Shaykh Sálih's Joy

A retelling for children, based on The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative (trans. Shoghi Effendi), Chapter XV. The words in quotation marks are exactly as they appear in the book.

Shaykh Sálih was an Arab who lived in the city of Karbilá, long ago, in the first years of the Báb's Faith. He learned about the Báb from Ṭáhirih, a brilliant poet and teacher who was one of the Báb's first disciples. Ṭáhirih thought very highly of him.

When Ṭáhirih travelled from Karbilá to her home town of Qazvín, in Persia, she sent most of her companions home. Shaykh Sálih was one of only two companions who stayed with her.

Those were dangerous years for the followers of the Báb. In Qazvín, an important religious leader who had spoken against Ṭáhirih was killed. The man who did it confessed, but the dead man's family wanted to punish the followers of the Báb. When the Sháh told them that only the murderer could be punished, they said that Shaykh Sálih was the murderer. He had done nothing wrong, but he was arrested and put to death in the city of Ṭihrán.

He was the first follower of the Báb to give his life for the Faith in Persia. Nabíl, who wrote down the history of those days, tells us how he met his death. As he was led away, his face shone with joy. He hurried forward and greeted the executioner as if he were welcoming a dear old friend. As his end came near, he cried out to God:

"I discarded the hopes and the beliefs of men from the moment I recognised Thee, Thou who art my Hope and my Belief!"

He meant that from the moment he had recognized God's Messenger, he had put his hope in God alone, and not in what people thought or wanted.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Shaykh Sálih, the First Martyr".

Nabíl-i-Aʻẓam. (1932). *The Dawn-Breakers (Nabíl's Narrative)*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://reference.bahai.org/en/t/nz/DB/