Memorials of the Faithful Part 5

To Nabil, the sudden calamity was a blessing, the sacking of his earthly goods, the expulsion into the desert, was a kingly crown and the greatest favor G.o.d could grant him. For some time he remained in ?ihran, to outward seeming a pauper of no fixed abode, but inwardly rejoicing; for this is the characteristic of every soul who is firm in the Covenant.

He had access to the society of the great and knew the condition of the various princes. He would, therefore, frequent some of them and give them the message. He was a consolation to the hearts of the believers and as a drawn sword to the enemies of Baha'u'llah. He was one of those of whom we read in the Qur'an: "For the Cause of G.o.d shall they strive hard; the blame of the blamer shall they not fear."(29) Day and night he toiled to promote the Faith, and with all his might to spread abroad the clear signs of G.o.d. He would drink and drink again of the wine of G.o.d's love, was clamorous as the storm clouds, restless as the waves of the sea.

Permission came, then, for him to visit the Most Great Prison; for in ?ihran, as a believer, he had become a marked man. They all knew of his conversion; he had no caution, no patience, no reserve; he cared nothing for reticence, nothing for dissimulation. He was utterly fearless and in terrible danger.

When he arrived at the Most Great Prison, the hostile watchers drove him off, and try as he might he found no way to enter. He was obliged to leave for Nazareth, where he lived for some time as a stranger, alone with his two sons, aqa Qulam-?usayn and aqa 'Ali-Akbar, grieving and praying. At last a plan was devised to introduce him into the fortress and he was summoned to the prison where they had immured the innocent. He came in such ecstasy as cannot be described, and was admitted to the presence of Baha'u'llah. When he entered there and lifted his eyes to the Blessed Beauty he shook and trembled and fell unconscious to the floor.

Baha'u'llah spoke words of loving-kindness to him and he rose again. He spent some days hidden in the barracks, after which he returned to Nazareth.

The inhabitants of Nazareth wondered much about him. They told one another that he was obviously a great and distinguished man in his own country, a notable and of high rank; and they asked themselves why he should have chosen such an out-of-the-way corner of the world as Nazareth and how he could be contented with such poverty and hards.h.i.+p.

When, in fulfillment of the promise of the Most Great Name, the gates of the Prison were flung wide, and all the friends and travelers could enter and leave the fortress-town in peace and with respect, Nabil of Qa'in would journey to see Baha'u'llah once in every month. However, as commanded by Him, he continued to live in Nazareth, where he converted a number of Christians to the Faith; and there he would weep, by day and night, over the wrongs that were done to Baha'u'llah.

His means of livelihood was his business partners.h.i.+p with me. That is, I provided him with a capital of three krans;(30) with it he bought needles, and this was his stock-in-trade. The women of Nazareth gave him eggs in exchange for his needles and in this way he would obtain thirty or forty eggs a day: three needles per egg. Then he would sell the eggs and live on the proceeds. Since there was a daily caravan between Akka and Nazareth, he would refer to aqa Ri?a each day, for more needles. Glory be to G.o.d! He survived two years on that initial outlay of capital; and he returned thanks at all times. You can tell how detached he was from worldly things by this one fact: the Nazarenes used to say it was plain to see from the old man's manner and behavior that he was very rich, and that if he lived so modestly it was only because he was a stranger in a strange place-hiding his wealth by setting up as a peddler of needles.

Whenever he came into the presence of Baha'u'llah he received still more evidences of favor and love. For all seasons, he was a close friend and companion to me. When sorrows attacked me I would send for him, and then I would rejoice just to see him again. How wonderful his talk was, how attractive his society. Bright of face he was; free of heart; loosed from every earthly tie, always on the wing. Toward the end he made his home in the Most Great Prison, and every day he entered the presence of Baha'u'llah.

On a certain day, walking through the bazar with his friends, he met a gravedigger named ?aji A?mad. Although in the best of health, he addressed the gravedigger and laughingly told him: "Come along with me." Accompanied by the believers and the gravedigger he made for Nabiyu'llah ?ali?. Here he said: "O ?aji A?mad, I have a request to make of you: when I move on, out of this world and into the next, dig my grave here, beside the Purest Branch.(31) This is the favor I ask." So saying, he gave the man a gift of money.

That very evening, not long after sunset, word came that Nabil of Qa'in had been taken ill. I went to his home at once. He was sitting up, and conversing. He was radiant, laughing, joking, but for no apparent reason the sweat was pouring off his face-it was rus.h.i.+ng down. Except for this he had nothing the matter with him. The perspiring went on and on; he weakened, lay in his bed, and toward morning, died.

Baha'u'llah would refer to him with infinite grace and loving-kindness, and revealed a number of Tablets in his name. The Blessed Beauty was wont, after Nabil's pa.s.sing, to recall that ardor, the power of that faith, and to comment that here was a man who had recognized Him, prior to the advent of the Bab.

All hail to him for this wondrous bestowal. "Blessedness awaiteth him and a goodly home... And G.o.d will single out for His mercy whomsoever He willeth."(32)

SIYYID MU?AMMAD-TAQi MANSHADi

Mu?ammad-Taqi came from the village of Man_sh_ad. When still young, he learned of the Faith of G.o.d. In holy ecstasy, his mind turned Heavenward, and his heart was flooded with light. Divine grace descended upon him; the summons of G.o.d so enraptured him that he threw the peace of Man_sh_ad to the winds. Leaving his kinsfolk and children, he set out over mountains and desert plains, pa.s.sed from one halting-place to the next, came to the seash.o.r.e, crossed over the sea and at last reached the city of Haifa. From there he hastened on to Akka and entered the presence of Baha'u'llah.

In the early days he opened a small shop in Haifa and carried on some trifling business. G.o.d's blessing descended upon it, and it prospered.

That little corner became the haven of the pilgrims. When they arrived, and again at their departure, they were guests of the high-minded and generous Mu?ammad-Taqi. He also helped to manage the affairs of the believers, and would get together their means of travel. He proved unfailingly reliable, loyal, worthy of trust. Ultimately he became the intermediary through whom Tablets could be sent away and mail from the believers could come in. He performed this service with perfect dependability, accomplis.h.i.+ng it in a most pleasing way, scrupulously despatching and receiving the correspondence at all times. Trusted by everyone, he became known in many parts of the world, and received unnumbered bounties from Baha'u'llah. He was a treasury of justice and righteousness, entirely free from any attachment to worldly things. He had accustomed himself to a very spare way of life, caring nothing for food or sleep, comfort or peace. He lived all alone in a single room, pa.s.sed the nights on a couch of palm branches, and slept in a corner. But to the travelers, he was a spring in the desert; for them, he provided the softest of pillows, and the best table he could afford. He had a smiling face and by nature was spiritual and serene.

After the Daystar of the Supreme Concourse had set, Siyyid Man_sh_adi remained loyal to the Covenant, a sharp sword confronting the violators.

They tried every ruse, every deceit, all their subtlest expedients; it is beyond imagining how they showered favors on him and what honors they paid him, what feasts they prepared, what pleasures they offered, all this to make a breach in his faith. Yet every day he grew stronger than before, continued to be staunch and true, kept free from every unseemly thought, and shunned whatever went contrary to the Covenant of G.o.d. When they finally despaired of shaking his resolve, they hara.s.sed him in every possible way, and plotted his financial ruin. He remained, however, the quintessence of constancy and trust.

When, at the instigation of the violators, 'Abdu'l-?amid began his opposition to me, I was obliged to send Man_sh_adi away to Port Sa'id, because he was widely known among the people as the distributor of our mail. I then had to relay the correspondence to him through intermediaries who were unknown, and he would send the letters on as before. In this way the treacherous and the hostile were unable to take over the mail. During the latter days of 'Abdu'l-?amid, when a commission of investigation appeared and-urged on by those familiars-turned-strangers-made plans to tear out the Holy Tree by the roots; when they determined to cast me into the depths of the sea or banish me to the Fezzan, and this was their settled purpose; and when the commission accordingly tried their utmost to get hold of some doc.u.ment or other, they failed. In the thick of all that turmoil, with all the pressures and restraints, and the foul attacks of those persons who were pitiless as Yazid,(33) still the mail went through.

For many long years, Siyyid Man_sh_adi befittingly performed this service in Port Sa'id. The friends were uniformly pleased with him. In that city he earned the grat.i.tude of travelers, placed those who had emigrated in his debt, brought joy to the local believers. Then the heavy heat of Egypt proved too much for him; he took to his bed, and in a raging fever, cast off the robe of life. He abandoned Port Sa'id for the Kingdom of Heaven, and rose up to the mansions of the Lord.

Siyyid Man_sh_adi was the essence of virtue and intellect. His qualities and attainments were such as to amaze the most accomplished minds. He had no thought except of G.o.d, no hope but to win the good pleasure of G.o.d. He was the embodiment of "Keep all my words of prayer and praise confined to one refrain; make all my life but servitude to Thee."

May G.o.d cool his feverish pain with the grace of reunion in the Kingdom, and heal his sickness with the balm of nearness to Him in the Realm of the All-Beauteous. Upon him be the glory of G.o.d the Most Glorious.

MU?AMMAD-'ALi SABBaQ OF YAZD

Early in youth, Mu?ammad-'Ali Sabbaq became a believer while in 'Iraq. He tore away hindering veils and doubts, escaped from his delusions and hastened to the welcoming shelter of the Lord of Lords. A man to outward seeming without education, for he could neither read nor write, he was of sharp intelligence and a trustworthy friend. Through one of the believers, he was brought into the presence of Baha'u'llah, and was soon widely known to the public as a disciple. He found himself a corner to live in, close beside the house of the Blessed Beauty, and mornings and evenings would enter the presence of Baha'u'llah. For a time he was supremely happy.

When Baha'u'llah and His retinue left Ba_gh_dad for Constantinople, aqa Mu?ammad-'Ali was of that company, and fevered with the love of G.o.d. We reached Constantinople; and since the Government obliged us to settle in Adrianople we left Mu?ammad-'Ali in the Turkish capital to a.s.sist the believers as they came and went through that city. We then went on to Adrianople. This man remained alone and he suffered intense distress for he had no friend nor companion nor anyone to care for him.

After two years of this he came on to Adrianople, seeking a haven in the loving-kindness of Baha'u'llah. He went to work as a peddler, and when the great rebellion(34) began and the oppressors drove the friends to the extreme of adversity, he too was among the prisoners and was exiled with us to the fortress at Akka.

He spent a considerable time in the Most Great Prison, after which Baha'u'llah desired him to leave for Sidon, where he engaged in trade.

Sometimes he would return and be received by Baha'u'llah, but otherwise he stayed in Sidon. He lived respected and trusted, a credit to all. When the Supreme Affliction came upon us, he returned to Akka and pa.s.sed the remainder of his days near the Holy Tomb.

The friends, one and all, were pleased with him, and he was cherished at the Holy Threshold; in this state he soared to abiding glory, leaving his kin to mourn. He was a kind man, an excellent one: content with G.o.d's will for him, thankful, a man of dignity, long-suffering. Upon him be the glory of the All-Glorious. May G.o.d send down, upon his scented tomb in Akka, tiers of celestial light.

'ABDU'L-GHAFFaR OF I?FaHaN

Another of those who left their homeland to become our neighbors and fellow prisoners was 'Abdu'l-_Gh_affar of I?fahan. He was a highly perceptive individual who, on commercial business, had traveled about Asia Minor for many years. He made a journey to 'Iraq, where aqa Mu?ammad-'Ali of Sad (I?fahan) brought him into the shelter of the Faith. He soon ripped off the bandage of illusions that had blinded his eyes before, and he rose up, winging to salvation in the Heaven of Divine love. With him, the veil had been thin, almost transparent, and that is why, as the first word was imparted, he was immediately released from the world of idle imaginings and attached himself to the One Who is clear to see.

On the journey from 'Iraq to the Great City, Constantinople, 'Abdu'l-_Gh_affar was a close and agreeable companion. He served as interpreter for the entire company, for he spoke excellent Turkish, a language in which none of the friends was proficient. The journey came peacefully to an end and then, in the Great City, he continued on, as a companion and friend. The same was true in Adrianople and also when, as one of the prisoners, he accompanied us to the city of Haifa.

Here, the oppressors determined to send him to Cyprus. He was terrified and shouted for help, for he longed to be with us in the Most Great Prison.(35) When they held him back by force, from high up on the s.h.i.+p he threw himself into the sea. This had no effect whatever on the brutal officers. After dragging him from the water they held him prisoner on the s.h.i.+p, cruelly restraining him, and carrying him away by force to Cyprus.

He was jailed in Famagusta, but one way or another managed to escape and hastened to Akka. Here, protecting himself from the malevolence of our oppressors, he changed his name to 'Abdu'llah. Sheltered within the loving-kindness of Baha'u'llah, he pa.s.sed his days at ease, and happy.

But when the world's great Light had set, to s.h.i.+ne on forever from the All-Luminous Horizon, 'Abdu'l-_Gh_affar was beside himself and a prey to anguish. He no longer had a home. He left for Damascus and spent some time there, pent up in his sorrow, mourning by day and night. He grew weaker and weaker. We despatched ?aji Abbas there, to nurse him and give him treatment and care, and send back word of him every day. But 'Abdu'l-_Gh_affar would do nothing but talk, unceasingly, at every hour, with his nurse, and tell how he longed to go his way, into the mysterious country beyond. And at the end, far from home, exiled from his Love, he set out for the Holy Threshold of Baha'u'llah.

He was truly a man long-suffering, and mild; a man of good character, good acts, and goodly words. Greetings and praise be unto him, and the glory of the All-Glorious. His sweet-scented tomb is in Damascus.

'ALi NAJAF-aBaDi

Also among the emigrants and near neighbors was aqa 'Ali Najaf-abadi. When this spiritual young man first listened to the call of G.o.d he set his lips to the holy cup and beheld the glory of the Speaker on the Mount. And when, by grace of the light, he had attained positive knowledge, he journeyed to the Most Great Prison, where he witnessed the substance of knowledge itself, and arrived at the high station of indubitable truth.

For a long time he remained in and about the sacred city; he became the proverbial Habibu'llah the Merchant, and spent his days relying upon G.o.d, in supplication and prayer. He was a man meek, quiet, uncomplaining, steadfast; in all things pleasing, worthy of praise. He won the approval of all the friends and was accepted and welcome at the Holy Threshold.

During his latter days, when he felt that a happy end was in store for him, he again presented himself at the holy city of the Most Great Prison.

Upon arrival he fell ill, weakened, pa.s.sed his hours in supplicating G.o.d.

The breath of life ceased within him, the gates of flight to the supreme Kingdom were flung wide, he turned his eyes away from this world of dust and went onward to the Holy Place.

'Ali Najaf-abadi was tender and sensitive of heart, at all times mindful of G.o.d and remembering Him, and toward the close of his life detached, without stain, free from the contagion of this world. Sweetly, he gave up his corner of the earth, and pitched his tent in the land beyond. May G.o.d send upon him the pure savors of forgiveness, brighten his eyes with beholding the Divine Beauty in the Kingdom of Splendors, and refresh his spirit with the musk-scented winds that blow from the Abha Realm. Unto him be salutation and praise. His sweet and holy dust lies in Akka. Ma_sh_hadi ?usayn and Ma_sh_hadi Mu?ammad-i-a_dh_irbayjani