After a year, that is in AH 1259 [1843], God granted the Báb a son who died at birth. Before his birth, the Báb had prophesied, "The child is a boy named Ahmad, but it is not his destiny to live.” The child was buried in the Bibi Dukhtarán cemetery of Shíráz.
My paternal grandmother, [Zahra Bagum], who was the sister of Khadíjih Bagum, [the wife of the Báb] related for me the details surrounding the child’s birth:
“The delivery of the child was very difficult, to the point that several times we lost all hope for the mother’s recovery. During the final surge of the labor pains, the mother of His Holiness went to Him. He asked her, "Has she delivered?” to which she responded negatively. The Báb then took a small mirror that lay by His side, penned a prayer and a talisman on the face of the mirror, gave it to His mother, [saying that she should] take it to His wife and hold it before her face. She took the mirror and held it before [Khadíjih Bagum]. As her gaze fell upon the mirror, instantly the lifeless child was delivered, and the mother recovered.”
The Bab’s mother then returned to His presence and remonstrated with her Son:
“As You evidently possessed such [supernatural] abilities, why did You not perform this act sooner and preserve the life of the child?"
The Báb replied, “It is not My destiny to leave any progeny.”
His mother was infuriated with tins comment but said no more.
- ‘Mirza Habibu’llah Afnan (Tarikh Amr-i-Fars va Shiraz’,
translated and annotated as ‘The Genesis of the Bábi-Baha’i Faiths in Shiraz
and Fars’, by Ahang Rabbani)