The Promise is Broken8 – Dawn Breakers

‘ulamá from Sárí, drew their swords and cut Siyyid Ahmad to pieces. Siyyid Abú-Tálib was miraculously spared, and he made it to Sang-sar and lived a life dedicated to service to the Cause of the Báb and later Bahá’u’lláh. Thus was fulfilled the dream prophecy given by the Imám ‘Alí to the father of these three brothers, that two of his sons, specifically Siyyid Ahmad and Mír Abdu’l-Qásim, would be martyred in the path of the promised Qá’im. The third brother survived. [Note: The paternal uncle and the brother-in-law of these brothers had also come to Fort Shaykh Tabarsí and these two were also martyred there].

16 May 1849: Quddús’ Trial

The Prince brought his star captive, Quddús, with him to Bárfurúsh, which was Quddús’ hometown. They arrived there on 11 May 1849. The Sa’ídu’l-‘Ulamá

together with the other ‘ulamá and the people of the town came out to greet the Prince and congratulate him on his victory against the hated Bábís. What followed were three days of celebrations in the town. During this time the Prince gave no signs of what he intended to do with Quddús. He had originally intended to take Quddús to the capital Tihrán and hand him over to the Sháh. But the hate-filled ‘ulamá, in particular the Sa’ídu’l-‘Ulamá of Bárfurúsh, had other plans. They put pressure on the Prince to decide the fate of Quddús right there. To do this, they riled up the ignorant masses of the town. The Sa’ídu’l-‘Ulamá raised the call of hate throughout the town. He told the masses:

I have vowed, to deny myself both food and sleep until such time as I am able to end the life of Hájí Muhammad ‘Alí [Quddús] with my own hands!

The threats of an agitated multitude succeeded in arousing the apprehension of the Prince, who thought his own life might be endangered at this rate. So, he called all the leading ‘ulamá of Bárfurúsh for what turned out to be pretend tribunal. Quddús was called in to defend himself. He was wearing the Báb’s green turban. The ‘ulamá began by challenging about his wearing a green turban, which is reserved for Siyyids who are descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. But as soon as Quddús spoke and silenced the ‘ulamá [Quddús’ mother was a descendant of Imám Hasan

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