The Martyrdom of the Báb in Tabríz

The Báb was imprisoned in Ádhirbayján for three years: first at Máh-Kú, then at Chihríq, then briefly in Tabríz for His examination, then at Chihríq once more. Nabíl writes that the Grand Vazír of Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh, Mírzá Taqí Khán, the Amír-Niẓám, saw that the defeat of the Bábís at Ṭabarsí and Nayríz had not broken their loyalty to the Báb, and concluded that nothing short of His public execution would end the movement. The Amír-Niẓám had the Báb brought from Chihríq to Tabríz.

Three days after the Báb reached Tabríz, the order for His execution arrived, and He was moved to a room in the barracks with His amanuensis, Siyyid Ḥusayn. On the way, a youth, Mírzá Muḥammad-'Alíy-i-Zunúzí, known as Anís, forced his way through the crowd and threw himself at the Báb's feet, begging not to be sent away. Anís was arrested and put in the same cell. Nabíl heard Siyyid Ḥusayn describe that night:

That night the face of the Báb was aglow with joy, a joy such as had never shone from His countenance.

The Báb told them that the next day would be the day of His martyrdom, and said He would rather be slain by the hand of a friend than by that of the enemy. The others refused. Anís sprang to his feet, ready to do whatever the Báb wished. The Báb said that this same youth would suffer martyrdom with Him.

Early next morning the farrásh-báshí came to take the Báb to the leading mujtahids of the city for their death-warrants. The Báb was speaking confidentially with Siyyid Ḥusayn when the farrásh-báshí interrupted and pulled Siyyid Ḥusayn aside. The Báb warned him: "Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say can any earthly power silence Me." The mujtahids did not examine Him. Their death-warrants had already been written, and they handed them over.

The Báb was then delivered to Sám Khán, colonel of the Armenian regiment of Urúmíyyih. Sám Khán, who was a Christian, told the Báb that he bore Him no ill will and asked to be freed from the obligation to shed His blood. The Báb answered: "Follow your instructions, and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity."

A nail was driven into a pillar in the barrack-square and two ropes were tied to it. The Báb and Anís were suspended from them, Anís placed so that his head rested on the Báb's breast. Seven hundred and fifty soldiers, in three files of two hundred and fifty, fired in turn. About ten thousand people were watching from the roofs, and the smoke turned the noonday sun to darkness. Nabíl describes what the crowd saw when it cleared:

There, standing before them alive and unhurt, was the companion of the Báb, whilst He Himself had vanished uninjured from their sight.

The bullets had cut the ropes. People searched frantically and found the Báb in the room where He had spent the night, finishing His conversation with Siyyid Ḥusayn. He told the farrásh-báshí: "I have finished My conversation with Siyyid Ḥusayn. Now you may proceed to fulfil your intention." The farrásh-báshí would not go on. He left the scene and resigned his post.

Sám Khán ordered his men out of the barracks and swore never again to take part in any act that would harm the Báb. Áqá Ján Khán-i-Khamsih, colonel of the body-guard, volunteered to carry out the order. The Báb and Anís were suspended again from the same wall. As the regiment prepared to fire, the Báb spoke His last words to the crowd:

Had you believed in Me, O wayward generation, every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognised Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you.

This time the volley killed them both. It was noon on 9 July 1850.

Within two years the Amír-Niẓám was himself put to death, in the bath of Fín near Káshán.

A retelling based on The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-A'ẓam (Chapter XXIII — Martyrdom of the Báb). 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/