It Is Finished, I Am Ready
Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, (1940), George Ronald · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
A retelling based on The Chosen Highway by Lady Blomfield (George Ronald). The narrative is retold in our own words; the short lines in quotation marks are verbatim from the book. Read the full text for the complete account.
It was the 9th of July, 1850, in the city of Tabríz. For six years the Báb had proclaimed the dawn of a new Day and had been answered with prison and persecution; now His enemies meant to end His mission with a public execution, before a crowd of thousands gathered to watch.
He was brought out to the barracks square together with a devoted young follower, Áqá Muḥammad-'Alí, who had begged to die at His side. The soldiers removed the Báb's green turban — the sign of His descent from the Prophet, which might have stayed their hands — and the two were bound with ropes and suspended against the barracks wall, their arms stretched out.
A regiment of soldiers, hundreds strong, was drawn up in ranks. The order was given. A volley of bullets tore through the air, and a great cloud of smoke rose up and hid the wall from view.
Then the smoke cleared — and a cry of astonishment swept the square. The Báb was not there. The ropes hung severed by the bullets, but He had vanished from the wall. His young companion stood unharmed. After a frantic search, the Báb was found back in the room He had occupied that morning, seated calmly, finishing a conversation with His secretary that the soldiers had interrupted when they came to lead Him out. He had told them, before, that no power on earth could silence Him until He had said all He wished to say. Now, His words complete, He laid down and announced that He was ready:
It is finished. I am ready.
The soldiers who had fired the first volley were shaken to their souls. What they had seen could not be explained, and they would not raise their rifles again. Their commander declared that they would have no part in it — This thing is of God, we refuse to obey — and the entire regiment laid down its arms and marched away.
A second regiment had to be found and hurried into place. This time the volley struck home, and the Báb gave up His life — His body and that of His faithful companion mingled together, exactly as the young man had prayed.
It is a scene of sorrow, and yet generations of believers have returned to it not in despair but in wonder — at the serenity of One who could keep His secretary waiting while soldiers stood ready to fire; at the soldiers whose own eyes opened, if only for a moment, to something holy; and at the love of a young disciple who asked for nothing in the world but to die beside the One he loved. The Báb's earthly life was ended that morning. But the Day He had come to herald had only begun to break.
This account is retold for the Bahai Story Library; it is a paraphrase, not the original text. The quoted lines are verbatim from The Chosen Highway (Lady Blomfield, George Ronald). See the source for the complete account.
Cite this story
Blomfield, L.. (1940). *The Chosen Highway*. George Ronald. https://bahai-library.com/blomfield_chosen_highway
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