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ZanjĂĄn – Ashraf and Naqd-âAlĂ
Ashraf of ZanjĂĄn
His full name was Siyyid âAlĂ-Ashraf and he will come to be known as Ashrafuâsh-ShuhadĂĄ [Noblest of Martyrs]. His father and mother had stood valiantly under the banner of Hujjat. They were only newly married when the ZanjĂĄn upheaval broke out, and Ashraf was born in the Fort of âAlĂ-MardĂĄn KhĂĄn. His father was martyred during that upheaval, but the new-born Ashraf and his mother survived.
Ashraf was raised by his mother to be a devoted follower of the BĂĄb and later of BahĂĄâuâllĂĄh. When BahĂĄâuâllĂĄh was in Adrianople [December 1863 â August 1868], Ashraf went attain His presence. At the end of his second visit to BahĂĄuâllĂĄh, a tablet was revealed for him â called Lawh-i-Ashraf (Tablet to Ashraf). A provisional translation of this tablet can be found on BahĂĄâĂ Library: Tablet to Ashraf.
Ashrafâs faith was set doubly ablaze with meeting BahĂĄâuââllĂĄh. When he returned to ZanjĂĄn, he had a room built in which he and his fellow-believer friends would gather to pray and read and transcribe the Writings of the BĂĄb and BahĂĄâuâllĂĄh. The enemy was however alert and they seized Ashraf together with his friend, Naqd-âAlĂ.
Naqd-âAlĂ of ZanjĂĄn
Like Ashrafâs father, Naqd-âAlĂâs father had also died under the banner of Hujjat. Like Ashraf and his mother, Naqd-âAlĂ and his mother had survived. And like Ashraf, Naqd-âAlĂ was a lover of the BĂĄb and BahĂĄâuâllĂĄh. Naqd-âAlĂ was physically blind, but BahĂĄâuâllĂĄh had given him the title of AbĂș-BasĂr [the Father of Insight]. Naqd-âAlĂ and Ashraf were close friends.
Ashraf and Naqd-âAlĂ are martyred
Upon their capture and their refusal to recant their Faith, the âulamĂĄ of ZanjĂĄn issued the order of their execution. It is said of Ashraf, that he was so handsome and so engaging a youth, that many Muslim friends called his mother to come and