Ismu'lláhu'l-Aṣdaq, the Name of God

*A retelling based on the chapter "Ismu'lláhu'l-Aṣdaq" in **Memorials of the Faithful**, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's recollections of early believers. Words in quotation marks are 'Abdu'l-Bahá's, in the published translation.*

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'Abdu'l-Bahá names Ismu'lláhu'l-Aṣdaq first among the Hands of the Cause of God who had passed away, and says of him that he "was truly a servant of the Lord from the beginning of life till his last breath."

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His name was Mullá Ṣádiq. As a young man he was a disciple of Siyyid Káẓim, and he was known in Persia for the purity of his life, so that people called him "Mullá Ṣádiq the saintly." He was a learned divine, much honoured, and the people of Khurásán were strongly attached to him.

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He became a believer in Shíráz in the early days of the Báb's Faith and began at once to teach it openly. For this, 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, "they hung a halter on him and led him about the streets and bázárs of the city. Even in that condition, composed and smiling, he kept on speaking to the people. He did not yield; he was not silenced."

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When he was freed he went to Khurásán and taught there, and then travelled with Mullá Ḥusayn, the Bábu'l-Báb, to Fort Ṭabarsí. 'Abdu'l-Bahá describes the siege: the army surrounded the fort and fired cannon balls into it. The believers, Mullá Ṣádiq among them, went eighteen days without food. They ate the leather of their shoes, and when that was gone they had only a mouthful of water each morning.

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Yet when the army attacked, they would "instantly spring to their feet, and manifest in the face of the enemy a magnificent courage and astonishing resistance, and drive the army back from their walls."

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When the fort fell, Mullá Ṣádiq was taken prisoner and handed over to the chiefs of Mázindarán to be led about and put to death. When he had been brought in chains to the appointed place, "God put it into one man's heart to free him from prison in the middle of the night and guide him to a place where he was safe." Once free, 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, "he taught more widely than ever."

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He attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád and again in the Most Great Prison. 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalls a day in Baghdád when Mullá Ṣádiq was sitting in the courtyard of Bahá'u'lláh's house and a Persian prince, a grandson of Fatḥ-'Alí Sháh, arrived and asked him who he was. He answered, "I am a servant of this Threshold. I am one of the keepers of this door." Then he began to teach the prince.

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'Abdu'l-Bahá, listening from a room above, heard the prince object angrily at first; within a quarter of an hour his anger had turned to smiles. "He always taught cheerfully and with gaiety," 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, "and would respond gently and with good humor, no matter how much passionate anger might be turned against him."

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Mullá Ṣádiq's tomb is in Hamadán. Bahá'u'lláh revealed many Tablets for him, among them a Tablet of Visitation after his passing. 'Abdu'l-Bahá closes His account: "He was truly Ismu'lláh, the Name of God."

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*This is a retelling. For the full account, see **Memorials of the Faithful** by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.*

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