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‘Alí Najaf-Ábádí |
Also among the emigrants
and near neighbors was
Áqá ‘Alí Najaf-Ábádí. When this spiritual young man first
listened to the call of God he set his lips to the holy cup
and beheld the glory of the Speaker on the Mount. And
when, by grace of the light, he had attained positive knowledge,
he journeyed to the Most Great Prison, where he
witnessed the substance of knowledge itself, and arrived at
the high station of indubitable truth.
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For a long time he remained in and about the sacred
city; he became the proverbial Habíbu’lláh the Merchant,
and spent his days relying upon God, in supplication and
prayer. He was a man meek, quiet, uncomplaining, steadfast;
in all things pleasing, worthy of praise. He won the
approval of all the friends and was accepted and welcome
at the Holy Threshold. During his latter days, when he
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felt that a happy end was in store for him, he again presented
himself at the holy city of the Most Great Prison.
Upon arrival he fell ill, weakened, passed his hours in supplicating
God. The breath of life ceased within him, the
gates of flight to the supreme Kingdom were flung wide,
he turned his eyes away from this world of dust and went
onward to the Holy Place.
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‘Alí Najaf-Ábádí was tender and sensitive of heart, at
all times mindful of God and remembering Him, and toward
the close of his life detached, without stain, free
from the contagion of this world. Sweetly, he gave up his
corner of the earth, and pitched his tent in the land beyond.
May God send upon him the pure savors of forgiveness,
brighten his eyes with beholding the Divine Beauty
in the Kingdom of Splendors, and refresh his spirit with
the musk-scented winds that blow from the Abhá Realm.
Unto him be salutation and praise. His sweet and holy
dust lies in ‘Akká.
Mashhadí Ḥusayn and Mashhadí
Muḥammad-i-Ádhirbayjání
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Mashhadí Ḥusayn and
Mashhadí Muḥammad
were both from the province of Ádhirbayján. They were
pure souls who took the great step in their own country:
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they freed themselves from friend and stranger alike, escaped
from the superstitions that had blinded them before,
strengthened their resolve, and bowed themselves down
before the grace of God, the Lord of Life. They were
blessed souls, loyal, unsullied in faith; evanescent, submissive,
poor, content with the will of God, in love with His
guiding Light, rejoicing over the great message. They left
their province and traveled to Adrianople. Here beside the
holy city they lived for quite a time in the village of Qumrúq-Kilísá.
By day, they supplicated God and communed
with Him; by night, they wept, bemoaning the plight of
Him Whom the world hath wronged.
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When the exile to ‘Akká was under way, they were not
present in the city and thus were not arrested. Heavy of
heart, they continued on in that area, shedding their tears.
Once they had obtained a definite report from ‘Akká, they
left Rumelia and came here: two excellent souls, loyal
bondsmen of the Blessed Beauty. It is impossible to tell
how translucent they were of heart, how firm in faith.
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They lived outside ‘Akká in Bágh-i-Firdaws, worked as
farmers, and spent their days returning thanks to God because
once again they had won their way to the neighborhood
of grace and love. But they were natives of Ádhirbayján,
accustomed to the cold, and they could not endure
the local heat. Furthermore, this was during our early days
in ‘Akká, when the air was noxious, and the water unwholesome
in the extreme. They both fell ill of a chronic,
high fever. They bore it cheerfully, with amazing patience.
During their days of illness, despite the assault of the fever,
the violence of their ailment, the raging thirst, the restlessness,
they remained inwardly at peace, rejoicing at the Divine
glad tidings. And at a time when they were offering
thanks with all their heart, they hurried away from this
world and entered the other; they escaped from this cage
and were released into the garden of immortality. Upon
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them be the mercy of God, and may He be well pleased
with them. Unto them be salutations and praise. May God
bring them into the Realm that abides forever, to delight
in reunion with Him, to bask in the Kingdom of Splendors.
Their two luminous tombs are in ‘Akká.
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