| Unique, wonderful. The title given by Bahá'u'lláh to Áqá Buzurg-i-Nís̲h̲ápúrí, the 17-year-old
youth who carried the Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán to Náṣiri'd-Dín S̲h̲áh. |
| Though he had been known as a rebellious youth, Áqá Buzurg was touched
when Nabíl related
to him verses in which Bahá'u'lláh described His sufferings. He walked from Mosul to 'Akká to see Bahá'u'lláh, arriving in 1869. His two audiences with Bahá'u'lláh completely transformed the young man. Though many had sought the honour of carrying Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet to the S̲h̲ah, Bahá'u'lláh entrusted it to Áqá Buzurg, whom Bahá'u'lláh named Badí'. When Badí' returned to Persia and delivered the Tablet to
the S̲h̲ah, he was
tortured by bastinado and
branding and finally put to death. Bahá'u'lláh often extolled his heroism, stating in a Tablet that Badí''s station was so
high that it was beyond description and giving him the title Fak̲h̲ru's̲h̲-S̲h̲uhadá'
(Pride of Martyrs). Shoghi
Effendi named him an Apostle
of Bahá'u'lláh. |
| [BD 32] |
 |
| "Wonderful." Seventeen-year-old boy who delivered Bahá'u'lláh's
Tablet to the S̲h̲ah of Persia and was in consequence tortured and killed. His given name was Áqá Buzurg
of K̲h̲urásán; he was converted by the historian Nabíl and won the title of the "Pride of Martyrs." |
| [BG 10] |
|
| Travels |
| Although Badí's father was a Bahá'í, Badí was originally not touched by the new religion.[1] He was an unruly and rebellious youth, and his father described him as the "despair of the family".[2] It was upon a meeting with Nabíl-i-A`zam that Badí' heard a poem by Bahá'u'lláh and began weeping. After finishing his studies, he gave away his possessions and set out on foot for Baghdad, where a significant number of Bahá'ís were under persecution. Finally he set out on foot from Mosul through Baghdad to the prison city of `Akka.[1] |
| |
| As guards protected against Bahá'ís entering `Akka, Badí dressed as a water-carrier and slipped by the guards, and then proceeded to a mosque, where he recognized `Abdu'l-Bahá and gave him a note. Badí' received two interviews with Bahá'u'lláh, and requested that he deliver the Lawḥ-i-Sultán, Bahá'u'lláh's tablet to Náṣiri'd-Din Shah. He received the tablet in Haifa to avoid being caught by Ottoman officials. From there he travelled on foot for four months to Tehran. Along the way he was reported to "be full of joy, laughter, gratitude and forbearance, walking around one hundred paces then leaving the road and turning to face `Akká. He would then prostrate himself and say: 'O God, that which you have bestowed upon me through Your bounty, do not take back through Your justice; rather grant me strength to safeguard it'".[1][2] |
| |
| Execution |
| After three days of fasting, Badí' went to the Shah's summer camp, and the Shah came upon him while hunting in the woods. Badí' approached the monarch with respect and calmly said: "O King! I have come to thee from Sheba with a weighty message". Badí' was arrested, branded for three successive days, his head beaten to a pulp with the butt of a rifle, after which his body was thrown into a pit and earth and stones heaped upon it.[1] |
| |
| A particularly famous picture of Badí' exists, taken at the Shah's request, where he is in chains during his torture, showing no emotion. |
| [ Wikipedia - Badí' ] |
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| See also: |
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| Badí' aged 15 |
[  ] [ Wikipedia - Badí' ] |
|
 |
A particularly famous picture of Badí',
taken at the Shah's request,
where he is in chains during his torture, showing no emotion. |
| [ ] [BD 32] |
|
