Haji Muhammad-Rida came from _Sh_iraz. He was a man spiritually minded,
lowly, contrite, the embodiment of serenity and faith. When the call of
God was lifted up, that needy soul hurried into the shelter of heavenly
grace. As soon as he heard the summons, "Am I not your Lord?" he cried
out: "Yea, verily!"(68) and became as a lamp to the people's feet.
For a long time he served the Afnan, Haji Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, and was his
loyal and close companion, trusted in all things. Later, following a
journey to distant countries, he went to the Holy Land, and there in utter
submission and lowliness bowed his head before the Sacred Threshold and
was honored with entering the presence of Baha'u'llah, where he drank in
endless bounties from cupped hands. For quite a time he remained there,
attending upon Baha'u'llah almost every day, encompassed by holy favor and
grace. He was outstanding as to character, and lived after the
commandments of God: tranquil and long-suffering, in his surrender to
God's will he was selflessness itself. He had no personal aims whatever,
no feeling of attachment to this fleeting world. His one desire was to
please his Lord, his one hope, to walk the holy path.
He went on, then, to Beirut, serving the honored Afnan in that city. He
spent a long time in this wise, returning again and again to enter the
presence of Baha'u'llah and gaze upon that Most Great Beauty. Later, in
Sidon, he fell ill. Unable to make the journey to Akka, in perfect
acquiescence and contentment he ascended to the Abha Kingdom, and was
plunged in the ocean of lights. By the Supreme Pen, endless bounty was
bestowed upon his memory. He was indeed one of the loyal, the steadfast, a
solid pillar of servitude to Baha'u'llah. Many and many a time, from the
lips of the Blessed Beauty, we heard his praise.
Unto him be greetings and praise, and the glory of the All-Glorious. Upon
him be compassion and most great mercy from the Lord of the High Heavens.
His shining grave is in Sidon, near the place called the Station of John
the Holy.