Sequential excerpts (including footnotes) from ‘The Dawn-Breakers’ by Nabil-i-‘Azam, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi

October 30, 2022

Siyyid Yahyá (Vahid) wrote “a detailed account of his observations” for the king

According to “A Traveller’s Narrative” (p. 8), Siyyid Yahyá “wrote without fear or care a detailed account of his observations to Mírzá Lutf-‘Alí, the chamberlain, in order that the latter might submit it to the notice of the late king, while he himself journeyed to all parts of Persia, and in every town and station summoned the people from the pulpit-tops in such wise that other learned doctors decided that he must be mad, accounting it a sure case of bewitchment.” 

(Footnotes to chapter 9 provided by Shoghi Effendi)

October 20, 2022

Muhammad Sháh’s reaction to his special representative, Siyyid Yahya, having become a follower of the Báb

“Muhammad Sháh himself, at one of the state functions in his capital, was reported to have addressed these words to Ḥájí Mírzá Aqásí: ‘We have been lately informed  that Siyyid Yahyáy-i-Darábí has become a Bábí. If this be true, it behoves us to cease belittling the cause of that siyyid.’ Husayn Khán, on his part, received the following imperial command: ‘It is strictly forbidden to any one of our subjects to utter such words as would tend to detract from the exalted rank of Siyyid Yahyáy-i-Darábí. He is of noble lineage, a man of great learning, of perfect and consummate virtue. He will under no circumstances incline his ear to any cause unless he believes it to be conducive to the advancement of the best interests of our realm and to the well-being of the Faith of Islám.’

“Upon the receipt of this imperial injunction, Husayn Khán, unable to resist me openly, strove privily to undermine my authority. His face betrayed an implacable enmity and hate. He failed, however, in view of the marked favours bestowed upon me by the Sháh, either to harm my person or to discredit my name. 

- Siyyid Yahyá  (Quoted by Nabil; chapter 9, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)

October 10, 2022

Husayn Khán, the Governor of Fars, reported to Muhammad Shah that his envoy has become a follower of the Báb

“As I had, since my arrival at Shíráz, been living in the home of Husayn Khán, the governor of Fárs, I felt that my prolonged absence from his house might excite his suspicion and inflame his anger. I therefore determined to take leave of Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí and Mullá ‘Abdu’l-Karím and to regain the residence of the governor. On my arrival I found that Husayn Khán, who in the meantime had been searching for me, was eager to know whether I had fallen a victim to the Báb’s magic influence. ‘No one but God,’ I replied, ‘who alone can change the hearts of men, is able to captivate the heart of Siyyid Yahyá. Whoso can ensnare his heart is of God, and His word unquestionably the voice of Truth.’ My answer silenced the governor. In his conversation with others, I subsequently learned, he had expressed the view that I too had fallen a hopeless victim to the charm of that Youth. He had even written to Muhammad Sháh and complained that during my stay in Shíráz I had refused all manner of intercourse with the ‘ulamás of the city. ‘Though nominally my guest,’ he wrote to his sovereign, ‘he frequently absents himself for a number of consecutive days and nights from my house. That he has become a Bábí, that he has been heart and soul enslaved by the will of the Siyyid-i-Báb, I have ceased to entertain any doubt.’ 

- Siyyid Yahyá  (Quoted by Nabil; chapter 9, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)