The Baha'i Studies Listserv Adib asked for this story: Brent
The story of Haji Muhammad would not be complete without referring to one of his noble qualities, namely, his utter obedience to the Centre of the Cause. There was a time when Haji Muhammad had a business concern in 'Akká. One day he was sitting in his office when the Master arrived with an urgent instruction from Bahá'u'lláh that Haji Muhammad should immediately proceed to Jaddih (Jiddah) in Arabia. He asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá if he could be permitted to attain the presence of Bahá'u'lláh before departing for Jaddih. The Master told him that there was no time, for the boat was leaving at any minute. Haji Muhammad at once closed the office, and without even paying a visit to his family boarded the ship which sailed away almost immediately. Once on board, he realized that because of the extraordinary rush, he had not even thought to ask the Master the purpose of his trip to Jaddih. But now it was too late, and he knew that Bahá'u'lláh would guide his steps when he arrived in that city. This is the best example of instant, exact and complete obedience to the command of Bahá'u'lláh.
The journey was fraught with danger because the sea was unusually stormy. The danger of the ship sinking was in everyone's mind except for Haji Muhammad, who was sure that it would sail safely to its destination because God had given him a mission in Jaddih, the nature of which was as yet unknown to him. Soon after disembarking from the ship, he heard two people speaking in Persian among the crowds. When he approached them he soon found out that they were Bahá'ís. They were Haji Mirza Haydar-'Ali, that illustrious follower of Bahá'u'lláh, and his fellow prisoner Husayn-i- Shirazi who had been set free from their ten-year imprisonment in Khartum and were on their way to 'Akká. They were in need of help and guidance, for this was their first journey to the Holy Land. Haji Muhammad knew then that the purpose of his mission in Jaddih was to assist these two souls to go to 'Akká, a task which he then carried out ably.
(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah Vol. 4, p. 24) __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-544251-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
