Monday, April 20, 2009

Thoughts on Ridvan

In yesterday's blog entry, I mentioned the Ridvan Festival. Today I am going to post statements about that Festival, statements made by Abdu'l-Baha.

"Thou seest, O my Lord, the assemblage of Thy loved ones, the company of Thy friends, gathered by the precincts of Thine all-sufficing Shrine, and in the neighborhood of Thine exalted garden, on a day among the days of Thy Ridvan Feast -- that blessed time when Thou didst dawn upon the world, shedding thereon the lights of Thy holiness, spreading abroad the bright rays of Thy oneness, and didst issue forth from Baghdad, with a majesty and might that encompassed all mankind; with a glory that made all to fall prostrate before Thee, all heads to bow, every neck to bend low, and the gaze of every man to be cast down. " (Abdu'l-Baha, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 175)

During the first Ridvan, Abdu'l-Baha was a small boy. He was with his family in Bagdad (a city that was part of Persia in 1863). After leaving that garden, Abdu'l-Baha accompanied his father, Baha'u'llah, and the other members of his family. They were banished to Constantinople, then Adrianople and then to the prison city of Akka.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

If Abdu'l-Baha was born in 1844 by 1863 he would be more than a small boy?