The Prince Who Sent His Wildest Horse

A retelling based on The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-A'zam. Words in quotation marks are from that account.

The Báb was taken from the fortress of Chihríq to Tabríz, to be examined by the divines of Ádhirbayján in the presence of the heir to the throne. Before the summons came He had sent away the disciples who had gathered around Him in Chihríq, and waited for it "with calm resignation." His guards chose not to pass through the town of Khuy, where they feared the excited populace would demonstrate against the government, and went by way of Urúmíyyih instead.

At Urúmíyyih the prince Malik Qásim Mírzá "ceremoniously received Him and accorded Him the warmest hospitality." In His presence the prince acted with extraordinary deference and would not allow the least disrespect from anyone who was allowed to meet Him. But he was curious, and wanted, in Nabíl's words, "to test the courage and power of his Guest."

One Friday, when the Báb was going to the public bath, the prince ordered his groom to offer Him one of his wildest horses, an animal that had already thrown the bravest and most skilful of horsemen. The groom, afraid that the Báb would be hurt, went to Him secretly and tried to persuade Him not to mount it.

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

Word of the prince's intention had spread, and the people of Urúmíyyih had filled the public square, "eager to witness what might befall the Báb."

When the horse was brought, He went up to it quietly, took the bridle the groom held out to Him, gently caressed it, and placed His foot in the stirrup. The horse stood "still and motionless beside Him as if conscious of the power which was dominating it."

To the watching crowd, Nabíl writes, this "appeared little short of a miracle." They rushed forward to kiss His stirrups, and the prince's attendants had to hold them back for fear the crowd would harm Him. The prince walked beside his Guest on foot as far as the neighbourhood of the bath, until the Báb bade him return to his residence. All the way the prince's footmen struggled to hold back the people pressing in from every side to catch a glimpse of Him.

At the bath He dismissed everyone except the prince's private attendant and Siyyid Ḥasan, who waited in the antechamber. When He came out He mounted the same horse and was acclaimed by the same multitude, and the prince came on foot to meet Him and escorted Him back. As soon as He had left, the people of Urúmíyyih rushed to carry away, "to the last drop," the water that had served for His ablutions. "Great excitement prevailed on that day."

Seeing all this, the Báb was reminded of a tradition ascribed to the Imám 'Alí concerning Ádhirbayján, which says that the lake of Urúmíyyih will boil up, overrun its banks and inundate the town. When He was told afterwards that the great majority of the townspeople had declared their allegiance to His Cause, He calmly answered in the words of the Qur'án:

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

The test came soon. In Tabríz the divines examined Him, and afterwards He was given the bastinado. When news of how He had been treated reached Urúmíyyih, hardly a handful of those who had so openly professed their faith held to it.

Nabíl names the foremost of them: Mullá Imám-Vardí, whose tenacity no one could surpass except Mullá Jalíl-i-Urúmí, a native of that town and one of the Letters of the Living. Adversity only deepened Mullá Imám-Vardí's devotion. In later years he attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh and served His Cause with the same zeal, and he went on labouring for the Faith until he died at past eighty years of age.

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-A'zam, chapter XVIII.

Nabíl-i-A'zam. (1932). *The Dawn-Breakers*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust.