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February 27, 2012

On the first day of Ayyam-i-Há, circa 1879, one of the believers invited Baha’u’llah and all the believers in 'Akká to lunch at Mazra’ih

Haji Muhammad-Tahir-i-Malmiri[father of Adib Taherzadeh] attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh around 1878-9. When asked by the friends to describe His impressions of the Blessed Beauty, he always recited in answer a Persian poem:

And wonder at the vision I have dreamed, A secret by my muted tongue concealed; Beauty that is beyond the poet's word, By an unhearing world remains unheard.

The same believer has left to posterity an account of one of the feasts at which he had the honour to be present. These are his words recorded in his memoirs:

In the spring season Bahá'u'lláh used to stay at Mazra'ih for some time.[ Bahá'u'lláh did not live at Mazra'ih or Bahji all the time. He used to go and stay in 'Akká sometimes] Mazra'ih is situated at a distance of about two farsangs [about 12 kilometers] from the city of 'Akká. To attain His presence I used to go to Mazra'ih in the daytime and at night I stayed at the Pilgrim House.

On the first day of the Ayyam-i-Há [Intercalary days] one of the pilgrims had invited Bahá'u'lláh and all the believers in 'Akká to lunch. I too went to Mazra'ih. Early in the morning a large tent was pitched in front of the entrance to the garden on a delightful open space. That morning all the believers, numbering almost two hundred, consisting of those who were living in the Holy Land and the pilgrims, came to Mazra'ih.

February 22, 2012

The amazing story of how Hand of the Cause Roy Wilhelm became a Baha’i

Roy's mother was a Baha’i, one of the earliest believers in the United States. But Roy, though tolerant of his mother's beliefs, couldn't see himself fitting into the Baha’i pattern. He was satisfied with his life-style. He was financially secure, a respected entrepreneur. So he pursued life as he had done for years. You might say he was a creature of habit. Every work day Roy would get up at the same time, wear dark conservative suits, buy the Herald Tribune from the same newstand, and take the same train to Wall Street. When he returned home in the afternoon, he would take the same train, and stop off at the same flower shop to buy his mother flowers. Upon arriving home, he would regularly go to his room, remove his suit coat, replacing it with a dinner-jacket, sit on his bed to remove his shoes and put on slippers.

One day that pattern was altered, but what happened was purely involuntary. He was sitting on his bed, changing his shoes, when his room was suddenly transformed. The walls were whitewashed, and there was a divan. Standing next to Roy was a majestic figure with a long black beard, dressed in what appeared to be an oriental gown. The figure approached Roy, taking off His ring and placing it on Roy's finger and removing Roy's ring and placing it on His finger.

Roy was riveted to the bed, too startled to feel fear, so awed that he couldn't utter a word. When whatever had developed before him faded away, he tried to analyze what had happened, but he was baffled. This practical man was not prone to psychic experiences. Visions were things he heard his mother's friends talk about; and he secretly felt that half of them were less than mentally balanced.

Roy didn't tell anyone about the experience. Certainly not his friends, because they would most certainly consider him crazy; and had he related the incident to his mother, she would resume her campaign to draw him into the Baha’i Faith. But eventually he shared his secret, despite the fact that he had planned never to reveal it. A power greater than him unlocked his heart.

February 7, 2012

How the Báb blessed the parents of Munirih Khanum (the future wife of ‘Abdu’l-Baha) before her birth

Being forced to leave His native city of Shiraz, the Báb reached Isfahan in the early Fall of 1846. As He approached the outskirts of the city, being escorted by armed guards, He wrote a letter to the governor of the province, Manuchihr Khan, in which He requested him to signify his wish as to the place where He could dwell. The letter was expressive of such courtesy and revealed such exquisite penmanship that the governor was moved to instruct the Imam-Jum'ih of Isfahan, who was the foremost ecclesiastical authority of that province and was known as the Sultanu'l-'Ulama, to receive the Báb in his own home and to accord Him a kindly and generous reception. As the Báb approached the gate of the city, the Imam-Jum'ih went out to welcome Him in person, and conducted Him ceremoniously to his house. According to Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, the erudite Baha’i scholar, this Imam-Jum'ih of Isfahan was recognized in the land as the principal ecclesiastical dignitary of Persia at the time.

A believer by the name of Mirza Ibrahim was a friend of the Imam-Jum'ih and associated closely with him, managing all of his affairs. Two of his sons, many years later, gave their lives for the Faith and received from Baha’u’llah the inestimable bounty of being designated as the King and the Beloved of Martyrs. His younger brother, also a believer living in Isfahan, was named Mirza Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Nahri. He and his wife did not have any children at the time.