Mírzá Mahmúd-i-Qamsarí, whom I met in Káshán, and who at
that time was an old man over ninety years of age and was greatly beloved and
revered by all those who knew him, related to me the following story:
“I recall when in my youth, at the time when I was living in
Káshán, I heard of a certain man in Nayin who had arisen to announce the
tidings of a new Revelation, and under whose spell fell all who heard him,
whether scholars, officials of the government, or the uneducated among the
people. His influence was such that those who came in contact with him
renounced the world and despised its riches. Curious to ascertain the truth, I
proceeded, unsuspected by my friends, to Nayin, where I was able to verify the
statements that were current about him. His radiant countenance bespoke the
light that had been kindled in his soul. I heard him, one day, after he had
offered his morning prayer, speak words such as these: ‘Ere long will the earth
be turned into a paradise. Ere long will Persia be made the shrine round which
will circle the peoples of the earth.’
One morning, at the hour of dawn, I found him fallen upon
his face, repeating in wrapt devotion the words ‘Alláh-u-Akbar.’ To my great surprise he turned to me and
said: ‘That which I have been announcing to you is now revealed. At this very
hour the light of the promised One has broken and is shedding illumination upon
the world. O Mahmúd, verily I say, you shall live to behold that Day of days.’
The words which that holy man addressed to me kept ringing in my ears until the
day when, in the year sixty, I was privileged to hear the Call that arose from
Shíráz. I was, alas, unable, because of my infirmities, to hasten to that city.
Later, when the Báb, the herald of the new Revelation, arrived in Káshán and
for three nights lived as a guest in the house of Hájí Mírzá Jání, I was
unaware of His visit and so missed the honour of attaining His presence.
Sometime afterwards, whilst conversing with the followers of the Faith, I was
informed that the birthday of the Báb fell on the first day of the month of
Muharram of the year 1235 A.H. I
realised that the day to which Hájí Hasan-i-Nayiní had referred did not
correspond with this date, that there was actually a difference of two years
between them. This thought sorely perplexed me. Long after, however, I met a
certain Hájí Mírzá Kamálu’d-Dín-i-Naráqí, who announced to me the Revelation of
Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, and who shared with me a number of verses from the
‘Qasidiy-i-Varqa’iyyih’ as well as certain passages of the Persian and Arabic
‘Hidden Words.’ I was moved to the depths of my soul as I heard him recite
those sacred words. The following I still vividly remember: ‘O Son of Being!
Thy heart is my home; sanctify it for my descent. Thy spirit is my place of
revelation; cleanse it for my manifestation. O Son of Earth! Wouldst thou have
me, seek none other than me; and wouldst thou gaze upon my beauty, close thine
eyes to the world and all that is therein; for my will and the will of another
than I, even as fire and water, cannot dwell together in one heart.’ I asked
him the date of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh. ‘The dawn of the second day of
Muharram,’ he replied, ‘of the year 1233 A.H.’ I immediately remembered the
words of Hájí Hasan and recalled the day on which they were spoken.
Instinctively I fell prostrate on the ground and exclaimed: ‘Glorified art
Thou, O my God, for having enabled me to attain unto this promised Day. If now
I be called to Thee, I die content and assured.’” That very year, the year 1274
A.H., that venerable and radiant soul yielded his spirit to God.
This account which I heard from the lips of Mírzá
Mahmúd-i-Qamsarí himself, and which is still current amongst the people, is
assuredly a compelling evidence of the perspicacity of the late Shaykh
Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í and bears eloquent testimony to the influence he exercised upon
his immediate disciples. The promise he gave them was eventually fulfilled, and
the mystery with which he fired their souls was unfolded in all its glory.
(Chapter 1, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
