A Silk Carpet for Bahá'u'lláh's Shrine

Another instance of His generosity concerned a rug, which was among ‘the most exquisite’ ever created in Persia. Woven of ‘purest silk, patterned as a rose garden and bordered with heavy twisted cord of real gold’, it was bought from merchants after World War I. With great effort it was brought to Haifa by way of Afghanistan and India, due to transportation and travel problems.

When the generous pilgrim arrived after tiring weeks of travel, he took the rug to the Pilgrim House adjacent to the Shrine of the Báb and spread it out on the floor. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived and “immediately inquired of the caretaker whose carpet that was, and upon being told, He said that so valuable a work of art should not be on the floor where it might become soiled and He gave instructions for it to be rolled up and put away. The pilgrim then told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that the carpet had been brought for Him and He replied that so beautiful a gift should be placed in the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and that He would place it there Himself.”

Within a few days resident believers and pilgrims went with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Bahjí. They boarded a train in Haifa for ‘Akká. From ‘Akká a carriage took the older friends to Bahjí. The Master rode His now-famous white donkey, the younger ones walked.

The pilgrim from the East “offered the Master some chocolate and this He shared with some others.” He related that “we asked permission of the Master to sing and when He graciously permitted us, we began to sing. I do not remember what the songs were, whether they were our chants or other songs, but I know that I never felt so happy in my life as then when singing in the presence of the Master, and I am sure all the others felt the same way. After we reached Bahjí we had dinner and then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spread the carpet in the Holy Shrine, and thus my hope was realized.”

Source: Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Annamarie Honnold), p. 70 (“A rug for Bahá’u’lláh’s Shrine”).

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: generosity).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/generosity