The Kindness of Shoghi Effendi

"Shoghi Effendi was of an infinitely kind and loving nature.  Before meeting him, many Bahá'ís, sensitive to his station in the Cause, were fearful.  But they were immediately put at ease by his warmth and affection, and shortly, as Leroy noted, one simply loved him and wanted to be near him.  It was a moving experience, Leroy recalled, to see the love and tenderness expressed by the Guardian for others.  He was constantly encouraging and complimenting people for what they did, were it the gardeners working on the properties, or the pilgrims, trying to make them happy as `Abdu'l-Bahá wished them to be..."
("Leroy Ioas, Hand of the Cause of God," by Anita Ioas Chapman, p. 288, available here)
 
Mrs. Violette Nakhjavání has written a marvelous book entitled “A Tribute to Amatu'l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum” which can be purchased here. It contains scores of never-before published photographs of Khánum, taken at all ages of her noble life, (none of which are shown here) and describes important aspects of the whole sweep of her extraordinary life.  It describes her birth in the City of the Covenant in 1910, and contains a verse revealed for her by `Abdu'l- Bahá when she was seven months old, in a Tablet revealed for her mother.  In this verse, `Abdu'l-Bahá describes her as a “rose” that had “bloomed with the utmost freshness, fragrance and beauty.” In addition to her historic services as the wife of Shoghi Effendi and a Hand of the Cause of God, this wonderful book gives many personal glimpses into her life, describing her time as a Bahá'í child and youth growing up; as a young Bahá'í teacher at Green Acre; her days as a pilgrim during the early years of the ministry of Shoghi Effendi; the manner of Shoghi Effendi's proposal of marriage to her; and their wedding day.  All of these are taken from accounts written by May Maxwell, and told by Khánum herself, to Mrs. Nakhjavání.

The great kindness that was such a prominent feature of Shoghi Effendi's character is shown in the manner in which he conveyed to Khánum the news of the death of her beloved mother, May Maxwell, as here recounted by Mrs. Nakhjavání (pp. 37-38):

“The devastating news of May Maxwell's passing in Argentina was a terrible shock to  Rúḥíyyih Khánum.  She often repeated the story of how she received this sad news from the Guardian.  Four cables had arrived that day and she took them to Shoghi Effendi in his study. He opened each one and then looked up at  Rúḥíyyih Khánum with a mixture of shock, love and compassion on his face.  She said the look frightened her, and she started backing away until she reached the wall. She said she wanted to sink into the wall so deep was the fear engendered in her by that look. Shoghi Effendi went over to her, held her in his arms and broke the news to her with great tenderness. He told her 'Now I will be your mother'. Then he spoke of the high station of May Maxwell in the Abhá Kingdom, of her joy in at long last having reached her heart's desire, of her nearness to her beloved Lord and Master, `Abdu'l-Bahá. Then gently, in order to dispel her shaking grief, he began to talk to Amatu'l-Bahá in a lighter mood, to describe her mother's activities in the next world, where she was going and what she was doing in that sublime company. She would have been ushered immediately into the presence of Bahá'u'lláh first, of course, he assured her. And no sooner had she come there than she naturally asked permission to tell Him about her precious daughter. But she talked so much that Bahá'u'lláh had finally become tired and had passed her on to `Abdu'l-Bahá. Here again she did nothing but talk about her beautiful daughter, until at length, exhausted, `Abdu'l-Bahá passed her on to the Greatest Holy Leaf. And there she is still, said Shoghi Effendi laughing, there she is still talking about her beloved daughter, stopping every passing member of the Concourse with her opening lines, 'Do let me tell you about my daughter ... !' By the time he reached this point in his narrative, Rúḥíyyih Khánum was laughing through her tears. And so with infinite compassion and patience, he comforted her.”

 Amatu'l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum

Photograph Copyright 2010 Bahá'í National Archives, Wilmette

Used with permission 
Please click photo for larger image

Khánum herself wrote:

“I cannot conceive that any human being ever received such pure kindness as I did from the Guardian during that period of shock and grief. His praises of her sacrifice, his descriptions of her state of joy in the next world, where, as he said in his cable to the Iraq National Assembly informing the friends of her death, 'the heavenly souls seek blessings from her in the midmost paradise,' his vivid depiction of her as she wandered about the Abhá Kingdom making a thorough nuisance of herself because all she wanted to talk about was her beloved daughter on earth! - all combined to lift me into a state of such happiness that many times I would find myself laughing with him over the things he seemed to be actually divining.”    
(The Priceless Pearl, p. 154-155)

May Maxwell, new mother, with her baby Mary, in 1910

 Photograph Copyright 2010 Bahá'í National Archives, Wilmette

Used with permission 
Please click photo for larger image