LESSON TEN  -  BAHÁ'U'LLÁH^’S JOURNEY TO MAZINDARAN

 Preparation:      New maps and diagram for each child (a dervish).  Crayons.

 Summary of previous lesson:   Last week we heard how Mulla Husayn went to Tihran and met a youth who took a gift from Him to Husayn-Ali, who we now know as Bahá'u'lláh.  The gift was a scroll of writing from the Báb, and today we shall hear what Bahá'u'lláh did after He became a follower of the Báb.  He was not a Letter of the Living.  Why do you think He was not chosen to be a letter?

 Story for today:   The first journey Bahá'u'lláh undertook to tell people about the new Message was to His home in Nur (a town in the province - county - of Mazindaran). His father owned a large and richly furnished mansion and was very wealthy. He was well-known for his wealth, his artistic skills and his noble ancestry. He cared for all his family so that not one of them suffered any injury, illness or unhappiness. until several calamities happened to him.  One was a flood which swept away half of the mansion and destroyed many of the beautiful furnishings.  Despite many upsets he remained calm and still continued to give away any money he had.

 So Bahá'u'lláh arrived in Nur and visited the religious schools where the students were very happy to see Him.  Many people of importance in the town came to see Him for they wanted to know what the news was about the Shah and his court. Bahá'u'lláh was not interested in the Shah.  He wanted only to talk about the new Message.  Those who heard Him were surprised that He spoke so well about religious matters for He was very young.  They could not find anything to say against the teachings and they admired His enthusiasm and were impressed by His good character.  Only His uncle Aziz dared to say anything against Him.  He went to seek for help to have Bahá'u'lláh sent away, but he could not find anyone to do this.

 The disciples of the religious teacher of Nur wanted their teacher to meet Bahá'u'lláh, saying that it was his duty to find out about this new Faith.  Eventually the teacher decided to sent two of his pupils, one named Mulla Abbas, the other Mirza Abu'l-Qasim, promising that if they found out about this new Faith and accepted it then he would too.

 They found Bahá'u'lláh at His winter home, revealing verses on a chapter of the Qur' an.  As they sat listening, their hearts became touched by the beautiful melody of the words.  Mulla Abbas rose from his seat and stood by the door, as a servant would in front of his master.  His eyes filled with tears as he spoke to his friend,  "You behold my condition.  I am powerless to question Bahá'u'lláh.  The questions I had planned to ask Him have vanished suddenly from my memory.  You are free either to proceed with your enquiry or return alone to our teacher and inform him of the state in which I find myself.  Tell him from me that Abbas can never again return to him.  He can no longer forsake this threshold".  But Mirza Abu'l-Qasim did not want to return either,  "I have ceased to recognise my teacher.  This very moment, I have vowed to God to dedicate the remaining days of my life to the service of Bahá'u'lláh, my true and only master

News of this event wakened the people of Nur from their spiritual sleep. Religious leaders, chief men of the town, merchants and peasants flocked to Bahá'u'lláh 's home.  Many of them accepted the new Message, and Bahá'u'lláh told them,  "I am come to Nur solely for the purpose of proclaiming the Cause of God.  I cherish no other intention.  If I were told that at a distance of a hundred leagues a seeker yearned for the Truth and was unable to meet Me, I would, gladly and unhesitatingly, hasten to his abode, and would Myself satisfy his hunger".

 Bahá'u'lláh then went to see the religious teacher of Mulla Abbas and Mirza Abu'l-Qasim.  The teacher welcomed Him and Bahá'u'lláh told him that he had come to tell him about this new and wondrous Message and asked him if there were any questions he had which Bahá'u'lláh would answer.  The teacher replied that he must first look in the Qur'an as he always asked the help of God and His blessings.  He would open the Qur'an and read the verse on whichever page his eyes glanced upon. Bahá'u'lláh agreed and the teacher called for a copy of the Qur'an to be brought in.  He opened it and quickly closed it again and refused to tell anyone which verse he had read, merely saying that he had consulted the Book of God and considered it not necessary to continue.  Many of the people with him noticed that he seemed fearful, and Bahá'u'lláh bade him farewell, not wishing to embarrass him any more.

 Whilst Bahá'u'lláh was out riding one day with friends, He saw a lonely youth seated by the roadside.  His hair was in tangles and he wore the clothes of a dervish.  He was cooking food on his fire', by a brook, and eating it. Bahá'u'lláh lovingly enquired, "Tell me, dervish, what is it that you are doing?"  "I am engaged in eating God", replied the dervish. Bahá'u'lláh then spoke to him tenderly and shortly the dervish became a changed man. Bahá'u'lláh explained that God was Unknowable and Unseen.  Mustafa, for that was his name, loved the teachings so much that he left his cooking pots and followed Bahá'u'lláh.  He chanted merrily verses of a love-song which he composed on the spur of the moment, dedicated to his Beloved,  "Thou art the Day-Star of guidance.  Thou art the Light of Truth.  Unveil Thyself to men, 0 Revealer of the Truth".

 Bahá'u'lláh won the hearts of the people of Nur by His deeds and words.  When He left they continued to teach and many of them gave up their lives as martyrs. Nur was the first place to eagerly accept the teachings.  Nur means "light", and the town, lying in the mountains of Mazindaran, was the first to catch the rays of the Sun that had arisen in Shiraz, and the first to proclaim to the rest of Persia, which still lay sleeping, that the Day Star of heavenly guidance had arisen to warm and illuminate the whole land.

 Homework:

1.  What did Bahá'u'lláh go to Nur for?

2.  What does Nur mean?

 Creative work:

 Give each child a diagram.  Study the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.  Colour in the picture and complete the drawing.  The dervish needs a fire and cooking pots.

 “I am come to Nur solely for the purpose of proclaiming the Cause of God.  I cherish no other intention.  If I were told that at a distance of a hundred leagues a seeker yearned for the Truth and was unable to meet Me, I would, gladly and unhesitatingly, hasten to his abode, and would Myself satisfy his hunger...”