Vahíd Goes to Nayríz – Page 3

to go out to Rúnúz and welcome Vahíd. This group included Vahíd’s father-in-law, who was a judge of recognized standing in the entire region, other notables such as relatives of the governor, imáms [Friday prayer leaders] and kad-khudás

[chief of village or an area in a town], as well as workers and students. From the Chinár-Súkhtih

quarter alone, the quarter where Vahíd had his residence, over one hundred headed out to Rúnúz.

The governor of Nayríz was Zayn’ul-‘Ábidín Khán

. He was very aware of the influence Vahíd wielded in Nayríz and had already made it clear to all in Nayríz that he was not in support of the Cause of the Báb, nor was he in favour of their support of Vahíd. Knowing this antagonistic attitude of the governor, most of the large group that had set out to meet Vahíd at Rúnúz, did so in the middle of the night. As soon as the news of this reached Zayn’ul-‘Ábidín, he sent a special messenger to overtake them. The message he delivered was that unless they turned back right away, he would capture their wives, confiscate their property and eventually execute whoever went out to meet Vahíd. However, to Zayn’ul-‘Ábidín’s dismay, the large group disdainfully ignored his message and continued their journey. Seeing this Zayn’ul-‘Ábidín got so concerned he transferred his residence to another location outside Nayríz in fear of a Bábí uprising.

Vahíd’s arrival in Nayríz

Vahíd arrived in Nayríz before noon on 27 May 1850. The first thing he did, when he got to the Chinár-Súkhtih

quarter, before even going to his residence, was to go to the masjid [mosque]. Still wearing his dust-laden clothes, he ascended the pulpit and summoned the large congregation gathered there to embrace the Message of the Báb. He spoke with such eloquence that the huge congregation was electrified by his appeal. That day over a thousand who were natives of Chinár-Súkhtih quarter and more than five hundred from other quarters of Nayríz, all arose and accepted the Message of the Báb. Nabíl records that the jubilant multitude shouted: “We have heard, and we obey!”.

Vahíd then said to them:

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