The Garden of God

Ridvaniyyih Khánum related that when her child was ill, the Master came and gave two pink roses to the little one, then, turning to the mother, He said in His musical voice so full of love: "Be patient." That evening the child passed away.

"Ridvaniyyih," said the Master, "there is a Garden of God. Human beings are trees growing therein. The Gardener is Our Father. When He sees a little tree in a place too small for her development, He prepares a suitable and more beautiful place, where she may grow and bear fruit. Then He transplants that little tree. The other trees marvel, saying: 'This is a lovely little tree. For what reason does the Gardener uproot it?' "The Divine Gardener, alone, knows the reason.

"You are weeping, Ridvaniyyih, but if you could see the beauty of the place where she is, you would no longer be sad. "Your child is now free, and, like a bird, is chanting divine joyous melodies. "If you could see that sacred Garden, you would not be content to remain here on earth. Yet this is where your duty now lies."

When my own mother made the "great change" from one world of God to another, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote a very beautiful tablet to me, in which He spoke of my mother as being "in the garden of rejuvenation." One day a friend, who had not yet heard of the tablet of the Master, told me of a vivid dream she had of my mother, whom she had known and loved. "I seemed to be in a marvellous garden, where every type of rare and beautiful flower was in bloom. Moving about among the flowers was a young girl. She seemed to be in a state of inexpressible joy over the loveliness of her garden. Her voice, as she chanted, was full of the ecstasy of a complete happiness. She listened to the song of birds, and inhaled the odour of the flowers as though she were filling her soul with their fragrance. Suddenly she turned towards me, as though conscious that someone was there beside herself. The young girl facing me with an enchanting smile was your mother, in the full beauty of youth."

Source: Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, pp. 216–17.

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: death).

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