The Time for Deeds

A retelling based on The Chosen Highway by Lady Blomfield (George Ronald), drawing on 'Abdu'l-Bahá's own recollections of His childhood. The narrative is retold in our own words; the lines in quotation marks are verbatim from the book. Read the full text for the original account.

Ṭáhirih, also called Qurratu'l-'Ayn, was a poet and scholar, and the only woman among the Letters of the Living, the first eighteen disciples of the Báb. During a short visit she paid to the home of Bahá'u'lláh in Tihrán, she often took His small son 'Abbás on her knee. Many years later, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá, He described one day of that visit to Lady Blomfield and her companions.

At about that time Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí, one of the most learned scholars of his time, had been sent by the Sháh to Shíráz to investigate the claims of the Báb. He had long talks with the Báb and became a believer. Back in Tihrán, he came to Bahá'u'lláh with many questions.

On this day the boy was sitting on Ṭáhirih's knee in the private parlour of His mother, Ásíyih Khánum. The door of the room was open, with a curtain hanging across it, and from behind the curtain they could hear the voice of Siyyid Yaḥyá, "arguing with my Father," as 'Abdu'l-Bahá put it. Ṭáhirih spoke to him from behind the curtain:

"O Siyyid, this is not the time for arguments, for discussions, for idle repetitions of prophecies or traditions! It is the time for deeds! The day for words has passed! If you have courage, now is the appointed hour for manifesting it; if you are a man of deeds, show a proof of your manhood by proclaiming day and night: 'The Promised Herald has come! He has come, the Qa'im, the Imam, the Awaited One has come! He has come!'"

'Abdu'l-Bahá said that He remembered the episode very distinctly: the enthusiasm on her "lovely, radiant face" as she spoke from behind the curtain. "She used often, during her short visit, to take me on to her knee, caress me, and talk to me," He added. "I admired her most deeply."

Siyyid Yaḥyá, who became known as Vaḥíd, later gave his life for the Faith at Nayríz. Ṭáhirih was put to death in Tihrán in 1852.

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.

Blomfield, L.. (1940). *The Chosen Highway*. George Ronald. https://bahai-library.com/blomfield_chosen_highway