About the time of Bahá'u'lláh’s marriage, His father, Mirza
Buzurg, fell upon hard times. A year earlier, the King of Persia, Fath-'Ali
Shah had died and been succeeded by his grandson, Muhammad Shah. Muhammad
Shah’s Prime Minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi, was a vain and vengeful man whose
later outrages against the Bab caused Shoghi Effendi to denounce him as
"the Antichrist of the Babi Revelation." When Haji Mirza Aqasi
learned that Mirza Buzurg was horrified at the Haji's role in murdering his
predecessor, he retaliated by stripping Mirza Buzurg of his governorships,
cutting off his annual allowance, and engineering his divorce from Fath-‘Ali
Shda's daughter, whom he had married a few years earlier. Thus, in addition to
losing his income, Mirza Buzurg faced a costly divorce settlement. When his
ex-wife sent thugs who beat him daily in an effort to extract the money, he was
forced to sell his complex of homes in Tihran and many valuable furnishings
hurriedly and at a very low price. A few years later he passed away. Despite
Haji Mirza Aqasi's antagonism toward Mirza Buzurg, he held Bahá'u'lláh in high
regard, extended to Him every consideration, and spoke to Him as if He were his
own son.
- Geoffry Marks (‘Call to Remembrance’)
