Daily Lessons Received at ‘Akká, January 1908/Morning Service
| Daily Lessons Received at ‘Akká, January 1908 Morning Service |
 Proofread once
|
MORNING SERVICE
[edit]Every morning the Holy Family assembled in the Ladies’ room for divine service. This was conducted very informally.
Before the chanting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá looked over some correspondence, and as the different visitors appeared, tea was offered. The children came and, leaving their sandals outside, knelt near the door, listening quietly. Even the sparrows were welcome, and they flew in and out at their own will (picking up bits of sugar thrown to them by the young girl at the samovar).
Ṭúbá Khánum, Munavvar Khánum, and sometimes the visiting ladies chanted.
One morning ‘Abdu’l-Bahá shook hands with us and, turning to the Persian ladies, said, “This looks strange to you, for this is the first time you have seen a man and a woman shake hands. After awhile all will adopt this custom.”
Then He asked if the chanting sounded strange to our unaccustomed ears, especially as we could not understand the words. We answered, “Yes.” He assented and added that the Persians did not like the “part” singing of the Americans when they first heard it. We told Him that, though we could not understand the words, nevertheless we felt their tremendous power.
He seemed pleased and remarked that if we could
[Page 13]
understand them, they would be even more powerful and wonderful to us.
We were reminded of a little incident which happened nine years before.3 At that time there was a young Syrian girl in the Household who was teaching the Daughters English. She was a Christian and knew nothing of the Bahá’í belief, but one day as we all listened to the chanting, she suddenly burst into tears and ran from the room. They all smiled and quietly awaited her return. In a few minutes she came back, and when asked what made her cry, she shook her head and could only reply, “It was so beautiful—it was so beautiful.”
The first day at luncheon, after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had partaken of the honey, He passed it to us and said, “Eat this, it will have a spiritual effect—it is the same honey that was offered in the olden time.
“Some material things have a spiritual effect. The spoken words cause a vibration which produces an effect upon the ear. This is material, but the effect is spiritual—that is, the spirit of man feels the effect—either of gladness or sadness.”