Excerpts taken from:

“Astarte,” (a Lebanese magazine published in Beirut), issue 5, September 2, 1947, by Pierre Rufayel.

“Dr. Dahesh and Spirituality,” by Youssef El-Hajj, Beirut 1946.

During the last years of the Ottoman Empire and in the small town of Isfis—not to be confused with the biblical town of Ephesis—Moussa Elias Aleshi was born into a Syriac Orthodox family. Moussa converted to Protestantism. Moussa established a school where he taught and where he met Shmouneh, the daughter of Hanna Murad Canoon. She was one of his students and he was taken by her intelligence, honesty, and righteousness. She was born in a nearby town called Azekh into a Syriac Orthodox Family. Moussa and Shmouneh soon married.

Moussa Aleshi wanted to visit the Holy Land, however, the distance was significant and the state of transportation at that time was crude. The most common mode of transportation at the turn of the century was the horse and buggy. Despite the obstacles and the constant discouragement from his wise mother, he insisted on traveling to Jerusalem, so that he can be in the place where Christ first brought light into a world full of darkness. His wife also shared his desire and accompanied him in his journey.

After tremendous difficulties, they arrived to Jerusalem and went about touring the historical sites. The historical landmarks left standing as a reminder to future generations of past events impressed them. They stood in front of the Garden Tomb, then kneeled to kiss the soil in absolute humility and awe. Moussa and Shmouneh were very religious.

Moussa was very much impressed by the city of Jerusalem and desired to live near the historical sites. He told his wife that he would like to remain near Jesus’ tomb and the place where the savior of humanity walked and provided hope to the sinners. That it is a beautiful life to live in the area that witnessed the glory of the son of man. Shmouneh was startled by his proposal and told him: “what about our families, land, and properties? Do we abandon our country in order to live in someone else’s?”

He said to her: “I will miss my country. Yes, I do not want to return to my birthplace for the time being. I would like to live in the Holy Land for a while. Life suits me fine here and I am closer to the traces of Jesus of Nazareth.”

He refused to return to his country and enjoyed living in Palestine. He asked his father to send him money. His father had no choice but to accommodate his son’s request. Moussa Aleshi and his wife Shmouneh lived happily and gave birth to three daughters. In 1909 they gave birth to a son and named him Saleem.

As money became scarce, Moussa felt that he must work in order to support his family. He was fortunate to find a job in the German Hospital of Jerusalem. He continued to work in the hospital as a nurse until 1911. At the early months of that year, Moussa received a letter from his father requesting his immediate return to his homeland. His father missed him so much and was afraid that he would pass on to the next life without having the opportunity to see him.

Moussa desired to honor the wishes of his aging father, packed his belongings, and commenced the travel with his wife and children heading towards his homeland, where they can be united with family and friends. However, as they were passing through Beirut—at the time, a city under ottoman rule—one of Moussa’s daughters became ill and had to be treated by a physician. So, they took her to an American Mission physician. As she was recuperating, Moussa received word that his father has passed away. Moussa realized that it would be better to remain in Beirut for a while. In 1914 World War I broke out.until the war was over—especially when most people did not think that the war would last more than a few months. Unfortunately, they were wrong and the war raged on with brutality. Money was running out from Moussa and hunger threatened the lives of his young children. To make things worse, Turkish soldiers were looking for men of Turkish citizenship in order to draft them into the army, so that they can fight along side the Germans. Moussa looked for a place to hide from the Ottoman authorities and where he can work and push away the angel of death from his wife and children. Death at that period touched most families and most people--who considered it to be a miracle, envied the spared ones. This situation was not unique to that region and many parts of the world faced a similar fate.

Moussa again was fortunate to find a job at the American Print Shop of Beirut. Now he can be assured that his children would not starve to death. The danger of being discovered by the Ottoman authorities was real, so he decided not to leave the print shop for a while. He used to work during the day and then sleep at the print shop during the night and awaited the end of the war so that he can return to his homeland. One day, circumstances made him take a walk during the night. As he was walking, he heard a harsh voice ordering him to stop. He was arrested by the Ottoman authorities and was taken to their headquarters, where his identity as a Turkish subject was discovered and he was forced to join the army. He was dressed up in a military uniform and was sent away to the war zone.

Shmouneh was devastated and his children wept for him. The husband and father had disappeared from their lives and their future is now uncertain. It was their fortune that when Moussa was taken, the war was about to end. When it ended, Moussa returned to his family and to his position at the print shop. He remained there until 1920 when he became sick with asthma and died. He left behind a wife and five children: Saleem, Jamileh, Antoinette, Wadiaa, and Elisabat (Elizabeth). He was buried in the Hemlin Sanitarium, located in the town of Shebaniyeh near one of the mountaintops of Lebanon.

His widow was now faced with the sole responsibility of supporting five children and had to make certain short-term decisions. She sent her two daughters Elisabat and Wadiaa to live with their aunt in Jerusalem; she sent Saleem and Antoinette to the American Mission orphanage in Ghazeer (near Beirut); and then she accompanied her eldest daughter Jamileh to Tripoli, where she placed her into the American School for Girls. Saleem remained in Ghazeer for a partial year, where he excelled in his studies and in sports—even though he was a little sickly. His health was a factor in leaving the school in 1921 and joining his mother and sister in Tripoli. Soon after, he was sent to his aunt in Jerusalem and was placed in a school for a brief period and had to drop out because of his deteriorating health. Most of 1923 was spent going back and forth between the hospital and his aunt’s place. His health worsened to the point that he neared death. However, Divine Providence protected him and cured his ailment.

Since 1920, when he was 11 years of age, Saleem began to have strong tendencies towards spiritual matters, miracles, and the supernatural. He exhibited certain powers that he did not know their source. He was able to predict events and inform his friends about them. For example, he would tell a friend that his mother will come to see him on such a date and the prediction would come true. He would recite his lesson to the teacher without reading it. He was fully aware that the predictions he made were accurate, however, he did not know the source, or purpose behind such powers.

In 1924, Saleem was in Beirut and wanted very much to enroll back in school. However, his mother’s financial situation did not allow him to do so. Instead, he would borrow books from libraries and would spend the entire night reading them with eagerness—especially spiritual books. In 1925, many of Saleem’s unusual powers became apparent; however, his illiterate family had no idea how to interpret them. For example; His mother and aunt used to prevent him from reading using the lantern due to their financial situation and the cost of kerosene. One night, his aunt noticed that he was reading a book of spiritual nature, so she rushed to turn the lantern off. After a few hours, she was awakened during the night and noticed that the light is on and became so upset, that she awakened her husband and they both marched to the other room to reprimand Saleem. As they entered the room, they were frightened to see that the light was not coming from the lantern, but rather from Saleem’s eyes. In another incident, his aunt convinced her husband to discourage Saleem from reading a certain spiritual book, claiming that this book is full of evil teachings that may lead Saleem to insanity. So, his uncle took advantage of Saleem’s absence, poured kerosene over the book, and burnt it to ashes. Later, Saleem returned home and discovered the burnt book and returned it to its original state. His uncle was so frightened and baffled, but could not understand what was going on.

In 1927, Saleem was in Bethlehem and some of the supernatural events that he had performed there were performed previously in other regions of Palestine. For this reason, many of the clergy fought him fiercely and threatened from their altars those who are associated with him. One of the reasons for this attack on Saleem was his accusation of many of the clergy that they have deviated from the true teachings of their religion. Many were afraid that he would expose their improprieties.

In 1929, his reputation grew and people from all walks of life would seek him. Fulfilling the Spirit’s will, he took on the name “Dahesh,” an Arabic word that means “Astounding.” He traveled with his sister Antoinette to Paris and remained there for four months. He visited the many institutes of psychological research and received an honorary doctorate degree in psychic research from the Sage institute on May 22, 1930 for his ability to transgress the laws of nature. After his return from Paris, he became known as “Dr. Dahesh” and many became his students in spirituality. Unfortunately, some of them were kicked out because of their immoral behavior.

In early 1931, he was in Beirut, then left to Jerusalem and Cairo. His visitors were in the thousands. The royal family invited him to their palaces, where he performed miracles. In 1932, he spent several months in Haifa and Acre (Akka) and made several successful performances. He then returned to Jerusalem where he submitted himself to deep spiritual thought and contemplation—a process that evoked in him certain emotions that he could not explain.

In 1933, some people wanted to understand certain things about spirituality, but Dr. Dahesh would discourage them due to their lack of knowledge. However, many insisted and pretended to be able to comprehend. He reluctantly accepted and gave them basic instructions and put them to the test for a period of one year. In this period, he wrote his book of poetry “Asrar Al-Aliha,” which means “Secrets of the Gods.”

In 1934, he was in Jerusalem when he started to write “Alqalb Al-Muhattam,” which means “the Devastated Heart.” He proposed some of his teachings to individuals who showed interest in his spirituality. In this year, the Spirit predicted the names of certain individuals that would join the spiritual mission in 1942—predictions were confirmed to have taken place in that year.

In 1935, Dr. Dahesh traveled to Jerusalem with his sister Antoinette and from there to Sudan and Egypt and spent a full week there. He returned to Palestine and then traveled by himself to Italy and France. In April, during his stay in Paris, it was revealed to him that many of the individuals who expressed interest in spirituality are actually driven by materialism and not by the lofty spiritual goals. He was saddened by this revelation and upon his return to Palestine, confronted them and told them that they are not worthy of spirituality. He cut off his ties with them and returned to Lebanon.

In 1936, Dr. Dahesh wrote “Kalimat,” which means “Words.” In this book, he addresses the deception of most women and men based on his own experiences. He then continued to travel back and forth between Damascus and Jerusalem. In this period, he was depressed, sadness filled his life, and contradictory thoughts went through his mind. The pains of life burdened him—especially, the pain he suffered by the deception of those near him. Days passed by and as his pieces of advice to those around him were ignored, his depression deepened and had to be hospitalized on March 20. The doctors did their best to cure him, but it was up to Providence to pull him through—as it did when he was a sickly child. As soon as he was discharged, he left to Lebanon.

In 1937, many revelations necessitated care to be exercised in dealing with many of those who are seeking spiritual guidance from him. In 1938, he left to Baghdad accompanied by his two sisters Antoinette and Wadeaa. Word of his arrival got to those who attempted to defame him in Palestine and they began an ugly campaign of lies. They would send letters to the ministries and to politicians accusing Dr. Dahesh of vile things. After some investigation, Dr. Dahesh was treated with respect—especially after seeing his supernatural powers and experiencing his refined manners. Many members of the royal family and many ministers invited him to their homes. Newspapers wrote extensively about his supernatural and bewildering capabilities. Soon after, he left Iraq heading to Damascus.

In 1939, many incidents took place that caused him pain and deprived him from needed rest. He would spend a lot of time reading from his vast collection of books in order to kill time—something he viewed to be a burden because he felt that he possesses spiritual powers, yet his time has not come yet. During the summer, he was bored of being in Beirut and wished to travel to Syria. On July 12, he traveled by car to Tripoli and then he took the train to Aleppo and other cities near the Syrian-Turkish border.  After few days, he traveled to Falugha, (Lebanon), where his mother and sister were spending the summer.

In 1940, he began writing his book “Al-Dahaleez,” meaning “The Dungeons.” He used to write a page a day and in a year’s time, the book was finished and composed of 366 pages. In this manner, he kept himself busy until the time when he was supposed to begin his spiritual message. Dr. Dahesh was impatiently awaiting this moment, however, 1940 was not meant to be the year. Many world events took place and depressed him, while the routine aspects of life bored him.

In 1941, World War II was raging and things were getting worse. Dr. Dahesh was spending most of his time reading, writing, and making certain private visits to individuals close to him. He desired to travel—even for a brief period of time, but the war made it difficult. He kept things to himself and after a very bitter experience in life, he was very distrustful of others. He studied human nature and did not like what he saw. His seclusion made people wonder and talk about him. Some claimed that he is so rich and does not need to work; others said that he knows of a secret process where he can get as much money as he wants. These and many other absurd rumors circulated, but he cared less for what others thought. He was busy preparing for his spiritual mission, but did not know the time he would be allowed to commence it.

On March 23, 1942, the first glimpse of his spiritual mission took place in the form of a Spiritual Message revealing who is Dr. Dahesh and the Message he must deliver to humanity. According to Daheshists, this day is considered the beginning of a new era for the return of Christ.