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| View of Káshán |
On the eve of the Báb’s arrival at Káshán, [1847] Hájí Mírzá Jání,
surnamed Parpa, a noted resident of that city, dreamed that he was standing at
a late hour in the afternoon at the gate of Attár, one of the gates of the
city, when his eyes suddenly beheld the Báb on horseback wearing, instead of
His customary turban, the kuláh usually
worn by the merchants of Persia. Before Him, as well as behind Him, marched a
number of horsemen into whose custody He seemed to have been delivered. As they
approached the gate, the Báb saluted him and said: “Hájí Mírzá Jání, We are to
be your Guest for three nights. Prepare yourself to receive Us.”
When he awoke, the vividness of his dream convinced him of
the reality of his vision. This unexpected apparition constituted in his eyes a
providential warning which he felt it his duty to heed and observe. He
accordingly set out to prepare his house for the reception of the Visitor, and
to provide whatever seemed necessary for His comfort. As soon as he had
completed the preliminary arrangements for the banquet which he had decided to
offer the Báb that night, Hájí Mírzá Jání proceeded to the gate of Attár, and
there waited for the signs of the Báb’s expected arrival.
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| Gate of Attár |
At the appointed
hour, as he was scanning the horizon, he descried in the distance what seemed
to him a company of horsemen approaching the gate of the city. As he hastened
to meet them, his eyes recognised the Báb surrounded by His escort dressed in
the same clothes and wearing the same expression as he had seen the night
before in his dream. Hájí Mírzá Jání joyously approached Him and bent to kiss
His stirrups. The Báb prevented him, saying: “We are to be your Guest for three
nights. To-morrow is the day of Naw-Rúz; we shall celebrate it together in your
home.” Muhammad Big, who had been riding close to the Báb, thought Him to be an
intimate acquaintance of Hájí Mírzá Jání. Turning to him, he said: “I am ready
to abide by whatever is the desire of the Siyyid-i-Báb. I would ask you,
however, to obtain the approval of my colleague who shares with me the charge
of conducting the Siyyid-i-Báb to Tihrán.” Hájí Mírzá Jání submitted his
request and was met with a flat refusal. “I decline your suggestion,” he was
told. “I have been most emphatically instructed not to allow this youth to
enter any city until his arrival at the capital. I have been particularly
commanded to spend the night outside the gate of the city, to break my march at
the hour of sunset, and to resume it the next day at the hour of dawn. I cannot
depart from the orders that have been given to me.” This gave rise to a heated
altercation which was eventually settled in favour of Muhammad Big, who
succeeded in inducing his opponent to deliver the Báb into the custody of Hájí
Mírzá Jání with the express understanding that on the third morning he should
safely deliver back his Guest into their hands. Hájí Mírzá Jání, who had
intended to invite to his home the entire escort of the Báb, was advised by Him
to abandon this intention. “No one but you,” He urged, “should accompany Me to
your home.” Hájí Mírzá Jání requested to be allowed to defray the expense of
the horsemen’s three days’ stay in Káshán. “It is unnecessary,” observed the
Báb; “but for My will, nothing whatever could have induced them to deliver Me
into your hands. All things lie prisoned within the grasp of His might. Nothing
is impossible to Him. He removes every difficulty and surmounts every
obstacle.” The horsemen were lodged in a caravanserai in the immediate
neighbourhood of the gate of the city. Muhammad Big, following the instructions
of the Báb, accompanied Him until they drew near the house of Hájí Mírzá Jání.
Having ascertained the actual situation of the house, he returned and joined
his companions.
The night the Báb arrived at Káshán coincided with the eve
preceding the third Naw-Rúz, after the declaration of His Mission, which fell
on the second day of the month of Rabí’u’th-Thání, in the year 1263 A.H. [1847]
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
