The Báb's Last Day in Tabríz

*A retelling for children, based on **The Dawn-Breakers**, Nabíl's account of the martyrdom of the Báb.*

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In the summer of 1850 the Báb was thirty years old. For three years He had been kept a prisoner in castles in the mountains of Ádhirbayján. Even so, His followers stayed loyal to Him. The chief minister of Persia, the Amír-Niẓám, decided that the Báb must be put to death. The Amír-Niẓám had Him brought to the city of Tabríz.

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The Báb was put in a room in the army barracks with His secretary, Siyyid Ḥusayn. On the way there, a youth named Anís pushed through the crowd, threw himself at the Báb's feet and begged to stay with Him. Anís was arrested and put in the same room.

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That night, Siyyid Ḥusayn remembered, the Báb's face was full of joy, and He talked with them cheerfully. He told them that the next day He would give His life. Anís jumped up, ready to do anything the Báb asked, and the Báb said that this youth would die with Him.

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In the morning an official, the farrásh-báshí, came to take the Báb away. The Báb was speaking quietly with Siyyid Ḥusayn, and the official pulled Siyyid Ḥusayn aside. The Báb warned him that no power on earth could silence Him until He had said everything He wished to say.

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At midday the Báb and Anís were hung by ropes from a nail in a pillar in the barrack square. Anís asked to be placed so that his body would shield the Báb. Seven hundred and fifty soldiers stood in three rows, and each row fired in turn. About ten thousand people were watching from the rooftops. The smoke from the guns was so thick that the midday sun was darkened.

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When the smoke cleared, the crowd could hardly believe what they saw. Anís was standing there alive and unhurt, and the Báb had vanished from their sight. The bullets had cut through the ropes.

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People searched everywhere. They found the Báb back in the room where He had spent the night, calmly finishing His conversation with Siyyid Ḥusayn. He said to the farrásh-báshí, "I have finished My conversation with Siyyid Ḥusayn. Now you may proceed to fulfil your intention." The man was so shaken that he walked away and gave up his post.

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The colonel of the soldiers, Sám Khán, had already asked the Báb to free him from having to harm Him. Now he marched his men out of the barracks and swore that he would never again take part in hurting the Báb. Another regiment offered to take their place, and the Báb and Anís were hung from the wall again.

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Before the soldiers fired, the Báb spoke His last words to the crowd:

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> Had you believed in Me, O wayward generation, every one of you would > have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most > of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path.

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Then the second regiment fired, and the Báb and Anís were killed. It was noon on 9 July 1850. Within two years, Nabíl adds, the Amír-Niẓám who had ordered the execution was himself put to death.

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*This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see ["The Martyrdom of the Báb in Tabríz"](/stories/db-bab-martyrdom-tabriz-firing-squad).*

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