The Dawn-Breakers

Cover of The Dawn-Breakers

The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation is a historical account of the Bábís and early Bahá'ís adapted from a manuscript penned by Nabíl-i-A`zam in 1887 and 88 and translated into English by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, for publication in 1932. It had a great impact on the Western Bahá'ís' understanding of their religion and its links to Bábism. The book is dedicated to Bahíyyih Khánum.

The Narrative relies mainly on the memories of early Bábís, and Nabíl himself, to tell the story of the early Bahá'í history from the early 19th century until around 1853. The narrative focuses on Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Káẓim, the life of the Báb, the Letters of the Living, among which are Mullá Husayn, Quddús, Táhirih, and further Dayyán, Ḥujjat and Bahá'u'lláh.

Structure

The Dawn-Breakers includes several supplementary items in addition to Nabíl’s Narrative itself. It contains:

• Facsimiles of the Báb's Tablets to the Letters of the Living.
• An introduction by George Townshend, including passages from the Kitáb-i-Íqán, extracts from Lord Curzon's Persia and the Persian Question, and a quote of Edward Granville Browne all added by the Guardian.
• A Genealogy of the Báb prepared by the Guardian by hand.
• Two hundred illustrations and photographs.
• Six hundred and forty six footnotes, two third's in English and one third in French. At the time of publication French was considered a language spoken by most scholars, so the French footnotes were not translated. A supplementary booklet of the French footnotes in English has since been made.
• A bibliography of works consulted during translation, eleven by the Central Figures of the Faith, and thirty nine by others.
• An epilogue by the Guardian.

The Narrative itself, which was an uninterrupted continuous work in the original manuscript, is organised by the Guardian. It is divided into two parts, the first pertaining to the Pre-Revelation days, focusing on the time of Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Káẓim, and the second pertaining to the Revelation of the Báb, spanning the majority of the book. Each part is further organized into several chapters.

History

Nabíl travelled extensively on the instructions of Bahá'u'lláh after meeting Him in 1851 and met several prominent Bábís and Bahá'ís during his travels, taking notes of what they told him about significant historical events. He was encouraged to compile his notes in a memoir but refused, until stating he would do so if he received Bahá'u'lláh's permission. Bahá'u'lláh approved the project, and revealed two Tablets for Nabíl directing him write his memoir in an objective fashion, without over or understating the description or significance of events.

In 1887 Nabíl began writing his Narrative with the personal assistance of Mírzá Músá, the brother of Bahá'u'lláh. It was finished in about a year and a half, and parts of the manuscript were reviewed and approved, with the largely unedited draft pages of the manuscript being given to Mírzá Áqá Ján, the amanuensis of Bahá'u'lláh, who took them to Bahá'u'lláh where parts of it were read in His presence for approval, and it was also reviewed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. After ten months the manuscript was returned with corrections which Nabíl incorporated into the text as well as preparing an appendix of information relating to the Baghdad period. Unfortunately the corrected manuscript was among the writings taken by Mírzá Muhammad ‘Alí shortly after the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh and has not yet been recovered by the World Centre. The original manuscript is held in the International Bahá'í Archives in Haifa, Israel.

Shoghi Effendi began work on translating Nabíl’s Narrative in 1930, as the Bahá’í community did not have access to a detailed history of the Faith outside of A Traveler's Narrative. As he did not have access to the revised manuscript he had to edit and correct the original draft before translation from Persian into English, for example by adding chapters and subheadings to the uninterrupted narrative structure of the original. This process took eight months to complete.

Before publication the manuscript was examined by George Townshend at the Guardian's request, who wrote an introduction and suggested the title of The Dawn-Breakers. Shoghi Effendi contributed the subtitle of Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation. The Guardian had requested that the Persian community send photographs of various Holy sites and relics for inclusion in the book, but due to the slow progress he sent Effie Baker, an Australian Bahá'í and photographer who was on pilgrimage, to Persia in 1930 to produce the photographs required.

The completed manuscript of The Dawn-Breakers was sent to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada for publication in early 1931. Later that year he sent the following message to America regarding the work:

"Urge all English speaking Believers concentrate study Nabil's immortal Narrative as essential preliminary to renewed intensive Teaching Campaign necessitated by completion Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. Strongly feel widespread use of its varied rich and authentic material constitutes most effective weapon to meet challenge of a critical hour. Unhesitatingly recommend it to every prospective visitor of Bahá'u'lláh's native land."

In order to cover some of the $8,000 cost of printing Shoghi Effendi signed one-hundred and fifty copies which were to be sold for $35.00, while standard copies were sold for $7.50. The first printing of 2,000 copies of the book took place in February 1932. Shoghi Effendi sent the following message to America regarding the now published work in June 1932:

"Feel impelled appeal entire body American believers to henceforth regard Nabíl’s soul-stirring Narrative as essential adjunct to reconstructed Teaching program, as unchallengeable textbook in their Summer Schools, as source of inspiration in all literary and artistic pursuits, as an invaluable companion in times of leisure, as indispensable preliminary to future pilgrimage to Bahá’u’lláh’s native land, and as unfailing instrument to allay distress and resist attacks of critical, disillusioned humanity."

The Dawn-Breakers does not cover the entirety of Nabíl’s original manuscript, and Shoghi Effendi intended to prepare a second volume, however he was ultimately unable to do so, and the original text remains unpublished in full, though there are Persian and Arabic translations of The Dawn-breakers. H.M. Balyuzi states that the unpublished portion of the work mostly concerns events which Nabíl witnessed with his own eyes, and Alí Nakhjavání states that it is relatively brief.

The majority of the material from the unpublished portion of the original manuscript was used by Shoghi Effendi in the composition of his historical work God Passes By. Material was also used by H.M. Balyuzi for Bahá'u'lláh: King of Glory and ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan for Stories of Bahá’u’lláh. Significant portions of the original text were also included in the eight volumes of the Tarikh Zuhur al-Haqq, a history of the Bábí and Bahá'í religions written and compiled by the Iranian Bahá'í scholar Mírzá Asadu’llah Fádil Mázandarání in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The book, either the complete edition or the abridged one, has been translated into several languages from the English.

Editions

• Nabíl-i-Zarandí (1932) [1890]. The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative. Translated by Shoghi Effendi (Hardcover ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. p. 676. ISBN 0-900125-22-5. - complete edition, with illustrutions, footnotes in English and French, complete introduction and appendices.
• Nabíl-i-Zarandí (1953). The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative. Translated by Shoghi Effendi (Hardcover ed.). London, UK: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. p. 507. ISBN 0900125225. - abridged, without illustrations.
• Sorabjee, Zena (1974). Nabíl’s Narrative - Abridged. Translated by Shoghi Effendi (Softcover ed.). New Delhi, India: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. p. 191. ISBN 8185091544. - abridged, with illustrations.

See also

• Bahá'í history
• God Passes By
• Dawn Breakers International Film Festival

References

• Baha'i News (1931). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 56, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
• Balyuzi, Hasan (2000). Bahá’u’lláh, The King of Glory (Paperback ed.). Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-328-3.
• Hassall, Graham (1999). "Ambassador at the Court: The Life and Photography of Effie Baker". Bahá’í Library Online.
• Khan, J.A.; Khan, P. (2003). Advancement of Women: A Bahá'í Perspective. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 1931847037.
• Nakhjavani, A. (2006). Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of his Pen. Rome: Casa Editrice Baha'i: Ariccia. ISBN 88-7214-112-5.
• Shoghi Effendi (1981). "Unfolding Destiny". UK Bahá’í Publishing Trust.
• Shoghi Effendi (2024). "This Decisive Hour". Bahá’í International Community.
• Smith, Peter (2000). A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 9781851681846.

External links

Bahai.works has a related page: The Dawn-Breakers

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• Compendium of the Dawn-Breakers
• Links to the illustrations
• Translation of French Foot-Notes of the Dawn-Breakers
• Study Outline
• Little Badasht materials, aids for the study of Nabíl's Narrative

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