HE incident of Niyala occurred in the middle of
the month of Sha'ban, in the year 1264 A.H.(1)
Towards the end of that same month, the Bab
was brought to Tabriz, where He suffered at the
hands of His oppressors a severe and humiliating injury.
That deliberate affront to His dignity almost synchronised
with the attack which the inhabitants of Niyala directed
against Baha'u'llah and His companions. The one was
pelted with stones by an ignorant and pugnacious people;
the other was afflicted with stripes by a cruel and treacherous
enemy.
I shall now relate the circumstances that led to that
odious indignity which the persecutors of the Bab chose to
inflict upon Him. He had, in pursuance of the orders issued
by Haji Mirza Aqasi, been transferred to the castle of
Chihriq(2) and consigned to the keeping of Yahya Khan-i-Kurd,
whose sister was the wife of Muhammad Shah, the mother
of the Nayibu's-Saltanih. Strict and explicit instructions
Despite the emphatic character of that injunction, and in
the face of the unyielding opposition of the all-powerful
Haji Mirza Aqasi, Yahya Khan found himself powerless to
abide by those instructions. He, too, soon came to feel the
fascination of his Prisoner; he, too, forgot, as soon as he
came into contact with His spirit, the duty he was expected
to perform. At the very outset, the love of the Bab penetrated
his heart and claimed his entire being. The Kurds
who lived in Chihriq, and whose fanaticism and hatred of
the shi'ahs exceeded the aversion which the inhabitants of
Mah-Ku entertained for that people, were likewise subjected
to the transforming influence of the Bab. Such was the love
He had kindled in their hearts that every morning, ere they
started for their daily work, they directed their steps towards
His prison and, gazing from afar at the castle which contained
His beloved self, invoked His name and besought His
blessings. They would prostrate themselves on the ground
and seek to refresh their souls with remembrance of Him.
To one another they would freely relate the wonders of His
power and glory, and would recount such dreams as bore
witness to the creative power of His influence. To no one
would Yahya Khan refuse admittance to the castle.(2) As
Chihriq itself was unable to accommodate the increasing
number of visitors who flocked to its gates, they were enabled
to obtain the necessary lodgings in Iski-Shahr, the old
Chihriq, which was situated at an hour's distance from the
One day the Bab asked that some honey be purchased
for Him. The price at which it had been bought seemed to
Him exorbitant. He refused it and said: "Honey of a
superior quality could no doubt have been purchased at a
lower price. I who am your example have been a merchant
by profession. It behoves you in all your transactions to
follow in My way. You must neither defraud your neighbour
nor allow him to defraud you. Such was the way of
your Master. The shrewdest and ablest of men were unable
to deceive Him, nor did He on His part choose to act ungenerously
towards the meanest and most helpless of creatures."
He insisted that the attendant who had made that
purchase should return and bring back to Him a honey
superior in quality and cheaper in price.
During the Bab's captivity in the castle of Chihriq, events
of a startling character caused grave perturbation to the
government. It soon became evident that a number of the
most eminent among the siyyids, the ulamas, and the government
officials of Khuy had espoused the Cause of the
Prisoner and had completely identified themselves with His
Faith. Among them figured Mirza Muhammad-'Ali and his
brother Buyuk-Aqa, both siyyids of distinguished merit who
had risen with fevered earnestness to proclaim their Faith
to all sorts and conditions of people among their countrymen.
A continuous stream of seekers and confirmed believers flowed
back and forth, as the result of such activities, between Khuy
and Chihriq.
It came to pass at that time that a prominent official of
high literary ability, Mirza Asadu'llah, who was later surnamed
Dayyan by the Bab and whose vehement denunciations
of His Message had baffled those who had endeavoured
to convert him, dreamed a dream. When he awoke, he determined
not to recount it to anyone, and, fixing his choice
on two verses of the Qur'an, he addressed the following
request to the Bab: "I have conceived three definite things
in my mind. I request you to reveal to me their nature."
Mirza Muhammad-'Ali was asked to submit this written
request to the Bab. A few days later, he received a reply
That same year the Bab had expressed His desire that
forty of His companions should each undertake to compose
a treatise and seek, by the aid of verses and traditions, to
establish the validity of His Mission. His wishes were instantly
obeyed, and the result of their labours was duly
submitted to His presence. Mirza Asadu'llah's treatise won
the unqualified admiration of the Bab and ranked highest
in His estimation. He bestowed on him the name Dayyan
and revealed in his honour the Lawh-i-Hurufat(1) in which He
made the following statement: "Had the Point of the Bayan(2)
no other testimony with which to establish His truth, this
were sufficient--that He revealed a Tablet such as this, a
Tablet such as no amount of learning could produce."
The people of the Bayan, who utterly misconceived the
purpose underlying that Tablet, thought it to be a mere
exposition of the science of Jafr.(3) When, at a later time,
in the early years of Baha'u'llah's incarceration in the prison
city of Akka, Jinab-i-Muballigh made, from Shiraz, his request
that He unravel the mysteries of that Tablet, there
was revealed from His pen an explanation which they who
misconceived the words of the Bab might do well to ponder.
Baha'u'llah adduced from the statements of the Bab irrefutable
evidence proving that the appearance of the Man-Yuzhiruhu'llah(4)
must needs occur no less than nineteen years
after the Declaration of the Bab. The mystery of the
Mustaghath(5) had long baffled the most searching minds
among the people of the Bayan and had proved an unsurmountable
The untiring zeal which Mirza Asadu'llah displayed induced
his father, who was an intimate friend of Haji Mirza
Aqasi, to report to him the circumstances which led to the
conversion of his son, and to inform him of his negligence in
carrying out the duties which the State had imposed upon
him. He expatiated upon the eagerness with which so able
a servant of the government had risen to serve his new
Master, and the success which had attended his efforts.
A further cause for apprehension on the part of the government
authorities was supplied by the arrival at Chihriq
of a dervish who had come from India and who, as soon as
he met the Bab, acknowledged the truth of His Mission.
All who met that dervish, whom the Bab had named Qahru'llah,
during his sojourn at Iski-Shahr, felt the warmth of
his enthusiasm and were deeply impressed by the tenacity
of his conviction. An increasing number of people became
enamoured of the charm of his personality and willingly
acknowledged the compelling power of his Faith. Such was
the influence which he exercised over them that a few among
the believers were inclined to regard him as an exponent of
Divine Revelation, although he altogether disclaimed such
pretensions. He was often heard to relate the following:
"In the days when I occupied the exalted position of a navvab
in India, the Bab appeared to me in a vision. He gazed at
me and won my heart completely. I arose, and had started
to follow Him, when He looked at me intently and said:
`Divest yourself of your gorgeous attire, depart from your
native land, and hasten on foot to meet Me in Adhirbayjan.
In Chihriq you will attain your heart's desire.' I followed
His directions and have now reached my goal."
The news of the turmoil which that lowly dervish had
been able to raise among the Kurdish leaders in Chihriq
reached Tabriz and was thence communicated to Tihran.
No sooner had the news reached the capital than orders
No sooner had Qahru'llah received the message from his
Master than he arose to carry out His wishes. To anyone
who wished to accompany him, he would say: "You can
never endure the trials of this journey. Abandon the thought
of coming with me. You would surely perish on your way,
inasmuch as the Bab has commanded me to return alone
to my native land." The compelling force of his reply silenced
those who begged to be allowed to journey with him.
He refused to accept either money or clothing from anyone.
Alone, clad in the meanest attire, staff in hand, he walked
all the way back to his country. No one knows what ultimately
befell him.
Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Zunuzi, surnamed Anis, was among
those who heard of the message from the Bab in Tabriz,
and was fired with the desire to hasten to Chihriq and attain
His presence. Those words had kindled in him an irrepressible
longing to sacrifice himself in His path. Siyyid Aliy-i-Zunuzi,
his stepfather, a notable of Tabriz, strenuously objected
to his leaving the city, and was at last induced to
confine him in his house and strictly watch over him. His
I have heard Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunuzi relate the following:
"At about the same time that the Bab dismissed Azim from
His presence, I was instructed by Him to collect all the available
Tablets that He had revealed during His incarceration
in the castles of Mah-Ku and Chihriq, and to deliver them
into the hands of Siyyid Ibrahim-i-Khalil, who was then
living in Tabriz, and urge him to conceal and preserve them
with the utmost care.
"During my stay in that city, I often visited Siyyid
Aliy-i-Zunuzi, who was related to me, and frequently heard
him deplore the sad fate of his son. `He seems to have lost
his reason,' he bitterly complained. `He has, by his behaviour,
brought reproach and shame upon me. Try to calm the
agitation of his heart and induce him to conceal his convictions.'
Every day I visited him, I witnessed the tears that
continually rained from his eyes. After the Bab had departed
from Tabriz, one day as I went to see him, I was surprised
to note the joy and gladness which had illumined his countenance.
His handsome face was wreathed in smiles as he
stepped forward to receive me. `The eyes of my Beloved,'
he said, as he embraced me, `have beheld this face, and
these eyes have gazed upon His countenance.' `Let me,' he
added, `tell you the secret of my happiness. After the Bab
had been taken back to Chihriq, one day, as I lay confined
in my cell, I turned my heart to Him and besought Him in
these words: "Thou beholdest, O my Best-Beloved, my
captivity and helplessness, and knowest how eagerly I yearn
to look upon Thy face. Dispel the gloom that oppresses
my heart, with the light of Thy countenance." What tears
of agonising pain I shed that hour! I was so overcome with
emotion that I seemed to have lost consciousness. Suddenly
I heard the voice of the Bab, and, lo! He was calling me.
He bade me arise. I beheld the majesty of His countenance
as He appeared before me. He smiled as He looked into my
eyes. I rushed forward and flung myself at His feet. "Rejoice,"
He said; "the hour is approaching when, in this very
city, I shall be suspended before the eyes of the multitude
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