Loading…
"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
Loading…
"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
45 stories on this theme.
At eight ‘Abdu’l-Bahá grieved over His Father’s sufferings; in Baghdad He prayed without ceasing while Bahá’u’lláh was away in Sulaymaniyyih, rejoiced at His return, and drank in the teaching at the gatherings by the Tigris.
The Vazír dreamed that his son Bahá’u’lláh swam in a limitless ocean, with a multitude of fishes clinging to His hair. A soothsayer explained the dream, and after meeting the boy praised Him greatly.
Ali-Kuli Khan, Persia’s representative in Washington, longed for a prayer to say in moments of sudden need. On the drive from the station, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told him how, as a boy, He had cried “Yá Allah el Mustaghas!” all night before Bahá’u’lláh returned to Baghdad.
His nine-year-old son, later surnamed the ‘Most Great Branch’, destined to become the Centre of His Covenant and authorized Interpreter of His teachings, together with His seven-year-old sister …
At the holy Threshold of the Abhá Beauty we fervently pray at all times for outstanding success to attend that exalted body.
Shoghi Effendi's tribute to Bahíyyih Khánum preserves a single small image from her childhood in Tihrán: when Bahá'u'lláh was thrown into the Síyáh-Chál and the family's wealth was seized within the space of a single day, Navváb — the mother — placed a handful of dry flour into the hand of her young daughter as the substitute for daily bread.
Abbás Effendi, Who afterwards assumed the title of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (i.e.
Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí, Who afterwards assumed the title of Bahá’u’lláh (i.e.
Mírzá ‘Alí Muḥammad, Who afterwards assumed the title of Báb (i.e.
Esslemont's short account of the Báb's early life: born in Shíráz in 1819, raised by a maternal uncle, a merchant from the age of fifteen, and noted as a youth for His piety and nobility of character.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalled how, at nine years old, while Bahá’u’lláh was in prison, He was sent through the streets of Ṭihrán to fetch money from His aunt and was chased home by boys throwing stones.
In Ṭihrán around 1850, the young Nabíl was asked to take six-year-old ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to school; the child took his hand and said, “We shall walk together.”
Born in Bushruyih in 1813 to a wealthy father and a mother known as a poetess, Mullá Ḥusayn studied in Mashhad and was drawn to Siyyid Kázim. At eighteen he set out for Karbilá, with most of his family, to study with him.
When the infant Shoghi Effendi woke crying one night, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had him brought so that He could comfort him, and told the Greatest Holy Leaf, “See, already he has dreams!”
When the young Shoghi Effendi took up 'Abdu'l-Bahá's pen and tried to write, the Master drew him close and told him it was time to play, for he would write a lot in the future.
A retelling of the Báb's life: His childhood in Shiraz, His declaration to Mulla Husayn in 1844, His imprisonment, and His martyrdom in Tabriz in 1850, together with His promise of Him Whom God shall make manifest.
As a child of five or six on a visit to Beirut, Shoghi Effendi watched Dr. Baghdadi dissect a wildcat and afterwards repeated the main points of the lesson word for word.
Born at sunrise in Tihrán into a noble family, Bahá'u'lláh never went to school, yet as a youth He explained a question a famous scholar's students could not, and rode to Tihrán to stop an injustice against His father.
When Bahá'u'lláh withdrew to the mountains for two years, the young 'Abdu'l-Bahá prayed, read the writings of the Báb and helped His family. After His Father returned, He helped Him by receiving those who came to visit.
Visiting His Father's shepherds in the hills, the seven-year-old 'Abdu'l-Bahá was told He should leave them a present, so He gave them all the sheep. Bahá'u'lláh laughed and said that one day He would give Himself away.
A life of Bahá'u'lláh for children: His boyhood in Tihrán, His refusal of His father's post, the Báb's letter brought by Mullá Ḥusayn, prison and exile, and His declaration in the Garden of Riḍván.
Elizabeth tries so hard to be Good that she stops playing and exploring. Her Grandma Molly, watching a mother robin teach her babies to fly, shows her that we all need to take some chances.
When Bahá'u'lláh was a child, His father dreamed that He swam in a huge ocean while many fishes held on to His hair and followed Him. A wise man explained what the dream meant.
A children's introduction to the Báb through the words of people who knew Him: His schoolteacher, a visitor who met Him in Karbilá, and His wife, who saw Him praying late at night.
Shoghi Effendi's boyhood in the household of his grandfather 'Abdu'l-Bahá: his name, morning prayers and breakfast with the Master, the Tablet telling him to memorize and chant prayers, and the surname Rabbani.
During His two years in the mountains of Kurdistan, Bahá'u'lláh, dressed as a dervish, comforts a weeping schoolboy and writes out a copy for him. The teacher sees that the writing is royal penmanship.
As a youth visiting Núr, Bahá'u'lláh explained a question that a famous mujtahid's two hundred students could not answer. The mujtahid then told his students of two dreams he had had about Him.
As a child at His brother's wedding in Tihrán, Bahá'u'lláh watched a puppet show of a king and his court, then saw the whole court carried away in a box. From that day the world's trappings seemed to Him like that spectacle.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls how, after Bahá’u’lláh withdrew from Baghdád, her brother ‘Abdu’l-Bahá grieved deeply and spent His days copying and memorizing the tablets of the Báb.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls how a grave illness at the age of seven kept Him in Tehran while Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned there, so that He was able to go with Him into exile in Iraq.
Recalling the days in Ṭihrán when Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned and their home sacked, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told how His mother gave Him flour to eat instead of bread, yet they were contented.
In Shoghi Effendi’s childhood the family rose at dawn to pray and take breakfast with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His room. The children sat quietly and chanted when asked, and Shoghi Effendi learned to be always the first up and on time.
At noisy family lunches in the Master's house, the children watched for the mouthful of food the Greatest Holy Leaf would give to one of them. Shoghi Effendi usually got it.
Shoghi Effendi, the grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was often unhappy at school in Beirut, but he studied hard so that one day he could serve his grandfather and translate His letters into English.
In 'Akká a small boy, Shoghi, walked up to his grandfather 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who greeted him with a quiet nod; the boy kissed the hem of His robe and ran off to play.
When Bahá'u'lláh was a child, His father, the Vazír Mírzá Buzurg, dreamed of Him swimming in a limitless ocean with a multitude of fishes clinging to His hair. A soothsayer said the ocean was the world of being.
Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí raised the Báb after His father's death, stood surety for Him before the governor of Shíráz, and in 1850 gave his life in Tihrán rather than deny Him.
As a child, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was taken to see His Father's flocks. Told that He must leave the shepherds a present, and having nothing else to give, He gave them the sheep. Bahá'u'lláh laughed when He heard of it.
As a small child, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was sent by Bahá’u’lláh to inspect His flocks. Having nothing else to give the shepherds, He gave them the sheep, and Bahá’u’lláh remarked that someday He would give Himself away.
Shoghi Effendi once described to Rúḥíyyih Khánum the noisy family lunches of his childhood, when the grandchildren watched for the mouthful of food the Greatest Holy Leaf would give to one of them. It usually went to him.
Unhappy at school in Haifa and Beirut, the young Shoghi Effendi was moved by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Syrian Protestant College, where he aimed all his studies at serving the Master and translating His letters into English.
In 'Akká in 1899 the American pilgrim Ella Goodall Cooper watched the small Shoghi Effendi walk up to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who greeted him with a silent nod; the boy kissed the hem of His robe and ran off to play.
As an infant Bahá'u'lláh never cried. At five or six He dreamt that birds and fishes attacked Him without harming Him, and an interpreter told His father that the peoples of the world would assail Him in vain.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls her brother's grief in Baghdad while Bahá’u’lláh was away, His devotion to copying and memorizing the tablets of the Báb, and His one diversion, horseback riding.
Bahíyyih Khánum remembers 1852 in Ṭihrán: at six she held her little brother Mihdí in the dark while her mother, often with ‘Abbás, went out to learn whether Bahá’u’lláh was still alive.