A Day for the Covenant

A retelling for children, based on the origins of the Day of the Covenant and a tablet in Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas (1909).

'Abdu'l-Bahá was born on the 23rd of May, 1844. That was the very same night on which the Báb first announced His message in the city of Shíráz.

The Bahá'ís loved 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and they wanted to celebrate His birthday. But He told them that the 23rd of May must never be celebrated as His birthday. It was the day of the Báb's Declaration, and it belonged to the Báb alone.

The friends begged Him for a day that they could celebrate as His. So He gave them the 26th of November. On that day they would remember that Bahá'u'lláh had chosen Him to be the Centre of His Covenant. The Covenant is Bahá'u'lláh's promise to guide His followers and keep them united, and He had told them all to turn to 'Abdu'l-Bahá after Him. That is why the day is called the Day of the Covenant.

'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote many letters, called tablets, to the Bahá'ís in faraway countries. In one of them He told them that hard times would come, and that some people would stand against them because of their faith. He did not want them to be sad. After a storm, He said, the spring comes, and the hills and fields turn green again.

He reminded them of the followers of Christ. When Christ appeared, many people turned against His disciples, but the disciples stayed firm. In the end, the same people who had been unkind to them came to love and honour them.

So, He wrote, when people stand against you, "be not disturbed or troubled; nay, rather, be firm as a mountain." A mountain does not move when the wind blows.

Blessed is the soul who is firm in the path! He wrote.

On the Day of the Covenant, Bahá'ís everywhere come together to remember this promise and to be firm in it.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "How the Day of the Covenant Began".

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1909). *Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas*. Bahai Publishing Society. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19312