earts,
for He lavished grace and praise on him who was gone.

Mercies be upon Azim from the Kingdom of Divine compassion; God's glory be
upon him, at nightfall and the rising of the sun.

MIRZA JA'FAR-I-YAZDI

This knight of the battlefield was one of the most learned of seekers
after truth, well versed in many branches of knowledge. For a long time he
was in the schools, specializing in the fundamentals of religion and
religious jurisprudence, and making researches into philosophy and
metaphysics, logic and history, the contemplative and the narrated
sciences.(90) He began, however, to note that his fellows were arrogant
and self-satisfied, and this repelled him. It was then that he heard the
cry out of the Supreme Concourse, and without a moment's hesitation he
raised up his voice and shouted, "Yea, verily!"; and he repeated the
words, "O our Lord! We have heard the voice of one that called. He called
us to the Faith--'Believe ye on your Lord'--and we have believed."(91)

When he saw the great tumult and the riots in Yazd, he left his homeland
and went to Najaf, the noble city; here for safety's sake he mingled with
the scholars of religion, becoming renowned among them for his own wide
knowledge. Then, listening to the voice from Ba_gh_dad, he hastened there,
and changed his mode of dress. That is, he put a layman's hat on his head,
and went to work as a carpenter to earn his living. He traveled once to
Tihran, returned, and sheltered by the grace of Baha'u'llah was patient
and content, rejoicing in his garb of poverty. In spite of his great
learning he was humble, self-effacing, lowly. He kept silent at all times,
and was a good companion to every sort of man.

On the journey from 'Iraq to Constantinople, Mirza Ja'far was one of
Baha'u'llah's retinue, and in seeing to the needs of the friends, he was a
partner to this servant. When we would come to a stopping-place the
believers, exhausted by the long hours of travel, would rest or sleep.
Mirza Ja'far and I would go here and there to the surrounding villages to
find oats, straw and other provisions for the caravan.(92) Since there was
a famine in that area, it sometimes happened that we would be roaming from
village to village from after the noon hour until half the night was gone.
As best we could, we could procure whatever was available, then return to
the convoy.

Mirza Ja'far was patient and long-suffering, a faithful attendant at the
Holy Thresh