Polish the Mirrors of Hearts
'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í World Faith, (1943), Bahá'í Publishing Trust · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
On 14 April 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at a union meeting of Advanced Thought Centers at the Carnegie Lyceum on West Fifty-seventh Street in New York. The talk is preserved in The Promulgation of Universal Peace, and it was reprinted in Bahá'í World Faith, the 1943 American compilation.
He compared the world of humanity to the earth and the divine power to the sun. "Consider how all are recipients of the bounty of the same Sun," He said. "At most the difference between them is that of degree, for the effulgence is one effulgence, the one light emanating from the Sun." Then He went on:
The light of the sun becomes apparent in each object according to the capacity of that object. The difference is simply one of degree and receptivity. The stone would be a recipient only to a limited extent; another created thing might be as a mirror wherein the sun is fully reflected; but the same light shines upon both.
From this He drew the lesson:
The most important thing is to polish the mirrors of hearts in order that they may become illumined and receptive of the divine light. One heart may possess the capacity of the polished mirror; another be covered and obscured by the dust and dross of this world.
In the polished mirror, He said, one may behold the Sun "in all its fullness, glory and power," while the mirror that is rusted and obscured has no capacity for reflection, although the Sun is still shining on it and "is neither lessened nor deprived." He concluded:
Therefore our duty lies in seeking to polish the mirrors of our hearts in order that we shall become reflectors of that light and recipients of the divine bounties which may be fully revealed through them.
He then said that this "means the oneness of the world of humanity," and drew a practical consequence: "Therefore we must not make distinctions between individual members of the human family. We must not consider any soul as barren or deprived. Our duty lies in educating souls so that the Sun of the bestowals of God shall become resplendent in them."
A retelling based on Bahá'í World Faith (1943); the talk appears in full in The Promulgation of Universal Peace (talk of 14 April 1912). For the fuller account, see the original.
Cite this story
'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1943). *Bahá'í World Faith*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19239
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