When the light of faith is kindled in the lamp of the heart and soul, its spreading rays illumine every limb of the body. When this resplendent light shineth forth through the medium of the tongue, it is made manifest in the powers of speech and utterance. When its beams fall upon the eyes, insight and true vision are revealed, and when it stirreth the ear, it bestoweth attentive hearing. When this light sheddeth its radiance upon the mind, it leadeth to the recognition of the All-Merciful, and when it setteth aglow the limbs, it findeth expression in purity and the worship of God. Otherwise, all physical powers, all limbs and members would remain useless and futile and their actions would fade like a mirage in the desert. (From a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—translated from the Persian, from Give me Thy Grace to Serve Thy Loved Ones, Compilation for the 2018 Counsellors’ Conference, [4])
This is a newly translated tablet and on first blush, it seems to be a wonderful reminder of the importance of faith, and the gifts we get when faith is kindled in our hearts and souls. It begs the question, though, what happens to those who don’t have faith? `Abdu’l-Bahá says all their “limbs and members would remain useless and futile and their actions would fade like a mirage in the desert.” I wonder at the analogy seeming to fall short.
Is He saying that with faith, our speech and utterance have power; we are given insight, true vision and attentive hearing; we recognize God and worship Him with purity of heart but without faith, speech and utterance have no power, we don’t get insights or recognize God?
Knowing I have faith and being reminded of the gifts it bestows, I am grateful!
What jumped out for you as you read through today’s meditation? I’d love it if you would share so we can all expand our knowledge of the Writings!
If you liked this meditation, you might also like my book Making Friends with Sin and Temptation
Loving greetings to a beloved soul.
I was interested in your comment:
“It begs the question, though, what happens to those who don’t have faith? `Abdu’l-Bahá says all their “limbs and members would remain useless and futile and their actions would fade like a mirage in the desert.” I wonder at the analogy seeming to fall short.”
I, too, have long wondered deeply about this question of those without faith. An answer came to me by a friend who directed me to Some Answered Questions Chapter 32 “Many Are Called, Few Are Chosen”, by Abdul-Baha, Who explains how all created things have a purpose, even if the fingernail or eyelash. That the eye is infinitely more in complexity and divine makeup, but that without the fingernail, the body and world would be imperfect. Its absence is not accepted.
He goes on to state how the differences between the divine bounties in humankind also are due to the Divine Will. Some are going to be the fingernail. But even the fingernail has potential to be fulfilled, and every human has capacity to recognize. So… what can we make of this? Many things, I guess. It is divine mystery and we cannot know one’s end, so we must keep shining the light no matter what.🕊🦋♥️🙏🏽 What about you?
Thank you for posting this!
Thanks Barbra. I’ve never thought of capacity in terms of body parts before, but I do resonate deeply with the idea that different body parts serve different but equally important functions, (and I identify myself as a big toenail) so your example really hits home. Here’s an article I wrote mostly about teaching and service you might enjoy: The Theory of the Big Toenail – or Taking on Roles that Don’t Belong to Us
This is what turns a gnat into an eagle and copper into gold. We are transformed.
And I am grateful!
Thank you for making us think about this. I understand from it that faith potentially exists in each and every person, like the wick of the lamp. It just needs to be enkindled. Now, whose wick is really enkindled and whose is not, only God knows. It is very difficult for us to know, even about our own wick. Sometimes even when we think we don’t have faith, it might be there somewhere deep in our heart. Another thing is about the time when the wick gets enkindled. This can happen at any time during one’s life, even at the hour of death, the instant when the spirit is leaving the body. And it would still count. Only God can make such judgements.
Well said (and a scary reminder) Shirin!
Another way of asking this question is: Of those whom we know their actions were useful for the world and did not fade away like a mirage in the desert, which ones did not have “faith”? It begs the question: how do we define “faith”? And how do we define “God”? Very often we hear people with scientific background, for example, describe something in the universe, that is different from what traditional religions described as God. But it may be one and the same, depending on how we interpret these words.
I absolutely agree, Shirin. We can’t know God, so anyone’s guess is absolutely right from their perspective. Thanks so much for contributing to the discussion and giving us much to ponder.