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

June 20, 2025

Bahá’u’lláh’s brother, Mirza Musá, describes his meeting with Mullá Husayn in Tihrán

On his way to Tihrán, Mullá usayn was enthusiastically greeted by the believers in the different towns through which he passed. They addressed to him the same request and received from him the same reply. I have heard the following testimony from the lips of Áqáy-i-Kalím:

“When Mullá usayn arrived at Tihrán, I, together with a large number of believers, went to visit him. He seemed to us the very embodiment of constancy, of piety and virtue. He inspired us with his rectitude of conduct and passionate loyalty. Such were the force of his character and the ardour of his faith that we felt convinced that he, unaided and alone, would be capable of achieving the triumph of the Faith of God.”

He was, with secrecy, ushered into the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, and, soon after his interview, proceeded to Ádhirbayján. 

- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’ chapter 13)

June 14, 2025

Mullá Husayn left his house in Mashhad and proceeded on foot towards Ádhirbayján to see the Báb

Mashhad to Tihran is about 1500 km
Mullá Husayn was at that time residing at Mashhad, and was endeavouring, despite the tumult which that revolt had occasioned, to spread the knowledge of the new Revelation. No sooner had he discovered that the Salar, in his desire to extend the scope of the rebellion, had determined to approach him and obtain his support, than he promptly decided to leave the city in order to avoid implicating himself self in the plots of that proud and rebellious chief. In the dead of night, with only Qambar-‘Alí as his attendant, he proceeded on foot in the direction of Tihrán, from which place he was determined to visit Ádhirbayján, where he hoped to meet the Báb. His friends, when they learned of the manner of his departure, immediately provided whatever would be conducive to the comforts of his long and arduous journey and hastened to overtake him. Mullá Husayn declined their help. “I have vowed,” he said, “to walk the whole distance that separates me from my Beloved. I shall not relax in my resolve until I shall have reached my destination.” He even tried to induce Qambar-‘Alí to return to Mashhad, but was finally obliged to yield to his entreaty to allow him to act as his servant throughout his pilgrimage to Ádhirbayján. 

- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’ chapter 13)

June 6, 2025

Serious uprisings in Persia during 1844-1845

“The province had been for some years the scene of serious uprisings. At the end of 1844 or at the beginning of 1845, the governor of Bujnurd had revolted against the authority of the Sháh and had made an alliance with the Turkomans against Persia. The Prince Asifu’d-Dawlih, governor of Khurásán, asked the capital for assistance. The general Khán Bábá Khán, commander-in-chief of the Persian army, was ordered to send a thousand men against the rebels but the scarcity of public funds prevented the expedition. The Sháh, therefore, planned to head personally a campaign in the spring. The preparations began immediately. Soon ten battalions, of one thousand men each, were ready awaiting the arrival of Prince Hamzih Mírzá, appointed general-in-chief of the expedition. All of a sudden, the governor of Khurásán, Asifu’d-Dawlih, brother of the King’s mother, feeling that his security was threatened by the suspicions of the authorities at Tihrán, arrived at the Court humbly to protest at the feet of the King and to assure him of his complete devotion, and demand that his defamers be punished.

“It so happened that the principal one among his adversaries was Hájí Mírzá Aqásí, the all-powerful prime minister. A long trial took place which ended with the defeat of the governor and he was ordered to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca with the mother of the King.