| Conference of Badas̲h̲t |
 |
| Pronunciation: ba-dasht |
|
|
| The Báb called a gathering
of eighty-one of His followers in the early summer of 1848 in the hamlet of Badas̲h̲t.
The primary purpose of the conference was 'to implement the revelation of the Bayán by a sudden, a complete and dramatic break with the past — with its order, its ecclesiasticism,
its traditions, and ceremonials.' A second, subsidiary purpose was 'to consider the
means of emancipating the Báb from His cruel confinement in Chihríq.
The first was eminently successful; the second was destined from the outset to fail.'6 During the conference Mirzá
Ḥusayn 'Alí (later to become Bahá'u'lláh)
gave each participant a new name, designating Himself as 'Bahá',
entitling the last Letter of the Living 'Quddús'
and giving the title 'Ṭáhirih'
to Qurratu'l-'Ayn. |
| |
| During the twenty-two-day conference various arguments and counter-arguments were
put forward and differences of view and approach arose between Ṭáhirih and Quddús. Eventually Ṭáhirih made a sudden
and symbolic gesture which made it clear to all that a new Dispensation had begun:
she appeared before the assembled Bábís unveiled, her face uncovered for all to see. This caused consternation among many of
the men, some of whom fled in horror while one tried to cut his throat, H. M. Balyuzi
writes of this occasion, 'At Badas̲h̲t the faint-hearted fell away. And when those
who had remained steadfast left the hamlet it was to go out into a world, for them,
greatly changed. That change was in a sense a reflection of the transformation they
had experienced. They were determined to assert their freedom from the fetters of the
past.'7 |
| [BD 31-32] |
|
| |
|
|
