Children

Chant thou this commune:

O thou Glorious Lord! Make thou this little maid-servant a brilliant-starred daughter of the Kingdom; endear her in the Threshold of Oneness and overflow her with the cup of Thy love, in order that she may raise the cries of joy and ecstasy and mix ambergris with musk. [This metaphor means the state of spontaneous prayer and communion with God.] Verily, Thou art the Powerful and the Mighty, and Thou art the Wise, the Seer!

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá v3, p. 550

He is God! O God, my God! We are children who have sucked the milk of divine knowledge from the breast of Thy love and have been admitted into Thy Kingdom while of tender age. We implore Thee in the daytime and in the night season saying: O Lord! Make firm our steps in Thy Faith, guard us within the stronghold of Thy protection, nourish us from Thy heavenly table, enable us to become signs of divine guidance and lamps aglow with upright conduct and aid us through the potency of the angels of Thy kingdom, O Thou Who art the Lord of glory and majesty! Verily Thou art the Bestower, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source

He is God! O Thou kind Lord! We are poor children, needy and insignificant, yet we are plants which have sprouted by Thy heavenly stream and saplings bursting into bloom in Thy divine springtime. Make us fresh and verdant by the outpourings of the clouds of Thy mercy; help us to grow and develop through the rays of the sun of Thy goodly gifts and cause us to be refreshed by the quickening breeze wafting from the meadows of Truth. Grant that we may become flourishing trees laden with fruit in the orchard of knowledge, brilliant stars shining above the horizon of eternal happiness and radiant lamps shedding light upon the assemblage of mankind.

O Lord! Should Thy tender care be vouchsafed unto us, each one of us would, even as an eagle, soar to the pinnacle of knowledge, but were we left to ourselves we would be consumed away and would fall into loss and frustration. Whatever we are, from Thee do we proceed and before Thy threshold do we seek refuge. Thou art the Bestower, the Bountiful, the All-Loving.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source

He is God! O Thou pure God! Let these saplings which have sprouted by the stream of Thy guidance become fresh and verdant through the outpourings of the clouds of Thy tender mercy; cause them to be stirred by the gentle winds wafting from the meads of Thy oneness and suffer them to be revived through the rays of the Sun of Reality, that they may continually grow and flourish, and burst into blossoms and fruit. O Lord God! Bestow upon each one understanding; give them power and strength and cause them to mirror forth Thy divine aid and confirmation, so that they may become highly distinguished among the people. Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source

He is the Most Glorious! O my merciful Lord! This is a hyacinth which hath grown in the garden of Thy good pleasure and a twig which hath appeared in the orchard of true knowledge. Cause it, O Lord of bounty, to be refreshed continually and at all times through Thy vitalizing breezes, and make it verdant, fresh and flourishing through the outpourings of the clouds of Thy favours, O Thou kind Lord! Verily Thou art the All-Glorious.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source

O Compassionate God! O Lord of Hosts! Praise be unto Thee that Thou hast preferred these little children over the full-grown and mature, and bestowed upon them Thy special favours. Thou hast guided them. Thou hast been kind to them. Thou hast conferred upon them illumination and spirituality. Grant us Thy confirmation so that, when we grow up, we may engage in service to Thy Kingdom, become the cause of educating others, burn like radiant candles and shine like brilliant stars. Thou art the Giver, the Bestower, the Compassionate.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source

O God! Rear this little babe in the bosom of Thy love and give it milk from the breast of Providence. Cultivate this fresh plant in the rose-garden of Thy love and nurture it by showers from the clouds of Providence. Make it a child of the Kingdom and lead it to the divine world. Thou art powerful and kind! Thou art the Giver, the Bestower, whose blessings precede all else!

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá v1, p. 50

O Lord! Plant this tender seedling in the garden of Thy manifold bounties, water it from the fountains of Thy loving-kindness and grant that it may grow into a goodly plant through the outpourings of Thy favour and grace.

Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source

O Lord! Guard Thou the children that are born in Thy day, are nurtured at the breast of Thy love, and fostered in the bosom of Thy grace. O Lord, they are verily young branches growing in the gardens of Thy knowledge, they are boughs budding in Thy groves of grace. Grant them a share of Thy generous gifts, make them to thrive and flourish in the rain that raineth from the clouds of Thy bestowal. Thou art verily the Generous, the Clement, the Compassionate!

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source

O loving God! I am a young child, a suppliant, a captive. Be Thou my refuge, my support, my protector. I am in distress: give me the means of tranquillity. I am needy: bestow upon me the treasure of the Kingdom. I am dead: give me the Spirit of Life. I am weak: favor me with power and strength, so that I may be a maid-servant in Thy Threshold, with perfect purity and sanctity; sacrifice myself unto Thee, be quit of myself and seek Thee, walk in the path of Thy good pleasure, speak Thy secret and witness the signs of Thy Oneness wherever I look. O God! Make me ablaze, like unto the fire of Thy love, and make me free from attachment to this mortal world, until I find the peace of soul and the rest of conscience. Thou art the Powerful, the Mighty! Thou art the Hearer, the Seer!

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá v1, p. 196

O Thou Lord of wondrous grace! Bestow upon us new blessings. Give to us the freshness of the spring. We are saplings which have been planted by the fingers of Thy bounty and have been formed out of the water and clay of Thy tender affection. We thirst for the living waters of Thy favours and are dependent upon the outpourings of the clouds of Thy generosity. Abandon not to itself this grove wherein our hopes aspire, nor withhold therefrom the showers of Thy loving-kindness. Grant that from the clouds of Thy mercy may fall copious rain so that the trees of our lives may bring forth fruit and we may attain the most cherished desire of our hearts.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source

O Thou pure God! I am a little child; grant that the breast of Thy loving-kindness be the breast that I cherish; suffer me to be nourished with the honey and the milk of Thy love; rear me in the bosom of Thy knowledge, and bestow upon me nobility and wisdom while I am still a child. O Thou the Self-Sufficing God! Make me a confidant of the Kingdom of the Unseen. Verily, Thou art the Mighty, the Powerful.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Additional Prayers Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Source