It was my privilege to hear Bahá’u’lláh Himself, one day,
recount the following:
“The late Vazír, My father, enjoyed a most enviable position
among his countrymen. His vast wealth, his noble ancestry, his artistic
attainments, his unrivalled prestige and exalted rank made him the object of
the admiration of all who knew him. For a period of over twenty years, no one
among the wide circle of his family and kindred, which extended over Núr and
Tihrán, suffered distress, injury, or illness. They enjoyed, during a long and
uninterrupted period, rich and manifold blessings. Quite suddenly, however,
this prosperity and glory gave way to a series of calamities which severely
shook the foundations of his material prosperity. The first loss he suffered
was occasioned by a great flood which, rising in the mountains of Mázindarán,
swept with great violence over the village of Tákúr, and utterly destroyed half
the mansion of the Vazír, situated above the fortress of that village. The best
part of that house, which had been known for the solidity of its foundations,
was utterly wiped away by the fury of the roaring torrent. Its precious
articles of furniture were destroyed, and its elaborate ornamentation
irretrievably ruined. This was shortly followed by the loss of various State
positions which the Vazír occupied, and by the repeated assaults directed
against him by his envious adversaries. Despite this sudden change of fortune,
the Vazír maintained his dignity and calm, and continued, within the restricted
limits of his means, his acts of benevolence and charity. He continued to
exercise towards his faithless associates that same courtesy and kindness that
had characterised his dealings with his fellow-men. With splendid fortitude he
grappled, until the last hour of his life, with the adversities that weighed so
heavily upon him.”
(Chapter 5, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
