The Brave Seeker Who Found What He Was Looking For

A retelling for children, based on the account of Haji Mulla Isma’il-i-Qumi in Bahá'í Chronicles.

When Haji Mulla Isma'il was a young man, he did something that took real courage. He left his home in a town called Farahan, and he set out on a long journey — not for treasure, and not for adventure, but to find the truth.

He had a question burning inside him, the kind of question that will not let you rest: What is true? What is really worth living for? So he traveled all the way to a city called Karbila to look for the answer. There he sat with the wisest, most learned teachers he could find. He listened. He studied. He learned everything they could teach him.

But all that learning was really getting him ready for one moment he did not yet know was coming.

Years later, when he was in the city of Shiraz, Haji Mulla Isma'il heard about the Báb. And the moment he understood Who the Báb was, everything he had searched for his whole life suddenly fell into place. This was the truth he had left home to find. He had been getting ready for this his entire journey without even knowing it.

From that day on, no one was more devoted than he was. When word came that the Báb was calling His followers to travel to a faraway region called Khurasan, Haji Mulla Isma'il did not hesitate for a second. He joined the band of companions setting out for a place called Badasht. He loved the Cause so much, and explained its teachings so beautifully, that the other believers came to admire him deeply. They even gave him a special new name.

Then came the hardest part of his story.

In those days, a group of the Báb's followers had gathered to defend themselves at a fort called Tabarsi. Haji Mulla Isma'il longed with all his heart to be there with them, to stand beside his friends and do his part. But he could not. He was sick — so sick he could not even get out of bed. Imagine how that must have felt: the people he loved most were facing terrible danger, and he was stuck lying down, unable to help. It nearly broke his heart.

By the time he finally got well again, the news reached him — and it was the worst news of all. The struggle at the fort was over, and his dear companions were gone.

Now, many people, after losing everything like that, might have given up. But Haji Mulla Isma'il did the opposite. His sorrow turned into something stronger. He stood up and decided that he would work even harder for the Cause — that he would somehow make up for the friends who had been lost. He poured himself into serving, more determined than ever before.

That determination led him, in the end, to give his own life for what he believed.

When the day came, he was brought to the place where he would be killed. You might think he would be trembling with fear. He was not. Lying right in front of him were two beloved friends who had already given their lives, still holding each other close. Haji Mulla Isma'il looked at them with love, and instead of crying out in fear, he called to them like a friend cheering them on: "Well done, beloved companions! You have turned Tihran into a paradise! Would that I had preceded you!"

Then he did something so gentle it is almost hard to believe. He reached into his pocket and took out a coin. He handed it to the very man who had been sent to harm him, and asked him to go buy a little something sweet. When the sweet came, Haji Mulla Isma'il tasted a bit of it — and then gave the rest right back to that same man. "I have forgiven you," he told him kindly. He was not angry. He held no hatred at all. He had waited thirty long years for this day, he said, and he was only afraid he might leave the world before his deepest wish came true.

Last of all, he lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed, asking God to accept him. He was still in the middle of his prayer when his life came to an end.

Haji Mulla Isma'il had spent his whole life searching for the truth — and once he found it, nothing could shake him. Not sickness, not sorrow, not even the loss of his closest friends. And here is the most beautiful part: with all that he faced, his heart never grew bitter. At the very end, he was still forgiving, still kind, still thinking of others. That is what real faith can do. It can make a person braver than fear and gentler than anger, both at once.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Haji Mulla Isma’il-i-Qumi".

editors, B. C.. *Bahá'í Chronicles*. https://bahaichronicles.org/haji-mulla-ismail-i-qumi/