Bahá’í World/Volume 18/Ardeshir Rostampour
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ARDESHIR ROSTAMPOUR
(ARDASIIIR RUSTAMPUR) 1901—1982
Ardeshir Rostampour was born of Zoroastrian parents in the village of Kufle Buyuk, near Yazd, Iran. He was a small child when his father died. His father had taken two wives, and Ardeshir’s mother, the second wife, was both mute and deaf. ‘The two of us were left dependent upon my half—brother,’ Ardeshir related. ‘I lived with my mother and worked as a servant for my half—brother; he was a very rough man and used me as a slave. I gradually became dissatisfied with my life. When I was about ten years old I learned thata caravan, bound for Bombay, was passing not far from our village. Through the use of sign language I conveyed to my mother my wish to escape my
THE BAHA‘I’ WORLD
Ardeshir Rostampour
miserable existence and go to India where I hoped to be able to earn some money to make life easier for her. She granted her consent, we took tearful leave of one another and I set off, taking as provision for my journey my meagre savings amounting to about the equivalent of one dollar, and five pieces of dried bread which I wrapped in a handkerchief. For two days and two nights I wandered alone in the desert in search of the caravan, vainly asking every passerby if he knew of its whereabouts. Finally I caught sight of it when it stopped for the evening. I was invited to join the caravan through the kindness of some people from my village who were travelling with it, one of whom, a Zoroastrian lady who had been a teacher in our village, engaged me as a servant and compensated me handsomely for my services. Through her generosity I was able to travel by steamer to Karachi where I found employment. I used to send all I had earned to my mother, asking her to distribute whatever she would not need herself to the needy ones in our village. Later on I managed to go on to Bombay, and after a while I came to Hyderabad, Sind, where I opened a restaurant. I have stayed here ever since.’
[Page 793]
IN MEMORIAM
From his earnings in the restaurant, Ardeshir made gifts to his village, establishing first a long-needed cemetery for the Zoroastrian community and later a reservoir to provide drinking water. Two entrances and taps were provided, one for Zoroastrians and one for Muslims, since custom would not allow them to share, and it was his wish that all might benefit equally from the facility.
Through meeting early distinguished Bahá’í teachers, including Mr. fiahriyar Yazdzim’, Mr. Isfandfyar Bak_htiyan’1 and Mr. Pritam Singh,2 who frequented his restaurant when they travelled to Hyderabad on teaching trips, Ardeshir became attracted to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and embraced it. He was a generous host to travelling teachers and enquirers, often accommodating eighteen or twenty guests and arranging personally for their food and comfort. On one occasion Miss Martha Root was an overnight guest.
Ardeshir’s Bahá’í life was lived entirely in the spirit of the words of Shoghi Effendi who encouraged the believers to be ‘like the fountain or spring that is continually emptying itself of all that it has and is continually being refilled from an invisible source. To be continually giving out for the good of our fellows undeterred by the fear of poverty and reliant on the unfailing bounty of the Source of all wealth and all good—this is the secret of right living.’3 He lived a simple life in Spartan surroundings and he gave spontaneously, generously and continually in support of Bahá’í undertakings. A contribution he had made was the means of acquiring the land for the Temple in India early in the Ten Year Crusade. Learning that the National Spiritual Assembly had found a suitable site for the construction of the Mashriqu’l-Acflkar but lacked the funds to acquire it he immediately donated his entire savings. Only through strenuous insistence did the representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly succeed in persuading him to accept back a small amount for his Own use. When he was asked on one occasion how he could give all of his money with no thought for himself he replied. ‘I did not have a penny when I started. All that I
' See ‘In Memoriam’, The Bahá’í World, vol. XVI, p. 554.
2 See ‘In Memoriam', The Bahá’í World, vol. XIII, p. 874.
3 From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, cited in Bahti’l’ Procedure, pp. 8—9.
793
had accumulated was given to me by God. Now He needed the money. I said to myself, If He needs the money, I will return all of it to Him. If I am supposed to have money, He will provide me with more, and if I am not supposed to have it, He would take back what I had anyway. Therefore, it was easy. I did it with full confidence and a joyful conscience. He has repaid me many times since then and I have always returned it to Him, as I am only a temporary trustee.’
It has been written of Ardeshir Rostampour: ‘Never one to seek honour for himself. his services have been rendered so quietly as to have been almost unknown and invisible to all but those members of the institutions of the Faith who received his many contributions. He has given as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had always done, in such a way that the right hand was unaware of what the left hand was doing. When Ardeshir said of himself, “I have given everything I have made to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,” it was a stark, matter-of—fact and unadorned description of his life, without a trace of personal pride or self-praise.’
When his passing on 11 April 1982 was announced, the Universal House of Justice cabled:
ASSURE RELATIVES FRIENDS ARDESHIR ROS TAMPOUR ARDENT PRAYERS PROGRESS SOUL
ABHA KINGDOM. HIS EXEMPLARY DEVOTION
AND DETACHMENT UNFORGETFABLE.
(Based on a memoir by DR. IRAJ AYMAN and CHARLES NOLLEY)