Vignettes from the Life of 'Abdu'l-Baha by Honnold Annamarie

Not knowing what to do he threw himself at the feet of his Lord and confessed his dilemma. There the Glorious One sat with him, talking to him and teaching him, and toward evening the man bethought himself that he had nothing to offer his great Guest but some dry meat and some dark bread, and water from a spring nearby. The poor man was so overcome with joy and with gratitude that he was speechless, and led the way in humble silence to his lowly dwelling in a rock. When the Manifestation arrived at that spot the hermit knelt down and kissed the dust before His feet and said to Him: “Oh, my Lord, I am a poor man living alone in a cave nearby but henceforth I shall account myself the happiest of mortals if Thou wilt but come for a moment to my cave and bless it by Thy Presence.” Then Bahá’u’lláh told the man that He would come, not for a moment but for three days, and He bade His followers cast their tents, and await His return. He was a holy man, and having heard that Our Lord, Bahá’u’lláh, would pass that way, he watched eagerly for His approach.

Bahá’u’lláh ‘was traveling from one place to another with His followers’ and ‘He passed through a lonely country where, at some little distance from the highway, a hermit lived alone in a cave. She heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tell the touching ‘story of the hermit’. But the food of the spirit is life to the soul and its effects endure eternally. She heard that the food man eats is of no importance, as its effect endures but a short time. Mary Bolles (Maxwell) took an early pilgrimage to the prison city.

Vignettes from the Life of 'Abdu'l-Baha by Honnold Annamarie