One Word at a Time

A retelling for children, based on The Priceless Pearl by Rúḥíyyih Khánum.

In a quiet office in the city of Haifa, a man named Shoghi Effendi sat at his desk, working very, very slowly. He was not slow because he was tired. He was slow because he was being careful — more careful than almost anyone you have ever met.

Spread out in front of him were some special books. There was a little book of holy words that Bahá'u'lláh had written long ago, far away in the wilderness above the city of Baghdád. It was full of short, lovely lines that began O Son of Spirit and O Children of Men. Those words were written in Persian and in Arabic, and Shoghi Effendi wanted everyone who spoke English to be able to read them too — and to feel how beautiful they were.

So he set himself a job. He would turn the book into English.

But he did not rush it. He did not just write down the first words that popped into his head. Beside the little book he kept another book to help him: an old English Bible, whose words had a grand and gentle sound he loved. And then he began.

He worked on just one line at a time. He would write it out. He would read it over. Then sometimes he would set it aside and come back to it later, to see if he could make it even better. One line might take a very long time. But he did not mind, because he wanted every single word to be exactly right.

Little by little, line by line, the English book grew. And here is one of the lines he made, that children and grown-ups have read ever since: O Son of Spirit, my first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart.

Shoghi Effendi worked this carefully on many holy books, not just one. He knew that people would read his words out loud in their prayers for a very long time — even hundreds and hundreds of years. So he never picked the quick, easy way. He picked the very best way, even when it was slow and hard.

When something truly matters, it is worth doing slowly and doing well. That is the lesson of the man at the quiet desk, turning one word at a time until it shone.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "An English for the Hidden Words: Shoghi Effendi's Discipline".

Khánum, R.. (1969). *The Priceless Pearl*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust.