The Servant of God

Abdu'l-Baha aboard Cedric
New York April 11 1912

When His Father was alive and dwelt outside the city of Akka among the mountains, 'Abdu'l-Baha frequently visited Him. Though the journey was rather long, He usually walked. His friends asked Him why He did not save time and effort and go on horseback. "Over these mountains, Jesus walked on foot," He said, "and who am I that I should ride where the Lord Christ walked?"

Once when he was older and rode in an ordinary stagecoach to return to His home, the driver thought that for a man of His appearance and bearing that He should be riding in a private carriage. 'Abdu’l-Baha insisted on using the stagecoach. At the end of His ride, He was stopped by a poor man who pleaded for a few coins. Turning to the driver. He said, "Why should I travel in a carriage when such as he needs money?"

(Adapted from the Baha’i World, Vol. IV; ‘The Child’s Way’ magazine, July-August 1971)

The road

A man had been traveling for many days looking for the town of Happyville. He had walked many miles in search of the wonderful town. Late one afternoon he came to a fork in the road. At the exact point where the road divided there was a rock, a very large rock. On top of the rock a young boy was seated playing a musical instrument.

The man went over to the boy and asked, "Can you please tell me which road I should take to get to Happyville?"

The boy stopped playing and said, "You can take the road to the left which is the long but short way; or you can take the road to the right which is the short but long way."

The man became angry, "You speak in riddles, all I asked was how to get to Happyville. What do you mean long but short, or short but long?"

The boy went back to his guitar and explained once again, "You can take the road to the left which is the long but short way, or you can take the road to the right which is the short but long way."

By now the man was even angrier than before. "I cannot stand your foolishness; I am going to take the road to the right which is short but long."

The man started down the road to the right. When he went a very short distance he came upon a river with the town of Happyville clearly on the other side. The man looked all around but he could not find a way to cross over the river.

Baha'u'llah - The King of Kings

Mansion of Baha'u'llah's father

This story is about a boy Who grew to be the latest Prophet of God. He came to the world as promised by God to Abraham, to Moses and to Jesus; also, to Muhammad, Krishna and Buddha.

We all know that a king is someone who is in charge of a whole country, much like a father who looks after members of his family. Today, in most countries, we have democracies. A democracy is governed by all its people instead of by a king. But a hundred years ago kings were so strong in many countries that they did as they pleased, without thinking about what would be good for the people in their land. This story will tell about Husayn-'Ali, later called, Baha'u'llah, Someone God sent to tell the kings and rulers of the world how they should behave toward the people.

As Husayn-'Ali was growing up, everyone knew He was no ordinary child. When He was a boy of thirteen, He used to talk with the wise and learned men who visited His father's house. They had studied religion for many years and although He had not gone to school, He was able to understand what they were talking about and even explained difficult questions to them.

What surprised the learned men as much as Husayn-Ali’s knowledge was His politeness. He was always mild and courteous and His father’s friends wanted to keep on talking to Him.

Badí – the messenger of Baha’u’llah

A long time ago there lived an old man in the town of Nayshábúr in eastern Persia. He made a living by selling turquoise stones and pure wool. He was Hájí ‘Abdu'l-Majíd.

Hájí ‘Abdu'l-Majíd had a very clever and intelligent son named Buzurg. The Hájí was a great mullá (Muslim priest). The people loved and respected him. His son, Buzurg was also well-known because he could recite the Holy Qur’an by heart and explain its teachings by the time he was eleven years old. 

Time Capsule: - Lord Buddha

It might sound strange to say that Silly was not silly. In fact he was the cleverest boy in his class. His name was Silapachai and his friends and classmates lovingly called him Silly because his original Thai name was too long. 

So it was Silly's turn and he entered the Time Capsule and pressed the buttons that would take him to the little Himalayan Kingdom Kapilavastu.

Childhood
On the brightened screen appeared the beautiful marble palace of King Sudhodana. In the court of the king stood two boys. One carried a bow and some arrows and the other an injured swan. Before the King were also his ministers and noblemen. They had come to hear the dispute of these two young men over a swan.

One was Devdutta who claimed that he had shot down the bird; and the other was Prince Siddhartha, son of King Sudhodana. His claim was that he had saved the life of the bird and so it was his. Both young men pleaded and argued before the king and noblemen and eventually it was decided that the bird would belong to the one who had saved its life and not one who had attempted to kill it. And so Prince Siddhartha won a point and taught the first great lesson. This was the very nature of Prince Siddhartha. From his youth he was very gentle, kind and loving to all people as well as to all animals.

People heard of the Prince's wisdom and recalled the strange dream Queen Maya had had before his birth. In the dream she saw a beautiful white elephant flying from the sky and entering her body. She narrated her dream to the King, and the two of them called wise men to give the meaning of the dream. The wise men said that the Queen would have a son who would be a special child, and he would be a great man, certainly greater than the King himself. This pleased King Sudhodana very much for he wished to have a son who would be a mighty ruler and who would expand the boundaries of his tiny kingdom in the north of India.

An example of 'Abdu'l-Baha's forgiving nature...

Some of the Governors of ‘Akka were very kind to 'Abdu'l-Baha, but others listened more to His enemies than to His friends and did very cruel things. For instance, some enemies of ‘Abdu'I-Baha at one time started a rumor that 'Abdu'I-Baha had left 'Akka and gone to Haifa. With the help of His many friends, they said, He was building a strong fort on Mount Carmel. Very soon, He would take over all of Palestine and Syria, and the Turkish Government would be driven out.

It was true that 'Abdu'l-Baha had moved to the fresh air of Haifa with His family, and it was true that He had many friends of all nationalities, but the so-called fort He was building was really the sacred Shrine of the Báb. The Governor, however, believed the stories the enemies told, and 'Abdu'l-Baha's family was brought back to the prison-city of 'Akka once again.

On one occasion an unfriendly Governor who hated the Baha'is decided to take over their shops and leave them with no means of making a living. So he gave orders to the police: "There are fifteen shops owned by Baha’is; go tomorrow morning early, lock them up, and bring the keys to me."

'Abdu'l-Baha called the Baha'is to Him that same evening and said, "Do not open your shops tomorrow, but wait and see what God will send us."

The next morning, the Governor waited for the keys. The police came to him and said that the shops were closed. The Governor sent the police out again, and said, "See if the shops are open now." The police returned and said that the shops were still closed. They waited and waited. At ten o'clock the shops were still not open, although they were usually open for trade at seven in the morning. However, the Governor knew that the shops must open sometime, so he waited.