Ṭáhirih Unveiled at Badasht

It was the end of June, 1848. Outside the village of Badasht, located about 400 Km northeast of Tehran, Persia, in the Province of Semnan, there was a great open field that contained some gardens and a stream that flowed through its center.

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Warm breezes rustled the leaves of trees whose fruits would slowly ripen into peaches and pomegranates, cherries and apples — plump, juicy, and sweet. Amidst these pleasant surroundings Bahá’u’lláh had rented three gardens. One was assigned to Quddús, but according to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that “was kept a secret.” Another was set apart for Ṭáhirih, and in a third was raised the pavilion of Bahá’u’lláh. In each of the three gardens was a tent spread with soft carpets large enough for guests to gather.

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There, near the gentle ripple and splash of a stream, with the mountains tall and purple in the distance, tents were pitched for the eighty-one Bábís who attended what would become later known as the Conference of Badasht. These disciples who had gathered from various provinces were Bahá’u’lláh’s guests from the day of their arrival to the day they dispersed. Mullá Ḥusayn, who was in Khurásán at the time, was prevented from reaching Badasht.

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The conference at Badasht lasted twenty-two days. Its purpose was to make clear the Báb’s true mission and to make a decisive break with past traditions. With the Báb in a remote prison, few of His followers had been able to talk to Him or to have access to His holy book, the Bayán. Many still thought of the Báb as a reformer of Islam, unaware that His Cause was much greater. From its first day the conference at Badasht began to open the eyes of the Bábís.

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The Guardian explains: “On each of the twenty-two days of His [Bahá’u’lláh’s] sojourn in that hamlet He revealed a Tablet, which was chanted in the presence of the assembled believers. On every believer He conferred a new name, without, however, disclosing the identity of the one who had bestowed it. He Himself was henceforth designated by the name Bahá. Upon the Last Letter of the Living was conferred the appellation of Quddús, while Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was given the title of Ṭáhirih.

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By these names they were all subsequently addressed by the Báb in the Tablets He revealed for each one of them.” (Shoghi Effendi, *God Passes By*)

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‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains that Bahá’u’lláh, Quddús and Ṭáhirih would come together in the evenings. “In those days the fact that the Báb was the Qá’im had not yet been proclaimed; it was the Blessed Beauty, with Quddús, Who arranged for the proclamation of a universal Advent and the abrogation and repudiation of the ancient laws.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, *Memorials of the Faithful*)

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“Then one day, and there was a wisdom in it, Bahá’u’lláh fell ill; that is, the indisposition was to serve a vital purpose. On a sudden, in the sight of all, Quddús came out of his garden, and entered the pavilion of Bahá’u’lláh. But Ṭáhirih sent him a message, to say that their Host being ill, Quddús should visit her garden instead. His answer was: ‘This garden is preferable.

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Come, then, to this one.’ Ṭáhirih, with her face unveiled, stepped from her garden, advancing to the pavilion of Bahá’u’lláh; and as she came, she shouted aloud these words: ‘The Trumpet is sounding! The great Trump is blown! The universal Advent is now proclaimed!’[1] 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?’” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, *Memorials of the Faithful*)

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Ṭáhirih stood before them with her face unveiled — an unthinkable act for a devout Muslim woman of that time. Though she was modestly dressed, it was as if she stood unclothed before them.

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The Bábí men, who normally refrained even from looking upon her shadow, were aghast. Some quickly covered their eyes with their hands or hid them in the folds of their clothing to avoid looking upon her face. Others ran out of the tent altogether. One Bábí, ‘Abdu’l-Kháliq-i-Iṣfahání, was so gravely shaken that he cut his own throat.

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Ṭáhirih remained calm. The removal of her veil expressed her insight into the true spirit of Badasht more powerfully than a thousand well-chosen words. The time had come to cast aside old ideas and outworn ways, to open wide one’s arms and receive the bounties of a new revelation.

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One bounty to come, of which Ṭáhirih was confident, would be the unveiling of the true and equal worth of women. According to one account, Ṭáhirih proclaimed: “I am the blast of the trumpet, I am the call of the bugle.” Nabíl records that she then invited those present to celebrate the occasion: “This day is the day of festivity and universal rejoicing, the day on which the fetters of the past are burst asunder. Let those who have shared in this great achievement arise and embrace each other.” [2]

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But the emotional disturbance caused by her bold act was like the unsettling tremor of an earthquake. Some Bábís were shaken to the very core, their perceptions so shattered that they left the gathering at Badasht and no longer chose to call themselves Bábís.

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Bahá’u’lláh soothed the other agitated Bábís and restored calm to their assembly by calling for a chapter from the Qur’án to be read aloud. “Read the Súrih of the Inevitable,”[3] said Bahá’u’lláh; 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.

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The words of the Súrih seemed to describe how many of the believers felt that very day at Badasht, but their deeper meaning pointed to an upheaval for all humankind and the beginning of a great new cycle in the world. That this passage from the Qur’án was chosen to be read that day, under the guiding hand of Bahá’u’lláh, was not accidental.

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“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 Bahá’u’lláh. The Conference of Badasht broke up, but the universal Advent had been proclaimed.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, *Memorials of the Faithful*)

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When the followers of the Báb left the gardens of Badasht at the end of the twenty-two days, their new spirit matched their new names. They felt enlightened and energized, strong and eager to teach the Cause of the Báb. Most did not know, however, that their new names had been given to them by Bahá’u’lláh, nor that the Tablets chanted each day had been revealed by Him.

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Together the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh had guided the Bábís a step closer toward their destiny. The tremendous change in store for humankind would require not only new laws and customs, but a new mind and spirit — a transformation that would not take place easily. At Badasht the Bábís had seen the first glimmer of what it would mean for them to be the dawn-breakers for a new Day.

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**Notes**

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[1] Cf. Qur’án 74:8 and 6:73. Also Isaiah 27:13 and Zechariah 9:14.

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[2] See Nabíl, *The Dawn-Breakers*, pp. 295–296. The words “I am the blast of the trumpet, I am the call of the bugle” are from a tradition reported by T. K. Cheyne and quoted by Shoghi Effendi in *The Dawn-Breakers*, p. 297, note 10.

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[3] Qur’án 56:4–6: The passage referred to the Day of Judgment, “when the earth shall be shaken with a shock, And the mountains shall be crumbled with a crumbling, And shall become scattered dust.”

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