When the retinue of Bahá’u’lláh left Baghdád for
Constantinople, He was accompanied by a great crowd of people. Along the way,
they met with famine conditions. These two souls [Áqá Mírzá Mahmúd and Áqá
Ridá] strode along on foot, ahead of the howdah in which Bahá’u’lláh was
riding, and covered a distance of seven or eight farsakhs every day. Way-worn
and faint, they would reach the halting-place; and yet, weary as they were,
they would immediately set about preparing and cooking the food, and seeing to
the comfort of the believers. The efforts they made were truly more than flesh
can bear. There were times when they had not more than two or three hours sleep
out of the twenty-four; because, once the friends had eaten their meal, these
two would be busy collecting and washing up the dishes and cooking utensils;
this would take them till midnight, and only then would they rest. At daybreak
they would rise, pack everything, and set out again, in front of the howdah of
Bahá’u’lláh. See what a vital service they were able to render, and for what
bounty they were singled out: from the start of the journey, at Baghdád, to the
arrival in Constantinople, they walked close beside Bahá’u’lláh; they made
every one of the friends happy; they brought rest and comfort to all; they
prepared whatever anyone asked.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk; ‘Memorials of the
Faithful’)
