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Entrance to the Síyáh-Chál |
The Síyáh-Chál, into which Bahá’u’lláh was thrown,
originally a reservoir of water for one of the public baths of Tihrán, was a
subterranean dungeon in which criminals of the worst type were wont to be
confined. The darkness, the filth, and the character of the prisoners, combined
to make of that pestilential dungeon the most abominable place to which human
beings could be condemned. - Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers; translated and edited by
Shoghi Effendi)
Síyáh-Chál - the Black Pit - was a subterranean dungeon in
the capital of Iran, dim, damp and dismal, never knowing the rays of the sun.
At one time it had been the water reservoir of a public bath. Few people
survived who were kept there for long. Now, in the summer of 1852, they herded
together all the Bábís on whom they could lay their hands in Tihran, cast them
into this dungeon and chained and fettered them. Amongst them were men from all
walks of life: from distinguished courtiers to humble artisans, from well-to-do
merchants to learned students of theology. Baha'u'llah, Himself, was one of
their number.
- Balyuzi (‘Baha’u’llah, the King of Glory)
We were consigned for four months to a place foul beyond
comparison. As to the dungeon in which this Wronged One and others similarly
wronged were confined, a dark and narrow pit were preferable. Upon Our arrival
We were first conducted along a pitch-black corridor, from whence We descended
three steep flights of stairs to the place of confinement assigned to Us. The
dungeon was wrapped in thick darkness, and Our fellow-prisoners numbered nearly
a hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen. Though crowded,
it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No pen can depict
that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell. Most of these men had
neither clothes nor bedding to lie on. God alone knoweth what befell Us in that
most foul-smelling and gloomy place!
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the
Wolf’)
