The story of how Baha’u’llah’s Father received the title of “Buzurg” - “the Great” – from the King of Persia

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8B2U2zkaXQ76rwBybTF6KPH2M9zV7rR_aWPTiku1-VJHM4gsWNDE-BxhVBHYLAL1hiU-YMsWPW1sS69HWDKnv5Vzh_Gdn-kE2oA9HDhumwuCiedjFq_-3i5ejV3ejYn4suTHc_6yqX4/s1600/Sample+of+Mirza+Buzurg%2527s+calligraphy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8B2U2zkaXQ76rwBybTF6KPH2M9zV7rR_aWPTiku1-VJHM4gsWNDE-BxhVBHYLAL1hiU-YMsWPW1sS69HWDKnv5Vzh_Gdn-kE2oA9HDhumwuCiedjFq_-3i5ejV3ejYn4suTHc_6yqX4/s320/Sample+of+Mirza+Buzurg%2527s+calligraphy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Specimen of the calligraphy of Mirza Buzurg</span><o:p></o:p></div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The father of Bahá'u'lláh was Mirza 'Abbas-i-Nuri.

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His family lived in the district of Nur, in the northern Persian province of Mazindaran.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One day during the reign of Fath-'Ali Shah, (the king of Persia from 1797 to 1834), the king was shown a masterpiece of calligraphy made by a very celebrated calligrapher who had passed away.

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Marvellous was the beauty of that piece of handwriting, and Fath-'Ali Shah wondered if anyone living in Persia could match its excellence. One of his sons mentioned the name of Mirza 'Abbas-i-Nuri.

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Thereupon king sent his representative to the District of Nur to show that masterpiece to Mirza ‘Abbas (Baha’u’llah’s father) and challenge him if he could to produce its like.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Upon receiving that masterpiece, Mirza 'Abbas first produced a piece like the original and then added some additional lines of his own, had them suitably illuminated and presented to Fath-'Ali Shah.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Shah's admiration was boundless.

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A royal decree bestowed upon Mirza 'Abbas the name Mirza Buzurg, [the ‘Great’] and invested him with a robe of honour - a garment which the monarch himself had worn. At the same time the Shah exempted the people of the village of Takur, Mirza Buzurg’s home, from the payment of taxes.

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A few years later, Mirza Buzurg was appointed vizier to the twelfth son of Fath-'Ali Shah, who was the chief of the clans of the Qajar tribe, to which the royal family itself belonged.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mirza Buzurg prospered in the service of the State, until the days of Muhammad Shah (reigned 1834-48), when he encountered the ill will of that monarch's notorious Prime Minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi, and lost his position and much of his considerable wealth.

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</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Adapted from ‘Baha’u’llah, The King of Glory’, by Balyuzi)</span></div>

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