Shaykh Aḥmad Prepares the Way

A retelling for children, based on the opening chapter of Nabíl's Dawn-Breakers, "The Mission of Shaykh Aḥmad-i-Aḥsá'í."

Long ago, on one of the islands of Bahrayn in the Persian Gulf, there lived a learned man named Shaykh Aḥmad. Nabíl says he was inspired "by the light that shone within him." He was sure that the Promised One spoken of in the holy books would soon appear, and he wanted to help people get ready for Him.

When he was forty years old he left his home and his family. Nabíl describes him as "bereft of all earthly possessions, and detached from all save God." From then on he gave his life to one task: preparing people to recognize the Promised One when He came.

First he went to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbilá. Within a few years the learned men there looked on him as one of the leading scholars of their Faith. Many people praised him, but he cared nothing for their honours.

Then he travelled to Persia. In the city of Shíráz he spoke about the city with such praise that people were surprised. He told them: "Among you there shall be a number who will live to behold the glory of a Day which the prophets of old have yearned to witness."

He went on to Yazd, where he wrote most of his books. There a young scholar named Siyyid Káẓim came from far away to join him. Later Shaykh Aḥmad went to Mashhad, and then to Ṭihrán, where the Sháh welcomed him with great honour.

While Shaykh Aḥmad was in Ṭihrán, a Child was born into an old and noble family of Núr. That Child was Bahá'u'lláh. The year was 1817. Nabíl writes that Shaykh Aḥmad understood what this birth meant, and longed to spend the rest of his days near Him. But that was not to be.

He went on to the city of Kirmánsháh, where the governor, a prince, had asked for the honour of looking after him. There he gave special care to a few chosen students. Of all of them, the one he trusted most was Siyyid Káẓim. Later Shaykh Aḥmad moved to Karbilá.

Before he left Karbilá for Mecca and Medina, he told Siyyid Káẓim the secret of his mission and asked him to carry on the work. His last words to him were: "You have no time to lose. Every fleeting hour should be fully and wisely utilised."

Shaykh Aḥmad died in Medina at the age of eighty-one. He did not live to see the Promised One appear. Nabíl begins his whole history with him, and calls him "that luminous Star of Divine guidance."

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see the story of Shaykh Aḥmad's mission.

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/