lord Kitchener, George Zaydán, eminent writer and celebrated editor as well as clerics, aristocrats, administrators, parliamentarians, men of letters, journalists and publicists, Arabs, Turks and Persians all sought out His company and met with Him. This period could be considered the first public proclamation of the Faith. [MRHK348, AB136-139; CH226]
- See AB138-139 for a description of His triumphs during this period.
- 1911-04-09 —
Louis Gregory visited Ramleh where 'Abdu'l-Bahá was staying in preparation for His first visit to Europe. During their first conversation 'Abdu'l-Bahá immediately cut "to the substance of the issue." "What of the conflict between the white and colored races?" he asked. "Work for unity and harmony between the races," 'Abdu'l-Bahá told him. "The colored people must attend all the unity meetings. There must be no distinctions." [239Days Day 12; SoW Vol 2 No 10 September 8 1911 p5; SYH6]
- On pilgrimage at the same time were Neville Meakin and another British Bahá'í, Louise Mathew. On the 16th of April the three set sail for Haifa. [SYH3-8]
- After visiting the Holy sites Louis returned to Cairo and to 'Abdu'l-Bahá who asked him to visit Stuttgart, Paris and London before returning to America. [SYH12-13]
- 1912-03-20 — 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave a talk on the festival of Naw-Rúz at the Hotel Victoria in Ramleh, a suburb of Alexandria. This translation was released by the Research Department in 2016. In His talk 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about the importance of the day for the Persian people and for mankind in general. ['Abdu'l-Bahá's Talks]
- 1913-07-17 — `Abdu'l-Bahá traveled to Ramleh. It was hoped that the drier climate would be more salubrious than the humidity of Port Said and Ismá`ílíyyah for He was still not well. He and his attendants stayed at the Victoria Hotel initially. The remainder of His party that had remained in Port Said joined Him on the 24th of July and His daughter Touba Khanum with her son Rouhi arrived from Haifa.
At this time Ramleh was a modern Egyptian town with all the conveniences of western civilization. It was a summer resort for the most important European officials in the service of the Egyptian government and also for the native Pashas. [AB400; 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Egypt p80]
Note: Memories of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Ali M Yazdi says that He returned to Ramleh on the 3rd of July. - 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]
- 1913-08-19 — 'Abdu'l-Bahá took the decision to send Lua Getsinger to India. His words to her were published SoW Vol 4 No 12 p208. [LGHC189]
- 1913-10-00 — Shoghi Effendi returned to Beirut and the Syrian Protestant College to start his college education in an Arts program. [PG9]
- 2021-12-00 — The Baha'is of Alexandria appealed to the courts to force the governorate of Alexandria to create cemetery places dedicated to the Bahá'í community, arguing that only the three major monotheistic religions are recognized by the state. In its judgment, a local administrative court refused.
In Egypt, where citizens must indicate their religious affiliation on their identity card, those who are neither Muslims, Christians nor Jews, have to have a hyphen in this field. This category was created in 2009 after a legal struggle led by the Bahá'ís. In fact only a few Bahá'ís have been able to prove the religion of their parents belong to this "fourth category". It has been suggested to open up this choice to all citizens, including "atheists, agnostics or any unrecognized Church and belief. However, this step in favour of religious pluralism comes up against the conservatism of certain judges and politicians. [Paudal 12JAN2022]
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