Áqáy-i-Kalím, Brother of Bahá'u'lláh

A retelling drawn from Memorials of the Faithful, in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá remembers His uncle Mírzá Músá. The narrative is in our own words; words in quotation marks are quoted from that book.

Mírzá Músá was Bahá'u'lláh's brother, born of the same father and mother. The believers called him Áqáy-i-Kalím. Músá is the Persian form of Moses, and Kalím recalls the title by which Moses is honoured, Kalímu'lláh, the one who conversed with God.

His nephew 'Abdu'l-Bahá begins His memorial of him with his infancy: "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." After their father died, Bahá'u'lláh brought him up. 'Abdu'l-Bahá continues:

Like a bright lamp, he shone out in that Household. He wished neither rank nor office, and had no worldly aims at all. His one supreme desire was to serve Bahá'u'lláh, and for this reason he was never separated from his Brother's presence.

When the Báb proclaimed His Cause, it was through Bahá'u'lláh that Mírzá Músá came to believe: "from a single utterance of Bahá'u'lláh's his heart was filled with light." In Tihrán he spent his days and nights spreading the Faith. 'Abdu'l-Bahá adds a personal note: "He had an extraordinary attachment to me, and was at all times concerned for my well-being."

When Bahá'u'lláh was exiled from Tihrán to 'Iráq, two of His brothers went with Him, Mírzá Músá and Mírzá Muḥammad-Qulí. While Bahá'u'lláh was away in the mountains of Kurdistán, Mírzá Músá's life in Baghdád was in constant danger; "still, he bore it all, and knew no fear." When Bahá'u'lláh returned, he took up his place again at His door, "rendering every service within his power."

'Abdu'l-Bahá records one happy day from those years. A nobleman known as the Ílkhání, who had squandered a great fortune and was hiding from his creditors, was brought to Bahá'u'lláh by Siyyid Javád-i-Ṭabáṭabá'í, who pleaded for him. Bahá'u'lláh accepted his repentance and helped him on his way to Constantinople. At Díyárbakr the Ílkhání wrote a letter of introduction for two Armenian merchants bound for Baghdád, and addressed it "To His Eminence Bahá'u'lláh, Leader of the Bábís." The merchants handed it to Bahá'u'lláh at the head of the bridge and walked with Him to His house. Mírzá Músá was there to meet Him when He entered the family apartments, and Bahá'u'lláh cried out:

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

"And He was smiling, jubilant."

Mírzá Músá went with Bahá'u'lláh to Constantinople and on to Adrianople, serving Him along the way. In Adrianople he saw their half-brother turning against Bahá'u'lláh. "Day and night he tried to make him mend his ways, but all to no avail." When there was no hope left, he broke with him, saying: "O my brother, if others are in doubt as to this affair, you and I both know the truth. Have you forgotten the loving-kindness of Bahá'u'lláh, and how He trained us both?" The words had no effect, and the final rupture followed.

Mírzá Músá's name was specifically listed in the Sultán's decree, and he was condemned with Bahá'u'lláh to perpetual banishment in 'Akká. In the Most Great Prison he gave all his time to serving his Brother and keeping company with the believers, until he died, "with lowliness and contrition, as he supplicated his Lord."

Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, in the opening pages of The Dawn-Breakers, names "Mírzá Músá, Áqáy-i-Kalím, brother of Bahá'u'lláh" among those to whom he was chiefly indebted for his history. 'Abdu'l-Bahá closes His memorial with these words: "Mírzá Músá was indeed a true brother to the Blessed Beauty; this is why he remained steadfast, under all conditions, to the very end."

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in the chapter "His Eminence Kalím (Mírzá Músá)."

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