Bahá’í World/Volume 3/The Dawn of the Bahá’í Revelation
THE DAWN OF THE BAHÁ’Í REVELATION
From NABÍL’s NARRATIVE
IMMEDIATELY after the completion of his forty days’ retirement, Mullá Ḥusayn, together with his two companions, departed for Najaf. He left Karbilá at night, visited the holy shrine at Najaf, and proceeded directly to Búshihr, on the Persian Gulf. There he started on his holy quest after the Beloved of his heart’s desire. There, for the first time, he inhaled the fragrance of his concealed Beloved, Who for years had led in that city the life of an ordinary citizen and of a humble merchant. There he perceived the sweet savors of holiness with which that Beloved’s countless invocations and pious worship had so richly impregnated the atmosphere of that city.
He could not, however, tarry any longer in Búshihr. Drawn as if by a magnet which seemed to attract him irresistibly towards the North, he proceeded to Shíráz. Arriving at the gates of that city, he instructed his brother and his nephew to proceed directly to the Masjid of Ílkhání and there to await his coming. He expressed the hope that, God willing, he would arrive in time to join them in their evening prayer.
On that very day, a few hours before sunset, whilst walking outside the gates of that city, his eyes fell suddenly upon a Youth, wearing a green turban, and of radiant countenance, Who, advancing towards him and smilingly gazing at his face, extended to him a most loving welcome. He embraced Mullá Ḥusayn with tenderness and affection, and greeted him as if he were an intimate and lifelong friend. Mullá Ḥusayn thought Him at first to be a disciple of Siyyid Káẓim, who had been informed of his approach to Shíráz, and who had come out to welcome him.
Mírzá Aḥmad-i-Qazvíní, a martyr of the Faith, who had on several occasions heard Mullá Ḥusayn recount to the early believers the story of the latter’s moving and historic interview with the Báb, has related to me the following: “I have heard Mullá Ḥusayn describe graphically and repeatedly the following account: The Youth Who met me, outside the gates of Shíráz, overwhelmed me with expressions of affection and loving-kindness. He extended to me a warm invitation to visit His home, and there seek to refresh myself from the fatigues of my journey. I prayed to be excused, pleading that my two companions were already arranging for my stay in that city, and were now awaiting my return. He refused to consider my request, however, and observed saying: ‘Do thou commit them to the care of God. He will verily protect and watch over them.’ He spoke these words, and bade me follow Him. I was profoundly impressed by that gentle and yet compelling manner in which that strange Youth spoke to me. As I followed Him, His gait, the charm of His voice, the dignity of His bearing, served to enhance my first impressions of this unexpected encounter.
“We were soon standing at the gate of a house of modest appearance. He knocked at the door, which was soon opened by an Ethiopian servant. Entering the house, and turning to me He said: ‘Enter therein in peace, secure.’ These significant words, uttered with power and majesty, penetrated my very soul. I thought it a good augury to be addressed with such words, standing as I did on the threshold of the first house I was entering in Shíráz, a city whose very atmosphere had produced already an indescribable impression upon me. ‘Might not my visit to this house,’ I thought to myself, ‘enable me to draw nearer to the Object of my quest? Might it not hasten the termination of a period of intense longing, of strenuous search, of increasing anxiety,
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The interior of the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Mount Carmel. -
The interior of the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel.
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which such a quest involved.’ As I entered
the house, and followed my Host to His
chamber, a feeling of unutterable joy invaded my being. Immediately we were
seated, He ordered a ewer of water to be
brought, and bade me wash away from my
hands and feet the stains of travel. I
pleaded permission to retire from His presence, and perform my ablutions in an adjoining room. He refused to grant my request, and proceeded to pour water over my
hands. He than gave me to drink of a
refreshing beverage. Soon after He asked
for the samovar and Himself prepared the
tea which He offered to me.
“Overwhelmed with His acts of extreme kindness, I arose to depart. ‘The time for evening prayer is approaching,’ I ventured to observe. ‘I have promised my friends to join them at that hour in the Masjid of Ílkhání. With infinite courtesy and calm, He replied: ‘Thou must have surely made thy return at the appointed hour dependent upon the will and pleasure of God. It seemeth that His will hath decreed otherwise! Thou needest have no fear of having broken thy pledge.’ His dignity and self-assurance silenced me. I renewed my ablutions, and prepared for prayer. He, too, stood beside me, and prayed. Whilst praying, I unburdened my soul, which was much oppressed both with the mystery of this interview and the strain and stress of my search. I breathed this prayer: ‘I have striven, with all my soul, O my God! and until now have failed to find Thy promised Messenger. I testify that Thy Word faileth not, and that Thy promise is sure.’
“That night, that memorable night, was the eve of the fifth day of Jamádíyu’l‘Avval, of the year 1260 A.H. It was about an hour after sunset, when my youthful Host began to converse with me. He first questioned me saying: ‘Who, after Siyyid Káẓim, regard you as his successor and your leader?’ ‘At the hour of his death,’ I replied, 'our departed teacher insistently exhorted us to forsake our homes, to scatter far and wide, in quest of the promised Beloved. I have accordingly journeyed to Persia, have arisen to accomplish his will, and am still engaged in my quest.’ Thereupon He inquired: ‘Has your teacher given you any detailed indications as to the distinguishing features of the promised One?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘He is of a pure lineage, is of illustrious descent, and of the seed of Fátimih. As to His age, He is more than twenty and less than thirty. He is endowed with innate knowledge. He is of medium height, abstains from smoking, and is free from bodily deficiency.’ He paused for awhile, and then with vibrant voice declared: ‘Behold! all these signs are manifested in Me!’ He then considered each of the above-mentioned signs separately, and conclusively demonstrated that each and all were applicable to His person. I was greatly surprised, and politely observed: ‘He Whose advent we await is a Man of unsurpassed holiness, and the Cause He is to reveal a Cause of tremendous power. Many and divers are the requirements which He Who claimeth to be its visible embodiment must needs fulfil. How often has Siyyid Káẓim referred to the vastness of the knowledge of the promised One, saying: ‘My own knowledge is but a drop compared with that with which He has been endowed. All my attainments are but a speck of dust in the face of the immensity of His knowledge. Nay, immeasurable is the difference!’ No sooner had I uttered these words, than I found myself seized with fear and remorse such as I could neither conceal nor explain. I bitterly reproved myself, and resolved at that very moment to alter my attitude and to soften my tone. I vowed that should my Host again refer to the subject, I would, with the utmost humility, answer and say: ‘Shouldst Thou substantiate Thy claim, Thou wouldst most assuredly deliver me from the state of anxiety and suspense which so heavily oppress my soul. I shall truly be indebted to Thee for such deliverance.’ When I first started upon my quest, I determined to regard the following as the sole standards whereby I could ascertain the truth of Whoever might claim to be the promised Qá’im. The first was a treatise which I had myself composed, bearing upon the abstruse and hidden teachings propounded by Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Káẓim. Whoever seemed to me capable of unraveling the mysterious allusions made in that treatise, to Him I would next submit
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my second request, and would ask Him to
reveal, without the least hesitation and reflection, a commentary on the Súrah of
Joseph, in a style and language entirely
different from the prevailing standards of
the time. I had previously requested Siyyid
Káẓim, in private, to write a commentary
on that same Súrah, which he refused, saying: ‘This is verily beyond me. He, that
great One, Who cometh after me, will, unasked, reveal it for thee. The commentary
which He will write for thee shall constitute
one of the weightiest testimonies to His
truth, and one of the clearest evidences of
the loftiness of His position.’
“I was revolving these things in my mind, when my distinguished Host again remarked: ‘Observe attentively. Might not the Person intended by Siyyid Káẓim be none other than Me?’ I thereupon felt impelled to present to Him a copy of the treatise which I had with me, and requested Him saying: ‘I pray Thee to read this book of mine, and to look at its pages with indulgent eyes. I beg Thee to overlook my weaknesses and failings.’ He graciously complied with my wish. He held the book in His hands, opened it, glanced at certain passages, closed it, and began to address me. Within a few minutes He had, with characteristic vigor and charm, unraveled all its mysteries and resolved all its problems! Having to my entire satisfaction accomplished, in so short a time, the task I had expected Him to perform, He further expounded to me certain truths which could be found neither in the reported sayings of the Imams of the Faith nor in the writings of Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Káẓim. These truths, of which I had never heard before, seemed to be endowed with refreshing vividness and singular power. He then observed: ‘Wert thou not My guest, thy position would indeed be a grievous one. The all-encompassing grace of God hath saved thee. It is for God to test His servants, and not for His servants to judge Him in accordance with their deficient standards. Were I to fail to resolve thy perplexities, could the Reality that shines within Me be regarded as powerless, or My knowledge be accused as faulty? Nay, by the righteousness of God! It behoveth in this day the peoples and nations of both the East and the West to hasten unto this threshold and there to seek to obtain the reviving grace of the Merciful. Whoso hesitates, will indeed be in grievous loss! Do not the peoples of the earth testify that the fundamental purpose of their creation is the knowledge and adoration of God? It behoveth them to arise, as earnestly and spontaneously as thou hast arisen, and to seek, with determination and constancy, their promised Beloved.’ He then proceeded to say: ‘Now is the time to reveal the commentary on the Súrah of Joseph.’ He took up His pen, and with incredible rapidity revealed the entire Súrah of Mulk, the first section of His commentary on the Súrah of Joseph. The overpowering effect of the manner in which He wrote was heightened by the gentle intonation of His voice which accompanied His writing. Not for one moment did He interrupt the flow of the verses which streamed from His pen. Not once did He pause till the Súrah of Mulk was finished. I sat enraptured by the magic of His voice and the sweeping force of His revelation. At last, I reluctantly rose from my seat, and begged leave to depart. He smilingly bade me be seated, and said: ‘If thou leavest in such a state, whosoever shall observe thee will assuredly say, ‘This poor youth hath lost his mind.’ At that moment, the clock registered two hours and eleven minutes after sunset. That night, the eve of the fifth day of Jámádíyu’l—‘Avval, of the year 1260 A.H., corresponded with the eve of the sixty-sixth day after Naw-rúz, which was also the eve of the sixth day of Khurdád, of the year Nahang. ‘This night,’ He declared, ‘this very hour, will, in the days to come, be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant of all festivals. Do thou render thanks unto God for having graciously assisted thee to attain thine heart’s desire, and for having quaffed from the sealed wine of His utterance. Well is it with them that attain thereunto!’
“At the third hour after sunset, my Host ordered the dinner to be served. That same Ethiopian servant appeared again, and spread before us the best and choicest food. That holy repast refreshed alike my body and soul. In the presence of my Host, at
that hour, I felt as though I were feeding upon fruits of Paradise. I could not but marvel at the manners, and the devoted attentions of that Ethiopian servant, whose very life seemed to have been transformed by the regenerating influence of his Master. I then, for the first time, recognized the secret and significance of this well-known and sacred tradition ascribed to Muḥammad: ‘I have prepared for the godly and righteous among My servants what eye hath seen not, ear heard not, nor human heart conceived.’ Had that youthful Host of mine no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient that He received me with the quality of hospitality and loving-kindness which no other human being could show.
“I sat spell-bound by His utterance, forgetful of time and of those who awaited me. Suddenly, the call of the Mua{{u|dhdhin, who was summoning the faithful to their morning prayers, awakened me from the state of ecstasy into which I seemed to have fallen. All the delights, all the ineffable glories, which the Almighty has recounted in His Book as the priceless possessions of the people of Paradise, these I seemed to be experiencing that night. Methinks, I was in a place of which it could be truly said: ‘Therein no toil shall reach us, and therein no Weariness shall touch us’; ‘No vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor any falsehood, but only the cry, “Peace! Peacel”; ‘Their cry therein shall be, "Glory be to Thee, O God!” and their salutation therein, “Peace!” And the close of their cry, “Praise be to God, Lord of all creatures!” ’
“Sleep had departed from me that night. I was enthralled by the music of that voice which rose and fell as He chanted, now swelling forth as He revealed verses of the ‘Qay-yúmu’l—Asná,’ again acquiring ethereal subtle harmonies as He uttered the prayers which He was revealing. At the end of each of the communes He revealed, He would repeat this verse: ‘Far from the glory of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, be what His creatures affirm of Him! And peace be upon His Messengers! And praise be to God, the Lord of all beings!’
“He then addressed me these words: ‘O thou who art the first to believe in Me! Verily, I say: I am the Báb, the Gate of God, and thou art the Bábu’l-Báb, the gate of that Gate. Eighteen souls must, in the beginning, spontaneously and of their own accord, accept Me and recognize the truth of My Revelation. Unwarned and uninvited, each of these must seek independently to find Me. And when their number is completed, one of them must needs be chosen by Me, who will accompany Me on My pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. There I shall deliver the Message of God to the Sharíf of Mecca. I will then return to Kúfih, where again, in the Masjid of that holy city, I shall manifest His Cause. It is incumbent upon thee not to divulge, neither to thy companions nor to any other soul, that which thou hast seen and heard. Be thou engaged in the Masjid of Ílkhání in prayer and teaching. I too will there join thee in congregational prayer. Beware, lest thy attitude towards Me betray the secret of thy faith. Thou shouldst continue in this occupation and maintain this attitude, until Our departure for Ḥijáz. Ere we depart, We shall appoint unto each of the eighteen souls their special mission, and will send them forth to accomplish their task. We will instruct them to teach the Word of God, and to quicken the souls of men.’ Having spoken these words to me, He permitted me to retire. He accompanied me to the door of the house, and committed me to the care of God.
“This Revelation, so suddenly and impetuously thrust upon me, came as a thunderbolt which, for a time, seemed to benumb my faculties. I was blinded by its
dazzling splendor, and overwhelmed by its
crushing force. Excitement, joy, awe, and
wonder, stirred the depths of my soul. Predominant among them was a sense of gladness and strength that seemed to have transfigured me. How feeble and impotent, how
dejected and timid, I had previously felt!
Then I could neither write nor walk, so
tremulous were my hands and feet. Now,
however, the knowledge of His Revelation
had galvanized my being. I felt possessed
of such courage and power, that were the
world, all its peoples and its potentates,
to arise against me, I would, alone and
undaunted, resist them! The universe[Page 27]
seemed but a handful of dust in my grasp!
I seemed to be the Voice of Gabriel personified, calling unto all mankind: ‘Awake,
for lo! the morning Light has broken. Arise,
for His Cause is made manifest. The Portal of His grace is open wide. Enter ye
therein, O ye people of the world! For
He, Who is your promised One, is come!’ ”
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