Impressions on ‘Abdu’l-Baha

Endurance 

Source: Memories of Nine Years in Akka by Dr. Youness Afroukhteh compiled by Ismael Velasco

“…He never took to bed when He was unwell; whenever He developed a fever He would simply endure the discomfort, not disclosing the matter to anyone; by adopting certain diets He was usually able to cure himself. Only by the way He ate and drank at the dinner table with the Western pilgrims – or abstained from food and drink could we tell that He was not feeling well. One day we heard that the Master was ill in bed and had not left the andaruni. . . . After some eight or nine days I presented myself at the Master’s House very early one morning, before the rising of the sun. . . . Suddenly I heard the sound of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s finger rapping on the windowpane of His study. . .. He beckoned me. . . . ‘So you are here to enquire after my health? Praise God, I am quite well,’ He said. Then He told me to take a seat. As He began to write, the following utterances were revealed: ‘Nothing affects me more than the actions and conduct of the friends. The main reason I was ill over the last few days was a letter I had received from Persia describing the misdeeds and misconduct of one of the believers. The news brought me such pain and sorrow that I fell ill and had to stay in bed until last night, when Mirza Haydar-‘Ali delivered a letter from ‘Ishqabad bearing news of the good deeds of one of the friends. It made me so happy that I became well. So if the believers wish for my happiness, they must adorn themselves with heavenly character and conduct. . . It is because of this that I have always said that my wellbeing and its opposite are in the hands of the friends.’”