Secondary Retelling3 min●●○○○'Abdu'l-Bahá's ministry (1892–1921)
Dream of Many Fishes
Baha'i Stories for Children · Read original
Studio narration for this story is coming — it’ll be generated by the cloud-TTS pipeline (voice: auto-selected from the source author).
When in Bahá'í history
1844'Abdu'l-Bahá (1892–1921)2026
When Baha'u'llah was a child, His father had a dream about
Him. He saw Baha'u'llah swimming in a huge
ocean. Baha'u'llah's face was so full of
light that it glowed. The whole ocean glowed with the light from Baha'u'llah's
face.
His hair was long and dark, and it flowed out in the water
around Him as He swam. Suddenly many fishes
appeared and each fish took one strand of Baha'u'llah's hair in its mouth and followed Baha'u'llah as He kept
swimming.
The fish did not hurt Him, or
slow Him down. When Bahil'u'llah turned one way, so did every fish. When He turned the other way, the fish followed that
way.
The fishes were following Baha'u'llah's light - the light of
God in His heart.
Baha'u'llah's father asked a wise man what his dream meant,
and the wise man said that the ocean was like the world, and the fishes were
the people. All the people would be attracted to the light of God in Baha'u'llah
and would follow Him. They would attach their hearts to Him like the fishes in
the dream attached themselves to His hair. The people would follow Baha'u'llah
wherever He led them.
Now we know that this wise man was talking about the
Baha'is. We are the people who follow Baha'u'llah. Every day more people in the
world find Baha'u'llah and follow Him.
We can be like the fishes
by following Baha'u'llah. If we do what Baha'u'llah teaches
us, we will be full of God's light which He
reflected on us.
(by Cindy Pacileo, ‘The Brilliant Star', 1991)
Source: Baha'i Stories for Children (https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/2014/11/dream-of-many-fishes.html).
Discuss this story
For adults
- Where do wisdom and patience meet in this story?
- What does the setting of this account contribute to its meaning?
- What stands out about this person's response in this account?
For teens
- If you were in this person's place, what might you have done?
- What does this story teach about wisdom?
For children
- Who is the most important person in this story? Why?
- If you met this person, what would you ask?
Reflection
- Read the passage a second time, slowly. What did you notice that you missed the first time?
- Sit quietly for a moment after reading. What does this story stir in you?
- If you could bring one quality from this story into your next conversation, what would it be?
Comprehension quiz
Which source is "Dream of Many Fishes" drawn from?
What period of Bahá'í history does this story belong to?
Which virtue does this story most clearly illustrate?
Cite this story
Various. *Baha'i Stories for Children*. https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/2014/11/dream-of-many-fishes.html
This story shares quotes with 94 other stories
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Also in
- 1844: A lonely youth’s encounter with Bahá’u’lláh by a roadside in Mazindaran and his amazing recognition of His station— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- 1848: Baha’u’llah describes the consternation that seized the Bábís when Tahirih suddenly appeared unveiled at the conference of Badasht— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- 1851 Karbilá, Iraq: A disciple of the Báb becomes the first person to whom Baha'u'llah confided His Divine Mission – as was prophesied by the Báb in 1848— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- A believer’s eagerness to provide financial assistance to Baha’u’llah – but chose a wrong method— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- A funny incident while in the company of the Master— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- …and 89 more
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