Chapter 13: The Dawn-Breakers

Opening quotation: _Díván-i-Miṣbáḥ_. `Azízu'lláh Miṣbáḥ (1876-1945), poet, educationalist, master of _belles-lettres_, was an eminent Bahá'í of Írán. A book of his prose: _Mun[_sh_]i'át-i-Miṣbáḥ_, reprinted many times, became a textbook, for use in schools.

[1] [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Muḥammad [_Sh_]ibl and his son, Áqá Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá (then about ten years old); [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Sulṭán-i-Karbilá'í; Siyyid Aḥmad-i-Yazdí, the father of Siyyid Ḥusayn (the amanuensis of the Báb); [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Ṣaliḥ-i-Karímí and Mullá Ibráhím-i-Maḥallátí were of that number.

[2] Browne (ed.), _A Traveller's Narrative_, Vol. II, xliii.

[3] He was variously named as Mullá `Abdu'lláh, Mírzá Ṣálih, and Mírzá Ṭáhir, the Baker.

[4] `Abdu'l-Bahá, _Memorials of the Faithful_, p. 201.

[5] _The Dawn-Breakers_, pp. 215-16 (Brit.), p. 299 (U.S.).

[6] _ibid._, p. 253 (Brit.), p. 351 (U.S.).

[7] Nicolas, _Seyyèd Ali Mohammed dit le Bâb_, p. 296.

[8] _The Dawn-Breakers_, p. 240 (Brit.), p. 332 (U.S.).

[9] F.O. 60/144.

[10] Bahá'u'lláh, _Kitáb-i-Íqán_, p. 142 (Brit.), p. 223 (U.S.).

[11] Cited _The Dawn-Breakers_, p. 284n (Brit.), p. 395n. (U.S.). Also in another translation in `Abdu'l-Bahá's _Memorials of the Faithful_, p. 7.

[12] They were al-Ḥáj Muḥammad al-Karradí and Sa`íd al-Jabbáwí. Ḥájí Muḥammad was nearly eighty years old. In his younger days, he had led a hundred men in the war between the Ottomans and Ibráhím Pá[_sh_]á, son of the celebrated Muḥammad-`Alí Pá[_sh_]á of Egypt.

[13] _The Dawn-Breakers_, p. 298 (Brit.), p. 411 (U.S.).

[14] In 1970, the present writer received, through the good offices of his cousin, Abu'l-Qásim Afnán, the photostatically-produced copy of a manuscript describing this episode in Bábí history. It is in the handwriting of Áqá Muḥammad-Báqir-i-Ṭihrání, a merchant, whose brother, Mu[_sh_]iru't-Tujjár, was one of the 'Five Martyrs' of Sárí. (These five were murdered in the early years of the Constitutional Movement in Persia: see Balyuzi, _Edward Granville Browne and the Bahá'í Faith_.) Áqá Muḥammad-Báqir states, in a short introduction, that he visited Bárfurú[_sh_] sometime in the year 1319 A.H. (April 20th 1901-April 9th 1902), where he chanced upon a manuscript of the history of the Bábís at [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Ṭabarsí, written by one of them, which he copied for himself and the benefit of others. He does not mention the name of the owner of the original. This history begins with an account of the author joining Mullá Ḥusayn; by this he can be identified, although he nowhere names himself. There is no doubt that he was Mírzá Luṭf-`Alí or Luṭf-`Alí Mírzá of [_Sh_]íráz, a descendant of the Af[_sh_]árid monarchs of the 18th century A.D. He was one of the few survivors of [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Ṭabarsí, who managed to escape in the company of Mullá Ṣádiq-i-Muqaddas-i-[_Kh_]urásání, but in the holocaust of August 1852 (see Balyuzi, _Bahá'u'lláh_, p. 18) he died a martyr's death.

On receiving and examining this chronicle, the present writer recalled that E. G. Browne mentions, in his _Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion_, a manuscript history of the episode of [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Ṭabarsí by Luṭf-`Alí Mírzá, sent to him by Mírzá Muṣṭafá, the Azalí scribe. As this manuscript is now in Cambridge University Library, a photostatic reproduction was obtained by the kindness of the Librarian. According to the scribe (whose real name was Ismá`íl-i-Ṣabbá[_gh_]-i-Sidihí), the manuscript which he copied for Prof. Browne was faulty, but he could find no other for comparison.

Luṭf-`Alí Mírzá's chronicle ends abruptly, and Áqá Muḥammad-Báqir, the copyist, incorrectly concludes that the author must have died of starvation, since the last lines of his chronicle describe the state of famine caused by the siege.

The present writer is currently engaged in collating the two manuscripts.

[15] _The Dawn-Breakers_, p. 285 (Brit.), p. 396 (U.S.).

[16] F.O. 60/150, See Appendix 3.

[17] Mullá Báqir, the imám of the [_Ch_]inár-Sú[_kh_]tih quarter; Mírzá Ḥusayn-i-Qutb, the Kad [_Kh_]udá (Headman) of the Bázár quarter; and Ḥájí Muḥammad-Taqí, a prominent and wealthy merchant, who later earned the surname of Ayyúb (Job) from Bahá'u'lláh, because of his intense sufferings, his patience in tribulation and his steadfastness--these were among the notables who went out to the village of Runíz in the district of Fasá to meet Vaḥíd.

[18] _The Dawn-Breakers_, pp. 353-4 (Brit.), pp. 479-80 (U.S.).

[19] They were commanded by Mihr-`Alí [_Kh_]án-i-Núrí, the [_Sh_]ujá`u'l-Mulk, and Muṣṭafá-Qulí [_Kh_]án-i-Qaráguzlú, the I`timadu's-Salṭanih.

[20] _The Dawn-Breakers_, pp. 361-2 (Brit.), pp. 488-9 (U.S.).

[21] Shoghi Effendi, _God Passes By_, p. 47.

[22] Browne (ed.), _The Táríkh-i-Jadíd_, p. 255.

[23] _ibid._, p. 253.

[24] Browne, _A Year Amongst the Persians_, p. 81. (1926 ed.).

[25] F. O. 60/153. K. W. Abbott's dispatch of August 30th 1850, enclosed with Sheil's report of September 5th 1850 to Palmerston.

[26] F. O. 248/142 of December 9th 1850, R. W. Stevens, Consul at Tabríz to Sheil.

[27] _The Dawn-Breakers_, p. 419 (Brit.), p. 572 (U.S.).

[28] F.O. 60/158 of January 6th 1851.