Memorial of the Consort of the King of Martyrs

The chapter of *Memorials of the Faithful* devoted to *the Consort of the King of Martyrs* commemorates Fáṭimih Begum, the widow of the believer of Iṣfáhán remembered in Bahá'í history as Sulṭánu'sh-Shuhadá, the King of Martyrs.

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From her earliest youth, 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, she was beset with ordeals. The first was the disaster that overtook her father in the environs of Badasht: after terrible suffering he died in a desert caravanserai, helpless and far from home. The child was left an orphan, and in distress.

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By God's grace she became the wife of the King of Martyrs. But he was known everywhere as a Bahá'í, an impassioned lover of Bahá'u'lláh, and Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh thirsted for blood. Enemies informed against him and slandered him daily, and his family was never sure of his safety for a single day. The Master writes:

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> Every day there was a new incident, more turmoil, another > uproar, and they could not draw a breath in peace.

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Then he was martyred. All his possessions were stripped away and plundered, and his family lacked even their daily bread.

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Fáṭimih spent her nights in weeping. Whenever she looked at her children she would sigh. But then she would thank God, and she would say: "Praised be the Lord, these agonies, these broken fortunes are on Bahá'u'lláh's account, for His dear sake." Remembering the family of the martyred Imám Ḥusayn, she would cry, "Praise be to God! We too have become companions of the Prophet's Household."

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Because the family was in such straits, Bahá'u'lláh directed them to come to the Most Great Prison, so that they might be compensated for all that had passed. Here for a time she lived, joyful, thankful and praising God. When her son, Mírzá 'Abdu'l-Ḥusayn, died in the prison, she resigned herself to the will of God; she did not so much as sigh or cry out, and did not go into mourning.

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She was infinitely patient, dignified and reserved. But when Bahá'u'lláh left the world in 1892, this was the supreme affliction, and she could endure no more. She trembled and shook, the Master writes, "until at last she took leave of her children and she died."

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*A retelling based on **Memorials of the Faithful** by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. For the fuller account, see the original.*

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