Shahr-Bánú Khánum's Broken Betrothal

Bahá'u'lláh intended to give His niece, Shahr-Banu Khanum, in marriage to His eldest Son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. She was the daughter of His faithful older half-brother, Mirza Muhammad-Hasan. That was also the great hope of Mirza Muhammad-Hasan who hurried to Baghdad and pleaded with Bahá'u'lláh to bring about this union. But Mirza Muhammad-Hasan passed away before the Most Great Branch came of age.

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When Bahá'u'lláh and His family were exiled to Iraq, Shahr-Banu Khanum remained in the district of Nur in Mazindaran, until in 1285 A.H. (1868) when Bahá'u'lláh instructed His uncle, Mulla Zaynu'l-'Abidin, to escort her to Tihran and from there to arrange her journey to Adrianople.

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No sooner had this news reached Shah Sultan Khanum, a half-sister of Bahá'u'lláh who had turned against Him, than she arose in enmity and, with the assistance of Mirza Rida-Quli, a half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh, prevented the marriage from taking place. Mirza Rida-Quli, who had stood as father to Shahr-Banu Khanum after the death of her father, Mirza Muhammad-Hasan, was afraid that Násiri'd-Dín Sháh and his ministers would frown on this marriage and take him to task.

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Shah Sultan Khanum took Shahr-Banu Khanum to her home in Tihran and practically forced her to marry instead Mirza Ali-Khan-i-Nuri, the son of the Prime Minister. Bahá'u'lláh has referred to this in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. This marriage, so rudely imposed upon her, plunged Shahr-Banu Khanum into a state of perpetual grief and misery.

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Her youngest brother, Mirza Nizamu'l-Mulk, a faithful and devoted follower of Bahá'u'lláh, has recorded in his memoirs that after her marriage Shahr-Banu Khanum prayed fervently to God for her deliverance from her tragic plight. It seems that her prayers were answered, as shortly afterwards she became afflicted with tuberculosis and died.

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(Adapted from ‘Bahá’u’lláh, The King of Glory’, by H. M. Balyuzi, pp. 343–344, and ‘The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 2’, by Adib Taherzadeh, pp. 205–206)

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