The Merchant Who Would Not Lie

A retelling based on the memorial of Ḥájí ‘Alí-‘Askar-i-Tabrízí in Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Short phrases in quotation marks are words preserved in that account.

Ḥájí ‘Alí-‘Askar was a merchant of Tabríz, much respected throughout Ádhirbayján for his godliness and trustworthiness. The people of Tabríz, one and all, 'Abdu'l-Bahá says, acknowledged his excellence and praised his character and way of life. He was one of the earliest believers and one of the most notable, and he led his whole household, his other kindred and his friends into the Faith. The tyranny of the wicked brought new afflictions on him every day, until at last he could endure his homeland no more. He brought his family to Adrianople and lived there in financial straits, but content.

To earn a living he took a little merchandise from Adrianople to the town of Jum'ih-Bázár. It was a trifling amount, and thieves carried it off. When the Persian Consul learned of the theft, he presented a document to the Government naming an enormous sum as the value of the stolen goods. By chance the thieves were caught and proved to have considerable funds. An investigation was ordered, and the Consul called in the Ḥájí.

"These thieves are very rich," he told him. "In my report to the Government, I wrote that the amount of the theft was great. Therefore you must attend the trial and testify conformably to what I wrote."

"Your Honor, Khán," the Ḥájí replied, "the stolen goods amounted to very little. How can I report something that is not true? When they question me, I will give the facts exactly as they are. I consider this my duty, and only this."

"Hájí," said the Consul, "We have a golden opportunity here; you and I can both profit by it. Don't let such a once-in-a-lifetime chance slip through your hands."

"Khán, how would I square it with God? Let me be. I shall tell the truth and nothing but the truth."

The Consul was beside himself. "Do you want to make me out a liar?" he cried. "Do you want to make me a laughingstock?" He threatened to jail him and have him banished, and to hand him over to the police that very moment as an enemy of the state, to be manacled and taken to the Persian frontier.

The Ḥájí only smiled. "Jináb-i-Khán," he said. "I have given up my life for the truth. I have nothing else. You are telling me to lie and bear false witness. Do with me as you please; I will not turn my back on what is right."

When the Consul saw that there was no way to make him testify to a falsehood, he told him it would be better for him to leave the place, so that the Government could be informed that the owner of the merchandise was no longer available. "Otherwise I shall be disgraced," he said.

The Ḥájí went back to Adrianople and said not a word about his stolen goods, but the matter became public knowledge and caused considerable surprise.

When the exiles were taken captive in Adrianople, he was taken with them, and he went with the Blessed Beauty to the fortress of 'Akká. There, with all his family, he was imprisoned in the path of God for a period of years. In all that time, 'Abdu'l-Bahá says, he was never known to express himself except in thankfulness and praise. The prison was a palace to him, and captivity a reason to rejoice; the greater the tyranny of the oppressors, the happier he was. Time and again Bahá'u'lláh was heard to speak of him with loving kindness, and to say: "I am pleased with him."

He was, as a rule, the close companion of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who recalls one day at the beginning of the imprisonment. 'Abdu'l-Bahá hurried to the corner of the barracks where the Ḥájí lived, "the cell that was his shabby nest." He was lying there with a high fever, out of his head. On his right lay his wife, shaking with chills. On his left his daughter Fáṭimih was burning with typhus. Beyond them his son, Ḥusayn-Áqá, was down with scarlet fever; he had forgotten how to speak Persian, and kept crying out in Turkish, "My insides are on fire!" At his father's feet lay his other daughter, deep in her sickness, and along the wall lay his brother, Mashhadí Fattáḥ, raving and delirious. In this condition, 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, the Ḥájí's lips were moving: he was returning thanks to God, and expressing joy.

He died in the Most Great Prison some years later, "still patient and thankful, still with dignity and firm in his faith." 'Abdu'l-Bahá closes His memorial with a blessing: "Upon him be the glory of the All-Glorious."

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

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1915). *Memorials of the Faithful*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust.