Release the Sun

22957cv:22957cv

9/26/11

12:12 PM

Page 1

ISBN 978-1-931847-09-4

Bahá’í Publishing is an imprint of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust of the United States.

BahaiBookstore.com

51495

9

781931

847094

Release the Sun by William Sears

Bahá’í Publishing, 401 Greenleaf Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091-2886 Copyright © 2003 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States All rights reserved.

First edition published 1957. New edition 2003.

Reprinted 2020 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ∞ ISBN 13: 978-1-931847-09-4 ISBN 10: 1-931847-09-6

Cover Design by Robert A. Reddy Book Design by Suni D. Hannan

Contents Map of Persia in the time of Release the Sun .......... vii Publisher’s Preface .................................................. ix Preface to the First Edition ..................................... xi A Note to the Reader ........................................... xiii

Release the Sun Prologue .................................................................. 5 1. The Promise of the Messiah .................................... 9 2. The Search Begins ................................................. 19 3. The Promise Is Ful³lled ........................................ 31 4. The Pilgrimage and the Proclamation ................... 41 5. The Persecution Begins ......................................... 49 6. The Gentle Arrest ................................................. 55 7. The Enchantment of the King’s Messenger .......... 63 8. The Avenging Hand of God ................................. 77 9. The Kindly Governor ............................................ 89 10. The King’s Summons ............................................ 99 11. The Tumult in Tabríz .......................................... 107

v

Front Matter.pmd

5

2/5/2003, 9:55 AM

Contents 12. The High Stone Prison ....................................... 113 13. The Scourging at Tabríz ...................................... 123 14. The Massacre at the Fort of Shaykh øabarsí ....... 139 15. A Wonder among Women .................................. 169 16. The Death of the Wisest Persian ......................... 193 17. The Seven Heroes of øihrán ............................... 211 18. The Dawn and the Sun .......................................223 19. The Martyrdom of the Báb.................................259 Glossary...............................................................289 Bibliography ........................................................305 A Basic Bahá’í Reading List .................................309 Index ................................................................... 313

vi

Front Matter.pmd

6

2/5/2003, 9:55 AM

Western map of Persia in the time of Release the Sun

vii

Front Matter.pmd

7

2/5/2003, 9:56 AM

Publisher’s Preface Release the Sun retells in vivid detail many of the events associated with the brief yet dramatic ministry of the Prophet-Herald of the Bahá’í Faith in Iran. Though the book has been available to English-speaking members of the Bahá’í Faith for some forty-³ve years, it was not widely available to the general public. Now, for the ³rst time since the book’s release in 1957, in this new, completely reedited edition, Bahá’í Publishing makes Release the Sun accessible to the general public.

A number of things about the new edition distinguish it from the ³rst edition of the book. First, the narrative, which draws heavily from the stories found in The Dawn-Breakers— Nabíl-i-A‘µam’s monumental epic narrating the history of the earliest days of the Bahá’í Revelation—has been meticulously checked and rechecked to ensure its faithfulness to the details found in that work.

Second, a great number of notes referring to The DawnBreakers and its voluminous footnotes have been omitted for the sake of simplicity. This was done because the vast majority of notes were simply citations of The Dawn-Breakers and can be accessed quite readily through a number of excellent search engines that are freely available through the World Wide Web. Thus any reader who has access to the Web can easily search for and ³nd the source of most of the quotations and extracts that appear in Release the Sun. Citations for those few extracts that do not come from The Dawn-Breakers appear in footnotes.

ix

Front Matter.pmd

9

2/5/2003, 9:56 AM

Publisher’s Preface Third, while the epilogue and seven appendices of the ³rst edition have been omitted, a glossary, bibliography, basic Bahá’í reading list, explanatory footnotes, and an index have all been added for the reader’s convenience.

It is hoped that these changes will enhance the experience of the average Western reader, for whom the book was always intended but who has not had easy access until now to this dramatic and compelling story.

x

Front Matter.pmd

10

2/5/2003, 9:56 AM

Preface to the First Edition This book, Release the Sun, gives the early history of the Bahá’í Faith up through the hour of the martyrdom of its Herald, the Báb.

Professor Edward Granville Browne of Pembroke College, Cambridge University, wrote of this period in history, saying: “I am very anxious to get as accurate an account of all the details connected with the Bábí movement as possible, for in my eyes the whole seems one of the most interesting and important events that has occurred since the rise of Christianity . . . and I feel it my duty, as well as pleasure, to try as far as in me lies to bring the matter to the notice of my countrymen . . . for suppose anyone could tell us more about the childhood and early life and appearance of Christ, for instance, how glad we should be to know it. Now it is impossible to ³nd out much . . . but in the case of the Báb it is possible. . . . So let us earn the thanks of posterity, and provide against that day now.”* This is an attempt to bring just such an account of the life of the Báb to the attention of the world. This same story has

* Edward Granville Browne, quoted by H. M. Balyuzi, in Lady Blom³eld (Sitárih Khánum), The Chosen Highway, (Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1975), pp. v–vi.

xi

Front Matter.pmd

11

2/5/2003, 9:56 AM

Prologue

A SMALL WHIRLWIND of dust moved quietly down the deserted street. It whipped a scrap of paper against a sleeping cat, frightening it out of the doorway into the house. Then all was motionless silence.

Suddenly, a young child hurried around the corner and raced down the empty street. His bare feet kicked up little pu²s of dust from the hot earth.

“He’s coming!” he cried out. “They’re bringing him this way!”

People streamed from their houses with the panic of ants whose hill has been struck by a careless foot. The street was alive with thrilled and expectant faces. Their excitement increased as they heard the angry shouts of the approaching mob.

A river of men, women, and children flowed noisily around the corner. The young man they were following was overwhelmed by their insults. The mob cried out with delight. They knew he would not escape them. He was a captive. His guard pulled him along in front of the crowd by a long rope tied to an iron collar that was fastened about his neck. He was being taken to the authorities so that his death warrant might be signed.

When his steps faltered, the guard helped him on his way by jerking savagely on the rope or by planting a well-aimed kick.

Occasionally, someone would dart out of the crowd, break through the guards, and strike the young man with a fist or a stick. Cheers of pleasure and encouragement accompanied each attacker. When a stone or a piece of refuse hurled from the mob struck the young captive in the face, both the guard and the crowd would burst into laughter.

5

Prologue.pmd

5

1/30/2003, 10:40 PM

Release the Sun “Rescue yourself, O great hero!” one of the pursuers called mockingly. “Break asunder your bonds! Produce for us a miracle!” Then he spat in derision at the silent ³gure.

The young man was returned to the barracks square. A short time later he was led to his place of execution. It was high noon in the public square of a sunbaked city.

The blistering summer sun glinted on the barrels of the raised rifles. The guns were pointed at the young man’s breast. The soldiers awaited the command to ³re and take his life.

Great crowds were still pouring into the public square. Thousands swarmed along the adjoining rooftops overlooking the scene of death. They were all hungry for one last look at this strange young man who had so troubled their country. He was either good or evil, but they were not sure which.

He seemed so young to die—only thirty. Now that the end had come, this victim of the mob’s hatred did not seem dangerous at all. He gazed calmly as the hostile barrels of seven hundred and ³fty cocked rifles were pointed at him.

6

Prologue.pmd

6

1/30/2003, 10:40 PM

The Promise of the Messiah

THIS IS THE STORY of a modern search for the Holy Grail, the cup of everlasting life. It began in the land from which the three kings came to Bethlehem, guided by a bright star.

It was now the nineteenth century, and there was another sign in the heavens—a great ³ery comet. Many were awed, many were frightened, and many were cheered, for both the East and the West were caught up in a millennial zeal.

In Persia (present-day Iran), home of the “three wise men,” the excitement over the coming of a Messiah was greater than in any other land. In America and Europe, scholars wrote and spoke of the expected appearance of the promised Christ, but in Persia many people were actively searching for Him. They believed the Promised One to be already in their midst.

Among these devout searchers was Shaykh A¥mad, a kindly, gentle man. At the age of forty he left his home and kindred in one of the islands of Bahrain to the south of the Persian Gulf and set out to unravel the mystery of the coming Promised One. An inner voice kept urging him on. Eagerly, he devoured everything written on the subject. He questioned the great religious and scienti³c authorities until he felt that at last he knew the truth.

He was now ³lled with an eagerness to unburden his soul.

He began to search for someone with whom he could share his great secret—his certainty of the time and place for the appearance of God’s new Messenger, who would ful³ll all the promises given in the sacred books of the world’s great religions.

9

Chp 1.pmd

9

2/4/2003, 11:17 AM

End of this sample.

To learn more or to purchase this book, Please visit Bahaibookstore.com or your favorite bookseller.