Two accounts of being in the presence of Baha’u’llah during Ridván – recalled by Tarázu’lláh Samandari when seventeen years old

On the First Day of Ridván, I and three other pilgrims were present, sitting on the floor, facing Bahá’u’lláh, Who was sitting on a chair. He started to chant the Tablet of Sultán with great majesty and grandeur, for about half an hour. He occasionally made a gesture with His hand or moved His foot and the power felt while He was proclaiming ‘O Sultán’ was overpowering. The spiritual experience, the ecstasy, is beyond description.

At the end Bahá’u’lláh said, ‘Taráz Effendi, arise and present a rose each to the friends.’ The roses were spread on a sheet of dazzling whiteness on His bed. I obeyed His command and He said, ‘Give Us Our share also.' I offered Him a rose and He bade me take one for myself. Then blessing us, He dismissed us from His presence.

Another Day of Ridván, Bahá’u’lláh received us in the Garden of Ridván—all friends, residents and pilgrims gathered together with utmost bliss in that Paradise, the envy of all the gardens of the world. The great poet, ‘Andalib, recited an ode he had composed for the occasion. Bahá'u'lláh showered bounties on all present, who were standing before Him in rows, giving them with His own hands rosewater, sweet-meats and oranges—and to Andalib, a bottle of rosewater and two oranges!"

(From a write-up by Mihdi Samandari, ‘The Baha’i World 1968-1973’)

Muhammad Big, the leader of the mounted escort that accompanied the Báb from Isfahan to Tabriz related a healing miracle performed by the Báb

In the “Taríkh-i-Jadíd,” Muhammad Big is reported to have related the following account to Hájí Mírzá Jání: 

“So we mounted and rode on till we came to a brick caravanserai distant two parsangs from the city. Thence we proceeded to Milán, where many of the inhabitants came to see His Holiness, and were filled with wonder at the majesty and dignity of that Lord of mankind. In the morning, as we were setting out from Milán, an old woman brought a scald-headed child, whose head was so covered with scabs that it was white down to the neck, and entreated His Holiness to heal him. The guards would have forbidden her but His Holiness prevented them, and called the child to Him. Then He drew a handkerchief over its head and repeated certain words; which he had no sooner done than the child was healed. And in that place about two hundred persons believed and underwent a true and sincere conversion.” 

(Pp. 222–21.; Footnotes to chapter 12 of 'The Dawn-Breakers', provided by Shoghi Effendi)

One night when Jesus was out in the fields

Jesus was a poor man. One night when He was out in the fields, the rain began to fall. He had no place to go for shelter so He lifted His eyes toward heaven, saying, “O Father! For the birds of the air Thou hast created nests, for the sheep a fold, for the animals dens, for the fish places of refuge, but for Me Thou hast provided no shelter. There is no place where I may lay My head. My bed consists of the cold ground; My lamps at night are the stars, and My food is the grass of the field. Yet who upon earth is richer than I? For the greatest blessing Thou hast not given to the rich and mighty but unto Me, for Thou hast given Me the poor. To me Thou hast granted this blessing. They are Mine. Therefore am I the richest man on earth.” 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk, 19 April 1912, Bowery Mission, New York; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

‘Abdu’l-Baha tells a story about Christ

In the Writings of Baha’u’llah there are events which were not mentioned in the Gospels. These traditions are from the life of Christ. They show the genius and sublimity of Christ. I would like to tell you another story. It is said that one day Christ arrived in a village where the government made a law that the inhabitants must not allow strangers to enter their homes. This was because in those regions robbery was increasing. His Holiness went to the house of an old woman. When she saw His beauty and majesty she was ashamed to refuse to receive Him, and did not want to reject Him. So she admitted Him with the utmost respect. Then when she looked at Him and realized by His manners the greatness of His Holiness, she stepped forward and kissed His hand.

She said to Him: 'I have only one son and nobody else. He was wise, perfect, and we were living very happily. Now, for some time he has been worried; he is mourning; he fills our home with sorrow and sadness; he is working daily, but at night he comes home worried; he does not sleep, and whenever I ask him what the matter is, he does not answer.'

His Holiness said to her: 'Send him to Me.'

Her son came in the evening. The mother said: 'O my son, this is a great personage, and, if you have any trouble, tell him about it.' Then the son went and sat down in the holy presence.

Jesus said: ‘Tell me what art thou suffering from.’

The son: ‘I am not suffering.’

Jesus: ‘Do not speak a lie. Thou hast an incurable malady. Tell it to me. I am trustworthy. I do not tell the secrets of anyone. I keep them. Have confidence. Tell it to me. I will not reveal your secret.’

The son: ‘My sickness has no remedy.’

Jesus: ‘Tell me about it; I will remedy it.’

The son: ‘Because it has no remedy it cannot be cured.’

The effects of a prayer by the Báb revealed for Hájí Mírzá Jání while He stayed at his house in Káshán

In the concluding passages of the Tablet which He [the Báb] was addressing to Hájí Mírzá Jání, He prayed in his behalf, supplicated the Almighty to illumine his heart with the light of Divine knowledge, and to unloose his tongue for the service and proclamation of His Cause. Unschooled and unlettered though he was, Hájí Mírzá Jání was able, by virtue of this prayer, to impress with his speech even the most accomplished divine of Káshán. He became endowed with such power that he was able to silence every idle pretender who dared to challenge the precepts of his Faith. Even the haughty and imperious Mullá Ja’far-i-Naráqí was unable, despite his consummate eloquence, to resist the force of his argument, and was compelled to acknowledge outwardly the merits of the Cause of his adversary, though at heart he refused to believe in its truth. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers', translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)