Each day the guards would descend the three steep flights of
stairs of the pit [Siyah-Chal], seize one or more of the prisoners, and drag
them out to be executed. In the streets of Teheran, Western observers were
appalled by scenes of Bábí victims blown from cannon mouths, hacked to death by
axes and swords, and led to their deaths with burning candles inserted into
open wounds in their bodies. It was in these circumstances, and faced with the
prospect of His own imminent death, that Bahá’u’lláh received the first
intimation of His mission:
“One night, in a dream, these exalted words were heard on
every side: ‘Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen.
Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for
Thou art in safety. Erelong will God raise up the treasures of the earth—men
who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy name, wherewith God hath
revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him.’”
(From: A brief
introduction to Bahá’u’lláh’s life and work, prepared at the request of the Universal
House of Justice by the Bahá’í International Community Office of Public
Information and published in 1992.)
