The Longing of Anís

A retelling based on The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl's narrative of the early days of the Faith, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi. Words in quotation marks are preserved in that history.

Mírzá Muḥammad-'Alíy-i-Zunúzí, surnamed Anís, heard the message of the Báb in Tabríz and longed to go to Chihríq, where the Báb was imprisoned, to attain His presence and to sacrifice himself in His path. His stepfather, Siyyid 'Alíy-i-Zunúzí, a notable of Tabríz, strongly objected, and at last confined him in his house and kept strict watch over him.

A relative, Shaykh Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí, visited the family often, and Nabíl records his account. The stepfather complained to him: "He seems to have lost his reason. He has, by his behaviour, brought reproach and shame upon me." Shaykh Ḥasan saw the young man weeping every day in his confinement.

Then one day, after the Báb had been brought to Tabríz for examination and taken back to Chihríq, Shaykh Ḥasan found him changed and joyful. Anís told him that he had turned his heart to the Báb in his cell and begged to see His face, and that the Báb had appeared to him in a vision and bidden him arise. "Rejoice," He said; "the hour is approaching when, in this very city, I shall be suspended before the eyes of the multitude and shall fall a victim to the fire of the enemy. I shall choose no one except you to share with Me the cup of martyrdom. Rest assured that this promise which I give you shall be fulfilled."

Shaykh Ḥasan urged him to be patient and to conceal his feelings. Anís promised to keep the secret and to show forbearance toward his stepfather, and he was released. Until the day of his martyrdom he lived with his parents and kinsmen in serenity and joy. Such was his conduct toward his friends and relatives that when he gave his life, the people of Tabríz all wept for him.

In 1850 the Báb was brought to Tabríz for the last time. As He was led toward the courtyard of the barracks, Anís forced his way through the crowd, barefoot and exhausted, flung himself at His feet, and seized the hem of His garment. "Send me not from Thee, O Master," he implored. "Wherever Thou goest, suffer me to follow Thee." The Báb answered: "Muḥammad-'Alí, arise, and rest assured that you will be with Me. To-morrow you shall witness what God has decreed." Anís was seized and placed in the same cell as the Báb.

That night, Siyyid Ḥusayn, the Báb's amanuensis, later testified, the Báb told His companions: "To-morrow will be the day of My martyrdom. Would that one of you might now arise and, with his own hands, end My life. I prefer to be slain by the hand of a friend rather than by that of the enemy." The others wept and could not bring themselves to do it. Anís sprang to his feet and declared himself ready to obey whatever the Báb might desire. The others made him give up the thought, and the Báb declared: "This same youth who has risen to comply with My wish will, together with Me, suffer martyrdom. Him will I choose to share with Me its crown."

The next morning the mujtahids of the city urged Anís, because of his stepfather's position, to recant. He refused: "Never will I renounce my Master." He begged to stay with his Master and was handed over to Sám Khán, the colonel of the regiment, who was ordered to execute him too if he would not deny his faith. When the ropes were made fast to a nail in a pillar of the barrack-square, Anís asked Sám Khán to place him so that his own body would shield the Báb's, and he was suspended with his head resting on the breast of his Master.

The regiment, ranged in three files, fired in turn. When the smoke cleared, Anís stood alive and unhurt; the ropes had been cut by the bullets, and the Báb was found in His cell completing His conversation with Siyyid Ḥusayn. Sám Khán refused to take any further part. Another regiment was brought, and the two were suspended again. As the soldiers prepared to fire, the Báb spoke His last words to the crowd: "Had you believed in Me, O wayward generation, every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path."

The volley that followed took both their lives, at noon on 9 July 1850.

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

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/