General Shua'u'llah Ala'i

General Shua'u'llah Ala'i told of seeing Mirza Abdu'llah when he was sixteen or seventeen years old. He had gone to a Baha'i gathering in a garden -- a party, not a meeting, but only Baha'is attended. It was sunset in summertime. They sat on a carpet and ate dinner by kerosene lamp. Mirza Abdu'llah was there and played the tar while a singer sang Baha'i poems (shi'r-i amri) and other poems. Ala'i related that in those days they used to sing mostly Sadi and Hafiz, with Qurratu'l-'Ayn and others.

(Baha'i Influences on Mirza Abdu'llah, Qajar Court Musician and Master of the Radif by Margaret Caton)