Generosity Toward Those Who Opposed Him

The Master had instructed Aqa Faraju'llah, who was His caterer, to send to the Mansion any amount of food and other supplies which the Covenant-breakers requested. But they used to demand five or six times more than their needs. They were determined to take excessive funds from the Master so as to make Him helpless and force upon Him the humiliation of borrowing money from the people. In spite of all this, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ensured that they received large supplies of food, clothing and other necessities of life. Moreover, every gift which was sent to Him ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would dispatch to the Mansion and many of the funds which He received as Huququ'lláh were given to them. These manifestations of generosity and compassion which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá showered upon them in spite of their malevolence were interpreted by them as fear and helplessness. Consequently the more they received His gracious gifts and favours, the more haughty they became and progressively intensified their opposition to His blessed Person.

Source: Adib Taherzadeh, The Child of the Covenant, p. 179 (a summary translation of Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥaydar-‘Alí, Bihjatu’ṣ-Ṣudúr, pp. 334–5).

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: generosity).

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