The Tigris in Flood at Riḍván

*A retelling based on **Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era** by J. E. Esslemont. The account of the flood comes from **A Flame of Fire** by A. Q. Faizi, and the details of the crossing from **The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh**, volume 1, by Adib Taherzadeh.*

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In 1863, at the request of the Persian Government, the Ottoman Government summoned Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdád to Constantinople. Esslemont writes that when the news came His followers "were in consternation" and crowded His house. So many came to take their leave that the house could not hold them, and Najíb Páshá, a notable of the city, offered his garden on the far side of the Tigris. Bahá'u'lláh stayed there for twelve days while the caravan was made ready. His followers named it the Garden of Riḍván, the Garden of Paradise.

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On the afternoon of 22 April 1863 Bahá'u'lláh was ferried across the river. With Him, Taherzadeh records, were three of His sons, among them 'Abdu'l-Bahá, then eighteen, and His amanuensis. In the Garden He declared to His companions that He was the One Whose coming the Báb had foretold.

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The rest of His family could not follow at once. A. Q. Faizi, in his account of Aḥmad of Yazd, who was then living close to Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdád, writes: "On that same day the river overflowed and only on the ninth day was it possible for His family to join Him in the Garden. The river then overflowed a second time, and on the twelfth day it subsided and all went to Him."

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The ninth day was 30 April 1863. Of the twelve days in the Garden, Bahá'ís keep three as Holy Days. Taherzadeh names them: "the first day on which He declared Himself, the ninth day when all His family joined Him and rejoiced at His Declaration, and the twelfth day when He left that garden."

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Esslemont describes the spirit of those days:

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> During those days Bahá'u'lláh, instead of being sad or depressed, showed the > greatest joy, dignity and power. His followers became happy and enthusiastic, > and great crowds came to pay their respects to Him. All the notables of > Baghdád, even the Governor himself, came to honor the departing prisoner.

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*This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see **Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era** by J. E. Esslemont and **A Flame of Fire** by A. Q. Faizi.*

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