Twelve Days in the Garden of Najíb Páshá

*From **Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era** (J. E. Esslemont), with details from **God Passes By** (Shoghi Effendi).*

1 / 10

In 1863 Bahá'u'lláh had lived in Baghdád for ten years. Esslemont writes:

2 / 10

> After much negotiation, at the request of the Persian Government, an > order was issued by the Turkish Government summoning Bahá'u'lláh to > Constantinople. On receipt of this news His followers were in > consternation. They besieged the house of their beloved Leader to such > an extent that the family encamped in the Garden of Najíb Páshá outside > the town for twelve days, while the caravan was being prepared for the > long journey.

3 / 10

It was during these twelve days (April 22 to May 3, 1863, > i.e. nineteen years after the Báb's Declaration) that Bahá'u'lláh > announced to several of His followers the glad tidings that He was the > One Whose coming had been foretold by the Báb—the Chosen of God, the > Promised One of all the Prophets.

4 / 10

The garden lay on the far bank of the Tigris. Shoghi Effendi records in *God Passes By* that Bahá'u'lláh crossed the river to it with His sons and His amanuensis, and that the muezzin had just raised the afternoon call to prayer when He entered it. His arrival there, Shoghi Effendi writes, marks the beginning of what has come to be recognized as the holiest and most significant of all Bahá'í festivals.

5 / 10

Little is known of the Declaration itself. Nabíl, the chronicler, recorded that every day before dawn the gardeners picked the roses that lined the four avenues of the garden and heaped them in Bahá'u'lláh's tent, and that Bahá'u'lláh sent these roses with His companions to His friends in the city. From morning until evening He received the visitors who kept coming from Baghdád. Among them was the governor, Námiq Páshá, who expressed his regret at the banishment and offered his help. Bahá'u'lláh asked him to show kindness to His loved ones.

6 / 10

Esslemont describes those days:

7 / 10

> During those days Bahá'u'lláh, instead of being sad or depressed, > showed the greatest joy, dignity and power. His followers became happy > and enthusiastic, and great crowds came to pay their respects to Him. > All the notables of Baghdád, even the Governor himself, came to honor > the departing prisoner.

8 / 10

The garden became known to Bahá'ís as the Garden of Riḍván, and the twelve days are commemorated every year in the twelve-day Festival of Riḍván, which begins in late April.

9 / 10

*A retelling based on **Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era** (J. E. Esslemont), with details from **God Passes By**. For the fuller account, see the originals.*

10 / 10