The Master and the Persian Princes

In 1911 the Master spent a few quiet days in the French Alps, presumably to rest, before continuing to London. Here took place a remarkable encounter which illustrates the universality of His love, even towards those whose hearts ran hostile to Him and to His Father’s Cause. Juliet Thompson tells us the following about this occasion:

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“Monstrously sinned against, too great was He to claim the right to forgive. In His almost off-hand brushing aside of a cruelty, in the ineffable sweetness with which He ignored it, it was as though He said: ‘Forgiveness belongs only to God.’

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“An example of this was His memorable meeting with the royal prince, Ẓillu’s-Sulṭán, brother [properly, uncle] of the Sháh of Persia, Muhammad ‘Alí Sháh. Not alone ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but a great number of His followers, band after band of Bahá’í martyrs, had suffered worse than death at the hands of these two princes.

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When the downfall of the Sháh, with that of the Sulṭán of Turkey [the Ottoman Empire], set ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at liberty, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá beginning His journey through Europe, went first to Thonon-les-Bains, on the Lake of Geneva. The exiled Sháh was then somewhere in Europe; Ẓillu’s-Sulṭán, also in exile with his two sons, had fled to Geneva. Thus ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the exonerated and free, and Ẓillu’s-Sulṭán, the fugitive, were almost within a stone’s throw of each other.

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“In the suite of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a distinguished European who had visited Persia and there met Ẓillu’s-Sulṭán. One day when the European was standing on the balustraded terrace of the hotel in Thonon and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was pacing to and fro at a little distance, Ẓillu’s-Sulṭán approached the terrace. ... Ẓillu’s-Sulṭán, after greeting the European, immediately asked: ‘Who is that Persian nobleman?’ ‘‘Abdu’l-Bahá.’ ‘Take me to Him.’

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“In describing the scene later, the European said: ‘If you could have heard the wretch mumbling his miserable excuses!’ But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took the prince in His arms. ‘All that is of the past,’ He answered. ‘Never think of it again. Send your two sons to see me. I want to meet your sons.’

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“They came, one at a time. Each spent a day with the Master. The first, though an immature boy, nevertheless showed Him great deference. The second, older and more sensitive, left the room of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, where he had been received alone, weeping uncontrollably. ‘If only I could be born again,’ he said, ‘into any other family than mine.’

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“For not only had many Bahá’ís been martyred during his uncle’s reign (upwards of a hundred by his father’s instigation), and the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá threatened again and again, but his grandfather, Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, had ordered the execution of the Báb as well as the torture and death of thousands of Bábís.

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“The young prince was ‘born again’ — a Bahá’í.”

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