The Last of the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán

In the early months of 1850, fourteen followers of the Báb were seized in Tihrán. Nabíl records what befell them:

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“The fourteen disciples of the Báb, who had been captured, remained incarcerated in the house of Maḥmúd Khán-i-Kalantar from the first to the twenty-second day of the month of Rabí‘u’th-Thání. … Every kind of ill treatment was inflicted upon them. Their persecutors sought, by every device, to induce them to supply the information they required, but failed to obtain a satisfactory answer.

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Among the captives was a certain Muḥammad-Ḥusayn-i-Marághi’í, who obstinately refused to utter a single word despite the severe pressure that was brought to bear upon him. They tortured him, they resorted to every possible measure in order to extort from him any hint that could serve their purpose, but failed to achieve their end. Such was his unswerving obstinacy that his oppressors thought him to be dumb.

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They asked Ḥájí Mullá Ismá‘íl, who had converted him to his Faith, whether or not he could talk. ‘He is mute, but not dumb,’ he replied; ‘he is fluent of speech and is free from any impediment.’ He had no sooner called him by his name than the victim answered, assuring him of his readiness to abide by his will.”

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The case was referred to the Grand Vazír, the Amír-Niẓám, who ordered that whoever among the fourteen would not recant his faith should be put to death. Seven yielded and were released; the remaining seven are remembered as the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán. At the place of execution, Siyyid Murtaḍá of Zanján pleaded to be slain before his companions, and his words stirred the crowd. Nabíl continues:

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“In the midst of the turmoil which the stirring words of Siyyid Murtaḍá had raised, Muḥammad-Ḥusayn-i-Marághi’í rushed forward and begged that he be allowed to be martyred immediately ere his companions were put to the sword.

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As soon as his eyes fell upon the body of Ḥájí Mullá Ismá‘íl-i-Qumí, for whom he entertained a deep affection, he impulsively threw himself upon him and, holding him in his embrace, exclaimed: ‘Never will I consent to separate myself from my dearly beloved friend, in whom I have reposed the utmost confidence and from whom I have received so many evidences of a sincere and deep-felt affection!’ Their eagerness to precede one another in laying down their lives for their Faith astonished the multitude who wondered which of the three would be preferred to his companions.

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They pleaded with such fervour that eventually they were beheaded, all three, at one and the same moment.

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“So great a faith, such evidences of unbridled cruelty, human eye has rarely beheld. Few as they were in number, yet when we recall the circumstances of their martyrdom, we are compelled to acknowledge the stupendous character of that force which could evoke so rare a spirit of self-sacrifice.

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When we remember the exalted rank these victims had occupied, when we observe the degree of their renunciation and the vitality of their faith, when we recall the pressure which from influential quarters had been exerted to avert the danger with which their lives were threatened, above all when we picture to our minds the spirit that defied the atrocities which a heartless enemy so far bemeaned themselves as to inflict upon them, we are impelled to look upon that episode as one of the most tragic occurrences in the annals of this Cause.”

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