How the Most Great House Was Bought

*A retelling for children based on **Bahá'í Chronicles**, which draws on Adib Taherzadeh's **The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh**, volume 1 (chapter 12, "Bahá'u'lláh's Approaching Declaration"), with one detail from H. M. Balyuzi's **Bahá'u'lláh, The King of Glory**.*

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Hájí Mírzá Hádí had once been a vizier, a minister of the Persian government. He was highly respected among the leading men of Persia and Iraq. He moved to Baghdád, where he was known for his great wealth and influence.

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Bahá'u'lláh was living in Baghdád at that time as an exile. Toward the end of his life Hájí Mírzá Hádí was drawn to Bahá'u'lláh and became devoted to Him. Rich and important as he was, he would often come into Bahá'u'lláh's presence and sit at His feet in humility.

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His son, Hájí Mírzá Músá, was a loyal follower of Bahá'u'lláh, who gave him the title Ḥarf-i-Baqá, the Letter of Eternity. Balyuzi writes that the change in the son, through his love for Bahá'u'lláh, was what moved his father to follow the same way.

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After Hájí Mírzá Hádí died, there were long difficulties over his estate. When they were settled, Mírzá Músá inherited a share of it, and he owned the house in Baghdád that was Bahá'u'lláh's home. He wanted to give the house to Bahá'u'lláh as a gift, along with other property.

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Bahá'u'lláh refused the gift. Mírzá Músá kept pleading with Him, and at last Bahá'u'lláh gave instructions that the house be bought from him at a fair price. So the house became the property of the Faith.

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Bahá'u'lláh named it the House of God, the Most Great House, and made it a place of pilgrimage. A great many of His Tablets were revealed within its walls. He also revealed a Tablet in honor of Mírzá Músá, called Subḥána Rabbíya'l-A'lá.

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*This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see ["Haji Mirza Musay-i-Javahari"](/stories/bc-haji-mirza-musay-i-javahari).*

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