Memorial of His Eminence Kalím (Mírzá Músá)

In Memorials of the Faithful ‘Abdu’l-Bahá pauses to remember His own paternal uncle, Mírzá Músá — known to the friends as Áqáy-i-Kalím — the loyal full brother of Bahá’u’lláh. The chapter is brief and tender, the work of a nephew remembering the man who had stood at his father’s side through every banishment.

The Master begins with Mírzá Músá’s spiritual precocity. From infancy, he says,

He drank in the love of God with his mother’s milk; when yet a suckling, he showed an extraordinary attachment to the Blessed Beauty.

Within the household, Áqáy-i-Kalím shone with a quiet, useful luminosity. He was not ambitious; he sought no station for himself.

Like a bright lamp, he shone out in that Household. He wished neither rank nor office, and had no worldly aims at all.

The Master traces his uncle’s share in each successive exile — from Persia to Iraq, then to Constantinople, then to Adrianople, and finally to the fortress of ‘Akká, where he was condemned to perpetual banishment. Through all the moves Áqáy-i-Kalím carried the burdens, organised the household, met the difficult visitors, and bore in silence the duties no one else wanted.

The most painful chapter of his life was the rebellion of Mírzá Yaḥyá, his half-brother, against Bahá’u’lláh. Áqáy-i-Kalím did not give him up easily.

It was during the sojourn in this latter city that he detected from Mírzá Yaḥyá the odor of rebellion. Day and night he tried to make him mend his ways.

Only when all hope was gone did Áqáy-i-Kalím sever the tie. The Master records the rupture without bitterness; loyalty to Bahá’u’lláh was, in the end, the higher claim.

There is a small story 'Abdu'l-Bahá takes care to preserve. Bahá'u'lláh sent an impoverished tribal chief — an Ílkhání — to seek a recommendation from the Governor of Damascus. Some time later the Ílkhání wrote back from Díyárbakr, addressing his letter to His Eminence Bahá'u'lláh, Leader of the Bábís. Bahá'u'lláh laughed when He saw it, the Master writes, and turned to His brother:

Kalím, Kalím! The fame of the Cause of God has reached as far as Díyárbakr!

Áqáy-i-Kalím spent his last years in ‘Akká, serving the household he had served all his life. He met death, the Master records, with lowliness and contrition, and his loyalty held under all conditions, to the very end.

Source: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, chapter on His Eminence Kalím (Mírzá Músá). Public domain text from the Bahá'í Reference Library.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1915). *Memorials of the Faithful*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/memorials-faithful/