During our current series of deepenings in Newtownards facilitated by Marie Whiteside, we have been studying episodes from the life of Bahá'u'lláh We are using some materials from Ruhi Book 4 which two members of our community have completed. At our last meeting we looked at the story of how Mullá Husayn took a scroll of the Báb to Teheran and how it eventually reached Bahá'u'lláh. The following details aroused much discussion.
“Dismissing the young man from His Presence, Baha'u'llah requested him to take to Mullá Husayn, as a gift from Him, a loaf of sugar and a packet of tea...”
Now why did Bahá'u'lláh give a gift of sugar and tea? The family fortunes were still intact at that time and Bahá'u'lláh could easily have sent money or jewels or some other expensive gift but He sent tea and sugar
!The first response from our group was that perhaps sugar and tea were indeed valuable commodities in those days. However, the narrator later describes the present as “so small a gift”. Then another possibility was raised.
The group was informed by one of the community that the Báb was extremely fond of very hot, very sweet tea (does anyone have a reference for this?) Now was this a signal to Mullá Husayn that Bahá'u'lláh, Who had never met the Báb, wasintimately acquainted with the Báb’s tastes and preferences. Another possibility was that it is the custom to this day to use cone-shaped sugar for special occasions, e.g. weddings etc. and this episode represented a very special occasion.
However, the explanation that gained the most widespread support came from the manner in which Mullá Husayn received the gift.
“No words can describe the joy with which Mullá Husayn received them. With a bowed head he accepted the gift and fervently kissed it.”
The monetary value of the gift was irrelevant to Mullá Husayn. Its importance lay in Who had sent it. Mullá Husayn's reaction would have been the same no matter what the gift had been. Also, the gift provided a valuable lesson for the young man - a lesson that would have been lost on him if the gift had been gold.
Have you dear readers any other insights into this or any other episodes from the life of Bahá'u'lláh?
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