The Traveler with the Shining Face

*A retelling for children, based on the account of Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, the Afnán, in **Bahá'í Chronicles**.*

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The sun was setting over the prison-city of 'Akká, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá was walking back and forth on the rooftop of an old inn. A few friends were up there with Him in the cool evening air.

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These were hard days. Bahá'u'lláh was kept inside the Most Great Prison, and the guards would not let the friends go out, or let Bahá'í travelers come in. Two watchmen lived right by the city gate and stayed there day and night. The moment they spotted a Bahá'í visitor, they would run to the governor and accuse him of carrying secret letters. Then the poor traveler would be arrested, his papers taken, and he would be sent away. For nine long years this was how things were.

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So when 'Abdu'l-Bahá looked out toward the faraway shore that evening, the city was locked up tight. Far off in the distance, almost too far to see, He noticed a carriage coming along the road.

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Quietly, He told the friends that He felt a holy soul was inside that carriage.

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The carriage was still a long, long way off. But 'Abdu'l-Bahá was so sure that He said they should go down to the gate. The guards would not let them through, He said, but they could stand there and wait for the traveler to arrive.

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So He took one or two of the friends and went down.

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At the gate, 'Abdu'l-Bahá quietly spoke to the guard. A carriage was coming, He said, and He thought it was bringing one of their friends. When it arrived, would the guard please not hold it up, and please not refer the matter to the governor? The guard brought out a chair, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá sat down to wait.

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By now the sun had gone down. The big main gate was already shut, but a little door beside it was still open. At last the carriage rolled up — and out stepped the traveler.

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What a face he had! From head to foot, the friends said, he seemed to be nothing but light. Just looking at him made you happy. He was calm and sure, joyful and strong, his heart rooted deep in his faith. His name was Ḥájí Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, and he was an Afnán — a member of the family of the Báb, a precious branch of the Holy Tree. He had come all the way from India, through Egypt and across the sea, just to reach this prison-city.

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'Abdu'l-Bahá later said something amazing about him: even while his carriage was still only partway down the road, you could already feel his spirit and his light coming closer.

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The Afnán stayed only a few days in the Most Great Prison. But in those few days he seemed to grow brighter and braver every single day — more loving, more certain, more full of light than before. Bahá'u'lláh showered countless blessings upon him.

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Then it was time for him to go. He traveled far away to China, and there, for a long while, he spent his days remembering God and living the way God would wish. After that he journeyed on to India, and it was there that he died.

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But his story was not quite over yet.

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The friends wanted to lay him to rest in a holy place, and so his body began a long, difficult journey by ship. It was a dangerous time, and the Bahá'ís had to be careful and quiet. Again and again, people who hated the Faith tried to stop the burial — at one port, then another, then another. Wherever the friends hoped to lay him down, enemies came to chase them away.

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A faithful helper named Siyyid Asadu'lláh carried the precious trust onward, writing letters to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, almost in despair, saying that wherever he buried him, the enemies would only dig him up again.

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'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote many letters too, guiding and helping from far away. And in the end, something wonderful happened. The Afnán was laid to rest at last in a very special spot — a place near an ancient ruined palace, a place that Bahá'u'lláh Himself had once visited, where He had walked and revealed Tablets and met with the friends. Of all the places in the world, this was where the faithful traveler finally came to rest in peace.

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How did it all work out, after so much trouble and danger? 'Abdu'l-Bahá said it was because of the Afnán's pure heart. Without that purity, none of it could have happened.

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'Abdu'l-Bahá loved the Afnán very much. From the time he was young until he grew old, this branch of the Holy Tree had shone out among everyone, like a bright lamp, always with a smiling face.

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When you love God with your whole heart, the way the Afnán did, that love becomes a kind of light — a light other people can feel, even from far away, even before you arrive.

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*This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see ["Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, the Afnán"](/stories/bc-mirza-muhammad-ali-the-afnan).*

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