I Am the Promised One

A retelling for children, based on The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-A'ẓam (Chapter XVIII, the Examination of the Báb at Tabríz).

In the summer of 1848 the Báb was a prisoner in the mountain fortress of Chihríq. The government ordered that He be brought to the city of Tabríz, where the leading religious scholars were to question Him. The young Crown Prince, Náṣiri'd-Dín Mírzá, would be there too.

On the way the Báb stayed in the town of Urúmíyyih. The prince of that town wanted to test Him, so he ordered that the Báb be given one of his wildest horses to ride, a horse that had thrown even the best riders. The groom was worried and quietly begged the Báb not to get on it. The Báb told him not to be afraid, to do as he had been told, and to leave everything in the care of God. He took the bridle, gently stroked the horse and put His foot in the stirrup, and the horse stood perfectly still. The crowd that had gathered in the square was amazed.

Many people in Urúmíyyih said at once that they believed in Him. When the Báb heard this, He repeated a question from the Qur'án:

Think men that when they say, 'We believe,' they shall be let alone and not be put to the proof?

Later, when those people heard how the Báb had been treated in Tabríz, only a few of them stayed faithful.

In Tabríz the hall was full of learned men. Every seat was taken except the one kept for the Crown Prince, and the Báb greeted everyone and sat down in it. Among the scholars was Mullá Muḥammad-i-Mamaqání. The men who had called Him there hoped that they could frighten Him into giving up His claim.

The man in charge of the meeting asked the Báb who He claimed to be, and what message He had brought. Three times the Báb said "I am," and then told them that He was the promised One:

I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten.

For a thousand years people had prayed for the Promised One to come. The Báb was telling them that He was that Promised One.

Mullá Muḥammad spoke to Him rudely and told Him to be quiet. The Báb replied:

I maintain what I have already declared.

He was asked for a proof. When He began to speak in words like the verses of the Qur'án, Mullá Muḥammad interrupted Him to say that His words broke a rule of grammar. The Báb answered:

The Word of God can never be subject to the limitations of His creatures.

He explained that the rules of grammar had been drawn by people from the Word of God, and not the other way round. Soon afterwards He stood up and left the meeting.

After the meeting the authorities decided to punish Him. The chief religious judge of the city, called the Shaykhu'l-Islám, had the Báb brought to his own house and beat Him on the feet with rods.

Then the Báb was sent back to His prison at Chihríq. As soon as He arrived, He wrote a long letter to the chief minister of the country, Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí, telling him plainly that he had turned away from God.

News of what the Báb had said in Tabríz spread quickly all over Persia.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "The Báb's Examination at Tabríz".

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/