The Dust on the Wife's Shoes

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sense of justice and equality also embraced the quality of relationship between men and women. He once smilingly turned to the ladies in a group of listeners in America and said that, ‘in Europe and America, many men worked very hard so that their wives could have luxuries. He related, again with a smile, the story of a husband and wife who once visited Him. Some dust had settled on the wife’s shoes, and she told her husband peremptorily to wipe it off, which he dutifully did. Did she do the same for her husband, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had queried. No, had been the reply, she cleaned his clothes. But that was not equality, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had remarked. “Now, ladies,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “you must sometimes stand up for the rights of men.” It was all said with good humour, but the lesson was plain: moderation in all things.’

Source: Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 113, quoting H. M. Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant, pp. 317–18 (the talk is recorded in Mahmúd’s Diary, Chicago, 1 November 1912)

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: equality).

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