A pilgrim reports in 1920

 

No one can comprehend how deeply ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who was laying the foundation of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, was immersed in the ocean of responsibilities and difficulties. He was so busy with His work that many nights He had no rest at all. From time to time He would bring the tiniest sample from his innumerable adversities to our attention.
Once He made us aware of His travail through a lesson. He had an enormous mailbox into which the mailman deposited all the letters that were received from abroad. A porter would then carry the mail to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s room. Included in the mail were many registered letters for which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s signature was required.

 One day Mírzá Badí Bushrú’í brought all the registered letters to His presence and asked Him to sign every receipt one by one. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had His head bent on His hand and was signing them; there were so many letters and it took a long time. Suddenly ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stopped, lifted up His head, and with a loving smile and in a joking manner addressed Mírzá Badí‘, “O man, what do you want from me?” He looked at the pilgrims and said, “This man is like a Qájár sword.” Then He explained, “I remember that when I was a child in Tihrán they referred to a Qájár soldier as a ‘sword of Qájár.’”
 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá next showed a sample letter to the pilgrims. This particular letter comprised twenty pages in very small handwriting. He said, “Just look and ponder that the writers of these letters are too many. Find a person to reply to all these letters! It is thirty years that I have borne all this correspondence.” He added meekly, “It is no longer possible for me to undergo such hardship day and night. I beseech God that the answers to these letters be transmitted directly from the Abhá Kingdom into the writers’ hearts.”
 Early one morning He called all the pilgrims to the room of one of His daughters. There we saw a long bench piled with letters. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was sitting on folded legs replying to them, and He asked us to sit down on the floor. We tried to imitate and sit like Him, but He was so compassionate that He told us not to sit as He did because we could not bear it, but rather to sit with crossed legs, and we did so.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Look at all these letters, on so many different matters—and I must reply to every one of them.” For example, one of the letters asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to explain how this world came into being. Another asked Him to solve a difficult science problem, and yet another letter, which He showed us, asked Him to kindly bless the writer’s business. Another person wrote to Him that His confirmation and assistance were awaited. Another requested ‘Abdu’l-Bahá interpret his dream. ‘Abdu’l- Bahá said to us, “I need one month just to read these letters. When do you think I will be able to reply to all of them?” Then He showed us another letter and said, “I received this letter four months ago and I was able to read it only today.”

 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá repeated the theme and said that He had shouldered various hardships for a period of thirty years but that it was not possible to bear them any longer. He remarked, “If the friends would detach themselves from the cares of this world and with sincere hearts arise to serve the Cause of God, then all their problems, no matter how difficult, would be eased.” My humble pen cannot write any further about the hardships which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá faced, as He burned like a candle in the darkness of this world. I saw Him on one occasion walking in the garden and talking to the pilgrims on different subjects while simultaneously dictating replies to each of the letters that had come.

 - Nuru’d-din Mumtazi (‘Memories of Nine Days’, translated and edited by Ardeshir Khodadad Forudi and Sheridan A. Sims;
‘Baha’i Library Online)