The Blessed Beauty of Abha, Baha’u’llah – May my life be sacrificed for His believers – blessed,
Haji Mirza Haydar Ali i Esphahani, with these titles “The Angel of Carmel, “& “Sultan i Mobaleghin” = (The king of teachers). This outstanding veteran soldier of The Army of Light was most victorious in the field of teaching His Mighty Cause, the Bahá’í Faith.
In 1903 Haji was invited to The Holy Land, where he resided to the end of his life, ascending to The Abha Kingdom in 1920.
He was teaching the children of The Holy Family, mainly our Beloved Guardian Shoghi Effendi, the eldest grandchild & successor of Abdu’l-Bahá.
Often the friends would come asking the Center of The Covenant - Abdu’l-Bahá for permission to take Haji with them to their countries or territories for only a short time for the purpose of teaching, yet The Master covering Haji with his aba would repeat “Haji is ours, Haji is ours”
Haji obeying the suggestion of The Master wrote an interesting book (Memories of Haji Mirza Haydar Ali) “Stories from the Delight of Hearts” translated by Beloved Hand of The Cause of God late Mr. A. Q. Faizi to English. This book is now available in other languages, such as Spanish. Haji was firm and steadfast to the end in the Covenant and much loved by Abd’u’l-Baha.
This unworthy servant humbly suggests the friends to read a few lines from the last paragraphs of the book of “This Veteran Soldier of Baha’u’llah’s Army of Light and Love”, as his will & testament.
Page 159
Now at the end of my life, all I possess is ignorance and weakness and unawareness and heedlessness and neglect and valuelessness and worthlessness and poverty and shamelessness and destitution and powerlessness and disobedience and wrongdoing and sin and darkness and worldliness and transience and selfishness and corrupt desire. Any wrongdoing or sin which can be imagined is mine.
I do not write this from a sense of humility. This is only truth and honesty and reality. The bounties of God are obvious and apparent. Fifty years ago in Adrianople I attained the presence of that Sun of Truth before Whom all others must prostrate themselves. From that time, every breath I have taken I have tried to conform to His will, and every step I have taken I have directed toward Him. I do not know if my services were acceptable to Him, but His compassion and love and generosity have always surrounded me. My worst deeds were met with the greatest compassion. The more I transgressed, the more He concealed my faults. The more I sought after my own vain imaginings, the more He showed me the light of His Sprit. The more I erred, the more generous He was. He saved me from the greatest difficulties and from the calamity of self……… How grateful I am that I was protected, and my sins were concealed, and I was not put to shame….I can never repay His forgiveness and mercy. I am utterly impotent.
All that I have comes from the Cause of God. The believers respected me as a teacher, but I did not reserve such respect. They were all the true teachers of the Faith. They would face the problems of the world to earn a living, and then spend their earning on those like me who could travel and teach. Then we were called the promulgators of the Faith. But we made no sacrifice; we only received. In the Name of God those noble believers sacrificed everything for us. I, and others like me, reached the highest degree of honor and happiness without struggle or sacrifice. I can only pray that the mercy and generosity of God which has followed me over thousands of miles, will also accompany me in the future.
Now it has been ten years more or less that by the grace and bounty of the Master I have lived under the shadow of mercy in the Holy Land, and have partaken every day of the manna from heaven, and have seen what Moses saw on Sinai. I thank God that I have attained and have witnessed the kindness and generosity and the servitude of the believers – virtues which are but a drop when compared to the kindness and compassion of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and the Greatest Holy Leaf and the Holy Mother.
A true Bahá’í I am not. O God! Assist me and make my efforts fruitful. Assist the Master! This book Ihave written by His order.
But I am so old and decrepit that many times while writing I have forgotten the order of my words and lost my train of thought. When this happened I would have to get up and leave my work. But whenever Istarted to write again my pen would carry on the story. This humble servant has never entered any school and is unaware of the rules of grammar and style.
I beseech all the Bahá’í (may my soul be sacrificed for them) to beg for my forgiveness at the Holy Threshold as I see nothing in myself but wrongdoing, and nothing among the servants of God but forgiveness and concealment.
With thanks to God, the Lord of the worlds.
May 17, 1912
Page 162.
….Haji was indeed close to the heart of Abdu’l-Baha. During His journeys to America, the Master sent some of His most tender messages to this veteran soldier of the Cause. In one of them He describes the meetings which were held, the banquets, the newly recruited believers, and after each comment He repeats, “I miss you very much.”
…..there were many requests from all over the Bahá’í world for him to visit. But as he advanced in years the Master did not approve his going abroad. He would often wrap Haji in His cloak and lovingly repeat “Haji is ours! Haji is ours!”
He was asked by the Mater to teach the children of His household. All the grandsons of ‘Abdu’l-Bahaattended these classes. Shoghi Effendi, who was later to become the Guardian of the Faith, was among his students. Haydar-‘Ali recognized his station even at this early age. When ever the young Shoghi Effendi would enter the class, Haji Mirza Haydar-‘Ali would rise in respect for his student. He often whispered in his ear, “Sufficient to you is the school of the Master.”
story
Mehrdad Badiian and Christine Wright-Badiian
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