The Dawn-breakers (book)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baháʼí Revelation'' (''Maṭāleʿ al-anwār'') or ''Nabíl's Narrative'' (''Táríkh-i-Nabíl'') is an account of the early Bábí and
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
s written in
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
by
Nabíl-i-Aʻzam Mullá Yár-Muḥammad-i-Zarandí (29 July 1831 – 1892), more commonly known as Nabíl-i-Aẓam ( "the Great Nabíl") or Nabíl-i-Zarandí ( "Nabíl of Zarand"), was an eminent Baháʼí historian during the time of Baháʼu'lláh, and one of ...
in 1887–1888. The English translation by
Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; ;1896 or 1897 – 4 November 1957) was Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1922 until his death in 1957. As the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, he was charged with guiding the development of the Baháʼí Faith, in ...
was published in 1932. The book relies mainly on the memoirs of surviving early Bábís, and Nabíl himself was a participant in many of the scenes which he recounts. Many of the photographs of the Baháʼí historical sites in Iran that illustrate the book were made by Effie Baker. She was requested to do so by Shoghi Effendi in the early 1930s, and travelled to Iran alone by car from Haifa,
Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...
, wearing a
chador A chādor ( Persian, ), also variously spelled in English as chadah, chad(d)ar, chader, chud(d)ah, chadur, and naturalized as , is an outer garment or open cloak worn by many women in the Persian-influenced countries of Iran, Afghanistan, Azerba ...
for safety purposes. Shoghi Effendi's intention for publishing the English translation was to inspire greater dedication and self-sacrifice in its readers. He gave importance to the study of ''The Dawn-Breakers'' and describes the Baháʼís as "spiritual descendants of the dawn-breakers". William P. Collins states that the narrative reflects, in addition to history, a universal sacred story or
monomyth In narratology and comparative mythology, the hero's quest or hero's journey, also known as the monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home ch ...
as described by
Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of t ...
(e.g. the story of Mullá Husayn).


The narrative

The part of the book that has been published in English tells the story of the early Baháʼí history and is set in 19th-century
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
until around 1853. The narrative focuses on
Shaykh Ahmad Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsā'ī () (May 1753 ― 27 June 1826) was a prominent Islamic theologian and jurist who founded the influential Shaykhī school of Twelver Shi'ism, which attracted followers from throughout the Persian and Ottoman Empires. ...
and Sayyid Kazim Rashti, the life of the
Báb The Báb (born ʻAlí-Muḥammad; ; ; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850) was an Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbai ...
, the Letters of the Living, among whom are Mullá Husayn, Quddús,
Táhirih Táhirih (Ṭāhira) (, "The Pure One," also called Qurrat al-ʿAyn ( "Solace/Consolation of the Eyes") are both titles of Fatimah Baraghani/Umm-i Salmih (1814 or 1817 – August 16–27, 1852), an influential poet, women's rights activist and th ...
, and further Dayyán, Hujjat and
Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (, born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was an Iranian religious leader who founded the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Iran and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Báb ...
.


Translations

The work was first edited, partially translated into English and printed in 1932 by Shoghi Effendi, great-grandson of Baháʼu'lláh and then head of the religion. This translation covers roughly the first half of the original narrative. The original text has never been published in full, though there are Persian and Arabic translations of Shoghi Effendi's English version. The book, either the complete edition or the abridged one, has been translated in several other languages as well. The original manuscript is held in the International Baháʼí Archives in Haifa, Israel. H.M. Balyuzi, who used the second part of the manuscript as one of his sources for ''Baháʼu'lláh, King of Glory'', states that it mostly concerns events which Nabíl witnessed with his own eyes. Significant portions of the original text were included in the eight volumes of the ''Tarikh Zuhur al-Haqq'', a history of the Bábí and Baháʼí religions which includes copious documentary material, written and compiled by the Iranian Baháʼí scholar Mírzá Asadu'lláh Fádil Mázandarání in the late 1930s and early 1940s and has been published in Persian online.


Influence

The book had a great impact on the Western Baháʼís' understanding of their religion and its links to Bábism.
Bahiyyih Nakhjavani __NOTOC__ Bahiyyih Nakhjavani is an Iranian peoples, Iranian writer who grew up in Uganda in the 1960s. She was educated at Dr Williams School, Dolgellau, United Kingdom and the United States. She taught European and American literature in Belgi ...
uses the story of the theft of the Báb's saddlebag during his pilgrimage to Mecca, in chapter VII of ''The Dawn-Breakers'', as the focal point for her novel ''The Saddlebag — A Fable for Doubters and Seekers''. Many groups and organizations have been named after it, most notably the Dawn Breakers International Film Festival, Dawn Breakers High School in India and the Los Angeles-based music group Dawnbreaker Collective, London based Dawnbreakers (b-boy dance crew), 1966 music group by Seals and Crofts called "Dawnbreakers" and the Germany-based publishing company "DawnBreakers Publisher".


Editions

*\ - complete edition, with illustrations, footnotes in English and French, complete introduction and appendices. * - abridged, without illustrations. * - abridged, with illustrations.


See also

* Baháʼí history *'' God Passes By'' * Dawn Breakers International Film Festival


References


External links


Compendium of the Dawn-Breakers
including the illustrations (archived)
Translation of French Footnotes of the Dawn-BreakersStudy OutlineSummaryLittle Badasht Materials
aids for the study of Nabíl's Narrative (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawn-breakers, The Bábí texts Bahá'í texts 1888 non-fiction books