Bahá'u'lláh in the Town of Ámul

A retelling for children, based on God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi, with details from Nabíl's The Dawn-Breakers.

In the winter of 1848 and 1849 a group of Bábís were surrounded by soldiers in a small fort called Shaykh Ṭabarsí. Their leaders were Mullá Ḥusayn and Quddús. Bahá'u'lláh had visited them there before, and Shoghi Effendi tells us that His advice and encouragement did much to give them their courage.

Now Bahá'u'lláh set out from His home district of Núr, with a few companions, to join them. He never reached the fort. Guards seized the party on the way and took them to the town of Ámul.

At least four thousand people crowded around as Bahá'u'lláh was led into the mosque of Ámul. The man acting as governor had called the religious leaders of the town to question Him. Bahá'u'lláh answered their questions, but some of them angrily demanded that the prisoners be killed. To calm the crowd, the acting governor ordered that the prisoners be beaten.

Bahá'u'lláh asked that each of His companions be let go, and then He said: "None of these men are guilty of any crime. If you insist on inflicting your punishment, I offer Myself as a willing Victim of your chastisement." So He alone was punished. He was beaten on the soles of His feet until they bled.

Afterwards He was kept in the house of the acting governor. A mob gathered outside, threw stones at Him and shouted insults. When the governor of the town came back, he scolded the people who had spoken against Bahá'u'lláh, and a few days later he arranged for Him and His companions to leave safely for Ṭihrán.

Shoghi Effendi writes that Bahá'u'lláh suffered all this for the sake of the friends at the fort, whom He had set out to help.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Bahá'u'lláh Imprisoned at Ámul".

Effendi, S.. (1944). *God Passes By*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/