December 8, 2016

circa 1848: Mulla Husayn was ushered into the presence of Bahá’u’lláh in Tihran

In about 1848 Mulla Husayn left the city of Mashhad, in the province of Khurasan, north-east of Tihran, where he had been since 1844. Desiring to see his Lord Who was imprisoned in the castle of Mah-Ku in the province of Adhirbayjan, north-west of Tihran, he told his friends: “I have vowed to walk the whole distance that separates me from my Beloved. I shall not relax in my resolve until I shall have reached my destination.” – a distance of about 900 miles. His friends, however, offered assistance with a more conventional and comfortable mode of travel for his long and arduous journey, but Mulla Husayn declined their help. Upon the insistence of one of his friends, Mulla Husayn finally allowed him to act as his servant throughout his pilgrimage to Ádhirbayján. On his way to Tihran, Mulla Husayn was enthusiastically greeted by the believers in the different towns through which he passed. They addressed to him the same request and received from him the same reply.

When Mulla Husayn arrived in Tihran he was visited by many believers. Nabil, the great Baha’i historian recorded what he himself heard from Áqáy-i-Kalím, Bahá’u’lláh’s faithful brother, about Mulla Husayn:

“When Mulla Husayn arrived at Tihran, I, together with a large number of believers, went to visit him. He seemed to us the very embodiment of constancy, of piety and virtue. He inspired us with his rectitude of conduct and passionate loyalty. Such were the force of his character and the ardour of his faith that we felt convinced that he, unaided and alone, would be capable of achieving the triumph of the Faith of God.”

Because of Mulla Husayn’s popularity, arrangements were made to usher him secretly into the presence of Bahá’u’lláh. Soon after his interview, Mulla Husayn proceeded to Adhirbayjan.  
(Adapted from the Dawn-Breakers, by Nabil, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)