Study, Study, Study
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
Haifa (today: Haifa, Israel)
In 1919, when Margaret Randall, who came to be known as Bahíyyih, was but thirteen years of age, she went to Haifa with her parents and others to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Bahíyyih has recounted some of her experiences: “One night we were sitting at the table with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He always placed me on His left. He smiled at me and said, ‘Your name is Bahíyyih. Bahíyyih means light, but unless you have something within you, something back of it, there is no light.’ And I realized the challenge He gave me just then. Another time we were told that we could have an interview with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and mother went with me when I had one. I asked Him, ‘What can I do to serve this Faith?’ The Master paced up and down the room …. ‘Study. Study. Study.’ So many times the Master would repeat things three times. That was the message for me. Always the Master knew the thing that would bring fullest development into the individual’s life. If it was requested, He guided the person to it.”
Source: Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Annamarie Honnold), p. 60 (“Study. Study. Study.”).
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: transformation).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/transformation
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
Not as Much as an Ant
In Haifa, thirteen-year-old Bahíyyih Randall saw ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tenderly feed the aged Ḥaydar-‘Alí. When she asked him what he had done to serve the Faith, he said he had not done as much as an ant could do in the path of God.
Bahíyyih Means Light
Visiting Haifa at thirteen in 1919, Margaret (Bahíyyih) Randall was told by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that her name means light, but that there is no light without something within. Asked how she could serve, He answered, “Study. Study. Study.”
Sharing the Burden: Bahíyyih Khánum in Baghdád
Shoghi Effendi's tribute to Bahíyyih Khánum recalls the years of crisis in Baghdád — when Mírzá Yaḥyá's faithlessness had unsettled the Bábí community and Bahá'u'lláh had retreated for two years to the mountains of Sulaymáníyyih — the tender solicitude she showed as a child in His absence, and the delicate, grave missions He entrusted to her in her teens.
The Youth of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
From that time onwards, He became His father’s closest companion and, as it were, protector.