Mírzá Áqá Khán, [the prime minister] though he undertook to give the fullest assurances that were required, and received Bahá’u’lláh with every mark of respect into his home, was, however, too apprehensive for the safety of his own position to accord his Guest the treatment he was expected to extend.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
“When I was in chains and fetters, in the prison of Tá, one of thine ambassadors assisted Me. Therefore hath God decreed unto thee a station which none but Himself can comprehend. Beware lest thou change this lofty station.”
- Bahá’u’lláh’s (From the Tablet to the Czar of Russia; Footnotes to chapter 26 of ‘The Dawn-Breakers, provided by Shoghi Effendi’)
As Bahá’u’lláh was leaving the village of Zarkandih, the minister’s daughter, who felt greatly distressed at the dangers which beset His life, was so overcome with emotion that she was unable to restrain her tears. “Of what use,” she was heard expostulating with her father, “is the authority with which you have been invested, if you are powerless to extend your protection to a guest whom you have received in your house?” The minister, who had a great affection for his daughter, was moved by the sight of her tears, and sought to comfort her by his assurances that he would do all in his power to avert the danger that threatened the life of Bahá’u’lláh.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
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| Prince Dolgorouki (Wikipedia) |
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
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| Násiri’d-Dín Sháh 1859 (Wikipedia) |
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
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| Mirza Majid |
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
Bahá’u’lláh, when that attempt had been made on the life of the sovereign, was in Lavásán, the guest of the Grand Vizir, and was staying in the village of Afchih when the momentous news reached Him. Refusing to heed the advice of the Grand Vizir’s brother, Ja‘far-Qulí Khán, who was acting as His host, to remain for a time concealed in that neighborhood, and dispensing with the good offices of the messenger specially dispatched to insure His safety, He rode forth, the following morning, with cool intrepidity, to the headquarters of the Imperial army which was then stationed in Níyávarán, in the Shimírán district.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
Baha'u'llah was, at this moment, staying in a summer residence at Afchih, in the vicinity of Tihran. Ja’far-Quli Khan, the brother of Mirza Aqa Khan, the Prime Minister was still His host. (Adapted from ‘The King of Glory’, by Balyuzi)
Ja’far-Qulí Khán, who was in Shimírán when the attempt on the Sháh’s life was made, immediately wrote a letter to Bahá’u’lláh and acquainted Him with what had happened. “The Sháh’s mother,” he wrote, “is inflamed with anger. She is denouncing you openly before the court and people as the ‘would-be murderer’ of her son. She is also trying to involve Mírzá Áqá Khán (The Prime Minister) in this affair, and accuses him of being your accomplice.” He urged Bahá’u’lláh to remain for a time concealed in that neighbourhood, until the passion of the populace had subsided. He despatched to Afchih an old and experienced messenger whom he ordered to be at the disposal of his Guest and to hold himself in readiness to accompany Him to whatever place of safety He might desire.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
So grave a menace to their sovereign and to the institutions of his realm stirred the indignation of the entire body of the ecclesiastical order of Persia. To them so bold a deed called for immediate and condign punishment. Measures of unprecedented severity, they clamoured, should be undertaken to stem the tide that was engulfing both the government and the Faith of Islám. Despite the restraint which the followers of the Báb had exercised ever since the inception of the Faith in every part of the land; despite the repeated charges of the chief disciples to their brethren enjoining them to refrain from acts of violence, to obey their government loyally, and to disclaim any intention of a holy war, their enemies persevered in their deliberate efforts to misrepresent the nature and purpose of that Faith to the authorities. Now that an act of such momentous consequences had been committed, what accusations would not these same enemies be prompted to attribute to the Cause with which those guilty of the crime had been associated! The moment seemed to have come when they could at last awaken the rulers of the country to the necessity of extirpating as speedily as possible a heresy which seemed to threaten the very foundations of the State.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
That act, though committed by wild and feeble-minded fanatics, and in spite of its being from the very first emphatically condemned by no less responsible a person than Bahá’u’lláh, was the signal for the outbreak of a series of persecutions and massacres of such barbarous ferocity as could be compared only to the atrocities of Mázindarán and Zanján. The storm to which that act gave rise plunged the whole of Ṭihrán into consternation and distress. It involved the life of the leading companions who had survived the calamities to which their Faith had been so cruelly and repeatedly subjected. That storm was still raging when Bahá’u’lláh, with some of His ablest lieutenants, was plunged into a filthy, dark, and fever-stricken dungeon, whilst chains of such weight as only notorious criminals were condemned to carry, were placed upon His neck. For no less than four months He bore the burden, and such was the intensity of His suffering that the marks of that cruelty remained imprinted upon His body all the days of His life.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
The whole of Níyávarán where the imperial court and troops had congregated was, as a result of this assault, plunged into an unimaginable tumult. The ministers of the state, headed by Mírzá Áqá Khán-i-Núrí, the I‘timádu’d-Dawlih, the successor of the Amír-Niẓám, rushed horror-stricken to the side of their wounded sovereign. The fanfare of the trumpets, the rolling of the drums and the shrill piping of the fifes summoned the hosts of His Imperial Majesty on all sides. The Sháh’s attendants, some on horseback, others on foot, poured into the palace grounds. Pandemonium reigned in which every one issued orders, none listened, none obeyed, nor understood anything. Ardishír Mírzá, the governor of Ṭihrán, having in the meantime already ordered his troops to patrol the deserted streets of the capital, barred the gates of the citadel as well as of the city, charged his batteries and feverishly dispatched a messenger to ascertain the veracity of the wild rumors that were circulating amongst the populace, and to ask for special instructions.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
The Shah and his retinue had just left his summer palace at Niyavaran on a hunting expedition, when the three young men approached him as petitioners seeking redress and justice. They were far from being professional assassins, and attempted their dastardly deed in a clumsy way. Their weapons were inadequate: short daggers and pistols that fired pellets. They tried to drag the Shah from his horse, and inflicted pellet wounds on him which were not serious. By this time the members of the Shah's retinue had reached him to protect him, and beat off the assailants. Sadiq was killed on the spot. His body was cut in two, and each half was hoisted and left dangling over one of the several gates of the capital… Fathu'llah, who would not say a word under torture, was taken to be deaf and dumb. Molten lead was poured down his throat. Haji Qasim too was soon dispatched.
- Balyuzi (‘Baha’u’llah, the King of Glory’)
The first to suffer on that calamitous day was the ill-fated Ṣádiq, who was instantly slain on the scene of his attempted crime. His body was tied to the tail of a mule and dragged all the way to Ṭihrán, where it was hewn into two halves, each of which was suspended and exposed to the public view, while the Ṭihránís were invited by the city authorities to mount the ramparts and gaze upon the mutilated corpse. Molten lead was poured down the throat of his accomplice, after having subjected him to the torture of red-hot pincers and limb-rending screws. A comrade of his, Ḥájí Qásim, was stripped of his clothes, lighted candles were thrust into holes made in his flesh, and was paraded before the multitude who shouted and cursed him.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
“In the morning, the king went out for a horseback ride. Before him, as usual, went equerries carrying long lances, grooms leading horses with embroidered saddle cloths, and a group of nomad riders with their rifles slung over the shoulder and their swords hanging from their saddles. This vanguard preceded the king in order that he might not be annoyed by the dust raised by the cavalry, and the king followed along slowly, a little distance from the retinue of the great lords, chiefs and officers who accompanied him everywhere. He was near the palace and had barely passed the small door of the garden of Muhammad-Hasan, Sanduq-dar or treasurer of the Savings, when he noticed, at the side of the road, three men, three gardeners, standing two on the left, and one on the right side, seemingly waiting for him. He did not suspect danger and rode on. When quite close, he saw them bow very low and he heard them cry out together, ‘We are your sacrifice! We make a request.’ This is the traditional formula, but instead of remaining aloof as is customary, they rushed on him repeating, ‘We make a request!’ Surprised, the king shouted, ‘Rascals, what do you want?’ At that moment, the man on his right took hold of the bridle of the horse and fired upon the king. In the meantime, the two men on the left fired also. One of the shots cut the collar of pearls adorning the horse’s neck, another riddled with buckshot the right arm and back of the king. Immediately, the man on the right pulled on the leg of His Majesty and would have unsaddled him, had it not been that the two assassins on the left were pulling on the other side. The king was striking his assailants on the head with his fists, while the jumping of the frightened horse paralyzed their efforts and delayed their aggression. The royal retinue, at first dumbfounded, hurried towards their master. Asadu’lláh Khán, the grand equerry, and one of the nomad riders killed the man on the right with their swords. In the meantime, several lords threw down the other two men and bound them.
Obsessed by the bitter tragedy of the martyrdom of his beloved Master [the Báb], driven by a frenzy of despair to avenge that odious deed, and believing the author and instigator of that crime to be none other than the Sháh himself, a certain Sádiq-i-Tabrízí, an assistant in a confectioner’s shop in Tihrán, proceeded on an August day (August 15, 1852), together with his accomplice, an equally obscure youth named Fathu’lláh-i-Qumí, to Níyávarán where the imperial army had encamped and the sovereign was in residence, and there, waiting by the roadside, in the guise of an innocent bystander, fired a round of shot from his pistol at the Sháh, shortly after the latter had emerged on horseback from the palace grounds for his morning promenade. The weapon the assailant employed demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt the folly of that half-demented youth, and clearly indicated that no man of sound judgment could have possibly instigated so senseless an act.
- Shoghi Effendi ('God Passes By')
Such a severe ordeal the Faith of the Báb, still in the earliest stages of its infancy, was now beginning to experience. Maligned and hounded from the moment it was born, deprived in its earliest days of the sustaining strength of the majority of its leading supporters, stunned by the tragic and sudden removal of its Founder, reeling under the cruel blows it had successively sustained in Mázindarán, Tihrán, Nayríz and Zanján, a sorely persecuted Faith was about to be subjected through the shameful act of a fanatical and irresponsible Bábí, to a humiliation such as it had never before known. To the trials it had undergone was now added the oppressive load of a fresh calamity, unprecedented in its gravity, disgraceful in its character, and devastating in its immediate consequences.
- Shoghi Effendi ('God Passes By')
Nabil explains that according to Baha’u’llah’s brother, Áqáy-i-Kalím, sometime during this homecoming period a Bábí by the name of Mullá Shaykh 'Alí of Turshíz, entitled 'Azím, a veteran of the Faith, approached Baha’u’llah to enlist His support and gain His advice for a plan to assassinate the young Sháh and his new Prime Minister who were deemed to be the source of the continuing persecutions. Supported by his group of Bábí conspirators, 'Azím also aspired to be the successor of the Báb. They also thought that the Sháh's death might be a propitious time for the advancement of the Bábí Cause. Baha’u’llah, however, condemned 'Azím’s designs and advised him in most emphatic terms to abandon the plan he had conceived, and disassociated himself entirely from the intended rash act, warning him that fresh disasters of unprecedented magnitude would thus be precipitated. But 'Azím and his Bábí conspirators chose to disregard Baha’u’llah’s warnings. They continued their secret meeting in various homes, including that of Haji Sulayman Khan, another veteran of the Faith, the same brave and devoted man who had, at the behest of Baha'u'llah, gone to Tabriz to recover the remains of the martyred Báb and bring them to Tihran. Amongst those Bábis attached to 'Azím were three young men, a confectioner, an engraver of Qum, and a third person who apparently had suffered much at the hands of the adversaries of his Faith. In the eyes of these youths, the young Shah was the source of all the calamities that had befallen them, and so they plotted to assassinate him. It is not known how many were involved in this criminal folly, but 'Azím certainly was.
(Adapted from ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, by Nabil, ‘Baha’u’llah King of Glory’, by Balyuzi, and ‘Robe of Light, vol. 1’, by David Ruhe)
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| Village of Afchih |
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| Mansion of Baha'u'llah's father in the village of Afchih |
The because of the excessive heat prevailing in the capital Baha’u’llah left Shimírán for the village of Afchih, the property of the Grand Vazír, located about forty miles northeast of Tihran. There He joined His family at the mansion of His Father.
(Adapted from ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, by Nabil, and ‘Robe of Light’, by David Ruhe)
He [Bahá’u’lláh] arrived in the capital in the month of Rajab, [April 21-May 21, 1852 A.D.] and was welcomed by the Grand Vazír’s brother, Ja’far-Qulí Khán, who had been specially directed to go forth to receive Him. For one whole month, He was the honoured Guest of the Grand Vazír, who had appointed his brother to act as host on his behalf. So great was the number of the notables and dignitaries of the capital who flocked to meet Him that He found Himself unable to return to His own home. He remained in that house until His departure for Shimírán.[1]
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
[1]
“Shimírán or Shimrán (sometimes used in the plural, Shimránát) is the name
applied generally to the villages and mansions situated on the lower slopes
descending from Elburz which serve as summer residences to the wealthier
inhabitants of Ṭihrán.” (“Traveller’s Narrative,” p. 81, footnote 1.)
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| Mirza Aqa Khan-i-Nuri |
(Adapted from ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, by Nabil and ‘Call to Remembrance’ by Geoffry Marks)
The eighth Naw-Rúz after the Declaration of the Báb, which fell on the twenty-seventh day of the month of Jamádiyu’l-Avval, in the year 1268 A.H., [1852 A.D.] found Bahá’u’lláh still in ‘Iráq, engaged in spreading the teachings, and making firm the foundations, of the New Revelation. Displaying an enthusiasm and ability that recalled His activities in the early days of the Movement in Núr and Mázindarán, He continued to devote Himself to the task of reviving the energies, of organising the forces, and of directing the efforts, of the Báb’s scattered companions. He was the sole light amidst the darkness that encompassed the bewildered disciples who had witnessed, on the one hand, the cruel martyrdom of their beloved Leader and, on the other, the tragic fate of their companions. He alone was able to inspire them with the needful courage and fortitude to endure the many afflictions that had been heaped upon them; He alone was capable of preparing them for the burden of the task they were destined to bear, and of inuring them to brave the storm and perils they were soon to face.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
It was during that visit to Karbilá that Bahá’u’lláh encountered, as He was walking through the streets, Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí, to whom He confided the secret He was destined to reveal at a later time in Baghdád. He found him eagerly searching after the promised Husayn, to whom the Báb had so lovingly referred and whom He had promised he would meet in Karbilá. We have already, in a preceding chapter, narrated the circumstances leading to his meeting with Bahá’u’lláh. From that day, Shaykh Hasan became magnetised by the charm of his newly found Master, and would, but for the restraint he was urged to exercise, have proclaimed to the people of Karbilá the return of the promised Husayn whose appearance they were awaiting.
Among those who were made to feel that power was Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alíy-i-Tabíb-i-Zanjání, in whose heart was implanted a seed that was destined to grow and blossom into a faith of such tenacity that the fires of persecution were powerless to quench it. To his devotion, his high-mindedness and singleness of purpose Bahá’u’lláh Himself testified. That faith carried him eventually to the field of martyrdom. The same fate was shared by Mírzá ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb-i-Shírází, son of Hájí ‘Abdu’l-Majíd, who owned a shop in Karbilá and who felt the impulse to forsake all his possessions and follow his Master. He was advised, however, not to abandon his work, but to continue to earn his livelihood until such time as he should be summoned to Tihrán. Bahá’u’lláh urged him to be patient, and gave him a sum of money wherewith he encouraged him to extend the scope of his business. Unable to concentrate his attention upon his trade, Mírzá ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb hastened to Tihrán, where he remained until he was thrown into the dungeon in which his Master was confined and there suffered martyrdom for His sake.
Shaykh ‘Alí-Mirzay-i-Shírází was likewise attracted to, and remained to his last breath a staunch supporter of, the Cause to which he had been called and which he served with a selflessness and devotion beyond all praise. To friend and stranger alike he recounted his experiences of the marvellous influence the presence of Bahá’u’lláh had had upon him, and enthusiastically described the signs and wonders he had witnessed during and after the days of his conversion.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
While in Karbila, Baha’u’llah sought out the Bábis, as well as those of receptive heart and spirit.
In “Karbilá, He found that a number of its leading residents, among whom were Shaykh Sultán and Hájí Siyyid Javád, had fallen victims to the pernicious influence of a certain Siyyid-i-’Uluvv, and had declared themselves his supporters. They were immersed in superstitions and believed their leader to be the very incarnation of the Divine Spirit. Shaykh Sultán [1] ranked among his most fervent disciples and regarded himself, next to his master, as the foremost leader of his countrymen. Bahá’u’lláh met him on several occasions and succeeded, by His words of counsel and loving-kindness, in purging his mind from his idle fancies and in releasing him from the state of abject servitude into which he had sunk. He won him over completely to the Cause of the Báb and kindled in his heart a desire to propagate the Faith. His fellow-disciples, witnessing the effects of his immediate and marvellous conversion, were led, one after another, to forsake their former allegiance and to embrace the Cause which their colleague had risen to champion. Abandoned and despised by his former adherents, the Siyyid-i-’Uluvv was at length reduced to recognising the authority of Bahá’u’lláh and acknowledging the superiority of His position. He even went so far as to express repentance for his acts, and to pledge his word that he would never again advocate the theories and principles with which he had identified himself.” (Nabil, ‘The Dawn-Breakers, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
Many others, during those months of Baha'u'llah's sojourn in the holy cities of 'Iraq, attained His presence and became devoted to Him. Among them were Mirza 'Abdu'l-Vahhab, that glorious youth of Shiraz; Shaykh-'Ali Mirza, also of Shiraz and the nephew of Shaykh Abu-Turab, the imam-jum'ih of that city who had stood up to protect the Báb; and Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, a well-known physician of Zanjan, who, many years later, met a martyr's death. (Balyuzi, ‘Baha’u’llah, The King of Glory’)
[1] He was an Arab who had been converted to the Babi doctrines by Tahirih when she was in Karbila (David Ruhe, ‘Robe of Light’)
It was during Bahá’u’lláh’s nine-month exile to Karbilá in 1851 (on the order of the Persian Prime Minister) that He “encountered, as He was walking through the streets, Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí, to whom He confided the secret He was destined to reveal at a later time in Baghdád. He found him eagerly searching after the promised Husayn, to whom the Báb had so lovingly referred and whom He had promised he would meet in Karbilá. (Nabil, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí was an elderly Babi, quietly went about his life as a scribe and quite unknown to the community of Babis in Karbila. He had been an early disciple of Siyyid Kazim and one who during his days among the Shaykhis in Karbila had fleetingly encountered the Báb, not yet known to be the One awaited, visiting Him with Siyyid Kazim when first He had arrived from Shiraz. During Shaykh Hasan’s first months of conversion as a Bábi he had journeyed to Chihriq to join the Báb in that distant prison, there to act as transcriber of His works. It was then 1848 and Shaykh Hasan was moved to join the valiant defenders of Fort Shaykh Tabarsi, for the mustering summons had gone forth to the faithful. He expressed his wish to the Báb, only to be startled by His countermanding the intention.
The Báb told him: “Participation in that struggle is not enjoined upon you. You should proceed to Karbila and should abide in that holy city, inasmuch as you are destined to behold, with your own eyes, the beauteous countenance of the promised Husayn. As you gaze upon that radiant face, do also remember Me. Convey to Him the expression of My loving devotion!” And then He added, “Verily I say, I have entrusted you with a great mission! Beware lest your heart grow faint, lest you forget the glory with which I have invested you.” (Nabil, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
