Not a Single Farthing
Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation, (1932), Bahá'í Publishing Trust · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
Búshihr (today: Bushehr, Iran)
A retelling based on chapter 3 of The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl's narrative of the early days of the Bahá'í Revelation, which records what Ḥájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í told Nabíl about the Báb. Words in quotation marks are from that book.
Nabíl writes that the days the Báb gave to trade were mostly spent in Búshihr, the port on the Persian Gulf. One of those who met Him there was Ḥájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í, who passed through Búshihr on a journey to India. He already knew the Báb's uncle, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí, and so was able to meet the Báb several times.
"Every time I met Him," he told Nabíl, "I found Him in such a state of humility and lowliness as words fail me to describe. His downcast eyes, His extreme courtesy, and the serene expression of His face made an indelible impression upon my soul." He often heard those who were close to the Báb speak of the purity of His character, the charm of His manners, His self-effacement, "His high integrity," and His devotion to God.
Then he told of one transaction. A certain man left an article with the Báb as a trust and asked Him to sell it at a fixed price. When the Báb sent him the money for it, the man found that the sum was well above the limit he had set. He wrote at once to ask the reason.
The Báb replied: "What I have sent you is entirely your due. There is not a single farthing in excess of what is your right. There was a time when the trust you had delivered to Me had attained this value. Failing to sell it at that price, I now feel it My duty to offer you the whole of that sum."
The article had once been worth the higher amount, and the Báb had not sold it at that time. He paid the owner that value all the same. The man pleaded with Him to take back the excess, but, in Ḥájí Siyyid Javád's words, "the Bab persisted in refusing."
This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-A'ẓam.
Cite this story
Nabíl-i-A'ẓam. (1932). *The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/other-literature/historical/dawn-breakers/
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