The Last Naw-Rúz in Baghdád

*A retelling based on **The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh** by Adib Taherzadeh, volume 1, chapter 14, which quotes the eyewitness account of Nabíl. The narrative is retold in our own words; passages in quotation marks are quoted from that book.*

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In the spring of 1863 Bahá'u'lláh had lived in Baghdád for ten years. The Ottoman government had already decided that He should go on to Constantinople, but the governor of Baghdád, Námiq Páshá, held Him in such esteem that for three months he could not bring himself to tell Him. The believers knew nothing of it.

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For Naw-Rúz that year Bahá'u'lláh pitched His tent in a field on the outskirts of the city known as the Mazra'iy-i-Vashshásh, a place rented by His brother Mírzá Músá. A number of His companions were with Him, also living in tents. The spring had just begun and the weather was mild, and Bahá'u'lláh, Taherzadeh writes, "always enjoyed nature and beautiful scenery and loved to be in the country."

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On the fifth day of Naw-Rúz He revealed the Tablet of the Holy Mariner. His amanuensis, Mírzá Áqá Ján, came out of His tent, gathered the believers and chanted it to them. Nabíl, who was present, recorded: "Oceans of sorrow surged in the hearts of the listeners when the Tablet of the Holy Mariner was read aloud to them.... It was evident to every one that the chapter of Baghdad was about to be closed, and a new one opened, in its stead."

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As soon as the Tablet had been chanted, Bahá'u'lláh ordered the tents folded and His companions to return to the city. While the tents were being taken down He said: "These tents may be likened to the trappings of this world, which no sooner are they spread out than the time cometh for them to be rolled up." Those who heard Him understood that the tents would never again be pitched on that spot.

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The tents had not yet been removed when a messenger from Námiq Páshá arrived, inviting Bahá'u'lláh to meet the governor at his headquarters. Bahá'u'lláh accepted, but asked that they meet the next day in a mosque in the city instead.

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Thirty-one days after Naw-Rúz, on the afternoon of 22 April 1863, Bahá'u'lláh moved to the garden of Najíb Páshá across the river, which His followers named the Garden of Riḍván. He stayed there twelve days, and on the first day He declared His mission to His companions. Those twelve days are celebrated by Bahá'ís as the Festival of Riḍván.

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*This is a retelling. For the full account, see **The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh** by Adib Taherzadeh, volume 1.*

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