“O thou bird warbling in the Garden of the Love of...”
'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas, (1909) · Read original
Studio narration for this story is coming — it’ll be generated by the cloud-TTS pipeline (voice: auto-selected from the source author).
When in Bahá'í history
O thou bird warbling in the Garden of the Love of God!
Thank God that He hath illumined thine insight, led thee unto the Fire glowing in the Tree of Man, caused thee to utter His praise among the creatures and guided certain women to whom thou delivered the Word of God.
O maid-servant of god! Verily thy Lord lighteth the lamp of love in the heart of whomsoever He chooseth. This is indeed the great happiness. He confirmeth him in the service of His Supreme Vineyard.
I pray God to confirm the relatives in attaining to the Brilliant Light, to let the light of insight shine forth to the hearts and sights, to aid thy friends in being illumined by the light of El-Baha and [being] fed from the heavenly table, and to make thee empty, void from the thoughts of the life of this world and filled with the love of thy Lord, ready for His service, uttering His praise and demonstrating with proofs the appearance of the Kingdom of God.
Source: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas (1909). Public domain text from Project Gutenberg eBook #19312.
Discuss this story
For adults
- Where do you see love appearing — visibly or quietly — in this passage?
- How does this story illustrate the practice of love?
- Read the closing lines once more. What single phrase stays with you?
For teens
- If you were in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's place, what might you have done?
- What does this story teach about love?
Reflection
- What in this account feels timely? What feels timeless?
- If you could bring one quality from this story into your next conversation, what would it be?
- Is there someone in your life who would be helped by hearing this story?
Comprehension quiz
Which source is "“O thou bird warbling in the Garden of the Love of...”" drawn from?
What period of Bahá'í history does this story belong to?
Which historical figure is featured most prominently in this story?
Which virtue does this story most clearly illustrate?
Cite this story
'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1909). *Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas*. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19312/pg19312-images.html
Record yourself reading this story
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