Ḥájí Amín, the Trusted One

A retelling based on The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 3, by Adib Taherzadeh, with details from H. M. Balyuzi's Eminent Bahá'ís in the Time of Bahá'u'lláh and Shoghi Effendi's God Passes By. It is told in our own words; words in quotation marks are quoted from published texts.

Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan was born about 1817 in Ardikán, a small town near Yazd, and grew up a devout Muslim. His parents arranged his marriage to a merchant's daughter, and he went to live in her father's house, where he found that her brothers were all Bábís. After long discussions with them he accepted the Báb, shortly after the Báb's martyrdom, and then taught his wife, who also became a believer. When news came of Bahá'u'lláh's claim he accepted it at once and travelled through Persia telling other Bábís.

He became the assistant of Ḥájí Sháh-Muḥammad-i-Manshádí, whom Bahá'u'lláh had appointed His Trustee and given the title Amín, "Trusted One." Through the Trustee the believers could pay the Ḥuqúqu'lláh, the Right of God. The two men travelled together, collecting the Ḥuqúqu'lláh and the letters the believers wished to send to Bahá'u'lláh, and bringing back His Tablets. Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan earned his living by trading and by writing for people who could not write.

Soon after Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned in 'Akká in 1868, the two men bought a few camels on the way and entered the city disguised as Arabs with goods to sell. Bahá'u'lláh allowed them to see Him in the public bath, on condition that they show no sign of recognizing Him. Shoghi Effendi writes that Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan was the first of the pilgrims "to enter His presence." Taherzadeh records that at the sight of Bahá'u'lláh, Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan began to shake, stumbled and fell on the stone floor, and had to be carried out with a badly injured head.

In 1881 Ḥájí Sháh-Muḥammad was killed in a massacre at Miyánduáb. Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan, who was with him as usual, was shot in the leg but escaped. Bahá'u'lláh then appointed him Trustee in Ḥájí Sháh-Muḥammad's place and gave him the title Amín. He served as Trustee through the ministries of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá and into that of Shoghi Effendi.

Taherzadeh writes that Ḥájí Amín "kept not a penny for himself." He visited the homes of almost every Bahá'í in Persia and urged them to live simply, but he never solicited contributions. When friends invited him to dinner he wanted one plain dish, and asked them to add extra water to the pot for his share. Persian Bahá'ís came to call this "the soup of Haji Amin."

In 1891, on the orders of Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh and his son, he was imprisoned with Ḥájí Ákhúnd, first in Tihrán and then in Qazvín, with their feet in stocks and chains on their necks. A photograph of the two prisoners in chains was taken for the Sháh to see, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá later hung it in the hallway of His house. Soon after their imprisonment Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Lawḥ-i-Dunyá, which opens: "Praise and thanksgiving beseem the Lord of manifest dominion Who hath adorned the mighty prison with the presence of their honours 'Alí-Akbar and Amín, and hath illumined it with the light of certitude, constancy and assurance."

Ḥájí Amín died in Tihrán in 1928. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had named one of the doors of the Shrine of the Báb after him, and Shoghi Effendi named him a Hand of the Cause of God after his passing.

This is a retelling. For the full account, see The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 3, by Adib Taherzadeh.

Taherzadeh, A.. (1983). *The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh (Vol. 3)*. George Ronald.