Bahá’í World/Volume 12/The Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Báb 1850-1950
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V
THE CENTENARY OF THE
MARTYRDOM OF THE BAB 1850—1950
1. BAHA’U’LLAH’S TRIBUTE TO THE BAB From the KITAB—I—IQAN
THOUGH young and tender of age, and though the Cause He revealed was contrary to the desire of all the peoples of earth, both high and low, rich and poor, exalted and abased, king and subject, yet He arose and steadfastly proclaimed it. All have known and heard this. He was afraid of no one; He was regardless of consequences. Could such a thing be made manifest except through the power of a divine Revelation, and the potency of God’s invincible Will? By the righteousness of God! Were any one to entertain so great a Revelation in his heart, the thought of such a declaration would alone confound him! Were the hearts of all men to be crowded into his heart, he would still hesitate to venture upon so awful an enterprise. He could achieve it only by the permission of God, only if the channel of his heart were to be linked with the Source of divine grace, and his soul be assured of the unfailing sustenance of the Almighty. To what, We Wonder, do they ascribe so great a daring? Do they accuse Him of folly as they accused the Prophets of old? Or do they maintain that His motive was none other than leadership and the acquisition of earthly riches?
Gracious God! In His Book, which He hath entitled “Qayyfimu’l-Asmá’,”—the first, the greatest and mightiest of all books —He prophesied His own martyrdom. In it is this passage: “O thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake; and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the
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path of Thy love. Sufficient Witness unto me is God, the Exalted, the Protector, the Ancient of Days!”
Likewise, in His interpretation of the letter “Ha,” He craved martyrdom, saying: “Methinks I heard a Voice calling in my inmost being: ‘Do thou sacrifice the thing which Thou lovest most in the path of God, even as Husayn, peace be upon him, hath offered up his life for My sake?’ And were I not regardful of this inevitable mystery, by Him, Who hath my being between His hands even if all the kings of the earth were to be leagued together they would be powerless to take from me a single letter, how much less can these servants who are worthy of no attention, and who verily are of the outcast . . . That all may know the degree of My patience, My resignation, and self-sacrifice in the path of God.”
Could the Revealer of such utterance be regarded as walking any way but the way of God, and as having yearned for aught else except His good-pleasure? In this very verse there lieth concealed a breath of detachment, which if it were to be breathed full upon the world, all beings would renounce their lives, and sacrifice their souls. Reflect upon the villainous behavior of this generation, and witness their astounding ingratitude. Observe how they have closed their eyes to all this glory, and are abjectly pursuing those foul carcasses from whose bellies ascendeth the cry of the swallowed substance of the faithful. And yet, what un‘ seemly calumnies they have hurled against
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those Daysprings of Holiness? Thus do We recount unto thee that which the hands of the infidels have wrought, they who, in the Day of Resurrection, have turned their face away from the divine Presence, whom God hath tormented with the fire of their own misbelief, and for whom He hath prepared in the world to come a chastisement which shall devour both their bodies and souls. For these have said: “God is powerless, and His hand of mercy is fettered.”
Steadfastness in the Faith is a sure testimony, and a glorious evidence of the truth. Even as the “Seal of the Prophets” hath said: “Two verses have made Me old.” Both these verses are indicative of constancy in the Cause of God. Even as He saith: “Be thou steadfast as thou hast been bidden.”
And now consider how this Sadrih of the Riḍván of God hath, in the prime of youth, risen to proclaim the Cause of God. Behold what steadfastness that Beauty of God hath revealed. The whole world rose to hinder Him, yet it utterly failed. The more severe the persecution they inflicted on that Sadrih of Blessedness, the more His fervor increased, and the brighter burned the flame of His love. All this is evident, and none disputeth its truth. Finally, He surrendered His soul, and winged His flight unto the realms above.
And among the evidences of the truth of His manifestation were the ascendancy, the transcendent power, and supremacy which He, the Revealer of being and Manifestation of the Adored, hath, unaided and alone, revealed throughout the world. No sooner had that eternal Beauty revealed Himself in Shiréz, in the year sixty, and rent asunder the veil of concealment, than the signs of the ascendancy, the might, the sovereignty, and power, emanating from that Essence of Essences and Sea of Seas, were manifest in every land. So much so, that from every city there appeared the signs, the evidences, the tokens, the testimonies of that divine Luminary. How many were those pure and kindly hearts which faithfully reflected the light of that eternal Sun, and how manifold the emanations of knowledge from that Ocean
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of divine wisdom which encompassed all beings! In every city, all the divines and dignitaries rose to hinder and repress them, and girded up the loins of malice, of envy, and tyranny for their suppression. How great the number of those holy souls, those essences of justice, who, accused of tyranny, were put to death! And how many embodiments of purity, who showed forth naught but true knowledge and stainless deeds, suffered an agonizing death! Notwithstanding all this, each of these holy beings, up to his last moment, breathed the Name of God, and soared in the realm of submission and resignation. Such was the potency and transmuting influence which He exercised over them, that they ceased to cherish any desire but His will, and wedded their soul to His remembrance.
Reflect: Who in this world is able to manifest such transcendent power, such pervading influence? All these stainless hearts and sanctified souls have, with absolute resignation, responded to the summons of His decree. Instead of complaining, they rendered thanks unto God, and amidst the darkness of their anguish they revealed naught but radiant acquiescence to His Will. It is evident how relentless was the hate, and how bitter the malice and enmity entertained by all the peoples of the earth towards these companions. The persecution and pain they inflicted on these holy and spiritual beings were regarded by them as means unto salvation, prosperity, and everlasting success. Hath the world, since the days of Adam, witnessed such tumult, such violent commotion? Notwithstanding all the torture they suffered, and manifold the afflictions they endured, they became the object of universal opprobrium and execration. Methinks, patience was revealed only by virtue of their fortitude, and faithfulness itself was begotten only by their deeds.
Do thou ponder these momentous happenings in thy heart, so that thou mayest apprehend the greatness of this Revelation, and perceive its stupendous glory. . . .
(pp. 230-236)
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2. ‘ABDU’L-BAHA’S TRIBUTE TO THE BAB From SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS
AS FOR the Báb,1—may my soul be His sacrifice!—at a youthful age, that is to say when He had reached the twenty—fifth year of His blessed life, He stood forth to proclaim His Cause. It was universally admitted by the Shiites that He had never studied in any school, and had not acquired knowledge from any teacher; all the people of Shiréz bear witness to this. Nevertheless, He suddenly appeared before the people, endowed with the most complete erudition. Although He was but a merchant, He confounded all the ‘Ulamé.2 of Persia. All alone, in a way which is beyond imagination, He upheld the Cause against the Persians, who are renowned for their religious fanaticism. This illustrious soul arose with such power that He shook the supports of the religion, of the morals, the conditions, the habits, and the customs of Persia, and instituted new rules, new laws, and a new religion. Though the great personages of the State, nearly all the clergy, and the public men, arose to destroy
1The Báb is here designated by His title Hazrati ‘Alé, His Supreme Highness; but for the convenience of the reader we shall continue to designate Him by the name under which He is known throughout Europe, i.e., the Báb.
2 Doctors of the religion of Islém.
and annihilate him, He alone withstood them, and moved the whole of Persia.
Many ‘Ulama’. and public men, as well as other people, joyfully sacrificed their lives in His Cause, and hastened to the plain of martyrdom.
The government, the nation, the doctors of divinity, and the great personages, desired to extinguish His light, but they could not do so. At last His moon arose, His star shone forth, His foundations became firmly established, and His dawning—place became brilliant. He imparted divine education to an unenlightened multitude and produced marvelous results on the thoughts, morals, customs, and conditions of the Persians. He announced the glad tidings of the manifestation of the Sun of Bahá to His followers, and prepared them to believe.
The appearance of such wonderful signs and great results, the effects produced upon the minds of the people, and upon the prevailing ideas; the establishment of the foundations of progress, and the organization of the principles of success and prosperity by a young merchant, constitute the greatest proof that He was a perfect educator. A just person will never hesitate to believe this.
(pp. 30-31)
3. THE GUARDIAN’S MESSAGE FOR THE CENTENARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE BAB
MOVED share (with) assembled representatives (of) American Bahá’í Community gathered beneath (the) dome (of the) Most Holy House (of) Worship (in the) Bahá’í world, feelings (of) profound emotion evoked (by this) historic occasion (of the) world—wide commemoration (of the) First Centenary (of the) Martyrdom (of the) Blessed Báb, Prophet (and) Herald (of the) Faith (of) Bahá’u’lláh, Founder (of the) Dispensation marking (the) culmination (of the) six thousand year old Adamic
Cycle, Inaugurator (of the) five thousand century Bahá’í Cycle.
Poignantly call (to) mind (the) circumstances attending (the) last act consummating (the) tragic ministry (of the) MasterHero (of the) most sublime drama (in the) religious annals (of) mankind, signalizing (the) most dramatic event (of the) most turbulent period (of the) Heroic Age (of the) Bahá’í Dispensation, destined (to) be recognized (by) posterity (as the) most precious, momentous sacrifice (in the)
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world’s spiritual history. Recall (the) peerless tributes paid (to) His memory by (the) Founder (of the) Faith, acclaiming Him Monarch (of) God’s Messengers, (the) Primal Point round Whom (the) realities (of) all (the) Prophets circle in adoration. Profoundly stirred (by the) memory (of the) agonies He suffered, (the) glad-tidings He announced, (the) warnings He uttered, (the) forces He set (in) motion, (the) adversaries He converted, (the) disciples He raised up, (the) conflagrations He precipitated, (the) legacy He left (of) faith (and) courage, (the) love He inspired. Acknowledge with bowed head, joyous, thankful heart (the) successive, marvelous evidence (of) His triumphant power (in the) course (of the) hundred years elapsed since (the) last crowning act (of) His meteoric Ministry.
(The) creative energies released (at the) hour (of the) birth (of) His Revelation, endowing mankind (with the) potentialities (of the) attainment (of) maturity (are) deranging, during (the) present transitional age, (the) equilibrium (of the) entire planet (as the) inevitable prelude (to the) consummation (in) world unity (of the) coming (of) age (of the) human race. (The) portentous (but) unheeded warnings addressed (to) kings, princes, ecclesiastics (are) responsible (for the) successive overthrow (of) fourteen monarchies (of) East (and) West, (the) collapse (of the) institution (of the) Caliphate, (the) virtual extinction (of the) Pope's temporal sovereignty, (the) progressive decline (in the) fortunes (of the) ecclesiastical hierarchies (of the) Islémic, Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, (and) Hindu Faiths.
(The) Order eulogized (and) announced (in) His writings, whose laws Bahá’u’lláh subsequently revealed (in the) Most Holy Book, whose features ‘Abdu’l-Bahá delineated (in His) Testament, (is) now passing through (its) embryonic stage through (the) emergence (of the) initial institutions (of the) world administrative order (in the) five continents (of the) globe. (The) clarion call sounded (in the) Qayyfimu’l-Asmá’, summoning (the) peoples (of the) West (to) forsake (their) homes (and) proclaim His message, (was) nobly answered (by the) communities (of the) western hemisphere headed (by the) valorous, stalwart American believers, (the) chosen vanguard (of the) all-conquering, irresistibly~march THE BAHA’I WORLD
ing army (of the) Faith (in the) Western world.
(The) embryonic Faith, maturing three years after His martyrdom, traversing (the) period (of) infancy (in the) course (of the) Heroic Age (of the) Faith (is) now steadily progressing towards maturity (in the) present Formative Age, destined (to) attain full stature (in the) Golden Age (of the) Bahá’í Dispensation.
Lastly (the) Holy Seed (of) infinite preciousness, holding within itself incalculable potentialities representing (the) culmination (of the) centuries-old process (of the) evolution (of) humanity through (the) energies released by (the) series (of) progressive Revelations starting with Adam (and) concluded (by the) Revelation (of the) Seal (of the) Prophets, marked by (the) successive appearance (of the) branches, leaves, buds, blossoms (and) plucked, after six brief years (by the) hand (of) destiny, ground (in the) mill (of) martyrdom (and) oppression (but) yielding (the) oil whose first flickering light cast (upon the) somber, subterranean walls (of the) Siyéh—C_hél (of) Ṭihrán, Whose fire gathered brilliance (in) Bag_hdéd (and) shone (in) full resplendency (in) its crystal globe (in) Adrianople, whose rays warmed (and) illuminated (the) fringes (of the) American, European, Australian continents through (the) tender ministerings (of the) Center (of the) Covenant, whose radiance is now overspreading (the) surface (of the) globe during (the) present Formative Age, whose full splendor (is) destined (in the) course (of) future milleniums (to) suffuse (the) entire planet.
Already the crushing (of) this Godimbued kernel upon (the) anvil (of) adversity (has) ignited (the) first sparks (of the) Holy Fire latent within it through (the) emergence (of the) firmly-knit worldencompassing community constituting no less (than) twenty-five hundred centers established throughout a hundred countries representing over thirty races (and) extending as far north as (the) Arctic Circle (and) as far south (as the) Straits (of) Magallanes, equipped (with) literature translated (into) sixty languages (and) possessing endowments nearing ten million dollars, enriched through (the) erection (of) two Houses (of) Worship (in the) heart (of the) Asiatic (and) North American continents. (the) stately mausoleum reared (in) its World Center, consolidated through
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(the) incorporation (of) over (a) hundred (of) its national (and) local Assemblies (and) reinforced through (the) proclamation (of) its independence (in the) East, its recognition (in the) West, eulogized by royalty, buttressed (by) nine pillars sustaining (the) future structure (of) its supreme administrative council, energized through (the) simultaneous prosecution (of) specific plans conducted (under the) aegis (of) its national councils designed (to) enlarge (the) limits (and) extend (the) ramifications (and) consolidate (the) foundations (of) its divinely-appointed administrative order (over the) surface (of the) entire planet.
(I) appeal (on) this solemn occasion, rendered doubly sacred through (the) approaching hundredth anniversary (of the) most devastating holocaust (in the) annals (of the) Faith, (at) this anxious hour (in the) fortunes (of this) travailing age, (to
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the) entire body (of the) American believers, (the) privileged occupants (and) stout—hearted defenders (of the) foremost citadel (Of the) Faith, (to) re-dedicate themselves (and) resolve, no matter how great (the) perils confronting (their) sister communities (on the) European, Asiatic, African (and) Australian continents, however somber (the) situation facing both (the) cradle (of the) Faith (and) its world center, however grievous (the) vicissitudes they themselves may eventually suffer, (to) hold aloft unflinchingly (the) torch (of the) Faith impregnated (with the) blood (of) innumerable martyrs (and) transmit it unimpaired so that it may add luster (to) future generations destined (to) labor after them.
(signed) SHOGHI Haifa, Israel July 4, 1950.
4. THE STATION OF THE BAB From THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH
By SHOGHI EFFENDI
DEARLY—BELOVED friends! That the Báb, the inaugurator of the Bábi Dispensation, is fully entitled to rank as one of the self-sufficient Manifestations of God, that He has been invested with sovereign power and authority, and exercises all the rights and prerogatives of independent Prophethood, is yet another fundamental verity which the Message of Bahá’u’lláh insistently proclaims and which its followers must uncompromisingly uphold. That He is not to be regarded merely as an inspired Precursor of the Bahá’í Revelation, that in His person, as He Himself bears witness in the Persian Bayén, the object of all the Prophets gone before Him has been fulfilled, is a truth which I feel it my duty to demonstrate and emphasize. We would assuredly be failing in our duty to the Faith we profess and would be violating one of its basic and sacred principles if in our words or by our conduct we hesitate to recognize the implications of this root principle of Bahá’í belief, or refuse to uphold unreservedly its integrity and demonstrate its truth. Indeed the chief motive
actuating me to undertake the task of editing and translating Nabil’s immortal Narrative has been to enable every follower of the Faith in the West to better understand and more readily grasp the tremendous implications of His exalted station and to more atdently admire and love Him.
There can be no doubt that the claim to
the twofold station ordained for the Báb by
the Almighty, a claim which He Himself has
so boldly advanced, which Bahá’u’lláh has
repeatedly affirmed, and to which the Will
and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has finally
given the sanction of its testimony, constitutes the most distinctive feature of the
Bahá’í Dispensation. It is a further evidence
of its uniqueness, a tremendous accession to
the strength, to the mysterious power and
authority with which this holy cycle has
been invested. Indeed the greatness of the
Báb consists primarily, not in His being the
divinely-appointed Forerunner of so transcendent a Revelation, but rather in His
having been invested with the powers inherent in the inaugurator of a separate re
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ligious Dispensation, and in His wielding, to a degree unrivaled by the Messengers gone before Him, the scepter of independent Prophethood.
The short duration of His Dispensation, the restricted range within which His laws and ordinances have been made to operate, supply no criterion whatever wherewith to judge its Divine origin and to evaluate the potency of its message. “That so brief a span,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself explains, “should have separated this most mighty and wondrous Revelation from Mine own previous Manifestation, is a secret that no man can unravel and a mystery such as no mind can fathom. Its duration had been foreordainea', and no man shall ever discover its reason unless and until he be informed of the contents of My Hidden Book.” “Behold,” Bahá’u’lláh further explains in the Kitáb-iBadi‘, one of His works refuting the arguments of the people of the Bayén, “behold, how immediately upon the completion of the ninth year of this wondrous, this most holy and merciful Dispensation, the requisite number of pure, of wholly consecrated and sanctified souls had been most secretly consummated.”
The marvelous happenings that have heralded the advent of the Founder of the Bábi Dispensation, the dramatic circumstances of His own eventful life, the miraculous tragedy of His martyrdom, the magic of His influence exerted on the most eminent and powerful among His countrymen, to all of which every chapter of Nabil’s stirring narrative testifies, should in themselves be regarded as sufficient evidence of the validity of His claim to so exalted a station among the Prophets.
However graphic the record which the eminent chronicler of His life has transmitted to posterity, so luminous a narrative must pale before the glowing tribute paid to the Báb by the pen of Bahá’u’lláh. This tribute the Báb Himself has, by the clear assertion of His claim, abundantly supported, while the written testimonies of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have powerfully reinforced its character and elucidated its meaning.
Where else if not in the Kitáb—i-Iqán can the student of the Bábi Dispensation seek to find those affirmations that unmistakably attest the power and spirit which no man, except he be a Manifestation of God, can manifest? “Could such a thing,” exclaims Bahá’u’lláh, “be made manifest except
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through the power of a Divine Revelation and the potency of God’s invincible Will? By the righteousness of God! Were any one to entertain so great a Revelation in his heart the thought of such a declaration would alone confound him! Were the hearts of all men to be crowded into his heart, he would still hesitate to venture upon so awful an enterprise.” “N 0 eye,” He in another passage affirms, “hath beheld so great an outpouring of bounty, nor hath any ear heard of such a Revelation of loving-kindness . . . The Prophets ‘endowed with constancy,’ whose loftiness and glory shine as the sun, were each honored with a Book which all have seen, and the verses of which have been duly ascertained. Whereas the verses which have rained from this Cloud of divine mercy have been so abundant that none hath yet been able to estimate their number . . . How can they belittle this Revelation? Hath any age witnessed such momentous happenings?”
Commenting on the character and influence of those heroes and martyrs whom the spirit of the Báb had so magically transformed Bahá’u’lláh reveals the following: “I f these companions be not the true strivers after God, who else could be called by this name? . . . If these companions, with all their marvelous testimonies and wondrous works, be false, who then is worthy to claim for himself the truth? . . . Has the world since the days of Adam witnessed such tumult, such violent commotion? . . . Methinks, patience was revealed only by virtue of their fortitude, and faithfulness itself was begotten only by their deeds.”
Wishing to stress the sublimity of the Báb’s exalted station as compared with that of the Prophets Of the past, Bahá’u’lláh in that same epistle asserts: “No understanding can grasp the nature of His Revelation, nor can any knowledge comprehend the full measure of His Faith.” He then quotes, in confirmation of His argument, these prophetic words: “Knowledge is twenty and seven letters. All that the Prophets have revealed are two letters thereof. No man thus far hath known more than these two letters. But when the Qci’im shall arise, He will cause the remaining twenty and five letters to be made manifest.” “Behold,” He adds, “how great and lofty is His station! His rank excelleth that of all the Prophets and ‘ His Revelation transcendeth the comprehension and understanding of all their chosen
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ones.” “Of His Revelation,” He further adds, “the Prophets of God, His saints and chosen ones, have either not been informed, or, in pursuance of God’s inscrutable decree, they have not disclosed.”
Of all the tributes Which Bahá’u’lláh’s unerring pen has chosen to pay to the memory of the Báb, His “Best-Beloved,” the most memorable and touching is this brief, yet eloquent passage which so greatly enhances the value of the concluding passages of that same epistle. “Amidst them all,” He writes, referring to the afflictive trials and dangers besetting him in the city of Bag_hdéd, “We stand life in hand wholly resigned to His Will, that perchance through God’s loving kindness and grace, this revealed and manifest Letter (Bahá’u’lláh) may lay down His life as a sacrifice in the path of the Primal Point, the most exalted Word (the Báb). By Him, at Whose bidding the Spirit hath spoken, but for this yearning of Our soul, We would not, for one moment, have tarried any longer in this city.”
Dearly-beloved friends! So resounding a praise, so bold an assertion issued by the pen of Bahá’u’lláh in so weighty a work, are fully re—echoed in the language in which the Source of the Bábi Revelation has chosen to clothe the claims He Himself has advanced. “I am the Mystic Fane,” the Báb thus proclaims His station in the Qayyt’lmu’l-Asmá’, ”which the Hand of Omnipotence hath reared. I am the Lamp which the Finger of God hath [it within its niche and caused to shine with deathless splendor. I am the Flame of that supernal Light that glowed upon Sinai in the gladsome Spot, and lay concealed in the midst of the Burning Bush.” “0 Qurratu’l-‘Ayn!” He, addressing Himself in that same commentary, exclaims, ”I recognize in Thee none other except the ‘Great Announcement’—the Announcement voiced by the Concourse on high. By this name, I bear witness, they that circle the Throne of Glory have ever known Thee.” “With each and every Prophet, Whom We have sent down in the past,” He further adds, ”We have established a separate Covenant concerning the ‘Remembrance of God’ and His Day. Manifest, in the realm of glory and through the power of truth, are the ‘Remembrance of God’ and His Day before the eyes of the angels that circle His mercy-seat.” “Should it be Our wish,” He again affirms, ”it is in Our power to compel, through the agency of but one
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letter of Our Revelation, the world and all that is therein to recognize, in less than the twinkling of an eye, the truth of Our Cause.”
“I am the Primal Point,” the Báb thus addresses Muhammad Shéh from the prisonfortress of Méh-Kfi, ”from which have been generated all created things . . . I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the light of God whose radiance can never fade . . . All the keys of heaven God hath chosen to place on My right hand, and all the keys of hell on My left . . . I am one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God. Whosoever hath recognized Me, hath known all that is true and right, and hath attained all that is good and seemly . . . The substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of which others have been formed. He hath conferred upon Me that which the worldly-wise can never comprehend, nor the faithful discover.” ”Should a tiny ant,” the Báb, wishing to stress the limitless potentialities latent in His Dispensation, characteristically affirms, “desire in this day to be possessed of such power as to be able to unravel the abstrusest and most bewildering passages of the Qur’án, its wish will no doubt be fulfilled, inasmuch as the mystery of eternal might vibrates within the innermost being of all created things.” “If so helpless a creature,” is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s comment on so startling an affirmation, “can be endowed with so subtle a capacity, how much more efi‘icacious must be the power released through the liberal effusions of the grace of Bahti’u’lla’h!”
To these authoritative assertions and solemn declarations made by Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb must be added ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s own incontrovertible testimony. He, the appointed interpreter of the utterances of both Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb, corroborates, not by implication but in clear and categorical language, both in His Tablets and in His Testament, the truth of the statements to which I have already referred.
In a Tablet addressed to a Bahá’í in Mézindarén, in which He unfolds the meaning of a misinterpreted statement attributed to Him regarding the rise of the Sun of Truth in this century, He sets forth, briefly but conclusively, what should remain for all time our true conception of the relationship between the two Manifestations as
sociated with the Bahá’í Dispensation. "In
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making such a statement,” He explains, “I had in mind no one else except the Brib and Bahti’u’lla’h, the character of whose Revelations it had been my purpose to elucidate. The Revelation of the Báb may be likened to the sun, its station corresponding to the first sign of the Zodiac—the sign Arieswhich the sun enters at the Vernal Equinox. The station of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, on the other hand, is represented by the sign Leo, the sun’s mid—summer and highest station. By this is meant that this holy Dispensation is illumined with the light of the Sun of Truth shining from its most exalted station, and in the plenitude of its resplendency, its heat and glory.”
“The Báb, the Exalted One,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá more specifically affirms in another Tablet, “is the Mom of Truth, the splendor of Whose light shineth throughout all regions. He is also the Harbinger of the Most Great Light, the Abhti Luminary. The Blessed Beauty is the One promised by the sacred books of the past, the revelation of the Source of light that shone upon Mount Sinai, Whose fire glowed in the midst of the Burning Bush. We are, one and all, servants of their threshold, and stand each as a lowly
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keeper at their door.” “Every proof and prophecy,” is His still more emphatic warning, ”every manner of evidence, whether based on reason or on the text of the scriptures and traditions, are to be regarded as centered in the persons of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb. In them is to be found their complete fulfillment.”
And finally, in His Will and Testament, the repository of His last wishes and parting instructions, He in the following passage, specifically designed to set forth the guiding principles of Bahá’í belief, sets the seal of His testimony on the Báb’s dual and exalted station: “The foundation of the belief of the people of Bahá (may my life be oflered up for them) is this: His holiness the exalted One (the Báb) is the Manifestation of the unity and oneness of God and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty (Bahá’u’lláh). His holiness, the Abhd Beauty (Bahá’u’lláh) (may my life be offered up as a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the supreme Manifestation of God and the Day-Spring of His most divine Essence.” “All others,” He significantly adds, “are servants unto Him and do His bidding." (pp. 123-128)
5. THE EXECUTION OF THE BAB From GOD PASSES BY?“
By SHOGHI EFFENDI
THE waves of dire tribulation that violently battered at the Faith, and eventually engulfed, in rapid succession, the ablest, the dearest and most trusted disciples of the Bab, plunged Him, as already observed, into unutterable sorrow. For no less than six months the Prisoner of Cliihriq, His chronicler has recorded, was unable to either write or dictate. Crushed with grief by the evil tidings that came so fast upon Him, of the endless trials that beset His ablest lieutenants, by the agonies suffered by the besieged and the shameless betrayal of the survivors, by the woeful afflictions endured by the captives and the abominable butchery of men, women and children, as well as the foul indignities heaped on their corpses, He, for nine days, His amanuensis has affirmed, re ‘ Chapter IV.
fused to meet any of His friends, and was reluctant to touch the meat and drink that was offered Him. Tears rained continually from His eyes, and profuse expressions of anguish poured forth from His wounded heart, as He languished, for no less than five months, solitary and disconsolate, in His prison.
The pillars of His infant Faith had, for the most part, been hurled down at the first onset of the hurricane that had been loosed upon it. Quddfis, immortalized by'Him as Ismu’lláhi’l-Alghir (the Last Name of God); on whom Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of Kullu’tTa‘ém later conferred the sublime appellation of Nuqtiy-i-Ulgiré (the Last Point); whom He elevated, in another Tablet, to a rank second to none except that of the Herald of His Revelation; whom He identifies, in still another Tablet, with one of the
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“Messengers charged with imposture” mentioned in the Qur’án; whom the Persian Bayén extolled as that fellow-pilgrim round whom mirrors to the number of eight Véhids revolve; on whose “detachment and the sincerity of whose devotion to God’s will God prideth Himself amidst the Concourse on high;” whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá designated as the "Moon of Guidance;” and whose appearance the Revelation of St. John the Divine anticipated as one of the two “Witnesses” into whom, ere the “second woe is past,” the “spirit of life from God” must enter—such a man had, in the full bloom of his youth, suffered, in the Sabzih-Maydan of Barfurfish, a death which even Jesus Christ, as attested by Bahá’u’lláh, had not faced in the hour of His greatest agony. Mullá Husayn, the first Letter of the Living, surnamed the Bábu’l-Báb (the Gate of the Gate); designated as the “Primal Mirror,” on whom eulogies, prayers and visiting Tablets of a number equivalent to thrice the volume of the Qur’án had been lavished by the pen of the Bath; referred to in these eulogies as ”beloved of My Heart,” the dust of whose grave, that same Pen had declared, was so potent as to cheer the sorrowful and heal the sick; whom “the creatures, raised in the beginning and in the end” of the Bábi Dispensation, envy, and will continue to envy till the “Day of Judgment,” whom the Kitab-i-Iqan acclaimed as the one but for whom “God would not have been established upon the seat of His mercy, nor ascended the throne of eternal glory,"’ to whom Siyyid Kazim had paid such tribute that his disciples suspected that the recipient of such praise might well be the promised One Himself—such a one had likewise, in the prime of his manhood, died a martyr’s death at Tabarsi. Vahid, pronounced in the Kitab-i—Iqán to be the “unique and peerless figure of his age,” a man of immense erudition and the most preeminent figure to enlist under the banner of the new Faith, to whose “talents and saintliness,” to whose ”high attainments in the realm of science and philosophy” the Báb had testified in His Dala’iI-i-Sab‘ih (Seven Proofs), had atready, under similar circumstances, been swept into the maelstrom of another upheaval, and was soon to quaff in his turn the cup drained by the heroic martyrs of Mazindaran. Hujjat, another champion of conspicuous audacity, of unsubduable will, of remarkable originality and vehement
zeal, was being, swiftly and inevitably, drawn into the fiery furnace whose flames had already enveloped Zanjén and its environs. The Báb’s maternal uncle, the only father He had known since His childhood, His shield and support and the trusted guardian of both His mother and His wife, had, moreover, been sundered from Him by the axe of the executioner in Tihran. No less than half of His chosen disciples, the Letters of the Living, had already preceded Him in the field of martyrdom. Táhirih, though still alive, was courageously pursuing a course that was to lead her inevitably to her doom.
A fast ebbing life, so crowded with the accumulated anxieties, disappointments, treacheries and sorrows of a tragic ministry, now moved swiftly towards its climax. The most turbulent period of the Heroic Age of the new Dispensation was rapidly attaining its culmination. The cup of bitter woes which the Herald of that Dispensation had tasted was now full to overflowing. Indeed, He Himself had already foreshadowed His own approaching death. In the Kitab-i-PanjSha‘n, one of His last works, He had alluded to the fact that the sixth Naw-Rúz after the declaration of His mission would be the last He was destined to celebrate on earth. In His interpretation of the letter Ha, He had voiced His craving for martyrdom, while in the Qayyfimu’l—Asma’ He had actually prophesied the inevitability of such a consummation of His glorious career. Forty days before His final departure from Chiríq He had even collected all the documents in His possession, and placed them, together with His pen-case, His seals and His rings, in the hands of Mulla Béqir, a Letter of the Living, whom He instructed to entrust them to Mullá ‘Abdu’l—Karim-iQazvini, surnamed Mirza Ahmad, who was to deliver them to Bahá’u’lláh in Ṭihrán.
While the convulsions of Mazindaran and
Nayriz were pursuing their bloody course
the Grand Vizir of Nésiri’d-Din Shah, anxiously pondering the significance of these
dire happenings, and apprehensive of their
repercussions on his countrymen, his government and his sovereign, was feverishly
revolving in his mind that fateful decision
which was not only destined to leave its
indelible imprint on the fortunes of his
country, but was to be fraught with such incalculable consequences for the destinies of
the whole of mankind. The repressive meas
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ures taken against the followers of the Báb, he was by now fully convinced, had but served to inflame their zeal, steel their resolution and confirm their loyalty to their persecuted Faith. The Báb’s isolation and captivity had produced the opposite effect to that which the Amir-Nizém had confidently anticipated. Gravely perturbed, he bitterly condemned the disastrous leniency of his predecessor, Hájí Mirza Áqásí, which had brought matters to such a pass. A more drastic and still more exemplary punishment, he felt, must now be administered to what he regarded as an abomination of heresy which was polluting the civil and ecclesiastical institutions of the realm. Nothing short, he believed, of the extinction of the life of Him Who was the fountain-head of so odious a doctrine and the driving force behind so dynamic a movement could stem the tide that had wrought such havoc throughout the land.
The siege of Zanjén was still in progress when he, dispensing with an explicit order from his sovereign, and acting independently of his counsellors and fellow-ministers, dispatched his order to Prince Hamzih Mirza, the Hishmatu’d-Dawlih, the governor of Aqtiirbéyjén, instructing him to execute the Báb. Fearing lest the infliction of such condign punishment in the capital of the realm would set in motion forces he might be powerless to control, he ordered that his Captive be taken to Tabríz, and there be done to death. Confronted with a flat refusal by the indignant Prince to perform what be regarded as a flagitious crime, the Amir-Nizém commissioned his own brother, Mirzá Hasan lghén, to execute his orders. The usual formalities designed to secure the necessary authorization from the leading mujtahids of Tabríz were hastily and easily completed. Neither Mulla Muhammad-i-Mamaqani, however, who had penned the Báb’s death-warrant on the very day of His examination in Tabríz, nor Haji Mirzá Baqir, nor Mullá Murtadé-Quli, to whose houses their Victim was ignominiously led by the farrésh-bésiii, by order of the Grand Vizir, condescended to meet face to face their dreaded Opponent.
Immediately before and soon after this humiliating treatment meted out to the Bab two highly significant incidents occurred, incidents that cast an illuminating light on the mysterious circumstances surrounding the opening phase of His martyr THE BAHA’I WORLD
dom. The farrésil-basfili had abruptly interrupted the last conversation which the Báb was confidentially having in one of the rooms of the barracks with His amanuensis Siyyid Husayn, and was drawing the latter aside, and severely rebuking him, when he was thus addressed by his Prisoner: “Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say can any earthly power silence Me. T hough all the world be armed against Me, yet shall it be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention.” T0 the Christian Sém Ighan—the colonel of the Armenian regiment ordered to carry out the execution—who, seized with fear lest his act should provoke the wrath of God, had begged to be released
\from the duty imposed upon him, the Báb
gave the following assurance: “Follow your instructions, and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you of your perplexity.”
Sérn K_hén accordingly set out to discharge his duty. A spike was driven into a pillar which separated two rooms of the barracks facing the square. Two ropes were fastened to it from which the Báb and one of his disciples, the youthful and devout Mirza Muhammad-‘Ali-i-Zunfizi, surnamed Anis, who had previously flung himself at the feet of his Master and implored that under no circumstances he be sent away from Him, were separately suspended. The firing squad ranged itself in three files, each of two hundred and fifty men. Each file in turn opened fire until the whole detachment had discharged its bullets. So dense was the smoke from the seven hundred and fifty rifles that the sky was darkened. As soon as the smoke had cleared away the astounded multitude of about ten thousand souls, who had crowded onto the roof of the barracks, as well as the tops of the adjoining houses, beheld a scene which their eyes could scarcely believe.
The Báb had vanished from their sight! Only his companion remained, alive and unscathed, standing beside the wall on which they had been suspended. The ropes by which they had been hung alone were severed. “The Siyyid-i-Báb has gone from our sight!” cried out the bewildered spectators. A frenzied search immediately ensued. He was found, unhurt and unruffled, in the very room He had occupied the night before, engaged in completing His interrupted conversation with His amanuensis. “I have
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finished My conversation with Siyyid Husayn" were the words with which the Prisoner, so providentially preserved, greeted the appearance of the farréshbés__hi, "Now you may proceed to fulfill your intention.” Recalling the bold assertion his Prisoner had previously made, and shaken by so stunning a revelation, the farrésll-béslli quitted instantly the scene, and resigned his post.
Sém Khán, likewise, remembering, with feelings of aWe and wonder, the reassuring words addressed to him by the Báb, ordered his men to leave the barracks immediately, and swore, as he left the courtyard, never again, even at the cost of his life, to repeat that act. Aqa Jan-i-Iglamsih, colonel of the body-guard, volunteered to replace him. On the same wall and in the same manner the Báb and His companion were again suspended, while the new regiment formed in line and opened fire upon them. This time, however, their breasts were riddled with bullets, and their bodies completely dissected, with the exception of their faces which were but little marred. “0 wayward generation!” were the last words of the Báb to the gazing multitude, as the regiment prepared to fire its volley, “Had you believed in Me every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and would have willingly sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you.”
Nor was this all. The very moment the shots were fired a gale of exceptional violence arose and swept over the city. From noon till night a whirlwind of dust obscured the light of the sun, and blinded the eyes of the people. In Shiraz an “earthquake,” foreshadowed in no less weighty a Book than the Revelation of St. John, occurred in 1268 A.H. which threw the whole city into turmoil and wrought havoc amongst its people, a havoc that was greatly aggravated by the outbreak of cholera, by famine and other afflictions. In that same year no less than two hundred and fifty of the firing squad, that had replaced Sém lfltén’s regiment, met their death, together with their officers, in a terrible earthquake, while the remaining five hundred suffered, three years later, as a punishment for their mutiny, the same fate as that which their hands had inflicted upon the Báb. To in 199
sure that none of them had survived, they were riddled with a second volley, after which their bodies, pierced with spears and lances, were exposed to the gaze of the people of Tabríz. The prime instigator of the Báb’s death, the implacable AmirNizam, together with his brother, his chief accomplice, met their death within two years of that savage act.
On the evening of the very day of the Báb’s execution, which fell on the ninth of July 1850 (28th of Sha‘bén 1266 A.H.), during the thirty-first year of His age and the seventh of His ministry, the mangled bodies were transferred from the courtyard of the barracks to the edge of the moat outside the gate of the city. Four companies, each consisting of ten sentinels, were ordered to keep watch in turn over them. On the following morning the Russian Consul in Tabríz visited the spot, and ordered the artist who had accompanied him to make a drawing of the remains as they lay beside the moat. In the middle of the following night a follower of the Báb, Hájí Sulaymén Ighén, succeeded, through the instrumentality of a certain Hájí Alláh-Yar, in removing the bodies to the silk factory owned by one of the believers of Milan, and laid them, the next day, in a specially made wooden casket, which he later transferred to a place of safety. Meanwhile the mullés were boastfully proclaiming from the pulpits that, whereas the holy body of the Immaculate Imam would be preserved from beasts of prey and from all creeping things, this man’s body had been devoured by wild animals. No sooner had the news of the transfer of the remains of the Báb and of His fellowsufferer been communicated to Bahá’u’lláh than He ordered that same Sulaymén Ighén to bring them to Ṭihrán, where they were taken to the Imém-Zédih-Hasan, from whence they were removed to different places, until the time when, in pursuance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions, they were transferred to the Holy Land, and were permanently and ceremoniously laid to rest by Him in a specially erected mausoleum on the slopes of Mt. Carmel.
Thus ended a life which posterity will recognize as standing at the confluence of two universal prophetic cycles, the Adamic Cycle stretching back as far as the first dawnings of the world’s recorded religious history and the Bahá’í Cycle destined to propel itself across the unborn reaches of
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time for a period of no less than five thousand centuries. The apotheosis in which such a life attained its consummation marks, as already observed, the culmination of the most heroic phase of the Heroic Age of the Bahá’í Dispensation. It can, moreover, be regarded in no other light except as the most dramatic, the most tragic event transpiring within the entire range of the first Bahá’í century. Indeed it can be rightly acclaimed as unparalled in the annals of the lives of all the Founders of the world’s existing religious systems.
So momentous an event could hardly fail to arouse widespread and keen interest even beyond the confines of the land in which it had occurred. “C’est un des plus magnifiques exemples de courage qu’i] ait été donné a l’humanité de contempler,” is the testimony recorded by a Christian scholar and government official, who had lived in Persia and had familiarized himself with the life and teachings of the Báb, “et c’est aussi une admirable preuve de l’amour que notre héros portait a ses concitoyens. Il s’est sacrifié pour l’humanité: pour elle il a donné son corps et son fime, pour elle il a subi les privations, les affronts, les injures, la torture et le martyre. II a scellé de son sang 1e pacte de la fraternité universelle, et comme Jésus il a payé de sa vie l’annonce du régne de la concorde, de l’équité et de l’amour du prochain.” “Un .fait étrange, unique dans les annales de l’humanité,” is a further testimony from the pen of that same scholar commenting on the circumstances attending the Báb’s martyrdom. “A veritable miracle,” is the pronouncement made by a noted French Orientalist. “A true God-man,” is the verdict of a famous British traveler and writer. “The finest product of his country,” is the tribute paid Him by a noted French publicist. “That Jesus of the age . . . a prophet, and more than a prophet,” is the judgment passed by a distinguished English divine. “The most important religious movement since the foundation of Christianity,” is the possibility that was envisaged for the Faith the Báb had established by that farfamed Oxford scholar, the late Master of Balliol.
“Many persons from all parts of the world.” is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s written assertion, “set out for Persia and began to investigate wholeheartedly the matter.” The Czar of Russia, a contemporary chronicler has written, had even, shortly before the Báb’s
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martyrdom, instructed the Russian Consul in Tabríz to fully inquire into, and report the circumstances of so startling a Movement, a commission that could not be carried out in view of the Báb’s execution. In countries as remote as those of Western Europe an interest no less profound was kindled, and spread with great rapidity to literary, artistic, diplomatic and intellectual circles. “All Europe,” attests the above-mentioned French publicist, “was stirred to pity and indignation . . . Among the littérateurs of my generation, in the Paris of 1890, the martyrdom of the Báb was still as fresh a topic as had been the first news of His death. We wrote poems about Him. Sarah Bernhardt entreated Catulle Mendés for a play on the theme of this historic tragedy.” A Russian poetess, member of the Philosophic, Oriental and Bibliological Societies of St. Petersburg, published in 1903 a drama entitled “The Bath,” which a year later was played in one of the principal theatres of that city, was subsequently given publicity in London, was translated into French in Paris, and into German by the poet Fiedler, was presented again, soon after the Russian Revolution, in the Folk Theatre in Leningrad, and succeeded in arousing the genuine sympathy and interest of the renowned Tolstoy, whose eulogy of the poem was later published in the Russian press.
It would indeed be no exaggeration to say
that nowhere in the whole compass of the
world’s religious literature, except in the
Gospels, do we find any record relating to
the death of any of the religion-founders of
the past comparable to the martyrdom suffered by the Prophet of Shiraz. So strange,
so inexplicable a phenomenon, attested by
eye—witnesses, corroborated by men of recognized standing, and acknowledged by government as well as unofficial historians
among the people who had sworn undying
hostility to the Bábi Faith, may be truly regarded as the most marvelous manifestation
of the unique potentialities with which a
Dispensation promised by all the Dispensations of the past had been endowed. The
passion of Jesus Christ, and indeed His
whole public ministry, alone offer a parallel
to the Mission and death of the Báb, a parallel which no student of comparative religion can fail to perceive or ignore. In the
youthfulness and meekness of the Inaugurator of the Bábi Dispensation; in the extreme
brevity and turbulence of His public min
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istry; in the dramatic swiftness with which that ministry moved towards its climax; in the apostolic order which He instituted, and the primacy which He conferred on one of its members; in the boldness of His challenge to the time-honored conventions, rites and laws which had been woven into the fabric of the religion He Himself had been born into; in the role which an officially recognized and firmly entrenched religious hierarchy played as chief instigator of the outrages which He was made to suffer; in the indignities heaped upon Him; in the suddenness of His arrest; in the interrogation to which He was subjected; in the derision poured, and the scourging inflicted, upon Him; in the public affront He sustained; and, finally, in His ignominious suspension before the gaze of a hostile multitude—in all these we cannot fail to discern a remarkable similarity to the distinguishing features of the career of Jesus Christ.
It should be remembered, however, that apart from the miracle associated with the Báb’s execution, He, unlike the Founder of the Christian religion, is not only to be regarded as the independent Author of a divinely revealed Dispensation, but must also be recognized as the Herald of a new Era and the Inaugurator of a great universal prophetic cycle. Nor should the important fact be overlooked that, whereas the chief adversaries of Jesus Christ, in His lifetime, were the Jewish rabbis and their associates, the forces arrayed against the Báb represented the combined civil and ecclesiastical powers of Persia, which, from the moment of His declaration to the hour of His death, persisted, unitedly and by every means at their disposal, in conspiring against the upholders and in vilifying the tenets of His Revelation.
The Báb, acclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh as the “Essence of Essences,” the “Sea of Seas,” the “Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve,” “from Whom God hath caused to proceed the knowledge of all that was and shall be,” Whose “rank excellelh that of all the Prophets,” and Whose “Revelation transcendeth the comprehension and understanding of all their chosen ones,” had delivered His Message and discharged His mission. He Who was, in the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the "Mom of Truth" and “Harbinger of the Most Great Light,” Whose advent at once signalized the termination of the “Prophetic
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Cycle” and the inception of the “Cycle of F ulfillment,” had simultaneously through His Revelation banished the shades of night that had descended upon His country, and proclaimed the impending rise of that Incomparable Orb Whose radiance was to envelop the whole of mankind. He, as affirmed by Himself, “the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things,” “one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God,” the "Mystic Fame,” the “Great Announcement," the “Flame of that supernal Light that glowed upon Sinai,” the ”Remembrance of God” concerning Whom “a separate Covenant hath been established with each and every Prophet” had, through His advent, at once fulfilled the promise of all ages and ushered in the consummation of all Revelations. He the “Qá’im” (He Who ariseth) promised to the S_l_'1i‘ahs, the “Mihdi” (One Who is guided) awaited by the Sunnis, the “Return of John the Baptist” expected by the Christians, the “Ughidar-Méh” referred to in the Zoroastrian scriptures, the “Return of Elijah” anticipated by the Jews, Whose Revelation was to show forth “the signs and tokens of all the Prophets,” Who was to “manifest the perfection of Moses, the radiance of Jesus and the patience of Job” had appeared, proclaimed His Cause, been mercilessly persecuted and died gloriously. The “Second Woe,” spoken of in the Apocalypse of St. John the Divine, had, at long last, appeared, and the first of the two “Messengers,” Whose appearance had been prophesied in the Qur’án, had been sent down. The first “Trumpet-Blast,” destined to smite the earth with extermination, announced in the latter Book, had finally been sounded. “The Inevitable,” “The Catastrophe,” “The Resurrection,” “The Earthquake of the Last Hour,” foretold by that same Book, had all come to pass. The “clear tokens” had been “sent down,” and the “Spirit” had “breathed,” and the “souls” had “waked up,” and the “heaven” had been “cleft,” and the “angels” had “ranged in order,” and the “stars” had been “blotted out,” and the “earth” had “cast forth her burden,” and “Paradise” had been “brought near," and “hell” had been ”made to blaze,” and the ”Book” had been “set,” and the “Bridge" had been “laid out," and the “Balance” had been “set up,” and the “mountains scattered in dust.” The “cleansing of the Sanctuary,” prophesied by Daniel and confirmed by
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Jesus Christ in His reference to “the abomination of desolation,” had been accomplished. The “day whose length shall be a thousand years,” foretold by the Apostle of God in His Book, had terminated. The “forty and two months,” during which the “Holy City,” as predicted by St. John the Divine, would be trodden under foot, had elapsed. The “time of the end” had been ushered in, and the first of the “two Witnesses” into Whom, “after three days and a half the Spirit of Life from God” would enter, had arisen and had “ascended up to heaven in a cloud.” The “remaining twenty and five letters to be made manifest,” according to Islamic tradition, out of the “twenty and seven letters” of which Knowledge has been declared to consist, had been revealed. The “Man Child,” mentioned in the Book of Revelation, destined to “rule all nations with a rod of iron,” had released, through His coming, the creative energies which, reinforced by the effusions of a swiftly succeeding and infinitely mightier Revelation, were to instill into the entire human race the capacity to achieve its organic unification, attain maturity and thereby reach the final stage in its age-long evolution. The clarion-call addressed to the “concourse of kings and Of the sons of kings,” marking the inception of a process which, accelerated by Bahá’u’lláh’s subsequent warnings to the entire company of the monarchs of East and West, was to produce so widespread a revolution in the fortunes of royalty, had been raised in the Qayyumt’l’l-Asma’. The “Order,” whose foundation the Promised One was to establish in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and the features of which the Center of the Covenant was to delineate in His Testament, and whose administrative framework the entire body of His followers are now erecting, had been categorically announced in the Persian Bayan. The laws which were designed, on the one hand, to abolish at a stroke the privileges and ceremonials, the ordinances and institutions of a superannuated Dispensation, and to bridge, on the other, the gap between an obsolete system and the institutions of a world-encompassing Order destined to supersede it,
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had been clearly formulated and proclaimed. The Covenant which, despite the determined assaults launched against it, succeeded, unlike all previous Dispensations, in preserving the integrity of the Faith of its Author, and in paving the way for the advent of the One Who was to be its Center and Object, had been firmly and irrevocably established. The light which, throughout successive periods, was to propagate itself gradually from its cradle as far as Vancouver in the West and the China Sea in the East, and to diffuse its radiance as far as Iceland in the North and the Tasman Sea in the South, had broken. The forces of darkness, at first confined to the concerted hostility of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of Shi‘ah Persia, gathering momentum, at a later stage, through the avowed and persistent opposition of the Caliph of Islam and the Sunni hierarchy in Turkey, and destined to culminate in the fierce antagonism of the sacerdotal orders associated with other and still more powerful religious systems, had launched their initial assault. The nucleus of the divinely ordained, world-embracing Community—a Community whose infant strength had already plucked asunder the fetters of Shi‘ah orthodoxy, and which was, with every expansion in the range of its fellowship, to seek and obtain a wider and still more significant recognition of its claims to be the world religion of the future, had been formed and was slowly crystallizing. And, lastly, the seed, endowed by the Hand of Omnipotence with such vast potentialities, though rudely trampled under foot and seemingly perished from the face of the earth, had, through this very process, been vouchsafed the opportunity to germinate and remanifest itself, in the shape of a still more compelling Revelation—a Revelation destined to blossom forth, in a later period into the flourishing institutions of a worldwide administrative System, and to ripen, in the Golden Age as yet unborn, into mighty agencies functioning in consonance with the principles of a world—unifying, world-redeeming Order.
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From THE DA WN-BREAKERS
(Nabil’s Narrative) *
DEPRIVED of His turban and sash, the twin emblems of His noble lineage, the Báb, together with Siyyid Husayn, His amanuensis, was driven to yet another confinement which He well knew was but a step further on the way leading Him to the goal He had set Himself to attain. That day witnessed a tremendous commotion in the city of Tabríz. The great convulsion associated in the ideas of its inhabitants with the Day of Judgment seemed at last to have come upon them. Never had that city experienced a turmoil so fierce and so mysterious as the one which seized its inhabitants on the day the Báb was led to that place which was to be the scene of His martyrdom. As He approached the courtyard of the barracks, a youth suddenly leaped forward who, in his eagerness to overtake Him, had forced his way through the crowd, utterly ignoring the risks and perils which such an attempt might involve. His face was haggard, his feet were bare, and his hair dishevelled. Breathless With excitement and exhausted with fatigue, he flung himself at the feet of the Báb and, seizing the hem of His garment, passionately implored Him: “Send me not from Thee, 0 Master. Wherever Thou goest, suffer me to follow Thee." “Muhammad ‘Ali,” answered the Báb, “arise, and rest assured that you will be with Me. To-morrow you shall witness what God has decreed.” Two other companions, unable to contain themselves, rushed forward and assured Him of their unalterable loyalty. These, together with Mirzá Muhammad-‘Aliy-i-Zunuzi, were seized and placed in the same cell in which the Báb and Siyyid Husayn were confined.
I have heard Siyyid Husayn bear witness to the following: “That night the face of the Bab was aglow with joy, a joy such as had never shone from His countenance. Indifferent to the storm that raged about Him, He conversed with us with gaiety and cheerfulness. The sorrows that had weighed so heavily upon Him seemed to have completely vanished. Their weight appeared to have dissolved in the consciousness of ap - Pages 507-517.
proaching victory. ‘Tomorrow,’ He said to us, ‘will be the day of My martyrdom. Would that one of you might now arise and, with his own hands, end My life. I prefer to be slain by the hand of a friend rather than by that of the enemy.’ Tears rained from our eyes as we heard Him express that wish. We shrank, however, at the thought of taking away with our own hands so precious a life. We refused, and remained silent. Mirzá Muhammad-‘Ali suddenly sprang to his feet and announced himself ready to obey whatever the Báb might desire. ‘This same youth who has risen to comply with My wish,’ the Báb declared, as soon as we had intervened and forced him to abandon the thought, ‘will, together with Me, suffer martyrdom. Him will I choose to share with Me its crown.’ ”
Early in the morning, Mirza Hasan Khán ordered his farrésh-béshi [chief attendant] to conduct the Báb into the presence of the leading mujtahids of the city and to obtain from them the authorization required for His execution. As the Báb was leaving the barracks, Siyyid Husayn asked Him what he should do. “Confess not your faith,” He advised him. “Thereby you will be enabled, when the hour comes, to convey to those who are destined to hear you, the things of which you alone are aware.” He was engaged in a confidential conversation with him when the farrash-béslii suddenly interrupted and, holding Siyyid Husayn by the hand, drew him aside and severely rebuked him. “Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say,” the Báb warned the farrésh-béshi, “can any earthly power silence Me. Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall they be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention.” The farrésh-basili was amazed at such a bold assertion. He made, however, no reply, and bade Siyyid Husayn arise and follow him.
oHo
The Báb was, in His turn brought before Mullá Muhammad—i-Méméqéni. No sooner had he recognized Him than he seized the death—warrant he himself had previously
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written and, handing it to his attendant, bade him deliver it to the farrésh-béshi. “No need,” he cried, “to bring the Siyyid-i-Báb into my presence. This death—warrant I penned the very day I met him at the gathering presided over by the Vali-‘Ahd. He surely is the same man whom I saw on that occasion, and has not, in the meantime, surrendered any of his claims.”
From thence the Báb was conducted to the house of Mirzá Baqir, the son of Mirzá Ahmad, to whom he had recently succeeded. When they arrived, they found his attendant standing at the gate holding in his hand the Báb’s death-warrant. “No need to enter,” he told them. “My master is already satisfied that his father was right in pronouncing the sentence of death. He can do no better than follow his example.”
Mullá Murtadé—Quli, following in the footsteps of the other two mujtahids, had previously issued his own written testimony and refused to meet face to face his dreaded opponent. No sooner had the farrésli-baslii secured the necessary documents than he delivered his Captive into the hands of Sém K_ha’1n, assuring him that he could proceed with his task now that he had obtained the sanction of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of the realm.
Sém Khán was, in the meantime, finding himself increasingly affected by the behavior of his Captive and the treatment that had been meted out to Him. He was seized with great fear lest his action should bring upon him the wrath of God. “1 profess the Christian Faith,” he explained to the Báb, “and entertain no ill will against you. If your Cause be the Cause of Truth, enable me to free myself from the obligation to shed your blood.” “Follow your instructions,” the Báb replied, “and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity.”
Sém K_hén ordered his men to drive a nail into the pillar that lay between the door of the room that Siyyid Husayn occupied and the entrance to the adjoining one, and to make fast two ropes to that nail, from which the Báb and His companion were to be separately suspended. Mirzá Muhammad-‘Ali begged Sém Klién to be placed in such a manner that his own body would shield that of the Báb. He was eventually suspended in such a position that his head
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reposed on the breast of his Master. As soon as they were fastened, a regiment of soldiers ranged itself in three files, each of two hundred and fifty men, each of which was ordered to open fire in its turn until the whole detachment had discharged the volleys of its bullets. The smoke of the firing of the seven hundred and fifty rifles was such as to turn the light of the noonday sun into darkness. There had crowded onto the roof of the barracks, as well as the tops of the adjoining houses, about ten thousand people, all of whom were witnesses to that sad and moving scene.
As soon as the cloud of smoke had cleared away, an astounded multitude were looking upon a scene which their eyes could scarcely believe. There, standing before them alive and unhurt, was the companion of the Báb, whilst He Himself had vanished uninjured from their sight. Though the cords with which they were suspended had been rent in pieces by the bullets, yet their bodies had miraculously escaped the volleys. Even the tunic which Mirzá Muhammad—‘Ali was wearing had, despite the thickness of the smoke, remained unsullied. “The Siyyid-iBab has gone from our sight!” rang out the voices of the bewildered multitude. They set out in a frenized search for Him, and found Him, eventually, seated in the same room which He had occupied the night before, engaged in completing His interrupted conversation, with Siyyid Husayn. An expression of unrufiied calm was upon His face. His body had emerged unscathed from the shower of bullets which the regiment had directed against Him. “I have finished My conversation with Siyyid Husayn,” the Bab told the farrésh-bashi. “Now you may proceed to fulfil your intention.” The man was too much shaken to resume what he had already attempted. Refusing to accomplish his duty, he, that same moment, left that scene and resigned his post. He related all that he had seen to his neighbor, Mirza Siyyid Muhsin, one of the notables of Tabríz, who, as soon as he heard the story, was converted to the Faith.
Sém Ighan was likewise stunned by the force of this tremendous revelation. He ordered his men to leave the barracks immediately, and refused ever again to associate himself and his regiment with any act that involved the least injury to the Báb. He
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swore, as he left that courtyard, never again to resume that task even though his refusal should entail the loss of his own life.
No sooner had Sém K_hén departed than Aka Jan Igian-i-lghamsih, colonel of the body-guard, known also by the names of Igramsih and Nasiri, volunteered to carry out the order for execution. On the same wall and in the same manner, the Báb and His companion were again suspended, while the regiment formed in line to open fire upon them. Contrariwise to the previous occasion, when only the cord with which they were suspended had been shot to pieces, this time their bodies were shattered and were blended into one mass of mingled flesh and bone. “Had you believed in Me, O wayward generation,” were the last words of the Báb to the gazing multitude as the regiment was preparing to fire the final volley, “every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you.”
The very moment the shots were fired, a gale of exceptional severity arose and swept over the whole city. A whirlwind of dust of incredible density obscured the light of the
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sun and blinded the eyes of the people. The entire city remained enveloped in that darkness from noon till night. Even so strange a phenomenon, following immediately in the wake of that still more astounding failure of Sz’im Khán’s regiment to injure the Báb, was unable to move the hearts of the people of Tabríz, and to induce them to pause and reflect upon the significance of such momentous events. They witnessed the effect which so marvelous an occurrence had produced upon Sém Iglén; they beheld the consternation of the farrésii-béghi and saw him make his irrevocable decision; they could even examine that tunic which, despite the discharge of so many bullets, had remained whole and stainless; they could read in the face of the Báb, who had emerged unhurt from that storm, the expression of undisturbed serenity as He resumed His conversation with Syyid Husayn; and yet none of them troubled himself to inquire as to the significance of these unwonted signs and wonders.
The martyrdom of the Báb took place at noon on Sunday, the twenty-eighth of Sha‘bén, in the year 1266 A.H. [July 9, 1850], thirty-one lunar years, seven months, and twenty-seven days from the day of His birth in Shiréz.
6. INTERNATIONAL OBSERVANCE OF THE CENTENARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE BAB
THE world-wide character of the Bahá’í Faith has been demonstrated once more by the action of various National Spiritual Assemblies in preparing memorial and public programs for their respective communities.
This survey briefly outlines the information received to date from the national reports and does not attempt to cover all the local activities, interesting and important as they might be.
CANADA
From the National Spiritual Assembly we learn that on June 1 a general letter was issued giving plans for a special Memorial Meeting and also a Public Meeting on the Centenary date, with list of readings and
suggestions for the conduct of both meetings.
EGYPT AND SUDAN
The National Spiritual Assembly has published a Memorial pamphlet in the Arabic language. On account of the conditions of dispute among the three religions recognized in the Muslim world, the pamphlet supplied “historical, logical and traditional proofs from the Qur’án, the Old and New Testaments,” to support the Bahá’í Revelation. Its epilogue presented the Bahá’í teachings and principles as set forth by the Guardian in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, World Religion, followed by a selection from Hidden Words, and ended with “How to Live a Bahá’í Life
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from Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.” The English translation of the title of this pamphlet is “Page of Light.”
Cards of invitation to the Public Meeting in Cairo were sent to more than eighty eminent non-Bahá’ís, of whom (including the press) about forty attended. The motion picture film of the Bahá’í Temple in Wilmette was shown. Press comments were very favorable.
The Centenary was also observed by the Bahá’ís of Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.
PERSIA The National Assembly prepared a spe cial number of the Bahá’í News of Persia, giving the Centenary program for use throughout the local communities. The world survey pamphlet prepared by the Guardian and published in the United States was translated into Persian and copies distributed throughout the provinces.
INDIA, PAKISTAN AND BURMA
On May 10 the National Assembly addressed a general letter to all local Assemblies appointing three Regional Committees, each serving for the Bahá’ís in one of the three countries. Nine items of advice and direction were given for the Commemoration and Public Meetings. “The poor shall be fed as far as possible. This may be done through the Municipality,” was one suggestion. A very attractive Centenary pamphlet was also published, of 64 pages and illustrations. Its contents were listed as follows: “Foreword, A Prayer By the Báb, The World Religion, The Execution of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh’s Tribute to the Báb, The. Báb and the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, The Báb’s Address to the Letters of the Living, A Pattern for Future Society, Appreciations of the Bahá’í Faith.”
Program
In Commemoration of the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Báb, the Forerunner of Bahá’í Faith, Public Lectures will Be Held under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Shri Sri Prakasa at the Constitution Club, Curzon Road New Delhi on July 9, 1950 at 9-30 A.M.
Prof. Abdul—Majid Khan, Guest Speaker (Formerly Indian Consul, Jidda, Saudi Arabia) —A Century of World Crisis (In English)
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Shrimati Shirin Boman—The Martyr-Prophet of a World Faith (In Hindustani)
Shri S. N. Chaturvedi (Publicity Officer, US. of Rajasthan)—A Century of Spiritual Revival (In English)
All Are Cordially Invited AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Two items have been received: a newspaper clipping reporting a talk by Suhayl ‘Alé‘i at a gathering of Auckland and Devonport Bahá’í communities held to commemorate the Centenary; and a pamphlet entitled “Martyrdom of the Báb, 18501950” published by the National Spiritual Assembly. Its contents include: Foreword, A Summary of the Bahá’í Faith, The Martyrdom of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh’s Tribute to the Báb, The Báb’s Farewell Address to the Letters of the Living, and Utterances of the Báb. It contains 24 pages with two full-page illustrations.
CENTENARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE BAR COMMEMORATION AT THE Bahá’í HOUSE OF WORSHIP, WILMETTE,
ILLINOIS
The Bahá’í House of Worship provided an ideal setting for the program carried out on Sunday, July 9, 1950, in commemoration of the Centenary. The “Holiest House of Worship in the Bahá’í World” bestowed its own special blessing upon the great gathering of some five hundred Bahá’ís convened in Foundation Hall at the hour of noon, to see the Portrait of the Báb which the Guardian made a most precious gift and trust to North America in 1944.
This meeting, drawn together spiritually by the sublime nature of the occasion, realized anew its grandeur when the Guardian’s cablegram, shared with the “assembled representatives (of) American Bahá’í Community gathered beneath (the) dome (of the) most Holy House (of) Worship (in the) Bahá’í World” his “feelings (of) profound emotion evoked (by this) historic occasion.”1 This reading followed a brief period of silence for individual use of the Daily Prayer.
Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of Visitation (Prayers and Meditations, pp. 310-313) intensified the emotions to the degree of awe and exalted reverence.
1 This cablegram is given in full on pages 191 to 193.
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Then, after the Portrait was placed on the rug—covered speakers’ table, flanked by red roses, row by row the friends quietly filed before the Portrait to behold the features and likeness of the Martyr-Prophet whose mission inaugurated the world era in the life of mankind.
When the Bahá’ís in the last row had resumed their seats, the gathering departed from the Foundation Hall and entered by the outside steps the auditorium of the House of Worship. Here, though the evidences of construction were so apparent, the interior ornamentation had been completed to a point where the beauty of the finished design impressed the hearts. Indeed, an architectural sketch of the completed auditorium, in color, had been placed outside the Foundation Hall before noon, that the friends might better visualize what the auditorium will be when completed early in 1951.
In this remarkable theater, signifying both the majesty of the Faith and the sacrificial efforts of the believers, the second part of the Centenary program unfolded: Readings from the Bahá’í Sacred Writings concerning the Station and Martyrdom of the Bab. Seven readers presented these selections: Tablet of Ahmad; Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, pp 272-276; Some Answered Questions, pp. 30-31; Words of the Báb and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 35-36, p. 34; Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 291-293; pp. 74-75, 144-146; Prayer revealed by the Báb, “Is There any Remover of Difi’iculties”; Prayers and Meditations, pp. 84-86. The spirit of worship sustained the gathering throughout these readings, evoking power to realize the meaning of these Holy Words and to reconsecrate oneself in service to so holy a Faith.
The readings form a gemlike compilation which any one may from time to time ponder for himself, renewing faith and steadfastness whenever the world seems too violent and chaotic to be overcome and transformed.
Public Meeting
At 3:30 P.M. the Bahá’ís reconvened in Foundation Hall for the public meeting. The estimated attendance of Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís was about nine hundred. Seldom has Foundation Hall held a larger gathering.
Miss Elsie Austin, presiding, graciously
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welcomed the visitors in the name of the Bahá’ís. She stated the purpose of the Centenary, the significance of the Martyrdom of the Báb, and referred to the Centenary meetings being carried out in all parts of the world.
As Chairman Miss Austin then presented the three speakers: Dr. G. A. Borgese, of the University of Chicago, member of the Committee to Frame a-World Constitution, and director of the magazine Common Cause; Mrs. Dorothy Beecher Baker, longtime member of the National Spiritual Assembly, worker for unity, who has traveled widely and lectured throughout North America, South America and Western Europe; Mr. William Kenneth Christian, member of the National Spiritual Assembly, on the faculty of Michigan State College, writer, former member of the editorial staff of World Order Magazine.
The Shrine and Gardens
At 5:30 P.M., after the public meeting, the Bahá’ís gathered once more in Temple Foundation Hall.
This meeting, concluding the Centenary program, had been arranged in order to project the moving picture film which the Guardian had sent from Haifa as one more contribution to the Centenary celebration, which synchronized with the completion of the Arcade surrounding the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel.
The showing of the films was preceded by the reading of a letter written by Mr. Ben Weeden from Haifa describing the progress of construction work on the Shrine of the Báb. (See Section VI, page 246.)
The film, a composite of numerous selected views, created as a whole an intensely interesting picture of the Shrines and gardens at the Bahá’í World Center—the Guardian’s own project carried out at the spiritual heart of the Faith.
It is not possible to reproduce these vivid
photographic scenes in words. For the
Bahá’ís present it was no less an experience
than a psychic transportation to Haifa and
‘Akká to see with their own eyes what has
been done since the days of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to
glorify the remains of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb,
the Master and members of the Holy Family, and prepare the way for the building of
the international institutions of the Faith to
be centered in that holy region. The power
of the Guardianship, the vision, the super
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human toil of the guardian, were realized as seldom before.
The final note was also sounded by Shoghi Effendi in the reading of his cablegram addressed to the Bahá’ís through all National Spiritual Assemblies, announcing the termination of the initial step of the construction of the “domed structure designed (to) embellish (and) preserve (the) Bab’s sepulcher on Mt. Carmel.”
“(The) hour (is) ripe,” the message continued, “(to) undertake (the) preliminaries (for the) erection (of the) octagonal first unit (of the) superstructure. . . .
“(1) appeal (to) entire body (of) believers (to) seize (this) priceless opportunity (to) stimulate (the) unfoldment (of) this process through generous, sustained contributions (for the) furtherance (of an) enterprise transcending any national institution whether Hazira or Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, reared (in the) past or (in) process (of) construction.
“The hour (is) propitious . . . (to) repay part (of the) infinite debt (of) gratitude owed its martyrs, through hastening
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(the) conclusion (of the) holiest enterprise since (the) dawn (of the) Revelation. . . ."2
Thus this Centenary is not merely a recalling, no matter how reverently, of a great Event which took place one hundred years ago: it is an occasion on which the Bahá’ís are challenged to carry forward the work of an ever—living and Divine Faith.
Centenary Pamphlets
Two pamphlets were published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States as part of the Centenary commemoration.
The first publication is the world survey compiled by the Guardian with data reporting the spread of the Faith from 1844 to 1950, entitled The Bahá’í Faith—18441950.
The second publication is The Martyr Prophet of a World Faith by William B. Sears, telling the story of the Báb for a
western public.
2This cable, dated Haifa, July 7, 1950, appears in World Order Unfalds, page 12.
7. THE MARTYR PROPHET OF A WORLD FAITH*
By WILLIAM B. SEARS
The blistering July sun glared from the barrels of seven hundred and fifty rifles, awaiting the command to fire and to take His life.
He seemed so young to die, barely thirty, and He was handsome, gentle, confident. Could He possibly be guilty of the shocking crime of which He was accused?
Thousands of eager spectators lined the Public Square. They crowded along the roof-tops overlooking the scene of death. They wanted one last sight of Him for He was either good or evil, and they were not sure which.
It was high noon, July 9, 1850, in a parched corner of Persia, the barracks square of the sun—drenched city of Tabríz.
‘ Pamphlet issued by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, commemorating the
Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Báb, Tabríz, Persia, July 9, 1850.
The chain of events leading to this scene began in 1844.
It was in an age of religious fervor. EVerywhere men were preaching the return of Christ. They urged the world to prepare for it. Wolff in Asia, Sir Edward Irving in England, Leonard H. Kelber in Germany, Mason in Scotland, Davis in South Carolina, and William Miller in Pennsylvania all agreed that their studies of the Scriptures clearly showed that the hour for Christ’s return was at hand.
J ames Russell Lowell’s poem “The Crisis” was written in that very hour of Advent enthusiasm:
“Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide. Some great cause, God’s new Messiah . . .”
The years between 1843 and 1847 were
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generally accepted as the time for the return of Christ. Careful study of the prophecies had simultaneously led Bible scholars and students in diflerent parts of the world to these fateful years.
Did the years between 1843 and 1847 pass with no sign of the return of Christ? Or were these years comparable to those which followed the birth and enunciation of Christ’s original message? Years which passed with no visible sign to the people of Palestine that the Promised One had come. The crucifixion of a trouble maker from Nazareth they had dismissed from their minds. Was the story to wait, as it had waited in the time of Jesus, for over one hundred years before it began to reach the consciousness of the people? Was the story of Calvary to be retold at an execution post in the public square of Tabríz?
And during 1844, in Persia, this story had its beginning.
It was the eve of May 23rd in s_ltiréz, the “city of nightingales and blue tile fountains.” Shiraz, in what was once the ancient province of Elam given by Daniel, the Prophet, as the place of vision in the latter days and mentioned in the book of Jeremiah: “And I will set my throne in Elam.”
A young man declared that He was the one foretold in all the holy books of the past. He said He had come to usher in a new era, a new springtime in the hearts of men. He was called “The Báb” which means the door or the gate. His teaching was to be the gateway to a new age of unity: The world is one country and mankind its citizens; there is only one religion and all the prophets have taught it.
As Jesus had spoken to Peter, the fisherman, the Báb spoke to a Persian student, Mullá Ḥusayn. Mullá Husayn’s own words can best describe the depth of this experience:
“I sat spellbound by His utterance, oblivious of time. . . . This Revelation, so suddenly and impetuously thrust upon me, came as a thunderbolt which, for a time, seemed to have benumbed my faculties . . . Excitement, joy, awe, and wonder stirred the depths of my soul. Predominant among these emotions was a sense of gladness and strength which seemed to have transfigured me.”1
1The quotations cited are taken from The Dawn Breakers, Nabfl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the
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“I sat enraptured by the magic of His voice and the sweeping force of His revelation. At last I reluctantly arose from my seat and begged to depart. He smilingly bade me be seated, and said: ‘If you leave in such a state, whoever sees you will assuredly say: This poor youth has lost his mind.’ ”
At that moment the clock registered two hours and eleven minutes after sunset on the eve of May 23, 1844. The Báb declared to Mullá Husayn as he prepared to leave, “This night, this very hour will, in the days to come, be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant festivals.”
One hundred years later, May 23, 1944, in over eight hundred Bahá’í communities of the world this hour was commemorated as the dawn of a new age, the beginning of the era of “one fold and one shepherd.”
In one century from the evening of its birth, this World Faith heralded by the Báb had spread to all the major countries of the earth, embracing people from every walk of life, every religious conviction, every shade of skin-color.
The fame of the Báb soon spread beyond the circle of His disciples. It reached the authorities of both church and state. They were alarmed by the enthusiasm with which the people accepted the Báb’s message. The same wave of opposition and hatred that had surrounded Jesus, began to engulf the Bab. The clergy at once initiated a combined attack upon Him. They gathered their wisest and most capable scholars and speakers to argue with and try to confuse the Bath. They arranged great public debates in Shíráz and invited the governor, the clergy, the military chiefs, as well as the people, hoping to discredit the young Prophet of Shiréz.
He spoke such searching truths that day by day the crowds increased. His purity of conduct at an age when passions are intense impressed the people who met Him. He was possessed of extraordinary eloquence and daring. Instead of benefiting the clergy, the debates they arranged elevated the Báb at their expense. He exposed, unsparingly, their vices and corruption. He proved their infidelity to their own doctrine. He shamed
Bahá’í Revelation, translated from the original Persian and edited by Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Publishing Committee, New York, 1932. The quotations are from the following pages of The Dawn-Breakers: 62-65, 61, 1733;539, 315—316, 321-322, 447, 450—452, 502, 507, 509,
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them in their lives. He defeated them with their own Holy Book in His hand.
Soon all of Persia was talking about the Bab. The Shéh himself, moved to investigate the truth of the reports concerning the Bab, delegated Siyyid Yaḥyáy-i-Darébi, surnamed Vahid, to go at once to Shiréz and investigate the matter in person. Vahid was chosen because he was called the “most learned and most influential” of all the Shah’s subjects.
Vahid had three interviews with the Báb. After the first, he said to a friend, “I have in His presence expatiated unduly upon my own learning. He was able in a few words to answer my questions . . .”
Of these interviews, Vahid said later, “As soon as I was ushered into His presence, a sense of fear, for which I could not account, suddenly seized me . . . The Báb, beholding my plight, arose from His seat, advanced towards me, and, taking hold of my hand, seated me beside Him.
“ ‘Seek from me,’ He said, ‘whatever is your heart’s desire. I will readily reveal it to
ou.’
“Like a babe that can neither understand nor speak, I felt powerless to respond. The Bab smiled as He gazed at me and said: ‘Were I to reveal for you [the answers to the questions you seek], would you acknowledge that My words are born of the spirit of God? Would you recognize that My utterance can in no way be associated with sorcery or magic?’ . . .
“How am I to describe this scene of inexpressible majesty? Verses streamed from His pen with a rapidity that was truly astounding. The incredible swiftness of His writing, the soft and gentle murmur of His voice, and the stupendous force of His style, amazed and bewildered me.”
Vahid summed up his report on his investigation of the Báb by saying, “Such was the state of certitude to which I had attained that if all the powers of the earth were to be leagued against me they would be powerless to shake my confidence in the greatness of His Cause.”
When word of this reached the Shéh, he told his Prime Minister that he had been informed Vahid had become a follower of the Bab. “If this be true, it behooves us to cease belittling the Cause of that Siyyid.”
Still disturbed by Vahid’s response to the Báb’s teaching, the Shah issued an order summoning the Báb to the capital city of
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Ṭihrán. The shah had received a letter from the Báb requesting such an audience. The Bab said that He was confident of the justness of the King and so He wished to come to the capital and hold conferences with the priests of the empire in the presence of the Shéh, the civil authorities, and the people. The Báb offered to explain His Cause and His purpose. He said He would accept beforehand the judgment of the SAIéh and, in case of failure, was ready to sacrifice His head.
The Báb never reached Ṭihrán. The Prime Minister, Hájí Mirzá Áqásí, feared the consequences of such an interview. He feared the influence the Báb might exert on both the sovereign and the capital city. He succeeded in persuading the Shéh to transfer so dreaded a subject to Méh-Kfi, a prison castle in the A(fllirbayjén mountains to the north.
En route to Máh-Kú, the Báb approached the gate of Tabríz. The news of His arrival stirred the hearts of the people and they set out to meet Him, eager to extend their welcome to so beloved a Leader. The officials of the government refused to allow them to draw near and receive His blessing.
As the Báb walked along the streets of Tabríz, the cries of the multitude resounded on every side. So loud was the clamor of welcome that a crier was ordered to warn the people of the danger to which they were exposing themselves. The cry went forth: “Whosoever shall make any attempt to approach the Siyyid-i-Bab, or seek to meet him, all [that person’s] possessions shall forthwith be seized and he himself condemned to perpetual imprisonment!”
An undercurrent of excitement ran through the city during the Báb’s stay. With saddened hearts and mixed feelings of helplessness and confusion, the people watched the beloved Prophet leave Tabríz for the castle of Máh-Kú. They whispered among themselves, as had the followers of Jesus when they watched Him being delivered in turn to Caiaphas and Pilate: If this is the Promised One, why is He subjected to the whims of the men of earth?
The Báb was given into the custody of ‘Ali Khán, warden of the solid, four-towered stone castle which sat on the summit of a mountain on the frontier of Russia, Turkey, and Persia.
The Prime Minister was confident that few, if any, would venture to penetrate that
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wild region. The people of the area were already hostile to the Báb, and it was the Prime Minister's hope that this enforced seclusion among enemies would stifle the Faith at its birth and lead to its extinction.
He soon realized how gravely he had underrated the force of the Báb’s influence. The hostility of the natives was subdued by the gentle manners of the Báb. Their hearts were softened by His love for them. Their pride was humbled by His modesty. Their opposition to His teaching was mellowed by the wisdom of His words. Even the warden, ‘Ali lglén, began to relax the severity of the Báb’s imprisonment, in spite of the Prime Minister’s repeated warning against falling under His spell.
Soon great numbers began to come from all quarters to Visit the Báb at Máh-Kú. During this period, the Báb composed His Persian Baya’n, the most comprehensive of all His writings. In it the Báb defined His mission as two-fold: To call men to God, and to announce the coming of the Promise of all ages and all religions—a great world educator whose station was so exalted that in the words of the Beth, “A thousand perusals of the Baya’n cannot equal the perusal of a single verse to be revealed by ‘Him Whom God shall make manifest.’ ”2
The Prime Minister was informed of the affection which the once unfriendly people of Mah-Kfi were showing toward the Báb. He was told of the flood of pilgrims to the castle. Those who had been ordered to watch developments reported to the Prime Minister that the warden, ‘Ali K_hén, had been enchanted by the Báb and treated Him as his host rather than as his prisoner. Both fear and rage impelled the Prime Minister to issue an instant order for the transfer of the Báb to the castle of Qiihriq, called the “grievous mountain.”
The Báb said farewell to the people of Mah-Kfi who, in the course of His nine months’ captivity among them, had recognized to a remarkable degree the power of His personality and the greatness of His character.
The Báb was subjected to a closer and more rigorous confinement at Chiríq. The Prime Minister left strict and explicit instructions to the keeper, Yaḥyá Igia’m, that no one was to enter the presence of his prisoner. He was
2 World Order of Bahti’u'lláh, page 100.
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warned to profit by the failure of ‘Ali K_hén at Méh-Kfi. Yet, in spite of the open threat to his own safety, Yaḥyá K_hén found himself powerless to obey. He soon felt the fascination of his prisoner and forgot the duty he was expected to perform, for the love of the Báb had claimed his entire being.
Even the Kurds who lived in Chiríq, and whose fanaticism and hatred exceeded that of the inhabitants of Mah-KL’I, fell under the transforming influence of the Báb. The love which the Báb radiated was a living thing. As Saul of Tarsus had fallen victim to the enrapturing warmth of Jesus, in like manner whoever came in contact with the Báb was transported into a new world of joy and gladness. As the crowds had flocked to Jesus on the Mount of Olives, so came the hungry, thirsty people of Persia to the Mountain of Qlihriq.
No sooner did this news reach the capital than the infuriated Prime Minister demanded that the Báb be transferred at once to Tabríz. He called an immediate conference of all the ecclesiastical dignitaries of Tabríz to seek the most effective means for bringing to an abrupt end the Báb’s power over the people.
The news of the impending arrival of the Báb caused such popular enthusiasm that the authorities decided to confine the Báb in a place outside the gate of the city.
The crowds besieged the entrance to the meeting place the next day, impatiently awaiting the time when they could catch a glimpse of His face. They pressed forward in such large numbers that a passage had to be forced for the Báb.
When the Báb entered the hall, a great stillness descended upon the people. At last the stillness was broken by the president of the gathering. “Who do you claim to be,” he asked the Báb, “and what is the message which you have brought?”
Pontius Pilate had asked Jesus, “Art thou a king then?” And Jesus replied, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.”3
So did the Báb reply to the Assembly. “1 am, I am, I am the Promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you
3 John 18:37.
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have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and pledge allegiance to My person.”
Immediately after He had pronounced these words, a quiet fell over the hall; a feeling of awe seized those who were present; the pallor of their faces betrayed the agitation of their hearts.
The examination of the Báb continued to its pre-arranged end. Yet, once again the purpose of the authorities had been frustrated. The meeting had served only to uplift Him in the eyes of the people.
The Báb was at length delivered to the head of the religious court of Tabríz to be whipped with the bastinado. As Jesus had fallen under the scourge for His claim to be a Redeemer of men, the Báb also was subjected to the same indignity. Eleven times the head of the religious court applied the rod to the Báb’s feet. He was struck across the face with one of the strokes intended for His feet.
Dr. McCormick, an English physician, treated Him and recalled their meeting in the following manner, “He was a very mild and delicate-looking man, rather small in stature and very fair for a Persian, with a melodious soft voice, which struck me much . . . In fact his whole look and deportment went far to dispose one in his favour.”
His persecutors had fondly hoped that by summoning the Báb to Tabríz they would be able through threats and intimidations to induce Him to abandon His mission. They had failed. As Jesus had said, “My teaching is not mine, but His that sent me,” the Báb too made it clear that this message was something greater than Himself.
The gathering in Tabríz had enabled Him at last to set forth emphatically, in the presence of the authorities, the distinguishing features of His claim. It had also enabled Him to destroy, in brief and convincing language, the arguments of His enemies.
The news of this meeting spread rapidly throughout Persia. It awakened new zeal in the hearts of His followers. They redoubled their efforts to spread His teachings. It enkindled a corresponding reaction among His adversaries. Persecutions, unprecedented in their violence, swept over the nation.
The Shéh succumbed to illness, and his
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Prime Minister Hájí Mirzá Áqásí was toppled from power. The successor to the throne was seventeen year old Nésiri’d-Din Mirzá, and the active direction of the affairs of the nation fell to a new Prime Minister, Mirza Taqi Khán. His rule was iron-hearted and his hatred for the Báb more implacable than that of Hájí Mirza Áqásí. He unchained a combined assault of civil and ecclesiastical powers against the Báb and His Faith.
When word of the suffering of His followers reached the Bath, who had been returned to the castle of Qaihriq, He was plunged in sorrow. There was yet an added blow to come to Him. His beloved uncle, by whom He had been reared in childhood, was arrested in Ṭihrán to await execution.
It was this same uncle who had served the Báb with such devotion throughout His life, who became one of His first and most ardent disciples. It had been less than a year before his arrest in Ṭihrán that the Báb’s uncle had visited Him in His prison cell in thhriq. He had gone from there to Ṭihrán to teach the Faith of the Báb and had remained there until his arrest as one of fourteen prisoners.
The fourteen captives in Ṭihrán were imprisoned in the home of one of the city officials. Every kind of ill treatment was inflicted upon them to induce them to reveal the names and addresses of other believers. The Prime Minister issued a decree threatening with execution whoever among the fourteen was unwilling to recant his faith.
Seven were compelled to yield to the pressure and were released at once. The remaining seven became known as the “Seven Martyrs of Ṭihrán.” The Báb’s uncle, one of the leading merchants of Shiréz, was one of these seven.
His friends urged him to deny his faith and save his life. A number of the more affluent merchants offered to pay a ransom for him. The Báb’s uncle rejected their offer. Finally he was brought before the Prime Minister.
“A number have interceded in your behalf,” the Prime Minister told him. “Eminent merchants of Shiraz and Ṭihrán are willing, nay eager, to pay your ransom . . . A word of recantation from you is sufficient to set you free and ensure your return, with honors, to your native city.”
The Báb’s uncle boldly replied to these
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words. “Your Excellency,” he said, “. . . my repudiation of the truths enshrined in this Revelation would be tantamount to a rejection of all the Revelations that have preceded it. To refuse to acknowledge the Mission of the . . . Bab would be to . . . deny the Divine character of the Message which Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, and all the Prophets of the past have revealed.”
The Prime Minister could not hide his impatience as the Báb’s uncle signed his own death—warrant with his lips.
The Báb’s uncle continued: “God knows that whatever I have heard and read concerning the sayings and doings of those Messengers, I have been privileged to witness the same from this Youth, this beloved Kinsman of mine, from His earliest boyhood to this, the thirtieth year of His life . . . I only request that you allow me to be the first to lay down my life in [His] path.”
The Prime Minister was stupefied by such an answer. Without uttering a word, he motioned that the Báb’s uncle be taken out and beheaded.
The second to fall beneath the headsman’s axe was Mirza Qurban-‘Ali. He was a close friend of many nobles. The mother of the Shéh, because of her friendship for Qurban-‘Ali, said to the King, “He is no follower of the Báb, but has been falsely accused.”
So they sent for him. “You are a scholar, a man of learning,” they said. “You do not belong to this misguided sect; a false charge has been preferred against you.”
Qurban-‘Ali replied, “I reckon myself one of the followers and servants of the Báb, though whether or no He hath accepted me as such, I know not.”
They tried to persuade, holding out hopes of a salary and pension.
“This life and these drops of blood of mine,” he said, “are of but small account; were the empire of the world mine, and had I a thousand lives, I would freely cast them all at the feet of His friends.”
Qurban-‘Ali was taken to the Prime Minister.
“Since last night I have been besieged by all classes of State officials,” the Prime Minister told him, “who have vigorously interceded in your behalf. From what I learn of the position you occupy and the influence your words exercise, you are not much inferior to the Siyyid—i-Bab himself. Had you claimed for yourself the position of leader 213
ship, better would it have been than to declare your allegiance to one who is certainly inferior to you in knowledge.”
“The knowledge which I have acquired,” Qurban-‘Ali answered, “has led me to bow down in allegiance before Him.” Qurbén‘Ali boldly continued: “Ever since I attained the age of manhood, I have regarded justice and fairness as the ruling motives of my life. I have judged the Báb fairly” with my mind and with my heart. I “have reached the conclusion that should this Youth, to whose transcendent power friend and foe alike testify, be false, every Prophet of God, from time immemorial down to the present day, should be denounced as the very embodiment of falsehood!”
Neither the sweetness of bribes, nor the threat of death had any elfect.
“I am assured of the unquestioning devotion of over a thousand admirers,” Qurbén‘Ali told the Prime Minister, “and yet I am powerless to change the heart of the least among them. This Youth, however, has proved Himself capable of transmuting
. . the souls of the most degraded among His fellow men. Upon a thousand like me He has, unaided and alone, exerted such influence that, without even attaining His presence, they have flung aside their own desires and have clung passionately to His will. Fully conscious of the inadequacy of the sacrifice they have made, these yearn to lay down their lives for His sake . .”
The Prime Minister hesitated. “I am loth, whether your words be of God or not, to pronounce the sentence of death against the possessor of so exalted a station.”
“Why hesitate?” burst forth Qurbén-‘Ali. “[For this was I born.] This is . . . the day on which I shall seal with my life-blood my faith in His cause.” Seeing the Prime Minister’s uncertainty, he added quickly, “Be not, therefore, reluctant, and rest assured that I shall never blame you for your act. The sooner you strike off my head, the greater will be my gratitude to you.”
The Prime Minister paled. “Take him away from this place!” he cried. “Take him away! Another moment, and . . . [he] will have cast his spell over me!”
Qurban-‘Ali smiled gently. “You are proof against that magic that can captivate only the pure in heart.”
Infuriated, the Prime Minister arose from his seat. His face was mottled and his whole frame shaking with anger as he shouted:
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“Nothing but the edge of the sword can silence the voice of this deluded people!” He turned to the executioners. It is enough. “No need to bring any more members of this hateful sect before me. Words are powerless to overcome their unswerving obstinacy. Whomever you are able to induce t0 recant his faith, release him; as for the rest, strike off their heads. I will face no more of them!”
The news of the tragic fate which had befallen the seven martyrs of Ṭihrán brought immeasurable sorrow to the heart of the Bab. To His companions, the Báb explained that this event foreshadowed His own death soon to follow.
The Prime Minister decided to strike at the very head of the Faith. Remove the Báb, he felt, and once more the old order could be restored. He called his counsellors together and unfolded his plans.
“Nothing,” he told them, “short of his [the Báb’s] public execution can . . . enable this distracted country to recover its tranquillity and peace.”
He dispatched an order commanding that the Báb be brought to Tabríz a second time.
Forty days before the arrival of this summons, the Báb collected all the documents and Writings in His possession. He placed them in a box, along With His pen-case and ring, and made arrangements for their disposal. ‘Abdu’l-Karim, to whom they were eventually entrusted, informed his fellowdisciples that all he could reveal of the letter which had been given him concerning the contents of the box was that it was to be delivered into the hands of Bahá’u’lláh, one of the Báb’s ablest defenders in Ṭihrán.
At last the Báb was escorted to the city of Tabríz which was to be the scene of His martyrdom. Never had this city experienced a turmoil so fierce. As the Báb was being led through the courtyard to His cell in the city barracks, a youth leaped forward into His path. This eighteen year old boy had forced his way through the crowd ignoring the peril to his own life which such an attempt involved. His face was haggard, his feet were bare, his hair dishevelled. He flung himself at the feet of the Báb and implored Him: “Send me not from Thee, 0 Master. Wherever Thou goest, suffer me to follow Thee.”
Reminiscent of the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross, the Báb answered him, saying, “Muhammad—‘Ali, arise and rest as THE BAHA’I WORLD
sured that you will be with Me. Tomorrow you shall witness what God has decreed.”
That night the face of the Báb was aglow with joy, a joy such as had never shone from His countenance. Indifferent to the storm that raged about Him, He conversed with His companions with gaiety and cheerfulness. The sorrows that had weighed so heavily upon Him seemed to have completely vanishedi
The Báb saw the sun rise over the sands of His native Persia for the last time. He was engaged in a confidential conversation with one of His followers who served as His secretary when He was interrupted by a government official. The chief attendant for the Prime Minister’s brother had come to lead the Báb to the presence of the leading Doctors of Law in Tabríz to obtain from them the authorization for His execution.
The Báb rebuked the attendant for his interruption and held fast to His secretary’s hand.
“Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say,” the Báb warned the attendant, “can any earthly power silence Me. Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall they be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention.”
The attendant was amazed at such boldness and eflrontery in a mere prisoner. He insisted that the Báb accompany him. The barracks doors were opened and the Báb was brought into the courtyard, His conversation left unfinished.
To the people of Tabríz, the Báb was no longer triumphant. The campaign of united opposition by church and state was having its effect. The Báb was now a humbled prisoner. The crowd filled the streets and people climbed on each other’s shoulders the better to see this man who was still so much talked about.
Just as Jesus had entered Jerusalem hailed on all sides and with palms strewn in His path only to be mocked and reviled in that same Jerusalem within the week, in like manner the glory that had attended the Báb’s first Visit to Tabríz was forgotten now. This time the crowd, restless and excitable, flung insulting words at the Báb. They pursued Him as He was led through the streets. They broke through the guards and struck Him in the face. When some missile hurled from the crowd would reach
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its mark the guards and the crowd would burst into laughter.
As soon as the chief attendant secured the death warrant, he delivered the Bath into the hands of Sém Iglén who was in charge of the Armenian regiment which had been ordered to execute Him.
Sém K_hén had found himself increasingly affected by the behavior of his captive. He was seized with great fear lest his action should bring upon him the wrath of God. He approached the Báb and spoke to Him.
“I profess the Christian Faith,” he explained, “and entertain no ill will against you. If your Cause be the Cause of Truth, enable me to free myself from the obligation to shed your blood.”
“Follow your instructions,” the Bath replied, “and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity.”
Sém K_hén ordered his men to drive a nail into the pillar that lay between the doors of the barracks. To the nail they made fast the ropes from which the Báb and His companion, Muhammad-‘Ali, were to be separately suspended.
The Báb remained silent, His pale handsome face framed by a black beard and small moustache. His appearance and His refined manners, His white and delicate hands, His simple but neat garments, all seemed out of place in the midst of this scene of violence.
Muhammad-‘Ali begged Sérn Khan to place him in such a manner that his body would shield that of the Báb. He was eventually suspended so that his head rested upon the breast of his Master.
About ten thousand people had crowded onto the roofs of the adjoining houses, all eager to witness the spectacle, yet all willing to change at the least sign from the Báb. As the crowd that had passed by on Golgotha, reviling Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross,” so, too, did the people of Tabríz mock the Báb and jeer at His impotence.
As soon as the Báb and His companion were fastened to the post, the regiment of soldiers ranged itself in three files. Sém K_hén could delay the command no longer. He ordered his men to fire. In turn, each of the files opened fire upon them until the whole detachment had discharged its volley of bullets.
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The smoke from the firing of the seven hundred and fifty old-style rifles was such as to turn the light of the noonday sun into darkness. As soon as the cloud of smoke had cleared away, the crowd looked upon a scene which reason could scarcely accept. Standing before them, alive and unhurt, was the companion of the Báb, Muhammad-‘Ali. The Báb Himself had vanished from their sight. The cords with which they had been suspended were torn into pieces by the bullets, yet their bodies had escaped the volleys.
The soldiers tried to quiet the crowd. The chief attendant began a frantic search for the Báb. He found Him seated in the same room which He had occupied the night before. The Báb was completing the conversation which had been interrupted that morning by the chief attendant.
“I have finished My conversation with My secretary,” the Báb told the attendant. “Now you may proceed to fulfil your intention.”
The attendant was too much shaken to resume. He remembered the words the Báb had spoken that morning: “Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall they be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention.” The attendant refused to continue. He left the scene and resigned his post.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard the soldiers, in order to quell the excitement of the crowd, showed the cords which had been severed by the bullets. The seven hundred and fifty musket balls had shattered the ropes into fragments and freed the two, nothing more.
A. L. M. Nicolas, a European scholar, wrote of this episode, “It was a thing unique in the annals of the history of humanity. The volley severed their bonds and delivered them without a scratch.” M. C. Huart, a French writer, stated, “It was a real miracle . . .”
Sém Khan was likewise stunned. He recalled the words the Báb had addressed to him: “If your intention be sincere, the A1mighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity.” He ordered his regiment to leave the barracks square immediately. He told the authorities that he would refuse ever again to associate himself and his regiment with any act that would involve the least injury to the Báb, even though his refusal should entail the loss of his own life.
After the departure of Sérn Khan, the
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colonel of the bodyguard volunteered to carry out the order for the execution. A second time the Báb and His companion were lashed to the fatal post while the firing squad formed in line before them. As they prepared to fire the final volley, the Báb spoke His last words to the gazing multitude.
“Had you believed in Me, O wayward generation,” He said, “every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you.”
The regiment discharged the volley. The Bab and His companion gave up their lives as the bullets shattered their bodies. As Jesus had expired on the cross so that men might be called back to God, the Báb breathed his last against the barracks wall in the city of Tabríz.
The martyrdom of the Báb took place at noon on Sunday, July 9, 1850, thirty years from the time of his birth in Shiréz.
There is but one parallel in all recorded history to the brief, turbulent ministry of the Bab. It is the passion of Jesus Christ. There is a remarkable similarity in the distinguishing features of their careers: the youthfulness and meekness; the dramatic swiftness with which their ministry moved toward its climax; the boldness with which they challenged the time-honored conventions, laws, and rites of the religions into which they had been born; the role which the religious hierarchy played as chief instigator of the outrages they were made to suffer; the indignities heaped upon them; the suddenness of their arrest; the interrogations to which they were subjected; the scourgings inflicted upon them; the public alfronts they sustained; and finally their ignominious suspension before the gaze of a hostile multitude.
Sir Francis Younghusband in his book, The Gleam, said, “His life must be one of those events in the last hundred years which is really worth study.”
Edward Granville Browne, the famous Cambridge scholar, wrote, “Who can fail to be attracted by the gentle spirit of the Báb? His sorrowful and persecuted life; his purity of conduct, and youth; his courage and uncomplaining patience under misfortune . . . but most of all his tragic death, all serve to
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enlist our sympathies on behalf of the young Prophet of Shiréz.”
At last the clergy and the state prided themselves on having crushed the life from the Cause they had battled so long. The Báb was no more. His chief disciples had been destroyed, the mass of His followers throughout the land were being gradually cowed and exhausted.
Within three years, the Cause for which the Báb had given His life seemed on the verge of extinction. The life of the ill-fated Youth of Shiréz appeared to be one of the saddest and most fruitless.
Yet this abyss of darkness and despair was the very hour for which the Báb had long been preparing His followers. Repeatedly He had told them that He was but the humble forerunner of a Messenger of incomparable greatness yet to follow. In His book the Bayán, the Báb had written, “Of all the tributes I have paid to Him Who is to come after Me, the greatest is this, My written confession that no words of Mine can adequately describe Him, nor can any reference to Him in My book, the Baya’n, do justice to His Cause.”‘1L
Amid the shadows that were gathering about the Faith of the Báb, the figure of Bahá’u’lláh alone remained as the hope of an unshepherded community; that same Bahá’u’lláh, to whom the Báb had sent the box containing His personal possessions and His writings.
The marks of clear vision, of courage and sagacity which Bahá’u’lláh had shown on more than one occasion ever since he rose to champion the Cause of the Báb, appeared to qualify him to revive the fortunes of an expiring Faith.
Yet even this hope seemed taken from the believers. Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned in the “black pit” in Ṭihrán. He was stripped of his possessions and was exiled to Bag_hdad in ‘Iráq.
The Shéh and the Prime Minister rejoiced. If they were to believe their counsellors, they would never again hear of the Bab or His Faith. It was swiftly receding into oblivion.
Once again they had underestimated the character of this Faith and the source of its power. The Báb had promised His followers
in His book, the Baycin, that the one
4 World Order 0/ Bahd'u’lláh, page 100.
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“Whom God will make manifest" would appear nineteen years from the date of His own declaration. In 1863 outside the city of Baghdad, nineteen years from that evening in Sliiraz when the Báb had spoken to Mullá Husayn, Bahá’u’lláh declared to the world that He was the One foretold by the Báb.
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The Cause for which the Báb had given His life no longer seemed to border on the verge of obliteration. The dawn had now given way to daylight. The era promised to the earth since the beginning of time, the day of the “one fold and one shepherd” had been ushered in by His sacrifice.
8. PILGRIMAGE TO THE SCENES OF THE BAB’S CAPTIVITY AND MARTYRDOM
By IllIKRU’LLAH K_HADEM
Translated by Marzieh Gail
A HUNDRED years have now gone by since the meek and holy Báb, the Gate of God, was put to death at noon on July 9, 1850, and even to the present day the world and its peoples (“except for those into whose eyes God hath shed the radiance of His Face”) are fast in a deathlike sleep, unconscious of a mighty Faith, a transcendent Dispensation, which made prophets and seers of past ages cry out and weep with longing for it.
At this time the Bahá’ís of the world, from the northernmost point of the globe to the southernmost, and from Far East to Far West, following the example of Shoghi Effendi turned their hearts toward the Country of Sorrows, to commemorate at the Guardian’s bidding the first Centenary of the Báb’s martyrdom. In recognition of this event the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia went on a nine days’ pilgrimage into Adhirbayjén. This is an account of their journey and what it meant to one of them.
J OURNEY TO TABRiz
It is Thursday, the 6th of July, 1950. It is the day of Istijlél, the day of Qudrat, the month of Rahmat, of the year Javab, of the sixth Vahid of the first Kull-i—Shay’. The group of travelers has set out as pilgrims, in a spirit of humility and penitence and great love, going to the place of the Báb’s last agony. They are traveling to that spot whose very name, some thousand years ago, set fire to the heart of Muhammad’s descendent the Imam Muhammad-Baqir, so that he spoke
“Inevitable for us is
1:
these words of it: Acfllirbéyjén. Nothing can equal it . .
They are traveling to see the place with their physical eyes, but also to weep over the anguish of that Lord of men in the Country of Sorrows itself, where earth and air, mountains and lakes, streams, trees, and stones bear witness to the wrong that was done Him. They will pour out for Him as a libation something of the sorrow of their hearts.
The bus goes fast. Again it slows. It fulfills the promise as to the Day of the Lord and the coming of the Kingdom when, Scripture says, the earth will be rolled up. All along our talk is of the passion of the Báb. We pass through Zanjén and remember how lightly Hujjat and his companions tossed away their lives there. Wherever the new road replaces the old, we turn like compass needles to the abandoned thoroughfare, because it was there that the Báb passed by. At Miyénaj we see Him againin that house with the upper room. One of the friends calls our attention to the fact that the Báb loved high places; that even when they were leading Him away to prison, wherever they would stop, in whatever town or village, and even if there were only one upper room in the place, it was there He chose to stay. His prisons, too, whether in Tabri’z or Mah-Kfi or Qiihriq, were always in high places. In His Tablet to Muhammad Silah, revealed at Méh-KI’J, He speaks, however, of His abode as being still higher than the prison, for He says, “It is as if I were dwelling in the loftiest Paradise, delighting
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Myself with the remembrance of God the Most Great.”
As we talk of all this, mountains and deserts and pasture lands pass by us, and about midnight we come to Tabríz. Waiting for us here are the believers. They welcome us, and carrying out the efficient arrangements of the Tabríz Assembly, they guide us away singly or by two‘s, to the different houses where we are to stay. Here are people who have never laid eyes on us before, approaching us with such pleasure. And afterward, when we went away, although we had been with them only a few days, they wept and so did we. It is this that is stirring all over the Bahá’í world today, because the love of God has transfigured human nature.
It is two days before the Commemoration. Early on the day itself, all are to gather at the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, where a general meeting will be held; communes will be chanted, the Guardian’s letter will be read, and then, one by one or two by two, the visitors, guided by local believers, are to circle around the Barracks Square where the Bab was offered up as a sacrifice, the holy place of which it is written: “The souls of the Prophets and Messengers do pace about it.”
The meetings arranged throughout Tabríz are brilliant. Absent friends are remembered and missed. We feel that the hearts of all believers throughout East and West are focused on this city, and this gives rise to emotions that are best communicated not in words but from heart to heart.
THE COMMEMORATION
Now it is the eve of the Martyrdom. The Bahá’ís are in their houses; they are gathered in small groups, or quite alone. They are communing with their Lord. I cannot tell how it is. We recall the aspect of that other night one hundred years ago: How Mirza Muhammad-‘Ali surnamed Anis and Siyyid Husayn the amanuensis remained in the presence of the Báb; the conversation that took place that night between disciple and Beloved; all this came to mind again. To emulate the kind of obedience that Anis offered his Lord that night—this is the ultimate wish of every Bahá’í.
In a commentary the Báb had referred to the circumstances of His approaching martyrdom in this wise: “Had I not been gazing upon this secret fact, I swear by Him in Whose hand is My soul, should all the kings
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of the earth be banded together they could not take from Me so much as a single letter of a word.”
And again, in the Tablet to Muhammad Shéh: “All the keys of heaven God hath chosen to place on My right hand, and all the keys of hell on My left . . .” It was His own unconditioned will to cast down His holy life in the pathway of the “Remnant of God”——He Whom the Splendor of God has named “My previous Manifestation, the Precursor of My Beauty.” Of Whom, again, He has said, “I am He, He is I; I am His Beloved; He is My Beloved.” '
Could we sleep on a night like this? Day finally breaks. The appointed time approaches. It is as if from all the streets and passageways of Tabríz souls are gathering for Judgment. Yes, it is the Resurrection Day, the rise of the Qa’im and the Qayyfim. The squares of Tabríz are black with crowds. “Deliver us, most exalted Beloved . . . forgive us then our sin and hide away from us our evil deeds.” (Qur’a’n 3:191.)
Some are hurrying, reverently, prayerfully, up to the “Ark,” the Citadel where the Bab was imprisoned, to that high place which even today dominates the whole city and which, once seen, is impressed on the heart forever. They go here, that they may, prior to commemorating the hour of the Martyrdom, witness yet another stage in the long passion of the Báb. Some wait till a later hour to make this pilgrimage. These stay in the vicinity of the Báb’s upper chamber, and bowing their foreheads to the earth in that exalted place, are repeating excerpts from His writings, such as the Commentary on the Sfirih of Joseph. Not one has a thought except for the Beloved; they are in another world now, and they cannot easily return from it.
At the base of the terrifying “Ark,” at the entrance to the courtyard, the Báb has once again demonstrated His power; for on a structure they have raised here in memory of the dead, we find inscribed this verse from the Qur’a’n: “Think not of those who are slain in the path of God as dead; nay, alive with their Lord, are they richly sustained.” (Si’irih 3: 163.) It stands as a secret allusion to the Báb’s agony and death. The pilgrims, reading this holy verse, seek leave to enter here, and thus they pass into the prison with their hearts free from everything except God.
The time has come to attend the meeting
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in Tabríz. The program goes forward; it is well arranged and deeply moving. Although the friends in other areas have been advised not to attend in large numbers, nevertheless some are here from other parts of Adhirbéyjén for this historic day, and the great auditorium of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds is jammed; those who cannot find seats stand in the doorways and in the embrasures of the windows. Prayers are chanted. Then we listen to the Báb’s Tablet to Muhammad Shah. Today the holy blood of the Báb is coursing through the world, it is flowering everywhere, and where is Muhammad Shéh? We search, but find no trace of him. That foolish Minister of his has also sunk into his tomb, and that other Prime Minister, Taqi the Bloodshedder, the Brazen, who condemned the Lord of the world to death, has vanished in eternal night.
In the Turkish language, the Assembly secretary then speaks. He tells impressively of the spread of the Faith across the world, and of the building of the Báb’s Shrine on Mt. Carmel. The account of the Martyrdom is read. A strange spiritual atmosphere prevails; you would say a glimmer from the world beyond is hovering here. With complete humility, the Visitation Tablet of the Bab is chanted.
It is almost noon. The pilgrims, led by some of the local friends, have come in utter lowliness, imploring the help of God, to circumambulate that place which is worshiped by the people of Paradise. Unobtrusively they pass around the Barracks Square. They see the very spot where the Martyrdom took place. They visualize the Barracks as they were that day, and the roof tops black with people. They see the Bab there, bound to Anis, and suspended from the ropes. They hear again the words that passed between the Báb and the farréshbés_l_1i; between the Báb and Sém K_hén. Then Anis, making himself a living shield for the Báb. Then the first volley, by the will of the Báb, setting forth His proof to the stupefied people, taking no effect. Anis stands there before them in his immaculate white robe; not even the smoke from the seven hundred and fifty rifles has settled on it. The Báb concludes His interrupted conversation with His amanuensis. Other soldiers are drawn up. The Báb utters His last words, and His blessed voice still seems to ring across the Barracks Square:
“0 wayward generation! Had you be 219
lieved in Me, every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and would have willingly sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you.”1
In the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “The groaning of the Supreme Concourse is lifted up. . . . The people of Paradise wail and cry out, their eyes shedding tears, their hearts afire.” At this moment we are conscious of the loving attention of the Guardian, the beloved Shoghi Effendi, who labors at all times to exalt the Báb, who spreads His utterances abroad, who is now devoting his nights and days to constructing the Shrine of the Martyr-Prophet on Mt. Carmel.
The circumambulation is complete. A feast is ready. But it is as if our bodies had sustained a death wound, and the pain does not lessen . . .
During the remainder of our stay a great number of gatherings are held, each one generating a vivid, never-to-be-forgotten quality of the spirit.
VISIT ro URL’JMiYYIH
The following day we leave for Saysén. Some of the friends have come out along the way to welcome us while others have repaired and leveled the road ahead. What is this joy, this feeling of exhilaration? In the spacious auditorium—I think it measures nine by nineteen meters—of the new Hazira a morning and an afternoon meeting are held. The auditorium is packed, there is no room even to walk through, many are crowding the embrasures of the windows and the doorways, and others stand outside the building. Prayers are being chanted. As the Assembly welcomes us in the accents of Acfliirbéyjén, we recall the well-known verse, “When they speak Persian, Turks are life-bestowers.” Two of us, Varqa and Furfitan, reply with addresses in Turkish, telling of victories already won by the Faith, and victories to come. Labib, famed Bahá’í photographer, takes pictures. He has made photographs of all these places that relate to the Báb in Acfliirbéyjén, the way-stations on His journey, the historic sites . . . Food is prepared for us.
The next day we visit the holy sites at
1 Shoghi Effendi, Gad Passes By, page 53.
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Uri’imiyyih. We are to meet the friends of this area on our return. The lake of Urfimiyyih rises before us, and we recall the Bab’s arrival at the city here, Rida’iyyih. As one of the friends has said, it is not saddening to visit these holy places, because outwardly at least the Báb suffered no afflictions here. He was the guest of Malik Qásim Mirzá, who received Him with ceremony and forbade that any disrespect be shown Him. The room of the Báb, in the upper story of the prince’s house, is like His upper chamber in Shiraz; it lifts the spirit.
The entrance door and wall of the public bath attended by the Báb have been preserved; they are just as they were then. Dumbly they address the pilgrim. The pool of the bath is empty now. The people had carried away, to the last drop, the water used by the Báb for His ablutions, to bless themselves with it and keep it as medicine for their ills. . .
We know that even an animal had a care for Him here. The prince’s unmanageable horse became quiet under His hand, and let Him mount—a strange thing to witness, and the memory of it will endure forever.z At the same time, a warning to mankind; for how is it that man in his unawareness has sunk even below the animal and has shut himself away from grace?
We cannot forget the meeting with our friends of Rida’iyyih, in a house blessed by the Báb with His presence. Here too the invisible hand of the Báb has been at workacross from the Bath we read the inscription: “God is the Light of the heavens and of the earth.” (Qur’a’n 24:35.) This verse appears in delicate calligraphy on sky-blue tile, and serves as a guide post to “the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the light of God whose radiance can never fade”——words uttered by the Primal Point Himself concerning His own Essence.
THE MOUNTAIN OF SUFFERING
It is morning. Our bus leaves for Tabríz. The driver has agreed to stop all along the way so that we can meet with local friends, and some of these have been alerted ahead of time. The first place where we stop is shahpfir (Salmés), and a meeting is held. The pioneers here are solidly established;
2The Dawn-Breakers, pages 309-310.
THE BAHA’I WORLD
like their spiritual brothers and sisters across Persia, they have left their homes and it is their great joy to have taken part in the extensive teaching campaign; to have earned the approval of the beloved Guardian who wrote of the Plan: “It is a vital undertaking of the followers of the All—Merciful, conceived and established in the opening years of the second century of the Bahá’í Dispensation, and without peer or precedent throughout all the brilliant history of the first century of this wondrous Cause in that holy land”; and to have assisted in the Plan’s successful completion by the Centenary of the Martyrdom.
They are rendering enviable services and their faces are nothing but light. Unforgettably now, a woman believer chants; her voice rises, all lowliness and supplication, so that our hearts are drawn toward God. And out of that place, Salmés, which lies near Chiríq—and which the poet Hafiz has named “the abode of Salmé,” greeting it six hundred years ago and calling down blessings upon it, saying, “Hail, a thousand times hail, to thee, O abode of Salmé! How dear is the voice of thy camel-drivers, how sweet the jingling of thy bells!”—out of Salmas, which lies between the “Open Mountain” (Mah-Kfi) and the “Grievous Mountain” (Chiríq), our unspoken prayers ring out from one mountain to the other. Surely they are heard as well in the holy worlds of the Beloved.
Suddenly we decide to follow the road taken by Mullá Husayn when, in Mashhad, he vowed to walk the whole distance that separated him from the Báb, and come to Him on the mountain of Mah-Kfi. We long to visit the spot on the mountain where the Lord shone forth, as promised by God in the Qur’ánic verse: “When God manifested Himself to the mountain.” (Sfirih 7: 139.)
It so happened that the Guardian’s message, sent by telegraph in commemoration of the Martyrdom and addressed to the long—afflicted Bahá’ís of Persia, was dated at this very day and hour.
The words of the Imém who said, “I have known God by His disposal of man’s resolves,” were now demonstrated. Everyone felt a longing to go on pilgrimage to “the Open Mountain.” The plan to turn back to Tabríz was changed; we determined to remain in Khuy and prepare for the pilgrimage to Mah-Kfi.
Some feel that although they are unable
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to walk the entire distance that separated Mullá Ḥusayn from the B'c’tb,3 they will at least go on foot from K_huy to Mah-Kfi, following in the footsteps of Mullá Husayn’s faithful attendant, Qambar-‘Ali. Unfortunately this cannot be done. It is now almost half past three in the afternoon, and the bus is leaving for Máh-Kú. Some of the friends of K_huy are with us. We find ourselves looking up and down the road, searching for Mullá. Husayn and Qambar-‘Ali, and we think of those two holy souls; we consider their humility, their spiritual quality, their evanescence. Mountains and valleys pass by. The goal nears.
Over a wide area around Máh-Kú the plains are black; the world mourns at Mah-Kt’l; for mile on mile the land is studded with outcroppings of glistening black rock. Like ebony planets, these rocks rise out of the land; they flood it like waves of an ebony sea. Posted haphazardly at the mountain pass are other, monstrous shapes, terrifying rock formations that guard the entry. A11 nature is a prison here, on guard over the Beloved of mankind, over that Captive of Whom Bahá’u’lláh has written: “The purpose in creating the world and making it to flourish was His Manifestation.”
We come to a river that boils and clamors through the rocks; it has cut its way through solid rock and is maybe fifteen feet deep. We remember how Nabil tells us that the night before Mullá Husayn and his servitor arrived—it was on the eve of the Feast of the New Year—‘Ali Khán, the frontier officer in charge of the castle of Máh-Kú, had a dream. He saw the Prophet Muhammad, followed by a companion, advancing to meet him from beside the bridge. In the dream, Muhammad was on His way to visit the eastle, to greet the Báb on the occasion of the New Year. ‘Ali Khan awoke with a sense of exhilaration. He performed his ablutions and prayed, dressed himself in his best garments, sprinkled rosewater on his hands, and went out on foot to receive the Visitor. He further instructed a servant to saddle and bridle his three best horses and hold them in readiness at the bridge. But when he met Mullá Husayn there, ‘Ali Khán was told: “I have vowed to accomplish the whole of my journey on foot, to visit an illustrious Personage who is being held prisoner on top of
3Mas11had is in the northeast comer of Persia; Mah-Kfi in the extreme northwest corner.
the mountain. For this reason I will not ride.”
We strain our eyes, but we cannot see ‘Ali Khán now, and his honored visitors. But the memory of this event has, even till our day, made the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Bahá’ís all across the world beat faster; and God alone in His wisdom knows how many billions of other hearts, throughout the length of the Bahá’í Cycle which in the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is to last “at least five hundred thousand years,” will turn their attention toward this place.
We are still in the defile. We cannot see Méh-Kfi. And then suddenly, around the bend, there is “the Open Mountain” and the town of Máh-Kú on its slopes.
You who may read this, believe me: I would swear by Him Who is the Lord of the mountain that in all the world there is no such terrifying sight as this. Those who have traveled to the ends of the earth will bear me out: There is no other mountain like this. It has no like, just as the anguish of the Báb had no like, so that the Blessed Beauty wrote in the Visitation Tablet: “I bear witness that the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee.”
If, as scientists believe, our globe of dust detached itself one way or another from the sun, and down through the endless ages came at last to be as we know it, it is certain that wind and cloud, sun, moon, and sky worked from the beginning that had no beginning to bring about this mountain of Méh-Kt’t, in just this wise, to serve as the prison of the Báb. It is not a place that writers and painters can describe, this spot that was the destined setting against which the meekness of the Báb shone out. The reader must see the mountain for himself, and the prison house and the place where the Lord made Himself manifest, and he must then observe what the sight has done to his own heart, and meditate on these things through long, wakeful nights and at many a dawn, and then, if he can, let him write of it.
We are speaking of this when, after a brief detour from the road in the frightening pass that leads through the mountain, we see on our right a view of “the Open Mountain” and on its slopes the town of Méh—Kt’l. At this point the pass, lying between Méh-Kti and another high mountain that pushes into the sky across from it, widens out. And again we come face to face with the heights of Méh-Kfi. Then the pass narrows again as
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if it were the mouth of the Fathomless Pit.
The mountain stretches like a how, between the entrance and exit of the pass. It rises, awesome, overpowering, into the sky. It rivals the moon’s heights, and shuts the moon away. At either end of the bow, nature has piled two massive towers, lifting out of the mountain, up and up into the Milky Way. From a distance you would say these two are jailers, adding to the cruelty of the Báb’s imprisonment. Or again, that they are minarets from which was raised the cry, “Hasten ye to salvation! Hasten ye to salvation! I bear witness that He Who is ‘Ali before Nabil“ (‘Ali-Muhammad, the Báb) is the Gate of the Remnant of God!”
The city of Méh-Kl’i lies within the curve of the bow, the opening of which is several hundred meters across; it clings to the steep slopes, an almost perpendicular street rises jaggedly from house to house, leading finally up to the mountain top. Panting and sweating we climb toward the summit. Not all of us, however. One or two of the band who set out from K_huy to make this pilgrimage cannot keep on; the road is too rough, too steep. They cannot reach that last point of all, the prison of the Báb. They complete their pilgrimage by the roadside, and who knows, perhaps they show a special reverence in this.
As the Báb writes in the Tablet to Muhammad Shéh, the castle lies in the center of the mountain and there is no higher point. The slope ends abruptly at the castle and above it there is not a span of earth where anything could be built or find a foothold. Not jutting straight up in fortress-like walls, but inverted here in a wide arc, the mountain becomes a great parasol or cupola sheltering the prison place. Rain and snow cannot fall here; stars and moon cannot cast down their light; only the cruel cold, the scorching heat can enter here. For all day long in the heat of summer, the fortress and the mountain, like a concave mirror, gather in the heat, and all night long, while in other places people are restfully asleep, they radiate it back. And wintertimes the cold is so intense that the water which the Báb used for His ablutions froze on His face.
It is here that the Monarch of love was beset by the legions of tyranny, and the Dove of holiness prisoned by owls.
4According to the abjad reckoning, “Nabil” and “Muhammad” are numerical equivalents, the letters of each word totaling 92.
THE BAHA’I WORLD
The two towers which nature has planted on the slopes of the mountain seem from here more vigilant than ever, holding their Captive in full view.
A deep cleft runs crookedly from the summit all the way down the mountain and across from the prison, like a knotted black cord hanging; thousands of feet it swings down, a symbol of the anger of God. Perhaps it means that God desires to pull down the mountain, to crush out nature and man as well. Yet again, we believe that Méh-KI’J, the prison of His Holiness, should exist forever, that, as the ages unroll, the peoples of the earth may come at last to understand some hint of the Báb’s agony. So it is that the pull of the earth has not been able to draw down this curving roof-like peak, raised up “without pillars that can be seen” (Qur’án 31 :9) and that castle and mountain stand in their place.
This is Méh-Kl’i . . .
The pilgrims, with two of the Bahá’ís who are pioneers at Mah—Kfi, reach only the base of the mountain at sunset. They must climb the mountain before night shuts down, for at the summit is their long-desired goal.
At this time we bring to mind what Shaykh Hasan—i—Zunfizi said to the historian Nabil: That as the Báb dictated His Teachings at Méh-Kfi, the rhythmic flow of His chant could be heard by those who lived at the foot of the mountain, and mountain and valley re-echoed His voice. What a melody that must have been; how it must have shaken the spirit! Our ears strain now in the effort to hear it again, or to catch the song of the Kingdom that reverberates from slope to slope.
After long twisting and turning up the mountain we draw near to the abode of the Well Beloved. Here is another “oratory”5 at the base of the walls; from the heart of the mountain, gushing beneath the castle, a stream of pity and anguish jets out with a noise like sighs and sobs and plunges down the mountain, scattering over the surface of a massive rock. Here is clear delicate water, well-suited to this holy place, for our ablutions. The friends are very careful not to muddy it.
We come to the castle steps. Step after step, our yearning mounts. Here then is the
prison of the Lord of the Age. Here is the
5Musaué, “The Oratory,” a favorite resort of the poet Hafiz near 5mm, watered by the stream of Ruknabéd.
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place where they brought as a captive the Sovereign and Possessor of the earth, of Whom it is written: “My Lord hath ordained that all which is and all which is not should belong to the Adored One that liveth forever.”
Now we can make out His cell and that of His guards. The sorrowing voice of the Bab, which could move a heart to its depths, seems to be ringing against the mountainside, and the sacred verses He addressed to Muhammad Shéh from this very place speak to our souls: “I swear by the Most Great Lord! Wert thou to be told in what place I dwell, the first person to have mercy on Me would be thyself. In the heart of a mountain is a fortress . . . the inmates of which are confined to two guards and four dogs. Picture, then, My plight . . .”
All of us, in complete humility, praying and supplicating God, visit the cells and rooms. We take up the dust of the holy place for a blessing. We chant verses of the Báb: “O Thou the Consolation of Mine eyes! Verily Thou art the Great Announcement!” “O Thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed Myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake, and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love.” We call to mind His Manifestation and His longing to offer Himself up in death. The Visitation Tablet is chanted. As we stand there in the dark of the night, we remember that the Holy Being spent His nights on the mountain in total darkness; there was not even a candle for Him here.
Our hearts are heavy; grief bows us down. But suddenly we are comforted by the words of the Primal Point to His own Essence: “Be patient, 0 Consolation of Mine eyes, for verily God hath vowed to establish Thy glory in every land, amongst all that dwell on earth.” Our minds are now flooded with joy. It is as if from one end of the sky to the other a blinding light shines down. We see that the Báb—Who in this place out of the very depths of His captivity and His anguish revealed unnumbered utterances—completely disregarded the prison, and continued to exercise that all-powerful, allpervasive Will, against which no worldly might prevails. In His Book, the Persian Bayán, written on this mountain top, from this dark and narrow cell, He alludes to His own glory; and with His promise of World Order bestows new life on all mankind, and relates the exaltation of His own eternal
rank and station to the spreading awareness of this Order.
In the heart of this mountain the wrongs inflicted on Him Whom the world has wronged stand before us. But in the heart of another mountain, which seems now to rise face to face with this one and in sharp contrast with this, the sovereignty, dominion and might of the Lord are made manifest. Tthuardian of Bahá’u’lláh's followers, the “primal branch” that hath grown out “from the T win Holy Trees,” watches us here, watches the two mountains. Here is Méh—Kfi; and there is the holy mountain where the Báb’s body is laid to rest—named by Prophets thousands of years back in time the Mountain of God (Mt. Carmel). The King of Glory has related that mountain to His own Self. The Heavenly Father has chosen that spot to hold the dust of the Báb, and has set it apart as the center of His new World Order.
THE MOUNTAIN 0F VICTORY
Now that we speak of these things here at Méh-Kfi in the Báb’s prison, and Mt. Carmel rises suddenly before us, it is not inappropriate to turn our thoughts toward His everlasting resting place, so that we may note how the long cruelties, the prison, and at last the bullets—intended, in the words of the Almighty, to free mankind from the chains of self and passion were changed into abiding glory. How Bahá’u’lláh, in the pathway of Whose love the Báb sought and found death, fulfilled the promises voiced by the Prophets of God back through the endless ages, when He named Mt. Carmel as the Shrine of the Báb. How at His command the blessed hands of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reared the divine edifice; how redemption of the promises set down in the Tablet of Carmel6 was entrusted to the mighty arm of Shoghi Effendi, the wondrous, unique and priceless Guardian.
What is the best way to go on pilgrimage to the City that has come down from heaven, as the Shrine of the Báb is called in the Tablet of Carmel; the Shrine which, Bahá’u’lláh tells us, Mt. Zion circumambulates? Shall we take the path that leads from the Pilgrims’ House all the way to the Tomb —the house that after its builder is named Ja‘far-Abad? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that Hafiz
referred to this house when he wrote:
6In Gleanings from the Writings of Bahzi’u’lltih, pages 14-17.
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Between Ja‘far-Abéd and Musallé Laden with ambergris the north wind blows.
Or, as in the case of Méh-Kfi, when we looked first at the mountain itself, shall we contemplate the Shrine from a distance and set these two mountains against each other and compare them each to each? I think this last is best. . . .
We follow the Guardian over the flowering slopes of Haifa. They seem to glitter with colored gems and pearls, like a bride at her wedding, and we repeat to ourselves the lines, “From every branch within the blossoming grove, a thousand petals are cast before the king.” We observe the Guardian’s gait, and we think that if men’s eyes were seeing eyes, this in itself would be proof enough.
We have watched the sea in the sunset and now we are returning. We look upon Carmel, heart of the world, and at its center the Báb’s Shrine, heart of Carmel. We see its terraces from far away, burning like lighted torches before the eyes of its builder. The Guardian smilingly contemplates all this. His voice, strong and clear, rings down the mountain; he is saying, “Terraces of light; light upon light.”
His words echo back from the slopes and the sea. We think of the contrast between those long nights on Méh—KI’J, when the Báb was denied even a candle, and now, when the terraces of His Shrine are light upon light, the face of the building is a solid sheet of light, the whole mountain is to blaze with light. We remember two lines that were chanted by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Glad tidings, glad tidings! Zion is dancing! Glad tidings, glad tidings! The Kingdom of God whirls in delight!”
Instead of panting and struggling up the narrow twisted road at Méh-Kfi, stopping at times because we can climb no more, here we can rest on every terrace in the midst of gardens and trees, in lovely settings of mountainside and sea. Pools and fountains are to be built here that will reflect the sky and heaven. Each terrace is dedicated to one of the Letters of the Living, and we are received as it were by him. We forget our sorrows, as we take deep breaths of the delicate air.
No longer is the Báb a captive on Méh-KL’I. He rests in the divine gardens on the Mountain of God. He lies across the Bay of Haifa from His Well-Beloved, Baha’ THE BAHA’I WORLD
u’lláh, the Point of Adoration, Him Whom God made manifest.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who had cast aside His turban and wept and sobbed aloud as, with His own hands, He laid the Báb’s body in the heart of Carmel, Himself rests now beside the Báb. The companion who died with the Báb has never been separated from Him. Near them are built the tombs of the Most Exalted Leaf, and of the brother, the mother, and consort of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
From the foot of the mountain all the way to the Shrine, the nine terraces rise in memory of nine Letters of the Living, and, in accord with the Guardian’s design, from the Shrine to the summit of Mt. Carmel nine more shall complete the number.
The beloved Guardian, called by the Master “My Shoghi,” was from his early childhood enamored of the Báb. He dreamed of the Báb, and he was named Rabbéni in memory of the Báb’s title Rabb-i-A‘lé. It is he who, standing on the heights of the Shrine, drew the geometric designs of the terraces. He laid out the gardens, and established the International Bahá’í Endowments about the Shrine. He has placed here the International Archives, of whose treasures Bahá’u’lláh had promised, “Ere long souls will be raised up who will preserve every holy relic in the most perfect manner.” The portrait of the Báb, drawn in Urt’tmiyyih and gazed upon by Bahá’u’lláh Himself, is here. Here too are His outer garments and His shirt, soaked in His blood. A copy of the portrait and locks of the Báb’s hair have been sent as a historic gift to the Bahá’í House of Worship in the United States, which has been completed under the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi; and the Guardian has promised a copy to Persia, cradle of the Faith, as soon as the first Persian Mashriqu’l-A(flikér is built.
The Guardian has added to the Shrine on Mt. Carmel three rooms built according to the same plan as those already constructed by the Master. He has extended the length, width and height of the Shrine, and is now protecting the Edifice like a pearl of great price within the shell of an arcade and crowning it with a balustrade set with panels, the central one to the north bearing a great green and gold mosaic of the Greatest Name.
It is the Guardian who has widely spread the works of the Báb. In “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh” he has set forth the exalted
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station of the Báb. By translating the narrative of Nabil he has published the days of the Báb across the earth. He has seen to it that in every area the Centenaries of the Báb’s Declaration and of His Martyrdom were befittingly celebrated. Across over a hundred countries he has added thousands upon thousands of souls to the company of those who love the Báb, and he is looking for yet more countries to come.
At this time the Guardian is concentrating his labors on completion of the Edifice, importing marbles and granite and other priceless rock materials that had lain in the earth down endless ages until at last they should serve for the building of just such a Shrine—rock materials in jade and rose, that are symbols of the Báb’s lineage and the way He died. Following the architect’s design (you can see it in color, in the pages of that mirror of Bahá’í activities around the globe, The Bahá’í World),7 the arcade and balustrade have been completed, and the Guardian is now working day and night to direct completion of the superstructure and rear the great golden dome. Then the light will pour out of this source of light and envelop all mankind, and the “people of Bahá” referred to in the Tablet of Carmel will be made manifest, and God will sail His ark upon His holy mountain, and the laws of God will be made known to all men, and the Tabernacle of the Lord of Hosts will be pitched on the heights of Carme], and the divine World Order be unveiled; and there near the resting place of the Most Exalted Leaf (the sister of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá) and the other blessed ones, and in the neighborhood of the Holy Shrine, the Universal House of Justice will be established, and the promise “Then shalt thou see the Abhá paradise on earth” will be redeemed.
Let us go into the gardens around the Shrine-Tomb. Let us walk there on the Mountain of God, and “unravel the mysteries of love from its windflowers,” for “solaced are the eyes of them that enter and abide therein!” Let us see with our own eyes how “the rose-gardens that grow around His Holy Tomb have become the pleasure-spot of all kinds and conditions of men,” how the flower beds and fruit-bearing trees cluster so thick around the Shrine. Visitors, not Bahá’ís, will tell you these fresh and green
7 Frontispiece. Volume IX.
225
and delicate gardens have no equal anywhere else.
When the famed Orientalist A. L. M. Nicolas, who had longed to see the Báb’s Shrine exalted, received as a gift from Shoghi Effendi a copy of its design, together with a copy of The Dawn-Breakers of Nabil, he was so moved that he kissed the bearer’s hand. Strangers love this place, how much more do the friends.
Within the holy precincts we put on slippers and anoint ourselves with rose water poured out by the Guardian himself, this wonderful personage who has arisen “with the most perfect form, most great gift, most complete perfection.” His handsome face is so phenomenally bright that the Master wrote, “His face shineth with a brightness whereby the horizons are illumined.”
Within the Shrine his voice, resonant, haunting, lifts in the Visitation prayer: “The praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory which hath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon Thee . . .”
I wonder if I am awake or in a dream. “Bless Thou, O Lord my God, the Divine Lote-Tree and its leaves, and its boughs, and its branches . . . as long Thy most excellent titles will endure and Thy most august attributes will last.” If we observe the Guardian when he places flower petals on the threshold of the Báb’s sepulcher, we shall see as he strews the roses and violets there how intense are the stirrings of His love.
Today from the mountain of Méh—Kfi the anguished cry of the Báb is raised no more: “In this mountain I have remained alone, and have come to such a pass that none of those gone before Me have suffered what I have suffered, nor any transgressor endured what I have endured!” With these great victories, these new and mighty institutions, surely the sorrow of His heart is stilled at last, and out of the verses of the Baya’n He is calling: “Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahá’u’lláh and rendereth thanks unto His Lord!”
Today the Báb is not alone on the mountain any more: “The people of the Supreme Horizon and the presences who dwell in the eternal paradise circle around His Shrine.” The love of the Bahá’ís around the globe, from Anchorage t0 Magallanes, from farthest East to farthest West, gathered within the shelter of the Branch of the Sinaitic
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Tree, centers on this place and is offered up continuously to Him; while the Guardian labors by day and by night to bring to pass the prophecy of the Master when He said: “I see the ships of all the kings of the world berthed at the docks of Haifa. I see the sovereigns disembark. Bareheaded and barefooted, and carrying on their shoulders vases studded with jewels, they advance toward the Shrine.” And to fulfill these written words set down by the Pen of Glory: “After that which is inevitable shall have come to pass, these very kings and presidents will follow in the footsteps of the champions of the Cause of God. They will enter the field of service. They will fling in the dust the crowns of their perishable sovereignty and place on their heads the diadems of utter servitude, and in the front ranks of the pioneers they will labor with all their heart, with all their possessions, with all that God in His bounty hath bestowed
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upon them, to spread this Faith. And when their labors are completed they will hasten to this sacred place, and in complete humility, supplicating God, bowing down before Him, in utter lowliness, they will circle round the Holy Shrines, and lifting their voices will cry out to heaven, extolling and magnifying and glorifying the Lord, and they will unveil and establish before all the peoples of the earth the incalculable greatness of this almighty Faith.”
In this unfaithful world, this house of grief, where all things die except the Face of the Beloved, where in a little while there will be no sign of us left, let us bequeath to those who will come after us an enduring proof of what we feel. So that they will remember us, who lived in the days of the first Guardian; so that they will tell one another, for five thousand centuries to come, how we loved the Primal Point.
9. A CENTURY OF WORLD CRISIS, 1850-1950*
By G. A. BORGESE, PH.D.
Professor of Italian Literature, The University of Chicago; Founder and Secretary General of the Committee to F rame a World Constitution; Director of Common
Cause
THE world crisis as it existed a few weeks ago was bland as compared with its present phase.1 I shall, however, cling to the topic of my brief talk, while apologizing if it is inherently difficult or practically impossible to
- From stenographic notes of an address delivered
at the Centenary Commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Báb held at the Bahá’í House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, July 9, 1950.
In this talk Dr. Borgese outlines some of the elements of the crisis of western civilization in the last century. He uses as an explanatory key the proposal that the cause of the crisis has been the fragmentation of the humanistic and cosmopolitan culture of eighteenth century Europe, a time in which educated people were in surprising agreement as to their social and educational ideals and in their scientific and artistic interpretations of the world. Using this fragmentation as a general theme, he traces its development in successive areas of human endeavor—in political, social and economic organization and in science, education and the arts. Finally, Dr. Borgese argues that the only way to end the crisis is to bring about a reunification of social and cultural ideals by a return to the true nature of religion. (Editors.)
1The invasion of Korea occurred on June 25, 1950, two weeks before this address was delivered. (Editors)
distinguish the scientific factors of the crisis from those related to education and culture, as it is also very difficult or sheerly impossible to separate sharply all these from the political and the social causes of the disorder.
Obviously the main political factor in the crisis of the last century has been the rise of the national states to absolute independent sovereignties with no superior authority acknowledged. Hence ultimately the boundless bellum omnium contra omnes—the war of everybody against everybody. There was still, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a certain shadow if not reality of superior authority. There was striving for something that could connect the various national, local efforts. Napoleon tried it in a bad way in his wars of conquest—in a certain other way, perhaps not quite so bad as those we have seen since, he tried it. At the
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middle of the nineteenth century all his cosmopolitan schemes and other remainders of all—embracing authority had collapsed. Nations and nation-states emerged in their self-sufficient power.
Obviously, also, the main social factor has been, as everybody knows, the maturation of the industrial revolution. Here three consequences can be distinguished. The first of these is the growth in the absolute power of management, a development which built the basic pattern for any totalitarianism, fascist or other. Then there is the depersonalization of capital, so that anybody can have shares in a factory manufacturing fertilizers or shares in an automotive industry, without knowing the least thing about either activity and without having any contact with planning and production.
And finally, a third factor as a consequence of the maturation of the industrial revolution: the sharp demarcation between the owner class and the working class, creating a division of classes deeper than has been known in the Middle Ages or in the early modern age.
Now when we speak of these factors, which are supposed to be well known to any cultivated and thoughtful mind, we must, however, incur the danger of speaking moralistically, of sermonizing, as if the only perilous things that have happened were due to the ill will of a few men or states, and as if we were holier than they and we could have avoided them if we had been at the helm. No such boastful and ridiculous implication is included in my presentation. Anything that has happened must be looked at With a certain kind of reverence toward what was evidently inevitable or at least was not avoided.
True, the subject suggested to me, “A Century of World Crisis, 1850-1950,” is connected with the event of the martyrdom of the Báb that Sunday—it was a Sunday, too, I have learned—July 9, 1850. However, the connection is not merely arbitrary or pious. As a matter of fact, things of an epoch-making nature did happen at the middle and around the culmination of the nineteenth century. The Revolutions of 1848, that upsurge of idealistic popular will, were suppressed. No occasion for resistance was any more offered. The balance between the possible armaments of the armed people of the barricades and the armaments in the hands of the government reached a decisive
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level at that moment. In the future a strong government would always hold a monopoly of arms. The derogatory conception of the popular revolutions, as they had been arising at that time, had two faces, two aspects. On the one hand there was the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels of 1848, establishing or contending that nothing like bourgeois revolutions can lead anywhere, that the reformation must be deeper and infinitely more radical, and that this reformation must also be against the assumption of the bourgeois revolution’s ideas of liberty, justice and what-not. On the other hand, the other aspect of the crisis at that moment is seen in the dominating behavior of the governments, whether extant or in the making, in so far as they conceived governance as power, or acquisition of power, as a matter of power, exercised from on high, not as a tumult from below.
If you take the examples of the two most recent national unities in Europe, that is, Italy and Germany, you see the phenomenon happening in both countries. In Italy from the Mazzinian or great popular idealism we step over to the wise calculation of the man on horseback, Cavour; and the free bourgeois progressive Germany of Frankfurt disappears, vanishes, before the iron fist policy and success of Bismarck. These are some of the events that happened at the culmination of the nineteenth century.
There is another crisis in the fields to which I have referred, that is, in science, education and culture, which in a very similar way belongs in the same trend. One of the epoch—making events immediately after the culmination of the nineteenth century was the publication in 1859 of the basic book of Darwin, 0n the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or (the title continues) the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
There have been a number of occasions on which I have indicated that the real religion of our age is evolution, meaning by religion the complex of imaginations and beliefs, that is, the Weltanschauung; the cosmic conception of the whole. But I am glad to make it clear that evolution is nevertheless a religion which falls into two churches: There is evolutionism of the right and there is evolutionism Of the left. The evolutionism of the right is a popular interpretation of Darwin Which had its heyday in the latter part of the nineteenth century and which
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finally received its most glamor-like accent in Nietzsche’s philosophy. This church of the right is a church of discord, of struggle, the survival of the fittest. One can say it is the religion of Eris, discord, whereas the church of the left, evolutionism of progress, achieved through cooperation, through mutual aid, much rather than through conflict, should be called the church of Eros, the church of love. The evolutionary church of the right had a prevalence during the latter part of the nineteenth century and the beginning of ours.
In education the consequences both of the prevalence of the natural sciences and of the mechanical sciences and of the industrial revolution were necessarily specialization. The vocational skill was deepened and sharpened in the one direction of labor and production, while the universality of humanism went to pieces.
In another field, that of culture, we have, in 1857, the publication of Baudelaire’s Fleurs du Mal (the flowers of evil), a book of grandiose lyrical power which, however, has the effect of making amends to the prophetic, the moral, the ethical kind of poetry which was represented at that time, particularly by Victor Hugo in France, but you may also remember as part of its imitations Tennyson in England or Walt Whitman in the United States. Even at the risk of exposing the moralistic poetry to ridicule, of sapping the authority of the Good and establishing Beauty as the criterion, even as the Flower (La Fleur) on the root and stem of evil, the former poetry no longer has the approval of Baudelaire and those who follow. Most of the poetry since Baudelaire has stressed Beauty in the form of expression over the Good.
However, I cannot help returning to a crude but extremely significant book by Tolstoy, written around, very shortly before, the end of the nineteenth century, the title of which is What Is Art? It is crude because the taste of Tolstoy was, shall I say, fanatically colored—a direction of judgment that was taken by him in that he did not have any remorse or any restraint. Having established that music can be corruptive, he breaks his lances not only against Wagner’s Siegfried but also against Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, even against the Ninth Symphony with which he should have felt himself in complete agreement. And equally savage is he in scores of other particular
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judgments. But he is right when he speaks against what we have called the aesthetics of expressionism, saying that art or poetry or fiction is not expression alone, it is communication. It is a communicated expression which has power over the minds and hearts of our fellow men. “Art,” he wrote, “is not a pleasure, a solace or an amusement. Art is a great matter. Art is an organ of human life, transmuting man’s reasonable perception into feeling. The task of art is enormous. It is through the influence of the real art that the peaceful cooperation of man which is now plagued by external means should be obtained, by man’s free and joyous activity. Art should cause violence to be set aside, and it is only art that can accomplish this.”
Now if we consider what is our present attitude toward these main factors of the crisis through which we have lived and are living, we see that the first factor consisted of national policies and the industrial revolution mastered by the will to power, both of them to be considered together—military political power in the state, production and enlargement of production in industry. We have also had regimentation, a second factor in the fragmentation of humanism, that is, specialized and vocational skill. The third factor is deviation of the arts and of culture in general, which have become an assemblage of facts, a deviation from a feeling of responsibility as communication to its feverish exultation in pure expressionism.
If we look at our attitudes toward these evils, the progress that has been achieved is that we have become cautious, we have become aware of them, and we realize that the higher and bloodier the crisis arises, the more tensely are we in quest of remedies, of rewards. There are remedies that have been proposed of the reactionary, of the retrograde kind, that is, to dig out some things from the past ancient medieval civilization or even from the monistic2 liberal civilization of the eighteenth century, and to build them anew and give them a new chance for life; that is the fertilization of fossils. It cannot be successful. At least the second kind of remedy is more hopeful, and that is the creation of something new from the past with the clear vision that when we
speak of politics and industrial revolution
2 Monistic, that is, the humanized world as composed of interrelated cultures which was destroyed (broken up into fragmentary concepts) in the nineteenth century. (Editors.)
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and science and technology and education and culture and liberty and the arts, we are simply naming and listing the boughs of one tree, the tree being religion, provided that the word religion is understood in its cosmic sense.
It is very curious that even at the acme of scientism, of positivism, it is Auguste Comte who already at the beginning of the latter part of the nineteenth century tried to transmute the belief in science into a mystical belief. He created, together with a sublime woman friend of his, an unsuccessful and yet significant religion of science. But then, even more convincing, you see a personality like Gandhi arise from the tail end of Hinduism and extract from Hinduism what is of universal and permanent value, leaving the metaphors and imaginations and the myths to the delight of the cultivated mind or to the pleasure of the uncultivated, to the pleasure and comfort of the popular mind, but hallowing and cleansing the substance of the Hindu teaching as the age wants it to be understood. Nor is the experience of Tolstoy different, who, after all, performed the same operation in what concerned Christianity. He did not even want to know, right or wrong as he may have been, anything about the resurrection of Jesus, or about redemption through Christ’s sacrificial death; all this was for him superstition or myth. What he wanted was the Christian idea of the universality of man, and of brotherly love, to be extracted as the real, permanent, inextinguishable quintessence of the historical transformation of the Christian creed.
But the importance—I should not say but, I should say and—the real meaning and importance of your religion of the Bahá’í Faith is in this trend, that it is again a contribution through the very curvilinear ways, one might say providentia], of Islam which had been separated for centuries from the culture of the human progressive family and which enters it again through a twig arising from that branch of the Islamic tree which had already given the fruits that everybody remembers in the late Middle Ages and in the Sufi poetry of that Persia where Tabríz, the place of the martyrdom of the Báb, is located. Nor could anybody forget that civilization owed to Islam one of the most creative elements of progress in the late Middle Ages and in the eve of the Renaissance, that is, the principle of religious tolerance, or even more than tolerance, the idea
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that the Jew, the Christian and the Arabian all, after all, believe the same thing.
Then, in later times, it seemed as if the West had gone its own way; as if only the self-enclosed or impoverished elements of the Islamic tradition were at work in the Near and Middle East.
There is something dramatic and thrilling in the appearance of this solitary man, the Bath, who resumes the Islamic tradition from its sources and who brings it to the necessary conclusion that there is one mankind, one world, and “mankind its citizens.” And that there is only one religion and all the Prophets have taught that one.
So there is another spur, and it is another revelation of the concomitance of the good efforts all around the world; the fact that the Báb and His successors have been able to raise congregations in the United States is another evidence, if you are ready for the paradox, that the real Christianity or real Judaism is not quite dead in this country, so that an Islamic prophecy could be accepted in so far as it found a terrain in traditions of the West which you did not want to dishonor or disown.
Now I have finished, with the desire only of adding one more expression of my thankfulness for having been singled out for this appearance. As a matter of fact the distance, physical, between Wilmette and the South Side of Chicago where the University is located, and a little house where are the offices of the Committee to Frame a World Constitution, in which is located the Common Cause of which I am the director—the distance between Wilmette and the South Side of Chicago is small. The distance between what you are doing and worshiping here and what we are doing and attempting there is nothing. It has been said in 1936 by Shoghi Effendi, and similar words have appeared in earlier Writings of the Bahá’í Faith:
“A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation—such
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is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving.”3
And we wrote in the Preamble of our preliminary draft of a World Constitution: “The people of the earth having agreed that the advancement of man in spiritual excellence and physical welfare is the common goal of mankind, that universal peace is the prerequisite for the pursuit of that goal, that justice in turn is the prerequisite of peace, and peace and justice stand or fall together, that iniquity and war inseparably spring from the competitive anarchy of the national states, that therefore the age of nations must end and the era of humanity begm.”
That is what we wrote and write, because our work proceeds. It counts on your help and on your vicinity. This is a good occasion for me to invite all of you, or at least
3 From "Unfoldment of World Civilization,” written in 1936, by Shoghi Effendi, published in World Order 0/ Bahd'u'lláh, p. 204.
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those who can, to join physically or spiritually in what ways would be the best to further the Fourth World Congress for World Federal Union which we are calling to be assembled in Rome in 19514—a year of decision. The spirit which leads us there is yours as it is ours. Nowhere has it been said better what unites us to you and you to us, as a symbolic meeting of what should be and shall be, the universal meeting of the human mind, than in the first two and most basic of the nine selected utterances of Bahá’u’lláh carved on the exterior of this House of Worship. The first repeats: “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”5 The second: “The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice. Turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.”“
4The Fourth World Congress for World Federal Government was held in Rome, Italy, April 2—9, 1951. The Preliminary Draft of a World Constitution has been published by The University of Chicago Press, 1948.
5Gleam'ngs from the Writings of Bahd’u‘lláh, page 250.
6Hidden Words (Arabic), verse 2.
10. DER 100. JAHRESTAG DES OPFERTODES DES BAB
ZUR GEDENKFEIER AM 9.JULI 1950 IN KARLSRUHE, DEUTSCHLAND NACH EINER ANSPRACHE VON DR. EUGEN SCHMIDT, STUTTGART
ES SIND heute 100 Jahre, dass an jenem wildbewegten Sommertag, am 9. Juli 1850 in Tabris in Aserbeidschan (Persien) ein junger Perser, erst 31 j'ahrig, auf Geheiss einer fanatischen, muhammadanischen Geistlichkeit und seiner Regierung von einem Regiment Soldaten unter ungewohnlichen Umst'anden erschossen wurde. Mit roher irdischer Gewalt wurde das Leben eines grossen Menschen ausgeloscht, der sechs Jahre Iang das Evangelium einer neuen religitisen Sendung verkiindete.
Obwohl der Hingerichtete—Sein Name war ‘Ali Muhammad—in seinem Lande eine m’achtige geistige Bewegung ausliiste, wurde jenem Ereignis wenig Beachtung geschenkt, in einer Zeit, die in den grosseren Bann neuer Erfindungen, nationaler Machtentfaltung und materiellen Reichtums gezogen war.
Heute, nach 100 Jahren seit jenem denkwfirdigen Geschehen, flnden sich in
mehr als 100 L‘zindern auf allen Kontinenten, in Hunderten von Stadten und Dorfern, viele Hunderttausende aller Rassen und Stande zu einer Gedenkfeier zusammen, die dem Martyrertod des genannten Persers gewidmet ist, dem Bab, das soviel besagt wie das Tor oder die Pforte zu einem neuen Gottgesandten, einer gottlichen Manifestation.
DURCH OPFER ZUR WELTORDNUNG
In der Geschichte der Volker, im Aufund Niedergang ihrer Kulturen sind es nicht
viele menschliche Opfertaten, die die Geschicke der Menschheit wesentlich bestimmten. Wohl kennen wir manche heldenmiitige
Taten von Menschen, die aus politischen
oder sozialen Griinden den Einsatz ihres
persénlichen Lebens nicht scheuten. Es sind
uns auch menschliche Opfer urn des Glaubens oder einer Idee willen bekannt. Die
erhabensten- und erschiitterndensten Zeng
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nisse von Selbstiiberwindung und Opfergang sind uns aber in der fortschreitenden Entwicklung der Religion gegeben.
Es sind die unvergesslichen Beispiele bedingungsloser Unterwerfung fiberragender einzelner unter den Willem Gottes, die eine erlfisende Kraft und zukunftsweisendes Licht in das Dunkel der Menschheitsentwicklung hineintrugen. Das Leben, Wirken und Leiden der wenigen Grossen, der gfittlichen Boten, wiesen den Menschen immer wieder durch jener opfervolle Hingabe den Weg zu deren héchsten Bestimmung, zur liebenden Hingabe an den Schépfer und die Mitmenschen.
Wenn Abrahams Opferbereitschaft noch darin geprfift wurde, dass er seinen iiber alles geliebten Sohn Gott auf dem Altar des Opfers darbringen sollte, so steht uns der Opfertod Christi als das bezwingendste Zeugnis des bedingungslosen Gehorsams gegenfiber Gott vor Augen. Das Geschehen von Golgotha, der Kreuzestod des Nazareners, wurde f'Lir das Abendland zu einem geschichtsbildenden Ereignis von nicht geahnter Kraft und Bedeutung, hat aber seit der Reformation mehr und mehr an Einfluss auf das Vélkerleben verloren. Die kulturschtipferische Macht der Sendung Muhammads, die im Mittelalter bis nach Spanien vordrang, verebbte in den letzten Jahrhunderten ebenfalls in wachsendem Masse und verfiel ebenso wie das Christentum einer Verweltlichung und Verflachung.
An die Stelle der ausséhnenden, verbindenden Religion hat der aufgekl'airte Mensch der Neuzeit die Vernunft, Systeme von Lebensanschauungen, Philosophien und Ideologien gesetzt, die die inneren, sittlichen Bindungen des einzelnen wie der Gemeinschaft bedrohlich lockerten und aushéhlten. Ein Autor unserer Zeit gab kennzeichnenderweise seinem Buch fiber den Weg des 19. .hzhrlmrlderz‘.s‘1 den Untertitel: ,,Am Abgrund der Ersatzreligionen“!
Nun haben sich aber seit 1844 Dinge ereignet, die wir bis jetzt auf Geschichtsund Zeittafeln nicht verzeichnet finden, die jedoch den Beginn eines neuen Zeitalters fiir die Menschheit bedeuten. Der Báb, von dem wir eingangs sprachen und Dessen Opfertod am heutigen Tag wir und viele mit uns in tiefster Ehrfurcht und Liebe gedenken, kiindigte Mitte des letzten Jahrhunderts eine geistige Wiedergeburt der straucheln 1 Hermann Ullmann (Chr. Kaiser Verlag, Mfinchen).
den Menschheit an, eine neue Menschheit, die ein grésserer als Er, eine géttliche, Manifestation, zu einer befriedeten, geistigen Einheit herauflijhren werde.
Der Báb als das Tor zu einem neuen, erleuchteten Zeitalter war mehr als ein Reformator oder Mystiker auf muhammadanisch—persischem Boden—Er war selbst ein Sprecher Gottes, ein Herold géttlicher Fijhrung, der in wenigen gefahrvollen Jahren in bezwingender geistiger Macht die Rechte der Menschheit fiber die der Rasse, Klasse und Nation erhob und unter Hinweis auf die grosse Offenbarung einen trennende Bekenntnisse fibergreifenden, universalen Glauben verkfindete. Er Iegte den Grund zu einer mit Seinem Blut geweihten Weltreligion und machte den Weg frei f'Lir jenen, ,,den Gott offenbaren wird,“ Bahá’u’lláhdie Herrlichkeit Gottes—Der, im Jahre 1863, Seine vom Báb vorausgesagte Sendung Eiffentlich verkiindigte.
Der denkwiirdige 9. Juli 1850, an dem der Báb hingerichtet wurde, ist durch Augenzeugenberichte von Freunden und Feinden ffir die Nachwelt festgehalten worden.
Unterdrijckung, Verfolgung und Einkerkerung des neuen Propheten konnten nicht verhindern, Seine Anh'ainger stérker und mutiger anwachsen zu lassen, weshalb trotz Fehlens einer Bestétigung durch ein Gericht und ohne letzte Rechtfertigungsméglichkeit des Báb das von der geistlichen Ffihrung gefiillte Todesurteil am 9. Juli 1850 in Tiibris ausgeffihrt wurde. Dem Bruder des Grosswesirs, Mirzá Sém K_h:’1n, einem Christen, wurde als Oberst eines armenischen Regiments der Befehl zur Hinrichtung des Báb gegeben. Dem Regimentskommandeur fiel das edle Betragen seines Gefangenen so sehr auf, dass er dem Báb erkl'eirte, keine béise Absicht gegen Ihn zu hegen und dass er, erfiillt von Furcht, dass seine Tat den Zorn Gottes herbeiffihren W'Lirde, den Verurteilten bat, ihn von der ihm auferlegten Pflicht zu entbinden, wenn Seine Sache die Sache der Wahrheit sei. Der Báb gab dem Obersten darauf folgende Zusicherung: ,,Folgen Sie ihren Anweisungen, und wenn Ihre Absicht aufrichtig ist, so ist der A11m'eichtige sicher imstande, Sie aus Ihrer Verlegenheit zu befreien.“
Noch ein bedeutungsvolles Vorkommnis
ereignete sich vor der Hinrichtung des Báb.
Der Farrésll—Bésbi, der die Durchffihrung
des Befehles des Grosswesirs fibernahm,
hatte schrofi die letzte Unterhaltung unter
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brochen, die der Báb vertraulich in einem der R'aiume der Kaserne mit Seinem vertrauten Gehilfen Siyyid Husayn fijhrte, und zog den letzteren beiseite und schalt ihn heftig aus, als er von seinem Gefangenen also angeredet wurde:
,,Nz'cht ehe Ich ihm alles gesagt habe,
was Ich ihm sagen will, kann irgend eine
irdische Macht Mich zum Schweigen bringen. M(‘J'ge auch die ganze Welt gegen
Mich in Wafien stehen, so soll es ihr doch
nicht gelingen, Mich am VOIIbringen
Meiner Absicht bis zum letzten Wort zu
hindern.“
Aus The Dawn-Breakers,2 entnehmen wir auch:
,,Sém Iglén befahl seinen Lenten, einen Nagel in den Pfeiler zwischen der Tiir zu dem von Siyyid Husayn bewohnten Zimmer und dem Eingang zum Nebenraum einzuschlagen und zwei Seile an ihn zu heften, von denen der Báb und Sein Gef'éhrte gesondert herabh'zingen sollten. Mirzá Muhammad-‘Ali [der Geffihrte des Báb] bat Sém K_hén, so angebunden zu werden, dass sein Kérper an der Brust des Báb ruhte . . . Sobald sie angebunden waren, trat ein Regiment Soldaten in drei Gliedern an, jedes zu 250 Mann, mit der Weisung, wechselweise zu feuern, bis die ganze Abteilung ihre Salven verschossen hitte. Der Pulverdampf der feuernden 750 Gewehre war geeignet, das Licht des Mittags in Dunkel zu wandeln. Auf dem Dach der Kaserne sowohl als auch auf den angrenzenden Hausern hatten sich an zehntausend Menschen angesammelt, von denen jeder Zeuge dieses traurigen und erregenden Schauspiels war.
,,Sobald der Rauch sich verzogen hatte, starrte eine verbliiffte Menge auf ein Bild, das ihre Augen kaum zu fassen vermochten: Da stand der Gef‘aihrte des Báb vor ihnen, lebend und unversehrt, w'aihrend Er Selbst ohne Schaden ihren Blicken entschwunden war. Obgleich die Kugeln ihre H'aingestricke zerfetzt hatten, waren ihre Leiber wunderbarerweise den Salven entgangen. Selbst das Gewand Mirzá Muhammad-‘Ali’s war, trotz der Dichte des Ranches, ohne Flecken geblieben. ,Der Siyyid-i-Báb ist unseren Blicken entschwundenl‘, so tfinten die Stimmen der bestiirzten Menge. Rasend fing sie an, Ihn zu suchen und fand Ihn schliesslich in dem Zimmer sitzend, in dem Er zuvor fibernach 2“Nabi1’s Narrative” (New York, 1932), Kapitel XXIII.
THE BAHA’I WORLD
tet hatte, Sein unterbrochenes Gespr’éch mit Siyyid Husayn vollendend. Ein Ausdruck ruhigsten Friedens war auf Seinem Antlitz. Sein Kérper war dem Kugelhagel, den das Regiment auf Ihn gerichtet hatte, unbeschédigt entgangen.—,Ich habe meine Unterhaltung mit Siyyid Husayn beendet‘, sagte der Báb zum Farrés_1_1—Béshi. ,Nun mégen sie ihre Absicht erfijllen.‘
,,Der Mann war zu sehr erschfittert, um fortzufahren. Er weigerte sich, seiner Aufgabe nachzukommen, verliess augenblicklich den Schauplatz und legte seinen Posten nieder . . . Sém K_hé.n war genau so betl'iubt von der Wucht dieser gewaltigen Ofienbarung. Er befahl seinen Lenten, die Kaserne sofort zu verlassen und verweigerte f'Lir sich und sein Regiment jede Handlung, die auch nur die kleinste Unbill fiir den Báb eintragen kénnte. Er schwor beim Verlassen des Hofes, nie wieder die Aufgabe zu fibernehmen, selbst wenn seine Weigerung ihm den Tod einbringen sollte.
,,Kaum hatte Sém Ighén sich entfernt, als sich Aqé Jén Iglén-i-Ifilamsih, Oberst der Leibgarde, auch bekannt unter den Namen I_(_hamsih und Nésiri, freiwillig erbot, den Hinrichtungsbefehl zu vollstrecken. Der Báb und Sein Gef'iihrte wurden an der gleichen Mauer und in der gleichen Weise wieder hochgeh'aingt, und das Regiment trat in Linie an, um auf sie zu feuern. Anders als vorher, da nur ihr Hingeseil in Stiicke geschossen war, wurden ihre K&Srper diesmal verletzt und zu einer einzigen Masse von Fleisch und Knochen vermengt.
,, ,Hiittest du, o widerspenstiges Geschlecht, an Mich geglaubt‘, waren die letzten Worte des Bdb an die gafiende Menge, wc'ihrend sich das Regiment anschickte, die letzte Salve abzufeuem, ,so wiirde jeder von euch dem Beispiel dieses JL'inglings, der im Rang hoch fiber den meisten von euch stand, gefolgt sein und sich gem auf Meinem Pfad geopfert haben. Der Tag wird kommen, da ihr Mich erkannt haben werdet, an jenem Tag werde ich aufgehért haben, in eurer Mitte zu weilen.‘
,,Im Augenblick, als die Schfisse fielen, erhob sich ein Sturm von ungewéhnlicher Stirke und fegte fiber die ganze Stadt hin. Ein unglaublich dichter Wirbel von Staub verdunkelte die Sonne und blendete die Augen der Leute. Die ganze Stadt blieb in das Dunkel gehfillt von Mittag bis Abend.“
[Page 233]
CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE BAB 233
EIN JAHRHUNDERT IM ZEICHEN DER NEUEN GOTTESOFFENBARUNG
Heute, ein Jahrhundert, nachdem die Stimme des Báb durch seine Hinrichtung zum Schweigen gebracht wurde, mfissen wir erkennen, dass die ganze Menschheit ihr eigenes, selbstverschuldetes Mirtyrertum erleidet, weil sie sich immer noch weigert, dem g6ttlichen Ruf zu folgen und sich in einem umfassenden Glauben auszuséhnen und zu vereinigen. Gleichsam wie ein Meteor trat der Báb mit prophetischer Verheissung der unmittelbar bevorstehenden Heraufkunft eines Gottgesandten am Firmament auf und wurde durch seinen Opfertod zum Wegbereiter und Lichtstrahl der erlésenden Wahrheit, die der von Ihm Verheissene, Bahá’u’lláh, in der Niederlegung einer gerechten Weltordnung im Zeichen der Einheit der Menschheit und der Religionen bald nach dem erschfittemden Ereignis in Téibris ofienbarte.
Der berufene Erkliirer der Sendungen des Báb und Bahá’u’lláh’s, ‘AbduI—Bahá, Iegt die Beziehungen zwischen den beiden mit der Bahá’í-Sendung verbundenen Manifestationen wie folgt dar:3
,,Die Oflenbarung des Báb mag mit der
Sonne verglichen werden, deren Stand
dem ersten T ierkreiszeichen entspricht,
dem Zeichen des Widders, in welches die
Sonne mit der Tag- und Nachtgleiche
des Friihlings eintritt. Die Stufe der Of fenbarung Bahá’u’lláh’s dagegen wird durch das Zeichen des Lb'wen dargestellt, wenn die Sonne die Sommermitte und ihren hc'ichsten Stand erreicht hat. Das bedeutet, dass diese heilige Ofienbarung erleuchtet ist vom Lichte der Sonne der
Wahrhez't, die von ihrem erhabensten
Punkte aus in der Fiille ihres Glanzes,
ihrer Wiirme und ihrer HerrIichkeit he rabscheint.“
Die heutigen Probleme des Aufbaus einer friedlichen und gerechten Weltordnung fibersteigen menschliches Kijnnen und Vermégen; sie erheischen wahrlich eine géttliche inspirierte Lésung, die nur aus dem Bereich der Religion kommen kann. Alle grossen Kulturen hatten ihren Aufstieg einem religifisen Impuls zu verdanken und zerfielen mit dem Niedergang ihrer géttlichen Bindungen. Hatte Goethe nicht recht, wenn er sagte: ,,Das eigentlich einzige und tiefste Thema der Welt- und Menschheitsgeschi 3 Die Sendung Baha'u'llah’s, S. 40.
chte, dem alle Librigen untergeordnet sind, bleibt der Konflikt des Glaubens und Unglaubens“?
Aus der Diagnose der tiefsten Ursachen der heutigen allgemeinen Unsicherheit, des Misstrauens und des Zweifels, der Verantwortungsmijdigkeit und des Glaubensschwundes ergibt sich ffir den tiefer Schauenden fast zwangsliiufig die Antwort, dass nur eine neue sittlich-religiése Fundamentierung der einzelmenschlichen, gesellschaftlichen und zwischenstaatlichen Beziehungen und Bindungen eine durchgreifende Wendung der bedrohlichen Lage der Menschheit herbeifiihren kann. Versti’indigung oder Chaos, Ordnung oder Untergang heisst die alternative Lebensfrage der Menschheit.
Wir sind der gleichen Aufiassung wie Toynbee, der sagt: ,,Was der modernen Welt zutiefst not tut, ist eine Neugeburt des Glaubens an das Uebernatijrliche.“ Wahrer Glauben kann aber nur aus der Religion kommen und diese kann heute nur eine so]che sein, die die ganze Menschheit erneuert und vereinigt.
Die Sicherung des Weltfriedens und eines sozialen Ausgleichs ist ohne die Errichtung einer gerechten Weltordnung nicht denkbar und diese wiederum kann nur dann von Bestand sein, wenn sie géttlichen Ursprungs ist.
In religionsgeschichtlicher Einmaligkeit hat nun Bahá’u’lláh schon vor mehr als 80 Jahren trotz Verfolgung, Verbannung, Einkerkerung und Lebensbedrohung ,,den Zirkel der Einigkeit gefiihrt, Er hat einen Plan niedergelegt f'Lir die Vereinigung aller Vfilker, um sie alle unter dem schfitzenden Zelt der Einigkeit zu sammeln.“ (‘Abdu’l-Bahá)
Es ist zum Ereignis geworden: F‘Lir die Vfilker der Welt liegt seit dem Erscheinen Bahá’u’lláh’s eine géttlich geoffenbarte WeltCharta in authentischdokumentarischer Form bereit. Die Zukunft der Menschheit wird durch deren allgemeine Annahme und Verwirklichung bestimmt werden.
Die von Bahá’u’lláh niedergelegte Weltordnung und deren autoritative Erléiuterung
durch Seinen filtesten Sohn ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
verbfirgen in ihrem Aufbau soziale Gerechtigkeit, treuhfinderische, beratende und
fibernationale Zusammenarbeit im Bewusstsein wahrer und weltoffener Bruderschaft.
Ausgehend von der tragenden Idee der geistigen Einheit der Menschheit zielt die Weltordnung von Bahá’u’lláh auf die schliess
[Page 234]
234
liche Bildung eines Weltgemeinwesens ab, da die nationalstaatliche Entwicklung ihren Abschluss gefunden hat. Zu den wesentlichen Bestandteilen der fiberstaatlichen V61kergemeinschaft werden folgende Voraussetzungen z'zihlen: Ueberwindung aller imperiaIistischen Macht- und Herrschaftsanspriiche, Einffihrung der obligatorischen internationalen Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit und Bildung eines Internationalen Schiedsgerichtshofes nebst einer Weltpolizei als Sicherheits— und Vollzugs-Weltorgan, allgemeine Abriistung, Kriegffihrung nur bei unbestrittener Verteidigungszwangslage im Sinne einer kollektiven Verteidigungs- und Schutzpflicht im Aggressionsfalle, Abschaffung der allgemeinen Wehrpflicht ohne unbedingte Kriegsdienstverweigerung, Lésung der sozialen Fragen auf der Grundlage der Wfirdigung jeglicher menschendienenden Arbeit und einer Begrenzung von Armut und Reichtum nach Grundséitzen der Leistung und gerechter Teilhaberschaft am Arbeitsertrag, Einheit von Religion und Wissenschaft als Basis der Vblkerverst'aindigung, Einffihrung einer Welthilfssprache und Einheitsschrift, einer Weltverfassung unter Einbeziehung der unverletzlichen Menschenrechte und -Pflichten.
Shoghi Effendi schrieb dariiber:4
,,Ein Weltbundsystem, das die ganze Erde beherrscht und eine unanfechtbare Befugnis fiber ihre unvorstellbar umfassenden Hilfsquellen aus'Libt, die Ideale sowohl des Ostens als auch des Westens verschmilzt und verkfirpert, von dem Fluch des Krieges und seines Elends befreit ist und sich auf die Ausniitzung aller verfiigbaren Kraftquellen auf der Oberflfiche des Planeten richtet, ein System, in dem die Stirke zur Dienerin der Gerechtigkeit gemacht ist, dessen Dasein durch seine allumfassende Anerkennung des einen Gottes und durch seinen Gehorsam gegen eine gemeinsame Offenbarung getragen wird—dies ist das Zie], dem die Men 4Aus World Order of Bahd'u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi, S. 204.
THE BAHA’I WORLD
schheit durch die vereinenden Lebenskr‘éfte zustrebt.”
Gott geht vorfiber betitelte Shoghi Effendi sein Buch fiber das erste Bahá’í—Jahrhundert. Wenn wir heute des freiwilligen Opfertodes des Báb gedenken, kénnen wir uns der erlésenden und verpflichtenden Macht dieses erschfitternden Ereignisses nicht entziehen. Christi Wort: ,,Nehme dein Kreuz auf dich und folge mir nach“ hat durch den Opfergang des Báb und die von Bahá’u’lláh aus freiem Entschluss auf sich genommene 40-jéihrige Freiheitsberaubung in unbeschreiblicher, h'firtester und erniedrigender Gef'eingnis- und Kerkerhaft eine unvergleichliche Steigerung erfahren. Die neue Weltordnung muss von wiedergeborenen Menschen getragen werden, von opferbereiten, glaubensstarken Menschen, deren liebende Taten sie zur Stufe des wahren Menschen erheben.
Die tiefste Bedeutung, die erlésende Kraft des Opfers erschliesst sich den Menschen in dem Geschehen der fortschreitenden Gottesofienbarung, in der unbedingten Hingabe der Gottgesandten an Gott ffir die Menschen, in ihrer Wahrheitsotfenbarung.
Dem Glauben an den Erléser muss aber die sittliche Tat der Selbstfiberwindung des Menschen folgen.
Die folgenden Worte Bahá’u’lláh’s mégen uns am heutigen Gedenktag zur 100. Wiederkehr des Mértyrertodes des Báb die hohe Berufung des Menschen unserer Zeit vergegenwfirtigen : 5
,,0 Sohn des Menschen/
Auf die T afel des Geistes schreibe alles,
was Wir dir verkiindet haben, mit der
Tinte des Lichtes. Wenn du dies nicht
vermagst, so mache zu deiner Tinte das
Wesen deines Herzens. Bist du auch dazu
nicht imxtande, dann schreibe mit der
roten Tinte, die auf dem Pfade zu Mir vergossen wurde. Wahrlich, dies ist Mir kostbarer als alles andere, denn solches
Licht wiihret ewiglich."
5 Verborgene Worre (Arabische v. 71).
