Untitled

The Dawn-Breakers Study Outline

Chapter 18

1) Jump to the Chapter 18 Condensed Contents View.

2) Jump to the Chapter 18 Extended Contents View with Summaries.

3) Jump to the Condensed Summary for Chapter 18.

4) Jump to the Chapter 18 Cross-References to The Dawn-Breakers and A Traveler's Narrative

5) Jump to the Condensed and Extended Contents for the following chapters:

Intro.1 Intro.2 Preface 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Epilogue Other Sections

6) Jump to the actual Chapters of The Dawn-Breakers:

Introduction Preface 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Epilogue
For other sections, see the Contents page.

Condensed Contents View

Note: the text below links to the study outline. The page number, however, links to the actual text.

CHAPTER XVIII: EXAMINATION OF THE BAB AT TABRIZ

His visit to Urumiyyih 309
His arrival at Tabriz 311
His examination by the ulamas 315
Indignity inflicted upon Him 319
His return to Chihriq, and His epistle to Haji Mirza Aqasi 323

Extended Contents View with Summaries

CHAPTER XVIII: EXAMINATION OF THE BAB AT TABRIZ

His visit to Urumiyyih 309
The Báb had anticipated His affliction, dispersed His disciples, & waited calmly. His custodians sought to circumvent Khuy whose inhabitants might protest their tyranny, and go through Urúmíyyih. He was ceremoniously received by the prince Malik Qásim Mírzá who treated him with deference & refused any to show Him the least disrespect.

One day when He was going to the public path, the prince wished to test His courage and power and ordered his groom to offer Him a wild horse. The Báb's attendant was afraid of Him being harmed, but the Báb assured and enjoined him to trust in God. The inhabitants of Urúmíyyih who had been informed of the prince's intentions, gathered to watch Him. When the horse was brought to Him, He quietly approached it, took its bridle, gently caressed it and placed His foot in the stirrup. The horse stood still and silent as if conscious of His power. The onlookers considered this little short of a miracle, rushed to kiss his stirrups, and were restrained by the prince's attendants who wished to protect Him. He dismissed all but the prince's private attendant and Siyyid Hasan who waited on Him and was escorted back by the prince.

The people rushed to take away to the last drop His ablutions water. The Báb noted the tradition of the Imám 'Alí referring to ÁdhirBáyján and the lake of Urúmíyyih which would boil over and inundate the town. He also observed when He was informed of the majority of the town proclaiming their faith a verse from the Qur'án indicating their faith must be tested. When news of His sentence reached them, only a handful persevered in their allegiance to Him. Mullá Imám-Vardí whose tenacious faith could not be surpassed except by Mullá Jalíl-i-Urúmí (a Letter). He later attained Bahá'u'lláh's presence, recognized Him, and earnestly strove to promote the Báb's Cause until his death at 80. Bahá'u'lláh praised him & his family in numerous Tablets.

News of the Báb's wonders spread through Tihrán, leading the clergy to renew their attacks, based on the fear of the extinction of their authority and the jealousy at the loyalty He had evoked.
His arrival at Tabriz 311
(312) Tabríz was particularly inflamed. All except the ecclesiastics gratefully hailed His return so that the authorities placed Him outside the city gates. Only those He desired could meet Him while all others were refused.

On the 2nd night of His arrival, He summoned 'Azím, proclaimed Himself the Qá'im, and after finding him reluctant, promised to declare His Mission the next day in the presence of the heir to the throne (Valí-'Ahd), the 'ulamás, & notables, and asserted that if any chose another testimony besides His Word, he should seek the Qá'im of his idle fancy.

'Azím was restless until sunrise, found himself transformed, and felt required to accept the Báb wholeheartedly if he were to be faithful to Muhammad. He begged His forgiveness. The Báb responded that even 'Azím (Great) felt compelled by its claim and assured him that he would fortify the waverer's certitude and become so strong in faith that an enemy wishing to lessen his love by tearing him apart would fail. He no longer felt any fear.

His detention outside Tabríz didn't allay the city's excitement but aggravated it. The Vazír summoned the ecclesiastics to the governor's residence to arraign Him and extinguish His influence. Hájí Mullá Mahmúd (Nizámu'l-'Ulamá, the tutor of Valí-'Ahd), Násiri'd-Dín Mírzá (Valí-'Ahd), Mullá Muhammad-i- Mámáqání, Mírzá 'Alí-Asghar (Shaykhu'l-Islám), Mírzá Ahmad (Imám- Jum'ih), & other shaykhís & doctors attended.
His examination by the ulamas 315
The Nizámu'l-'Ulamá' had the presidency of the meeting and called an officer to bring in the Báb at the beginning. The masses had impatiently crowded in to see Him, requiring that a passage be forced for him to pass through the crowd at the gate. The Báb greeted the assembly and walked to the one vacant seat, reserved for the Valí-'Ahd. His majesty was overpowering, causing a deep silence until the Nizámu'l-'Ulamá asked Him Who He was & what His claim was. The Báb declared Himself the promised One Who had they had been calling upon for 1000 years & stated that the peoples of East & West were to obey Him.

Mullá Muhammad-i-Mámáqání (the one-eyed, white-bearded disciple of Siyyid Kázim that Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí recalled after he heard the conversation out in the hall had been tearfully pitied & condemned by Siyyid Kázim who foresaw his future behavior), seated to the left of the Valí-'Ahd (the Báb was in a seat between them), broke the silent confusion and agitation & criticized the Báb as a wretched & immature lad and questioned whether He wished to cause a turmoil in Ádhirbáyján as He had 'Iráq. The Báb replied He had not been brought there by His own accord. Mullá Muhammad told Him to hold His peace and called Him a contemptilbe follower of Satan, to which the Báb stated that He maintained His claim.

The Nizámu'l-'Ulamá challenged Him openly by stating that such a stupendous claim required incontrovertible evidence. The Báb replied that the mightiest proofs was His Word, as testified in the Qur'án, & that He could reveal the the Qur'án's equivalent in 2 days & 2 nights. The Nizámu'l-'Ulámá requested the Báb describe the gathering's proceedings orally in language resembling the Qur'án in order to demonstrate His claim. The Báb agreed, started in praise of God, & was interrupted by Mullá Muhammad who criticized His grammar violation. The Báb pleaded that the Qur'án didn't follow grammar, that the grammar rules have been deduced from the Word itself, & that the Qur'án itself had over 300 errors, forcing its discovers to resign to His will.

The Báb repeated His words, was objected to again, and another asked to which tense the word Ishtartanna belonged. The Báb quoted the Qur'ánic verse that the glory of the Lord was far from what the people impute to Him, then left the gathering. The Nizámu'l-'Ulamá' and others later expressed displeasure at their irrelevant questions though Mullá Muhammad persisted & warned that the Báb would continue to gain allegiance until they themselves might be expelled by Him from the city.
Indignity inflicted upon Him 319
(320) Mullá Muhammad's persistent attacks induced the authorities to call Him to consider holding a similar gathering & punish Him for taking the Valí-'Ahd's seat & not obtaining consent from the chairman to leave but Násiri'd-Dín Mírzá refused this.

Instead He was to be brought to Mírzá 'Alí-Asghar's home (the Shaykhu'l-Islám of Tabríz) and struck by the governor's body-guard. The body-guard refused to interfere in matters of the 'ulamás, so the Shaykhu'l-Islám decided to himself, applying rods 11 times to His feet after summoning Him to his home.

Within the year this tyrant was paralyzed, endured great pain, and died miserably. All were reminded by his death of the punishment awaiting the cruel. He had been so cruel to his people that the position of Shaykhu'l-Islám was itself abolished & scorned in Tabríz.

The Báb suffered other such villainous conduct despite the Prophet and Imám's prophecy that if a Youth from Baní-Háshim were to manifest a new Book & laws, all should embrace His Cause. The people instead followed their leaders despite the warning that most of His enemies were to be the 'ulamás.

On footnote 1, p.320 Dr. Cormick's account is recorded where He describes how upon meeting Him He did not answer any questions put to Him by 2 Persian doctors deciding to determine His sanity, but He intently regarded him upon saying that he was not a Musulman and might consider adopting His religion. He replied He had no doubt all of Europe would be won over to His faith. Upon being struck (intentionally?) in the face when He was to be bastinadoed, Dr. Cormick was requested by Him but they had no chance to talk further. Dr. Cormick praised His features, spoke of His speaking with Armenian carpenters reading the Bible & praised its lack of fanaticism and suppression of women.
His return to Chihriq, and His epistle to Haji Mirza Aqasi 323

(322) He was returned to Yahyá Khán's keeping. Although the dignitaries hoped that their meeting would induce Him to abandon His Mission, it enabled Him to proclaim, defend, & distinguish His claim as well as spread its fame, stir its disciples, and foretell future happenings.

The Báb wrote a denunciation of the Vazír's character and action, naming its opening passages the Qahríyyih (Sermon of Wrath), and proclaiming his disbelief in an epistle forwarded to Hujjat to deliver personally to the Vazír.

Bahá'u'lláh related to Nabíl that Mullá Muhammad-'Alíy-i-Zanjání, after delivering the Tablet, visited Him. He was with Mírzá Masíh-i-Núrí & other believers and he recited the text to them by memory and related the incidents of its delivery. Bahá'u'lláh's reference idicated how pleased He was with his noble and pure life, his courage, will, unworldliness & constancy.

The Declaration of the Báb's Mission

(Condensed Summary of Chapter 18)

I. The Báb's custodians brought Him through Urúmíyyih on the way to Tabríz in order to circumvent Khuy where their tyranny would likely be protested. He was well received by the prince Malik Qásim Mírzá. The prince one day sought to test His courage by having his groom offer Him one of his wildest horses to ride. The Báb accepted despite his attendant's plea and impressed the multitude which watched Him approach the horse as it tamely waited for Him. They swarmed to see Him forcing the prince's men to restrain them. They also sought to take away His ablutions water; however, the Báb hinted that their belief would be tested. When news of His treatment in Tabríz arrived, only a few maintained their new-found faith.

II. News of the Báb's wonders spread and inflamed the clergy. The clergy confined Him outside the city to dispel the excitement awaiting Him by the masses. When 'Azím hesitated to accept the Báb after He declared it to him, the Báb promised to make His declaration the next day in front of the heir to the throne (Valí-'Ahd) and that any other testimony besides His Word would be the seeker's idle fancy. 'Azím felt restless until sunrise the next morning, when he was transformed. The Báb commented on how the power of the Faith was such as to change even the 'Azím (Great). He promised he would become so strong in faith that he would not waver even were he cut to pieces.

III. As the populace's restlessness did not dissipate, the authorites called a meeting of dignitaries including the Valí-'Ahd. When the Báb was ordered in by the chairman and He walked in sat in the one vacant seat that had been reserved for the Valí-'Ahd, all were overpowered by His presence. Finally the chair asked the Báb Who He was and what His claim was. The Báb made His declaration to be the Promised One whose names they had for 1000 years invoked & stated that it was incumbent on the peoples of East and West to accept His Faith. He was attacked by Mullá Muhammad-i-Mámáqání, a disciple of Siyyid Kázim who had been pitied and criticized by His master for what he was to do here. He called the Báb wretched, accused Him of stirring up turmoil, and told Him to hold His peace as he called Him Satan's follower.

IV. The chair challenged that such a claim required serious evidence. The Báb declared that the mightiest proof was His Word and that He could reveal the equivalent of the Qur'án in 2 days and nights. The Báb agreed to the request of the chair to orally describe the proceedings there in a language resembling the Qur'án. As He began, He was interrupted by Mullá Muhammad who criticized His grammar. The Báb maintained that such errors were present in the Qur'án itself and that it was incumbent on the people to accept these, as their grammar had been derived from the Holy Books themselves. When another asked another grammatical question, the Báb quoted the Qur'ánic verse that the glory of the Lord was far from what the people impute to Him, then left the gathering.

V. The chair was disappointed at the pettiness of the people's objections but the dignitaries were made to fear the Báb by Mullá Muhammad who insisted that His growing influence could lead to their downfall. The 'ulamás considered His punishment for occupying the Valí-'Ahd's chair and leaving without his permission and decided to have his feet thrashed (11 times with a rod), which the Shaykhu'l-Islám did after his body-guard refused to interfere. He suffered other cruel treatment from the 'ulamá. The Shaykhu'l-Islám, who had also been cruel to his subjects, was paralyzed, died a miserable death, and served as a reminder for the fate awaiting the cruel.

VI. During His stay in Tabríz, He was visited by a European doctor, Dr. Cormick who commented favorably on the Báb's features & Faith, and described his brief encounter in which the Báb indicated His assurance of His Faith converting all of Europe.

VII. After this incident had allowed Him to proclaim His Faith and spread its influence, He was returned to Yahyá Khán's keeping and wrote an epistle denouncing Hájí Mírzá Áqásí's behavior and had it delivered by Hujjat. Bahá'u'lláh told Nabíl how Hujjat visited Him after its delivery, His tone indicated how well Bahá'u'lláh thought of him.

Cross-References for Chapter 18

Regarding the Báb being summoned to Tabríz (via Urúmíyyih avoiding Khuy) (DB 309- 315, see also DB 305-308), see GPB 20-21; TN 14.

Regarding the examination of the Báb in Tabríz and His public proclamation (DB 315-319), see GPB 17, 21-22, 35; TN 14-15.

Regarding the persecutions of the Shaykhu'l-Islám (DB 320-322, note 1) and his demise (DB 321), see GPB 83-84.

Regarding Hujjat's delivery of the Báb's Tablet to Hájí Mírzá Áqásí (DB 323), see also GPB 27.

Overall of Chapter 18 (DB 309-323): GPB 17, 20-22, 27, 35, 83-84; TN 14-15.

back to Dawnbreakers study outline | back to Baha'i Library Online