The first journey Bahá’u’lláh undertook for the purpose of
promoting the Revelation announced by the Báb was to His ancestral home in Núr,
in the province of Mázindarán. He set out for the village of Tákúr, the
personal estate of His father, where He owned a vast mansion, royally furnished
and superbly situated… Bahá’u’lláh had already, prior to the declaration of the
Báb, visited the district of Núr, at a time when the celebrated mujtahid Mírzá
Muhammad Taqíy-i-Núrí was at the height of
his authority and influence. Such was the eminence of his position, that they
who sat at his feet regarded themselves each as the authorised exponent of the
Faith and Law of Islám…
When, in the year ’60, Bahá’u’lláh arrived in Núr, He
discovered that the celebrated mujtahid who on His previous visit had wielded
such immense power had passed away. The vast number of his devotees had shrunk
into a mere handful of dejected disciples who, under the leadership of his
successor, Mullá Muḥammad, were striving to uphold
the traditions of their departed leader. The enthusiasm which greeted
Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival sharply contrasted with the gloom that had settled upon
the remnants of that once flourishing community. A large number of the
officials and notables in that neighbourhood called upon Him and, with every
mark of affection and respect, accorded Him a befitting welcome. They were
eager, in view of the social position He occupied, to learn from Him all the
news regarding the life of the Sháh, the activities of his ministers, and the
affairs of his government. To their enquiries Bahá’u’lláh replied with extreme
indifference, and seemed to reveal very little interest or concern. With
persuasive eloquence He pleaded the cause of the new Revelation, and directed
their attention to the immeasurable benefits which it was destined to confer
upon their country. Those who heard Him
marvelled at the keen interest which a man of His position and age evinced for
truths which primarily concerned the divines and theologians of Islám. They
felt powerless to challenge the soundness of His arguments or to belittle the
Cause which He so ably expounded. They admired the loftiness of His enthusiasm
and the profundity of His thoughts, and were deeply impressed by His detachment
and self-effacement.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by
Shoghi Effendi)
