This event which took place on 13 November 1898 was in
commemoration of the arrival of Ibrahim Kheiralla (Khayru’llah) to Akka on 11
November 1898 – “the same year that this precious Trust [the precious remains
of the Báb] reached the shores of the Holy Land and was delivered into the
hands of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He, accompanied by Dr. Ibrahim Khayru'llah, whom He had
already honored with the titles of "Baha's Peter," "The Second
Columbus" and "Conqueror of America," drove to the recently
purchased site which had been blessed and selected by Bahá'u'lláh on Mt.
Carmel, and there laid, with His own hands, the foundation-stone of the
edifice, the construction of which He, a few months later, was to commence.
About that same time, the marble sarcophagus, designed to receive the body of
the Báb, an offering of love from the Bahá'ís of Rangoon, had, at
'Abdu'l-Bahá's suggestion, been completed and shipped to Haifa.” (God Passes
By)
Kheiralla (who later became a Covenant-breaker) and his wife
Marion were among of the first group of American pilgrims who left New York on
22 September 1898. Phoebe Hearst, Robert Turner, and Lua and Edward Getsinger
were also in that historic group. In Paris they were joined by May Bolles and
Hearst’s two relatives.
From Paris Kheiralla went to Egypt in early October, where
he had children to visit. His wife went to England to invite her aunt to
accompany them to Akka. After twenty-one days in Egypt Ibrahim Keiralla
proceeded to Akka and was first to arrive on 11 November 1898. Anxious to reach
Akka, Edward and Lua Getsinger left Paris for Cairo in November. About
mid-December Phoebe Hearst also arrived in Cairo. Accompanying her were her
butler, Robert Turner; her maid, Amalie M. Bachrodt; her little niece, Agnes Lane;
her niece's governess, Julia Pearson; another niece, Anne Apperson; and an old
friend, Mrs. Thornburgh. All nine Westerners could not visit ‘Abdu’l-Baha
simultaneously, for they would stir up too much suspicion. While Hearst and her
relatives and employees remained in Egypt, the Gestingers proceeded to Akka.
They arrived on 10 December 1898 and were the first North American Baha’is to
visit ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
(Adapted from ‘The Baha’i Faith in America’, vol. 1, by
Robert Stockman)
