BadÃÂû (18521869) was an eminent early follower of Baháüu'lláh, founder of the BaháüàFaith, and considered one of his chief apostles. At the age of 17 he delivered a letter from Baháüu'lláh to Náṣiri'd-DÃÂn SÃÂháh, for which he was tortured and killed.
BadÃÂû was from NÃÂsÃÂhábúr, in the province of Khurásán. His given name was Buzurg, and the title BadÃÂû' ( meaning "wonderful") was given to him by Baháüu'lláh after his martyrdom. His name sometimes appears as MÃÂrzá or ÃÂqá Buzurg-i-NÃÂsÃÂhábúrà(or NÃÂsÃÂhápúrÃÂ) or KhurásánÃÂ.
Although his father, Haji ûAbdu'l-MajÃÂd, was a BaháüÃÂ, at first BadÃÂû was not drawn to the new religion. He was an unruly and rebellious youth, and for this reason, his father had originally described him as the "despair of the family".
Haji ûAbdu'l-MajÃÂd was later addressed by Baháüu'lláh as Aba BadÃÂû ("Father of BadÃÂû"). Haji ûAbdu'l-MajÃÂd was a dealer in shawls and a noted merchant who had survived the Battle of Fort Tabarsi (1848 -1849). In 1877, at age 85, BadÃÂûs father was executed at a public square in Mashhad because he repeatedly refused to recant his faith.
It was upon a meeting with NabÃÂl-i-Aûzam that BadÃÂû heard a poem by Baháüu'lláh and began weeping. After finishing his studies, he gave away his possessions and set out on foot for BagÃÂhdád, where a significant number of BaháüÃÂs were under persecution. Finally he set out on foot from Múṣul through BagÃÂhdád to the prison city of ûAkká.
As guards protected against BaháüÃÂs entering ûAkka, BadÃÂû dressed as a water-carrier and slipped by the guards, and then proceeded to a mosque, where he recognized ûAbdu'l-Bahá and gave him a note. BadÃÂû received two interviews with Baháüu'lláh, who requested that he deliver the Lawh-i-Sulá¹Âán, Baháüu'lláh's tablet to Náṣiri'd-DÃÂn SÃÂháh. BadÃÂû received the tablet in Haifa to avoid being caught by Ottoman officials. From there he travelled for four months on foot to Ṭihrán. Along the way he was reported to "be full of joy, laughter, gratitude and forbearance, walking around one hundred paces then leaving the road and turning to face ûAkká. He would then prostrate himself and say: 'O God, that which you have bestowed upon me through Your bounty, do not take back through Your justice; rather grant me strength to safeguard it'".
After three days of fasting, BadÃÂû went to the Shah's summer camp, and the Shah came upon him while hunting in the woods. BadÃÂû approached the monarch with respect and calmly said: "O King! I have come to thee from Sheba with a weighty message". BadÃÂû was arrested, branded for three successive days, his head beaten to a pulp with the butt of a rifle, after which his body was thrown into a pit and earth and stones heaped upon it.