Both Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith, and the Báb, His Forerunner, lost their sons and have prayers and tablets extolling these great sacrifices. While not intending to compare the passing of dear Amin to those of the sacrifices and tribulations of these great prophets, we find solace in the words they have left behind.
The following is a prayer that the Báb revealed for His wife after the passing of their young son Ahmad. The Father did not lament his loss. He consecrated his death by words such as these:
“O God, my God! Would that a thousand Ishmaels were given Me, this Abraham of Thine, that I might have offered them, each and all, as a loving sacrifice unto Thee.
O my Beloved, my heart’s Desire! The sacrifice of this Ahmad whom Thy servant Ali-Muhammad hath offered up on the altar of Thy love can never suffice to quench the flame of longing in His heart. Not until He immolates His own heart at Thy feet, not until His whole body falls a victim to the cruelest tyranny in Thy path, not until His breast is made a target for countless darts for Thy sake, will the tumult of His soul be stilled.
O my God, my only Desire! Grant that the sacrifice of My son, My only son, may be acceptable unto Thee.
Grant that it be a prelude to the sacrifice of My own, My entire self, in the path of Thy good pleasure.
Endue with Thy grace My life-blood which I yearn to shed in Thy path. Cause it to water and nourish the seed of Thy Faith.
Endow it with Thy celestial potency, that this infant seed of God may soon germinate in the hearts of men, that it may thrive and prosper, that it may grow to become a mighty tree, beneath the shadow of which all the peoples and kindreds of the earth may gather.
Answer Thou My prayer, O God, and fulfil My most cherished desire. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.”
Persian Chant