of His earthly life 'Abdu'l-Baha continued to
shower that same love upon high and low alike, to extend that same
assistance to the poor and the down-trodden, and to carry out those same
duties in the service of His Father's Faith, as had been His wont from the
days of His boyhood. On the Friday before His passing, despite great
fatigue, He attended the noonday prayer at the mosque, and distributed
afterwards alms, as was His custom, among the poor; dictated some
Tablets--the last ones He revealed--; blessed the marriage of a trusted
servant, which He had insisted should take place that day; attended the
usual meeting of the friends in His home; felt feverish the next day, and
being unable to leave the house on the following Sunday, sent all the
believers to the Tomb of the Bab to attend a feast which a Parsi pilgrim
was offering on the occasion of the anniversary of the Declaration of the
Covenant; received with His unfailing courtesy and kindness that same
afternoon, and despite growing weariness, the Mufti of Haifa, the Mayor
and the Head of the Police; and inquired that night--the last of His
life--before He retired after the health of every member of His household,
of the pilgrims and of the friends in Haifa.

At 1:15 A.M. He arose, and, walking to a table in His room, drank some
water, and returned to bed. Later on, He asked one of His two daughters
who had remained awake to care for Him, to lift up the net curtains,
complaining that He had difficulty in breathing. Some rose-water was
brought to Him, of which He drank, after which He again lay down, and when
offered food, distinctly remarked: "You wish Me to take some food, and I
am going?" A minute later His spirit had winged its flight to its eternal
abode, to be gathered, at long last, to the glory of His beloved Father,
and taste the joy of everlasting reunion with Him.

The news of His passing, so sudden, so unexpected, spread like wildfire
throughout the town, and was flashed instantly over the wires to distant
parts of the globe, stunning with grief the community of the followers of
Baha'u'llah in East and West. Messages from far and near, from high and
low alike, through cablegrams and letters, poured in conveying to the
members of a sorrow-stricken and disconsolate family expressions of
praise, of devotion, of anguish and of sympathy.

The British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Winston Churchill,
telegraphed immediately to the High Commissioner