[PW] Baha'i term

[James Weaver]

Thanks a bunch! This confirms what I was thinking but not quite ready to
say.

Hope this helps! I am sure it will! -- James
 
James E. Weaver, Reference Librarian
Whatcom County (WA) Library System
vox: 360-354-4883 -- fax: 360-354-3149
http://www.wcls.org/

-----Original Message-----
From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
[mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of
Peter Zilahy Ingerman, PhD
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 6:24 AM
To: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: Re: [PW] Baha'i term

I posed this question to a Baha'i  friend, who responds as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good to hear from you again. I was able to locate the passage in 
question. It's from a short prayer written by 'Abdu'l-Baha:

O Thou loving Provider! These souls have hearkened to the summons of the

Kingdom, and have gazed upon the glory of the Sun of Truth. They have 
risen upward to the refreshing skies of love; they are enamoured of Thy 
nature, and they worship Thy beauty. Unto Thee have they turned 
themselves, speaking together of Thee, seeking out Thy dwelling, and 
thirsting for the waterbrooks of Thy heavenly realm. Thou art the Giver,

the Bestower, the Ever-loving.

It's possible there is more to this prayer. This passage is printed in a

book Titled "Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha" and is at the

end of selection #17, which appears to be a portion of a Tablet (letter)

addressing a group of Baha'is in some unspecified location. There are 
ellipses in the text, which indicates that only portions of it have been

translated. It's not clear whether the prayer at the end is given in its

entirety. Possibly it is, but usually in His prayers 'Abdu'l-Baha would 
include supplications for divine assistance for whoever He was 
mentioning, which somewhat curiously seems to be missing from this
passage.

In any event, this is the only instance of the word "waterbrooks" that I

was able to find in the Baha'i literature. From the context, it appears 
to be fairly straightforward; I would guess that it literally means a 
brook or stream. There are similar passages in which the words "streams"

and "rivers" are used, or at least that is how they are translated. (The

originals would be in either Persian or Arabic.)

In the Baha'i Writings, images of water and food are often used to 
signify spiritual sustenance, divine assistance, and the like. Just as 
physical food and water are necessary for physical life, this spiritual 
"food" and "water" are essential for spiritual life. For example, 
Baha'u'llah writes:

"Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of kindliness 
and of mercy, for Our loving providence hath pervaded all created 
things, and Our grace encompassed the earth and the heavens. This is the

Day whereon the true servants of God partake of the life-giving waters 
of reunion, the Day whereon those that are nigh unto Him are able to 
drink of the soft-flowing river of immortality, and they who believe in 
His unity, the wine of His Presence, through their recognition of Him 
Who is the Highest and Last End of all, in Whom the Tongue of Majesty 
and Glory voiceth the call: 'The Kingdom is Mine. I, Myself, am, of Mine

own right, its Ruler.'"

I hope this helps. Please feel free to repost or forward it as needed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Ingerman


James Weaver wrote:

>One of our patrons called an interesting one into my co-workers this
>morning.
>
>She was reading from the Baha'i scriptures, particularly a psalm-like
>praise-hymn, and encountered the term 'waterbrooks' for which she wants
>the religious definition.
>
>My co-workers used OED, Random House, and American Heritage
>dictionaries, several different Christian wordbooks (only because we
>have no other religions represented), and a couple of Bible
concordances
>(on the hunch that such a term might be generalized). One co-worker
used
>Google to identify many hymns with the term in them, but no definition.
>
>I got the assignment to pass the query on.
>
>Hope this helps! -- James
> 
>James E. Weaver, Reference Librarian
>Whatcom County (WA) Library System
>vox: 360-354-4883 -- fax: 360-354-3149
>http://www.wcls.org/
>_______________________________________________
>Project Wombat
>list at project-wombat.org
>http://www.project-wombat.org/
>
>
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