Memorial of Áqá Riḍáy-i-Shírází (the Companion of the Exile)

In *Memorials of the Faithful*, 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalls Áqá Riḍáy-i-Shírází among the most steady of the small inner circle of believers who accompanied Bahá'u'lláh through the successive stages of His exile.

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Áqá Riḍá was a Shírází by origin — born in the city that had already become, by the events of 1844, the cradle of the new Dispensation. He embraced the Bábí Cause as a young man and followed its teaching through its difficult early years. When Bahá'u'lláh's identity as the Promised One of the Báb began to be known in the Bábí community in Baghdád, Áqá Riḍá found his way there and entered the Master's circle.

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From that point his life was given over, without further deliberation, to the household of his Lord. He was among the small group that travelled with Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdád to Constantinople in 1863, accompanied Him on to Adrianople, and made the further journey to the prison-city of 'Akká in 1868. Through each removal he carried the same uncomplaining willingness — packing, unpacking, attending the household, doing whatever the small day's particular labour required.

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'Abdu'l-Bahá's portrait of him emphasises his pastoral qualities. He was *a sweet-natured man, gentle in speech, faithful in the small daily things, never absent from his post.* He was not, in the public record, a teacher or a writer. His service was the steady silent service of the companion. He did not draw attention to himself. He did the small things that allowed his Lord to do the great ones.

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The Master notes that Áqá Riḍá was particularly trusted with the practical management of the household — the marketing, the preparation of meals, the maintenance of the small material order on which the spiritual labour of the household depended. In the strained financial circumstances of the exile years — circumstances often barely above subsistence — this stewardship required both skill and unflinching character. Áqá Riḍá brought both.

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After Bahá'u'lláh's ascension in 1892, Áqá Riḍá remained in the service of the household and turned his loyalty unhesitatingly to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He continued, into the early years of the Master's ministry, the same patient daily work he had been performing for thirty years. He died at length in 'Akká, having spent the whole adult portion of his life in the company of his Lord.

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The Master concludes: *He has joined the company of the faithful in the realm above, and the Supreme Companion welcomes him.*

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