`Abdu'l-Hamid I
shráq-
Khávarí was born in the city of Mashhad,
in the province of
Khurásán, Persia, on October 2. 1902,
in a family whose members had ranked high among the I
thná-'A
shariyyih sect of
Shí'ah Islam. He commenced his education
under the tutelage of his father and grandfather and pursued
it in the religious schools which abounded in Persia in that
age. He also studied logic, literature and philosophy and
being talented and blessed with a good memory was to
learn by heart numerous passages from the Muslim scriptures.
Having come across the writings of
Shay
kh Ahmad-i-Ahsá'i and
Siyyid Kázim-i-Ra
shti, the twin luminous stars who heralded
the coming of the Báb, he left home and wandered from place
to place in search of the truth, ever adding to his store of
knowledge, but ever missing the object of his quest.
So far, his total knowledge of the Bahá'í Faith had been
derived from literature hostile to it. Nor was his first
contact with Bahá'ís themselves any more helpful because the
two zealous friends who tried to attract him to the Cause were
unable to give logical answers to his line of arguing and this
antagonised him, and caused him to veer from the Bahá'í course
of search for two whole years. Then, one day, in a public park
he heard melodious chanting of some verses which captured his
attention and stirred his soul. Surely, he reflected, these
Words are not man's composition, they are God-inspired. He
approached the reciter of those verses. It was Mirzá Yusuf
Khán-i-Vujdání, a well-known Bahá'í teacher, who had been
chanting Bahá'u'lláh's
Tablet to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh, the king
of Persia. He talked and I
shráq-
Khávarí listened. It set his
heart on fire, it captivated his soul. He accepted the Faith
of Bahá'u'lláh and resolved to dedicate the rest of his days
to its service.
