'Abdu'l-Baha in Edinburgh:
The Diary of Ahmad Sohrab

by Ahmad Sohrab

About: What follows is a very detailed account of Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to Edinburgh by Ahmad Sohrab, who was amongst Abdu'l-Bahá's entourage, and also His translator. The Diary takes the form of letters written each day, on 7 Charlotte Square headed paper, to Harriet Magee of New York. These letters are part of a huge volume in the US Bahá'í Archives.

The story really begins in Edinburgh on the 6 Jan; however, some early mentions of Edinburgh and the 5 Jan have been included as a lead-in, along with some extra items by Ahmad Sohrab after leaving Edinburgh.

In addition to this Diary by Ahmad Sohrab, there is also the account of the Master's visit to Edinburgh in Volume 2 of Mahmud-i-Zarqani's diary (volume 1 being translated as 'Mahmud's Diary'), with is untranslated publically, although Adib Taherzadeh did a translation of the section on Edinburgh. There was also the diary of Abdu'l-Bahá's host, Mrs Whyte ('she had a diary and kept I think written down everything'), although this latter diary is yet to be found, and finally, various minor references and recollections.

It should be borne in mind whilst reading, that Ahmad Sohrab often quotes Abdu'l-Bahá without using any quotation marks, with the result that when the Diary says 'I' as if Sohrab is speaking, it is often Abdu'l-Bahá speaking.

The state of the Diary, means that the writing was hard to read, and symbols used in the text are detailed after the Diary as an appendix. Also at the end, there is a description of 7 Charlotte Sq, a map showing how Edinburgh in 1915 compared to the size of Edinburgh today, and a map of where 'Abdu'l-Bahá visited, and a list of contents of the Diary with page numbers. [-David Merrick]