Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá, the Morning Sun

A retelling based on Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Words in quotation marks are from that book.

Khurshíd Begum, who was given the title Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá, the Morning Sun, lost both her parents as a child. She was raised by her grandmother in the home of her father's cousin, Muḥammad-Báqir, celebrated as chief of the 'ulamás of Iṣfáhán, and was trained in theology, the sciences and the arts. She married Mírzá Hádíy-i-Nahrí. Both were strongly drawn to the teachings of Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí, and they went to Karbilá to attend his classes, where she became "thoroughly informed on subjects relating to Divinity, on the Scriptures and on their inner meanings." They had a daughter and a son.

She was in Karbilá when the call of the Báb was raised in Shíráz, and she answered, "Yea, verily!" Her husband and his brother had once seen the Báb while visiting the Shrine of the Imám Ḥusayn, and had agreed that One such as this must be some very great being. As soon as they heard of His summons, they set out for Shíráz.

In Karbilá Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá became friends with the sister of Mullá Ḥusayn, and through her met Ṭáhirih. She spent three years in close association with Ṭáhirih, teaching the Faith. "From being with Táhirih, Shams profited immeasurably, and was more on fire with the Faith than ever." 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes: "Day and night, she was stirred like the sea by the gales of the All-Merciful, and she taught with an eloquent tongue."

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As the Faith spread, the 'ulamás of Karbilá issued a judgement calling for a general massacre, and Ṭáhirih was among those they named. Believing she was in the house of Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá, they broke in, hemmed her in, abused her and did her grievous harm. They dragged her through the streets to the bazaar, beat her with clubs and stoned her. Her husband's father, Ḥájí Siyyid Mihdí, reached the scene and shouted at them: "This woman is not Táhirih!" But he had no witness to prove it, and the police and the mob would not let up. Then a voice cried out through the uproar: "They have arrested Qurratu'l-'Ayn!" At that the crowd left her.

With the Government's permission Ṭáhirih, Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá and their companions later left Karbilá for Baghdád. There the authorities placed the women in the house of the Muftí for three months, while Ṭáhirih discussed the teachings with him, until word came from Constantinople that they were free on condition that they leave the Sultan's realms. At Kirmánsháh the party was driven out of the city: their belongings were carried off, they were set in open howdahs, and in a field the muleteers left them on the bare ground with no food or shelter. After Ṭáhirih wrote to the Governor their goods were restored, and they went on to Hamadán, where the ladies of the city, even the princesses, came every day to meet Ṭáhirih, and then to Qazvín.

From Qazvín Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá and her husband went to Iṣfáhán. Mírzá Hádí journeyed on to Badasht. In and around that hamlet he was attacked and stoned, and he died in a ruined caravanserai. His brother buried him there, beside the road.

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Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá stayed in Iṣfáhán and taught the Faith to the women of the city, and its leading women held her in high honour. Her daughter married the man later known as the King of Martyrs, and when Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá went to live in his house, the women of the city, friends and strangers alike, came and went day and night. "For she was a fire lit by the love of God, and she proclaimed the Word of God with great ardor and verve, so that she became known among the non-believers as Fátimih, the Bahá'ís' Lady of Light." The name recalled Fáṭimih, the daughter of the Prophet Muḥammad.

After the King of Martyrs and his brother were martyred, she was hunted, and took refuge with her own brother. He was not a believer, but he was known in Iṣfáhán as an upright, learned and pious man, and was trusted by everyone. When the Government found her and summoned her, he went with her to the Governor's house and waited outside while she was sent into the women's apartments. The Governor came to the door and kicked and trampled her until she fainted. Then he shouted to his wife: "Princess! Princess! Come here and take a look at the Bahá'ís' Lady of Light!"

Her brother pleaded for her, promising that she would not say a word and that within a few days she would not even be alive, and the Governor released her into his care. She survived. When the turmoil in Iṣfáhán did not die down, he took her on pilgrimage to Mashhad. There he spent his mornings and afternoons at the Shrine of the Imám Riḍá, and while he was away Bahá'í women came to the house to hear her, for "the love of God burned so brightly in her heart she was unable to keep silent." When he saw that trouble had broken out in the city, he took her back to Iṣfáhán and sent her to live with her daughter, and there she went on teaching.

When the household of the King of Martyrs was again threatened, Bahá'u'lláh asked them to come to the Most Great Prison, and Shamsu'd-Ḍuḥá came to the Holy Land with her daughter and the children. There the son of the King of Martyrs, Mírzá 'Abdu'l-Ḥusayn, died in 'Akká of tuberculosis brought on by what he had suffered in Iṣfáhán. Then came the passing of Bahá'u'lláh. The Master writes that, "candle-like, she was consumed with grieving." She grew too weak to leave her bed, but still she would not keep silent: she would tell of days long gone and of things that had come to pass in the Cause, recite from Holy Writ, and chant her prayers, until, in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's words, she "packed her gear and journeyed to the land of lights."

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1915). *Memorials of the Faithful*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust.