Ásíyih Khánum, Wife of Bahá'u'lláh

Many people loved Bahá'u'lláh when He was alive. Pilgrims traveled far distances just to look at His face. One person who devoted her whole life to Bahá'u'lláh was His wife, Ásíyih Khánum.

Ásíyih Khánum married Bahá'u'lláh when she was very young. She spent 50 years with Him. She served the poor with Him in the early years of their marriage. She crossed snowy mountains and traveled for months when they were banished to far-off cities. She raised His children, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahíyyih Khánum and Mírzá Mihdí. She waited patiently through the two years when He withdrew to the mountains of Sulaymáníyyih. She stayed steadfast when enemies of the Faith tried to harm it. When He was thrown into prison in Tihrán, she sold what was left of her marriage treasures so that food could be taken to Him.

Bahá'u'lláh destined her to be "His consort in every one of His worlds." He said that she had an exalted station.

And through all of the hardships, the imprisonments, the exiles, the uncertainties, she remained steadfast and devoted to her blessed Husband. This is how she showed her love.

Her daughter, Bahíyyih Khánum, said she was "queenly in her dignity and loveliness, full of consideration for everybody, gentle, of a marvelous unselfishness, no action of hers ever failed to show the loving-kindness of her pure heart; her very presence seemed to make an atmosphere of love and happiness wherever she came."

Her life was simple and uncluttered. She showed her love by her virtuous actions, not only to Bahá'u'lláh, but to everyone she met. For herself, she did not need much.

Her granddaughter, Túbá Khánum, shared this memory:

"Her tiny room was simple and bare—the narrow white bed, which was also the divan (sofa) in the daytime; a very small table, on which was her prayer and other holy books, her qalam-dan (pen case), and leaflets for writing; there was also her rosary, sometimes a flower in a pot and lastly an old painted box holding her other frock and her other under-garment.

"My eyes will always see her in her blue dress, with a white niqáb on her head, and little black slippers on her tiny feet. Her sweet, smiling face, and her rapt expression, as she chanted prayers in her musical voice."

Source: Brilliant Star magazine, March–April 1998; via Baha'i Stories for Children (https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/2022/08/asiyih-khanum-bahaullah-wife-and.html). The recollections of Bahíyyih Khánum and Túbá Khánum are from Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway; Bahá'u'lláh's tribute is quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By.

Various. *Baha'i Stories for Children*. https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/2022/08/asiyih-khanum-bahaullah-wife-and.html