The Companions in Baghdad
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
Describing the lives of Bahá’u’lláh’s companions in Baghdad, Nabíl writes:
“Many a night, no less than ten persons subsisted on no more than a pennyworth of dates. No one knew to whom actually belonged the shoes, the cloaks, or the robes that were to be found in their houses. Whoever went to the bazaar could claim that the shoes upon his feet were his own, and each one who entered the presence of Bahá’u’lláh could affirm that the cloak and robe he then wore belonged to him. Their own names they had forgotten, their hearts were emptied of aught else except adoration for their Beloved... O, for the joy of those days, and the gladness and wonder of those hours!”
Source: Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 2, p. 215 (quoting Nabíl); also in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, ch. VIII.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: detachment).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/detachment
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
The Poet Who Waited on Mount Carmel
Nabíl of Zarand, poet and teacher, sought Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, Adrianople and ‘Akká, waited in a cave on Mount Carmel until the prison gates opened, and could not bear to live after His ascension.
A Glimpse Across the Moat
Pilgrims who had walked from Persia were refused entry to 'Akká and could only glimpse Bahá'u'lláh at a window from beyond the moat. Another pilgrim, Ustád Ismá'íl-i-Káshí, gazed for hours, but his sight was too weak to see His face.
Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, Poet and Chronicler
Nabíl of Zarand left his home as a youth to teach the new Faith, wrote odes in praise of Bahá'u'lláh and travelled on His errands. From 1888 he wrote the chronicle published in English as The Dawn-Breakers.
The Poet Who Guarded the Holy House
Mocked in Káshán for his faith, the poet Mírzá Mihdí came to Baghdad, stayed behind to guard the Holy House, endured exile in Mosul, and at last reached the ‘Akká prison, where he spent his final days in joy.