The Talk That Moved Outside

A retelling for children, based on Mahmúd's Diary (entries for late May 1912).

One afternoon in the spring, a great university near the city of Boston got ready for a very special guest. The university was called Harvard, and it had invited 'Abdu'l-Bahá to come and speak.

They wanted to do it properly. So they chose their biggest hall of all — a grand room with rows and rows of seats. Surely, they thought, that would be room enough for everyone who wished to come.

But they had not guessed how many people wished to come.

Long before the talk was supposed to begin, the big hall was already full. Teachers came, and students came, and people from the town came, and friends traveled in from all across that part of the country. Every seat was taken. Then people stood in the aisles. At last the doors had to be shut, because the building simply could not hold one more person.

And still more people kept arriving! A whole crowd had gathered outside on the grassy lawn — and now they could not get in.

When 'Abdu'l-Bahá arrived, the helpers told Him what had happened: a full hall inside, and a great crowd left standing on the grass outside. What should they do?

'Abdu'l-Bahá looked at the building. Then He looked at the lawn full of waiting people. And He thought of a simple answer. He would not make the crowd outside go away. He would not keep them shut out in the cold. He would go to them — He would move the whole talk outdoors, so that no one would be left out.

The university helpers led Him to a spot on the steps. It was the perfect place. From there, His voice could reach the people sitting inside through the open doors, and the big crowd standing out on the lawn, all at the very same time. And so, standing tall on the steps, 'Abdu'l-Bahá began to speak to everyone together.

He spoke about learning, and what it is really for. He told the students that being clever and well taught is a wonderful gift — but a gift like that comes with a job to do. People who get to learn so much, He said, should use their trained minds to help the whole human family and to solve its hardest problems.

He was worried about something, too. He could see that countries far away were drifting toward a terrible war. So He asked the young people right there in front of Him to do something brave with their lives: whatever work they grew up to do, He asked them to give themselves to the work of keeping peace.

For about an hour He spoke, and nobody wanted to miss a word. The crowd on the lawn stood perfectly still and listened. The people inside, hearing Him through the open doors, did not stir either.

When at last He finished and turned to go, something lovely happened. Both crowds — the one inside and the one outside — came forward to shake His hand. There were so many people that the line of greetings took almost as long as the talk itself! Only after that did He ride back to His hotel.

'Abdu'l-Bahá could have decided that the hall was full and that everyone else would simply have to go home. But He never liked to leave anyone out. When the room was too small to hold all the people, He simply opened the doors and went out under the wide-open sky, so that everyone — every single person who had come — could be part of it.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "On the Lawn at Cambridge: 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Harvard".

Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání, M.. (1998). *Mahmúd's Diary: The Diary of Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání*. George Ronald.