When Bahá’u’lláh was twenty-two years old, His father died,
and the Government wished Him to succeed to His father’s position in the
Ministry, as was customary in Persia, but Bahá’u’lláh did not accept the offer.
Then the Prime Minister said: “Leave him to himself. Such a position is
unworthy of him. He has some higher aim in view. I cannot understand him, but I
am convinced that he is destined for some lofty career. His thoughts are not
like ours. Let him alone.”
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Quoted in ‘Baha'u'llah and the New
Era’, by Dr. J.E. Esslemont)
