The Báb as a Merchant in Búshihr

A retelling based on The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl's narrative of the early days of the Faith (chapter 3), including the recollections of Ḥájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í, with dates from H. M. Balyuzi's The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days. Words in quotation marks are as recorded in The Dawn-Breakers.

The Báb was brought up in Shíráz by His uncle, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí. At about fifteen He joined His uncle in business, and when He was nearly sixteen He moved to Búshihr, the port on the Persian Gulf, where in time He took charge of the family's trading house. Nabíl writes that "the days which the Báb devoted to commercial pursuits were mostly spent in Búshihr."

Nabíl also records how He prayed there. "The oppressive heat of the summer did not deter Him from devoting, each Friday, several hours to continuous worship upon the roof of His house." At every break of day He turned toward Ṭihrán and greeted the rising sun, "which to Him was a sign and symbol of that Day-Star of Truth that was soon to dawn upon the world."

Ḥájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í met Him several times in Búshihr while on his way to India. "Every time I met Him," he told Nabíl, "I found Him in such a state of humility and lowliness as words fail me to describe. His downcast eyes, His extreme courtesy, and the serene expression of His face made an indelible impression upon my soul. I often heard those who were closely associated with Him testify to the purity of His character, to the charm of His manners, to His self-effacement, to His high integrity, and to His extreme devotion to God."

Siyyid Javád also told of one transaction. A man had entrusted an article to the Báb, asking Him to sell it at a fixed price. When the Báb sent him the money, the man found that it was well above the price he had set, and he wrote to ask the reason. The Báb replied: "What I have sent you is entirely your due. There is not a single farthing in excess of what is your right. There was a time when the trust you had delivered to Me had attained this value. Failing to sell it at that price, I now feel it My duty to offer you the whole of that sum." The man begged Him to take back the difference, but the Báb refused.

This is a retelling. For the full account, see The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, chapter 3.

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/