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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
77 stories on this theme.
In ‘Akká, where there was no hospital, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá quietly paid a doctor to treat the poor. When a crippled woman named Na'um caught measles and was shunned, He gave her a room, His own bedding and every care.
In October 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited Charles Tinsley, a Black believer in San Francisco confined to bed with a broken leg, and told him a parable of a ruler who trained through hardship the subject he loved.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the sick, sent daily to ask after them, and quietly paid a doctor to care for the poor of ‘Akká. When a poor, crippled woman with measles was shunned, He arranged her care and, at the last, her funeral.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: Disease is of two kinds: material and spiritual.
A homeless man who had resolved to end his life saw ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s picture in a newspaper and walked thirty miles to find Him; the Master welcomed and comforted him, and he left with a new purpose.
Grieving over a family rift, Juliet Thompson’s mother went through a thunderstorm to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. His words of comfort took away her bitterness, and she regarded it as a miracle.
O thou son of the Kingdom! If one possesses the love of God, everything that he undertakes is useful, but if the undertaking is without the love of God, then it is hurtful and the cause of veiling one’s self from the Lord of the Kingdom.
A learned seeker from Yazd became a carpenter in Baghdad, gathered provisions for the exiles on the road to Constantinople, and served in the ‘Akká barracks, where he revived after Bahá’u’lláh bade that the prayer for healing be chanted.
Muḥammad-Hádí, a master bookbinder from Iṣfahán, kept the square before Bahá’u’lláh’s house in ‘Akká swept and sprinkled, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls how a bowl of barley soup once cured his long fever.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls Shaykh Ṣádiq of Yazd, a man of constant prayer in Baghdád, whom He healed at Bahá’u’lláh’s bidding, and who later died on the road to Mosul, longing to reach his Lord.
Your kind and loving letter written with an unbounded love and a sincere devotion for our beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His Cause has been duly received.
O thou my affectionate sister! God be praised, according to what we hear the climate in that land hath proved not unfavourable.
In order that the power of spiritual healing may be brought fully into operation certain requirements are necessary on the part of the patient, of the healer, of the patient’s friends and of the community at large.
According to the Bahá’í teaching the human body serves a temporary purpose in the development of the soul, and, when that purpose has been served, is laid aside …
Bahá’u’lláh says, in the Book of Aqdas:— Be the essence of cleanliness among mankind ... under all circumstances conform yourselves to refined manners ... let no trace of uncleanliness appear on your clothes....
The bearing on health of these commands relating to the simple life, hygiene, abstinence from alcohol and opium, etcetera, is too obvious to call for much comment, although their vital importance is apt to be greatly underestimated.
He teaches that there are also many methods of healing without material means.
The work of healing the sick, however, is a matter that concerns not the patient and the practitioner only, but everyone.
The essential oneness of all the myriad forms and grades of life is one of the fundamental teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
In concluding this chapter it will be well to recall ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s teaching as to the right use of physical health.
Bahá’u’lláh gives the assurance that, through harmonious cooperation of patients, healers and the community in general, and by appropriate use of the various means to health, material, mental and spiritual, the Golden Age may be realized …
The power of spiritual healing is doubtless common to all mankind in greater or less degree, but, just as some men are endowed with exceptional talent for mathematics or music, so others appear to be endowed with exceptional aptitude for healing.
The most potent means of healing is the Power of the Holy Spirit. ...
We live in a world, however, where from time immemorial obedience to the commands of the Prophets has been the exception rather than the rule; where love of self has been a more prevalent motive than love of God …
Muhammad Big, who led the escort taking the Báb to Tabríz, recalled how at Milán an old woman brought a sick child to the Báb, the child was healed, and about two hundred people there believed.
In the prison barracks of 'Akká the devoted Mírzá Ja'far fell ill and breathed his last. Bahá'u'lláh said to chant the prayer "O Thou, the Healer", and before an hour had passed he sat up, laughing and joking.
At the Baptist Temple in Philadelphia on 9 June 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá explained the unity of mankind: the child must be patiently trained rather than censured, and the sick must be given compassion and healing, not neglected.
Corinne True's daughter Arna feared she had tuberculosis and felt she could not marry Leo Perron. 'Abdu'l-Bahá took her thermometer, broke it in two, and told her she would be well and could marry. She soon recovered.
Early in 1916, though tired and unwell, 'Abdu'l-Bahá drove from Haifa to Nazareth to meet Jamál Páshá. On the way He prayed for a gravely ill girl in the village of Majdal, and in Nazareth the general who had been His enemy treated Him with every courtesy.
Sent by night to arrest the Bab in Shiraz, the chief constable found the city struck by plague and his own son near death. He begged the Bab for help, his son recovered, and the governor set the Bab free.
Taken reluctantly to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Harry Randall found the Master accepting a tea invitation he had never given. At the tea He went straight to Harry's frail wife, Ruth, whose doctor found her healed the next day.
Late in August 1912 Harry Randall asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá to help his wife Ruth, who had tuberculosis. The Master visited her that afternoon, and two weeks later her doctor found her well.
A learned man from Yazd became a carpenter and a servant to all the friends, and in the prison of 'Akká, after he had stopped breathing, Bahá'u'lláh told the friends to chant the prayer of Yá Sháfí and he recovered.
When Agnes Parsons asked whether the spirit could heal even broken bones, 'Abdu'l-Bahá laughed that all the spirits in the air could not create a salad, yet the spirit of man can do far greater things.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum recalls how her mother, May Maxwell, was broken by grief after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and how a pilgrimage to Haifa in 1923 to meet Shoghi Effendi restored her.
In 'Akká 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave coins to the poor in the street, a warm garment each winter to every poor person in the town, and help to the sick of every faith. During the First World War He saved the civilians of Haifa from starvation.
In 1910 the American Bahá'í physician Dr. Susan I. Moody wrote home from Tehran about her medical work, the Bahá'í women she met, and the community's plans for a girls' school, which it raised funds to open.
During His years of strict confinement in 'Akká, 'Abdu'l-Bahá visited the sick in their homes, brought doctors and medicine to the poor, and gave the city's poor warm clothing each winter, whatever their religion.
When Stanwood Cobb arrived in Haifa ill with dysentery, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent His own physician, visited him Himself, and said He wished He could take the illness upon Himself.
A man who had resolved to end his life saw 'Abdu'l-Bahá's picture in a shop window and walked thirty miles to find Him in London. The Master welcomed him and gave him new hope.
October 19th All true healing comes from God! There are two causes for sickness, one is material, the other spiritual.
November 22nd In this world we are influenced by two sentiments, Joy and Pain.
Question.—It is recorded that miracles were performed by Christ.
Question.—Some people heal the sick by spiritual means—that is to say, without medicine.
Yesterday at table we spoke of curative treatment and spiritual healing, which consists in treating maladies through the spiritual powers.
O thou distinguished physician!... Praise be to God that thou hast two powers: one to undertake physical healing and the other spiritual healing.
When giving medical treatment turn to the Blessed Beauty, then follow the dictates of thy heart.
There are two ways of healing sickness, material means and spiritual means.
O thou who art attracted to the fragrant breathings of God! I have read thy letter addressed to Mrs. Lua Getsinger.
O thou handmaid of God! The heavenly glad tidings must be delivered with the utmost dignity and magnanimity. And until a soul ariseth with qualities which are essential for the bearer of these tidings, his words will take no effect.
O thou son of the Kingdom! Thy most agreeable letters, with their pleasing style, ever gladden our hearts. When the song is of the Kingdom, it rejoiceth the soul.
O my spiritual loved ones!
In cycles gone by, each one of the Manifestations of God hath had His own rank in the world of existence, and each hath represented a stage in the development of humanity.
O thou who art captivated by the truth and magnetized by the Heavenly Kingdom!
Visiting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká in 1908 while troubled by depression, Stanwood Cobb was visited in his room by the Master, Who sat beside him and held his hand. From that moment, Cobb wrote, his depressive moods left him for good.
Honorable Dr. ......... According to what is heard you have received the permission of medication and the certificate of graduation (diploma) from the College of Medicine.
My Lord! My Lord! Thou hast caused me to hear the Call, guided me unto the sea of favor, awakened me through Thy fragrant breeze, and quickened me by the spirit of Thy greatest guidance.
O seeker of the truth! There are two ways of healing diseases, the material way and the spiritual way. The first is the remedies of the physician; the second prayers and turning one’s self to God.
O thou advancer to God! Verily, I have read thy brilliant letter which is elegantly composed. I supplicate God to alleviate thy trials and look upon thee with the eye of His mercy under all aspects.
O thou artery pulsating in the body of the world! Verily I read thy recent letter which indicated conscious joy and abundant happiness from the glad-tidings of the Kingdom of El-Abha.
O thou dazzling gem by the light of the Love of God!
O thou pure and spiritual one!
O thou who art advancing unto the Face of God!
O thou who art conscious! At last thou didst learn of the path of salvation and didst find the straight way. Now remain firm that thou mayest attain confirmation and victory.
O thou who art supplicating unto the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art tranquilized by the Call of the Kingdom at this time!
O thou who art turning to the divine Kingdom! The lengthy epistle was considered. Notwithstanding lack of time and opportunity, on account of exceeding love an answer will be written.
O thou who hast sought illumination from the Light of the Guidance of God!
O thou whose breast is dilated with the Fragrances of God! I received thy letter which showed thine advance toward the Kingdom of God.
O thou wonderful leaf of the Tree of the Love of God! All that thou hast written was perused. It was read from beginning to end, and it caused joy and fragrance.
O thou wooer of Truth and attracted one toward the Kingdom of God!
O ye friends of this prisoner!
O ye my divine friends!
O ye two birds in the open-space of the Love of God! Verily I read your letter and I inhaled therefrom a spiritual fragrance which perfumes the nostrils of the spirit.
The morning after He arrived in Montréal, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited a sickly girl across the street from the Maxwells and told her parents she must be let out into the sunlight; she soon recovered completely.
Walking on the beach with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lua Getsinger stepped in His footprints and three times said she wished to follow in them. A tarantula then bit her, and when fever and delirium set in, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá healed her.
When Sutherland Maxwell lay near death in the winter of 1949–50, Shoghi Effendi insisted he should not die and had him taken to Switzerland, where he recovered so completely that the Guardian called it miraculous.