48: O ye loyal servants of the Ancient Beauty! In every
'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, (1978) · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
O ye loyal servants of the Ancient Beauty! In every cycle and dispensation, the feast hath been favoured and loved, and the spreading of a table for the lovers of God hath been considered a praiseworthy act. This is especially the case today, in this dispensation beyond compare, this most generous of ages, when it is highly acclaimed, for it is truly accounted among such gatherings as are held to worship and glorify God. Here the holy verses, the heavenly odes and laudations are intoned, and the heart is quickened, and carried away from itself.
The primary intent is to kindle these stirrings of the spirit, but at the same time it follows quite naturally that those present should partake of food, so that the world of the body may mirror the spirit’s world, and flesh take on the qualities of soul; and just as the spiritual delights are here in profusion, so too the material delights.
Happy are ye, to be observing this rule, with all its mystic meanings, thus keeping the friends of God alert and heedful, and bringing them peace of mind, and joy.
Source: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá (1978). Public domain text from Project Gutenberg eBook #19287.
Cite this story
'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1978). *Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá*. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19287/pg19287-images.html
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
A Letter to the Peacemakers: 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet to The Hague
As the First World War ended, an organization in The Hague devoted to building a durable peace wrote to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. From the Holy Land, only newly released from a lifetime of confinement, He answered with one of the great Tablets of His ministry — setting out, for the world's peace-workers, the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh on the oneness of humanity and the true foundations on which a lasting peace must rest.
Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet on Detachment from the World
From Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, a Tablet on the spiritual practice of detachment — not the rejection of the world but the freedom of the soul from the bondage of its desires, so that the heart may be ready for the indwelling of the Beloved.
Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet on the Purpose of Religion
From Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, a Tablet setting out the central purpose of religion: not the formal observance of ritual, but the unification of hearts, the elevation of human character, and the establishment of the kingdom of justice and fellowship in the visible world.
Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet on the Spiritual Meeting
From Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, a Tablet on the proper character of the spiritual meeting — the gathering of believers in private homes for prayer and consultation, which the Master holds out as the true seedbed of the Bahá'í community life.