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June 13, 2018

Valiyu’llah Varqa (1884-1955) – “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”

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.