The anger of the Sháh’s mother towards Bahá’u’lláh: ““Deliver him to the executioner!” she insistently cried to the authorities.”

All this suffering and the cruel revenge the authorities had taken on those who had attempted the life of their sovereign failed to appease the anger of the Sháh’s mother. Day and night she persisted in her vindictive clamour, demanding the execution of Bahá’u’lláh, whom she still regarded as the real author of the crime. “Deliver him to the executioner!” she insistently cried to the authorities. “What greater humiliation than this, that I, who am the mother of the Sháh, should be powerless to inflict upon that criminal the punishment so dastardly an act deserves!” Her cry for vengeance, which an impotent rage served to intensify, was doomed to remain unanswered. Despite her machinations, Bahá’u’lláh was saved from the fate she had so importunately striven to precipitate. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

The very touching circumstances of what preceded the daily martyrdom of each of Bahá’u’lláh’s fellow-prisoners in the Siyáh-Chál

Every day Our gaolers, entering Our cell, would call the name of one of Our companions, bidding him arise and follow them to the foot of the gallows. With what eagerness would the owner of that name respond to that solemn call! Relieved of his chains, he would spring to his feet and, in a state of uncontrollable delight, would approach and embrace Us. We would seek to comfort him with the assurance of an everlasting life in the world beyond, and, filling his heart with hope and joy, would send him forth to win the crown of glory. He would embrace, in turn, the rest of his fellow-prisoners and then proceed to die as dauntlessly as he had lived. Soon after the martyrdom of each of these companions, We would be informed by the executioner, who had grown to be friendly to Us, of the circumstances of the death of his victim, and of the joy with which he had endured his sufferings to the very end. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Nabil in ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

How Bahá’u’lláh and His fellow-prisoners responded to the offer of a tray of roasted meat in the Siyáh-Chál

One day, there was brought to Our prison a tray of roasted meat, which they informed Us the Sháh had ordered to be distributed among the prisoners. ‘The Sháh,’ We were told, ‘faithful to a vow he made, has chosen this day to offer to you all this lamb in fulfilment of his pledge.’ A deep silence fell upon Our companions, who expected Us to make answer on their behalf. ‘We return this gift to you,’ We replied; ‘we can well dispense with this offer.’ The answer We made would have greatly irritated the guards had they not been eager to devour the food we had refused to touch. Despite the hunger with which Our companions were afflicted, only one among them, a certain Mírzá Husayn-i-Matavalliy-i-Qumí, showed any desire to eat of the food the sovereign had chosen to spread before us. With a fortitude that was truly heroic, Our fellow-prisoners submitted, without a murmur, to endure the piteous plight to which they were reduced. Praise of God, instead of complaint of the treatment meted out to them by the Sháh, fell unceasingly from their lips—praise with which they sought to beguile the hardships of a cruel captivity. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Nabil in ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

Bahá’u’lláh describes the Siyáh-Chál

When We entered the prison, on arrival, they conducted us along a dismal corridor, and thence We descended three steep stairs to the dungeon appointed for Us. The place was dark, and its inmates numbered nearly a hundred and fifty—thieves, assassins, and highway robbers. Holding such a crowd as this, it yet had no outlet but the passage through which We entered. The pen fails to describe this place and putrid stench. Most of the company had neither clothes to wear nor mat to lie on. God knows what We endured in that gloomy and loathsome place! 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

Prison system in Persia in the nineteenth century – by Lord Curzon, a British statesman

“Concerning the Persian mode of imprisonment, the practice is as different from our own as in the case of penalties. There is no such thing as penal servitude for life, or even for a term of years; hard labour is unknown as a sentence; and confinement for any lengthy period is rare. There is usually a gaol-delivery at the beginning of the new year; and when a fresh governor is appointed, he not uncommonly empties the prison that may have been filled by his predecessor, one or two of the worst cases, perhaps, suffering the death penalty, in order to create a salutary impression of strength. There is no such thing as a female ward, women being detained, as also are male criminals of high rank, in the house of a priest. In Tihrán there are said to be three kinds of prison the subterranean cells beneath the Ark, where criminals guilty of conspiracy, or high treason are reported to have been confined; the town prison, where the vulgar criminals may be seen with iron collars round their neck, sometimes with their feet in stocks, and attached to each other by iron chains; and the private guard-house, that is frequently an appurtenance of the mansions of the great. It will be seen that the Persian theory of justice, as expressed both in judicial sentences, in the infliction of penalties, and in the prison code, is one of sharp and rapid procedure, whose object is the punishment (in a manner as roughly equivalent as possible to the original offence), but in no sense the reformation, of the culprit.” 

- Lord Curzon  (“Persia and the Persian Question,” vol. i, pp. 458–9.; Footnotes to chapter 26 provided by Shoghi Effendi)

“The chorus of…gladsome voices” by prisoners in the Siyáh-Chál

We were placed in two rows, each facing the other. We had taught them to repeat certain verses which, every night, they chanted with extreme fervour. ‘God is sufficient unto me; He verily is the All-sufficing!’ one row would intone, while the other would reply: ‘In Him let the trusting trust.’ The chorus of these gladsome voices would continue to peal out until the early hours of the morning. Their reverberation would fill the dungeon, and, piercing its massive walls, would reach the ears of Násiri’d-Dín Sháh, whose palace was not far distant from the place where we were imprisoned. ‘What means this sound?’ he was reported to have exclaimed. ‘It is the anthem the Bábís are intoning in their prison,’ they replied. The Sháh made no further remarks, nor did he attempt to restrain the enthusiasm his prisoners, despite the horrors of their confinement, continued to display. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Nabil in ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

Bahá’u’lláh describes His torments in the Síyáh-Chál to a clergy who had persecuted His followers

O Shaykh! …Shouldst thou at some time happen to visit the dungeon of His Majesty the Shah, ask the director and chief jailer to show thee those two chains, one of which is known as Qara-Guhar, and the other as Salasil. I swear by the Daystar of Justice that for four months this Wronged One was tormented and chained by one or the other of them. "My grief exceedeth all the woes to which Jacob gave vent, and all the afflictions of Job are but a part of My sorrows!" 

- Baha'u'llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

Bahiyyih Khanum (Bahá’u’lláh’s daughter) recalls the impact of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrest in Tehran on the family

From our doors nobody was ever turned away; the hospitable board was spread for all comers … 

Whilst the people called my Father 'The Father of the poor', they spoke of my mother as 'The Mother of Consolation', though, naturally, only the women and little children ever looked upon her face unveiled…

One day I remember very well, though I was only six years old at the time. It seemed that an attempt had been made on the life of the Shah by a half-crazy young Babi.

My Father was away at his country house in the viliage of Niyavaran, which was His property, the villagers of which were all and individually cared for by Him.

Suddenly and hurriedly a servant came rushing in great distress to my mother.

'The master, the master, He is arrested - I have seen Him! He has walked many miles! Oh, they have beaten Him. They say He has suffered the torture of the bastinado! His feet are bleeding! He has no shoes on! His turban has gone! His clothes are torn! There are chains upon His neck!’'

My poor mother’s face grew whiter and whiter.

We children were terribly frightened and could only weep bitterly.

Immediately everybody, all our relations, and friends, and servants fled from our house in terror, only one man servant, Isfandiyar, remained, and one woman. Our palace, and the smaller houses belonging to it were very soon stripped of everything; furniture, treasures all were stolen by the people.

Baha’u’llah’s brother, Mirza Musa., who remained faithful throughout his life, helped the distraught mother and her three children to escape and found them a small house near the prison where they could remain in hiding. Asiyih Khanum [Baha’u’llah’s wife] gathered what small treasures she could, such as the gold buttons on her wedding dress, and sold everything to provide money to pay the gaolers to take food to Baha’u’llah and to keep the family alive. 

- Bahiyyih Khanum  (Quoted by lady Blomfield in 'The Chosen Highway'; David Hofman, 'Baha’u’llah the Prince of Peace')

The government forced a Bábi youth to identify the disciples of the Báb in Tihran – took him also into Bahá’u’lláh’s presence in the Síyáh-Chál

A youth named Abbás, a former servant of Hájí Sulaymán Khán,[an influential Bábi who had frequent gatherings of the Bábis at his house] and fully informed, owing to the wide circle of friends whom his master cultivated, of the names the number, and the dwelling places of the Báb’s disciples, was employed by the enemy as an instrument ready to hand for the prosecution of its designs. He had identified himself with the Faith of his master, and regarded himself as one of its zealous supporters. At the outset of the turmoil, he was arrested and compelled to betray all those whom he knew to be associated with the Faith. They sought by every manner of reward to induce him to reveal those who were his master’s fellow-disciples, and warned him that, should he refuse to disclose their names, he would be subjected to inhuman tortures…

This Abbás was taken to the Síyáh-Chál and introduced to Bahá’u’lláh, whom he had met previously on several occasions in the company of his master, in the hope that he would betray Him. They promised that the mother of the Sháh would amply reward him for such a betrayal. Every time he was taken into Bahá’u’lláh’s presence, Abbás, after standing a few moments before Him and gazing upon His face, would leave the place, emphatically denying ever having seen Him. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

An incident recalled by ‘Abdu’l-Baha during those days when Baha’u’llah was in the Síyáh-Chál

I have heard the Most Great Branch, who in those days was a child of only eight years of age, recount one of His experiences as He ventured to leave the house in which He was then residing:

“We had sought shelter, He told us, “in the house of My uncle, Mírzá Ismá’íl. Tihrán was in the throes of the wildest excitement. I ventured at times to sally forth from that house and to cross the street on My way to the market. I would hardly cross the threshold and step into the street, when boys of My age, who were running about, would crowd around Me crying, ‘Babi! Bábí. Knowing well the state of excitement into which all the inhabitants of the capital, both young and old, had fallen, I would deliberately ignore their clamour and quietly steal away to My home.

“One day I happened to be walking alone through the market on My way to My uncle’s house. As I was looking behind Me, I found a band of little ruffians running fast to overtake Me. They were pelting Me with stones and shouting menacingly, ‘Babi! Bábí!’ To intimidate them seemed to be the only way I could avert the danger with which I was threatened. I turned back and rushed towards them with such determination that they fled away in distress and vanished. I could hear their distant cry, ‘The little Bábí is fast pursuing us! He will surely overtake and slay us all!’

“As I was directing My steps towards home, I heard a man shouting at the top of his voice: ‘Well done, you brave and fearless child! No one of your age would ever have been able, unaided, to withstand their attack.’

“From that day onward, I was never again molested by any of the boys of the streets, nor did I hear any offensive word fall from their lips.” 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

Ásíyih Khanum took temporary refuge in the house of her aunt

During the first day of alarms, hiding from the Bábí-hunters, the family, with younger half-brother Muhammad-Qulí' took refuge in the house of Lady Ásíyih's aunt, whose husband was a Government official, 'Uncle Ismá'íl' to the small 'Abbás.[‘Abdu’l-Baha] Finding that their presence endangered the host family, lady Ásíyih returned briefly to the looted house, in which they lived in destitution. Lady Ásíyih had been able to preserve only some few items from her marriage dowry, including gold buttons from her wedding garments, to sell for what they might bring for food or other needs. 

- David Ruhe  (‘Robe of Light: The Persian Years of the Supreme Prophet Bahá’u’lláh 1817-1853)

Bahá’u’lláh’s arrest and the impact on the holy family

The family first heard of the crisis when suddenly a servant came running to lady Ásíyih at the rented mansion in Teheran, crying out that the Master had been arrested and had walked many miles, that His clothes were torn, His feet bare and bleeding, and that He had been mistreated. Quickly the storm broke about their heads as the outcries against the Bábís began and were propagated so that, alarmed, all the Núrí relatives fled their houses in Teheran and were followed by their servants, save only faithful black Isfandíyár and a single black servant-woman. The houses of Bahá’u’lláh and His kindred were looted and stripped by plundering mobs, so that in a single day the family was reduced from wealth to poverty. 

- David Ruhe  (‘Robe of Light: The Persian Years of the Supreme Prophet Bahá’u’lláh 1817-1853)

Bahá’u’lláh describes the exceptionally cruel treatment that He and His fellow-prisoners were subjected to in the Siyáh-Chál

All those who were struck down by the storm that raged during that memorable year in Tihrán were Our fellow-prisoners in the Síyáh-Chál, where We were confined. We were all huddled together in one cell, our feet in stocks, and around our necks fastened the most galling of chains. The air we breathed was laden with the foulest impurities, while the floor on which we sat was covered with filth and infested with vermin. No ray of light was allowed to penetrate that pestilential dungeon or to warm its icy-coldness. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Nabil in ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

The exceptionally inhumane conditions of the Síyáh-Chál

A barrel roof, vertical sides and a flat brick floor enclosed a dungeon space perhaps twenty meters long, lightless even when the jailers opened the single door above the last short, steep, seven steps from the access hallway to the floor of the pitch-black dungeon. To Bahá’u’lláh who loved light, the blackness itself was a torture. At the angle of wall and floor of the two long sides of the chamber sat the prisoners side by side, the central space between their feet functioning as an aisle for the jailers. There was no drainage and no removal of wastes. Odors of foulest kinds were intermixed with offensive acrid aromatics from the ferments, molds and putrefaction. The prisoners' torments were made additionally intolerable by vermin, doubtless bedbugs, fleas and lice, possibly also with aggressive rats competing for food scraps. The chained prisoners could scarcely move in their floor-fastened shackles, and then only in concert. And they could not escape the mind-curdling din of their fellow prisoners, a confused manic chorus of despair. 

- David Ruhe  (‘Robe of Light: The Persian Years of the Supreme Prophet Bahá’u’lláh 1817-1853)

Bahá’u’lláh was chained with five other Babís, including His nephew

At His side, chained with Him, were five other Bábís, including His nephew Mahmúd [1] and Hájí Mírzá Jání, the merchant of Káshán who had become the historian of the Cause; their fetters were locked together with heavy bolts and screws, the chains fastened to the floor. His clothing was in shreds, and from this appalling state there was no prospect of relief. 

- David Ruhe  (‘Robe of Light: The Persian Years of the Supreme Prophet Bahá’u’lláh 1817-1853)

[1] Mahmúd, was the son of Baha’u’llah’s half-brother, Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí. On his release from Siyah-Chal he is reported to have became a follower of Azal.

Eight year old ‘Abdu’l-Baha saw Bahá’u’lláh in Síyáh-Chál

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, eight years old, went to see His father in the prison. He related that half-way down the steps to the cell it became so dark that He could not see anything. He heard Bahá’u’lláh call out, ‘Take him away.’ He was taken out and seated to wait for the prisoners to be brought out for their meal.

“I saw Bahá'u'lláh's neck in chains, and another, both chained to the same links, a link about His neck and another about the person who was chained with Him. The weight of the chain was so excessive that His neck was bent; He walked with great difficulty, and He was in a very sad condition. His clothes were tattered and battered; even the hat on His head was torn. He was in the most severe ordeal and His health was quite visibly failing. They brought me and seated me, and they took Him to the place where there was a pond, in order that He might wash His face. After that they took Him back to the dungeon and, although I was a child, I was so overcome I was unconscious.” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, From a talk, 19 October 1912, Los Angeles; ‘Star of the West, vol. 7, no. 4, May 17, 1916)

- David Hofman  (‘Bahá’u’lláh, The Prince of Peace’)

The dream of Mírzá ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb-i-Shírází – a youth chained besides Bahá’u’lláh in the Síyáh-Chál

We were awakened one night, ere break of day, by Mírzá ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb-i-Shírází, who was bound with Us to the same chains. He had left Kazímayn and followed Us to Ṭihrán, where he was arrested and thrown into prison. He asked Us whether We were awake, and proceeded to relate to Us his dream. ‘I have this night,’ he said, ‘been soaring into a space of infinite vastness and beauty. I seemed to be uplifted on wings that carried me wherever I desired to go. A feeling of rapturous delight filled my soul. I flew in the midst of that immensity with a swiftness and ease that I cannot describe.’ ‘To-day,’ We replied, ‘it will be your turn to sacrifice yourself for this Cause. May you remain firm and steadfast to the end. You will then find yourself soaring in that same limitless space of which you dreamed, traversing with the same ease and swiftness the realm of immortal sovereignty, and gazing with that same rapture upon the Infinite Horizon.’

That morning saw the gaoler again enter Our cell and call out the name of ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb. Throwing off his chains, he sprang to his feet, embraced each of his fellow-prisoners, and, taking Us into his arms, pressed Us lovingly to his heart. That moment We discovered that he had no shoes to wear We gave him Our own, and, speaking a last word of encouragement and cheer, sent him forth to the scene of his martyrdom. Later on, his executioner came to Us, praising in glowing language the spirit which that youth had shown. How thankful We were to God for this testimony which the executioner himself had given! 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Nabil in ‘The Dawn-Breakers; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

The moving scene of how each believer faced their death when their name was called out in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh

Every day Our gaolers, entering Our cell, would call the name of one of Our companions, bidding him arise and follow them to the foot of the gallows. With what eagerness would the owner of that name respond to that solemn call! Relieved of his chains, he would spring to his feet and, in a state of uncontrollable delight, would approach and embrace Us. We would seek to comfort him with the assurance of an everlasting life in the world beyond, and, filling his heart with hope and joy, would send him forth to win the crown of glory. He would embrace, in turn, the rest of his fellow-prisoners and then proceed to die as dauntlessly as he had lived. Soon after the martyrdom of each of these companions, We would be informed by the executioner, who had grown to be friendly to Us, of the circumstances of the death of his victim, and of the joy with which he had endured his sufferings to the very end. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Nabil in ‘The Dawn-Breakers; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

How Bahá’u’lláh led the prisoners not to accept the gift of roasted meat offered by the Sháh

One day, there was brought to Our prison a tray of roasted meat, which they informed Us the Sháh had ordered to be distributed among the prisoners. ‘The Sháh,’ We were told, ‘faithful to a vow he made, has chosen this day to offer to you all this lamb in fulfilment of his pledge.’ A deep silence fell upon Our companions, who expected Us to make answer on their behalf. ‘We return this gift to you,’ We replied; ‘we can well dispense with this offer.’ The answer We made would have greatly irritated the guards had they not been eager to devour the food we had refused to touch. Despite the hunger with which Our companions were afflicted, only one among them, a certain Mírzá Husayn-i-Matavalliy-i-Qumí, showed any desire to eat of the food the sovereign had chosen to spread before us. With a fortitude that was truly heroic, Our fellow-prisoners submitted, without a murmur, to endure the piteous plight to which they were reduced. Praise of God, instead of complaint of the treatment meted out to them by the Sháh, fell unceasingly from their lips—praise with which they sought to beguile the hardships of a cruel captivity. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Nabil in ‘The Dawn-Breakers; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

Bahá’u’lláh describes the horrors of the confinement in the Síyáh-Chál

All those who were struck down by the storm that raged during that memorable year in Tihrán were Our fellow-prisoners in the Síyáh-Chál, where We were confined. We were all huddled together in one cell, our feet in stocks, and around our necks fastened the most galling of chains. The air we breathed was laden with the foulest impurities, while the floor on which we sat was covered with filth and infested with vermin. No ray of light was allowed to penetrate that pestilential dungeon or to warm its icy-coldness. We were placed in two rows, each facing the other. We had taught them to repeat certain verses which, every night, they chanted with extreme fervour. ‘God is sufficient unto me; He verily is the All-sufficing!’ one row would intone, while the other would reply: ‘In Him let the trusting trust.’ The chorus of these gladsome voices would continue to peal out until the early hours of the morning. Their reverberation would fill the dungeon, and, piercing its massive walls, would reach the ears of Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, whose palace was not far distant from the place where we were imprisoned. ‘What means this sound?’ he was reported to have exclaimed. ‘It is the anthem the Bábís are intoning in their prison,’ they replied. The Sháh made no further remarks, nor did he attempt to restrain the enthusiasm his prisoners, despite the horrors of their confinement, continued to display. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Nabil in ‘The Dawn-Breakers; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

Bahá’u’lláh’s family tried to send Him some food

His family often endeavoured to persuade the guards to allow them to carry the food they had prepared for Him into His prison. Though at first no amount of pleading would induce the guards to relax the severity of their discipline, yet gradually they yielded to His friends’ importunity. No one could be sure, however, whether that food would eventually reach Him, or whether He would consent to eat it whilst a number of His fellow-prisoners were starving before His eyes. Surely greater misery than had befallen these innocent victims of the wrath of their sovereign, could hardly be imagined. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers'; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

“one of the executioners who was watching over Him was moved with pity.”

Such were the conditions under which He was held down that even one of the executioners who were watching over Him was moved with pity. Several times this man attempted to induce Him to take some tea which he had managed to introduce into the dungeon under the cover of his garments. Bahá’u’lláh, however, would refuse to drink it. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers'; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

‘Abdu’l Bahá was allowed one day to see Bahá’u’lláh while in the Síyáh-Chál

“‘Abdu’l Bahá,” Dr. J. E. Esslemont records in his book, “tells how, one day, He was allowed to enter the prison yard to see His beloved Father, where He came out for His daily exercise. Bahá’u’lláh was terribly altered, so ill He could hardly walk, His hair and beard unkempt, His neck galled and swollen from the pressure of a heavy steel collar, His body bent by the weight of His chains.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

“His feet were placed in stocks”; “For three days and three nights, no manner of food or drink was given to Bahá’u’lláh.”

His feet were placed in stocks, and around His neck were fastened the Qará-Guhar chains, infamous throughout Persia for their galling weight.  For three days and three nights, no manner of food or drink was given to Bahá’u’lláh. Rest and sleep were both impossible to Him. The place was infested with vermin, and the stench of that gloomy abode was enough to crush the very spirits of those who were condemned to suffer its horrors. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

Síyáh-Chál (The Black Pit) of Tehran – a depiction