The Wisdom of a Childhood Illness

In 1913, when an illness had kept Him in Paris far longer than He had intended, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá remarked that ever since the early years of His life the wisdom of whatever had happened to Him had become apparent later, and He recalled His childhood:

I was a child in Tehran when at the age of seven I contracted tuberculosis. There was no hope of recovery. The wisdom of this sickness became clear later. If I had not been ill, I would have been obliged to go to Mázindarán but because of this sickness I stayed in Tehran. This was when the Blessed Beauty was in prison in Tehran. Therefore, I was afforded the honor of being in His company during His journey to Iraq. When the right time arrived, I suddenly became well, after the doctors had given up all hope of recovery.

Source: Stories Told by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 104; the occasion is given in H. M. Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant, pp. 12–13.

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: timing).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/timing