The Money Thrown into the River

Aqa Mirza Ja'far was an erudite divine of Islam. In his youth, he taught at a theological school... He left the school altogether when he embraced the Cause and became a very steadfast believer. In those days, the Ancient Beauty was in Baghdad. Knowing that He was living an austere life in that city, Mirza Ja'far wished to provide some funds for the relief of His blessed Person. In the end he came up with a plan. There were many vases and other ornaments made of copper in the mosques of Yazd. He used to go to a mosque at night, climb to the upper chambers, dismantle the ornamental copper vessels which were hanging from the ceiling, and take them home. Little by little he stole similar vessels from several mosques. In the end he gathered nearly half a ton of these copper items... He then transported them to Ardikan (about 100 miles from Yazd) to the home of a certain Ustad Kazim, an ironmonger. There he cut the copper articles to pieces and eventually succeeded in selling the metal for 70 tumans (a large sum of money in those days) in silver coins. He placed the silver inside a specially made leather cummerbund, tied it around his waist and set off on his journey on foot to Baghdad where he attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh and presented the money to Him. The Blessed Beauty accepted the money from him, and bestowed upon him His blessings and favors. But He ordered him to accompany Mirza Aqa Jan, Khadimu'llah (the Servant of God), to the banks of the river and throw the money into its waters. Mirza Ja'far became a servant of the household, and was among those companions who accompanied Bahá’u’lláh to Istanbul.

• From the memoirs of Hájí Muhammad-Táhir-i-Málmírí, quoted by Adib Taherzadeh (‘The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh’, vol. 4)

Source: Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 4, pp. 245–246; via the Baha'i Stories Blog (https://bahaistories.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-believers-eagerness-to-provide.html).

Various. *Baha'i Stories Blog*. https://bahaistories.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-believers-eagerness-to-provide.html