r and myself lived in a house near a corner. Because our enemies
frequently injured us, we were intending to go to a place where they did
not know us. I was a child at that time. At midnight Isfandiyar came in.
My mother said, "O Isfandiyar, there are a hundred policemen seeking for
you. If they catch you, they will not kill you at once but will torture
you with fire. They will cut off your fingers. They will cut off your
ears. They will put out your eyes to force you to tell them the secrets of
Baha'u'llah. Go away! Do not stay here." He said, "I cannot go because I
owe money in the street and in the stores. How can I go? They will say
that the servant of Baha'u'llah has bought and consumed the goods and
supplies of the storekeepers without paying for them. Unless I pay all
these obligations, I cannot go. But if they take me, never mind. If they
punish me, there is no harm in that. If they kill me, do not be grieved.
But to go away is impossible. I must remain until I pay all I owe. Then I
will go." For one month Isfandiyar went about in the streets and bazaars.
He had things to sell, and from his earnings he gradually paid his
creditors. In fact, they were not his debts but the debts of the court,
for all our properties had been confiscated. Everything we had was taken
away from us. The only things that remained were our debts. Isfandiyar
paid them in full; not a single penny remained unpaid. Then he came to us,
said good-bye and went away. Afterward Baha'u'llah was released from
prison. We went to Ba_gh_dad, and Isfandiyar came there. He wanted to stay
in the same home. Baha'u'llah, the Blessed Perfection, said to him, "When
you fled away, there was a Persian minister who gave you shelter at a time
when no one else could give you protection. Because he gave you shelter
and protected you, you must be faithful to him. If he is satisfied to have
you go, then come to us; but if he does not want you to go, do not leave
him." His master said, "I do not want to be separated from Isfandiyar.
Where can I find another like him, with such sincerity, such faithfulness,
such character, such power? Where can I find one? O Isfandiyar! I am not
willing that you should go, yet if you wish to go, let it be according to
your own will." But because the Blessed Perfection had said, "You must be
faithful," Isfandiyar stayed with his master until he died. He was a point
of light. Although his color was black, yet his character was luminous;
h