1. From the very beginning of the Bahá’í Era, youth have played a vital part in the promulgation of God’s Revelation. The Báb Himself was but twenty-five years old when He declared His Mission, while many of the Letters of the Living were even younger. The Master, as a very young man, was called upon to shoulder heavy responsibilities in the service of His Father in ‘Iráq and Turkey; and His brother, the Purest Branch, yielded up his life to God in the Most Great Prison at the age of twenty-two that the servants of God might “be quickened, and all that dwell on earth be united.” Shoghi Effendi was a student at Oxford when called to the throne of his Guardianship, and many of the Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, who won imperishable fame during the Ten Year Crusade, were young people. Let it, therefore, never be imagined that youth must await their years of maturity before they can render invaluable services to the Cause of God.
The Universal House of Justice, letter dated 6/10/66 to Bahá’í youth in every land, in Wellspring of Guidance 92
2. RECENT MARTYRDOMS COURAGEOUS STEADFAST YOUTH IN SHÍRÁZ, SCENE INAUGURATION MISSION MARTYR-PROPHET, REMINISCENT ACTS VALOR YOUTHFUL IMMORTALS HEROIC AGE. CONFIDENT BAHÁ’Í YOUTH THIS GENERATION WILL NOT ALLOW THIS FRESH BLOOD SHED ON VERY SOIL WHERE FIRST WAVE PERSECUTION FAITH TOOK PLACE REMAIN UNVINDICATED OR THIS SUBLIME SACRIFICE UNAVAILING. AT THIS HOUR OF AFFLICTION AND GRIEF, AND AS WE APPROACH ANNIVERSARY MARTYRDOM BLESSED BÁB CALL ON BAHÁ’Í YOUTH TO REDEDICATE THEMSELVES TO URGENT NEEDS CAUSE BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
LET THEM RECALL BLESSINGS HE PROMISED THOSE WHO IN PRIME OF YOUTH WILL ARISE TO ADORN THEIR HEARTS WITH HIS LOVE AND REMAIN STEADFAST AND FIRM. LET THEM CALL TO MIND EXPECTATIONS MASTER FOR EACH TO BE A FEARLESS LION, A MUSK-LADEN BREEZE WAFTING OVER MEADS VIRTUE. LET THEM MEDITATE OVER UNIQUE QUALITIES YOUTH SO GRAPHICALLY MENTIONED IN WRITINGS GUARDIAN WHO PRAISED THEIR ENTERPRISING AND ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT, THEIR VIGOR, THEIR ALERTNESS, OPTIMISM AND EAGERNESS, AND THEIR DIVINELY-APPOINTED, HOLY AND ENTHRALLING TASKS. WE FERVENTLY PRAY AT SACRED THRESHOLD THAT ARMY OF SPIRITUALLY AWAKENED AND DETERMINED YOUTH MAY IMMEDIATELY ARISE RESPONSE NEEDS PRESENT HOUR DEVOTE IN EVER GREATER MEASURE THEIR VALUED ENERGIES TO PROMOTE BOTH ON HOMEFRONTS AND IN FOREIGN FIELDS, CAUSE THEIR ALL-WATCHFUL AND EXPECTANT LORD. MAY THEY MANIFEST SAME SPIRIT SO RECENTLY EVINCED THEIR MARTYR BRETHREN CRADLE. FAITH, SCALE SUCH HEIGHTS OF ENDEAVOR AS TO BECOME PRIDE THEIR PEERS CONSOLATION HEARTS PERSIAN BELIEVERS, AND DEMONSTRATE THAT THE FLAME HIS OMNIPOTENT HAND HAS KINDLED BURNS EVER BRIGHTER AND THAT ITS LIFE-IMPARTING WARMTH AND RADIANCE SHALL SOON ENVELOP PERMEATE WHOLE EARTH.
The Universal House of Justice, telex dated 6/23/83 to Bahá’í youth throughout the world
3. He [‘Abdu’l-Bahá] was only eight years old when—in the wake of a desperate and futile attempt on the life of Náṣiri’d- Dín Sháh, by two half-crazed men—Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned, and the Bábís were ferociously persecuted. Bahá’u’lláh’s house was pillaged, His lands and goods were confiscated, and His family reduced from opulence to penury. One day, while in Europe, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalled the sufferings of those bleak times:
Detachment does not imply lack of means; it is marked by the freedom of the heart. In Ṭihrán, we possessed everything at a nightfall, and on the morrow we were shorn of it all, to the extent that we had no food to eat. I was hungry, but there was no bread to be had. My mother poured some flour into the palm of my hand, and I ate that instead of bread. Yet, we were contented.
And again:
At that time of dire calamities and attacks mounted by the enemies I was a child of nine.[1] They threw so many stones into our house that the courtyard was crammed with them … Mother took us for safety to another quarter, and rented a house in a back alley where she kept us indoors and looked after us. But one day our means of subsistence were barely adequate, and mother told me to go to my aunt’s house, and ask her to find us a few qiráns …[2] I went and my aunt did what she could for us. She tied a five-qirán piece in a handkerchief and gave it to me. On my way home someone recognized me and shouted: “Here is a Bábí”; whereupon the children in the street chased me. I found refuge in the entrance to a house … There I stayed until nightfall, and when I came out, I was once again pursued by the children who kept yelling at me and pelted me with stones … When I reached home I was exhausted. Mother wanted to know what had happened to me. I could not utter a word and collapsed.
…
One day ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, anxious to see His Father, was taken to the dungeon. This is His account of that awesome visit:
They sent me with a black servant to His blessed presence in the prison. The warders indicated the cell, and the servant carried me in on his shoulders. I saw a dark, steep place. We entered a small, narrow doorway, and went down two steps, but beyond those one could see nothing. In the middle of the stairway, all of a sudden we heard His blessed voice: “Do not bring him in here,” and so they took me back. We sat outside, waiting for the prisoners to be led out.
Suddenly they brought the Blessed Perfection[3] out of the dungeon. He was chained to several others. What a chain! It was very heavy. The prisoners could only move it along with great difficulty. Sad and heart-rending it was.
Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 9–12
[1] In the reckoning of the lunar year.
[2] Iranian silver coin of the period.
[3] One of the designations of Bahá’u’lláh
4. That blessed soul [‘Abdu’l-Bahá], following the ascension of the sacred Abhá Beauty, may our lives be sacrificed for the dust of His sacred threshold, and until the hour when His own luminous spirit rose up to the realms on high, for a period of thirty years had neither a peaceful day nor a night of quiet rest. Singly and alone, He set about to reform the world, and to educate and refine its peoples. He invited all manner of beings to enter the Kingdom of God; He watered the Tree of the Faith; He guarded the celestial Lote-Tree from the tempest; He defeated the foes of the Faith, and He frustrated the hopes of the malevolent; and always vigilant, He protected God’s Cause and defended His Law.
That subtle and mysterious Being, that Essence of eternal glory, underwent trials and sorrows all the days of His life. He was made the target of every calumny and malicious accusation, by foes both without and within. His lot, in all His life, was to be wronged, and be subjected to toil, to pain and grief. Under these conditions, the one and only solace of His sacred heart was to hear good news of the progress of the Faith, and the proclaiming of God’s Word, and the spreading of the holy Teachings, and the unity and fervor of the friends, and the staunchness of His loved ones. This news would bring smiles to His countenance; this was the joy of His precious heart.
Meanwhile He trained a number of the faithful and reared them with the hands of His grace, and rectified their character and behavior, and adorned them with the excellence of the favored angels of Heaven—that they might arise today with a new spirit, and stand forth with wondrous power, and confront the forces of idle fancy, and scatter the troops upon troops of darkness with the blazing light of long endurance and high resolve; that they might shine out even as lighted candles, and moth-like, flutter so close about the lamp of the Faith as to scorch their wings.
Bahíyyih Khánum, in Bahíyyih Khánum 142–43
5. As far back as the concluding stages of the heroic age of the Cause, which witnessed the imprisonment of Bahá’u’lláh in the Síyáh-Chál of Ṭihrán, the Greatest Holy Leaf, then still in her infancy, was privileged to taste of the cup of woe which the first believers of that Apostolic Age had quaffed.
How well I remember her recall, at a time when her faculties were still unimpaired, the gnawing suspense that ate into the hearts of those who watched by her side, at the threshold of her pillaged house, expectant to hear at any moment the news of Bahá’u’lláh’s imminent execution! In those sinister hours, she often recounted, her parents had so suddenly lost their earthly possessions that within the space of a single day from being the privileged member of one of the wealthiest families of Ṭihrán she had sunk to the state of a sufferer from unconcealed poverty. Deprived of the means of subsistence her illustrious mother, the famed Navváb, was constrained to place in the palm of her daughter’s hand a handful of flour and to induce her to accept it as a substitute for her daily bread.
And when at a later time this revered and precious member of the Holy Family, then in her teens, came to be entrusted by the guiding hand of her Father with missions that no girl of her age could, or would be willing to, perform, with what spontaneous joy she seized her opportunity and acquitted herself of the task with which she had been entrusted! The delicacy and extreme gravity of such functions as she, from time to time, was called upon to fulfill, when the city of Baghdád was swept by the hurricane which the heedlessness and perversity of Mírzá Yaḥyá had un- chained, as well as the tender solicitude which, at so early an age, she evinced during the period of Bahá’u’lláh’s enforced retirement to the mountains of Sulaymáníyyih, marked her as one who was both capable of sharing the burden, and willing to make the sacrifice, which her high birth demanded.
How staunch was her faith, how calm her demeanor, how forgiving her attitude, how severe her trials, at a time when the forces of schism had rent asunder the ties that united the little band of exiles which had settled in Adrianople and whose fortunes seemed then to have sunk to their lowest ebb! It was in this period of extreme anxiety, when the rigors of a winter of exceptional severity, coupled with the privations entailed by unhealthy housing accommodation and dire financial distress, undermined once for all her health and sapped the vitality which she had hitherto so thoroughly enjoyed. The stress and storm of that period made an abiding impression upon her mind, and she retained till the time of her death on her beauteous and angelic face evidences of its intense hardships.
Not until, however, she had been confined in the company of Bahá’u’lláh within the walls of the prison-city of ‘Akká did she display, in the plenitude of her power and in the full abundance of her love for Him, those gifts that single her out, next to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, among the members of the Holy Family, as the brightest embodiment of that love which is born of God and of that human sympathy which few mortals are capable of evincing.
Banishing from her mind and heart every earthly attachment, renouncing the very idea of matrimony, she, standing resolutely by the side of a Brother whom she was to aid and serve so well, arose to dedicate her life to the service of her Father’s glorious Cause. Whether in the management of the affairs of His Household in which she excelled, or in the social relationships which she so assiduously cultivated in order to shield both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whether in the unfailing attention she paid to the everyday needs of her Father, or in the traits of generosity, of affability and kindness, which she manifested, the Greatest Holy Leaf had by that time abundantly demonstrated her worthiness to rank as one of the noblest figures intimately associated with the life-long work of Bahá’u’lláh.
Shoghi Effendi, in Bahíyyih Khánum 32–35
6. During the period of the sojourn in Baghdád, Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf, was her mother’s loving helper, working always beyond her strength, in the various household tasks. No childish pleasures or companions were hers. Always with eyes on her mother, alert to spare her any fatigue, she rejoiced beyond measure when she could minister in any way to her or her illustrious father.
“My mother,” she said, “sometimes gave lessons to my brother ‘Abbás; at other times Mírzá Músá would teach Him, and on some occasions he would be taught by His father.”
“And your lessons?” I asked.
“But I never had any time for studies,” she said, in a tone which spoke volumes of absolute self-effacement, and this is the keynote of her whole life, no thought of her unselfishness entered her mind.
Her thoughtfulness and consideration for all who came near her; the countless acts of never-failing kindness, were, in her eyes, all to be taken as a matter of course. Her one joy was to devote every moment of her existence to being of use to her mother and father, to whom she was passionately attached. This loving service was extended, as He grew older, to her brother ‘Abbás, Sarkár-i-Áqá, and these three were her being’s end and aim.
Her life was spent in prayer to God and service to her loved ones, from the time when, as a small child of six, she cowered in the dark house alone with the tiny Purest Branch, a baby of two, in her little arms, listening in terror to the yells of the infuriated, cruel mob, not knowing if they were murdering her father, or whether they had seized her mother and the little eight-year-old ‘Abbás.
After those terrible days in Ṭihrán, and the not less terrible journey to Baghdád, during the sojourn in this city, she grew into a beautiful girl, very much like her lovely mother in grace of body and character, a gentle, slender maiden with large, grey-blue eyes, golden-brown hair, and warm, ivory-colored skin. Her sense of humor was keen and her intelligence remarkable.
As she grew up, she implored her father to allow her to remain unmarried, that she might the better devote herself to her three dearly loved ones.
And so it was.
Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway 68–69
7. Mírzá Mihdí was taken to Baghdád to join the Family in the year AH 1276 (circa AD 1860). It was in that city that this pure and holy youth, noted for his meekness, came in touch with the Divine Spirit and was magnetized by the energizing forces of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. From that time on, he devoted every moment of his life to the service of his heavenly Father. He was Bahá’u’lláh’s companion in Baghdád, Adrianople and ‘Akká, and served Him as an amanuensis towards the end of his life, leaving to posterity some Tablets in his handwriting. The last ten years of his life were filled with the hardship and suffering inflicted on Bahá’u’lláh and His companions in the course of the three successive banishments from Baghdád to ‘Akká.
The Purest Branch resembled ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and throughout his short and eventful life he displayed the same spiritual qualities which distinguished his illustrious Brother. The believers loved and venerated him as they did ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh 3:205
8. To the galling weight of these tribulations was now added the bitter grief of a sudden tragedy—the premature loss of the noble, the pious Mírzá Mihdí, the Purest Branch, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s twenty-two year old brother, an amanuensis of Bahá’u’lláh and a companion of His exile from the days when, as a child, he was brought from Ṭihrán to Baghdád to join his Father after His return from Sulaymáníyyih. He was pacing the roof of the barracks in the twilight, one evening, wrapped in his customary devotions, when he fell through the unguarded skylight onto a wooden crate, standing on the floor beneath, which pierced his ribs, and caused, twenty-two hours later, his death, on the 23rd of Rabí‘u’l- Avval 1287 A.H. (June 23, 1870). His dying supplication to a grieving Father was that his life might be accepted as a ransom for those who were prevented from attaining the presence of their Beloved.
In a highly significant prayer, revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in memory of His son—a prayer that exalts his death to the rank of those great acts of atonement associated with Abra- ham’s intended sacrifice of His son, with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the martyrdom of the Imám Ḥusayn—we read the following: “I have, O my Lord, offered up that which Thou hast given Me, that Thy servants may be quickened, and all that dwell on earth be united.” And, likewise, these prophetic words, addressed to His martyred son: “Thou art the Trust of God and His Treasure in this Land. Erelong will God reveal through thee that which He hath desired.”
After he had been washed in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, he “that was created of the light of Bahá,” to whose “meekness” the Supreme Pen had testified, and of the “mysteries” of whose ascension that same Pen had made mention, was borne forth, escorted by the fortress guards, and laid to rest, beyond the city walls, in a spot adjacent to the shrine of Nabí Ṣáliḥ … .
Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 188
9. Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou seest me in this day shut up in my prison, and fallen into the hands of Thine adversaries, and beholdest my son (The Purest Branch) lying on the dust before Thy face. He is Thy servant, O my Lord, whom Thou hast caused to be related to Him Who is the Manifestation of Thyself and the Day-Spring of Thy Cause.
At his birth he was afflicted through his separation from Thee, according to what had been ordained for him through Thine irrevocable decree. And when he had quaffed the cup of reunion with Thee, he was cast into prison for having believed in Thee and in Thy signs. He continued to serve Thy Beauty until he entered into this Most Great Prison. Thereupon I offered him up, O my God, as a sacrifice in Thy path. Thou well knowest what they who love Thee have endured through this trial that hath caused the kindreds of the earth to wail, and beyond them the Concourse on high to lament.
I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by him and by his exile and his imprisonment, to send down upon such as loved him what will quiet their hearts and bless their works. Potent art Thou to do as Thou willest. No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.
Bahá’u’lláh, Prayers and Meditations 34–35
10. Upon thee, O Branch of God! be the remembrance of God and His praise, and the praise of all that dwell in the Realm of Immortality, and of all the denizens of the Kingdom of Names. Happy art thou in that thou hast been faithful to the Covenant of God and His Testament, until Thou didst sacrifice thyself before the face of thy Lord, the Almighty, the Unconstrained. Thou, in truth, hast been wronged, and to this testifieth the Beauty of Him, the Self-Subsisting. Thou didst, in the first days of thy life, bear that which hath caused all things to groan; and made every pillar to tremble. Happy is the one that remembereth thee, and draweth nigh, through thee, unto God, the Creator of the Morn.
Bahá’u’lláh, qtd. in Shoghi Effendi, Guidance for Today and Tomorrow 73
11. The death of the Purest Branch must be viewed as Bahá’u’lláh’s own sacrifice, a sacrifice on the same level as the crucifixion of Christ and the martyrdom of the Báb. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith, states that Bahá’u’lláh has exalted the death of the Purest Branch to the “rank of those great acts of atonement associated with Abraham’s intended sacrifice of His son, with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the martyrdom of the Imám Ḥusayn …” In another instance, Shoghi Effendi states that in the Bábí Dispensation, it was the Báb himself who sacrificed His life for the redemption and purification of mankind. In the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, it was the Purest Branch who gave his life releasing thereby all the forces necessary for bringing about the unity of mankind.
Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh 3:211
12. A woman chaste and holy, a sign and token of surpassing beauty, a burning brand of the love of God, a lamp of His bestowal, was Jináb-i-Ṭáhirih.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful 190
13. She, according to what is related, was skilled in diverse arts, amazed the understandings and thoughts of the most eminent masters by her eloquent dissertations on the exegesis and tradition of the Perspicuous Book, and was a mighty sign in the doctrines of the glorious Shaykh of Ahsá. At the Supreme Shrines she borrowed light on matters divine from the lamp of Káẓim, and freely sacrificed her life in the way of the Báb. She discussed and disputed with the doctors and sages, loosing her tongue to establish her doctrine. Such fame did she acquire that most people who were scholars or mystics sought to hear her speech and were eager to become acquainted with her powers of speculation and deduction. She had a brain full of tumultuous ideas, and thoughts vehement and restless. In many places she triumphed over the contentious, expounding the most subtle questions.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, A Traveler’s Narrative 19–20
14. … after the breakup at Badasht she was captured, and the oppressors sent her back under guard to Ṭihrán. There she was imprisoned in the house of Mahmúd Khán, the Kalántar. But she was aflame, enamored, restless, and could not be still. The ladies of Ṭihrán, on one pretext or another, crowded to see and listen to her. It happened that there was a celebration at the Mayor’s house for the marriage of his son; a nuptial banquet was prepared, and the house adorned. The flower of Ṭihrán’s ladies were invited, the princesses, the wives of vazírs and other great. A splendid wedding it was, with instrumental music and vocal melodies —by day and night the lute, the bells and songs. Then Ṭáhirih began to speak; and so bewitched were the great ladies that they forsook the cithern and the drum and all the pleasures of the wedding feast, to crowd about Ṭáhirih and listen to the sweet words of her mouth.
Thus she remained, a helpless captive. Then came the attempt on the life of the Sháh; a farmán was issued; she was sentenced to death. Saying she was summoned to the Prime Minister’s, they arrived to lead her away from the Kalántar’s house. She bathed her face and hands, arrayed herself in a costly dress, and scented with attar of roses she came out of the house.
They brought her into a garden, where the headsmen waited; but these wavered and then refused to end her life. A slave was found, far gone in drunkenness; besotted, vicious, black of heart. And he strangled Ṭáhirih. He forced a scarf between her lips and rammed it down her throat. Then they lifted up her unsullied body and flung it in a well, there in the garden, and over it threw down earth and stones. But Ṭáhirih rejoiced; she had heard with a light heart the tidings of her martyrdom; she set her eyes on the supernal Kingdom and offered up her life.
Salutations be unto her, and praise. Holy be her dust, as the tiers of light come down on it from Heaven.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful 202–03
15. The first words which, in the company of the assembled believers, Quddús addressed to Mullá Ḥusayn were the following: “Now, at this very hour, you should arise and, armed with the rod of wisdom and of might, silence the host of evil plotters who strive to discredit the fair name of the Faith of God. You should face that multitude and confound their forces. You should place your reliance upon the grace of God, and should regard their machinations as a futile attempt to obscure the radiance of the Cause. You should interview the Sa‘ídu’l-‘Ulamá’, that notorious and false- hearted tyrant, and should fearlessly disclose to his eyes the distinguishing features of this Revelation. From thence you should proceed to Khurásán. In the town of Mashhad, you should build a house so designed as both to serve for our private residence and at the same time afford adequate facilities for the reception of our guests. Thither we shall shortly journey, and in that house we shall dwell. To it you shall invite every receptive soul who we hope may be guided to the River of everlasting life. We shall prepare and admon- ish them to band themselves together and proclaim the Cause of God ….”
Alone and with a heart wholly detached from all else but God, Mullá Ḥusayn set out on his journey to Mashhad. His only companion, as he trod his way to Khurásán, was the thought of accomplishing faithfully the wishes of Quddús, and his one sustenance the consciousness of his unfailing promise. He went directly to the home of Mírzá Muḥammad- Báqir-i-Qá‘iní, and was soon able to buy, in the neighborhood of that house in Bálá-Khíyábán, a tract of land on which he began to erect the house which he had been commanded to build, and to which he gave the name of Bábíyyih, a name that it bears to the present day. Shortly after it was completed, Quddús arrived at Mashhad and abode in that house. A steady stream of visitors, whom the energy and zeal of Mullá Ḥusayn had prepared for the acceptance of the Faith, poured into the presence of Quddús, acknowledged the claim of the Cause, and willingly enlisted under its banner. The all-observing vigilance with which Mullá Ḥusayn labored to diffuse the knowledge of the new Revelation, and the masterly manner in which Quddús edified its ever-increasing adherents, gave rise to a wave of enthusiasm which swept over the entire city of Mashhad, and the effects of which spread rapidly beyond the confines of Khurásán. The house of Bábíyyih was soon converted into a rallying center for a multitude of devotees who were fired with an inflexible resolve to demonstrate, by every means in their power, the great inherent energies of their Faith.
Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam, The Dawn-Breakers 265–67
16. During the latter days [passed] in Adrianople Bahá’u’lláh composed a detailed epistle setting forth all matters clearly and minutely. He unfolded and expounded the main principles of the sect, and made clear and plain its ethics, manners, course, and mode of conduct: He treated certain political questions in detail, and adduced sundry proofs of His truthfulness: He declared the good intent, loyalty, and sincerity of the sect, and wrote some fragments of prayers, some in Persian, but the greater part in Arabic. He then placed it in a packet and adorned its address with the royal name of His Majesty the King of Persia, and wrote [on it] that some person pure of heart and pure of life, dedicated to God, and prepared for martyr-sacrifice, must, with perfect resignation and willingness, convey this epistle into the presence of the King. A youth named Mírzá Badí‘, a native of Khurásán, took the epistle, and hastened toward the presence of His Majesty the King. The Royal Train had its abode and station outside Ṭihrán, so he took his stand alone on a rock in a place far off but opposite to the Royal Pavilion, and awaited day and night the passing of the Royal escort or the attainment of admission into the Imperial Presence. Three days did he pass in a state of fasting and vigilance: an emaciated body and enfeebled spirit remained. On the fourth day the Royal Personage was examining all quarters and directions with a telescope when suddenly his glance fell on this man who was seated in the utmost respectful attitude on a rock. It was inferred from the indications [perceived] that he must certainly have thanks [to offer], or some complaint or demand for redress and justice [to prefer]. [The King] commanded one of those in attendance at the court to inquire into the circumstances of this youth. On interrogation [it was found that] he carried a letter which he desired to convey with his own hand into the Royal Presence. On receiving permission to approach, he cried out before the pavilion with a dignity, composure, and respectfulness surpassing description, and in a loud voice, “O King, I have come unto thee from Sheba with a weighty message!” [The King] commanded to take the letter and arrest the bearer. His Majesty the King wished to act with deliberation and desired to discover the truth, but those who were present before him loosed their tongues in violent reprehension, saying, “This person has shown great presumption and amazing audacity, for he hath without fear or dread brought the letter of him against whom all peoples are angered, of him who is banished to Bulgaria and Sclavonia, into the presence of the King. If so be that he do not instantly suffer a grievous punishment there will be an increase of this great presumption.” So the ministers of the court signified [that he should suffer] punishment and ordered the torture. As the first torment they applied the chain and rack, saying, “Make known thy other friends that thou mayest be delivered from excruciating punishment, and make thy comrades captive that thou mayest escape from the torment of the chain and the keenness of the sword.” But, torture, brand, and torment him as they might, they saw naught but steadfastness and silence, and found naught but dumb endurance [on his part]. So, when the torture gave no result, they [first] photographed him (the executioners on his left and on his right, and he sitting bound in fetters and chains beneath the sword with perfect meekness and composure), and then slew and destroyed him. This photograph I sent for, and found worthy of contemplation, for he was seated with wonderful humility and strange submissiveness, in utmost resignation.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, A Traveler’s Narrative 58–59
17. Áqá Buzurg of Khurásán, the illustrious “Badí‘” (Wonderful); converted to the Faith by Nabíl; surnamed the “Pride of Martyrs”; the seventeen-year old bearer of the Tablet addressed to Násiri’d-Dín Sháh; in whom, as affirmed by Bahá’u’lláh, “the spirit of might and power was breathed,” was arrested, branded for three successive days, his head beaten to a pulp with the butt of a rifle, after which his body was thrown into a pit and earth and stones heaped upon it …. For a space of three years Bahá’u’lláh continued to extol in His writings the heroism of that youth, characterizing the references made by Him to that sublime sacrifice as the “salt of My Tablets.”
Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 199
18. Rúḥu’lláh, the child-martyr of the Bahá’í Faith, was a prodigy. At the age of twelve, his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, his powerful arguments in defense of his beloved Faith in the presence of the dreaded religious authorities of Persia, the beautiful poetry he wrote and his sweet, saintly nature won him admirers everywhere he went. Many of the noted enemies of the new Faith were charmed by his eloquence, while others came to look upon him as a living miracle.
At the time when Rúḥu’lláh, his father and Mírzá Husayn had been arrested because of their beliefs and were being taken to Ṭihrán in chains, the soldiers in charge were so attracted by the charm of this child of twelve that they wished to take the heavy chains from round his neck, but he would not have it so. “I am quite happy with these chains,” he assured them, “besides, you must be faithful to your trust. You were given orders to take us to Ṭihrán in chains, and it is your duty to obey those orders.” He was never heard to complain of the discomforts of that long and arduous journey, but seemed to derive great happiness from the many odes and prayers he chanted to himself as they rode along.
…
In the prison of Ṭihrán, the Bahá’ís were treated with extreme cruelty. There were four of them there, all chained together with the “black pearl” which was put round their necks. This chain was so heavy that it was difficult for the men to keep their heads up. Rúḥu’lláh collapsed under its weight and two supports had to be put under the chain on each side of him to keep him in a sitting position.
…
… The account of the incident is recorded by Mírzá Ḥusayn, who was chained with Varqá and Rúḥu’lláh in the prison. The summary of a part of this chronicle is as follows:
“… Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih entered the prison with a number of executioners clad in their scarlet clothes, and gave orders that all the prisoners should be chained to their places. No one knew what he had in mind and a terrible fear seized everyone. Then the jailer came to us Bahá’ís and said: ‘Come with me. You are wanted in court.’ We got up to follow him, though we did not believe what he said. ‘It is not necessary to put on your ‘abás,’ he told us, but Rúḥu’lláh insisted on wearing his. As we came out into the prison yard, we were surprised to see armed soldiers standing everywhere and wondered if they had come to shoot us. The executioners too were standing in a row, and Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih had a savage look in his eyes. But there was not a sound from anyone, and the silence was terrifying. At last Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih asked the jailer to open the locks on our chains and send us two by two. The jailer’s hands were trembling so badly that he could not open the locks, so another man stepped forward and unlocked our chains. Varqá and Rúḥu’lláh were the first to be taken away ….
…
“… Later on I saw one of the jailers who had shown us some kindness before. I caught hold of him and begged him to tell me what had happened. I made him swear by the martyred saints of Islám that he would tell me the truth as he had seen it take place. This is what he re- counted: ‘… Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih said to Varqá: “Which shall I kill first, you or your son?” Varqá replied: It makes no difference to me.” Then Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih drew his dagger and thrust it into Varqá’s heart saying: “How do you feel now?” Varqá’s words before he died were: “I am feeling much better than you are. Praise be to God!” Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih ordered four executioners to cut Varqá’s body into pieces. The sight of so much blood was horrible to see. Rúḥu’lláh was watch- ing all the time, overcome with grief. He kept on repeating: “Father, father, take me with you!” Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih came to him and said: “Don’t weep. I shall take you with me and give you a proper salary. I shall ask the Shah to give you a position!” But Rúḥu’lláh replied: “I want neither a salary from you, nor a position from the Sháh! I am going to join my father.” Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih asked for a piece of rope, but no one could find any rope so they brought the bastinado and put Rúḥu’lláh’s neck in it. Two of the jailers lifted the bastinado from either side and held it while Rúḥu’lláh gasped for breath. As soon as his body was still, they put him down and Ḥájibu’d-Dawlih called for the two other Bahá’ís to be brought in. But just then, the child’s body made a sudden movement, raised itself from the floor and fell several feet away. Then it was still again. This incident shook Ḥájibu’d- Dawlih so badly that he did not have the nerve to carry on with any more killings.’
“You can imagine how we felt after hearing the details of the martyrdom of Varqá and Rúḥu’lláh. The picture came to life, and I could not put it out of my mind. My heart would not be consoled, and I wept for my beloved friends all through the night. Finally I fell asleep and had a dream. I saw Rúḥu’lláh coming towards me, looking extremely happy. He said: ‘Did you see how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s promise came true?’ Rúḥu’lláh had often told me with great pride that when he was saying farewell to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after visiting Him in the Holy Land, the Master had patted him on the shoulder and said: ‘If God so ordains … He will proclaim His Cause through Rúḥu’lláh.’”
Faizi, Fire on the Mountain-Top 86, 88–91
19. Bahá’í children and youth have contributed their own significant share to the heroism demonstrated by the believers in Iran. In spite of the difficulties in communication, some accounts of their experiences have been received. Following are a few that have been translated. The names of persons and places have been omitted in most cases so as to protect those who have written the accounts.
On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, letter dated 1/10/85 to all National Spiritual Assemblies
20. The following report is taken from a letter written by a boy 16 years of age.
The teacher in my high school was giving a lesson in sociology on the subject of cultural colonialism. As an example, he cited the Bahá’í Faith as a type of cultural colonialism. According to my spiritual obligation, I had to reply. I got permission and to the extent possible for me, I gave a speech on the Faith and countered the statement of my teacher. After a few days the principal called me to his office, accusing me of apostasy, stating that Islám is the last religion of God, etc. One of those present asked me what I believed. I told him I was a Bahá’í. The Ḥájí, the principal, rose from his chair, agitated and shouting, “You have no place in this school! I thought you were a good boy! Now everything is changed and you have no right to go to your class until your situation is cleared!”
After a week there was a summons from the office of the Imám Jum‘ih (High Priest of the town, who is usually appointed by the Central Government to carry out its policy). On the way I was trembling, thinking of what they might ask and what I should reply and what would be my fate. I entered the Imám’s office in this condition, but as soon as I was confronted by him I was not the same person anymore. It was as if somebody had taken me by both hands. Not only did I not tremble but I was as erect as a column of steel. In the office of the Imám Jum‘ih were eight of the ‘Ulamá with turbans, and the bodyguard of the Imám were standing close behind me. After some time the Imám looked at me asking, “Do you have any business?” “No,” I replied, “You have business with me.”
After asking my name and the name of my father, he asked if I were a Muslim. I told him I was a Bahá’í. He asked what my father did. I told him he was unemployed. The Imám then started saying, “You are against Islám, the Qur’án, and Muḥammad.”
“No,” I responded, “We believe in Islám, in the Qur’án, in Muḥammad and the Imáms, and we respect them.”
“Now that you say that you are a Muslim and believe in the Qur’án …”
I interrupted him with an apology and said, “Sir, I never said that I was a Muslim. I only told you that I believe in Islám. I believe in Islám as you believe in Judaism and Christ and Christianity and believe in the Bible.”
Then he said, “All right. Now that you believe in Islám, have you ever read any books of the Imáms?”
“Yes, to the extent possible.”
“If you have read these books, tell me where is it written that a wretched woman will give birth to a boy named Siyyid ‘Alí Muḥammad, called the Báb, and that he would be the Promised One?”
“First of all, it is not proper that you name a woman in a derogatory manner. We have famous women in history, like Mary, Khadíjih, Fáṭimih, …”
He interrupted me saying, “Tell me where is it written in those books about the Báb?”
“It is not written in that way, but you show me in those books where it is written that He is not coming!”
(The report states that there was then a long discussion about the Faith and the writer quoted verses from the Qur’án and the Imáms showing that the Promised One will bring a new religion.)
On this note another Mullá who was present changed the subject. He told me that the Bahá’ís are forces of Russia and that a Russian official called Dolgorouki confessed that he trained Siyyid ‘Alí Muḥammad to say first that he was the Promised One, then to claim to be the Light of God, and ultimately to be God, Himself.
I very boldly replied, “The Bahá’í Community does not know what tune to dance to. One says that we are forces of Russia; another says that we are American stooges; still another says we are agents of Britain and recently of Israel. You should know philosophy,” I said. “If there is truth then there should be unanimity in the understanding of that truth. Everybody understands that when the water reaches 100 degrees it boils. For boiling water, one doesn’t say when it reaches 80 degrees or 120 degrees it boils. Therefore, it is not fair for you to present a false thing.”
The Imám suddenly shouted at me, “Be quiet! Islám is the last religion! No religion will come after it! You are not right! You are an apostate!”
I asked, “Sir, do you give me permission to speak?”
He replied, “No.”
“Then I am afraid I must speak without your permission. We are not apostates. We are right, and the time for Islám is over.”
He interrupted me sharply, shouting, “Islám is eternal!” and he quoted an Arabic verse which I could not understand. Then I quoted a verse from the Qur’án, saying every religion has an end. (Here the writer gives a long discourse about the meaning of this verse and at the end he quotes a verse from a reliable Shí‘ih book of traditions to the effect that if Muslims are virtuous, the life of Islám will be 1000 years and if not, it will be 500.) Then I told him, “You have been virtuous and Islám has lasted 1000 years. Now is the time for the Faith, and no power on earth can arrest it!”
He shouted, “Shut up! Don’t be impudent!” Then he continued to say that the Bahá’ís are aiding Israel. I replied that to do so would be a political act and we are not in politics.
He said that we had buildings in Israel. “You have a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.”
“They are our Holy Places.”
“Take your Holy Places out of there!”
“Holy Places cannot be moved. If they could, why don’t you bring out the Mosque of Aqsá from Jerusalem?”
“The Mosque fits that place very well!”
“So do our Holy Places.”
Again he shouted, “Shut up!” And then he added, “Get out of the room!”
Throughout the conversation I was very polite and soft-spoken, and then I bade farewell with great politeness, smiled, excused myself, and came out.
On the way out of the room, another Mullá said, “Look, my son, many of us have returned to the bosom of Islám. You have reached the age of maturity (15); you should follow those who have come back to Islam.”
I replied, “Yes, I have reached the age of maturity. I have accepted my Faith by my own choice. And to the last breath of my life I will support it. I am prepared to undergo any torture, any difficulty for my Faith! I don’t consider my blood to be more red than that of my fellow Bahá’ís who are offering it to God.”
The Imám said, “In that case, we have to expel you from school.”
“Do whatever your duty demands.”
After I left the office of the Imám Jum‘ih, to my surprise again I started trembling. I went to my school and said goodbye to my fellow students, got my dismissal order and went back home.
(This dismissal order is now one of the documents preserved in the hands of the Bahá’ís.)
On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, letter dated 1/10/85 to all National Spiritual Assemblies
21. Muna [Mahmudnizhad] was another young girl eighteen years of age when martyred [on 18 June 1983]. She was a teacher of Bahá’í children’s classes and served on the Three Members Board and was arrested with her father, Yadollah Mahmudnizhad.
Twice the order for Muna’s release was issued, but at the third stage in her trial the religious magistrate, Mr. Qazai, after insulting and humiliating her, said, “Your father and mother have deceived and misled you.” In reply Muna said, “Your honor, it is true that I learned about the Bahá’í Faith from my parents, but I have done my own reasoning. In the Bahá’í Faith one adheres to religion after investigation, not by imitation. You have many of our books; you can read and find out for yourself. My father and mother did not insist on my accepting their belief; neither did they force me to become a Bahá’í. If the religious magistrate thinks I should abandon my belief, I will never do so, and prefer submitting to the order of execution.” The religious magistrate was astounded and said, “Young girl, what do you know about religion?” Muna exclaimed, “Your honor, I was brought here from the classroom in school; I have been in prison and going through trials for three months. What better proof of my religious certitude than my perseverance and steadfastness in the Faith? It is this Faith that gives me confidence to go through this trial in your presence ….” The religious magistrate, impressed by Muna’s sincerity, asked her to say a prayer. Muna put away the file and, with the usual respect and humbleness, recited a prayer by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “O kind Lord, Thou art kinder to me than I am to myself ….” The religious magistrate remained silent for a while, then said to Muna, “What harm did you find in Islam that you have turned to Bahaism?” Muna’s answer was: “The foundation of all religions is one. From time to time, according to the exigencies of time and place, God sends His Messenger to renew religion and guide the people in the right path. The Bahá’í religion upholds the truth in Islam, but if by Islam you mean the prevailing animosity, murder, and bloodshed in the country, a sample of which I have witnessed in prison, that is the reason I have chosen to be a Bahá’í.”
Muna’s answer was the subject of conversation among the friends for quite a while in prison. How did Muna dare to talk to the religious magistrate in this way?
Olya Ruhizadegan, “Extract from an Account Concerning the Interrogation of Muna Mahmudnizhad, One of the Ten Bahá’í Women Hanged in Shiraz on June 18, 1983,” in World Order, 18 (Winter 1983–84) 28–29
22. When Zarrin [Muqimi] was taken to the religious magistrate to recant her Faith, and was told as usual either to recant or to be prepared for execution, she said in reply, “I have found the way to reality, and I am not prepared to give it away for any price. Therefore, I submit to the Court’s verdict.” On another occasion the judge asked Zarrin, “To what extent are you prepared to adhere to your belief?” Zarrin answered, “I hope to remain firm in my belief to the last moment.” “But you must give up your belief!” retorted the judge. Zarrin, annoyed by the repetition of the same proposal, exclaimed, “Your honor, you have been conducting my trial for many days, and have asked the same question, and I have given you a definite and satisfactory answer. I don’t think repeating the same thing is necessary!” But the judge rudely repeated the same proposal. Dear Zarrin started crying and with a loud voice said, “In what language do you want me to tell you? Why don’t you leave me alone? My whole being is Bahá’u’lláh! My love is Bahá’u’lláh! My heart is dedicated to Bahá’u’lláh!” The infuriated judge shouted, “I will pull out your heart from your chest!” Zarrin replied, “Then my heart will call and cry out, ‘Bahá’u’lláh! Bahá’u’lláh!” The judge, moved by this display of sentiment, left the room.
After Zarrin’s martyrdom, dear Mother described the event for me over the phone: “Saturday, June 18, 1983, I went to visit Zarrin as usual, taking fresh fruits with me. It was raining, and the weather was quite warm. At the visiting time Zarrin was brought behind the glass partition, and we started to talk. Her countenance seemed to have changed; she said to me, “Mother, please pray for me and implore God to give me perseverance!” She did not say good-bye to me when leaving, because she did not want to see me saddened. Zarrin had always told me not to hope for her freedom, but it did not occur to me that this was our last meeting. The friends (Bahá’ís) had been urged to recant for the last time, and most probably they would be executed. Visiting time was over, and I returned home. The following day, Sunday, June 19, early in the morning I found out that ten women prisoners had been hanged during the night. I ran out of the house to inquire from the friends; in the street I met three friends. With tearful eyes they showed me a list; then I realized Zarrin was also martyred. I ran toward Adelabad prison, moaning and crying. This was the place most of our time had been spent the last eight months. I was allowed to go into the cold room. What I went through that day, and what I saw in that historic moment, I cannot describe. I entered the cold room. O, my God! I saw ten angels lying motionless next to each other. I knew all of them; I had been in the same prison with them. Mother and daughter were together. All had a pair of pants and a summer blouse on. Some of them had their chadur (long robe) tied around their waist; others had it thrown on the floor. What force kept me on my feet and breathing I don’t know! I looked at all the ten angels, and found Zarrin among them reposed; I embraced her cold body, put my cheek on her delicate and cold cheek, and kissed the mark of rope on her lovely neck on behalf of all of you (Father, who was in prison; myself; and my brother, out of the country). Her face looked natural and composed.”
“Extracts from an Account of the Life and Activities of Zarrín Moqimi, One of the Bahá’í Women Hanged in Shiraz on June 18, 1983,” in World Order, 18 (Winter 1983–84) 27–28
23. The following is an account of what Ruya Ishraqi, a teen-age girl who was martyred with her parents, told a fellow prisoner. This prisoner was later released and conveyed Ruya’s story in a letter.
On one of the days of the trial, she said to the judge, “I have not seen my father for the past 32 days. If you allow me to turn around and see for a minute the face of my father …” (Before the prisoners were taken to the trial session, they were first blindfolded, then deliberately taken to wrong rooms and zig-zagged through the prison while abuses and insults were heaped upon them. Then they were taken to a wall, their blindfolds were removed, and they were then given their file and required to write a reply to the questions presented.) The judge hesitated for a moment. However, he agreed that Ruya could see her father in the adjoining room for a few minutes.
She kissed her father, telling him how she loved him and encouraging him to be brave and steadfast. Touching the face of her father, she asked why he had not shaved. The reply was they were not allowed to shave.
At the time Ruya was looking at her father with great love and kissing his face, the judge interfered saying, “Isn’t it a pity that you refrain from saying only one word—that you are not Bahá’ís—by which you could avoid such trouble. If you say those words, all three of you will be free and all the frozen assets of your father will be given to him.”
Ruya, with her customary smile and decisive look, replied, “The love between parents and children is natural, but my love for my Beloved is even greater than my love for my parents.”
The judge asked, “Are you holding to this view until the moment of your execution?” And Ruya replied, “I pray and hope that to the last breath, I will stand firm in my love for my Beloved.”
On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, letter dated 1/10/85 to all National Spiritual Assemblies