Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi/Introductory

Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi Introductory

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[Page xxxi]

INTRODUCTORY

TO the student of the development of human thought, there is probably not in the world to-day another place so interesting as the small city of Akka in northern Palestine ; for there may be investigated, still in its youth and under the fostering care of one of its founders, a religious faith which gives promise of becoming, at no very distant time, one of the recognised great religions of the world. Whatever we may think of the pretensions which it makes to divine origin, whatever our opinion as to the validity of the system of morals and social ethics which it advocates, or of the truth or error of the psychological and philosophical views which it advances, we can hardly doubt that we are here in the presence of a great force, destined to have a far-reaching influence upon the thought and lives of men.

Fascinating indeed are those mysterious and mighty movements which, now and again, with a certain rhythmic sequence and regularity,

xxxi [Page xxxii]have from the earliest days swept over the earth, revivifying spiritual life, changing individual habits and social customs, and, during many succeeding centuries, moulding the lives of vast masses of mankind. A Confucius, a Zoroaster, a Buddha, a Christ, a Mahomet, is born as other men, lives the ordinary span of human life, and dies as others, but by his brief presence the face of the world is changed. What is the character, what are the daily lives, of those remarkable beings who have such unlimited influence over their fellow-men as the founders of religions? How do such men act, how do they speak, what do they teach? What is the apparent nature of the bond which unites to them and to each other the men about them who play the important parts in these history-making epochs?

There are no questions of greater human interest than these. If we have here before us, subject to our inspection, inviting our investigations, and ready to reply to our questions, one who, there is reason to believe, may even possibly be such a man — if, moreover, this man advances a philosophy new to us, which assumes to illumine the ever-baffling mystery of existence and is not without persuasive force, it would be passing strange if we [Page xxxiii]should let go by the opportunity afforded by his presence of studying his life and character and weighing carefully his words.

It is considerations of this sort which, as it seems to me, now invite our attention to Akka. The interest which centres in this city arises from the fact that here have lived for upwards of thirty-four years the leaders of the religion of Babism, or Beha’ism, natives of Persia, who are suffering exile and imprisonment because of their religious innovations. This movement was inaugurated in Persia in 1844 by one Ali Mohammed, a youth of twenty-five years, who in that year announced himself to be the “Bab” (Gate), a term familiar to Moslems, and by which is understood an avenue for the transmission to men of messages from a super-human source. As expressed by one of his followers, Ali Mohammed meant by this term “that he was the channel of grace from some great Person still behind the veil of glory, who was the possessor of countless and boundless perfections, by whose will he moved and to the bond of whose love he clung.”

The mission which Ali Mohammed asserted for himself was the inauguration of a new Divine Dispensation which should be for mankind a revelation of the Divine Will and [Page xxxiv]should result in reforming the beliefs and lives of mankind ; in which dispensation he was but the forerunner preparing the way for one greater than he, who would be the direct Manifestation of God—who would, when he came, fully reveal the Divine message, and to whom all that he (the Bab) said was to be regarded as subject and subordinate.

Ali Mohammed supported his claims by passages from the scriptures, and by the traditions of the Moslem Church, which he interpreted as forecasting the appearance of a Divine Messenger at the very time when he himself had announced his mission, but chiefly by the eloquent and elaborate disquisitions which ever flowed from his lips, seemingly inexhaustible in volume and fertility of reasoning. Whether because of the validity of his appeal to scripture and tradition, the cogency of his reasoning, the force of his eloquence, or because of his spiritual power, all of which resources his followers unite in ascribing to him in a high degree, Ali Mohammed found many to accept him. Zealous missionaries went out from him through all Persia, and his following rapidly became considerable. The Moslem priesthood, apprehensive for their influence, united to repress by force the rising tide of the [Page xxxv]new faith. An era of bloody and relentless persecution followed, which has not, perhaps, been paralleled in history. Singly, and by hundreds, the Babis were hunted down and slaughtered. One’s heart thrills with emotion, one’s conception of the noble possibilities of human nature expands as one reads of the splendid and unflinching heroism of the Babis in the cause of their faith. Such was their love and loyalty to their leader that during the whole of the terrible time of persecution hardly a single instance of recantation in order to escape death occurred, though the opportunity was generally offered. Their spirit of absolute and self-forgetting devotion and love is well exemplified in the manner in which Mirza Kurban Ali, one of seven executed together in Teheran in September, 1850, met his death. When he was brought to the foot of the execution pole, the headsman raised his sword and smote him from behind. The blow only wounded the old man’s neck, and cast his turban upon the ground. He raised his head and exclaimed: “Oh, happy that intoxicated lover who, at the foot of his Beloved, knoweth not whether it be his head or his turban which he casteth.”¹

¹A Traveller’s Narrative, by Professor E. G. Browne, p. 214. [Page xxxvi]The number of martyrdoms which have taken place in Persia has been estimated at ten thousand.¹ Most of these occurred during the early history of the faith, but they have continued with diminishing frequency, even down to the present time.

In 1850 the Bab himself was executed at Tabriz. It had been expected that his death would check the spread of the religion, but this expectation was not realised. The Babis continued to increase in numbers; the persecutions became more intense. In 1852 a number of the leaders of the faith fled from Teheran to Baghdad, in the domains of the Sultan of Turkey. They remained here eleven years, were then transported by the Turkish Government to Adrianople, and five years later to Akka.

In this band of exiles was one Mirza Haseyn Ali, belonging to a Persian family of distinction and great wealth, about thirty-five years of age at the time of the flight from Teheran. He had long been regarded by the Babis as a leader, and venerated for his wisdom and character. The Bab had conferred upon him the title of “Beha Ullah” (Glory of God).

¹ This estimate is conservative. Many place the number at from twenty to thirty thousand, and some even higher. [Page xxxvii]Soon after reaching Baghdad, Beha Ullah withdrew from his family and spent two years alone in the mountains. He then returned to Baghdad and engaged in teaching and expounding Babist doctrines. When the transfer of the exiles from Baghdad was ordered, Beha Ullah made to five of his closest followers the declaration that he himself was the Manifestation of God who had been foretold by the Bab. This declaration was not publicly proclaimed until some four or five years later, from Adrianople. It was then accepted with substantial unanimity by the Babis, who have since that time generally styled themselves and been styled by others, “Beha’is.” Beha Ullah occupied his remaining years almost entirely with writing, and has left many voluminous works, none of which, with the exception of some disconnected passages, have been translated into a European language. He died at Akka in 1892, and was succeeded, at his own designation, by his son, Abbas Effendi, who has since continued to be the leader of the faith. He is styled “Our Master” and “Our Lord” by the Beha’is (by which they mean that he is a man who has reached the understanding and knowledge of God, and, being illumined by His wisdom, is fitted to teach and lead), and is regarded by [Page xxxviii]xxxviii INTRODUCTION

them with a veneration and affection second only, if indeed second, to that which they bestow upon the memory of Beha Ullah. He is classed by them with the Bab and Beha Ullah as the third and last of the Divine Messengers by whom the present Dispensation is introduced.

Meanwhile the faith has shown undiminished vitality in Persia, where the number of its adherents is now estimated at several millions,¹ and it is said to be steadily increasing. Missionaries have also gone out to various parts of the world, and the religion has already taken root in many countries.

While spending the summer of 1902 in London, it happened that through friends I heard much of Beha’ism, which has adherents in England, as well as a much larger number in the United States. Having for many years given much attention to the study of philosophic and religious thought, the subject interested me. I took occasion to read up the history of the movement, and learned what I could of the

¹ A traveller in Persia, recently writing in the Fortnightly Review, refers to the Beha’is as comprising something like half of the population of that country. This is no doubt an overestimate. But, on the other hand, published statistics must be taken as erring the other way, since great numbers of Beha’is do not declare themselves publicly, on account of the hostility to which they would be exposed. [Page xxxix]tenets of the religion. As to the former, I found that, chiefly owing to the careful and extended researches of Professor Edward G. Browne of Cambridge University, the results of whose work, so far as published, are contained in two volumes of translations, with copious notes, entitled respectively A Traveller’s Narrative and The New History, and in two papers contributed to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1889, a full record of the movement was easily accessible. To these sources I am chiefly indebted for the historical outline which I have given above.

It appeared, however, more difficult to ascertain what were the teachings peculiar to the faith. I found much bearing upon the claims of the founders of the religion to divine inspiration in the way of arguments drawn from the prophecies of the Mohammedan and other scriptures and traditions, and an elaborate code of social ethics; but nothing of importance further than this. It seemed to me singular that a religion having the vitality and power of assimilation shown by the history of Beha’ism should have no philosophical or psychological basis for its moral precepts, and I felt a strong desire to ascertain by personal investigation whether such a basis did not exist. I [Page xl]accordingly made inquiries as to whether my presence for this purpose would be acceptable at the headquarters of the faith, and after some correspondence, in which my wishes were furthered by friends who were known in Akka, I received an invitation to come there. This I accordingly did, and spent in that city the month of December, 1902. This month was one of the most memorable in my life ; for not only was I able to gain a satisfactory general view of this religion, but I made the acquaintance of Abbas Effendi, who is easily the most remarkable man whom it has ever been my fortune to meet.

As I had suspected was the case, I found that Beha’ism possesses a system of philosophy and psychology. This system is logical, and to many minds will seem persuasive. It harmonises in every respect with the discoveries and conclusions of modern science, and makes a strong appeal to intelligent and reasoning thought. More even may be said than this ; for the conceptions of Beha’ism with regard to cosmogenesis, man and his relation to the universe, bear an analogy which is very striking to the views discussed by the most advanced thinkers of the present day, arguing from scientific premises.

On its ethical side, it has as high moral [Page xli]standards as any of the other great religions ; while the social regulations which it advocates are certainly more enlightened than those which have generally been put forward in the name of religion.

Another characteristic of Beha’ism, as refreshing and attractive as it is striking to the mind accustomed to the dogmatic narrowness of the modern Christian Church, is its marvellous spirit of liberality. It recognises every other religion as equally divine in origin with itself. It professes only to renew the message formerly given by the Divine Messengers who founded those religions, and which has been more or less forgotten by men. If revelations have differed it has only been in degree, determined in the several cases by the differing capacities of men in different stages of human development to receive them. No man is asked to desert his own faith ; but only to look back to its fountainhead and discern, through the mists and accumulations of time, the true spirit of its founders.

Further, I found that this faith does not expend itself in beautiful and unfruitful theories, but has a vital and effective power to mould life towards the very highest ideal of human character,—which in the Western world [Page xlii]is generally agreed, no doubt, to be that of Jesus of Nazareth,—as exemplified by the life of its chief representative and the salient characteristics of those of his followers with whom I became acquainted.

That there was in the world a religion having this character, and embodied in an actual, living, and strenuous movement, which, although new, has already shown great vitality, power of aggression, assimilation, and growth, was to me a revelation. I saw at once that there was in this mere spectacle, which I had had the fortune to see and understand, the potentiality of immense good to other nations of the world by impelling a recognition of the real strength and greatness of the spirit of true religion, under whatever external form it may appear, and stimulating a return to the purity and simplicity which have characterised all religions in their youth. Almost throughout the world to-day religion is stagnant and faith is dead; but here is a demonstration that it is capable of revival. Such a spectacle as the ideal, Christlike life of Abbas Effendi has in it an immense probative and stimulating power.

As a result of reflections of this kind came the impulse to prepare this book, in order to [Page xliii]make a permanent record, available to others, of the things which I have observed and learned. I shall first collect my observations and the information I have received from members of his family and others who were eye-witnesses of, or connected with, the occurrences referred to, bearing upon the life and character of Abbas Effendi. This I regard as perhaps the most important part of my present undertaking : since nothing could so well serve to make plain the intended application of the doctrines taught, or could be so effective an incentive to aspiration and effort, as the example of this life. This portion of the book will include a narrative by his sister, Behiah Khanum, of the life of Abbas Effendi and the fortunes of the family of his father, Beha Ullah, from the time when they left Teheran in 1852. As the restrictions of Mohammedan social custom, which the Beha’is in Akka carefully observe for the sake of peace and harmony, prevented me from meeting this lady personally, this narrative was given by her in instalments to Madam M. A. de S. Canavarro, who was in Akka at the same time that I was, and by her repeated to me. Each instalment was written down within a few hours after it was received from Behiah Khanum. [Page xliv]I shall also say something as to the type of character which this faith tends to attract and develop, as indicated by that of those who compose the little band of Beha’is which share the exile of Abbas Effendi in Akka.

I shall next give an outline of the philosophy and psychology upon which the ethical injunctions of the religion rest. To ascertain the views of Abbas Effendi upon these matters (as to which, as indeed all others, I was assured that his teachings are identical in every respect with those of Beha Ullah) was the most serious portion of my task ; such is the great difficulty of grasping the abstract ideas of those whose modes of thought are so different from ours, especially when expressed in a language so unlike our own as the Persian. Had it not been for my familiarity with Oriental philosophic thought, I should have been quite unable to accomplish it. On this branch of the subject the teachings were not, for the most part, given to me in set discourses accompanied by a word-for-word interpretation which could be set down in sequence, as was the case with most of the other matter which I received from Abbas Effendi, owing to the difficulty of transferring these abstruse ideas into English by the aid of the interpreters [Page xlv]available. They were chiefly imparted in informal conversations and as replies to questions, which have been collected and systematised.

Next I shall proceed to a synopsis of the teachings of Beha’ism as to the conduct of life, or its conception of true religion as that term is ordinarily used ; and in order to give a complete view of the subject, I shall add the leading features of the elaborate code of social ethics enjoined by the leaders of the faith.

It will, of course, be understood that I do not for a moment conceive that I have arrived at a full understanding of the tenets of the religion and the philosophy underlying it in all their scope and detail. The time which I have thus far given to the investigation is far too short for that ; nor, until the more important of the voluminous writings of Beha Ullah, and those of Abbas Effendi, which are also considerable, shall have been accurately rendered into a European language, can we hope to have an exact and systematic analysis of it. But although it is, of course, possible that I may have been misled in some minor matters by faulty interpreting, I have checked and counterchecked my understanding of the statements made to me with such care that [Page xlvi]I am satisfied that in its essential points the presentation which I shall give of the salient features of the philosophy and tenets is substantially correct.

Nothing is quite so necessary to a just view of Beha’ism as a thorough comprehension of its attitude towards other religions. I have therefore thought it advisable to add a chapter dealing with this matter, which, in defining the relations which the faith conceives to exist between itself and the external world, necessarily touches upon its most intimate conceptions of its own essential nature. For a correct understanding of the entire subject this is the most important chapter in the book ; and I would advise that it be read both before those dealing with philosophy and ethics, and also in the order in which it stands.

Finally, I shall assemble a number of the discourses which I heard from Abbas Effendi during my stay in Akka, and which were, with the exceptions hereafter noted, taken down from the interpreter consecutively and substantially as they appear here ; and to these I shall add one or two other discourses of Abbas Effendi, and a few passages from the writings of Beha Ullah, translations of which have been given to me by friends. [Page xlvii]I have already said that the narrative of Abbas Effendi’s sister was given to me by Madam Canavarro ; further, we have worked together over all parts of the book. It might more properly have been published over our joint names ; but since she does not wish this, I am obliged to content myself with stating the facts. Without her clear insight and invaluable aid it would never have reached its present form.

I am aware that it has many deficiencies, and it is possible that I have fallen into some errors. Such defects as exist I hope to supply or correct in a future edition ; and I shall feel much indebted to my readers if they will call my attention to any which they may discover, addressing me in care of my publishers.

M. H. P.

CAIRO, March 8, 1903.