Faithful from Youth to Old Age

A retelling for children of the account of Hájí Áqáy-i-Tabrízí in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Memorials of the Faithful, as given in Bahá'í Chronicles.

Hájí Áqá came from Tabríz, in Persia. He found his faith in God when he was still young, and he stayed firm in it all his life, even when he was old and weak.

For a time he lived in the province of Ádhirbáyján. When people there came to know him as a believer, they made his life miserable. His own relatives and friends turned against him and found a new reason to trouble him every day.

At last he gave up his home, took his family and went to Adrianople, where Bahá'u'lláh was living in exile. He arrived near the end of Bahá'u'lláh's time there, and he was taken prisoner with the other exiles.

So he came with Bahá'u'lláh to the prison-city of ‘Akká. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who was a prisoner there too, remembered him as a friend and companion who shared all their hardships, "humble and long-enduring."

Later, when the rules of the prison were eased a little, Hájí Áqá became a trader and, through the bounty of Bahá'u'lláh, lived in comfort and peace. But the hard years had worn out his body. He fell ill and could not be cured, and he died not far from Bahá'u'lláh. He is buried in ‘Akká.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Hájí Áqáy-i-Tabrízí".

editors, B. C.. *Bahá'í Chronicles*. https://bahaichronicles.org/haji-aqay-i-tabrizi/