Chapter 13: The Dawn-breakers
Opening quotation: Díván-i-Miṣbáḥ. `Azízu'lláh Miṣbáḥ (1876-1945), poet, educationalist, master of belles-lettres, was an eminent Bahá'í of Írán. A book of his prose: Munshi'át-i-Miṣbáḥ, reprinted many times, became a textbook, for use in schools.
[1] Shaykh Muḥammad Shibl and his son, Áqá Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá (then about ten years old); Shaykh Sulṭán-i-Karbilá'í; Siyyid Aḥmad-i-Yazdí, the father of Siyyid Ḥusayn (the amanuensis of the Báb); Shaykh Ṣaliḥ-i-Karímí and Mullá Ibráhím-i-Maḥallátí were of that number.
[2] Browne (ed.), A Traveller's Narrative, Vol. II, xliii.
[3] He was variously named as Mullá `Abdu'lláh, Mírzá Ṣálih, and Mírzá Ṭáhir, the Baker.
[4] `Abdu'l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 201.
[5] The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 215-16 (Brit.), p. 299 (U.S.).
[6] ibid., p. 253 (Brit.), p. 351 (U.S.).
[7] Nicolas, Seyyèd Ali Mohammed dit le Bâb, p. 296.
[8] The Dawn-Breakers, p. 240 (Brit.), p. 332 (U.S.).
[9] F.O. 60/144.
[10] Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 142 (Brit.), p. 223 (U.S.).
[11] Cited The Dawn-Breakers, p. 284n (Brit.), p. 395n. (U.S.). Also in another translation in `Abdu'l-Bahá's Memorials of the Faithful, p. 7.
[12] They were al-Ḥáj Muḥammad al-Karradí and Sa`íd al-Jabbáwí. Ḥájí Muḥammad was nearly eighty years old. In his younger days, he had led a hundred men in the war between the Ottomans and Ibráhím Páshá, son of the celebrated Muḥammad-`Alí Páshá of Egypt.
[13] The Dawn-Breakers, p. 298 (Brit.), p. 411 (U.S.).
[14] In 1970, the present writer received, through the good offices of his cousin, Abu'l-Qásim Afnán, the photostatically-produced copy of a manuscript describing this episode in Bábí history. It is in the handwriting of Áqá Muḥammad-Báqir-i-Ṭihrání, a merchant, whose brother, Mushiru't-Tujjár, was one of the 'Five Martyrs' of Sárí. (These five were murdered in the early years of the Constitutional Movement in Persia: see Balyuzi, Edward Granville Browne and the Bahá'í Faith.) Áqá Muḥammad-Báqir states, in a short introduction, that he visited Bárfurúsh sometime in the year 1319 A.H. (April 20th 1901-April 9th 1902), where he chanced upon a manuscript of the history of the Bábís at Shaykh Ṭabarsí, written by one of them, which he copied for himself and the benefit of others. He does not mention the name of the owner of the original. This history begins with an account of the author joining Mullá Ḥusayn; by this he can be identified, although he nowhere names himself. There is no doubt that he was Mírzá Luṭf-`Alí or Luṭf-`Alí Mírzá of Shíráz, a descendant of the Afshárid monarchs of the 18th century A.D. He was one of the few survivors of Shaykh Ṭabarsí, who managed to escape in the company of Mullá Ṣádiq-i-Muqaddas-i-Khurásání, but in the holocaust of August 1852 (see Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh, p. 18) he died a martyr's death.
On receiving and examining this chronicle, the present writer recalled that E. G. Browne mentions, in his Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion, a manuscript history of the episode of Shaykh Ṭabarsí by Luṭf-`Alí Mírzá, sent to him by Mírzá Muṣṭafá, the Azalí scribe. As this manuscript is now in Cambridge University Library, a photostatic reproduction was obtained by the kindness of the Librarian. According to the scribe (whose real name was Ismá`íl-i-Ṣabbágh-i-Sidihí), the manuscript which he copied for Prof. Browne was faulty, but he could find no other for comparison.
Luṭf-`Alí Mírzá's chronicle ends abruptly, and Áqá Muḥammad-Báqir, the copyist, incorrectly concludes that the author must have died of starvation, since the last lines of his chronicle describe the state of famine caused by the siege.
The present writer is currently engaged in collating the two manuscripts.
[15] The Dawn-Breakers, p. 285 (Brit.), p. 396 (U.S.).
[16] F.O. 60/150, See [Appendix 3].
[17] Mullá Báqir, the imám of the Chinár-Súkhtih quarter; Mírzá Ḥusayn-i-Qutb, the Kad Khudá (Headman) of the Bázár quarter; and Ḥájí Muḥammad-Taqí, a prominent and wealthy merchant, who later earned the surname of Ayyúb (Job) from Bahá'u'lláh, because of his intense sufferings, his patience in tribulation and his steadfastness—these were among the notables who went out to the village of Runíz in the district of Fasá to meet Vaḥíd.
[18] The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 353-4 (Brit.), pp. 479-80 (U.S.).
[19] They were commanded by Mihr-`Alí Khán-i-Núrí, the Shujá`u'l-Mulk, and Muṣṭafá-Qulí Khán-i-Qaráguzlú, the I`timadu's-Salṭanih.
[20] The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 361-2 (Brit.), pp. 488-9 (U.S.).
[21] Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 47.
[22] Browne (ed.), The Táríkh-i-Jadíd, p. 255.
[23] ibid., p. 253.
[24] Browne, A Year Amongst the Persians, p. 81. (1926 ed.).
[25] F. O. 60/153. K. W. Abbott's dispatch of August 30th 1850, enclosed with Sheil's report of September 5th 1850 to Palmerston.
[26] F. O. 248/142 of December 9th 1850, R. W. Stevens, Consul at Tabríz to Sheil.
[27] The Dawn-Breakers, p. 419 (Brit.), p. 572 (U.S.).
[28] F.O. 60/158 of January 6th 1851.