In Memoriam: Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: unknown, In Memoriam: Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi, bahai-library.com.
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536                           THE      BAHA'i        WORLD

Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi.

DR. BAGDADi's WORK ON THE STAR OF              from the Chicago College of Medicine and
THE WEST                        Surgery in May of this year (191 1). He
intends to practice in America and be en-
Mr. Windust, who was one of the found-        gaged in serving the Cause of Baha'u'llah.
ers and editors of the Star of the West, spoke   We are confident the Star of the West has
of Dr. Bagdadi's services to that magazine,      in him an able and willing associate."
as follows-Dr. Bagdadi became associate            In the Star of the West, Volume III, No.
editor of this Baha'i publication, June 5,       15 issue, we find the following: "A word of
1911 , beginning with issue No. 5, Volume       explanation is given regarding the re-appear-
II, wherein we read : "It gives us pleasure to   ance of our Persian section after many
welcome to the editorial staff of the Star of    months. As the editor, Mirza A~mad
the West, Dr. Zia Mabsut Bagdadi ("Zia           Sohrab, accompanied 'Abdu'l-Baha on most
Effendi"), the youngest son of the late M.       of His journeyings throughout America, it
MUHaf:i Bagdadi. Dr. Bagdadi received            was almost impossible for him to look after
his early education in the Orient at the         the Persian section, and now that he has
Arabian Literature school, Turkish Govern-       returned to the East, it has become necesment school and the American school. His         sary to place that department in other hands.
childhood was blessed by seeing and being        Dr. Zia Bagdadi, who has been associated
with the Blessed Perfection Baha'u'llah, and     with him in this work, has consented to
in every year of his youth he visited the        render this service. He is located in Chi-
Center of the Covenant, 'Abdu'l-Baha. He         cago."
came to America in September, 1909, to             Throughout the remainder of the issues
complete a course in medicine, graduating        of Volume III, and all of Volumes IV and V
IN     MEMORIAM                                                 537

-there were 19 issues in each volume-Dr.         line with Haifa from the center of the build-
Bagdadi compiled and wrote the manuscript        ing. In this photograph Dr. Bagdadi is seen
in the form of pages, which were photo-          digging the first shovelful of earth-the
graphed, reduced to page size, etched on         other friends present following him in breakzinc, which became the printing plates for       ing the ground. It was indeed fitting that
the Persian sections of the Star of the West     Dr. Bagdadi should have this honor, and his
-a total of 262 pages. His beautiful style       association with this great event 1 is suffiof writing was distinctly Arabic in char-        cient evidence of the esteem his fellowacter. Th:s labor was accomplished by Dr.        believers had for his valiant and devoted la-
Bagdadi in addition to translating Tablets       bors for the Temple and the Cause of
of 'Abdu'l-Baha and speaking on the Cause        Baha'u'IIah.
wherever the opportunity arose-all this
aside from his practice of medicine and sur-     NOTEWORTHY QUALITIES OF DR. BAGDADi

gery.                                               Mr. Windust spoke of the time when his
family met 'Abdu'l-Baha in an upper room
DR. BAGDADi WITH 'ABDU'L-BAHA
at the home of Mrs. Davies in Chicago.
IN CHICAGO                       When He saw the youngest child, He took
Reference was made to the photograph of       her upon His lap and called for someone to
'Abdu'l-Baha, together with five of the Ori-     bring candy for the little one. Dr. Bagdadi
ental Baha'is, taken by Mr. Killius in Lin-      instantly responded, leaping down the stairs
coln Park, Chicago, in 1912. Standing di-        two or more steps at a time, obtained the
rectly behind 'Abdu'l-Baha, on the right, is     candy, and sprang up stairs with it, handing .
Dr. Bagdadi. In looking at this photograph,      the bowl to 'Abdu'l-Baha as a courier would
one is impressed with the thought that our       present an urgent message to a king. It was
beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, has, in        an impressive demonstration to many who
his cablegram, perfectly described the quali-    witnessed it, of the divine qualities of "inties of Dr. Bagdadi.                             stant, exact and complete obedience" Dr.
This photograph was taken directly across     Bagdadi so remarkably possessed.
the street from the Plaza Hotel. In this            Mrs. Grace Ober also testified to this outconnection, it is interesting to note that       standing characteristic of Dr. Bagdadi, by
when it was taken, no one dreamed that in        telling the following experience: "I was
this same part of Lincoln Park, the Chi-         keeping house in New York for 'Abdu'lcago Historical Society would erect the          Baha and His party of interpreters at the
splendid museum which stands there today.        time when He attended the Peace Conference at Lake Mohonk. Late at night, the
DR. BAGDADi'S DEVOTED LABOR FOR THE              bell rang furiously and at the door stood Dr.
T EMPLE
Bagdadi, no hat upon his head, his hair
Shoghi Effendi, in his cablegram request-     disheveled, and his clothes covered with dust.
ing the holding of this memorial gathering       He rushed into the house saying 'Abdu'lfor Dr. Bagdadi, states : . . . "Advise Baha'i   Baha had sent him to bring a rug to Lake
Communities of Chicago and surrounding           Mohonk at the earliest possible moment. I
regions hold befitting memorial gathering in     begged him to have something to eat, to
Temple for which he so valiantly and de-         bathe and rest for a little while. But quickly
votedly labored." . . .                          finding what he wanted he rushed away with
In this connection we were reminded by        it. During the short time he was in the
Mrs. True, of the photograph taken on this       house I learned that 'Abdu'l-Baha wished to
Temple site March 21, 1921, and published        present a gift to the Secretary of the Peace
in the Star of the West, Volume XII, No.2.       Conference, Mr. W . H . Short, Sec'y of the
It was the beginning of actual work for the
1 This breaking of ground for the actual construcconstruction of the first Mailiriqu'l-Adhkar     tion of the caissons to bed rock should not be
in America; that is, the breaking of ground      confused with the boring oper atio ns begun on Sepfor the digging of the first of the nine         tember 24, 1920, to obtain a core of soil strata
before beginning the diggi ng of the caissons, which
caissons to bed rock-the one directly in         began March 21, 192I.-Editors
538                          THE      BAHA'i         WORLD

Friends assembled on Mailiriqu'l-Adhkar grounds, Chicago, March 21, 192!.
Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi digging first shovelful of earth.

New York Peace Society, before the close            During these years Dr. Bagdadi was a
of its sessions next day, and that it was nec-   pillar of strength to the Baha'is of America
essary that some one of His party go to the      manifesting firmness in the Covenant and
city for it and return at once. Dr. Bagdadi      all that it implies. He alone seemed to unhad instantly volunteered. He discovered         derstand the deep meanings of this most
there was no passenger train at that             great characteristic-that is: through the
hour and boarded a freight train, arriving       power of the Covenant no one can create a
in the condition I described. I learned          sect or division in the Baha'i Faith; through
later that in returning he again rode on a       this most great characteristic, the Center of
freight train as there was no other trans-       the Covenant will protect the Cause from
portation at that early morning hour. Dr.        now until at least qne thousand years, and
Bagdadi was the embodiment of the                perhaps until thousands of years have passed
quality of "Instant, exact and complete          away.
obedience."                                         Those who attended the eighth session of
The chairman expressed the thought that       the Baha'i Congress at Hotel McAlpin, New
everyone present at this memorial gather-        York City, April 30th, 1919, will never foring, who knew Dr. Bagdadi, no doubt cher-        get Dr. Bagdadi's presentation of this most
ished in his heart and memory some par-          important matter. Although he had been
ticular remembrance or many remembrances         ill for three days, he arose to astonishing
of our dearly beloved Dr. Bagdadi.               heights and depths of understanding in this
address, unfolding all the qualities Shoghi
FIRMNESS IN THE COVENANT, AN OUT-                Effendi mentions in the cablegram prompt-
STANDING QUALITY OF DR. BAGDAD!               ing this memorial gathering--of "exem-
When 'Abdu'l-Baha came to America in          plary faith, audacity, unquestioning loyalty,
1912, He awakened and began to educate           indefatigable exertion"-combined with a
the Baha'is to the Most Great Characteristic     dramatic appeal that was arresting and soul
of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, namely,        stirring. This outstanding address of that
The Center of the Covenant-that which            remarkable Congress was taken stenographithe previous Divine Manifestations did           cally and printed 'in Volume XI of the Star
not bring. From that time until the day          of the West.
of His ascension in 1921, He stressed its
importance with ever increasing emphasis,        DR. BAGDAD! WRITES OF SEEING AND BEING
thus preparing them for the hour when                      WITH BAHA'U'LLAH
His Will and Testament was brought to              In the year 1929, Dr. Bagdadi wrote a
light.                                           book telling of his birthplace and travels in
IN MEMORIAM                                              539

the Orient under the title, Treasures of the             MRS. LAURIE    C. WILHELM
East. In it he describes the peerless pano-
By Roy C. W I LHELM
rama of the Plain of 'Akka surrounded by
mountains and sea, in the center of which           Mother's strong religious tendency began
is the Mansion of Bahji, located about one       with her mother who was religious fundamile from the Mediterranean and three miles      mentally though I do not recall her ever
from the town of 'Akka, Palestine. It was        having attended a church; and she did not
here Baha'u'llah lived the last few years of     believe that a system in which professional
His exile until He departed to .t he Supreme     religionists "reached for hire was in accord
World in 1892 . Dr. Bagdadi tells that here,     with the admonitions and example of Jesus.
when he was a child, he had the great privi-     During my early years Grandmother often
lege of seeing and being with Baha'u'llah.       spoke to me of so many of the Bible prophe-
He wrote:                                        cies being fulfilled and said she believed the
"I had the greatest honor and privilege to   Promised Age was near and we must all be
see Baha'u'IIah and sit at His feet many days    watchful to recognize the Great Day when
and nights in this Mansion. Here He used         it came. Mother and father were members
to hold my hand while walking to and fro         of a denomination to which they sent me in
in His large room, revealing Tablets, chant-     my youth-though they were not orthodox
ing the prayers with the most charming and       in their views, rather they shared Grandmelodious voice, while one of the attendants     mother's beliefs that the Creator of all hutook them down. Here I saw Him teaching          manity was interested in all humanity.
and blessing the pilgrims who came from all        About 1890 Mother became dissatisfied
lands. On hot days He would take me with        with the churches and began searching for
Him to the outer alcove of the Mansion           reality. She investigated various teachings
where it was somewhat cooler. I would           including the philosophies of the East, Chrisstand in a corner with folded arms, my eyes     tian Science, etc. I sometimes wondered,
fixed on His incomparable countenance,           "What next?" Mother also felt deeply that
while the gentle breezes blew on His soft jet   the Great Day was near, that it might come
black hair which reached almost to the waist,   even in our time-and how would we be
flowing beneath the taj, like a crown, that     able to recognize its fulfillment!
covered His head and a part of His broad,           Mother had a friend, kindred in thought,
full, high forehead.                            in Miss Laura Jones, also of our old home
"From His light-colored garments which       town-Zanesville, Ohio: they often met towere· similar to those of all the ancient       gether, and wondered if the Spirit might be
prophets, I had always inhaled the fragrance    upon the earth at this time: how shall we
of the pure attar of roses. At times He         find Him, etc. Shortly after the early 90's
would spend half an hour on the alcove, and     Miss Laura moved to Chicago. There she
my eyes would remain fixed on His majestic      heard of the Baha'i Faith, and wrote to
face. But whenever He glanced at me with        Mother that she had found that for which
His brown, piercing, yet most affectionate      they had been seeking. In her letter she ineyes, then I had to turn mine away and look     cluded some pamphlets, among which was a
down on the floor.                              copy of the "Hidden Words." Mother read
"At my birth, Baha'u'IIah named me            these, and accepted immediately. About
'Zia' (Light) and gave me the Turkish title      1898 or 1899, when I was a traveling sales-
'Effendi.' But on my first visit to Him,         man, Mother mailed me a page from a newswhen He inquired about my health, I re-         paper containing a photograph of 'Abdu'lplied in Arabic 'Mabsoot' (I am happy). He      Baha and an article in which something was
questioned, 'How is your father?' I an-         said to the effect that many regarded Him as
swered, 'Mabsoot'; and 'How is your             a return of the Spirit. Having in mind
mother?' He asked. 'Mabsoot' was my re-         Mother's various explorations I was not so
ply. He laughed heartily and after that He       deeply impressed, but wrote upon the maralways called me Mabsoot Effendi (The            gin, "Strange if true" and returned it to her.
Happy One)."                                      In 1901 and 1902, Mother and Father vis-
-- In Memoriam: Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi (Used by permission of the curator)