The Báb's Examination at Tabríz

In the summer of 1848 the Báb was brought from His prison at Chihríq to Tabríz, the capital of Ádhirbayján. Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí, the chief minister, had ordered the divines of the city to gather at the governor's residence to examine Him. Among them were the Niẓámu’l-‘Ulamá’, tutor to the Crown Prince Náṣiri’d-Dín Mírzá; Mullá Muḥammad-i-Mamaqání; and Mírzá ‘Alí-Aṣghar, the Shaykhu’l-Islám of Tabríz. The Crown Prince himself attended, and the Niẓámu’l-‘Ulamá’ presided.

On the way from Chihríq the Báb's escort had avoided the town of Khuy and gone by way of Urúmíyyih. There the prince of the city, wishing to test the courage of his Guest, had ordered his groom to offer Him one of his wildest horses to ride. The groom secretly urged Him to refuse. The Báb replied:

Fear not. Do as you have been bidden, and commit Us to the care of the Almighty.

He took the bridle, gently caressed the horse and mounted it, and the horse stood still while the crowd in the public square watched. When He was later told how readily the people of Urúmíyyih had declared their allegiance to Him, He answered with a verse of the Qur’án:

Think men that when they say, ‘We believe,’ they shall be let alone and not be put to the proof?

Nabíl adds that when news came of how the Báb had been treated in Tabríz, hardly a handful of them remained faithful.

In the hall at Tabríz every seat was taken except the one kept for the Crown Prince, and the Báb, after greeting the assembly, sat in it. The Niẓámu’l-‘Ulamá’ asked Him whom He claimed to be, and what message He had brought. Nabíl records the answer:

"I am," thrice exclaimed the Báb, "I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten."

The Niẓámu’l-‘Ulamá’ asked for proof. The Báb said that the mightiest proof of a Prophet's mission is His own Word, and at the chairman's request began to describe the gathering in the manner of the verses of the Qur’án. At His first words Mullá Muḥammad-i-Mamaqání interrupted to point out a breach of the rules of grammar. The Báb answered that the Qur’án itself does not accord with the rules current among men, and said:

The Word of God can never be subject to the limitations of His creatures.

The rules men have adopted, He explained, were drawn from the Word of God, not the other way round. After a further question He rose and left the gathering.

Some of the officials held that He had shown disrespect by taking the Crown Prince's seat, and should be summoned again and punished by the assembly; the Crown Prince refused. It was then decided that He should be taken to the home of the Shaykhu’l-Islám and punished by the governor's bodyguard. When the guard refused, the Shaykhu’l-Islám himself applied the rods eleven times to the Báb's feet.

The Báb was taken back to Chihríq. As soon as He arrived He wrote a lengthy denunciation of Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí, known as the Khuṭbiy-i-Qahríyyih, and sent it to Ḥujjat, who was then held in Ṭihrán, to deliver to the minister in person.

Nabíl writes that the gathering had allowed the Báb to set forth His claim before the most illustrious dignitaries of Ádhirbayján, and that the news of His declaration spread rapidly throughout Persia.

A retelling based on The Dawn-Breakers (Nabíl-i-A'ẓam), Chapter XVIII — Examination of the Báb at Tabríz. For the fuller account, see the original.

Nabíl-i-A'ẓam. (1932). *The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/other-literature/historical/dawn-breakers/