The Báb's Sojourn in Iṣfáhán

Late in the summer of 1846 the Báb left His native city of Shíráz for the last time and went to Iṣfáhán. As He approached the city He wrote to its governor, Manúchihr Khán, the Mu‘tamidu’d-Dawlih, asking where He might stay. The letter was so courteous, and its penmanship so fine, that the governor asked the Imám-Jum‘ih of Iṣfáhán, the Sulṭánu’l-‘Ulamá, the foremost religious authority of the province, to receive the Báb in his own home.

The Imám-Jum‘ih went out in person to welcome Him. From the first night, Nabíl records, he was so devoted to his Guest that, setting aside the dignity of his rank, he took the ewer from his chief steward and poured the water over the Báb’s hands himself.

One night after supper the Imám-Jum‘ih asked the Báb to reveal a commentary on the Súrih of Va’l-‘Aṣr. The Báb called for pen and paper and, with great speed and without any preparation, began to write in the presence of His host. Near midnight He was still expounding the meaning of the first letter of that Súrih. When He chanted the opening passage of His commentary, His hearers rose to their feet and, with the Imám-Jum‘ih, kissed the hem of His garment. An eminent mujtahid who was present, Mullá Muḥammad-Taqíy-i-Harátí, exclaimed:

Peerless and unique, as are the words which have streamed from this pen, to be able to reveal, within so short a time and in so legible a writing, so great a number of verses as to equal a fourth, nay a third, of the Qur’án, is in itself an achievement such as no mortal, without the intervention of God, could hope to perform.

Visitors came from every quarter of the city to the house of the Imám-Jum‘ih. The governor himself came one day and, before an assembly of the city's most accomplished divines, asked the Báb to explain and demonstrate the truth of the specific mission of Muḥammad. In less than two hours the Báb filled about fifty pages with His answer. The Mu‘tamid told the assembly:

Never until this day have I in my heart been firmly convinced of the truth of Islám.

He added that he could now declare himself a firm believer in the Faith of the Prophet, and testified to the superhuman power with which the Báb was endowed.

The Báb stayed forty days at the house of the Imám-Jum‘ih, and then went to the governor's home. When the clergy of Iṣfáhán signed a document condemning Him to death, the Imám-Jum‘ih declined to endorse it. He added in his own hand that he had known the Báb as a pious and loyal observer of the precepts of Islám, but that the extravagance of His claims led him to believe Him devoid of reason and judgment.

The Mu‘tamid then sent the Báb out of the city under escort as if to Ṭihrán, and had Him brought back secretly by night to his private residence, where he himself waited on Him. One day the governor told the Báb that he wished to consecrate all his wealth to the new Cause, and to go to Ṭihrán to win the Sháh to it. The Báb answered:

Not by the means which you fondly imagine will an almighty Providence accomplish the triumph of His Faith. Through the poor and lowly of this land, by the blood which these shall have shed in His path, will the omnipotent Sovereign ensure the preservation and consolidate the foundation of His Cause.

He also told the Mu‘tamid that only three months and nine days of his life remained. The governor put his affairs in order and died after one night's fever. His successor, Gurgín Khán, learned where the Báb was being kept and reported it to the Sháh, who summoned the Báb to Ṭihrán.

A retelling based on The Dawn-Breakers (Nabíl-i-A'ẓam), Chapter X — The Báb's Sojourn in Iṣfáhán. 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/