AN APPRECIATION
BY DR. RUSZTEM VÁMBÉRY
Introduction to the Hungarian Translation of Dr. John E. Esslemont’s book "Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” by the son of the late Professor Arminius Vámbéry.
HOW does Saulus get among the Pauli? What authority has the skeptical sociologist or even the critical lawyer to accompany with introductory words a book which wishes to make the Hungarian reader acquainted with the teachings of one of the modern Oriental religions?
It is twenty years since a certain visitor was announced in the home of my late father on the Danube River. I was accustomed to meet Turkish, Tartar, Persian and Hindu pilgrims who used to seek out this one time dervish (my father), as they were on their way from East to West. However, this visitor had an exceptional appearance: he was of medium height, slightly bent with age, had a dove-white beard, eyes full of fire, from the benevolent light of which the convincing power of faith and knowledge radiated. I did not undestand his words, for he spoke with my father in Persian, but I understood his personality in the irresistible magic of which was reflected the consciousness of apostolic vocation. After the lapse of two decades I still see the dignified appearance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as a living reality! He was the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of this universal religion, and he inherited from His Father the prophetic inspiration and mission to be the Expounder of the unity of mankind, of peace and of social justice.
Ex oriente lux. Mankind was accustomed for a good many thousand years for the birth of these exceptional World Teachers like Lao Tze, Confucius, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Muḥammad to come from the countries of the East, with Whose Names the ideas of the world religions are associated. Only the great thunderers of the Reformation, Wycliffe, Hus, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin are the representatives of the critical spirit of the West, in the history of religions. Bahá’u’lláh belonged to neither of these groups, and the Bahá’í movement, which is aiming at the comprehensive unification of the basic idea of all cultural religions, cannot be classified under the traditional heading of religious denominations. This makes it plain that my late father who in his “Story of My Struggles,” although he did not confess any of the positive religions, still received with sincere and warm sympathy far beyond the interest which he had as an Orientalist for all spiritual movements of the East, the Bahá’í Movement and Its Apostle, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
My father, in his book “My Migrations and What I Saw in Persia, 1867,” devoted a chapter to the Bábi Movement, which movement was the forerunner to the Bahá’í Revelation. This movement had been started by Mírzá ‘Alí Muḥammad, a young merchant of Shíráz who in the forties of the last century appeared as the Prophet of a religion reforming Islám and very soon found numerous followers. He proclaimed that the Almighty is the Knowledge and he is the Gate (Báb) through which truth and faith can be approached. The tyrannical government of Persia did not permit any trifling with the question of reformation. They not only executed with exceptional cruelty the "Gate of God,” but sent more than twenty thousand men, women and children to martyrdom. It is, however, an eternal experience that the earth does not drink the blood of martyrs without leaving great traces.
So it happened that one of the followers of Báb, Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí of Núr, whose father was a high official of the Court of Persia, not only gave new power to the movement but broadened what was originally a more restricted Faith into a universal religion. Mírzá Ḥusayn of Núr, a few years later assuming the name of Bahá’u’lláh (the Glory of God), professed in His faith the unity of mankind, the oneness of religions
The Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds (Bahá’í Headquarters), Ṭihrán, Persia.
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under the sign of reconciliation of state and
religion. However, religious and political intolerance did not
spare Bahá’u’lláh either. Having been put into
fetters with His followers he was suffering
in the Persian prison, afterwards was exiled
to Baghdád. Then the Sháh of Persia,
frightened by the ever growing number of the
Prophet’s followers, extradited Him to the Sultan of
Turkey. His calvary still did not come to
an end. Though at first he met a friendly
reception, the jealousy of Muḥammadan
orthodoxy very soon interned Him in
Adrianople where He came into contact with
the Western world. Later on He was deported
to ‘Akká in Palestine. In this penal
colony, Bahá’u’lláh was kept in prison with
seventy of His followers and had to suffer
for years the agony of misery and deprivation,
and yet His following was continually growing,
and when after years He was allowed to
move a little more freely in that region,
which he could not leave until His death, at
the age of seventy-five years, in 1892, still
from the fartherest East the followers came
to try to see Him and to hear more about His
Teachings.
After His passing, His eldest son and spiritual heir, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Servant of Bahá) continued and expounded the work of His Father. For forty years He shared His Father’s imprisonment and after His release, He began to travel. With His powerful mind innately knowing both the East and the West, and with unparalleled oratorical power and rare intelligence He was preaching the faith of the oneness of mankind. First in London and Paris, later on in 1912 in the United States in assemblies of various denominations, in universities, in peace societies, in gatherings of feminist organizations, of Theosophists, He explained and advocated the Teaching of Bahá’u’lláh; even the Free Masons found their highest ideals expressed in these teachings. The following year He continued His work in Germany and Austria, reaching on his way in April, 1913, Budapest where He was staying for nine days. During this time His room in the Dunapalota Hotel became a veritable mecca for all those whom the mysticism of the East and the wisdom of its Master attracted into its magic circle. Among His visitors were Count Albert Apponyi, Prelate Alexander Giesswein, Professor Ignatius Goldziher the Orientalist of world-wide renown, Professor Robert A. Nadler the famous Budapest painter and leader of the Hungarian Theosophical Society, Director Leopold Stark the engineer. A visit was paid to him by Muḥammadan students most of whom were from Turkey, led by Professor Julius Germanus.
Our newspapers discussed with great interest the humanitarian mission of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. During His stay in Budapest he delivered two lectures in Persian, one under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, the Esperantists and the feminist organizations, in the Hall of the old Parliament, the other at the meeting room of the National Museum. His addresses were translated into Hungarian and English, without losing much of their power by these translations. An audience of many hundred people most attentively followed His words by which He promoted with the inspiration of a Prophet that only the synthesis of Eastern and Western culture could cure the mortally sick mankind.
During His Budapest visit, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá repeatedly met my late father with whom He afterwards continued to correspond. These letters appeared in English and Arabic newspapers and magazines, and it would not be without interest to the Hungarians if I publish in Hungarian the lines my late father wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Persian:
“This submissive petition I deliver to the Holy and Blessed Presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant of all Knowledge, renowned in the whole world and loved by all humanity.
“O Thou noble Friend, who endows humanity with Guidance, may my life be a sacrifice for Thee!
“The beloved letter Thou hast condescended to write to this servant, as well as the rug which Thou hast sent, arrived rightly into my possession. The time in which I was permitted to be in the Presence of Thy Highness and the memory of the blessing of Thy Presence will always remain a memory of this servant and I yearn for the time in which I may be together with Thee.
“Although I have travelled through many
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countries and cities of Islám I have not yet
met anywhere else with such a lofty
character and such a noble Personality, and I
testify that it is impossible to find such an
one anywhere else. By these means I hope
that Thy ideals and realizations will be
crowned with success and will show under
all conditions good results, because,
underneath these ideals and deeds, I readily can
discover the eternal welfare and well-being
of humanity.
“That I might obtain, at first hand, information and to make experiences, this servant put himself into centers of the different religions: outwardly, I became a Jew, a Christian, a Muḥammadan and a Zoroastrian. Through this experience I made the discovery, that the confessors of the different religions know nothing better to do than to hate one another and to damn one another; furthermore, I realized that all these religions, in the hands of the worldly rulers, became the means of tyranny and suppression, that they, therefore, became the cause of destruction for humanity.
“Should we consider these malicious results, we shall find that necessarily every one is obliged to put himself on the side of Thy noble Personality; and the essential foundation of a universal religion, as laid down by Thy efforts should be accepted joyfully.
“I have seen in the distance the Father of Thy Eminence, I have visualized for myself the Person of the Son and am filled with admiration.
“I bring to expression the greatest esteem and loyalty to the principles and aims of Thy Excellency and should God, the All-Highest, grant me long life, I shall serve Thee under all conditions.
“For this I supplicate and pray from the depths of my heart!
- “Thy servant,
- "(Signed) VÁMBÉRY.”
- “Thy servant,
Even the flowery language of this letter which finds its explanation in the Oriental language and thought expresses in a symbolic way the importance of the Bahá’í Movement in which the Oriental form covers the Western progressive mind. It is true that the Bahá’í Revelation is a religious movement—a religion which has no priests or clergymen, only followers, and has no mystic religious ceremonies, only thoughts and feelings—still, it includes more than the mystery of infiniteness and eternity—unknowable to the human being—expressed by the idea of God. It is a religious movement not hostile to any religion, but teaching Christians to follow as perfectly as possible the Gospel of Christ and to live the Life of Jesus. The same may be said is Bahá’u’lláh’s aim with regard to members of other Faiths. The Bahá’í movement is enemy to nothing except to prejudice, blindness and superstition which prevent religions, races, nations and classes from recognizing their own origin and value.
Though in its inception, the Bahá’í Movement, or rather its forerunner the Bábi Movement, resembles Protestantism, still in its effect, it far surpasses the teachings of Luther on “werktätiges Christenthum” (efficient Christianty). Its moral system promises not only happiness in another World, but equally guarantees earthly tranquillity by preaching the peace, peace between states, peace between classes and peace between men. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's mission as the “Ambassador of mankind,” in preaching the Bahá’í Faith was followed by success, not because of church organization or the mystic effect of ceremonies, but it was due to the spiritual content of the religion itself. All over the world, in Persia, Burma, India, Egypt and the Westeren States of Europe, and in the United States, Bahá’í communities came into existence, everywhere gathering increasing strength. From California to Japan, from Scotland to the Cape, everywhere this modern social religion took root because it expressed the unquenchable desire to unite mankind, torn in pieces, into a spiritual, social, economic synthesis of a higher order. Never was the desire stronger and its fulfillment more difficult than in the critical period after the world war. However, the faith that moves mountains does not know helplessness and the wish always includes the bud of its reality. Therefore, the following teachings expressing the essence of the Bahá’í Faith may arouse even the interest of skeptical thinkers. The following principles express the essence of the Bahá’í Teachings:
(1) Unfettered search after truth, and the abandonment of all superstition and prejudice.
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(2) The oneness of mankind: all are
“leaves of one tree, flowers in one garden.”
(3) Religion must be the cause of love and harmony, else it is no religion.
(4) All religions are one in their fundamental principles.
(5) Religion must go hand in hand with science. Faith and reason must be in full accord.
(6) Universal peace: the establishment of a Universal League of Nations, of International Arbitration and an International Parliament.
(7) The adoption of an International Auxiliary Language which shall be taught in the schools of the world.
(8) Compulsory education—especially for girls, who will be the mothers and the first educators of the next generation.
(9) Equal opportunities of development and equal rights and privileges for both sexes.
(10) Work for all: no idle rich and no idle poor. “Work in the spirit of service is worship.”
(11) Abolition of extremes of poverty and wealth: care for the needy.
(12) Recognition of the unity of God and obedience to His Revealed Commands as revealed through His Divine Manifestations.
These principles impress the reader rather as a social program than as a religious credo. Still, we should not forget that every moral credo, as, for example, the Sermon on the Mount at the time of the Roman Empire and its slavery, endeavors to create a more just social organization, more suitable to human interest by awakening the human conscience.
Again, on the other hand, the social tendencies of most recent times are assuming, in many ways, the form of a religious faith. In Europe where the scientific outlook in the last century has shaken the foundations of religious belief, there is an unquenchable thirst for a new spiritual awakening. The Theosophical Movement, Bergson’s philosophy, just as the moral system of rationalism assuming a religious form are all witnesses to the same need. Therefore Bahá’ísm, which aims to reconcile the social evolution of man with his spiritual needs on a higher plane, may justly attract the attention and interest of cultured mankind.
All social ideals can be approached from two sides: from the side of faith and from the side of knowledge. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s comparison that mankind can reach the higher realm of justice and love only with the combined wings of religion and science has therefore a most deep significance. With one wing you cannot fly. If man uses only the wing of religion he will perish in the mire of superstition; if he rises only on the wing of science he will sink in the marshes of materialism. Therefore, the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are based on the reconciliation of religion and science, and the idea of God is identical with the Infinite and Unknowable. Or as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expressed it: "One truth cannot contradict another truth.” Again He said: “Beware of prejudice! Light is good in whatsoever lamp it is burning. A rose is beautiful in whatsoever garden it may bloom. A star has the same radiance whether it shines from the East or from the West.” Thus in the Bahá’í Teaching we see united the Unknowable transcendent ideas of eternal truth with a higher social human justice. In the sign of these Teachings, the Bahá’í Movement unites the Unknowable, transcendent truth with a more perfect truth of human society.
The flowery and sometimes even highflown style in which its Apostles and followers express their Eastern faith in the ideas of Western thought may impress the Hungarian reader as rather strange. Yet their language is the same as we know from the Bible, the Qur’án, the Vedas. All the more fascinating is the visionary purport of the sentences containing a promise for a happier future of mankind. I find, in this combination, why my late father, who, in the lectures and writings of a long life, was always striving for the practical enforcement of scientific thought against prejudice, took such keen interest in the Bahá’í Movement, the latest growth or branch on the tree of Oriental Wisdom, and why he felt such a warm sympathy with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the inspired expounder of the Teaching. I thought to fulfill a reverent duty by calling, with these unpretentious words, the attention of the Hungarian public to Dr. John E. Esslemont’s work, which, among so many literary manifestations of the Bahá’í Movement, offers the complete summary of Bahá’u’lláh’s Social Religion.
Site of the Garden of Ílkhání, Ṭihrán, Persia, where Ṭáhirih (Qurratu’l-‘Ayn) suffered martyrdom.
Original home of Ṭáhirih (Qurratu’l-‘Ayn), in Qazvín, Persia, where she was born and lived.
