Bahá'u'lláh intended to give His niece, Shahr-Banu Khanum,
in marriage to His eldest Son, ‘Abdu’l-Baha. She was the daughter of His
faithful older half-brother, Mirza Muhammad-Hasan. That was also the great hope
of Mirza Muhammad-Hasan who hurried to Baghdad and pleaded with Bahá'u'lláh to
bring about this union. But Mirza Muhammad-Hasan passed away before the Most
Great Branch came of age.
When Bahá'u'lláh and His family were exiled to Iraq, Shahr-Banu
Khanum remained in the district of Nur in Mazindaran, until in 1285 A.H. (1868)
when Bahá'u'lláh instructed His uncle, Mulla Zaynu'l-'Abidin, to escort her to
Tihran and from there to arrange her journey to Adrianople.
No sooner had this news reached Shah Sultan Khanum, a
half-sister of Bahá'u'lláh and a follower of Mirza Yahya, than she arose in
enmity and with the assistance of Mirza Rida-Quli, a half-brother of
Baha’u’llah, and prevented the marriage from taking place. Mirza Rida-Quli, who
had stood as father to Shahr-Banu Khanum after the death of her father, Mirza
Muhammad-Hasan, was afraid that Násiri'd-Dín Sháh and his ministers would frown
on this marriage and take him to task.
Shah Sultan Khanum took Shahr-Banu Khanum to her home in
Tihran and practically forced her to marry instead Mirza Ali-Khan-i-Nuri, the
son of the Prime Minister. Bahá'u'lláh has referred to this in Epistle to the
Son of the Wolf. This marriage, so rudely imposed upon her, plunged Shahr-Banu Khanum
into a state of perpetual grief and misery. Her youngest brother, Mirza
Nizamu'l-Mulk, a faithful and devoted follower of Bahá'u'lláh, has recorded in
his memoirs that after her marriage Shahr-Banu Khanum prayed fervently to God
for her deliverance from her tragic plight. It seems that her prayers were
answered, as shortly afterwards she became afflicted with tuberculosis and died.
(Adapted from ‘Baha’u’llah The King of Glory’, by Hassan Balyuzi, and ‘The
Revelation of Baha’u’llah, vol. 2’, by Adib Taherzadeh)
