Portraits – Page 9 – Dawn Breakers

With the goodwill and support of a few trusted persons at her disposal, she worked out a plan and made the necessary arrangements with utmost caution. Then, late one evening the prison door was opened and the pitiable figures of Hájí Muhammad-Taqí and Áqá Siyyid Ja’far were taken out, propped on donkeys and entrusted to a muleteer with the express order to carry them at full speed to Harát – a small town beyond the area of jurisdiction of the Governor of Nayríz.

Eventually, when these oppressed souls reached Harát they were utterly exhausted. The sight of their appalling condition presented a study in grief and aroused the sympathy of the headman of the village who received hem with the utmost kindness.

They remained in Harát for a number of months to recuperate and heal their terrible wounds. Afterwards they travelled to Yazd.

Hájí Muhammad-Taqí and Áqá Siyyid Ja’far both survived the upheaval in Nayríz. They both came to recognize Bahá’u’lláh as the One promised by the Báb. When Bahá’u’lláh was in Baghdád, both of them separately walked the near 1600 kilometers [1000 miles] to Baghdád. Each was honoured by having a tablet revealed in their name by Bahá’u’lláh. The Súrih-i-Nush [Súra of Nektar or Nourishing/sweet drink] was revealed in honour of Áqá Siyyid Ja’far, and the Súrih-i-Sabr [Súra of Patience; also known as Lawh-i-Ayyúb, Tablet of Job] was revealed in honour of Hájí Muhammad-Taqí.

The story of how Hájí Muhammad-Taqí got to Baghdád is told in the untranslated portion of Nabíl’s writings (quoted in Stories of Bahá’u’lláh, by ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan, p16-17). After the first upheaval against the Bábís in Nayríz in 1850, in spite of all that was done to him, Hájí Muhammad-Taqí had returned to Nayríz. He was there when the second upheaval against the Bábís occurred (1853). This time, he was again so badly beaten and tortured that he could scarcely move. Somehow, he managed to drag himself to the outskirts of Nayríz before dropping to the ground like a lifeless body, where he fell asleep. He then described for Nabíl what happened:

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