In the House of the Mufti

A retelling based on The Dawn-Breakers by Nabil-i-A'zam, with details from God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi.

Qurratu'l-'Ayn, the woman later known as Tahirih, came from Qazvin to Karbila hoping to meet Siyyid Kazim, who had given her that name, and arrived ten days after his death. She stayed on among his companions, spending her time in prayer and meditation and waiting for the One whose coming he had foretold. While in Karbila she dreamed of a young siyyid in a black cloak and a green turban, reciting verses in the heavens, and she wrote one of the verses down. When a copy of the Bab's commentary on the Surih of Joseph later reached her, she found that same verse in it. She declared her faith in a letter, without ever attaining His presence, and was numbered among the Letters of the Living, the only woman among them.

Karbila was the foremost stronghold of Shi'ih Islam, and she did not keep her belief to herself. According to Nabil, all who met her there were captivated by her eloquence: "None could resist her charm; few could escape the contagion of her belief." The widow of Siyyid Kazim became the first woman of Karbila to recognize the new Faith. Shaykh Salih, an Arab resident of the city, embraced it through her, and so did Shaykh Sultan. Another admirer was Shaykh Muhammad-i-Shibl, an Arab of Baghdad who ranked high among the 'ulama of that city.

In the early days of the month of Muharram, Karbila commemorated the martyrdom of the Imam Husayn with elaborate ceremony, and the commemoration was being kept in the house of the late Siyyid Kazim. The first day of that month was also the anniversary of the birth of the Bab. According to Samandar, cited in a note to Nabil's narrative, she set the mourning aside and celebrated the Bab's birthday instead, asking her sister and relatives to put off their mourning garments and wear bright clothes. This was the main reason, Samandar says, that the people of Karbila accused her before the governor of Baghdad. Another note records that for three months her house was watched by guards the Governor had appointed to keep her from associating with the people.

The 'ulama of Karbila tried to dissuade her from travelling on. She saw what lay behind their advice and wrote to each of them a lengthy epistle, setting out her purpose and exposing their dissimulation. These were men, Shoghi Effendi notes, who relegated women to a rank little higher than animals and denied them even the possession of a soul.

From Karbila she went to Baghdad, where she lived for a time in the house of Shaykh Muhammad-i-Shibl and then in another quarter of the city. A delegation of the ablest leaders of the Shi'ih, Sunni, Christian and Jewish communities of Baghdad came to convince her of the folly of her actions. She silenced their protests and astounded them with the force of her argument. In Nabil's words, "Disillusioned and confused, they retired, deeply conscious of their own impotence."

By order of the governor she was moved to the house of the Mufti of Baghdad, Shaykh Mahmud-i-Alusi, author of the celebrated commentary Ruhu'l-Ma'ani, to stay there until fresh instructions came from Constantinople. She remained about three months. Shoghi Effendi records that in the Mufti's home, and in his presence, she defended her faith "with consummate skill" and vindicated her conduct.

The Kashfu'l-Ghita, cited in a note to Nabil's narrative, says that references to their conversations were found in the Mufti's commentary, and that he is reported to have said to her: "O Qurratu'l-'Ayn! I swear by God that I share in thy belief. I am apprehensive, however, of the swords of the family of Uthman." The question of whether she should be allowed to continue teaching was referred to the central government, and she was ordered to leave Turkish territory.

She did not travel alone. Shaykh Muhammad-i-Shibl, Shaykh Salih-i-Karimi, Shaykh Sultan and others, with about thirty Arab believers, went with her from Khaniqin on the Persian frontier to Kirmanshah. In the village of Karand, where the party stayed three days, she proclaimed the teachings of the Bab openly, and twelve hundred people are reported to have offered to follow her.

In Kirmanshah the 'ulama received her with respect and gave her tokens of their esteem. Princes, divines and government officials came to meet her. At those meetings, Shoghi Effendi writes, the Bab's commentary on the Surih of Kawthar was publicly read and translated, and they ended in the conversion of the governor of the city and his family.

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see The Dawn-Breakers by Nabil-i-A'zam, chapter XV and its notes, and God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi, chapter V.

Nabil-i-A'zam. (1932). *The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha'i Revelation*. Baha'i Publishing Trust.