The Table of the Master
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
'Akká (today: Akko, Israel)
The dining table in the household of 'Abdu'l-Bahá at 'Akká was, in the recollection of every pilgrim who joined it, the spiritual centre of the home. The bahaistories.com archive draws together several of these recollections, all of them returning to the same characteristic shape.
The table was set at one level. There was no head of the table in the European sense. The Master sat where the arrangement of the chairs had placed Him, often midway down the long side. The senior pilgrims and the most junior attendants were distributed around the table without attention to formal rank. The household servants who were not actively serving the meal sat at the table as well. Bahíyyih Khánum, the Master's sister, sat where she preferred. The grandchildren ran in and out as the meal progressed.
The Master's own behaviour was the most distinctive feature. If a visitor's cup was empty, He would rise Himself to refill it. He would not ask a servant. He would walk the few steps around the table, ladle from the pot, return to His own seat. He did this so naturally that visitors, on first witness, would sometimes try to intervene out of embarrassment. The Master would gently set the visitor's hand back on the table and complete the small service.
At My table, all are guests of the Lord.
The phrase, paraphrased through several of the bahaistories.com pieces, named the principle. The Master was, in His own house, the host who served. The visitors were the guests of God whom He had been honoured to invite. The hierarchy of master and servant did not enter the dining room.
Source: bahaistories.com archive (https://bahaistories.com/), paraphrased compilation on the dining table of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His party arrived in Salt Lake City on the afternoon of 28 September
‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His party arrived in Salt Lake City on the afternoon of 28 September. Baháis traveled from other areas to have the bounty of seeing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, including Feny Paulson, from Missoula, Montana. She had received a…
‘Abdu’l-Bahá anticipated that conditions of hardship would appear
‘Abdu’l-Bahá anticipated that conditions of hardship would appear with these events, and began to instruct people in the villages of Nughayb, Samrih and ‘Adasiyyih in Palestine to grow prolific quantities of corn, much of which was…
‘Abdu’l-Bahá appeared as the guest of honor at a meeting of the New York Peace
‘Abdu’l-Bahá appeared as the guest of honor at a meeting of the New York Peace Society held at the Hotel Astor. Before the meeting, the Master had a high fever and was in bed. Juliet Thompson tried to get Him to stay and rest, but He…
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not afraid of silence; indeed, He knew its virtue
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not afraid of silence; indeed, He knew its virtue. Howard Colby Ives has recalled: ‘To the questioner He responded first with silence an outward silence. His encouragement always was that the other should speak and He…