Six Months with Abbas Effendi, his family, and followers -- An Extraordinary Pen Portrait

This extended pen portrait of Abdu’l-Bahá is one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever come across – how did I not know about this sooner? Until now I had thought of E.G. Browne’s pen portrait of Abdu’l-Bahá as the best by anyone outside the Bahá’í Faith. Professor Browne spent days with Abdu’l-Bahá. E.S. Stevens spent months in Haifa with extraordinary access to the Master, His family, and the Bahá’í community in Haifa. The style of writing from that period can seem a bit stilted today, but E.S.. Stevens is the exception. Her narrative is warm and flowing with humor and touching emotion, and what a remarkable job she did of capturing the essence of the the Master, the Bahá’ís, the teaching and history. Abbas Effendi: His personality, work, and followers. by E. S. (Ethel Stefana) Stevens published in Fortnightly Review, Volume 95, pages 1067-1084 Chapman and Hall, 1911 A very brief biographical sketch. E.S. Stevens was know as Lady Ethel Stefana Drower after her marriage. She was born in 1879 in England. She was an influential scholar and author, known for her extensive work on the Mandaean religion. Drower began her career as a school teacher in England, but her passion for learning and culture led her to travel to the Middle East and explore the region's diverse religious traditions. In the 1920s, Drower began studying the Mandaeans, a religious group that originated in ancient Mesopotamia. She was fascinated by their beliefs and rituals, which were largely unknown to the Western world. Over the next several decades, Drower dedicated herself to studying Mandaeanism, learning their language and customs, and documenting their religious practices. Interestingly, another British anthropologist, Gertrude Bell, mentioned in the Miss Ramsay video, also sought close access to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but, apart from a brief conversation about universal language, he declined further meetings. As you’ll soon learn, Miss Stevens was granted extraordinary access to the Master and his family. As a result she produced one of the best written portraits of him by a non Bahá’í of which I am aware.