The Martyrdom of the Báb
21 June 2021
18 Núr 178 B.E.
GC-35751
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All believers in the United Kingdom
Dearly loved Friends,
The Bahá’ís around the world will soon join together to reflect upon the Martyrdom of His Holiness the Báb and to mark the anniversary of that solemn and heartrending occasion in 1850 when the Herald and Forerunner to Bahá’u’lláh was cruelly executed by firing squad in the Persian city of Tabríz. Bahá’u’lláh writes the following of the sufferings of the Báb:
Would that the universe had never been called into existence! Would that the world had never been brought into being! Would that no Prophet had ever been raised up, no Messenger sent forth, and no Cause established amongst men! Would that the Name of God had never been manifested betwixt earth and heaven, and that no Books, Tablets, or Scriptures had ever been revealed! Would that the Ancient Beauty had never been made to dwell among these workers of iniquity, nor to suffer at the hands of those who openly disbelieved in God and who committed against Him that which none on earth had ever dared commit! By the one true God! Wert thou, O ‘Alí, to examine My limbs and members, My heart and vitals, thou wouldst discover the traces of those same bullets that struck that Temple of God. Alas, alas! Thus was the Revealer of verses prevented from revealing them, and this Ocean from surging, and this Tree from bearing fruit, and this Cloud from pouring down its rain, and this Sun from giving its light, and this Heaven from ascending on high. Yet, so hath it been irrevocably decreed in this Day.
Bahá’u’lláh, Days of Remembrance, p.193
If you have not already done so, the National Spiritual Assembly warmly encourages the friends, individually and collectively, to consider how best to befittingly commemorate this Holy Day. Taking into account British Summer Time, the Martyrdom of the Báb should be commemorated, if feasible, at around 1:00 PM on Friday, 9 July 2021. It is one of the Bahá’í Holy Days on which work should be suspended.
While there are still restrictions in place that may prevent many communities from being able to commemorate this anniversary in person, it is hoped that arrangements will be made, as before, to offer safe methods that will allow as many individuals as possible to mark and share in this precious day.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Patrick O’Mara,
Secretary