One of the First to Believe

*A retelling for children, based on **Bahá'í Chronicles**.*

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A long, long time ago, in the land of Persia, a new Teacher began to gather His very first followers. He was called the Báb. The people who believed in Him first, before anyone else, were given a special name. They were called the Letters of the Living.

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Imagine that — out of a whole country full of people, only a small group were the very first to recognize the Báb and believe in Him.

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One of them was a man named Mullá Ahmad. He came from a town called Marághih, and he was the twelfth of the Letters of the Living. To be counted among that small group was a very great honor.

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A few years later, in a place called Badasht, the followers of the Báb came together for an important gathering. Mullá Ahmad was there too, standing shoulder to shoulder with the other believers in those early, exciting days when the Faith was brand new and growing.

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But being one of the first was not easy. In those days, many people did not understand the new Faith, and some tried to stop it. Mullá Ahmad loved the Báb so much that he was willing to give everything for what he believed. In the end, at a place called Shaykh Tabarsí, he gave his very life.

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Mullá Ahmad's story is a short one, but it is the story of someone who was faithful from the very beginning and stayed faithful right to the end. When you love something with your whole heart, you protect it and you stand by it — even when it is hard. That is what Mullá Ahmad did, and that is why we still remember his name today.

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*This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see ["Mullá Ahmad-i-Ibdál-i-Marághi’í"](/stories/bc-mulla-ahmad-i-ibdal-i-maraghi-i).*

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