Badí’s Sacrifice

Badí was the name given to Aqá Buzurg by Bahá'u'lláh. It means "the Wonderful". Bahá'u'lláh did not give such names without reason. Badí, at only 17, so loved Bahá'u'lláh, that he walked alone for four months to deliver a letter to the Sháh of Persia. When he arrived with the letter, he was tortured and killed.

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But Badí wasn't always what could be called "wonderful". In fact, he was a disappointment to his father, Hájí Abdu'l-Majíd. He didn't obey. He led a wild life. He was unruly - that means he didn't behave or respect his father's way of life.

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Hájí Abdu'l-Majíd was a Bahá'í, a follower of the new religion. Aqá Buzurg took no interest at all in his father's faith.

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One day a man named Nabíl came to see the family. He talked to Hájí Abdu'l-Majíd and comforted him. Then Nabíl asked him to send Aqá Buzurg to him. Nabíl told him things about Bahá'u'lláh's sufferings. He read verses from a long poem by Bahá'u'lláh telling of His tribulations.

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Aqá Buzurg burst into tears. He cried and prayed all through the night. He didn’t sleep. Instead he read the Holy Verses and became afire with the love of God.

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Aqá Buzurg set out soon after that to find Bahá'u'lláh. It was his greatest wish to be in the presence of Bahá'u'lláh. In Baghdad he carried water for the friends, and when they were taken as captives to Mosul, he went there too and carried water for them again. He walked all the way across the country, from Yazd to Baghdad to Mosul, to the waters of the Mediterranean, to 'Akka. Take a look at a map. This is a long way!

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When he reached 'Akka, he slipped past the guards at the gate because he was still dressed as a water boy. Once inside, he went to a mosque to pray and found 'Abdu'l-Bahá there. He passed a note to 'Abdu'l-Bahá and that night he was able to visit Bahá'u'lláh in prison.

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Aqá Buzurg had the honor of two meetings with Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh wrote that in him "the spirit of might and power was breathed." He became Badí - the Wonderful. Then Bahá'u'lláh gave him the task that lots of older and more experienced Bahá'ís had hoped to perform. At Badí's request, He allowed him to deliver the Tablet to the Sháh of Persia. Bahá'u'lláh also gave him a special Tablet that told him the risks involved in this task and how important delivering the Tablet to the Sháh was to the Cause of God.

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Even though Badí knew that he would most likely be killed at the end of his trip, he was full of joy, laughter, gratitude and forbearance. His love for Bahá'u'lláh was so strong that he was willing to sacrifice his own life.

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(Brilliant Star, March-April 1998)

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