The Bridegroom of Bárfurúsh

A retelling for children, based on The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, the story of the early days of the Bábí Faith.

Inside a small fort built of wood and mud, a group of brave friends had been surrounded for many long months. They were followers of the Báb, and they had come to this place called Fort Ṭabarsí to stand up for their belief in Him. Outside the walls waited a whole army. Inside, the friends had almost nothing left — their food was nearly gone, and so was their water.

But one thing never ran out, and that was their courage.

When cannons fired heavy shells into the fort, the friends were not afraid. Their leader at this time was a young man named Quddús. He was one of the very first people in all the world to believe in the Báb — and he was special in another way too. Of everyone except Bahá'u'lláh, only Quddús had received from the Báb a writing made just for him. When the cannons thundered and others might have trembled, Quddús was calm. The enemies firing those shells, he said, had no idea at all how powerful God truly is.

There was another hero in the fort, an older friend named Mullá Ḥusayn. He had been a leader too, and he was brave beyond words. But in one of the battles, Mullá Ḥusayn was badly wounded. As his life slipped away, it was Quddús who held him in his arms. Mullá Ḥusayn was not afraid either. He died as peacefully as someone who had known the day was coming for a long, long time.

After that, Quddús became the heart of the little company, while another friend named Mírzá Muḥammad-Báqir led the men out in the field.

A promise that was broken

In the end, the army could not defeat the friends with weapons. So they tried something else — something far worse than any battle. They decided to trick them.

The prince who commanded the army sent messengers to the fort. The messengers brought copies of the holy book, the Qur'án, and on those holy pages they swore a solemn promise: if the friends came out, no one would hurt them. They would be safe.

The friends trusted that promise. Why would anyone swear on God's own book and then break the oath? So they opened the gates and came out.

But the promise was a lie. The moment the friends stepped outside, the army turned on them. It was a terrible betrayal — one of the saddest moments in the whole story.

Quddús is brought home

Quddús was taken prisoner and carried to the town of Bárfurúsh. Of all the places in the world, this was the very town where he had been born. He had grown up on these streets. And now he was brought back as a captive.

The prisoner was placed before the prince. The prince could have set Quddús free. Or, if he wanted, he could have protected him from the angry crowd. But the prince did neither. Instead, he said he would have nothing to do with whatever happened next — and he handed Quddús over to the mob.

It is easy, sometimes, to let a wrong thing happen and tell yourself it is not your fault. That is what the prince did. But looking away from cruelty does not make a person innocent.

The splendour of his nuptials

The crowd led Quddús to the open town square. There, they hurt him terribly, for hours and hours. Through all of it, Quddús did something that might surprise you. He prayed.

He did not shout in anger. He did not beg the crowd for mercy. He turned his heart to God and prayed.

For a long time, Quddús had spoken of this day in an unusual way. He did not talk about it the way you might expect someone to talk about dying. Instead, he spoke of it the way people speak of a wedding — the happiest day of a life, full of light and celebration. To Quddús, giving everything for God was not a defeat. It was a glorious thing, like a bridegroom on his wedding day.

And so, at the very end, in that square in the town where he was born, his last words were words of joy. He longed for his mother to be near him, and he spoke of the splendour — the shining beauty — of his nuptials, his wedding.

Would that my mother were with me — the splendour of my nuptials.

Quddús was only twenty-seven years old.

When the Báb heard what had happened to His beloved Quddús, His sorrow was so deep that He set down His pen and did not write for nine whole days.

Quddús could have saved himself many times. He could have given up his belief. But he had made a promise in his heart to God, and he kept that promise all the way to the end — with courage, with prayer, and even with joy. That is the kind of love that does not break, no matter what.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Would That My Mother Were With Me: The Martyrdom of Quddús".

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/