Mrs Fazi

Mrs Fazi

She lived in Tehran and was from a wealthy family.  She was ever elegantly dressed, well read and meticulous in her housekeeping.  She lived in an affluent area of the town in her large spacious house.    One day a couple came to her door and told her to pack one suitcase and leave immediately as they had been given her house and its contents, since she was a Baha’i.  She was literally thrown out of her own home within a matter of hours with her single suitcase in hand.  She had lost everything she owned in a matter of hours.  Everything that was familiar, loved and cherished was now owned by strangers. 

But, she had her children and they were more important than possessions, she consoled herself.  We take for granted all that we have until it is taken or lost, she told her friends. Then, her son, a medical doctor, was arrested and put into Evin prison.  Arresting Baha’is was becoming a common occurrence, whether it was to extract large fines from the family or as a method of intimidating the Baha’i community.  She visited the prison daily on foot taking food and clean clothes to her son.  The guards, as a joke, told her one-day that she needn’t come anymore as her son had been executed the night before.  Mrs Fazi went missing and was found two days later wandering the streets in a confused state.  Her son was eventually released but her mental state never recovered. 

She came to live in Ballymena and was lovingly nursed by her daughter here in Northern Ireland and is buried in the graveyard here.  I visited her grave recently and thought about her life and her suffering.   I also remembered her kindness to all who came across her path and her devotion to her family.  The callous cruelty that cuts through decent lives and wreaks havoc and pain quite takes one’s breath away and shouldn’t be forgotten.

“O OPPRESSORS ON EARTH!
Withdraw your hands from tyranny, for I have pledged Myself not to forgive any man's injustice.”

The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh