Table of Contents
Epilogue
A Western historian, reflecting on the social circumstances and status of these seven Martyrs of Tihrán and what made their martyrdom different, records:
They were men representing all the more important classes in Persia – divines [‘ulamá], dervishes, merchants, shop-keepers, and government officials; they were men who had enjoyed the respect and consideration of all; they died fearlessly, willingly, almost eagerly, declining to purchase life by that mere lip-denial, which, under the name of … takiya [taqiyya],75_ACT11 is recognized by the Shi’ites as a perfectly justifiable subterfuge in case of peril; they were not driven to despair of mercy as were those who had died at Shaykh Tabarsí and Zanján; and they sealed their faith with their blood in the public square of the Persian capital wherein is the abode of the foreign ambassadors accredited to the court of the Sháh. 76_ACT11
Nabíl records:
The news of their martyrdom [the seven Martyrs of Tihrán] came as an added blow to the Báb, who was already plunged in sorrow at the fate that had befallen the heroes of Tabarsí. In the detailed Tablet He revealed in their honour, every word of which testified to the exalted position they occupied in His eyes, He referred to them as those very “Seven Goats” spoken of in the traditions of Islám, who on the Day of Judgment shall “walk in front of the promised Qá’im.” They shall symbolise by their life the noblest spirit of heroism, and by their death shall manifest true acquiescence in His will. By preceding the Qá’im, the Báb explained, is meant that their martyrdom will precede that of the Qá’im Himself, who is their Shepherd. What the Báb had predicted came to be fulfilled. His own martyrdom occurred four months later in Tabríz. 77_ACT11
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End of “DB 21: The Seven that Walk in Front of the Qá’im”
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