The Saddle-Maker's Question

A retelling for children, based on Bahá'í Chronicles.

In the old city of Shíráz, there lived a man named Mírzá Áqáy-i-Rikáb-Sáz. His long name tells you part of his story: "Rikáb-Sáz" means a maker of stirrups and saddle leather. With his own hands he shaped and stitched the gear that people used to ride.

But the most important thing about him was not his work. It was his heart. For Mírzá Áqá loved the Báb. He believed in Him with everything he had, and nothing could shake that belief — not even when people around him grew angry and unkind, and tried to frighten the believers into giving up.

Now Mírzá Áqá was the kind of person who liked to think and to wonder. He had read the Qur'án, the holy book of his land, and he had noticed something puzzling. At the very beginning of some chapters, there were a few single letters standing all by themselves — letters that seemed to hold a secret no one had ever explained. He wondered and wondered what they meant.

So he did a brave and wonderful thing. He carried his question all the way to Bahá'u'lláh, who was in the land of Iraq. Imagine the journey — and imagine the joy of finally standing before Bahá'u'lláh and meeting Him with his own eyes. There, Mírzá Áqá asked Him: what do those mysterious letters mean?

And Bahá'u'lláh answered. He wrote a special Tablet just for Mírzá Áqá — a letter full of meaning that came to be called the Tablet of the Verse of Light. Of all the people in the world, this thoughtful saddle-maker was the one who had asked, and so the answer was written for him to keep.

Back home in Shíráz, the days grew hard for those who loved the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. A powerful man in the city did not want them to believe, and he gave a cruel order. One dark night, Mírzá Áqá and two of his friends gave their lives rather than turn away from the Faith they loved. They are remembered as some of the earliest believers who stayed true to the very end.

It is easy to be brave when everything is easy. The hard kind of bravery is staying faithful when it costs you something — and Mírzá Áqá had that kind. He began as a maker of saddles and a man with a question, and he is remembered forever for the love that never let go of his heart.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Mirza Aqay-i-Rikab-Saz".

editors, B. C.. *Bahá'í Chronicles*. https://bahaichronicles.org/mirza-aqay-i-rikab-saz/