Table of Contents
Prologue
After recounting the events around Fort Shaykh TabarsĂ, NabĂl writes:
It would be appropriate at this juncture to place on record the names of those martyrs who participated in the defence of the fort of Shaykh ṬabarsĂ, in the hope that generations yet to come may recall with pride and gratitude the names, no less than the deeds, of those pioneers who, by their life and death, have so greatly enriched the annals of God’s immortal Faith. …1_ACT10
NabĂl then lists the names and in several instances the stories of one hundred and seventy three individuals who were martyred in the Fort Shaykh TabarsĂ episode. 2_ACT10 Nine of the eighteen Letters of the Living were amongst these martyrs. 3_ACT10 Even a cursory glance at this list of Fort Shaykh TabarsĂ martyrs reveals an incredible human panorama. 4_ACT10 It shows men from every background, all ages, from all walks of life, and from all parts of the land. It includes fourteen-year-old teenagers to near eighty-year-old men. It includes highly learned mujtahids, landowners, merchants, government officials, masons, cloth manufacturers, farmers, labourers, servants, students, and shepherds. And these souls come from different parts of ĂŤrán and beyond, with many different dialects, customs and habits; and we find that in spite of their differences they all were united and intensely motivated by one thing, recognition of the dawn of the promised Day of God through the Báb.
In this Act, we give a summary of NabĂl’s list of those who gave up their lives in the episode of Fort Shaykh TabarsĂ, together with some commentary and stories. The numbering [#] of the martyrs shown here follows the numbering used by NabĂl, for
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