Dance

Reasons for expression[edit]

As expression of joy[edit]

For spirituality[edit]

"The Master ended His explanations with beautiful songs and these verses:...

To hear the message from the City of the Beloved

Resuscitates the heart.

The soul dances

On hearing the Word of the Beloved."[Sa`dí, the great 13th-century Persian poet, famous in the West for his `Gulistan' or `Rose Garden'.]

(Mahmúd's Diary, August 13, 1912)

"...a blind Indian Shaykh[Known as Shaykh Hindí, a poet from India.] attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh in Mázindarán and danced and sang ecstatically from night till morn. Thus are people required to arise for the Cause of God. Such are the people who are worthy of the field of service and sacrifice."

(Mahmúd's Diary, July 18, 1912)

"The day and age promised by the divine Prophets has appeared. This is the day in which Zion dances with joy."

(Mahmúd's Diary, October 7, 1912)

"O Bahá'u'lláh! Make these bodies as light-giving candles, these beings the envy of flower gardens and fill their souls with a melody which will enrapture the Supreme Concourse and make them dance for joy."

(Mahmúd's Diary, November 12, 1912)

For martyrdom[edit]

"He then mentioned the martyrs of this great Cause and, referring to `Abdu'l-Vahháb-i-Shírází, said:

Before he left the prison to go to the altar of divine sacrifice, he came first and placed his head on Bahá'u'lláh's feet and kissed them. Having embraced all the friends, he hastened to the plain of sacrifice, dancing and snapping his fingers in ecstasy."[For details of `Abdu'l-Vahháb, see the chapter entitled `The Story of a Shírází Youth' in Balyuzi, King of Glory, pp. 94-8.]

"As the Master recounted this event, His voice became so resonant and powerful that it caused the friends to tremble, and then His mood changed. His body dancing and His fingers snapping, He made such ecstatic cries it seemed that the scene of martyrdom had been reenacted before our very eyes."

(Mahmúd's Diary, June 22, 1912)

As sometimes expression of materialism[edit]

"I shall never forget this city, inasmuch as divine fragrances are inhaled from its citizens. Unlike the people of certain cities, the inhabitants of this place are not immersed in the sea of materialism. They are endowed with constancy and spiritual perception. However, there are some cities whose residents are so deeply absorbed in the world of nature that they are wholly bereft of spiritual perception. They occupy themselves with eating, resting, dancing and amusement. They are entirely unaware of the kingdom of heaven. But Stuttgart is not such a city. Therefore, I earnestly hope that it may become illumined."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, From a Tablet - translated from the Persian, in Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland, no. 2)

"In the evening there was musical entertainment and dancing in the hall of the Inn. `Abdu'l-Bahá said, `Such gatherings and practices are the cause of the corruption of morals.'"

(Mahmúd's Diary, August 20, 1912)