No sooner had Mullá Husayn retired than the Siyyid [famous
divine in Isfahan] charged one of his trusted attendants to follow in the
footsteps of the visitor and find out the place where he was residing. The
attendant followed him to a modest building, which served as a madrisih, [1]
and saw him enter a room which, except for a worn-out mat which covered its
floor, was devoid of furniture. He watched him arrive, offer his prayer of
thanksgiving to God, and lie down upon that mat with nothing to cover him
except his ‘abá. [2] Having reported to his master all that he had observed,
the attendant was again instructed to deliver to Mullá Husayn the sum of a
hundred túmans, [3] and to express the sincere apologies of his master for his
inability to extend to so remarkable a messenger a hospitality that befitted
his station. To this offer Mullá Husayn sent the following reply: “Tell your
master that his real gift to me is the spirit of fairness with which he
received me, and the open-mindedness which prompted him, despite his exalted
rank, to respond to the message which I, a lowly stranger, brought him. Return
this money to your master, for I, as a messenger, ask for neither recompense
nor reward. ‘We nourish your souls for the sake of God; we seek from you
neither recompense nor thanks.’ [Qur’án, 76:9] My prayer for your master is that
earthly leadership may never hinder him from acknowledging and testifying to
the Truth.” Hájí Siyyid Muhammad-Báqir died before the year sixty A.H., the
year that witnessed the birth of the Faith proclaimed by the Báb. He remained
to his last moment a staunch supporter and fervent admirer of Siyyid Kázim.
(Chapter 2, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
[1] “The Madrisih or Persian colleges are entirely in the
hands of the clergy and there are several in every large town. They generally
consist of a court, surrounded by buildings containing chambers for students
and masters, with a gate on one side; and frequently a garden and a well in the
centre of the court.... Many of the madrisihs have been founded and endowed by
kings or pious persons.” (C. R. Markham’s “A General Sketch of the History of
Persia,” p. 365.)
[2] A loose outer garment, resembling a cloak, commonly made
of camel’s hair.
[3] Worth approximately one hundred dollars, a substantial
sum in those days.
