Tahirih in Memorials of the Faithful
Src : Memorials of the Faithful, pp 181-end, translated by Marzieh Gail, original footnotes
Url : http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/MF/mf-64.html
Version : 2010-08-22  18:13

Shamsu'd-Duha
Khurshid Begum, who was given the title of Shamsu'd-Duha, the Morning Sun, was mother-in-law to the King of Martyrs. This eloquent, ardent handmaid of God was the cousin on her father's side of the famous Muhammad-Baqir of Isfahan, widely celebrated as chief of the ulamas in that city. When still a child she lost both her parents, and was reared by her grandmother in the home of that famed and learned mujtahid, and well trained in various branches of knowledge, in theology, sciences and the arts.
Once she was grown, she was married to Mirza Hadiy-i-Nahri; and since she and her husband were both strongly attracted to the mystical teachings of that great luminary, the excellent and distinguished Siyyid Kazim-i-Rashti they left for Karbila, accompanied by Mirza Hadi's brother, Mirza Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Nahri. Here they used to attend the Siyyid's classes, imbibing his knowledge, so that this handmaid became thoroughly informed on subjects relating to Divinity, on the Scriptures and on their inner meanings. The couple had two children, a girl and a boy. They called their son Siyyid Ali and their daughter Fatimih Begum, she being the one who, when she reached adolescence, was married to the King of Martyrs.
Shamsu'd-Duha was there in Karbila when the cry of the exalted Lord was raised in Shiraz, and she shouted back, "Yea, verily!" As for her husband and his brother, they immediately set out for Shiraz; for both of them, when visiting the Shrine of Imam Husayn, had looked upon the beauty of the Primal Point, the Bab; both had been astonished at what they saw in that transplendent face, in those heavenly attributes and ways, and had agreed that One such as this must indeed be some very great being. Accordingly, the moment they learned of His Divine summons, they answered: "Yea, verily!" and they burst into flame with yearning love for God. Besides, they had been present every day in that holy place where the late Siyyid taught, and had clearly heard him say: "The Advent is nigh, the affair most subtle, most elusive. It behoves each one to search, to inquire, for it may be that the Promised One is even now present among men, even now visible, while all about Him are heedless, unmindful, with bandaged eyes, even as the sacred traditions have foretold."
When the two brothers arrived in Persia they heard that the Bab had gone to Mecca on a pilgrimage. Siyyid Muhammad-'Ali therefore left for Isfahan and Mirza Hadi returned to Karbila. Meanwhile Shamsu'd-Duha had become friends with the "Leaf of Paradise," sister to Mulla Husayn, the Babu'l-Bab. Through that lady she had met Tahirih, Qurratu'l-'Ayn, and had begun to spend most of her time in close companionship with them both, occupied in teaching the Faith. Since this was in the early days of the Cause, the people were not yet afraid of it. From being with Tahirih, Shams profited immeasurably, and was more on fire with the Faith than ever. She spent three years in close association with Tahirih in Karbila. Day and night, she was stirred like the sea by the gales of the All-Merciful, and she taught with an eloquent tongue.
As Tahirih became celebrated throughout Karbila, and the Cause of His Supreme Holiness, the Bab, spread all over Persia, the latter-day ulamas arose to deny, to heap scorn upon, and to destroy it. They issued a fatva or judgment that called for a general massacre. Tahirih was one of those designated by the evil ulamas of the city as an unbeliever, and they mistakenly thought her to be in the home of Shamsu'd-Duha. They broke into Shams's house, hemmed her in, abused and vilified her, and inflicted grievous bodily harm. They dragged her out of the house and through the streets to the bazar; they beat her with clubs; they stoned her, they denounced her in foul language, repeatedly assaulting her. While this was going on, Haji Siyyid Mihdi, the father of her distinguished husband, reached the scene. "This woman is not Tahirih!" he shouted at them. But he had no witness to prove it, and the farrashes, the police and the mob would not let up. Then, through the uproar, a voice screamed out: "They have arrested Qurratu'l-'Ayn!" At this, the people abandoned Shamsu'd-Duha.
Guards were placed at the door of Tahirih's house and no one was allowed to enter or leave, while the authorities waited for instructions from Baghdad and Constantinople. As the interval of waiting lengthened out, Tahirih asked for permission to leave for Baghdad. "Let us go there ourselves," she told them. "We are resigned to everything. Whatever happens to us is the best that can happen, and the most pleasing." With government permission, Tahirih, the Leaf of Paradise, her mother and Shamsu'd-Duha all left Karbila and traveled to Baghdad, but the snake-like mass of the populace followed them for some distance, stoning them from a little way off.
When they reached Baghdad they went to live at the house of Shaykh Muhammad-i-Shibl, the father of Muhammad-Mustafa; and since many crowded the doors there was an uproar throughout that quarter, so that Tahirih transferred her residence elsewhere, to a lodging of her own, where she continually taught the Faith, and proclaimed the Word of God. Here the ulamas, shaykhs and others would come to listen to her, asking their questions and receiving her replies, and she was soon remarkably well known throughout Baghdad, expounding as she would the most recondite and subtle of theological themes.
When word of this reached the government authorities, they conveyed Tahirih, Shamsu'd-Duha and the Leaf to the house of the Mufti, and here they remained three months until word as to their case was received from Constantinople. During Tahirih's stay at the Mufti's, much of the time was spent in conversations with him, in producing convincing proofs as to the Teachings, analyzing and expounding questions relative to the Lord God, discoursing on the Resurrection Day, on the Balance and the Reckoning, unraveling the complexities of inner truths.
One day the Mufti's father came in and belabored them violently and at length. This somewhat discomfited the Mufti and he began to apologize for his father. Then he said: "Your answer has arrived from Constantinople. The Sovereign has set you free, but on condition that you quit his realms." The next morning they left the Mufti's house and proceeded to the public baths. Meanwhile Shaykh Muhammad-i-Shibl and Shaykh Sultan-i-'Arab made the necessary preparations for their journey, and when three days had passed, they left Baghdad; that is, Tahirih, Shamsu'd-Duha, the Leaf of Paradise, the mother of Mirza Hadi, and a number of Siyyids from Yazd set out for Persia. Their travel expenses were all provided by Shaykh Muhammad.
They arrived at Kirmanshah, where the women took up residence in one house, the men in another. The work of teaching went on at all times, and as soon as the ulamas became aware of it they ordered that the party be expelled. At this the district head, with a crowd of people, broke into the house and carried off their belongings; then they seated the travelers in open howdahs and drove them from the city. When they came to a field, the muleteers set them down on the bare ground and left, taking animals and howdahs away, leaving them without food or luggage, and with no roof over their heads.
Tahirih thereupon wrote a letter to the Governor of Kirmanshah. "We were travelers," she wrote, "guests in your city. 'Honor thy guest,' the Prophet says, 'though he be an unbeliever.' Is it right that a guest should be thus scorned and despoiled?" The Governor ordered that the stolen goods be restored, and that all be returned to the owners. Accordingly the muleteers came back as well, seated the travelers in the howdahs again, and they went on to Hamadan. The ladies of Hamadan, even the princesses, came every day to meet with Tahirih, who remained in that city two months. There she dismissed some of her traveling companions, so that they could return to Baghdad; others, however, accompanied her to Qazvin.
As they journeyed, some horsemen, kinsfolk of Tahirih's, that is, her brothers, approached. "We have come," they said, "at our father's command, to lead her away, alone." But Tahirih refused, and accordingly the whole party remained together until they arrived in Qazvin. Here, Tahirih went to her father's house and the friends, those who had ridden and those who had traveled on foot, put up at a caravanserai. Mirza Hadi, the husband of Shamsu'd-Duha, had gone to Mah-Ku, seeking out the Bab. On his return, he awaited the arrival of Shams in Qazvin, after which the couple left for Isfahan, and when they reached there, Mirza Hadi journeyed on to Badasht. In that hamlet and its vicinity he was attacked, tormented, even stoned, and was subjected to such ordeals that finally, in a ruined caravanserai, he died. His brother, Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, buried him there, along the roadside.
Shams-i-Duha remained in Isfahan. She spent her days and nights in the remembrance of God and in teaching His Cause to the women of that city. She was gifted with an eloquent tongue; her utterance was wonderful to hear. She was highly honored by the leading women of Isfahan, celebrated for piety, for godliness, and the purity of her life. She was chastity embodied; all her hours were spent in reciting Holy Writ, or expounding the Texts, or unraveling the most complex of spiritual themes, or spreading abroad the sweet savors of God.
It was for these reasons that the King of Martyrs married her respected daughter and became her son-in-law. And when Shams went to live in his princely house, day and night the people thronged its doors, for the leading women of the city, whether friends or strangers, whether close to her or not, would come and go. For she was a fire lit by the love of God, and she proclaimed the Word of God with great ardor and verve, so that she became known among the non-believers as Fatimih, the Baha'is' Lady of Light.
And so time passed, until the day when the "She-Serpent" and the "Wolf" conspired together and issued a decree, a fatva, that sentenced the King of Martyrs to death. They plotted as well with the Governor of the city so that among them they could sack and plunder and carry off all that vast treasure he possessed. Then the Shah joined forces with those two wild animals; and he commanded that the blood of both brothers, the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, be spilled out. Without warning, those ruthless men: the She-Serpent, the Wolf, and their brutal farrashes and constabulary -- attacked; they chained the two brothers and led them off to prison, looted their richly furnished houses, wrested away all their possessions, and spared no one, not even infants at the breast. They tortured, cursed, reviled, mocked, beat the kin and others of the victims' household, and would not stay their hands.
In Paris, Zillu's-Sultan related the following, swearing to the truth of it upon his oath: "Many and many a time I warned those two great scions of the Prophet's House, but all to no avail. At the last I summoned them one night, and with extreme urgency I told them in so many words: 'Gentlemen, the Shah has three times condemned you to death. His farmans keep on coming. The decree is absolute and there is only one course open to you now: you must, in the presence of the ulamas, clear yourselves and curse your Faith.' Their answer was: 'Ya Baha'u'l-Abha! O Thou Glory of the All-Glorious! May our lives be offered up!' Finally I agreed to their not cursing their Faith. I told them all they had to say was, 'We are not Baha'is.' 'Just those few words,' I said, 'will be enough; then I can write out my report for the Shah, and you will be saved.' 'That is impossible,' they answered, 'because we are Baha'is. O Thou Glory of the All-Glorious, our hearts hunger for martyrdom! Ya Baha'u'l-Abha!' I was enraged, then, and I tried, by being harsh with them, to force them to renounce their Faith, but it was hopeless. The decree of the rapacious She-Serpent and Wolf, and the Shah's commands, were carried out."
After those two were martyred, Shamsu'd-Duha was hunted down, and had to seek a refuge in her brother's house. Although he was not a believer, he was known in Isfahan as an upright, pious and godly man, a man of learning, an ascetic who, hermit-like, kept to himself, and for these reasons he was highly regarded and trusted by all. She stayed there with him, but the Government did not abandon its search, finally discovered her whereabouts and summoned her to appear; the evil ulamas had a hand in this, joining forces with the civil authorities. Her brother was therefore obliged to accompany Shamsu'd-Duha to the Governor's house. He remained without, while they sent his sister into the women's apartments; the Governor came there, to the door, and he kicked and trampled her so savagely that she fainted away. Then the Governor shouted to his wife: "Princess! Princess! Come here and take a look at the Baha'is' Lady of Light!"
The women lifted her up and put her in one of the rooms. Meanwhile her brother, dumbfounded, was waiting outside the mansion. Finally, trying to plead with him, he said to the Governor: "This sister of mine has been beaten so severely that she is at the point of death. What is the use of keeping her here? There is no hope for her now. With your permission I can get her back to my house. It would be better to have her die there, rather than here, for after all, she is a descendant of the Prophet, she is of Muhammad's noble line, and she has done no wrong. There is nothing against her except her kinship to the son-in-law." The Governor answered: "She is one of the great leaders and heroines of the Baha'is. She will simply cause another uproar." The brother said: "I promise you that she will not utter a word. It is certain that within a few days she will not even be alive. Her body is frail, weak, almost lifeless, and she has suffered terrible harm."
Since the brother was greatly respected and trusted by high and low alike, the Governor released Shamsu'd-Duha in his custody, letting her go. She lived for a while in his house, crying out, grieving, shedding her tears, mourning her dead. Neither was the brother at peace, nor would the hostile leave them alone; there was some new turmoil every day, and public clamor. The brother finally thought it best to take Shams away on a pilgrimage to Mashhad, hoping that the fire of civil disturbances would die down.
They went to Mashhad and settled in a vacant house near the Shrine of the Imam Rida.
Because he was such a pious man the brother would leave every morning to visit the Shrine, and there he would stay, busy with his devotions until almost noon. In the afternoon as well, he would hasten away to the Holy Place, and pray until evening. The house being empty, Shamsu'd-Duha managed to get in touch with various women believers and began to associate with them; and because the love of God burned so brightly in her heart she was unable to keep silent, so that during those hours when her brother was absent the place came alive. The Baha'i women would flock there and absorb her lucid and eloquent speech.
In those days life in Mashhad was hard for the believers, with the malevolent always on the alert; if they so much as suspected an individual, they murdered him. There was no security of any kind, no peace. But Shamsu'd-Duha could not help herself: in spite of all the terrible ordeals she had endured, she ignored the danger, and was capable of flinging herself into flames, or into the sea. Since her brother frequented no one, he knew nothing of what was going on. Day and night he would only leave the house for the Shrine, the Shrine for the house; he was a recluse, had no friends, and would not so much as speak to another person. Nevertheless there came a day when he saw that trouble had broken out in the city, and he knew it would end in serious harm. He was a man so calm and silent that he did not reproach his sister; he simply took her away from Mashhad without warning, and they returned to Isfahan. Here, he sent her to her daughter, the widow of the King of Martyrs, for he would no longer shelter her under his roof.
Shamsu'd-Duha was thus back in Isfahan, boldly teaching the Faith and spreading abroad the sweet savors of God. So vehement was the fiery love in her heart that it compelled her to speak out, whenever she found a listening ear. And when it was observed that once again the household of the King of Martyrs was about to be overtaken by calamities, and that they were enduring severe afflictions there in Isfahan, Baha'u'llah desired them to come to the Most Great Prison. Shamsu'd-Duha, with the widow of the King of Martyrs and the children, arrived in the Holy Land. Here they were joyously spending their days when the son of the King of Martyrs, Mirza Abdu'l-Husayn, as a result of the awful suffering he had been subjected to in Isfahan, came down with tuberculosis and died in Akka.
Shamsu'd-Duha was heavy of heart. She mourned his absence, she wasted away with longing for him, and it was all much harder because then the Supreme Affliction came upon us, the crowning anguish. The basis of her life was undermined; candle-like, she was consumed with grieving. She grew so feeble that she took to her bed, unable to move. Still, she did not rest, nor keep silent for a moment. She would tell of days long gone, of things that had come to pass in the Cause, or she would recite from Holy Writ, or she would supplicate, and chant her prayers -- until, out of the Most Great Prison, she soared away to the world of God. She hastened away from this dust gulf of perdition to an unsullied country; packed her gear and journeyed to the land of lights. Unto her be salutations and praise, and most great mercy, sheltered in the compassion of her omnipotent Lord.
Tahirih
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 Jinab-i-Tahirih. She was called Umm-Salma; she was the daughter of Haji Mulla Salih, a mujtahid of Qazvin, and her paternal uncle was Mulla Taqi, the Imam-Jum'ih or leader of prayers in the cathedral mosque of that city. They married her to Mulla Muhammad, the son of Mulla Taqi, and she gave birth to three children, two sons and a daughter; all three were bereft of the grace that encompassed their mother, and all failed to recognize the truth of the Cause.
When she was still a child her father selected a teacher for her and she studied various branches of knowledge and the arts, achieving remarkable ability in literary pursuits. Such was the degree of her scholarship and attainments that her father would often express his regret, saying, "Would that she had been a boy, for he would have shed illumination upon my household, and would have succeeded me!"
One day she was a guest in the home of Mulla Javad, a cousin on her mother's side, and there in her cousin's library she came upon some of the writings of Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i. Delighted with what he had to say, Tahirih asked to borrow the writings and take them home. Mulla Javad violently objected, telling her: "Your father is an enemy of the Twin Luminous Lights, Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim. If he should even dream that any words of those two great beings, any fragrance from the garden of those realities, had come your way, he would make an attempt against my life, and you too would become the target of his wrath." Tahirih answered: "For a long time now, I have thirsted after this; I have yearned for these explanations, these inner truths. Give me whatever you have of these books. Never mind if it angers my father." Accordingly, Mulla Javad sent over the writings of the Shaykh and the Siyyid.
One night, Tahirih sought out her father in his library, and began to speak of Shaykh Ahmad's teachings. The very moment he learned that his daughter knew of the Shaykhi doctrines, Mulla Salih's denunciations rang out, and he cried: "Javad has made you a lost soul!" Tahirih answered, "The late Shaykh was a true scholar of God, and I have learned an infinity of spiritual truths from reading his books. Furthermore, he bases whatever he says on the traditions of the Holy Imams. You call yourself a mystic knower and a man of God, you consider your respected uncle to be a scholar as well, and most pious -- yet in neither of you do I find a trace of those qualities!"
For some time, she carried on heated discussions with her father, debating such questions as the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment, the Night-Ascent of Muhammad to Heaven, the Promise and the Threat, and the Advent of the Promised One. Lacking arguments, her father would resort to curses and abuse. Then one night, in support of her contention, Tahirih quoted a holy tradition from the Imam Ja'far-i-Sadiq; and since it confirmed what she was saying, her father burst out laughing, mocking the tradition. Tahirih said, "Oh my father, these are the words of the Holy Imam. How can you mock and deny them?"
From that time on, she ceased to debate and contend with her father. Meanwhile she entered into secret correspondence with Siyyid Kazim, regarding the solution of complex theological problems, and thus it came about that the Siyyid conferred on her the name "Solace of the Eyes" (Qurratu'l-'Ayn); as for the title Tahirih ("The Pure One"), it was first associated with her in Badasht, and was subsequently approved by the Bab, and recorded in Tablets.
Tahirih had caught fire. She set out for Karbila, hoping to meet Siyyid Kazim, but she arrived too late: ten days before she reached that city, he passed away. Not long before his death the Siyyid had shared with his disciples the good news that the promised Advent was at hand. "Go forth," he repeatedly told them, "and seek out your Lord." Thus the most distinguished of his followers gathered for retirement and prayer, for fasts and vigils, in the Masjid-i-Kufih, while some awaited the Advent in Karbila. Among these was Tahirih, fasting by day, practicing religious disciplines, and spending the night in vigils, and chanting prayers. One night when it was getting along toward dawn she laid her head on her pillow, lost all awareness of this earthly life, and dreamed a dream; in her vision a youth, a Siyyid, wearing a black cloak and a green turban, appeared to her in the heavens; he was standing in the air, reciting verses and praying with his hands upraised. At once, she memorized one of those verses, and wrote it down in her notebook when she awoke. After the Bab had declared His mission, and His first book, "The Best of Stories," was circulated, Tahirih was reading a section of the text one day, and she came upon that same verse, which she had noted down from the dream. Instantly offering thanks, she fell to her knees and bowed her forehead to the ground, convinced that the Bab's message was truth.
This good news reached her in Karbila and she at once began to teach. She translated and expounded "The Best of Stories," also writing in Persian and Arabic, composing odes and lyrics, and humbly practicing her devotions, performing even those that were optional and supernumerary. When the evil ulamas in Karbila got wind of all this, and learned that a woman was summoning the people to a new religion and had already influenced a considerable number, they went to the Governor and lodged a complaint. Their charges, to be brief, led to violent attacks on Tahirih, and sufferings, which she accepted and for which she offered praise and thanks. When the authorities came hunting for her they first assaulted Shamsu'd-Duha, mistaking her for Tahirih. As soon, however, as they heard that Tahirih had been arrested they let Shams go -- for Tahirih had sent a message to the Governor saying, "I am at your disposal. Do not harm any other."
The Governor set guards over her house and shut her away, writing Baghdad for instructions as to how he should proceed. For three months, she lived in a state of siege, completely isolated, with the guards surrounding her house. Since the local authorities had still received no reply from Baghdad, Tahirih referred her case to the Governor, saying: "No word has come from either Baghdad or Constantinople. Accordingly, we will ourselves proceed to Baghdad and await the answer there." The Governor gave her leave to go, and she set out, accompanied by Shamsu'd-Duha and the Leaf of Paradise (the sister of Mulla Husayn) and her mother. In Baghdad she stayed first in the house of Shaykh Muhammad, the distinguished father of Aqa Muhammad-Mustafa. But so great was the press of people around her that she transferred her residence to another quarter, engaged night and day in spreading the Faith, and freely associated with the inhabitants of Baghdad. She thus became celebrated throughout the city and there was a great uproar.
Tahirih also maintained a correspondence with the ulamas of Kazimayn; she presented them with unanswerable proofs, and when one or another appeared before her she offered him convincing arguments. Finally she sent a message to the Shi'ih divines, saying to them: "If you are not satisfied with these conclusive proofs, I challenge you to a trial by ordeal." Then there was a great outcry from the divines, and the Governor was obliged to send Tahirih and her women companions to the house of Ibn-i-Alusi, who was mufti of Baghdad. Here she remained about three months, waiting for word and directions from Constantinople. Ibn-i-Alusi would engage her in learned dialogues, questions would be asked and answers given, and he would not deny what she had to say.
On a certain day the mufti related one of his dreams, and asked her to tell him what it meant. He said: "In my dream I saw the Shi'ih ulamas arriving at the holy tomb of Imam Husayn, the Prince of Martyrs. They took away the barrier that encloses the tomb, and they broke open the resplendent grave, so that the immaculate body lay revealed to their gaze. They sought to take up the holy form, but I cast myself down on the corpse and I warded them off." Tahirih answered: "This is the meaning of your dream: you are about to deliver me from the hands of the Shi'ih divines." "I too had interpreted it thus," said Ibn-i-Alusi.
Since he had discovered that she was well versed in learned questions and in sacred commentaries and Texts, the two often carried on debates; she would speak on such themes as the Day of Resurrection, the Balance, and the Sirat, and he would not turn away.
Then came a night when the father of Ibn-i-Alusi called at the house of his son. He had a meeting with Tahirih and abruptly, without asking a single question, began to curse, mock and revile her. Embarrassed at his father's behavior, Ibn-i-Alusi apologized. Then he said: "The answer has come from Constantinople. The King has commanded that you be set free, but only on condition that you leave his realms. Go then, tomorrow, make your preparations for the journey, and hasten away from this land."
Accordingly Tahirih, with her women companions, left the mufti's house, saw to arranging for their travel gear, and went out of Baghdad. When they left the city, a number of Arab believers, carrying arms, walked along beside their convoy. Among the escort were Shaykh Sultan, Shaykh Muhammad and his distinguished son Muhammad-Mustafa, and Shaykh Salih, and these were mounted. It was Shaykh Muhammad who defrayed the expenses of the journey.
When they reached Kirmanshah the women alighted at one house, the men at another, and the inhabitants arrived in a continuous stream to seek information as to the new Faith. Here as elsewhere the ulamas were soon in a state of frenzy and they commanded that the newcomers be expelled. As a result the kad-khuda or chief officer of that quarter, with a band of people, laid siege to the house where Tahirih was, and sacked it. Then they placed Tahirih and her companions in an uncovered howdah and carried them from the town to an open field, where they put the captives out. The drivers then took their animals and returned to the city. The victims were left on the bare ground, with no food, no shelter, and no means of traveling on.
Tahirih at once wrote a letter to the prince of that territory, in which she told him: "O thou just Governor! We were guests in your city. Is this the way you treat your guests?" When her letter was brought to the Governor of Kirmanshah he said: "I knew nothing of this injustice. This mischief was kindled by the divines." He immediately commanded the kad-khuda to return all the travelers' belongings. That official duly surrendered the stolen goods, the drivers with their animals came back out of the city, the travelers took their places and resumed the journey.
They arrived in Hamadan and here their stay was a happy one. The most illustrious ladies of that city, even the princesses, would come to visit, seeking the benefits of Tahirih's teaching. In Hamadan she dismissed a part of her escort and sent them back to Baghdad, while she brought some of them, including Shamsu'd-Duha and Shaykh-Salih, along with her to Qazvin.
As they traveled, some riders advanced to meet them, kinsmen of Tahirih's from Qazvin, and they wished to lead her away alone, unescorted by the others, to her father's house. Tahirih refused, saying: "These are in my company." In this way they entered Qazvin. Tahirih proceeded to her father's house, while the Arabs who had formed her escort alighted at a caravanserai. Tahirih soon left her father and went to live with her brother, and there the great ladies of the city would come to visit her; all this until the murder of Mulla Taqi, when every Babi in Qazvin was taken prisoner. Some were sent to Tihran and then returned to Qazvin and martyred.
Mulla Taqi's murder came about in this way: One day, when that besotted tyrant had mounted his pulpit, he began to mock and revile the great Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i. Shamelessly, grossly, screaming obscenities, he cried out: "That Shaykh is the one who has kindled this fire of evil, and subjected the whole world to this ordeal!" There was an inquirer in the audience, a native of Shiraz. He found the taunts, jeers and indecencies to be more than he could bear. Under cover of darkness he betook himself to the mosque, plunged a spearhead between the lips of Mulla Taqi and fled. The next morning they arrested the defenseless believers and thereupon subjected them to agonizing torture, though all were innocent and knew nothing of what had come to pass. There was never any question of investigating the case; the believers repeatedly declared their innocence but no one paid them any heed. When a few days had passed the killer gave himself up; he confessed to the authorities, informing them that he had committed the murder because Mulla Taqi had vilified Shaykh Ahmad. "I deliver myself into your hands," he told them, "so that you will set these innocent people free." They arrested him as well, put him in the stocks, chained him, and sent him in chains, along with the others, to Tihran.
Once there he observed that despite his confession, the others were not released. By night, he made his escape from the prison and went to the house of Rida Khan -- that rare and precious man, that star-sacrifice among the lovers of God -- the son of Muhammad Khan, Master of the Horse to Muhammad Shah. He stayed there for a time, after which he and Rida Khan secretly rode away to the Fort of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazindaran. Muhammad Khan sent riders after them to track them down, but try as they might, no one could find them. Those two horsemen got to the Fort of Tabarsi, where both of them won a martyr's death. As for the other friends who were in the prison at Tihran, some of these were returned to Qazvin and they too suffered martyrdom.
One day the administrator of finance, Mirza Shafi', called in the murderer and addressed him, saying: "Jinab, do you belong to a dervish order, or do you follow the Law? If you are a follower of the Law, why did you deal that learned mujtahid a cruel, a fatal blow in the mouth? If you are a dervish and follow the Path, one of the rules of the Path is to harm no man. How, then, could you slaughter that zealous divine?" "Sir," he replied, "besides the Law, and besides the Path, we also have the Truth. It was in serving the Truth that I paid him for his deed."
These things would take place before the reality of this Cause was revealed and all was made plain. For in those days no one knew that the Manifestation of the Bab would culminate in the Manifestation of the Blessed Beauty and that the law of retaliation would be done away with, and the foundation-principle of the Law of God would be this, that "It is better for you to be killed than to kill"; that discord and contention would cease, and the rule of war and butchery would fall away. In those days, that sort of thing would happen. But praised be God, with the advent of the Blessed Beauty such a splendor of harmony and peace shone forth, such a spirit of meekness and long-suffering, that when in Yazd men, women and children were made the targets of enemy fire or were put to the sword, when the leaders and the evil ulamas and their followers joined together and unitedly assaulted those defenseless victims and spilled out their blood -- hacking at and rending apart the bodies of chaste women, with their daggers slashing the throats of children they had orphaned, then setting the torn and mangled limbs on fire -- not one of the friends of God lifted a hand against them. Indeed, among those martyrs, those real companions of the ones who died, long gone, at Karbila -- was a man who, when he saw the drawn sword flashing over him, thrust sugar candy into his murderer's mouth and cried, "With a sweet taste on your lips, put me to death -- for you bring me martyrdom, my dearest wish!"
Let us return to our theme. After the murder of her impious uncle, Mulla Taqi, in Qazvin, Tahirih fell into dire straits. She was a prisoner and heavy of heart, grieving over the painful events that had come to pass. She was watched on every side, by attendants, guards, the farrashes, and her foes. While she languished thus, Baha'u'llah dispatched Hadiy-i-Qazvini, husband of the celebrated Khatun-Jan, from the capital, and they managed, by a stratagem, to free her from that embroilment and got her to Tihran in the night. She alighted at the mansion of Baha'u'llah and was lodged in an upper apartment.
When word of this spread throughout Tihran, the Government hunted for her high and low; nevertheless, the friends kept arriving to see her, in a steady stream, and Tahirih, seated behind a curtain, would converse with them. One day the great Siyyid Yahya, surnamed Vahid, was present there. As he sat without, Tahirih listened to him from behind the veil. I was then a child, and was sitting on her lap. With eloquence and fervor, Vahid was discoursing on the signs and verses that bore witness to the advent of the new Manifestation. She suddenly interrupted him and, raising her voice, vehemently declared: "O Yahya! Let deeds, not words, testify to thy faith, if thou art a man of true learning. Cease idly repeating the traditions of the past, for the day of service, of steadfast action, is come. Now is the time to show forth the true signs of God, to rend asunder the veils of idle fancy, to promote the Word of God, and to sacrifice ourselves in His path. Let deeds, not words, be our adorning!"
The Blessed Beauty made elaborate arrangements for Tahirih's journey to Badasht and sent her off with an equipage and retinue. His own party left for that region some days afterward.
In Badasht, there was a great open field. Through its center a stream flowed, and to its right, left, and rear there were three gardens, the envy of Paradise. One of those gardens was assigned to Quddus, but this was kept a secret. Another was set apart for Tahirih, and in a third was raised the pavilion of Baha'u'llah. On the field amidst the three gardens, the believers pitched their tents. Evenings, Baha'u'llah, Quddus and Tahirih would come together. In those days the fact that the Bab was the Qa'im had not yet been proclaimed; it was the Blessed Beauty, with Quddus, Who arranged for the proclamation of a universal Advent and the abrogation and repudiation of the ancient laws.
Then one day, and there was a wisdom in it, Baha'u'llah fell ill; that is, the indisposition was to serve a vital purpose. On a sudden, in the sight of all, Quddus came out of his garden, and entered the pavilion of Baha'u'llah. But Tahirih sent him a message, to say that their Host being ill, Quddus should visit her garden instead. His answer was: "This garden is preferable. Come, then, to this one." Tahirih, with her face unveiled, stepped from her garden, advancing to the pavilion of Baha'u'llah; and as she came, she shouted aloud these words: "The Trumpet is sounding! The great Trump is blown! The universal Advent is now proclaimed!" The believers gathered in that tent were panic struck, and each one asked himself, "How can the Law be abrogated? How is it that this woman stands here without her veil?"
"Read the Surih of the Inevitable," said Baha'u'llah; and the reader began: "When the Day that must come shall have come suddenly... Day that shall abase! Day that shall exalt!..." and thus was the new Dispensation announced and the great Resurrection made manifest. At the start, those who were present fled away, and some forsook their Faith, while some fell a prey to suspicion and doubt, and a number, after wavering, returned to the presence of Baha'u'llah. The Conference of Badasht broke up, but the universal Advent had been proclaimed.
Afterward, Quddus hastened away to the Fort of Tabarsi and the Blessed Beauty, with provisions and equipment, journeyed to Niyala, having the intention of going on from there by night, making His way through the enemy encampment and entering the Fort. But Mirza Taqi, the Governor of Amul, got word of this, and with seven hundred riflemen arrived in Niyala. Surrounding the village by night, he sent Baha'u'llah with eleven riders back to Amul, and those calamities and tribulations, told of before, came to pass.
As for Tahirih, after the breakup at Badasht she was captured, and the oppressors sent her back under guard to Tihran. There she was imprisoned in the house of Mahmud Khan, the Kalantar. But she was aflame, enamored, restless, and could not be still. The ladies of Tihran, 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 Tihran's ladies were invited, the princesses, the wives of vazirs 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 Tahirih 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 Tahirih and listen to the sweet words of her mouth.
Thus she remained, a helpless captive. Then came the attempt on the life of the Shah; a farman was issued; she was sentenced to death. Saying she was summoned to the Prime Minister's, they arrived to lead her away from the Kalantar'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 Tahirih. 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 Tahirih 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.