The Holy Being in the Carriage

A retelling for children of the account of Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, the Afnán, in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Memorials of the Faithful, as given in Bahá'í Chronicles.

In the worst days of Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment in 'Akká, the believers were not allowed to leave the fortress city, and visitors were not allowed in. Two enemies of the Faith lived by the city gate and watched it day and night. Whenever they saw a Bahá'í traveller, they hurried to the Governor and told him that the traveller was carrying letters. The Governor would arrest the traveller, take his papers, put him in jail and send him away. This went on for nine years before, little by little, it stopped.

It was during that time that the Afnán, Ḥájí Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, set out for 'Akká. He was a relative of the Báb. He travelled from India to Egypt, and from Egypt to Marseilles.

One day at sunset 'Abdu'l-Bahá was walking up and down on the roof of the caravanserai with some of the friends. He looked toward the distant seashore and saw a carriage coming. "Gentlemen," He said, "I feel that a holy being is in that carriage." It was still so far away that it could hardly be seen.

"Let us go to the gate," He told them. "Although they will not allow us to pass through, we can stand there till he comes." He took one or two of the friends and went down. At the gate He spoke privately to the guard and asked him not to hold up the carriage when it came, and not to report it to the Governor. The guard put out a chair, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá sat down to wait.

By now the sun had set. The main gate was shut, but the little door beside it was open. The carriage drew up, and the traveller stepped out. It was the Afnán. 'Abdu'l-Bahá later wrote: "What a radiant face he had! He was nothing but light from head to foot." He was confident, firm in his faith and joyful. He stayed only a few days in the Most Great Prison, and in those days he grew in faith and love. 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that even when his carriage had come only part of the way from Haifa to 'Akká, "one could already perceive his spirit, his light."

After receiving many blessings from Bahá'u'lláh, the Afnán left and went to China, where he lived for a long time. Later he went on to India, and there he died.

The Muslims in India would not let him be buried in their graveyard, so it was decided to send his body to Iraq. A believer named Siyyid Asadu'lláh went with it. On the ship, some hostile passengers tried to have the coffin taken off, but they failed. In Baṣra, enemies attacked the quarantine station to seize the body. In Baghdád too there was no safe place to bury him. Siyyid Asadu'lláh wrote to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "Wherever I might bury it, they will dig it up again." 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote many letters to help.

At last the Afnán was buried near Baghdád, beside the ruins of the great palace of the ancient kings of Persia at Ctesiphon. It was a spot where Bahá'u'lláh had often gone, where He had revealed Tablets and where the believers of Baghdád had been with Him. 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that this came about because of the Afnán's purity of heart.

"I loved the Afnán very much," 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote. From his youth until he grew old, the Afnán, with his smiling face, "shone out like a lamp in the midst of all."

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, the Afnán".

editors, B. C.. *Bahá'í Chronicles*. https://bahaichronicles.org/mirza-mu%e1%b8%a5ammad-ali-the-afnan/