The Search That Ended at a Prison Door

*A retelling based on the memorial of Ḥájí Muḥammad Khán in **Memorials of the Faithful** by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Short phrases in quotation marks are words preserved in that account.*

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Ḥájí Muḥammad Khán came home to Persia, set his family's affairs in order, provided for every one of them, and then said goodbye.

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To his wife, his children and his kin he said: "Do not look for me again; do not wait for my return."

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He was a Balúch, a native of Sístán, and he had caught fire very young. He became an *'árif*, a mystic, an adept, and, following the dervish rule, he left his home, completely selfless, and travelled in search of his *murshid*, the perfect leader who could guide him. He yearned, as the Qalandar dervishes would say, to discover that "priest of the Magi."

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He searched far and wide and spoke to everyone he met. What he longed for was the sweet scent of the love of God, and he could not detect it in anyone. Among the dervishes he saw tufted beards and a palms-up religion of beggary; they were poor in all save God in name only, and all they cared about, it seemed to him, was whatever came to hand. Among the Illuminati he heard nothing but idle argument.

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True philosophy, 'Abdu'l-Bahá observes, is that which produces rewards of excellence, and among those learned men there was no such fruit. As for the Shaykhís, their essence was gone and only the dregs remained.

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Then, at the very moment he heard the call from the Kingdom of God, he shouted "Yea, verily!" and "he was off like the desert wind." He crossed vast distances, arrived at the Most Great Prison in 'Akká, and attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh. In 'Abdu'l-Bahá's words, "When his eyes fell upon that bright Countenance he was instantly enslaved."

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He then went back to Persia to find the friends of other days who were still seeking the Truth, and to deal with them, 'Abdu'l-Bahá says, as his loyalty and duty required. Going and returning, he sought out each of them, sat with them, and let each one hear "the new song from Heaven."

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It was then that he reached his homeland, provided for his family, and said the farewell that left them no expectation of seeing him again. He took up a staff and wandered away over the mountains and across the plains, seeking out the mystics, his friends.

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On his first journey he went to Mírzá Yúsúf Khán in Ṭihrán. When the Ḥájí had said all he had to say, Yúsúf Khán named a wish: he wanted a son. If that wish were granted, he said, he would believe. The Ḥájí carried the wish to Bahá'u'lláh, and received a firm promise in reply.

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On his second journey he called on Yúsúf Khán again, and found him with a child in his arms.

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"Mírzá," the Ḥájí cried, "praise be to God! Your test has demonstrated the Truth. You snared your bird of joy."

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"Yes," Yúsúf Khán answered, "the proof is clear. I am convinced." And he asked the Ḥájí, when he next went to Bahá'u'lláh, to implore His grace and favour for the child, that it might be kept safe in the sheltering care of God.

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The Ḥájí then went to the King of Martyrs and asked him to intercede, so that he might be allowed to keep watch at the doorway of Bahá'u'lláh. The King of Martyrs sent the request by letter, and after that Ḥájí Muḥammad Khán came to the Most Great Prison and made his home in the neighbourhood of his loving Friend. He enjoyed that honour for a long time, and later, in the garden of Mazra'ih, he was very often in Bahá'u'lláh's presence.

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After the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh the Ḥájí remained faithful to the Covenant. Years later, while 'Abdu'l-Bahá was away on His journeys to Europe and America, he made his way to the travellers' hospice on Mount Carmel, and there, beside the Shrine of the Báb, "he took his flight to the world above."

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His bright tomb, 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, is in Haifa.

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*This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see **Memorials of the Faithful** by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.*

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