In the beginning of the eleventh chapter of the Revelation
of St. John it is said: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod”…
This reed is a Perfect Man Who is likened to a reed, and the
manner of its likeness is this: when the interior of a reed is empty and free
from all matter, it will produce beautiful melodies; and as the sound and
melodies do not come from the reed, but from the flute player who blows upon
it, so the sanctified heart of that blessed Being is free and emptied from all
save God, pure and exempt from the attachments of all human conditions, and is
the companion of the Divine Spirit. Whatever He utters is not from Himself, but
from the real flute player, and it is a divine inspiration. That is why He is
likened to a reed; and that reed is like a rod—that is to say, it is the helper
of every impotent one, and the support of human beings. It is the rod of the
Divine Shepherd by which He guards His flock and leads them about the pastures
of the Kingdom.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’)
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’)
