Walking Ahead of the Howdah

A retelling based on Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Master's own reminiscences of the believers of Bahá'u'lláh's circle. Words in quotation marks are His, as rendered into English.

In Memorials of the Faithful 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes of two believers together: Mírzá Maḥmúd of Káshán and Áqá Riḍá of Shíráz. They "were like two lamps lit with God's love from the oil of His knowledge," He says, and for fifty-five years they rendered every kind of service. "Their services were countless, beyond recording." Mírzá Maḥmúd had come to Baghdád from Káshán as a youth; Áqá Riḍá became a believer in Baghdád.

When Bahá'u'lláh left Baghdád for Constantinople in 1863, a great crowd went with Him, and along the way they met with famine conditions. Bahá'u'lláh rode in a howdah. The two friends went ahead of it on foot, covering seven or eight farsakhs every day. "Wayworn and faint, they would reach the halting-place; and yet, weary as they were, they would immediately set about preparing and cooking the food, and seeing to the comfort of the believers."

After the meal they collected and washed the dishes and cooking pots, which kept them busy until midnight. At daybreak they rose, packed everything and set out again in front of the howdah. "There were times when they had not more than two or three hours sleep out of the twenty-four," the Master writes. From Baghdád all the way to Constantinople "they walked close beside Bahá'u'lláh; they made every one of the friends happy; they brought rest and comfort to all; they prepared whatever anyone asked."

Of their character He says: "In all that time no one ever heard either of them raise his voice. They never hurt nor offended anyone." Bahá'u'lláh showered blessings upon them. They were continually entering His presence, and He would express His satisfaction with them.

The Master also recalls how poor the believers in Baghdád had been. A company of seven leading believers lived together in a single small room because they were destitute. They could hardly keep body and soul together, "but they were so spiritual, so blissful, that they thought themselves in Heaven." Sometimes they chanted prayers all night until the day broke. By day they went out to work; one might earn ten paras, another twenty, others forty or fifty, and the money paid for the evening meal. "On a certain day one of them made twenty paras, while the rest had nothing at all. The one with the money bought some dates, and shared them with the others; that was dinner, for seven people. They were perfectly content with their frugal life, supremely happy."

Of Mírzá Maḥmúd and Áqá Riḍá He writes: "Their sole desire was to please Bahá'u'lláh. To them, nothing was a bounty at all, except service at His Holy Threshold."

After the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh the two "were consumed with sorrow, like candles flickering away." They longed for death, yet they stayed firm in the Covenant, worked to spread the Faith, and were close and trusted companions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who could rely on them in all things. "In all that long period, they never uttered a word which had to do with self."

They died while 'Abdu'l-Bahá was away. "I sorrowed much because I was not with them when they died," He writes. "Although absent in body, I was there in my heart, and mourning over them."

This is a retelling. For the full account, see "Áqá Mírzá Maḥmúd and Áqá Riḍá" in Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

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