The Dawn-Breakers

The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation or Nabíl's Narrative (Táríkh-i-Nabíl) is a historical account of the early Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths penned by Nabíl-i-A`zam in 1887–8. The English translation by Shoghi Effendi 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. In 1887 Nabíl began writing The Dawn-Breakers 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, some by Bahá'u'lláh, and others by `Abdu'l-Bahá.

Many of the photographs of the Bahá'í 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, wearing a chador 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 Bahá'ís 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 as described by Joseph Campbell (e.g. the story of Mullá Husayn).

The part of the book that has been published in English tells the story of the early Bahá'í history and is set in 19th century Iran until around 1853. The narrative focuses on Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim Rashti, the life of the Báb, the Letters of the Living, among whom are Mullá Husayn, Quddús, Táhirih, and further Dayyán, Hujjat and Bahá'u'lláh.

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