Two Hours and Eleven Minutes After Sunset: The Declaration of the Báb

After many months of searching for the One who would succeed his beloved teacher Siyyid Káẓim, Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushrú’í travelled south across Persia and arrived at the gates of Shíráz on the afternoon of the fifth day of Jamádíyu’l-Avval, 1260 A.H. — the eve of the 23rd of May, 1844. He sent his brother and nephew on to the Masjid-i-Ilkhání to wait for him, and continued alone outside the city.

A Youth of radiant countenance, wearing a green turban, came forward to meet him. He embraced Mullá Ḥusayn with such warmth that it seemed they were old friends, and invited him home. Mullá Ḥusayn explained that his companions awaited him for evening prayer, but the Youth, calm and assured, replied that His will has decreed otherwise, and that no pledge would be broken by accepting the invitation. Together they crossed the threshold, the Youth saying, in the words of the Qur’án, "Enter therein in peace, secure."

Inside, the host washed his guest’s hands, brought refreshment, and prepared tea. He then asked Mullá Ḥusayn what kind of person he was seeking, and Mullá Ḥusayn described the One whose advent his teacher had foretold — youthful, of medium height, descended from Fáṭimih, unlettered yet learned in every science. The Youth quietly replied that He answered to each of those marks of recognition.

Mullá Ḥusayn produced the treatise he had written on the most abstruse teachings of the Shaykhí school. The Youth opened it, and, in a few minutes, unravelled all its mysteries and resolved all its problems, revealing truths that Mullá Ḥusayn had not found in the writings of Shaykh Aḥmad or of Siyyid Káẓim. He then took up His pen and, with incredible rapidity, began to write a commentary on the Súrih of Joseph — the Súriy-i-Mulk — pausing for nothing, chanting the verses aloud as they flowed from His pen.

As the night wore on Mullá Ḥusayn at last rose to leave. The Youth bade him be seated, smiling: "If you leave in such a state, whoever sees you will assuredly say: 'This poor youth has lost his mind.'"

Then He addressed him directly:

O thou who art the first to believe in Me! Verily I say, I am the Báb, the Gate of God, and thou art the Bábu’l-Báb, the gate of that Gate.

He continued:

This night, this very hour will, in the days to come, be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant of all festivals.

At that moment, the chronicle records, the clock registered two hours and eleven minutes after sunset. The encounter continued until dawn. When Mullá Ḥusayn finally walked out into the morning of Shíráz, he was a man transformed: "I felt possessed of such courage and power that were the world ... to rise against me, I would ... withstand their onslaught."

Bahá’ís around the world commemorate this night each year on the evening of the 22nd of May, two hours and eleven minutes after sunset.

Source: Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam, The Dawn-Breakers, translated by Shoghi Effendi (Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1932), chapter 3. Public domain text.

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/