The Teacher Who Had Nothing to Teach Him

A retelling based on The Dawn-Breakers (Nabíl's Narrative).

When the Báb was a small boy in Shíráz — known then as Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad — His uncle sent Him, like any child, to a neighbourhood school. His teacher was a certain Shaykh 'Ábid, a devout and learned man.

One day the teacher set the child to learn the opening words that every Persian schoolchild begins with: Bismi'lláhi'r-Raḥmáni'r-Raḥím — "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." The Báb looked up and asked him, gently, what those holy words actually meant.

The teacher gave the usual answer. But the child was not satisfied with the surface of it. He asked again for the inner meaning — and as He spoke, it became clear that this small pupil understood the words more deeply than the man set over Him to teach them.

Shaykh 'Ábid was overcome. He rose, took the boy by the hand, and walked Him back to His uncle's house. He could not keep Him, he said; he had nothing to teach this child. The knowledge already shining in Him had come from no earthly lesson.

His uncle thanked the teacher, and quietly asked the Báb to keep to the ways of the other children. But those who later came to recognize Him would remember this small scene and understand it: the light He carried was not learned. It was His own from the very beginning.

On the Birthday of the Báb we celebrate exactly that — a Dawn that was luminous from its first hour.

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see The Dawn-Breakers.

Nabíl-i-A'ẓam. (1932). *The Dawn-Breakers*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://bahai-library.com/nabil_dawnbreakers