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August 13, 2010

What one of the early believers experienced when he attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh

Every time I attained His [Bahá’u’lláh’s] presence, I would find the portals of His grace and revelation open before my eyes. Each of them was a mighty proof and a precious gift. All those supernatural acts that I witnessed in His blessed presence and the immense joy which flooded my soul as I sat before Him are indescribable and cannot be recorded here... In the gatherings of the friends, if the Blessed Beauty turned his face to a person, that individual was unable to gaze upon His countenance and see the effulgent rays of the Sun of Truth. It was therefore Bahá'u'lláh's practice to look to the right side as He spoke, so that the friends might find it easier to look at His face. And if He ever turned His face towards the friends, He would close His eyes and speak...

Once I entered into the presence of Bahá'u'lláh at a time that He was reciting the verses of the Tablet of Visitation of Imam Husayn. [Bahá'u'lláh revealed a Tablet of Visitation for Imam Husayn which is very moving] At times, He would interrupt and utter some words, or receive the friends as they arrived. Eventually the number reached about forty-five. At this time I began to think of the friends in 'Ishqabad... I decided to remember them in His presence and dedicate my pilgrimage to them. I thought of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and five others... As soon as I remembered them, He promptly turned His face towards me and smiled. He then mentioned the names of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and the other five and said to me: Your remembrance of these people and your pilgrimage on their behalf is accepted by us. He repeated it twice. And so He revealed everything that was in my heart.

I was staggered by this revelation. My sight became blurred and I was close to collapsing. As soon as He saw me in this state, he ordered His servant [Mirza Aqa Jan, Bahá'u'lláh's amanuensis, acted as His servant. Bahá'u'lláh usually called him 'Abd-i-Hadir (Servant in Waiting)] to bring in some sweetmeats. He brought a plateful and placed it in front of Bahá'u'lláh who handed one sweet to each person. But to me He gave two. After this we were all dismissed from His presence. But I was so overwhelmed by this experience that when I left I was not in control of my faculties and halfway down the steps I collapsed...
(Aqa Riday-i-Sa'adati, a native of Yazd; quoted by Adib Taherzadeh in ‘The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 3’, p. 302)