In 1861, while Ibn-i-Asdaq was still a young boy, he was
taken by his father to Baghdad to see Baha'u'llah. The visit lasted two years
and made a made a deep impression on him. During their stay in Baghdad
Baha'u'llah revealed a prayer for Ibn-i-Asdaq:
'I ask Thee, O my God! to give him to drink of the
milk of Thy bounty so that he may raise the standards of victory through Me, -a
victory which is Thine - and
arise to serve Thy Cause, when he groweth up, just as, when a youth, he hath
arisen at Thy Command'. [1]
On his return to Iran Ibn-i-Asdaq and his father were arrested
on the orders of the governor of Khurasan. They and two other Babis were
chained and taken to Tihran. The intention was to execute them but the government
ordered instead that they be imprisoned in the Siyah-Chal. Here they remained,
chained together, for 28 months.
Ibn-i-Asdaq fell ill whilst in prison but no doctor would treat a Babi. Eventually the gaoler asked a Jewish doctor, Hakim Masih, to tend to the boy. Hakim Masih attended him for about two months, soon afterwards becoming a believer.
When Ibn-i-Asdaq and his father were released from the
Siyiha-Chal they returned to Mashhad. As he grew up Ibn-i-Asdaq often
accompanied his father on teaching trips throughout Iran. While still a young
man he married the niece of Mulla Husayn Bushru'i, the first to believe in the
Bab, but she passed away without having any children. His second marriage was
to a Qajar princess, a great granddaughter of Fath-'Ali Shah, ‘Udhra Khanum
Diya'u'l-Hajiyyih, called by her family Aqha Jan. Already a Baha'i, she was educated
and talented and well versed in Persian poetry and literature. The couple had
four daughters.
When he was about 30 years old Ibn-i-Asdaq sent a letter to
Baha'u'llah, asking Him to grant him the station of 'utter self-sacrifice',
martyrdom. [2] In January 1880 Baha'u'llah replied to him through his
amanuensis, Mirza Aqa Jan:
Thou didst beg the Supreme Lord . . . to bestow upon thee a station whereat in the path of His
love thou wouldst give up everything: thy life, thy spirit, thy reputation,
thine existence, all in all. All of these behests were submitted in the
most sanctified, most exalted Presence of the Abha Beauty. Thus did the Tongue
of the Merciful speak in the Kingdom of Utterance: ‘God willing, he shall be
seen in utmost purity and saintliness, as befitteth the Day of God, and attain
the station of the most great martyrdom. Today, the greatest of all deeds is
service to the Cause. Souls that are well assured should with utmost discretion
teach the Faith, so that the sweet fragrances of the Divine Garment will waft
from all directions. This martyrdom
is not confined to the destruction of life and the shedding of blood. A person enjoying the bounty of life
may yet be recorded a martyr in the Book of the Sovereign Lord. Well is it with
thee that thou hast wished to offer whatsoever is thine, and all that is
of thee and with thee in My path.’ [3]
Two years later, in 1882, Ibn-i-Asdaq again wrote to
Baha'u'llah asking for martyrdom. This time Baha'u'llah, addressing him as
Shahid Ibn-i-Shahid (martyr, son of the martyr) replied:
We, verily, have ordained for him this exalted station, this
high designation. Well it is with him that he attained this station prior to its
appearance, and We accepted from him that which he intended in the path of God,
the One, the Single, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.' [4]
On receiving this reply Ibn-i-Asdaq devoted his entire life
to teaching the Bahai'i Faith and encouraging the Bahai'is. He travelled
extensively, visiting Baha’i communities the length and breadth of the country,
his wife's royal connections enabling him to teach the Baha'i Faith among the
members of the Iranian nobility as well as royalty. Ibn-i-Asdaq many times referred
to 'hunting the lion rather than the fox’ [5] and his wife moved from Mashhad
to Tihran, where a house was provided for them in one the best quarters of the
city.
Baha'u'llah encouraged Ibn-i-Adaq in his travels for the
promotion of the Word and revealed in his honour a Tablet containing this
well-known verse: “The movement itself from place to place, when undertaken for
the sake of God, hath always exerted, and can now exert, its influence in the
world.” [6]
It was in a Tablet revealed by Baha'u'llah in April 1887
through His amanuensis in honour of Ibn-i-Asdaq that the concept of 'Hand of
the Cause' was first mentioned. [7] He calls upon His amanuensis, Mira Aqa Jan,
to beseech “the All-Abiding Lord to confirm the chosen ones, that is those souls
who are Hands of the Cause, who are adorned with the robe of teaching, and have
arisen to serve the Cause, to be enabled to exalt the Word of God”. [8]
In another Tablet written to Ibn-i-Asdaq, Baha'u'llah,
having been informed by him that the Baha'is of Tihran had arranged to observe
the Mahriqu'l-Aadhar, wrote the prayer:
Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the
city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the
valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention
of God hath been made, and His praise glorified. [9]
After the passing of Baha'u'llah in 1892 'Abdu'l-Baha
encouraged Ibn-i-Asdaq to continue teaching prominent people. In addition to
teaching them in Tihran, he extended the range of his travels, visiting India,
Burma and Russian Turkistan, always seeking out the notables of every city. In
Marv he began preliminary work on the construction of a Mashriqu’l-Adhkar and
founded a hospice and junior school. At home he initiated the establishment of
teacher-training classes for Baha'i women.
The early years of the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Baha were plagued
by the machinations of the Covenant-breakers. 'Abdu'l-Baha called upon the
Hands of the Cause to counter their activities. Ibn-i-Asdaq and the other Hands
travelled throughout Iran explaining to the Baha'is the nature and power of the
Covenant and confirming them in it. In 1899 'Abdu'l-Baha also called upon the
Hands to establish an elected Spiritual Assembly in Tihran to administer the
Faith. From this body evolved the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran.
In 1919 'Abdu'l-Baha asked Ibn-i-Asdaq and Ahmad Yazdani
personally to deliver a Tablet to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace
at the Hague. In the same year Ibn-i-Asdaq and other Hands of the Cause wrote a
refutation of some of the statements made by Professor E. G. Browne about the
Baha'i Faith. Ibn-i-Asdaq also delivered to the Shah the Risaliy-i-Siyasiyyih
(Treatise on Politics) written by 'Abdu'l-Bahii during the lifetime of
Baha'u'llah.
Ibn-i-Asdaq lived well into the 20th century, thus serving
not only Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha but Shoghi Effendi as well. He outlived
his fellow Hands, passing away in Tihran in 1928. Shoghi Effendi named him an
Apostle of Baha'u'llah.
[1] Provisional
translation by Hand of the Cause Balyuzi, approved at the Baha’i World Center
and included in ‘Eminent Baha'is In the time of Baha’u’llah’, p. 171.
[2]
Taherzadeh, Revelation of Baha'u'llah, vol. 4, p. 302.
[3] Provisional
translation by Hand of the Cause Balyuzi, approved at the Baha’i World Center
and included in ‘Eminent Baha'is In the time of Baha’u’llah’, p. 172.
[4] Provisional
translation by Hand of the Cause Balyuzi, approved at the Baha’i World Center
and included in ‘Eminent Baha'is In the time of Baha’u’llah’, p. 173
[5] Provisional
translation by Hand of the Cause Balyuzi, approved at the Baha’i World Center
and included in ‘Eminent Baha'is In the time of Baha’u’llah’, p. 174
[6]
Baha'u'llah, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Advent, p. of Divine Justice, p. 84.
[7] Baha'u'llah
had occasionally used the term 'Hands' in His earlier Tablets (e.g. Suriy-i-Haykal)
but no particular individual had been so designated.
[8] Provisional translation by Hand of the Cause Balyuzi, approved
at the Baha’i World Center and included in ‘Eminent Baha'is In the time of Baha’u’llah’,
p. 173
[9] Baha'u'llah, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 83-84.
(Adapted from ‘Lights of Fortitude’, by Barron Harper)
