God. For this Faith,
he laid down his life, and in dying, triumphed. He passed by the world and
its rewards; he closed his eyes to rank and wealth; he loosed himself from
all such chains and fetters, and put every worldly thought aside. Of wide
learning, at once a mujtahid, a philosopher, a mystic, and gifted with
intuitive sight, he was also an accomplished man of letters and an orator
without a peer. He had a great and universal mind.

Praise be to God, at the end he was made the recipient of heavenly grace.
Upon him be the glory of God, the All-Glorious. May God shed the
brightness of the Abha Kingdom upon his resting-place. May God welcome him
into the Paradise of reunion, and shelter him forever in the realm of the
righteous, submerged in an ocean of lights.

ISMU'LLAHU'L-ASDAQ

Among the Hands of the Cause of God who have departed this life and
ascended to the Supreme Horizon was Jinab-i-Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq. Another
was Jinab-i-Nabil-i-Akbar. Still others were Jinab-i-Mulla 'Ali-Akbar and
Jinab-i-_Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad-Riday-i-Yazdi. Again, among others, was the
revered martyr, Aqa Mirza Varqa.

Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq was truly a servant of the Lord from the beginning of
life till his last breath. When young, he joined the circle of the late
Siyyid Kazim and became one of his disciples. He was known in Persia for
his purity of life, winning fame as Mulla Sadiq the saintly. He was a
blessed individual, a man accomplished, learned, and much honored. The
people of _Kh_urasan were strongly attached to him, for he was a great
scholar and among the most renowned of matchless and unique divines. As a
teacher of the Faith, he spoke with such eloquence, such extraordinary
power, that his hearers were won over with great ease.

After he had come to Ba_gh_dad and attained the presence of Baha'u'llah,
he was seated one day in the courtyard of the men's apartments, by the
little garden. I was in one of the rooms just above, that gave onto the
courtyard. At that moment a Persian prince, a grandson of Fath-'Ali
_Sh_ah, arrived at the house. The prince said to him, "Who are you?"
Ismu'llah answered, "I am a servant of this Threshhold. I am one of the
keepers of this door." And as I listened from above, he began to teach the
Faith. The prince at first objected violently; and yet, in a quarter of an
hour, gently and benignly, Jinab-i-Ismu'llah had quieted him down. After
the prince had so sharply denied what was said, and hi