It was during that visit to Karbilá that Bahá’u’lláh encountered, as He was walking through the streets, Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí, to whom He confided the secret He was destined to reveal at a later time in Baghdád. He found him eagerly searching after the promised Husayn, to whom the Báb had so lovingly referred and whom He had promised he would meet in Karbilá. We have already, in a preceding chapter, narrated the circumstances leading to his meeting with Bahá’u’lláh. From that day, Shaykh Hasan became magnetised by the charm of his newly found Master, and would, but for the restraint he was urged to exercise, have proclaimed to the people of Karbilá the return of the promised Husayn whose appearance they were awaiting.
Among those who were made to feel that power was Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alíy-i-Tabíb-i-Zanjání, in whose heart was implanted a seed that was destined to grow and blossom into a faith of such tenacity that the fires of persecution were powerless to quench it. To his devotion, his high-mindedness and singleness of purpose Bahá’u’lláh Himself testified. That faith carried him eventually to the field of martyrdom. The same fate was shared by Mírzá ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb-i-Shírází, son of Hájí ‘Abdu’l-Majíd, who owned a shop in Karbilá and who felt the impulse to forsake all his possessions and follow his Master. He was advised, however, not to abandon his work, but to continue to earn his livelihood until such time as he should be summoned to Tihrán. Bahá’u’lláh urged him to be patient, and gave him a sum of money wherewith he encouraged him to extend the scope of his business. Unable to concentrate his attention upon his trade, Mírzá ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb hastened to Tihrán, where he remained until he was thrown into the dungeon in which his Master was confined and there suffered martyrdom for His sake.
Shaykh ‘Alí-Mirzay-i-Shírází was likewise attracted to, and remained to his last breath a staunch supporter of, the Cause to which he had been called and which he served with a selflessness and devotion beyond all praise. To friend and stranger alike he recounted his experiences of the marvellous influence the presence of Bahá’u’lláh had had upon him, and enthusiastically described the signs and wonders he had witnessed during and after the days of his conversion.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
