The Last Naw-Rúz of the Báb

*A retelling based on **The Dawn-Breakers**, Nabíl's narrative of the early days of the Faith. The narrative is retold in our own words; passages in quotation marks are quoted from that history.*

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In the summer of 1849 the Báb was a prisoner in the castle of Chihríq, near Persia's border with Turkey. There, in the early days of Sha'bán 1265 A.H., He learned what had befallen the defenders of Shaykh Ṭabarsí: the sufferings of the siege, the betrayal of its survivors, and the deaths of Quddús, Mullá Ḥusayn and their companions. His amanuensis, Siyyid Ḥusayn-i-'Azíz, later recalled that the Báb "was heart-broken" and that "for nine days He refused to meet any of His friends." For five months, he said, the Báb "languished, immersed in an ocean of despondency and sorrow."

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When the month of Muḥarram 1266 began, the Báb took up His pen again. He wrote a visiting Tablet in honour of Mullá Ḥusayn, and for a whole week He wrote in praise of Quddús, Mullá Ḥusayn and the other martyrs of Ṭabarsí.

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Then, on the day of 'Áshúrá, 26 November 1849, He summoned Mullá Ádí-Guzal, a believer from Marágha who had been serving as His attendant for the past two months. He received him with affection, gave him the name Sayyáh, and entrusted to him the visiting Tablets He had written for the martyrs.

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"Arise," He told him, "and with complete detachment proceed, in the guise of a traveller, to Mázindarán, and there visit, on My behalf, the spot which enshrines the bodies of those immortals who, with their blood, have sealed their faith in My Cause." He told him to take off his shoes as he approached, to bow his head, to invoke their names and to walk around their shrine in prayer.

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"Bring back to Me, as a remembrance of your visit, a handful of that holy earth which covers the remains of My beloved ones, Quddús and Mullá Ḥusayn. Strive to be back ere the day of Naw-Rúz, that you may celebrate with Me that festival, the only one I probably shall ever see again."

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Sayyáh did as he was told. He reached Mázindarán on 15 January 1850, and by 23 January, the first anniversary of the martyrdom of Mullá Ḥusayn, he had made the pilgrimage. From there he went on to Ṭihrán, where, in the depth of winter, barefoot and in the clothes of a dervish, he came to the house of Bahá'u'lláh and stayed there a few days.

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Naw-Rúz fell that year on the fifth day of Jamádiyu'l-Avval, the anniversary of the Báb's declaration. The Báb recorded it in the Kitáb-i-Panj-Sha'n, one of His last works: "The sixth Naw-Rúz after the Declaration of the Point of the Bayán, has fallen on the fifth day of Jamádiyu'l-Avval, in the seventh lunar year after that same Declaration." In the same passage, Nabíl writes, the Báb alluded to the fact that it would be the last Naw-Rúz He would celebrate on this earth. Less than four months later, on 9 July 1850, He was martyred in Tabríz.

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*This is a retelling. For the full account, see **The Dawn-Breakers** by Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, chapter 21.*

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