Monthly Archives: October 2013

Below are pictures from the beautiful memorial for Amin with family and friends in Bellevue, Washington earlier this month.

Dearest Friends and Families,

Visiting the Holy Land on the first anniversary of our dear Amin jan’s departure was a heavenly balm on our broken heart.  A heart that no matter how well we try to mend it, the cracks will still be visible and never be the same.  At the Bahá’í Holy places we were praying to have a bigger heart to be able to accept the unexpected events in our life.  A heart to be capable to keep the love of life at all times under all conditions and a heart to be appreciative towards all the bounties which have been bestowed and showered upon us easily and freely.

All of you were in our prayers. We have bowed down our head at the Threshold of our Beloved and prayed for each one of you to be healthy, successful and happy in life and best of all to be able to serve the Faith and last but not the least for love and unity among all of us as always.

A year has passed and we did our best to keep the gate of our heart open to let the faith comes in. Dear Amin lives in the heart of each one of us till eternity. Sometimes we feel how sudden and how unexpected Amin has left us and how untimely it was.  But after our pilgrimage it became more and more apparent and easier to realize and comprehend the wisdom of the Almighty that if it was Amin’s destiny which it was, how beautiful, gracious and timely he has left us. Precious memories, pride and good name of Amin jan will last with us till eternity.  Through his pure soul Amin has achieved his mission in this life and for certain we all are delighted for him.

Since last October each one of you have given us unconditional and unlimited support and endless love.  How fortunate we are to have friends and families like you and we indeed value it as a precious gem.  Please accept our deepest and sincerest appreciations and gratitude.

Love you all,

Shidfar & Farzaneh

We have received a beautiful tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá titled the Tablet of Saboktakeen.  Addressed to the youth of Ishqabad, Russia on July 23, 1914, in it ‘Abdu’l-Bahá praises these youth for asking their parents to donate whatever money was to be bequeathed to them towards the construction of the House of Worship in ‘Ishqábád.  We are not aware of an English translation.  In the tablet, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá retells the youth the story of a king named Saboktakeen and his regrets after a life in pursuit of earthly pleasures and praises the youth for the sacrifices they have made.  The following from Star of the West, Volume 9 – Issue 18 details more about Saboktakeen’s fate:

“THE WORLDLY KING’S LAMENT. It is related that Saboktakeen, one of the renowned ancient kings of Persia, lived in the utmost grandeur and splendor. His palace was like unto the delectable paradise, and his table was provided with royal bounty and his life was like unto a stream of milk and honey. His treasuries were full and his riches unlimited. He was in the utmost joy and happiness. Suddenly he was attacked with a malady and was burning away like unto a candle, and with Jeremiads of disappointments he Was singing the most mournful tunes. When he became hopeless of this life, three days before his death, he commanded all his chamberlains, wearing golden girdles, to form a long line, and ordered all the ladies-in-waiting to present themselves before him. His treasures and all his precious jewels were on display before his eyes, and his accumulated Wealth was arrayed in dazzling fashion. Then he invited his ministers, courtiers and statesmen to be present in the throne room on a certain hour, and asked his immense army to be engaged in the maneuvers of victory and triumph in the military square in front of the palace. While sitting on his throne, he looked regretfully, now on this scene, now on another, and again on all this matchless array of grandeur and magnificence and wept most bitterly, crying aloud: “O! Thy must I be deprived of this imperial sovereignty and these royal prerogatives? Why should I not enjoy this life? Why bid farewell to all these things? How can I leave them behind and hasten empty-handed from this world to another World?” He wept and wept till he drew his last breath”

(From Diary of Mirza. Ahmad Sohrab, July 25, 1914.)

In the below recording from August 1, 1991, Amin’s great uncle chants this beautiful tablet in Persian for Amin’s father and in memory of Amin’s grandfather who often chanted this tablet.

And below is the original tablet in Persian and it can also be found here.

Some dear family friends sent the following note and account of the memorial in Beijing to Amin’s parents.

How sweet and generous of you both to remember us and our family in your prayers during the precious days of your pilgrimage to the Most Holy Land. Deepest appreciation and gratitude are in order. Thank you so very much!

 In the realm of the reality of life, how wonderful that you could be physically at the Threshold of the Beloved in the Most Holy Land to bow down your heads in acceptance of His incomprehensible wisdom. “He doeth as He doeth, and what recourse have we? He carrieth out His Will, He ordaineth what He pleaseth.” You have followed the beloved Master’s council: “Then better for thee to bow down thy head in submission, and put thy trust in the All-Merciful Lord.”

The memorial meeting for Amin jon was a privilege to share in his honor and on your behalf. It was a very special night. Your presence was felt strongly as well. The love that was poured out for Amin jon and his memory by those who had, in their own words “the privilege” of meeting him was also directed at you both for having raised such a “pure”, “loving”, “polite”, and “considerate gentleman”. One friend said: “He had such a pure soul that he was too good for this world.” Several friends said that they wished to have the privilege of meeting Amin’s parents. It is said that a “fruit does not fall far from the tree.”

Sometimes, one wonders that Amin jon was probably called to join, with his grandfather and grand aunt, the concourse on high to assist his sweet brother in his services in the land they both dedicated their lives to. A land where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself had wished to travel to.

Our hearts join your aching hearts to celebrate Amin jon’s  memories. May the Almighty’s grace surround you in every way and strengthen your faith and dedication to His benevolent Cause!

Below is another beautiful Baha’i prayer chanted in Persian along with photos of Amin.  Thanks to a dear family member for putting this together in memory of Amin.

While Amin’s parents spent the weekend at the Holy Land praying and meditating with memories of dear Amin, family and friends held memorials to honor him.

Here is a report from the memorial held at Amin’s resting place in Bellevue, Washington.

Today was the Anniversary of Amin-jan’s passing, and I feel you should know how it went.  A few days ago I informed the friends that we are getting together on Sunday at 2:00 PM.  I was there at 1:00 PM and washed the stone, watered the flowers and arranged some cut flowers around the stone.  Around 2:15 about 35 friends joined us.   Many prayers were said and we ended with the Tablet of Ahmad.  The weather was beautiful and super warm.  There was a big shade which shielded us from the sun.  A nice pleasant breeze was blowing.  Most people brought flowers and Amin-jan’s stone was full of flowers. What a spiritual, beautiful day, and what a blessing it was that the weather was not rainy.  I am sure Amin was with us and had something to do with the weather.

In response, Amin’s parents wrote the following note earlier today:

We are sitting in top of our hotel terrace  reading your email with teary eyes.  How lucky we are to have a family and friends like you in our lives.  Indeed it is a very special and emotional time in our life.  I am sure our dearest Amin John has been with each one of us these days.  We are so delighted prayers were said at his resting place on his anniversary and looking forward to see the pictures.

There were also memorials and gatherings in honor of dear Amin in Brisbane; Beijing; Shanghai; Madrid; Washington, DC; Atlanta; Houston; and San Francisco.

Below are some photos of these events.  Additional photos will be made added as they become available.

A family member has kindly put together this video in memory of dear Amin upon the first anniversary of his passing.  It includes pictures of Amin along with a beautiful chant of a Baha’i prayer for the departed in Persian.

Our dearest, dearest Amin-jan,

We would like to celebrate the first anniversary of your new life by saying:
It has been a year that we have not been able to see your radiant face, to hold you in our arms or hear your kind voice except in our dreams.  It has been a year that you have flown to the land of mystery to be closer to your Beloved. And it has been a year that we thought we have been dreaming and the reality is, yes we are sleep and you are the one who has been awakened to the breath of reality.  The news that you have left this mortal life to the eternal realm was indeed unbelievable and unreal to hear and hard to accept.  However, we did accept the Divine Wisdom and now after a year are still grieving.  For certain, this will be a lifetime challenge for all of us.

We know that every test comes with God’s desire and definitely for a reason. Now is the time to be steadfast and prove our faith and wholeheartedly accept this Godly interaction and humbly be loyal to the wish of our creator. We are doing our best to continue life with your beautiful and memorable memories and we are sincerely thankful to  Bahá’u’lláh for giving us the opportunity to know you and spend time with you for over thirty years.
With a broken heart we are indeed delighted for you because you had your last breath at the land that you loved and cherished, beautiful China and this is what you wished for. Bahá’u’lláh himself testifies: “They that have forsaken their country in the path of God and subsequently ascended unto his presence, such souls shall be blessed by the concourse on High and their names recorded by the pen of Glory among such as have laid down their lives as martyrs in the path of God, the help in peril, the self-subsistent.”

Our dear Amin-jan during the short time of your life you have accomplished the virtues that made the path smooth for you to fly to heaven. You were always a heavenly son and brother for us and now you are a heavenly soul.
In one of his passages  Bahá’u’lláh has mentioned that our loved ones who are gone to the Abha Kingdom are closer to us than our own veins. We are certain and sometimes we do even feel that you are with us and aware of our position but our human mind and the wisdom of our creator has limited our comprehension to realize the life after this life. We all do believe that there would be a time we will meet again but it is not easy to wait. Bahá’u’lláh has advised us to be patient at the times of tests and hardships and we humbly try to be obedient.

Sometimes in the past instead of saying goodbye to us you used to say, “you are in my prayers and please keep me in yours” and now we would like to say, you are always in our prayers please keep us in yours as well.

You will always be remembered with profound joy and ardent and abundant love.

Dad, Mom, Laila, Vafa and Ashkan