Profoundly grieved loss outstanding Hand Cause God,
exemplary trustee Huquq, distinguished representative most venerable community
Baha'i world, worthy son brother twin immortal martyrs Faith, dearly beloved
disciple Center Covenant. Shining record services extending over half century
enriched annals heroic formative ages Baha'i Dispensation. His reward Abha
Kingdom inestimable. Advise erect my behalf befitting monument his grave. His
mantle as trustee funds Huquq now falls on 'Ali Muhammad, his son. Instruct
Rowhani Tihran arrange befitting memorial gatherings capital provinces honor
memory mighty pillar cradle Faith Baha'u'llah. Newly-appointed trustee Huquq
now elevated rank Hand Cause.
Shoghi
November 15, 1955.
Autobiography
"Some time ago the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
Tihran asked me to write my autobiography for them. In reply, I explained that
during my youth I had had the privilege and honor to be in the blessed presence
of His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Baha and to be one of His attendants during His visit
to America. I had always seen and witnessed His utter self-abnegation in words
and deeds. When I stop to ponder the resplendent services rendered by the early
believers of the Faith and their heroic sacrifices, I do not see how I can give
any account about myself.
"I was born in Tabriz, 1263 Persian solar calendar
(1884). My father, 'Ali Muhammad Varqa, a martyr of the Cause, was the third
son of Haji Mulla Mihdi Yazdi, known as Atri, and my mother, Fatimih, was the
daughter of Haji Mirza 'Abdu'llah Khan Nuri of Mazindaran. These two
grandparents were both staunch believers of the Cause, which they most
earnestly served. I had three brothers. (My mother gave birth to four
children.) The eldest was named Mirza 'Aziz'ullah Khan, the second was named
Ruhu'llah, who was martyred, the third was myself, and the fourth was called
Badi'ullah, who died in childhood. As a family we all lived in Tabriz in the
household of our maternal grandmother in perfect love and harmony and in
complete ease and honor."
 |
| Valiyu’llah's father and brother |
“This happiness was, however, upset and shattered in
consequence of some false reports submitted by certain enemies of the Cause to
the Prince Regent, Muzaffari'd-Din Shah, to the effect that Mirza 'Abdu'llah
Khan, my grandfather, who was then a member of his court, was acting against
the Government and had put his house at the disposal of Baha'is gathering there
to conduct anti-government activities. My grandfather was obliged, therefore,
to escape to Tihran, and in his absence, my grandmother, who was a fanatical
Muslim, found the opportunity to exert her enmity by opposing my father so
strongly and relentlessly as to compel him to leave his home and native town,
accompanied by his two eldest sons. My junior brother, Badi'ullah, and myself,
being too small, were left behind with our mother in the same house where my
grandmother lived. This did not, however, appease my grandmother. She had such
a deep hatred of the Cause that she began to make evil suggestions to me
against my father and to sow the seeds of hatred and enmity in my soul against
him. She was able to impress my tender soul to such an extent that in my
Islamic prayers, which I was obliged to say, I wept in bitter grief for my
father's deviation which had earned him so much hatred from the public.
