The Steadfastness of Mullá Ṣádiq

A retelling based on Memorials of the Faithful, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's tributes to early believers, where Mullá Ṣádiq appears under his title Ismu'lláhu'l-Asdaq. The details of his punishment in Shíráz are from Nabíl's The Dawn-Breakers (chapter 8). The words in quotation marks are from these two books.

'Abdu'l-Bahá writes that Mullá Ṣádiq was "truly a servant of the Lord from the beginning of life till his last breath." As a young man he joined the circle of Siyyid Káẓim. He became a learned and honoured divine, much loved by the people of Khurásán, and was so well known for the purity of his life that he was called Mullá Ṣádiq the saintly, Muqaddas.

He became a believer in Shíráz in the early days of the Faith. Nabíl records that one day, leading his congregation in prayer in the Masjid-i-Naw, he added to the call to prayer the words the Báb had prescribed. The divines in the front rows raised an outcry and the city was thrown into uproar. The governor of Fárs, Ḥusayn Khán, had him arrested together with Quddús. When Mullá Ṣádiq told the governor that, if the Báb's words were the Word of God, "the abdication of Muhammad Shah and his like can matter but little," Ḥusayn Khán ordered him stripped and scourged with a thousand lashes. Then the beards of both men were burned, their noses pierced, and they were led by a halter through the streets.

An unbeliever of Shíráz who watched the scourging later told Nabíl that no one believed a man so old and so frail could survive fifty such strokes, yet after more than nine hundred his face was still serene, and he was smiling. Mullá Ṣádiq, whom Nabíl met years afterwards, confirmed the account. Of the day he was led through the streets, 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes:

Even in that condition, composed and smiling, he kept on speaking to the people. He did not yield; he was not silenced.

Nabíl adds that by their sufferings Quddús and Mullá Ṣádiq "earned the immortal distinction of having been the first to be persecuted on Persian soil for the sake of their Faith." Both were then expelled from Shíráz and warned that they would be crucified if they returned.

Mullá Ṣádiq went to Khurásán and taught there, and from there travelled with Mullá Ḥusayn to the Fort of Shaykh Ṭabarsí. 'Abdu'l-Bahá describes the siege: for eighteen days the defenders had no food; they lived on the leather of their shoes and then on a mouthful of water each morning, yet when attacked they would spring up and drive the army back from their walls. When the fort fell, Mullá Ṣádiq was taken prisoner and handed over to the chiefs of Mázindarán to be led about and finally killed. He was brought in chains to the appointed place, and in the middle of the night one man freed him and guided him to safety.

Once freed, 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, "he taught more widely than ever." He attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh in 'Iráq and again in the Most Great Prison. 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalls a day in Baghdád when He was in a room above the courtyard where Mullá Ṣádiq was sitting. A Persian prince, a grandson of Fatḥ-'Alí Sháh, came in and asked who he was. "I am a servant of this Threshold," he answered. "I am one of the keepers of this door." Then he began to teach. The prince objected violently at first, but within a quarter of an hour his anger had turned to smiles.

Bahá'u'lláh revealed many Tablets for him, including a special Tablet of Visitation after his passing. His tomb is in Hamadán. 'Abdu'l-Bahá counts him among the Hands of the Cause of God, and ends His tribute with these words: "He was truly Ismu'lláh, the Name of God. Fortunate is the one who circumambulates that tomb, who blesses himself with the dust of that grave."

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see Memorials of the Faithful by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "Ismu'lláhu'l-Asdaq," and The Dawn-Breakers, chapter 8.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1915). *Memorials of the Faithful*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/memorials-faithful/