Speaker Prep

Giving a fireside, devotional, or talk? Pick a theme, get a curated brief: relevant stories, key quotes, citations, and recommended sequencing.

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science begins words science-and-religion scientists scripture search searching seeking self self conscious self hatred self pity self-knowledge selfless service shoghi effendi shoghi effendi marriage shoghi effendi premonition death shoghi effendi schedule shrine shrine bab shrine-of-the-bab sick caring sick-caring sightseeing signs silence simple life simplicity sincerity siyah chal siyah chal bahaullahs declaration slaves smoking social-justice solidarity solitude soul south speaking speech speeches spiritual life sports steadfastness stories striving succession sudan suffering suicide sympathy tablets tablets divine plan taxes teaching temples ten-year-crusade tenderness test tests the-covenant thoughts tihran timing training transformation translation travel travel-teaching trials trust trustworthiness truthfulness underground railway unity unity religion universal language universal language heart heart venting virtue vision vocation war watchman wealth wedding abdul baha weddings western-journeys will god willpower wisdom witness women work workaholism worthy writing writings youth

A talk on conversion

Suggested sequencing: open with a powerful story, deepen with a reflective one, close with one of joyful resolution. Adjust to your audience.

Opening

The Mufti Who Came to Insult and Stayed to Serve

Mr. Furutan, in *Stories of Bahá'u'lláh,* preserves the recollection of Shaykh Maḥmúd-i-‘Arrábí — the Sunní mufti of ‘Akká who, having sworn to kill Bahá'u'lláh as a heretic upon His arrival, came to His door, was received, and walked out a servant of the Cause for the rest of his life.

Stories of Bahá'u'lláh · Ali-Akbar Furutan

Middle

The Guard Who Wept in the Corridor

Among the 'Akká stories Mr. Furutan preserves in *Stories of Bahá'u'lláh* is the recollection of a prison guard, originally hostile, who came over time to weep in the stone corridor when he heard the voices of the Holy Family — and who one day, in open contradiction of his orders, fell at Bahá'u'lláh's feet.

Stories of Bahá'u'lláh · Ali-Akbar Furutan

Closing

The Thief and the Saint: A Story of Sudden Conversion

Among the conversion stories 'Abdu'l-Bahá would tell to illustrate the suddenness with which a heart can turn was the account of a thief who climbed to a holy man's roof with the intention of robbing him — and came down, before morning, a different man.

Stories Told by 'Abdu'l-Bahá · Various Compilers

Click into any story to see the full text with extracted quotes — copy what you need for your talk.

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