The Young Merchant of Shíráz

*A retelling for children, based on **Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era** by J. E. Esslemont.*

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In the south of Persia there is a city called Shíráz. There, on the twentieth of October, 1819, a baby boy was born. His name was ‘Alí-Muḥammad. Years later He would be known as the Báb, which means "the Gate."

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He came from the family of the Prophet Muḥammad. His father, a well-known merchant, died soon after He was born. So His mother's brother, who was also a merchant in Shíráz, took care of Him and brought Him up. As a child He learned to read and had the simple schooling that children had in those days.

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When He was fifteen years old, He began to work as a merchant too. First He worked with the uncle who had raised Him. Later He worked with another uncle in Búshihr, a town on the shore of the Persian Gulf.

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As He grew up, people noticed His good character. Esslemont, who wrote about His early years, said that He was known for "great personal beauty and charm of manner," and also for being very devout and noble.

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He never failed to say His prayers or to keep the fasts. And He did more than just follow the rules. He lived by the spirit of what God had taught.

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When He was about twenty-two, He married. When He was twenty-four, in the year 1844, He announced that God had chosen Him to be the Báb.

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Just two years before the Báb was born, Bahá'u'lláh was born in the city of Tihrán. Every year Bahá'ís celebrate the two birthdays together, one on the day after the other.

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*This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see ["The Birth and Early Life of the Báb"](/stories/hd-birth-of-the-bab-shiraz-1819).*

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