The Báb in the Pulpit of the Masjid-i-Vakíl

A retelling based on Nabíl's The Dawn-Breakers (chapter VIII). Words in quotation marks are from that history.

After His pilgrimage to Mecca the Báb returned to Búshihr, and the governor of Fárs, Ḥusayn Khán, sent horsemen to arrest Him. The Báb met them on the road, gave Himself up, and rode to His native Shíráz ahead of His escort. The city was already in an uproar. One of His followers, Mullá Ṣádiq-i-Khurásání, had added to the call to prayer in the Masjid-i-Naw the words the Báb had prescribed in bearing witness to Him, and Ḥusayn Khán had had him and Quddús cruelly punished and expelled.

Ḥusayn Khán received the Báb with insolence and accused Him of claiming a new revelation that annulled the Qur'án. When the Báb answered with a verse of the Qur'án, the governor had an attendant strike Him in the face so hard that His turban fell to the ground. Shaykh Abú-Turáb, the Imám-Jum'ih of Shíráz, who was present and disapproved, had the turban replaced and seated the Báb beside him. He questioned Him, and the Báb denied that He claimed to be either the representative of the promised Qá'im or the intermediary between Him and the faithful. "We are completely satisfied," the Imám-Jum'ih said; "we shall request you to present yourself on Friday in the Masjid-i-Vakil, and to proclaim publicly your denial." The Báb's maternal uncle, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí, gave a written pledge for Him, and the Báb was released into his care.

For a time Shaykh Abú-Turáb, a man of kindly disposition, put off the meeting. When the pressure from the Báb's opponents grew too strong, he sent a confidential message asking the uncle to bring the Báb to the Masjid-i-Vakíl on Friday.

They arrived just as the Imám-Jum'ih had gone up into the pulpit to preach. He welcomed the Báb publicly and asked Him to address the congregation. The Báb stood on the first step of the stair. "Come up higher," said the Imám-Jum'ih, and the Báb went up two more steps. He began with the words "Praise be to God, who hath in truth created the heavens and the earth," when a siyyid whose duty was to carry the Imám-Jum'ih's mace shouted: "Enough of this idle chatter! Declare, now and immediately, the thing you intend to say." The Imám-Jum'ih rebuked him, "Hold your peace, and be ashamed of your impertinence," and asked the Báb to be brief, so as to calm the people.

Facing the congregation, the Báb declared:

The condemnation of God be upon him who regards me either as a representative of the Imam or the gate thereof. The condemnation of God be also upon whosoever imputes to me the charge of having denied the unity of God, of having repudiated the prophethood of Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, of having rejected the truth of any of the messengers of old, or of having refused to recognise the guardianship of 'Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, or of any of the imams who have succeeded him.

He then climbed to the top of the stair, embraced the Imám-Jum'ih, and came down to join the congregation for the Friday prayer. The Imám-Jum'ih, fearing that some in the crowd might try to harm Him once the congregation dispersed, asked Him to go home and pray there, and had His uncle accompany Him.

Nabíl records that a few of those who had heard the Báb in the Masjid-i-Vakíl were greatly impressed, and soon afterwards came to recognise the truth of His Mission. Among them was the Imám-Jum'ih's own nephew, Shaykh 'Alí Mírzá.

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see Nabíl's The Dawn-Breakers, chapter VIII.

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/