The Man with the Shining Face

A retelling for children, based on the account of Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥasan, the Afnán, in Bahá'í Chronicles.

When Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥasan was still a small child, something happened to him that he would never forget. He received a gift of bounty from the Báb — and from that moment, this little boy felt a love for the Báb so deep and so dazzling that it set the course of his whole life. He was a relative of the Báb, part of a family the Báb came from, and even as a child his heart was caught.

As he grew, you might expect a boy like that to spend his days playing. But Ḥasan loved something else: he loved to learn. Before he was even a teenager, he was already sitting among grown-up scholars, listening, asking questions, and studying everything he could get his hands on. Day and night he thought about the deepest questions of the spirit, gazing in wonder at the signs of God written across the world like words in a great book.

And it wasn't only spiritual things he learned. He studied mathematics. He studied geometry — the shapes and measurements of the world. He studied geography, learning about lands far away. He read the wisdom of people who had lived long ago and the ideas of his own time, until there was hardly a subject he didn't understand.

When he grew up, Ḥasan became a merchant — a man who bought and sold goods. But here is a funny thing about him. He only spent a little bit of each day actually doing business. The rest of the time, he went right back to what he loved best: thinking, talking about big ideas, and searching for answers. He became so wise that other learned men were amazed by him. He didn't need long speeches to explain things. With just a few short words, he could untangle a question that had puzzled everyone else. People said his way of speaking was so simple and so clear that it was almost like a small miracle.

Now, Ḥasan had first believed in the days of the Báb. But it was in the days of Bahá'u'lláh that something even greater happened inside him. His love for God burst into flame, like a fire that burns away everything in its path. Every doubt, every empty worry, every distraction — all of it melted away, until only love was left. He did everything he could to share the Faith of God with others, and far and wide people came to know him for one thing above all: how greatly, how completely, he loved Bahá'u'lláh.

For a while, Ḥasan lived in Persia, far from Bahá'u'lláh, and his heart ached with missing Him. Then wonderful news arrived: his own son had married into the Holy Household — the family of Bahá'u'lláh Himself. Ḥasan was overjoyed. He did not wait. He left Persia behind and hurried toward the One he loved most in all the world.

People who met Ḥasan often noticed something they couldn't quite explain. His face seemed to shine. There was a light about him so clear that even people who did not believe as he did would say a heavenly glow seemed to come from his forehead. That is what a heart full of love can do — it shows on the outside.

At last Ḥasan came to the Holy Land and settled near the Mansion of Bahjí, close to Bahá'u'lláh. And oh, how happy he was there! He kept right on exploring the wonders of the world. Most nights he would set up a telescope and study the sky, watching the stars wheel slowly overhead, trying to understand their secret movements. He lived a cheerful, carefree life. Living so near to Bahá'u'lláh, his days felt bright and his nights felt as fresh and hopeful as the very first morning of spring.

But that great happiness did not last forever. The day came when Bahá'u'lláh passed from this world. For Ḥasan, it was as if all the light had gone out at once. His joy turned to grief, and his bright days turned dark. He lived on only a little while longer, his heart aching, his eyes filled with tears. He simply could not bear how much he missed his Beloved. Before long his soul slipped quietly away from this life and went to be reunited with the One he had loved so dearly, in a place of endless light.

Ḥasan was a man who knew so many things — stars and shapes and far-off lands and the wisdom of the ages. Yet the most important thing he ever learned was how to love. All his learning was wonderful, but it was his love for God that made his very face shine. When we truly love what is good and holy, that love doesn't stay hidden inside us. Little by little, it lights us up — and others can see it too.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥasan, the Afnán".

editors, B. C.. *Bahá'í Chronicles*. https://bahaichronicles.org/%e1%b8%a5aji-mirza-%e1%b8%a5asan-the-afnan/