Baha'u'llah had sent my father and his friends to Egypt as
pioneer settlers. When they arrived in Egypt, they did not have much money.
Money was not in abundance among the Baha'is. For one thing, it was taken away
from them and they were persecuted. For example, my grandfather was a rich man
when he became a Babi, but all he had was seized. Not having money did not stop
my father from pioneering. He and the others got notions - spools of thread,
needles, thimbles, ribbons - and they went to the European homes up and down
the Mediterranean coast from Alexandria to Ramleh, like peddlers. People
invited them in and bought those things. My father became very popular. He was
honest, as were all the Baha'is. People were not used to that. And so the
pioneers became famous. People told their friends about them, and gradually
they prospered. They would meet at the end of the day and pool their resources,
put their money together, and work in a truly Baha'i fashion.
Before too long they had enough capital to open a store.
They called themselves the "Sociét Ruhaniyyih”, meaning "Spiritual
Company,'' and the store, the "Grand Bazar Persan.” It became bigger and
bigger until it was the largest and best department store in all of Egypt. The
Faith had prospered also, in spite of the restrictions, and was well
established in Alexandria, Cairo, and Port Said.
My father and his friends wanted to show their gratitude to Baha'u'llah and also help the Faith. So they took a wide belt, a money belt, stuffed it with gold, large gold coins, and sent it to Baha'u'llah. A tablet was received from Baha'u1lah expressing His appreciation.
In the 1880's, there was a rebellion. An Egyptian general by
the name of Ahmed Arabi Pasha arose, and he wanted to destroy all the Europeans
in Alexandria. There were riots. All the European people left in ships. My
father and the friends took the last ship out of the harbor. When the rebellion
was over they came back and went to the site of their business. There was
nothing there but rubble and ashes -- absolutely nothing. They were desperate.
People asked when they would open a new store, and they had no answer. Their
credit had been good, but now they needed some down payment, and they did not
have it.
One day they were meeting together, consulting and praying,
when unexpectedly the postman came with a card - a notice of a package at the
post office. They went to the post office, got the package, took it home, and
opened it. There was the belt they had sent to Baha'u1lah, untouched and full
of gold. They reestablished credit and started their business again. It
flourished more than ever.
- by Ali M. Yazdi (Brilliant Star Magazine – Baha’u’llah, His Life and
Station)
