The Proof of Nobility
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When in Bahá'í history
Prison walls themselves did not obscure the happiness in the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In prison He could write, ‘Grieve not because of my imprisonment and calamity; for this prison is my beautiful garden, my mansioned paradise and my throne of dominion among mankind. My calamity in my prison is a crown to me in which I glory among the righteous.’
At another time He wrote, ‘Anybody can be happy in the state of comfort, ease, health, success, pleasure and joy; but if one will be happy and contented in the time of trouble, hardship and prevailing disease, it is the proof of nobility.’
It is a beautiful thing to realize that life’s experiences did not sour or embitter the Master’s outlook. Tuberculosis at the age of seven, poverty, exile, separation from Bahá’u’lláh, imprisonment, the death of His sons—He endured all these, and more, and remained optimistic and cheerful towards life. He walked nobly in adversity.
Source: Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 165.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: happiness).
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