This chief of free souls, of wanderers for the love of God, was only an
infant when, in Mazgan, he was suckled at the breast of grace. He was a
child of the eminent scholar, _Sh_ay_kh_-i-Mazgani; his noble father was
one of the leading citizens of Qamsar, near Ka_sh_an, and for piety,
holiness, and the fear of God he had no peer. This father embodied all the
qualities that are worthy of praise; moreover his ways were pleasing, his
disposition good, he was an excellent companion, and for all these things
he was well known. When he threw off restraint and openly declared himself
a believer, the faithless, whether friend or stranger, turned their backs
on him and began to plot his death. But he continued to further the Cause,
to alert the people's hearts, and to welcome the newcomers as generously
as ever. Thus in Ka_sh_an the fame of his strong faith reached as high as
the Milky Way. Then the pitiless aggressors rose up, plundered his
possessions and killed him.
'Ali-Akbar, the son of him who had laid down his life in the pathway of
God, could live in that place no longer. Had he remained, he too, like his
father, would have been put to the sword. He passed some time in 'Iraq,
and received the honor of being in the presence of Baha'u'llah. Then he
went back to Persia, but again he longed to look upon Baha'u'llah, and
with his wife he set out over the deserts and mountains, sometimes riding,
sometimes on foot, measuring off the miles, passing from one shore to the
other, reaching the Holy Place at last and in the shade of the Divine
Lote-Tree finding safety and peace.
When the beauty of the Desired One had vanished from this world,
'Ali-Akbar remained loyal to the Covenant and prospered under the grace of
God. By disposition and because of the intense love in his heart, he
yearned to write poetry, to fashion odes and _gh_azals, but he lacked both
meter and rhyme:
I planned a poem, but my Beloved told me,
"Plan only this, that thine eyes should behold Me."
With rapturous longing, his heart desired the realms of his compassionate
Lord; consumed by burning love, he left this world at last, and pitched
his tent in the world above. May God send down upon his grave, from the
Kingdom of His forgiveness, a heavy rain(64) of blessings, bestow a great
victory upon him, and grant him mercies, pressed down and running over, in
the retreats of Heaven.