2,000 Greater & Lesser Mysteries/2,000 Greater and Lesser Mysteries.iso/bahi/mys00172.txt

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                         A FLAME OF FIRE
                THE STORY OF THE TABLET OF AHMAD

                          By A.Q. Faizi

     There are two Tablets each bearing the name of Ahmad: one in
Persian and the other is Arabic.  The latter is the one used
throughout the Baha'i world, which the beloved Guardian
characterized as being imbued with a special potency.

     The Persian Tablet is quite a long one and is written to Ahmad
of Kashan.  Hazi Mirza Jani, who was the first one to embrace the
Bab's Faith in Kashan, in whose house the Bab sojourned some days,
and who was finally martyred in Tihran, had three brothers.  One
was never moved by his brother's Faith, no matter how much the
latter endeavored to teach him.  He remained a Muslim and died as
such.  The second brother was called Ismail (sacrificed) and also
Anis (companion).  The third brother who went to Baghdad was called
Ahmad.  He remained with the Ancient Beauty and had the honor to
be amongst those who were chosen by Him as one of the companions
in His exile to Istanbul.  But unfortunately, in the storm of tests
and trials this Ahmad departed from the right path and sided with
Azal.  He then caused such suffering for the Blessed Beauty, His
family and friends.  In order to warn this man against such evil
deeds and the detrimental consequences for the nascent Faith,
Baha'u'llah sent him this long Persian Tablet full of exhortations,
elucidations of the divine power, and advice as to how a true
seeker should act and behave.  Ahmad remained heedless, unmoved and
unchanged, but when he found out that he could no loner live in
Turkey, he returned to Iraq where he found his old associates and
resumed his iniquitous life with them.  One of this worst habits
was to insult people and curse them in the most bitter and vile
language.  In one of his disputes with his evil friends, he lashed
them with his sharp tongue and the victims, to get rid of him,
killed him one night.  Selections from this Persian Tablet appear
in "Gleanings From the Writings of Baha'u'llah".

AHMAD BEGINS HIS SEARCH

     As to the Ahmad in whose honor the well-known Tablet is
revealed, he was born in Yazd (circa 1805) to a very noble and rich
family.  His father and uncles were the chieftains of the town, but
Ahmad, even at the age of fourteen, showed a great inclination
towards mysticism and endeavored to find new paths to truth.  When
he was fifteen, he had already started his investigations, during
which he heard from some of the people that there are saints or
holy men who know special prayers which if read and repeated so
many times and in accordance with certain rituals would definitely
enable the reader to behold the countenance of the Promised Qa'im
(The Messiah).  This flared up the fire of his evergrowing
longings.  He began to practice an ascetic life with long prayers,
successive days of fasting and secluding himself from the world.
His parents and relatives never approved of such practices, nor did
they permit him to continue this seclusion which was contrary to
their way of life.  Such opposition could not be tolerated by a man
like Ahmad who was whole-heartedly searching and striving to reach
his heart's desire... reunion with his eternal Beloved.  Therefore,
one day early in the morning, he made a small bundle of his clothes
and belongings and under the pretext of going to a public bath,
departed from his father's house and set out on his way to search
for God's Manifestation.  In a beggar's outfit he roamed from
village to village and wherever he found a "pir" (spiritual leader)
with great devotion and rectitude of conduct, he sat at his feet
in the hope of finding a path to the mysterious worlds of truth.
He invariably begged for a prayer, the reading of which would draw
him near the court of his Beloved.  Whenever someone would suggest
to him any practice, he was so ardent in his search that he would
invariably carry out the instructions with absolute sincerity no
matter how time consuming or arduous those practices were.  But all
of this was of no avail.

     Losing hope and faith in such pursuits, he made his way to
India, a land so well known for its mystic teachers and hermits
with special powers and spiritual gifts.  He reaches Bombay and
took up his residence there, still looking for someone to give him
a glimpse of the glorious court of the Promised One.

     He heard that if one would perform a specific ablution, put
on spotlessly clean white garments, prostrate oneself and repeat
the following verse of the Qur'an, "There is no God but God,"
twelve thousand times, he would definitely attain his aim and
heart's desire.  Not once, but several times Ahmad prostrated
himself for hours to repeat the above-mentioned verse 12,000 times,
but still found himself in darkness.

     In his dismay he returned to Persia, but did not go to his own
home town of Yazd.  He settled in the city of Kashan and started
his own craft of clothmaking in which he was an expert.  In no time
he became a very successful businessman; but still in his inmost
heart he was restlessly searching.

A STRANGER POINTS THE WAY

     "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you."  "Ask, and it shall
be given unto you."  No true seeker ever returned from His door of
mercy deprived and unanswered.

     It was here in Kashan that the rumors about One claiming to
be the promised Qa'im were heard by him.  Ceaseless in his efforts
and sincere in his search, he asked many people in many different
ways.  No one ever gave him a clue.

     Then one day an unknown traveller arrived in this town and
stayed in the same inn where Ahmad had established his successful
business.  A certain inner urge drew Ahmad close to this unknown
man.  In their conversation, the traveller was asked about the
already spreading rumor.  "Why do you ask this question?" he
inquired.  "I want to know if it is true.  If it is, I shall follow
it, with all my might," was Ahmad's answer.

     The traveller with a smile of triumph on his face, instructed
him to go to Khurasan and find a certain famous learned man called
Mulla 'Abdu'l Khaliq who would tell him the whole truth.

     The very next day Ahmad was on his way to the province of
Khurasan.  The owners of the neighboring shops were very much
surprised when they did not find Ahmad at his work as usual.  "What
passes between him and the unknown traveller?" they asked one
another, and no one knew the right answer.

     Ahmad crossed deserts and mountains on foot, and his heart
overflowed with joy and longing.  Every step he took he found
himself closer to the time when all his efforts would yield the
desired fruits... his reunion with his Beloved in the search of
Whose presence he spared no effort and round no sacrifice too
great.

Continued, next message...

-!-
 ! Origin: From the Camphor Fountain of California (1:125/19)


─ Area: Intl. Baha'i Faith Echo ──────────────────────────────────────────────
  Msg#: 3730                                         Date: 02-27-93  22:54
  From: Linda Martin                                 Read: Yes    Replied: No
    To: All                                          Mark:
  Subj: The Story of the Tablet of Ahmad  2/5
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Continued from last message... part two...

     He reached Mashad, Khurasan, exhausted and so ill that he had
to stay in bed.  After two month's struggle to overcome his
weakness, he mustered the last ounces of his strength and courage
and went directly to the door of the desired house.  Here are his
own words as related to his friends and companions of those days:
"When I reached the house, I knocked at the door and the servant
of the house came forth.  Holding the door ajar, he asked me 'What
do you want?'  'I must see your Master,' I answered.  The man went
back into the house and then the Mulla himself came out.  He
admitted me to his house and when we stood face to face I explained
to him all that had happened to me.  When I finished, he at once
grasped my arm and told me, 'Do not say such things here!' and he
pushed me out of his house.  There was no end to my sorrows.
Heartbroken and utterly astounded I said to myself, 'Are all my
efforts in vain?  To whom shall I turn?  Whom shall I approach?....
But I will never leave this man.  I will persist till such time as
he will open his heart to me and will guide me to the right path
of God.  It is incumbent upon the one who searches to drain the
bitter cup of hardship.'  The next morning I was at the door of the
same house.  I knocked harder than the previous day.  This time the
Mulla himself came to the door and the moment he opened it, I said,
'I will not go away, I will not leave you until you tell me the
whole truth.'  This time he found me earnest and true.  He became
sure that I had not been at his door to spy or cause difficulties
for him and his friends."

     Ahmad was then instructed to attend the evening prayers at a
certain mosque where the Mulla let the congregational prayers
followed by a long sermon.  He was also told to follow the Mulla
after the prayer and the sermon, but crowds of people surrounded
him and Ahmad did not have the slightest chance to even approach
him.  The next day when the two met again, Ahmad was instructed to
go to another mosque at night and a third person would be there to
show him the way.  Accordingly, Ahmad was at the mosque at sunset
and as promised, after the evening prayers, a certain person came
to him and beckoned him to follow.  Without hesitation or fear,
Ahmad followed.  Now the three men started to walk like shadows in
the darkness of the night, through narrow and obscure lanes.
Ahmad, a complete stranger, never wavered or faltered nor fled.
He took every step with great determination and was ready for any
outcome.

     At last they reached a certain house.  They knocked at the
door very gently and it was opened immediately.  The newcomers went
in very quickly.  They passed through a covered passageway, reached
a small courtyard, climbed a few steps and were at the door of an
upper chamber where a very dignified figure was sitting.  The Mulla
approached that revered personage with great humility and absolute
reverence and courteously whispered, "This is the man I told you
about," and indicated Ahmad, who had been standing at the threshold
with utter respect and high expectation.  "Welcome.  Please come
in and be seated", said the man.  Ahmad then entered the room and
sat down on the floor.

     The host was no less a person the Mulla Sadiq (truthful), one
of the early believers during the Bab's ministry and very
distinguished for his erudition, audacity and steadfastness.
During Baha'u'llah's ministry the same Mulla Sadiq displayed such
great ardor and zeal that he was entitled "Asdaq" (the most
truthful) by Baha'u'llah.

A TREASURE IS FOUND

     Ahmad, who for twenty-five years had been wandering in the
valleys of search and had nowhere found even a drop to quench his
thirst, now found a path to the main spring.  With parched lips and
an insatiable longing he drank in the sweet scented stream of the
verses of God through His new Manifestation.  Three sessions were
sufficient and he embraced the Faith with all his heart and soul.
So elated, exalted and over-enthusiastic he looked that 'Asdaq
exhorted him to return to his family in Kashan and insisted that
he should not mention the Faith to the people, not even to his own
wife.

     Those were days of extreme danger to the nascent Cause of God.
The few followers recruited from the poor people of the world were
forever the targets of many atrocities.  Even the air was imbued
with suspicion, spying and slander.  Therefore the friends had to
be very careful, lest the slightest unwise deed or even a foolish
word would ignite a never-ending conflagration that would consume
the believers in its flame.

     'Asdaq, knowing how Ahmad had suffered, felt that he had no
money to go back home; therefore he gave him some small gift for
his family and the sum of three tumans and again advised him to be
very wise.

     Commenting upon his return to Kashan, Ahmad has said:  "When
I reached Kashan, everyone asked what had happened that I had left
everything so abruptly.  I told them:  My longing for pilgrimage
was too great to resist, and I was right.  What else could take me
away from my work, my house and my family except that innermost
yearning?  The instant I heard these words from the traveller there
was no more patience left in me."

     In Kashan he resumed his work, but longed to teach the Faith.
He heard rumors that a certain man by the name of Haji Mirza Jani
had changed his faith and had become the follower of a new obscure
religion.  He searched for him and when the two found each other,
there was no end to their joy and excitement.  They became fast
friends, constant companions and the first and only Babis of that
town.

     One day, Haji Mirza Jani went to Ahmad and with great
enthusiasm and uncontrollable excitement asked him: "Would you like
to visit the countenance of your Lord?"  Ahmad's heart lept up.
Which much joy and ecstasy he immediately got up from his seat and
asked, "How and when?"  Haji explained to him how he had arranged
with the guards to have the Bab in his house as a guest for two or
three nights.  Therefore at the appointed hour, Ahmad went to
Haji's house.  When he entered, his eyes fell on a face the beauty
of which surpassed heaven and earth.  A young Siyyid was sitting
with such meekness, grandeur and majesty that one could not help
but behold the light of God in His countenance.  Some of the
divines and dignitaries of the town were seated on the floor around
and the servants stood at the door.

     One of the Mullas faced the Bab and said, "We have heard that
a certain young man in Shiraz has claimed to be the Bab.  Is it
true?" "Yes," answered the Bab.  "And does he reveal verses too?"
asked the same man.  The Bab responded, "And We reveal verses too."

     Ahmad has further said: "This clear and courageous answer was
sufficient for anyone who had ears to hear and eyes to see and find
the whole truth immediately.  His beautiful face and His powerful
words and presence sufficed all things.  But when they served tea
and a cup was offered to the Bab, He immediately took it, called
the servant to the same Mulla and very graciously gave it to him.
The day after, the very same humble servant came to me and with
great sorrow deplored the stupidity of his master.  A little
explanation as to the station of the Bab brought him to our fold
and our number grew to three."

Continued in next message...

-!-
 ! Origin: From the Camphor Fountain of California (1:125/19)


─ Area: Intl. Baha'i Faith Echo ──────────────────────────────────────────────
  Msg#: 3731                                         Date: 02-27-93  22:55
  From: Linda Martin                                 Read: Yes    Replied: No
    To: All                                          Mark:
  Subj: The Story of the Tablet of Ahmad  3/5
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Continued from last message... part three...

     This small nucleus started to grow and the number of the
adherents increased.  This angered the divines who used all their
cunning to stop the flow of the already powerful stream of life.
They instigated the cruel ignorant mob to plunder, confiscate and
kill all those who bore the name of the Bab.  Every day they would
go to a house, so enraged that they would break its doors and
windows, destroy the building and plunder and loot the contents.
In the evening one would find the bodies of people dead in the
streets and lanes and even scattered over the neighboring mountains
and plains.  This continued and Ahmad's house was no exception.
Ahmad then had to hide in a tower for forty days and the friends
used to take him food and provisions.

JOURNEY TO THE ABODE OF PEACE

     Finding life unbearable in Kashan, and hearing that Baghdad
had become a point of attraction, he decided to go there.

     "And God called to the Abode of Peace (Baghdad) and He guideth
who He will into the right way."

     In the darkness of the night, Ahmad emerged from his hiding
place and scaled the walls of the city to make his way to Baghdad.
He travelled on foot, full of love, enthusiasm and eagerness, to
behold the countenance of the One Whom God would make manifest.
As he was walking, he came across another man travelling in the
same direction.  Afraid of being molested further, Ahmad tried to
ignore the stranger, uttering not a word, but the man persisted in
walking by his side.  Taking great care never to even allude to the
Faith or the purpose of his journey, Ahmad and his fellow-traveller
reached their destination.  On arrival in Baghdad, they separated
and Ahmad immediately set out searching for the house of
Baha'u'llah.  When he found the house and entered therein, he
found, to his utter astonishment, that his companion was there too.
He then understood that his friend was also a Babi and had been on
his way to attain the presence of the blessed Beauty.

AHMAD IN THE PRESENCE OF BAHA'U'LLAH

     It was a breathtaking experience for a man like Ahmad, who all
through his life had been searching for this immense spiritual
Fountainhead.  When for the first time he glanced at the youthful
countenance of Baha'u'llah... a Face full of charm, freshness of
color and penetrating powers, he was overwhelmed.  He came to his
senses only through the mirthful remark of the Ancient Beauty, "He
becomes a Babi and then hides in the tower!"

     Baha'u'llah allowed him to remain in Baghdad and have his
residence very close to the house.  Ahmad immediately installed his
small clothmaking machine and was the happiest man in the world.
What else does one expect?  To live at the time of the Supreme
Manifestation of God, adore Him, be loved by Him and be so close
to Him in heart and soul and even in residence.

     When once asked about the events of the years he spent in such
close proximity to Baha'u'llah, with tears in his eyes he said,
"How innumerable, how great and how immensely mighty were the
events of those years.  Our nights were filled with memorable
episodes.  Joyful and at time sorrowful were our experiences, yet
beyond the power of anyone to describe.  For example, one day as
the Blessed Beauty was walking, a ceratin government officer
approached Him and reported that one of His followers had been
killed and his body thrown on the river bank.  The Tongue of Power
and Might replied, "No one has killed him.  Through seventy
thousand veils of light We showed him to glory of God to an extent
smaller than a needle's eye; therefore, he could no more bear the
burden of his life and has offered himself as a sacrifice."  When
the caliph's decree was conveyed to Baha'u'llah, and he had to
leave Baghdad for Istanbul, He left the town on the thirty-second
day after Naw Ruz for the Ridvan Garden.  On that same day the
river overflowed and only on the ninth day was it possible for His
family to join Him in the Garden.  The river then overflowed a
second time, and on the twelfth day it subsided and all went to
Him.  Ahmad begged Baha'u'llah to be amongst His companions in
exile, but Baha'u'llah did not accede to this request.  He chose
a few people and instructed the others to stay to teach the Faith
and protect the Cause, emphasizing that this would be better for
the Faith of God.  At the time of His departure, those who were
left behind stood in a row and all were so overcome with sorrow
that they burst into tears.  Baha'u'llah again approached them and
consoled them saying: "It is better for the Cause.  Some of these
people who accompany Me are liable to do mischief; therefore I am
taking them with Myself."  One of the friends could scarcely
control his anguish and sorrow.  He addressed the crowd, reciting
this poem of Sa'id:

          "Let us all rise to weep like unto the clouds
           of the Spring Season.  On the day when lovers
           are separated from their Beloved, one can
           even hear the lamentations of stones."

     Baha'u'llah then said, "Verily, this was said for this day."
Then He mounted His horse and one of the friends placed a sack of
coins in front of the saddle and Baha'u'llah started to distribute
the coins to the bewailing poor who were standing by.  When they
ran to Him and pushed one another, He plunged His hand in the sack
and poured all the coins out, saying, "Gather them yourselves!"

     Ahmad saw his Beloved disappear from his sight, headed for an
unknown destination.  Little did he know that He was like unto the
sun rising towards the zenith of might and power.  Sad at heart and
utterly distressed in soul, he returned to Baghdad, which to him
seemed devoid of any attraction.  He tried to make himself happy
by gathering the friends and encouraging them to disperse and teach
the Faith which had just been declared.  Though actively serving
the Cause, he was not happy.  All that could keep him happy was
nearness to his Beloved.

THE TABLET IS REVEALED

     After a few years he once again left his home and work and set
out on foot towards Adrianople, the city of his love and desire.

     When he reached Istanbul, he received a Tablet from
Baha'u'llah, now well-known as "The Tablet of Ahmad".  He describes
receipt of this Tablet as follows:  "I received the Tablet of 'The
Nightingale of Paradise' and reading it again and again, I found
out that my Beloved desired me to go and teach His Cause.
Therefore I preferred obedience to visiting Him."

     He was specially commissioned to travel through Persia, find
the old Babi families and convey to them the new message of the
Lord.  Hence such glorious reference to the Bab in this Tablet.
The task was arduous beyond description and therefore such
exhortations as, "Be thou a flame of fire to My enemies and a river
of life eternal to My loved ones and be not of those who doubt."
The path to be pursued by him would be full of blood, thorns and
hardships to be borne, but followed by such soul-stirring promises
of victory as, "And if thou are overtaken by afflictions in My
path, or degradation for My sake, be not thou troubled thereby".

Continued in next message...

-!-
 ! Origin: From the Camphor Fountain of California (1:125/19)


─ Area: Intl. Baha'i Faith Echo ──────────────────────────────────────────────
  Msg#: 3732                                         Date: 02-27-93  22:55
  From: Linda Martin                                 Read: Yes    Replied: No
    To: All                                          Mark:
  Subj: The Story of the Tablet of Ahmad  4/5
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Continued from last message... part four...

     With this divine amulet in his possession... a small piece of
paper which had been "invested by Baha'u'llah with a special
potency and significance", and clad in the simple garments of a
mendicant, Ahmad made his way back to Persia.  He entered the
country from the district where the Bab had been imprisoned and
martyred and crossed this region like unto the breeze of life.
Many of the Babis were thus enabled to see the sun then shining
from Adrianople and even many of the Moslems embraced the Faith
whole-heartedly.

     Ahmad became the embodiment of his own Tablet.  Such
persistence, undaunted spirit, tenacity and steadfastness as his
are hardly to be found in any annals of the Cause.  When he found
a contact, although he suffered afflictions and degradations, he
would return again and again to finish that which had been left
half discussed.

     For example, when he was travelling throughout the province
of Khurasan, he went to the house of a very well known Babi family,
the head of which was no less a person than Furughi... one of the
survivors of the Tabarsi upheaval.  Ahmad went in and gradually
opened the subject and in very frank, rigorous and emphatic terms
explained that the One to be manifested by God was none other than
Baha'u'llah, Whose light was then shining from the horizon of the
"Remote Prison"... Adrianople.

     Furughi, who had so audaciously fought in Tabarsi, started a
fight here too.  The discussion became more intense as the hours
went by.  Furughi became very angry, attacked Ahmad, breaking one
of his teeth, and threw him out of the house.

     Ahmad left broken-hearted, but, undaunted, he later returned,
knocked at the door, and told them that he would not go until such
time as the subject was fully discussed and some definite
conclusions reached.

     We must bear in mind that the Babis were in such great danger,
that even a piece of paper bearing the verses of the Bab found in
any house was enough for the house to be demolished and the
inhabitants to be sent to prison or even to the field of martyrdom.

     Therefore, many of the friends hid their books and writings
in the walls of their homes.  When Ahmad went to Furughi's house
for the second time to resume the discussion, he said emphatically
that the Greatest Name "BAHA' had very often been mentioned by the
Bab in all His Writings.  Furughi challenged the truth of this
statement.  To prove to Ahmad that he was wrong, he tore a part of
the wall down and brought out a bundle containing the Writings of
the Bab, and promised not to say a word against the explicit texts.
Ahmad says, "The very first one we opened referred to the name of
Baha."  As promised, Furughi and all the members of his family
accepted the Faith of Baha'u'llah and became zealous defenders and
very outstanding in its propagation and protection.

A FLAME OF FIRE

     After crossing all the lands of Khurasan, Ahmad decided to go
once more to Baghdad to convey the message of love and greetings
on behalf of Baha'u'llah to all the friends of that very important
city, but unfortunately on the way he again fell sick and could not
reach Baghdad.  In addition, in Tihran, some of the divines of
Kashan recognized him and lodged complaints against him at the
court of the king, who was ever ready to inflict hardship on the
adherents of the new Faith.  He was consequently arrested and
committed to the hands of a certain young officer who was ordered
to investigate the case and if he was sure that his victim had gone
astray, to put him to death immediately.

     The young officer did not wish to molest Ahmad and therefore
insisted that he should recant his Faith.  Ahmad says, "At that
moment I was at the height of my Faith and enthusiasm and never for
one moment even though of recanting."  Ever ready to lay down his
life in the path of the Cause, he served with such self-sacrifice
he insisted he was not a Babi, but a Baha'i, a follower of the
Supreme Manifestation.  He was detained and while in prison he
heart of the sudden and severe illness of the officer's wife.  In
great fright and in extreme distress, the officer came to Ahmad and
said, "Should my wife recover, I will release you," and after three
days the young man, heedless of the dire consequences to himself,
took Ahmad to the gate of Tihran and set him free.

A RIVER OF LIFE ETERNAL

     Released like a bird, he first went to the villages where some
sifters of wheat were Babis.  They received him with the utmost
love and courtesy.  They offered him hospitality and he guided them
to the right path of God and in great rejoicing Ahmad left them and
made his way to the province of Fars, the capital of which was
Shiraz.

     He lived in this province for about a quarter of a century.
He became the constant companion of the wronged and afflicted ones.
He consoled them during times of persecutions and gave them hope
and vision of the everwidening horizons of victories and triumphs.

     It was through the old people of this district of Persia that
his humble servant, the writer (A.Q. Faizi), came to hear the
distant echoes of a glorious dervish living amongst the villagers
and that he had been to them an angel of protection, guidance and
mercy.  Such rumors set me to search about for him, and then I
found out that his adorable individual was our precious Ahmad...
a name now mentioned throughout the world with so much love and
devotion.

     Ahmad received many of the travelling teachers who passed
through this part of Persia and feasted them in his humble abode,
mentioning God, His Faith, and recounting the experience of the
many teachers who had been in those days quickening many souls.

     One of the most touching incidents as related by himself was
the following:  "One day a man barely clad and almost barefooted,
came to the door of my house.  He was utterly exhausted and worn
out.  His clothes were stiff and brownish with a mixture of dust
and perspiration.  He happened to be Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali.  I
immediately helped him to take off his clothes.  I washed them and
spread them in the sun to dry while he rested, waiting for the
friends to come for a meeting."

Continued in next message...


  Subj: The Story of the Tablet of Ahmad  5/5
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Continued from the last message... part five...

STEADFAST IN MY LOVE

     The years passed by full of eventful days, but when the waves
of persecution spread all over Persia, the friends in their love
and admiration for Ahmad, endeavored to protect him against fatal
attacks and after long consultations they suggested to him that he
immediately leave that forlorn and forsaken corner of the country
for a more populated center.  Wherever Ahmad went the friends
suggested the same thing to him.  He was so well known through the
length and breadth of the country that his mere presence would
cause agitation amongst the bigoted Muslims whose first arrows
would be aimed at Ahmad himself.  After changing many places of
residence many times, he settled in Tihran.  He never wavered nor
was he ever anything but that "flame of fire" and "river of life
eternal".  After having lived one century, always enjoying good
health, he passed on to the presence of his Beloved in 1905 in
Tihran.

     As to the family of Ahmad, he had two children; a son called
Mirza Mohammad and a daughter Khanum Guhar.  When Ahmad's house was
confiscated, Mirza Muhammad, his wife and children left the city
of Kashan for Tihran.  He, his wife and small daughter died on
their way to Tihran.  The traces of their graves... if any... are
lost forever.

     There remained only their son, Jamal, aged five.  The mule
drivers who used to take food from provinces to Tihran, not knowing
that Jamal was a son of Babis, took pity on the forsaken and
homeless child and placing him on one of the loads, brought him to
Tihran.  In that great capital, the poor child was left all alone
and no one even told him of his glorious ancestry or of the Faith
in the path of which the family had borne so many afflictions and
untold hardships.  He was left in this state until after his aunt,
Khanum Guhar, also went to Tihran.  When Ahmad reached the capital,
he came to know of his grandson whom he loved very much.  He took
him under the wings of his own love and protection and Jamal grew
to be an excellent Baha'i.  His most outstanding characteristic was
his iron determination and his indefatigable energy.  Nothing could
ever deflect this man from the straight path of God, though to him
it had always been narrow and strewn with thorns, blood and
multifarious plights and calamities.  Towards the end of his life,
Ahmad entrusted the original Tablet to Jamal, who in turn, out of
the purity of his heart and his devotion to the Faith of God,
offered it as a gift to Hand of the Cause, Trustee of Huquq, the
son and brother of two illustrious martyrs, Jinab-i-Valiyu'llah
Varqa.  When Jinab-i-Varqa, according to the instructions of the
beloved Guardian attended the opening ceremony of the Temple in
Wilmette during the Intercontinental Conference of the year nine
(1953), he brought this most precious Tablet as his offering to the
archives of the Baha'is of the United States.  Now the beloved
friends of that country are the trustees of this great gift of God
to humanity.


REFERENCES

1.  A letter written on the same subject by Jenab Eshragh Khawari
at the request of Mrs. Amelia Collins in 1958.

2.  Manuscripts sent to the author by Mirza Fazlullah Shahidi of
Khurasan.

3.  Personal investigations from the Djamalis, descendants of the
immortal Ahmad in Iran.


The End...

-!-
 ! Origin: From the Camphor Fountain of California (1:125/19)