December 28, 2014

Akka-Haifa: The “kind father of all people”

All the people know him and love him - the rich and the poor, the young and the old - even the babe leaping in its mother's arms. If he hears of anyone sick in the city -Moslem or Christian, or of any other sect, it matters not - he is each day at their bedside, or sends a trusty messenger. If a physician is needed, and the patient poor, he brings or sends one, and also the necessary medicine. If he finds a leaking roof or a broken window menacing health, he summons a workman, and waits himself to see the breach repaired. If anyone is in trouble, - if a son or a brother is thrown into prison, or he is threatened at law, or falls into any difficulty too heavy for him, - it is to the Master that he straightway makes appeal for counselor for aid. Indeed, for counsel all come to him, rich as well as poor. He is the kind father of all the people. 
- Myron H. Phelps  (‘Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi’)