He does not permit his family to have luxuries

He does not permit his family to have luxuries. He himself eats but once a day, and then bread, olives, and cheese suffice him. His room is small and bare, with only a matting on the stone floor. His habit is to sleep upon this floor. Not long ago a friend, thinking that this must be hard for a man of advancing years, presented him with a bed fitted with springs and mattress. So these stand in his room also, but are rarely used. "For how," he says, "can I bear to sleep in luxury when so many of the poor have not even shelter?" So he lies upon the floor and covers himself only with his cloak.

Source: Myron Henry Phelps and Bahiyyih Khánum, Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: simple-life).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/simple-life