Children’s class kit
art — Teens (13–17)
Auto-assembled from the Bahai Story Library
Stories
- Art Is Worship: A Painter's Question in London
In London in September 1911, a painter came to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá whether art was a worthy vocation. The Master answered in three words. Then an actor asked about drama, and the conversation widened into a memory of a Mystery Play that, as a child, had kept Him sleepless for nights.
— 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London
- Paint My Servitude to God: Juliet Thompson and the Portrait
In June 1912 in New York, the painter Juliet Thompson was given an unprecedented privilege: 'Abdu'l-Bahá agreed to sit for her. The Diary preserves the moment He stopped her on the street, took her hand, and said *come tomorrow and paint;* and the cramped basement studio where He asked her to paint not the man but the *Servitude.*
— Juliet Thompson, The Diary of Juliet Thompson
- A Compendium of Perfections: Mishkín-Qalam and the Perfected Craft
Mishkín-Qalam was the foremost calligrapher of Persia, his pen "the wonder of all calligraphers." He could have kept his comfort, his fame, and the favour of princes. Instead he crossed deserts and seas to find Bahá'u'lláh, and turned his perfected art into an act of worship — writing the Most Great Name in countless beautiful forms even from prison, until 'Abdu'l-Bahá called him "a compendium of perfections."
— 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful
Discussion questions
Quote to memorize
“Art is worship.”
Coloring page
Interlocking Nine-Stars
A repeating field of nine-pointed stars connected at their points — a symbol of the unity that the Bahá'í teachings call humanity to.