A Ready Soul

In Memorials of the Faithful, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells the moving story of a man named Hájí ‘Abdu’r-Raḥím-i-Yazdí, whom He described as “a precious soul, from his earliest years virtuous and God-fearing, and known among the people as a holy man, peerless in observing his religious duties, mindful as to his acts.” The Master continued:

His strong religious faith was an indisputable fact. He served and worshiped God by day and night, was sound, mild, compassionate, a loyal friend.

Because he was fully prepared, at the very moment when he heard the summons from the Supreme Horizon—heard the drumbeats of “Am I not your Lord?”—he instantly cried out, “Yea, verily!” With his whole being, he became enamored of the splendors shed by the Light of the World. Openly and boldly he began to confirm his family and friends.

The following story from a Bahá’í in Colorado Springs illustrates how some people are “fully prepared” to accept Bahá’u’lláh and are moved to declare their Faith very quickly after hearing His blessed name, and arise to serve Him:

Two Sundays ago, hardly anyone showed up for Sunday Devotions at the Bahá’í Center, and only three of us were there when Robert (Bob) walked in and said, “I’m here to attend your service!” He had been filling gas at the Shamrock station across the street when he noticed the Bahá’í Center sign for devotions, and decided to walk in.

After the devotional meeting, Bob stayed to listen to the usual introduction to the Faith followed by a brief discussion, and we answered his questions to the best of our ability. Bob is from Florida, and was in Colorado Springs on business. He said he had been searching for a while after giving up on his Baptist church, and it was in a Unitarian church where he heard about the Bahá’í Faith for the first time. Bob was very touched by what he heard during our discussion and asked, “What are you doing to get your wonderful message across to the world? It all just makes so much sense!” We answered, “We’re really trying our best; we’re even going door to door!” We gave him a standard welcome package containing an introductory CD.

Last Sunday Bob came back to the Center and said he had gone through all the materials thoroughly. This time he met more Bahá’ís and seemed even more impressed with the Faith.

Tonight, my husband and I invited him to dinner, and had a wonderful time with him. In the course of our visit I mentioned casually that when he goes home he should look up the Bahá’ís in his town and keep in touch with them. He surprised us by saying, “Oh! I didn’t tell you! I went online and registered as a Bahá’í! I looked up the Bahá’ís back in Florida, contacted them, and one of them welcomed me. It was so nice, and we made arrangements for me to meet them upon my return home.” Bob explained that after his last visit to the Bahá’í Center, he went online from his hotel room, further investigated the Faith, and  declared exactly nine days after hearing about Bahá’u’lláh! And he’s going home in two weeks to teach the Faith to his wife and seven year-old son!

Ya Bahá’u’l-Abhá!