Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi, the Afnan

The Afnan, Jinab-i-Muhammad-Taqi

Was summoned by 'Abdu'l-Baha at the ripe age of seventy.

He responded with great joyousness outpouring alacrity.

The building of the first Temple he'd gladly oversee.

This amazing Baha'i Edifice would promote world unity.

Ishqabad, Russia would receive this rare bounty.

This "Afnan of all delights" showed true generosity.

He sacrificed his land, his wealth, and this world's treasury.

~

Chorus: Baha'u'llah called him "Representative of the True One".

He enlisted the believers to fulfill their duty.

They were more than willing to help and donated freely.

This Dawning Place of God embraced all humanity.

~

Bridge: This was the city of divine love.

This was the city that would praise God.

This was the city of the beloved.

This was the city called Ishqabad.

The site of the dawning light of God and first Baha'i Temple of true love.

~

The Afnan, Jinab-i-Muhammad-Taqi

Was summoned by 'Abdu'l-Baha at the ripe age of seventy.

He responded with great joyousness outpouring alacrity.

The building of the first Temple he'd gladly oversee.

This amazing Baha'i Edifice would promote world unity.

Ishqabad, Russia would receive this rare bounty.

This "Afnan of all delights" showed true generosity.

He sacrificed his land, his wealth, and this world's treasury.

~

Chorus 2: This great Afnan raised a Temple for the Blessed Beauty.

He was loyal and staunch in serving the Covenant,

With an excellent character and noble lineage.

He was an eloquent teacher, high-minded and industrious.

~

Bridge 2: He is Baha'u'llah's great Apostle.

He is remembered for his service.

He was a superb master builder.

His face was a shining bright sweet solace.

The site of the dawning light of God and first Baha'i Temple of true love.

~

References:

Story of Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi, the Afnan

Among those souls that are righteous, that are luminous entities and Divine reflections, was Jinab-i-Muhammad-Taqi, the Afnan.[1] His title was Vakilu'd-Dawlih. This eminent Bough was an offshoot of the Holy Tree; in him an excellent character was allied to a noble lineage. His kinship was a true kinship. He was among those souls who, after one reading of the Book of Íqán, became believers, bewitched by the sweet savors of God, rejoicing at the recital of His verses. His agitation was such that he cried out, "Lord, Lord, here am I!" Joyously, he left Persia and hurried away to Iraq. Because he was filled with longing love, he sped over the mountains and across the desert wastes, not pausing to rest until he came to Baghdad.

[1 The Afnan are the Báb's kindred.]

He entered the presence of Bahá'u'lláh, and achieved acceptance in His sight. What holy ecstasy he had, what fervor, what detachment from the world! It was beyond description. His blessed face was so comely, so luminous that the friends in Iraq gave him a name: they called him "the Afnan of all delights." He was truly a blessed soul, a man worthy to be revered. He never failed in his duty, from the beginning of life till his last breath. As his days  127  began, he became enamored of the sweet savors of God, and as they closed, he rendered a supreme service to the Cause of God. His life was righteous, his speech agreeable, his deeds worthy. Never did he fail in servitude, in devotion, and he would set about a major undertaking with alacrity and joy. His life, his behavior, what he did, what he left undone, his dealings with others -- were all a way of teaching the Faith, and served as an example, an admonishment to the rest.

After he had achieved the honor, in Baghdad, of meeting Bahá'u'lláh, he returned to Persia, where he proceeded to teach the Faith with an eloquent tongue. And this is how to teach: with an eloquent tongue, a ready pen, a goodly character, pleasing words, and righteous ways and deeds. Even enemies bore witness to his high-mindedness and his spiritual qualities, and they would way: "There is none to compare with this man for his words and acts, his righteousness, trustworthiness, and strong faith; in all things he is unique; what a pity that he is a Bahá'í!" That is: "What a pity that he is not as we are, perverse, uncaring, committing sins, engrossed in sensuality, the creatures of our passions!" Gracious God! They saw with their own eyes that the moment he learned of the Faith he was transformed, he was severed from the world, he began to emit rays from the Sun of Truth; and still, they failed to profit by the example he set.

During his days in Yazd he was, outwardly, engaged in commercial pursuits, but actually teaching the Faith. His only aim was to exalt the Word of God, his only wish, to spread the Divine sweet savors, his only thought, to come nearer and ever nearer to the mansions of the Lord. There was no remembrance on his lips but the verses of God. He was an embodiment of the good pleasure of Bahá'u'lláh; a dawning-point of the grace of the Greatest Name. Many and many a time, Bahá'u'lláh expressed to those about  128  Him, His extreme satisfaction with the Afnan; and consequently, everyone was certain that he would in future initiate some highly important task.

After the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, the Afnan, loyal and staunch in the Covenant, rendered even more services than he had before; this in spite of many obstacles, and an overwhelming load of work, and an infinite variety of matters all claiming his attention. He gave up his comfort, his business, his properties, estates, lands, hastened away to Ishqabad and set about building the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar; this was a service of very great magnitude, for he thus became the first individual to erect a Bahá'í House of Worship, the first builder of a House to unify man. With the believers in Ishqabad assisting him, he succeeded in carrying off the palm. For a long period in Ishqabad, he had no rest. Day and night, he urged the believers on. Then they too exerted their efforts, and made sacrifices above and beyond their power; and God's edifice arose, and word of it spread throughout East and West. The Afnan expended everything he possessed to rear this building, except for a trifling sum. This is the way to make a sacrifice. This is what it means to be faithful.

Afterward he journeyed to the Holy Land, and there beside that place where the chosen angels circle, in the shelter of the Shrine of the Báb, he passed his days, holy and pure, supplicating and entreating the Lord. God's praise was always on his lips, and he chanted prayers with both his tongue and heart. He was wonderfully spiritual, strangely ashine. He is one of those souls who, before ever the drumbeat of "Am I not your Lord?" was sounded, drummed back: "Yea, verily Thou art!"[1] It was in the Iraq period, during the years between the seventies and the eighties of the Hijra, that he first caught fire and loved  129  the Light of the World, beheld the glory dawning in Bahá'u'lláh and witnessed the fulfillment of the words, "I am He that liveth in the Abha Realm of Glory!"

[1 Qur'án 7:171.]

The Afnan was an uncommonly happy man. Whenever I was saddened, I would meet with him, and on the instant, joy would return again. Praise be to God, at the last, close by the Shrine of the Báb, he hastened away in light to the Abha Realm; but the loss of him deeply grieved 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

His bright grave is in Haifa, beside the Haziratu'l-Quds, near Elijah's Cave. A tomb must be erected there, and built solidly and well. May God shed upon his resting-place rays from the Paradise of Splendors, and lave that holy dust with the rains that beat down from the retreats of the Exalted Companion. Upon him be the glory of the All-Glorious.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 125)

~

Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi (Vakilu'd-Dawlih)

Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi was born in Shiraz in AH 1246 (AD 22 June

1830 -- 11 June 1831), the second son of Haji Siyyid Muhammad, the

maternal uncle of the Báb. In his youth he met the Báb both in

Shiraz and Bushihr. Then in about 1854 he settled in Yazd where he

soon became one of the prominent merchants of the town. Here he was

visited by Mulla Muhammad-i-Qa'ini who spoke to him about the

religion of the Báb. His belief in the Báb was confirmed by a

journey in 1857 to Baghdad where he met Bahá'u'lláh. Because of his

prominence in the town of Yazd, he was asked by the Russian

Government to be their Consular Agent in the town, and hence he

became known as Vakilu'd-Dawlih (Representative of the Government), but Bahá'u'lláh named him Vakilu'l-Haqq (Representative of the True One, i.e. God). In those days, Iranian merchants were anxious to be consular agents of Foreign Powers, as this was one way of

avoiding the arbitrary exactions of provincial governors and other government officials.

While he was still a resident of Yazd, Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi

purchased property in the town of 'Ishqabad in Russian Transcaspia. This town became a refuge for Bahá'ís escaping from persecution in Iran, and soon there was a large Bahá'í community there. Bahá'u'lláh had indicated that a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar should be built in the city and later, in the time of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Bahá'í community asked for permission to begin the building. 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi asking him to go to 'Ishqabad to supervise the work. And so in 1900 Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi concluded all of his business affairs in Yazd and left for 'Ishqabad. There, he not only supervised the erection of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar but paid for most of the building materials from his own funds. Then in 1906, with the structure of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar almost complete, Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi travelled to Haifa where he was warmly received by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He remained in Haifa until his passing in 1909, and

is buried in the Bahá'í cemetery at the foot of Mount Carmel.

~

By the year 1904, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had planned and put into execution two undertakings of great significance: the restoration of the house of the Báb in Shiraz, and the construction of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Bahá'í world in the city of 'Ishqabad. (Askabad)....

During the eighties of the last century, a new town, which came to be called 'Ishqabad, sprang up and flourished in the then Russian Turkistan. 'Ishqabad[1] is close to the Iranian province of Khurasan, only a short distance from the border. Persian Bahá'ís, harassed in their native land, were attracted to 'Ishqabad, as were others of their countrymen. Among the latter were men who intensely disliked the Bahá'ís, some motivated by prejudice, some by envy. There was also no lack of hirelings and adventurers. Their plottings led, in September 1889, to the murder of Haji Muhammad-Riday-i-Isfahani. In broad daylight and in the middle of the bazar he was attacked and stabbed to death by two hired assassins. The police arrested those men, but the lives of other Bahá'ís were in jeopardy. Accusation had been levelled against the martyred Haji Muhammad Rida that he had spoken disparagingly of the Imams. His lamentable language, it was claimed, had aroused the ire of men who were deeply religious. Mirza Abu'l-Fadl happened to be in 'Ishqabad. He sought a meeting with the Russian Governor and presented the case for the Bahá'ís: they believed in and honoured all the Manifestations of God; their Faith enjoined upon them to live in harmony with the followers of all religions; they too revered the Imams[2] whom the Shí'ahs revered.

[1 'Ishqabad or Askabad is situated in the present-day Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan.]

[2 Apostolic successors to Muhammad.]

The Czar, Alexander III, sent a military commission from St Petersburg to conduct the trial. The two assailants were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Six others, proved to have been involved in the murder plot, were ordered to be transported to Siberia. Strenuous efforts were made to have the verdict altered, but to no avail. However right at the foot of the scaffold it was announced that the Bahá'ís had magnanimously interceded for the murderers, who were banished to Siberia. Bahá'ís gained greatly in prestige. Furthermore, the ground was now prepared for the initiation of enterprises, such as the establishment of schools, libraries and the construction of a House of Worship -- the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.

The task of raising that edifice in 'Ishqabad was entrusted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi, the Vakil-u'd-Dawlih, son of Haji Siyyid Muhammad, the uncle of the Báb, for whom Bahá'u'lláh had revealed the Kitáb-i-Íqán (The Book of Certitude), in answer to his questions. The general design of that House of Worship was delineated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself; and a Russian architect, Volkov, planned and executed the details of construction.

Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi resided in Yazd. On his way to 'Ishqabad, where he and his relatives already owned extensive properties, he stopped at Mashhad, the holy city that holds the Shrine of Imam Rida, the eighth Imam. Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi was well known and his arrival at Mashhad caused a stir. A plot was hatched to deny him entry to the Shrine. Nasiri'd-Dawlih, a native of Shiraz, custodian of the Shrine and its vast endowments and institutions, was a personal friend of Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi. Together they visited the Shrine and performed the required ceremonies. This event also redounded to the prestige of the Cause.

The corner-stone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was laid in December 1902, in the presence of leading officials. Thereafter the work went ahead without interruption. By the year 1907 the dome of the Temple was in place, and Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi had used the larger part of his own fortune to rear that noble building. Now 'Abdu'l-Bahá invited him to visit 'Akká. He reached the Holy Land at the close of the year. An eyewitness, Dr Habib Mu'ayyad,[1] has given us a picture of the meeting between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi. The small boat bringing the latter ashore had been overwhelmed by high waves, and he had been thrown into the sea. At his advanced age the experience was alarming and had left him very weak. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, much concerned about his health and comfort, told the pilgrims that He and they would all go together and call on the Afnan. All that he could return to 'Abdu'l-Bahá's tender enquiries was to recite the first line of a famous couplet, unable to complete it: 'Thy presence I craved, to open to Thee my heart.'

[1 In his Khatirat-i-Habib (Memoirs of Habib), 1961.]

Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi lived the rest of his life in the Holy Land. He died in Haifa in the year 1911. His grave at the foot of Mount Carmel, lies next to the grave of John Ebenezer Esslemont,[1] the Scottish disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and the distinguished author of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. There too, as in Cairo, where the graves of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and Lua Getsinger adjoin each other, the East and the West meet.

[1 Died November 1925.]

It was to this cousin of the Báb that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had addressed these prophetic words, when He Himself stood in grave peril:

How great, how very great is the Cause I How very fierce

the onslaught of all the peoples and kindreds of the earth.

Ere long shall the clamour of the multitude throughout

Africa, throughout America, the cry of the European and

of the Turk, the groaning of India and China, be heard

from far and near. One and all, they shall arise with all

their power to resist His Cause. Then shall the knights of

the Lord, assisted by His grace from on high, strengthened

by faith, aided by the power of understanding, and reinforced

by the legions of the Covenant, arise and make

manifest the truth of the verse: 'Behold the confusion that

hath befallen the tribes of the defeated!'(72)

(H.M. Balyuzi, Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant, p. 106)

~

Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqiy-i-Afnan

It is little wonder that soon after its revelation the Kitáb-i-Íqán became the source of divine knowledge for all the believers and the cause of converting countless souls to the Faith. Several of the Báb's kinsmen acknowledged the truth of the Message of the Báb by studying this book.

One such was Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi,[1] entitled the Vakilu'd-Dawlih, one of the most eminent believers among the Afnan. As soon as he read the Kitáb-i-Íqán, which was revealed in honour of his father, he recognized the truth of the Cause and hastened to Baghdad to attain the presence of Bahá'u'lláh. He was accompanied on this journey by his elder brother Haji Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, who also embraced the Faith and became a most outstanding believer.

[1 A cousin of the Báb, the son of Haji Mirza Siyyid Muhammad for whom Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Íqán.]

This meeting with Bahá'u'lláh exerted a tremendous influence upon Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi. His whole being was magnetized by love for Bahá'u'lláh and he became filled with a new spirit which enabled him to realize the station of Bahá'u'lláh before His Declaration and to arise in His service. His devotion and enthusiasm in the Cause of God were exemplary and, as he walked in the streets of Baghdad, he radiated such heavenly joy that the believers in that city used to refer to him as the 'delightful Afnan'. It seemed as if the flame of divine love kindled by the hand of Bahá'u'lláh had completely burned away all his attachments to this world.  199 

In this state he returned to Yazd, where he continued his work as a merchant and was highly esteemed by its citizens.

Although from the beginning of this Dispensation the people of Yazd have been fanatical enemies of the new-born Faith and have ruthlessly persecuted its followers in that city, yet the family of the Afnan were not involved in this. Government officials and other dignitaries treated them with consideration and respect. In particular, they had a high regard for Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi whose deeds and personality endeared him to the authorities.

Towards the close of Bahá'u'lláh's ministry, the nucleus of a Bahá'í community began to grow rapidly in Ishqabad, in the province of Turkistan. Several Bahá'í families from Persia migrated to this city where they enjoyed a measure of freedom in their Bahá'í activities.

At one stage, Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi arranged for the purchase of some properties in Ishqabad and, upon informing Bahá'u'lláh of this, he was instructed to use a certain portion of these properties for the building of a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. After the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi, as directed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, travelled to Ishqabad and undertook the task of supervising the construction of this House of Worship. He dedicated all his efforts towards, and expended all his financial resources in, the execution of this vast undertaking. With the help of other Bahá'ís, he erected this noble edifice, the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in the Bahá'í world.[1]

[1 As a result of an earthquake in the area this building became dangerous and had to be demolished in 1963.]

When the building of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was completed and the interior ornamentation was well on the way, 'Abdu'l-Bahá summoned Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi to the Holy Land. He left Ishqabad in 1325 A.H. (A.D. 1907), committing all his affairs and those of the House of Worship to his eldest son, Haji Mirza Mahmud, and spent his last days in the presence of the Master.

He passed away in the Holy Land and is buried on the slopes  200  of Mount Carmel, in the shadow of the Shrine of the Báb and in the vicinity of the Cave of Elijah.

No account of Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi would be complete without referring to his early days when, as a youth of fifteen, he would sit in the presence of the Báb listening to His melodious voice as He revealed prayers and the verses of God. In his brief memoirs, which he wrote in Ishqabad, Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi speaks of those days:

I remember that every Sunday I used to go to the house of my

illustrious aunt, the mother of the Báb, where I had the great

privilege of attaining His presence... I remember especially

on one occasion He permitted me to sit in His presence, and

graciously cut a slice of melon which He gave to me. He was

busy writing some prayers and verses. He then handed me

one of the prayers He had revealed during the week and

asked me to chant it in His presence... The Báb left Shiraz

for Mecca via Bushihr that same week or the week after...

Two or three months later I went to Bushihr to join my

father... On His return from Mecca the Báb came to our

house in Bushihr where I spent several days in His presence.

During those days every moment of His time was spent in

revealing the verses of God and writing prayers... One

evening with tearful eyes I begged Him in all sincerity to

pray for me so that I might spend my days in the service of

God and in the end attain to His good pleasure. He assured

me that it would be so.(1)

Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi was an embodiment of detachment, humility and servitude. His only aim in life was to serve the Cause he loved so much. He often communed with Bahá'u'lláh in spirit and through prayer. Of him it is reported that every day at home he would put on his best clothes, sit for a few hours in a room by himself and with the utmost devotion and sincerity turn his heart and soul to Bahá'u'lláh, regarding himself as being in the very presence of the Blessed Beauty.

'Abdu'l-Bahá has said that whenever He was overtaken by grief, His meeting with Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi would cause His sadness to disappear and His heart to be filled with joy.

During His darkest hours of incarceration in 'Akká, when the Covenant-breakers were working hand-in-hand with the Turkish authorities to threaten His life, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a Tablet to Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi and instructed him to arrange for the election of the Universal House of Justice,[1] should the threats against Him be carried out.

[1 Bahá'u'lláh ordained the Universal House of Justice as the supreme body of the Faith. It was first elected in 1963 and has its seat in Haifa.]

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 1, p. 200)