The Devotion of Nabíl-i-Zarandí

A retelling based on the chapter on Nabíl-i-Zarandí in Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Words in quotation marks are from that book.

Nabíl-i-Zarandí, the poet who later wrote the history known as The Dawn-Breakers, was one of the believers who left their homes to be near Bahá'u'lláh. 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes that "in the flower of youth he bade farewell to his family in Zarand" and began to teach the Faith.

He went to 'Iráq to find Bahá'u'lláh, but could not. Bahá'u'lláh was then in Kurdistán, living alone in a cave at Sar-Galú, and all news of Him had been cut off. Nabíl found the believers in 'Iráq few and their fire almost out, and he left, grieving, for Karbilá. He stayed there until Bahá'u'lláh returned to Baghdád. Then, 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, "there was boundless joy." Nabíl hurried to Bahá'u'lláh's presence and spent his days writing odes in praise of his Lord. The Master describes him as "a gifted poet, and his tongue most eloquent; a man of mettle, and on fire with passionate love."

After a time he went back to Karbilá, returned to Baghdád and went on to Persia, and then came back once more to Baghdád. Later he was directed to visit Kirmánsháh. On every journey he "was enabled to render a service." When Bahá'u'lláh left Baghdád for Constantinople, Nabíl put on the dress of a dervish, set out on foot and caught up with the convoy on the road. From Constantinople he was sent back to Persia to tell the believers in its cities and villages all that had happened. When that was done, in the "year eighty" that saw Bahá'u'lláh's declaration, he hurried to Adrianople, crying as he went, "Lord, Lord, here am I!" There he received orders to travel everywhere and announce that the Sun of Truth had risen. "He was truly on fire," 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, "driven by restive love."

At last he reached 'Akká. The restrictions there were then exceptionally severe. Nabíl came to the gate in disguise, but enemies of Bahá'u'lláh told the authorities that he was a Persian come for news of Him, and he was expelled. He withdrew to Safad, and then to Haifa, where he lived as a recluse in a cave on Mount Carmel, "lamenting night and day, moaning and chanting prayers," and waiting for the doors to open.

When Bahá'u'lláh's confinement ended, Nabíl hastened to Him. "Then he used himself up like a candle, burning away with the love of God." He wrote verse and odes day and night, and almost every day he was admitted to Bahá'u'lláh's presence.

This lasted until the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh in 1892. Nabíl could not bear the separation. 'Abdu'l-Bahá records that he was "utterly cast down, hopeless at being separated from Bahá'u'lláh, fevered, shedding tears," and that in the end he threw himself into the sea and was drowned.

The Master sums up his life in these words: "Throughout all his life, from earliest youth till he was feeble and old, he spent his time serving and worshiping the Lord. He bore hardships, he lived through misfortunes, he suffered afflictions. From the lips of the Manifestation he heard marvelous things. He was shown the lights of Paradise; he won his dearest wish."

This is a retelling. For the full account, see Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1915). *Memorials of the Faithful*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/memorials-faithful/