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

Specimen of the calligraphy of Mirza Buzurg

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The father of Bahá'u'lláh was Mirza 'Abbas-i-Nuri. His family lived in the district of Nur, in the northern Persian province of Mazindaran.

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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. 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. 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.

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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.

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The Shah's admiration was boundless. 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. 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.

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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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(Adapted from ‘Baha’u’llah, The King of Glory’, by Balyuzi)

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