Interview with Lilian Crawford on the Knighthood of Abdu'l-Baha

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(see original, with pictures, below, followed by other notes)

A member of the Edinburgh community recently went to visit Mrs Crawford. The following account is based on their conversation.

Mrs Crawford and her husband, who was a captain in the British Regiment, went to Haifa in the year 1919. Soon after their arrival, as with other new residents of the town, they were visited by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi (who interpreted for his grandfather) ate [sic] their home, which was just across the road from the house of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. "This", said Mrs Crawford, "'Abdu'l-Bahá did as a matter of courtesy, because He was a gentleman. He brought gifts for the new arrivals, which was the Arab custom. When He came to our house He brought me a gift of a beautiful ruby ring, which I am sorry to say was lost a few years later in a garden in Jerusalem." At this point Mrs Crawford left the room and returned a few moments later with a framed photograph of 'Abdu'l-Bahá which the Edinburgh Assembly had presented to her earlier in the year. "I keep this photograph in my bedroom and look at it every day", she said.

There continued an account of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to their home. "He brought His grandson, who had been to England, as His interpreter, because 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself spoke only a little English. Out of His kindness, 'Abdu'l-Bahá invited us to return His visit and go to His house."

When she was asked about Shoghi Effendi she could remember that he did not dress in the style of the East but wore a black suit. "He spoke English fluently, just as they speak it in Oxford. My husband often spoke to him about philosophy at his house."

When asked if she could remember anything of the knighthood ceremony of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, she replied, "I saw Him in Governor Stanton's large garden for his knighthood." (Governor Stanton was the governor of Haifa.) She was able to identify herself in a photograph of the ceremony. When asked how 'Abdu'l-Bahá was regarded, she said that he was a most popular man. "Politics He did not touch," she remarked emphatically. "He used to walk with a group of oriental men along the lanes near Mount Carmel. He had a beautiful house, with a garden full of orange and pineapple trees. He was so well known in America that some of His followers came to Haifa and built houses beside His, in order that they might be near Him."

"The only way I can describe Him is to say that He was truly a holy man."

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3. Note, from H. M. Balyuzi's ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: the Centre of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 433

INVESTITURE AT HAIFA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  433
   Seated: 'Abdu'l-Bahá
   Left to right: Colonel E. A. Stanton, C.M.G., Military Governor of Haifa; W. F. Bustani, 
        Local Adviser to the Governor; Badi' Bushru'i, M.A., District Officer Haifa
   Behind left: the Head of the Druze Community; Shaykh Muhammad Murad, Mufti of Haifa

The dignitaries of the British crown from Jerusalem were gathered in Haifa, eager to do honour to the Master, Whom every one had come to love and reverence for His life of unselfish service. An imposing motor-car had been sent to bring 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the ceremony. The Master, however, could not be found. People were sent in every direction to look for Him, when suddenly from an unexpected side he appeared, alone, walking His kingly walk, with that simplicity of greatness which always enfolded Him.

The faithful servant, Isfandiyar, whose joy it had been for many years to drive the Master on errands of mercy, stood sadly looking on at the elegant motor-car which awaited the honoured guest.

'No longer am I needed.'

At a sign from Him, Who knew the sorrow, old Isfandiyar rushed off to harness the horse, and brought the carriage out at the lower gate, whence 'Abdu'l-Bahá was driven to a side entrance of the garden of the Governorate of Phoenicia.

So Isfandiyar was needed and happy.