. When still young, he
learned of the Faith of God. In holy ecstasy, his mind turned Heavenward,
and his heart was flooded with light. Divine grace descended upon him; the
summons of God so enraptured him that he threw the peace of Man_sh_ad to
the winds. Leaving his kinsfolk and children, he set out over mountains
and desert plains, passed from one halting-place to the next, came to the
seashore, crossed over the sea and at last reached the city of Haifa. From
there he hastened on to Akka and entered the presence of Baha'u'llah.

In the early days he opened a small shop in Haifa and carried on some
trifling business. God's blessing descended upon it, and it prospered.
That little corner became the haven of the pilgrims. When they arrived,
and again at their departure, they were guests of the high-minded and
generous Muhammad-Taqi. He also helped to manage the affairs of the
believers, and would get together their means of travel. He proved
unfailingly reliable, loyal, worthy of trust. Ultimately he became the
intermediary through whom Tablets could be sent away and mail from the
believers could come in. He performed this service with perfect
dependability, accomplishing it in a most pleasing way, scrupulously
despatching and receiving the correspondence at all times. Trusted by
everyone, he became known in many parts of the world, and received
unnumbered bounties from Baha'u'llah. He was a treasury of justice and
righteousness, entirely free from any attachment to worldly things. He had
accustomed himself to a very spare way of life, caring nothing for food or
sleep, comfort or peace. He lived all alone in a single room, passed the
nights on a couch of palm branches, and slept in a corner. But to the
travelers, he was a spring in the desert; for them, he provided the
softest of pillows, and the best table he could afford. He had a smiling
face and by nature was spiritual and serene.

After the Daystar of the Supreme Concourse had set, Siyyid Man_sh_adi
remained loyal to the Covenant, a sharp sword confronting the violators.
They tried every ruse, every deceit, all their subtlest expedients; it is
beyond imagining how they showered favors on him and what honors they paid
him, what feasts they prepared, what pleasures they offered, all this to
make a breach in his faith. Yet every day he grew stronger than before,
continued to be staunch and true, kept free from every unseemly thought,
and shunned whatever went contrary