- 1912-12-31 —
`Abdu'l-Bahá visited Oxford at the invitation of Dr Thomas Kelly Cheyne to address a meeting at Manchester College. [BW4p384-385, AB352–354, ABIM284, Journey West 20130210; Ahmad Sohrab's Diary - The Great Tour p99; The Dawn Vol 1 No 2 October 1923 p2]
- In 1886, Cheyne was appointed Oriel Professor of Interpretation of Scripture at Oxford University, and, as an ordained Anglican priest (1864), was installed as Canon of Rochester Cathedral (Church of England) that same year. An advocate of "higher criticism" as applied to biblical scholarship, Professor Cheyne was the first at Oxford University to teach students how to apply the methods and tools of higher criticism to the Hebrew Scriptures. See An Oxford Scholar on the Spirit of Truth by Christopher Buck.
- For biographical information see a paper by Crawford Howell Toy entitled Thomas Kelly Cheyne.
- See Hurqalya Publications for a translation by Stephen Lambden of a Tablet to Dr Cheyne as well as the address to Manchester College.
- After the visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá the elderly and infirmed professor, who was unable to walk and had difficulty speaking, went on to write the book, The Reconciliation of Races and Religions. See BWXp483 for an excerpt regarding Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
- His second wife was the poetess Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne (1869-1931) whom he married (aged 69) on August 28th [19th] 1911 about four years after the death of his first wife. Elizabeth Gibson was the sister of the `War Poet' Wilfred Wilson Gibson. A paper by Judy Greenway, a grand niece of Elizabeth Gibson entitled "From the Wilderness to the Beloved City: Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne", pays tribute to the woman whom 'Abdul'-Bahá lauded during His visit. This paper was given at the invitation of the Oxford Bahá'í Community in December 2012, as part of the celebration of the centenary of Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to Oxford.
- See an article by Christopher Buck on Cheyne's interpretation of Isaiah's prophecies
- 1913-02-06 — During the morning tea 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to members of His entourage about the Crusades and the Muslim conquest of Spain and the establishment there of a Muslim civilization with many universities. [ABF341-345]
`Abdu'l-Bahá gave His customary noontime talk on the subject of the religion of the future. In the afternoon He visited Versailles with Hoppolyte Dreyfus. [AB376]
He met with Professor Inayat Khan (1882-1927) in His apartment at 30 rue Saint-Didier and later attended his musical recital of Sufi poetry accompanied by the vines (guitar) and the tabla. [AP2p117-119]
Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. [Wikipedia; The Reconciliation of Races and Religions by
Thomas Kelly Cheyne]
A transcript of His address can be found in A Supplement to 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Europe, 1912-1913 V2.2.1 #60
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