The dream:
"A young girl became evident to me as belonging with
the family, but I could not make out who she was. She spoke of a horse that my
son had had long ago, but I did not understand what she meant. After a time it
became known that she was my daughter, and I felt grieved to think that I had
not been conscious of her presence in all the past years. She seemed not hurt,
but surprised that we did not under- stand her. Just as I was waking, I
realized that she was our little baby who had passed away over twenty-one years
ago, when nine months old." (end of dream.)
Mrs.--- added: "She was my idol, and because I loved her so much, I tried hard to put her out of my thought, and the dream made me feel that we should not do this.”
‘Abdu’l-Baha interpreted it thus:
"That child is your trust within the charge of God. She was a child when she went, but you shall find her full grown in the Kingdom of God. You shall find her mature. You shall not find her there as a child. You shall find her perfect and mature.
"As to the horse once belonging to your son, of which she spoke: Horse in the dream means a wish. It shows that your daughter has fulfilled her wish and her desire, and that shows the loftiness of her station. The wish is one in which your son shared, but she attained to it. It is my hope, God willing, that, he, too, will attain to it."
Surprise was expressed that a child of only nine months could have a wish and ‘Abdu’l-Baha said: "The child was born with a wish."
Mrs.--- was crying, and ‘Abdul’-Baha continued: "Do not cry. Be happy because you saw her, and you saw her perfected. You must be happy. She is your trust with God. You have not lost her out of your hands. The only difference is this; that you gave her as a trust to God as a child, but you will take her back as a full grown per- son. I had a son who was four years old, and when he died I did not at all change my attitude. I gave my son to God as a trust, and so at his death I did not grieve."
Mrs.--- said: "But there is a difference, you gave your son to God, but God takes ours.”
‘Abdul’-Baha replied: "It is the same thing. In both cases it is a trust of God.”
‘Abdu’l-Baha said: "The cause of her surprise is this—that you are crying; your daughter would say: ‘I have a good mother. She must be happy. Why does she cry? I am surprised.’ The cause of her surprise is the thought that you do not recognize her. She belongs to a realm in which everything becomes mature, and she expected you to see her in the state of perfection in which she manifested herself to you; but the fact that you looked at her in this way, and that now you are crying —is a proof of your not having recognized her. For had you recognized her in the dream, you would not be crying now."
Relative to the comment of Mrs. --- that she tried to put the child out of her thoughts, ‘Abdu’l-Baba said: "It is not in man’s control when to forget one. It is not good for one to try to forget them. One must always remember them.’’
(Notes by M. H. sent to Acca for approval and returned with the signature of ‘Abdu’l-Baha as correct.)
(Star of the West, vol. 9, no. 9, August 20, 1918)
