Do you remember the story of Shaykh Ahmad, who travelled
about telling the people that God was sending them a new Teacher? When Shaykh
Ahmad died, he left Siyyid Kazim to carryon his work and spread
the news of the Promised One.
Perhaps this word "Siyyid" seems a strange one to
you ... Siyyid means a member of the family of Mulhammad, that other great
Teacher, Who wrote the Qur'an. Of course Muhammad had lived many years before
that, but all the men who were later born in that family were called Siyyids. It was a great honor to be related to
Muhammad, even if it was many,
many years later.
Here is another thing Siyyid Kazim told them: this
divine Teacher Whom God had promised, was living at that very time. Perhaps He
was even living nearby and they did not know Him. You can imagine how surprised
they were to hear this, how they must have talked about it and wondered who He
was and where He lived: If you
and I had been there, we, too, would have wondered, wouldn't we?
It is strange,
but when God sends a new divine Teacher to the earth to remind people of Him,
only a few know Him at first. Just think. They may see Him on the street or in
the shrine where He goes to pray and yet not know Him, because their hearts are
not full of love and hope. And some, I am afraid, do not know Him because they
are so busy thinking about themselves.
There are many others, however, who are not like these people. Their hearts are ready because they are expecting Him. Siyyid Kazim was one of these. And he was spending his life trying to prepare others to know Him when they saw Him. This story tells about a very happy day in Siyyid Kazim's life, the day he first met the Promised One. And he not only met Him but he heard Him talk.
Now I must tell you something… God really sent two divine
Teachers instead of one. The One of whom Siyyid Kazim was telling them
was called the Báb. That word "Báb" means gate or door, and it was
just as if the Báb came to open the door for Baha'u'llah, the other great
Teacher, Who came later. The Báb, of course, was the first. He was the One Whom
Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim were expecting because they had
read about Him in the Qur'an.
One morning very, very early, just at dawn, Siyyid Kazim
sent a messenger to a friend telling him that a very important Person
had arrived in Karbila, where they were living, and that they must visit him at
once. When the friend arrived at Siyyid Kazim'house, he found
him dressed and waiting at the door. They walked through the streets together.
How quiet it must have been in the city, for the sun was not
yet up and the people had not begun to stir about. They soon reached a house
where a Young Man stood in the doorway, as if waiting for them. He wore a green turban and His face was so
gentle and kind that it seemed no one who saw Him could help loving Him. Haven't
you seen people you loved the first time you met them?
Coming to meet them, the Young Man put His arms around
Siyyid Kazim and spoke to him such words of love that Siyyid Kazim
could only stand with bowed head. He could not speak.
The Young Man led them into the house and upstairs to a room
decorated with flowers, which gave out a very lovely perfume. Here He told them
to be seated, and gave them a drink from a beautiful silver cup which stood in
the center of the room.
You know, when you love someone very, very much, you feel so
happy that you just want to be near them. You do not need to talk. That is the
way the two visitors felt that morning while they were with the Young Man. Only
a few words were spoken. Then He led them to the door and with a wonderful
smile told them goodbye.
How often the one who had gone with Siyyid Kazim
must have thought of this visit. Then, three days later, he saw this
Young Man again. Siyyid Kazim was teaching a number of
people from the Qur'an, when the Young Man entered and sat down with them. At
once Siyyid Kazim stopped speaking. When the others asked him to
continue, he only shook his head. He pointed to a ray of sunlight which came in
at the door and fell upon the lap of the Young Man.
"The Truth about this Young Man," he said,
"is more manifest than the ray of light." You see, Siyyid Kazim
knew who this Young Man was, and he could not understand why the others
did not know Him.
But still the others did not understand, not even the one
who had gone with Siyyid Kazim early that other morning. But
in his heart he had a strange feeling whenever he thought about Him. Several
times he started to ask Siyyid Kazim the Young Man's name but
something always seemed to stop him.
Of course you have guessed Who the Young Man was, but the
friend of Siyyid Kazim did not know, even though he had come to love Him
with all his heart, and to think of Him many times a day. One day he heard
about a Young Man who said that He was the Báb, the Promised One. Then he knew
that this was the One Whom he had seen in Karbila and had loved so much.
(by Zoe
Meyer, ‘Stories from The Dawn-Breakers’)
