Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Káẓim Prepare the Way

A retelling based on the first two chapters of The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl's narrative of the early days of the Faith, with a phrase from Shoghi Effendi's God Passes By. Words in quotation marks are quoted from those books.

Shoghi Effendi calls Shaykh Aḥmad-i-Aḥsá'í "the herald of the Bábí Dispensation." Nabíl's narrative begins with him. He left his home and kindred on one of the islands of Baḥrayn, and at forty years of age, "bereft of all earthly possessions, and detached from all save God," he arose to give the rest of his life to preparing the way for the Promised One.

He went first to Najaf and Karbilá, where he was declared a mujtahid and came to stand above his colleagues in learning. Yet, Nabíl writes, "he despised all the honours which his admirers lavished upon him. He marvelled at their servile devotion to dignity and rank."

He travelled on to Persia. In Shíráz he praised the city in words that puzzled those who heard him: "Wonder not, for ere long the secret of my words will be made manifest to you." In Yazd he wrote most of his books and epistles. There Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí, a young man from Gílán who had memorized the whole of the Qur'án by the age of eleven, came to meet him. After only a few weeks Shaykh Aḥmad told him: "Remain in your house and cease attending my lectures. Such of my disciples as may feel perplexed will turn henceforth to you."

After a stay in Mashhad, Shaykh Aḥmad went with Siyyid Káẓim and others to Ṭihrán. In those days, at dawn on the second day of Muḥarram 1233 A.H., Bahá'u'lláh was born, and Nabíl writes that "the world, unaware of its significance, witnessed the birth of Him who was destined to confer upon it such incalculable blessings." Shaykh Aḥmad, he records, recognized the meaning of the event and "yearned to spend the remaining days of his life within the precincts of the court of this Divine, this new-born King. But this was not to be." He went instead to Kirmánsháh, and later to Karbilá.

Before leaving Karbilá for Mecca and Medina, he confided to Siyyid Káẓim, "his chosen successor, the secret of his mission." His last words to him were: "You have no time to lose. Every fleeting hour should be fully and wisely utilised." Shaykh Aḥmad was laid to rest in Medina, "beneath the shadow of the Prophet's sepulchre."

In Karbilá Siyyid Káẓim carried on his master's work, expounding his teachings and answering the questions of his disciples, while enemies attacked him and reviled his name. When he needed a messenger for a delicate mission to a powerful divine in Iṣfahán, he turned to his young disciple Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushrú'í: "Arise and perform this mission, for I declare you equal to this task. The Almighty will graciously assist you, and will crown your endeavours with success."

As the years passed Siyyid Káẓim spoke more and more of the nearness of the Promised One. "You behold Him with your own eyes," he would say, "and yet recognise Him not!" To disciples who asked for His signs he answered: "He is of noble lineage. He is a descendant of the Prophet of God, of the family of Hashim. He is young in age, and is possessed of innate knowledge. His learning is derived, not from the teachings of Shaykh Ahmad, but from God."

One of his disciples, Shaykh Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí, recalled hearing him say that "so great is the perversity of this generation, that were he to point with his finger to the promised One and say: 'He indeed is the Beloved, the Desire of your hearts and mine,' they would still fail to recognise and acknowledge Him."

As his own life drew to a close, Siyyid Káẓim exhorted his disciples: "It is incumbent upon you to renounce all comfort, all earthly possessions and kindred, in your quest of Him who is the Desire of your hearts and of mine. Scatter far and wide, detach yourselves from all earthly things, and humbly and prayerfully beseech your Lord to sustain and guide you." And he added: "Well is it with every one of you who will quaff the cup of martyrdom in His path."

After his death his disciples dispersed. Mullá Ḥusayn went to Persia and came to Shíráz, where, walking outside the gate of the city, he was greeted by a Youth wearing a green turban who invited him to His home. That evening, 22 May 1844, his Host asked him whom he regarded as Siyyid Káẓim's successor. Mullá Ḥusayn answered: "At the hour of his death, our departed teacher insistently exhorted us to forsake our homes, to scatter far and wide, in quest of the promised Beloved." Before the night was over, the Báb had declared His mission to him.

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see chapters 1 and 2 of The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, and God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi.

Nabíl-i-A'ẓam. (1932). *The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/other-literature/historical/dawn-breakers/