When word of this spread throughout Ṭihrán, the Government hunted for her
high and low; nevertheless, the friends kept arriving to see her, in a
steady stream, and Táhirih, seated behind a curtain, would converse with
them. One day the great Siyyid Yaḥyá, surnamed Vahíd, was present there.
As he sat without, Táhirih listened to him from behind the veil. I was
then a child, and was sitting on her lap. With eloquence and fervor, Vahíd
was discoursing on the signs and verses that bore witness to the advent of
the new Manifestation. She suddenly interrupted him and, raising her
voice, vehemently declared: “O Yaḥyá! Let deeds, not words, testify to thy
faith, if thou art a man of true learning. Cease idly repeating the
traditions of the past, for the day of service, of steadfast action, is
come. Now is the time to show forth the true signs of God, to rend asunder
the veils of idle fancy, to promote the Word of God, and to sacrifice
ourselves in His path. Let deeds, not words, be our adorning!”
The Blessed Beauty made elaborate arrangements for Táhirih’s journey to
Bada_sh_t and sent her off with an equipage and retinue. His own party
left for that region some days afterward.
In Bada_sh_t, there was a great open field. Through its center a stream
flowed, and to its right, left, and rear there were three gardens, the
envy of Paradise. One of those gardens was assigned to Quddús,(127) but
this was kept a secret. Another was set apart for Táhirih, and in a third
was raised the pavilion of Bahá’u’lláh. On the field amidst the three
gardens, the believers pitched their tents. Evenings, Bahá’u’lláh, Quddús
and Táhirih would come together. In those days the fact that the Báb was
the Qá’im had not yet been proclaimed; it was the Blessed Beauty, with
Quddús, Who arranged for the proclamation of a universal Advent and the
abrogation and repudiation of the ancient laws.
Then one day, and there was a wisdom in it, Bahá’u’lláh fell ill; that is,
the indisposition was to serve a vital purpose. On a sudden, in the sight
of all, Quddús came out of his garden, and entered the pavilion of
Bahá’u’lláh. But Táhirih sent him a message, to say that their Host being
ill, Quddús should visit her garden instead. His answer was: “This garden
is preferable. Come, then, to this one.” Táhirih, with her face unveiled,
stepped from her garden, advancing to the pavilion of Bahá’u’lláh; and as
she came, she shouted aloud these words: “The Trumpet is sounding! The
great Trump is blown! The universal Advent is now proclaimed!”(128) The
believers gathered in that tent were panic struck, and each one asked
himself, “How can the Law be abrogated? How is it that this woman stands
here without her veil?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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