The Jailer Who Changed His Heart

*A retelling for children, based on **The Dawn-Breakers** by Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, the story of the Báb's imprisonment in the castle of Máh-Kú.*

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Máh-Kú was a castle on a mountain in Ádhirbayján, in the far north-west of Persia, close to the borders of Turkey and Russia. The people of the town below were Kurds.

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The chief minister of the Sháh, Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí, sent the Báb there on purpose. He thought that in so remote a place hardly anyone would come to see Him, and that cut off from His followers, His Faith would die out. He was wrong.

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The Báb had already told His companion, Siyyid Ḥusayn, that He would be kept in that mountain for no less than nine months. That is how long He stayed.

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During those months the Báb wrote the Persian Bayán, the most important of all His books. Shaykh Ḥasan, one of His followers, remembered that "the voice of the Báb, as He dictated the teachings and principles of His Faith, could be clearly heard by those who were dwelling at the foot of the mountain."

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The Kurdish townspeople came to love Him. Every morning, before starting their work, they looked for a place from which they could catch a glimpse of His face, and asked His blessing on their day.

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The warden of the castle was a man named 'Alí Khán, and he was very strict. For the first two weeks no one was allowed to visit the Báb. Only Siyyid Ḥusayn and his brother, who looked after Him, could go in. No follower of the Báb was allowed to stay even one night in the town. Shaykh Ḥasan had to sleep in a mosque outside the town gate.

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Then, early one morning, before the castle gate had been opened, 'Alí Khán knocked and asked to see the Báb. 'Alí Khán looked humble, and he was trembling. He threw himself at the Báb's feet and told Him what had happened. At dawn, as he rode toward the town gate, he had seen the Báb standing by the river, praying with His arms stretched out. He had meant to scold Him for leaving the castle without permission.

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But when he went to the guards, he found both the outer and inner gates shut, and when they were opened for him, there was the Báb, sitting in His room.

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The Báb said to him: "What you have witnessed is true and undeniable." He told 'Alí Khán that he had looked down on this Faith, but that God, instead of punishing him, had chosen to show him the truth.

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That changed 'Alí Khán's heart. At once he asked if he could bring in a poor shaykh who was staying in a mosque outside the town gate. It was Shaykh Ḥasan. From then on, the castle gate was still shut at night, but in the daytime the people the Báb wished to see were let in. Every Friday 'Alí Khán came to pay his respects, and he often brought the Báb the best fruit that could be found near Máh-Kú.

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Mullá Ḥusayn, the first person ever to believe in the Báb, came to Máh-Kú too. Mullá Ḥusayn had walked all the way from Mashhad, in the far east of Persia. The Báb embraced him and celebrated the Naw-Rúz festival with him. When it was time for Mullá Ḥusayn to go, the Báb told him: "You have walked on foot all the way from your native province to this place. On foot you likewise must return until you reach your destination."

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People who had been sent to watch 'Alí Khán wrote to the chief minister that the warden had become devoted to his Prisoner. The minister ordered the Báb moved to another castle, Chihríq. When the Báb left Máh-Kú, twenty days after Naw-Rúz, He had been there nine months, just as He had said.

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*This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see ["The Warden of Máh-Kú"](/stories/db-bab-mah-ku-warden-transformed).*

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