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| VOLUME 13 | December, 1922 | No. 9 |
| CONTENTS | Page | |
Abdul Bahá on Economics | 227 | |
| Extracts From "The Gospel of Buddha" | ||
By Paul Carus | 232 | |
The Ascension of Abdul Baha | 233 | |
In Anatolia | By Helen Talboy | 237 |
Two Shining Lights of Isfahan | By Jenabe Fazel | 242 |
Esperanto and Travel | By G. J. Ramstedt | 249 |
The Spirit of the Century | 251 | |
| Dr. Coué and Spiritual Healing. | ||
| Prophecies For The Future. | ||
Persian Section | 254 | |
The official Bahai Magazine, published monthly by the Bahai Temple Unity. Room 450, 508 South Dearborn St., Chicago
Albert Vail, Editor, Edna M. True, Business Manager, Persian Editors, Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi, Mirza Ahmad Sohrab. Subscriptions: $3.00 per year; 25 cents a copy. Two copies to same and address $5.00 per year. Please send change of address by the middle of the month and be sure to send old as well as new address. Kindly send all communications and make postoffice orders and checks payable to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Illlinois, U. S. A. as second class matter April 9, 1911 at the postoffice at Chicago, Ill. under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized September 1, 1922.
--PHOTO--
ABDUL BAHA
DECEMBER, 1922
ECONOMIC HAPPINESS FOR THE HUMAN RACEThe following, hitherto unpublished, address of Abdul Bahá was given in Montreal, Canada in 1912. It reveals the prophetic quality of his solution of the question of economic right and justice. "Earth," he said, "can be made a paradise." We add to this address a short compilation of his words on economics and on its spiritual foundation.
I
IT seems as though all creatures can exist singly and alone. For example, a tree can exist solitary and alone on a given prairie or in a valley or on the mountainside. An animal upon a mountain or a bird soaring in the air might live a solitary life. They are not in need of cooperation or solidarity. Such animated beings enjoy the greatest comfort and happiness in their respective solitary lives.
On the contrary, man cannot live singly and alone. He is in need of continuous cooperation and mutual help. For example, a man living alone in the wilderness will eventually starve. He can never, singly and alone, provide himself with all the necessities of existence. Therefore, he is in need of cooperation and reciprocity.
The mystery of this phenomenon, the cause thereof is this, that mankind has been created from one single origin, has branched off from one family. Thus in reality all mankind represents one family. God has not created any difference. He has created all as one that thus this family might live in perfect happiness and well-being.
Regarding reciprocity and cooperation: each member of the body politic should live in the utmost comfort and welfare because each individual member of humanity is a member of the body politic and if one member of the members be in distress or be afflicted with some disease all the other members must necessarily suffer. For example, a member of the human organism is the eye. If the eye should be affected that affliction would the whole nervous system. Hence, if a member of the body politic becomes afflicted, in reality, from the standpoint of sympathetic connection, all will share that affliction since this (one afflicted) is a member of the group of members, a part of the whole. Is it possible for one member or part to be in distress and the other members to be at ease? It is impossible! Hence God has desired that in the body politic of humanity each one shall enjoy perfect welfare and comfort.
Although the body politic is one family yet because of lack of harmonious relations some members are comfortable and some in direst misery, some members are satisfied and some are hungry,
some members are clothed in most costly garments and some families are in need of food and shelter. Why? Because this family lacks the necessary reciprocity and symmetry. This household is not well arranged. This household is not living under a perfect law. All the laws which are legislated do not ensure happiness. They do not provide comfort. Therefore a law must be given to this family by means of which all the members of this family will enjoy equal well-being and happiness.
Is it possible for one member of a family to be subjected to the utmost misery and to abject poverty and for the rest of the family to be comfortable? It is impossible unless those members of the family be senseless, atrophied, inhospitable, unkind. Then they would say, "Though these members do belong to our family—let them alone. Let us look after ourselves. Let them die. So long as I am comfortable, I am honored, I am happy—this my brother—let him die. If he be in misery let him remain in misery, so long as I am comfortable. If he is hungry let him remain so; I am satisfied. If he is without clothes, so long as I am clothed, let him remain as he is. If he is shelterless, homeless, so long as I have a home, let him remain in the wilderness."
Such utter indifference in the human family is due to lack of control, to lack of a working law, to lack of kindness in its midst. If kindness had been shown to the members of this family surely all the members thereof would have enjoyed comfort and happiness.
His Holiness Bahá 'Ullah has given instructions regarding every one of the questions confronting humanity. He has given teachings and instructions with regard to every one of the problems with which man struggles. Among them are (the teachings) concerning the question of economics that all the members of the body politic may enjoy through the working out of this solution the greatest happiness, welfare and comfort without any harm or injury attacking the general order of things. Thereby no difference or dissension will occur. No sedition or contention take place. The solution is this:
First and foremost is the principle that to all the members of the body politic shall be given the greatest achievements of the world of humanity. Each one shall have the utmost welfare and well-being. To solve this problem we must begin with the farmer; there will we lay a foundation for system and order because the peasant class and the agricultural class exceed other classes in the importance of their service. In every village there must be established a general storehouse which will have a number of revenues.
The first revenue will be that of the tenths or tithes.
The second revenue (will be derived) from the animals.
The third revenue, from the minerals, that is to say, every mine prospected or discovered, a third thereof will go to this vast storehouse.
The fourth is this: whosoever dies without leaving any heirs all his heritage will go to the general storehouse.
Fifth, if any treasures shall be found on the land they should be devoted to this storehouse.
All these revenues will be assembled in this storehouse.
As to the first, the tenths or tithes: we will consider a farmer, one of the peasants. We will look into his income. We will find out, for instance, what is his annual revenue and also what are his expenditures. Now, if his income be equal to his expenditures, from such a farmer nothing whatever will be taken. That is, he will not be subjected to taxation of any sort, needing as he does all his income. Another farmer may have expenses running up to one thousand dollars we will say, and his income is two thousand dollars. From such an one a tenth will be required, because he has a surplus. But if his income be ten thousand dollars and his expenses one thousand dollars or his income twenty thousand dollars, he will have to pay as taxes, one-fourth. If his income be one hundred thousand dollars and his expenses five thousand, one-third will he have to pay because he has still a surplus, since his expenses are five thousand
and his income one hundred thousand. If he pays, say, thirty-five thousand dollars, in addition to the expenditure of five thousand he still has sixty thousand left. But if his expenses be ten thousand and his income two hundred thousand then he must give an even half because ninety thousand will be in that case the sum remaining. Such a scale as this will determine allotment of taxes. All the income from such revenues will go to this general storehouse.
Then there must be considered such emergencies as follows: a certain farmer whose expenses run up to ten thousand dollars and whose income is only five thousand, he will receive necessary expenses from this storehouse. Five thousand dollars will be alloted to him so he will not be in need.
Then the orphans will be looked after all of whose expenses will be taken care of. The cripples in the village—all their expenses will be looked after. The poor in the village—their necessary expenses will be defrayed. And other members who for valid reasons are incapacitated—the blind, the old, the deaf—their comfort must be looked after. In the village no one will remain in need or in want. All will live in the utmost comfort and welfare. Yet no scism will assail the general order of the body politic.
Hence the expenses or expenditures of the general storehouse are now made clear and its activities made manifest. The income of this general storehouse has been shown. Certain trustees will be elected by the people in a given village to look after these transactions. The farmers will be taken care of and if after all these expenses are defrayed any surplus is found in the storehouse it must be transferred to the National Treasury.
This system is all thus ordered so that in the village the very poor will be comfortable, the orphans will live happily and well; in a word, no one will be left destitute. All the individual members of the body politic will thus live comfortably and well.
For larger cities, naturally, there will be a system on a larger scale. Were I to go into that solution the details thereof would be very lengthy.
The result of this (system) will be that each individual member of the body politic will live most comfortably and happily under obligation to no one. Nevertheless, there will be preservation of degrees because in the world of humanity there must needs be degrees. The body politic may well be likened to an army. In this army there must be a general, there must be a sergeant, there must be a marshal, there must be the infantry; but all must enjoy the greatest comfort and welfare.
God is not partial and is no respecter of persons. He has made provision for all. The harvest comes forth for everyone. The rain showers upon everybody and the heat of the sun is destined to warm everyone. The verdure of the earth is for everyone. Therefore there should be for all humanity the utmost happiness, the utmost comfort, the utmost well-being.
But if conditions are such that some are happy and comfortable and some in misery; some are accumulating exhorbitant wealth and others are in dire want—under such a system it is impossible for man to be happy and impossible for him to win the good pleasure of God. God is kind to all. The good pleasure of God consists in the welfare of all the individual members of mankind.
A Persian king was one night in his palace, living in the greatest luxury and comfort. Through excessive joy and gladness he addressed a certain man, saying: "Of all my life this is the happiest moment. Praise be to God, from every point prosperity appears and fortune smiles! My treasury is full and the army is well taken care of. My palaces are many; my land unlimited; my family is well off; my honor and sovereignty are great. What more could I want!"
The poor man at the gate of his palace spoke out, saying: "O kind king! Assuming that you are from every point of view so happy, free from every worry and sadness—do you not worry for us? You say that on your own account you have no worries—but do you never worry about the poor in your land? Is it becoming or meet that you should
be so well off and we in such dire want and need? In view of our needs and troubles how can you rest in your palace, how can you even say that you are free from worries and sorrows? As a ruler you must not be so egoistic as to think of yourself alone but you must think of those who are your subjects. When we are comfortable then you will be comfortable; when we are in misery how can you, as a king, be in happiness?"
The purport is this that we are all inhabiting one globe of earth. In reality we are one family and each one of us is a member of this family. We must all be in the greatest happiness and comfort, under a just rule and regulation which is according to the good pleasure of God, thus causing us to be happy, for this life is fleeting.
If man were to care for himself only he would be nothing but an animal for only the animals are thus egoistic. If you bring a thousand sheep to a well to kill nine hundred and ninety-nine the one remaining sheep would go on grazing, not thinking of the others and worrying not at all about the lost, never bothering that its own kind had passed away, or had perished or been killed. To look after one's self only is therefore an animal propensity. It is the animal propensity to live solitary and alone. It is the animal proclivity to look after one's own comfort. But man was created to be a man—to be fair, to be just, to be merciful, to be kind to all his species, never to be willing that he himself be well off while others are in misery and distress—this is an attribute of the animal and not of man. Nay, rather, man should be willing to accept hardships for himself in order that others may enjoy wealth; he should enjoy trouble for himself that others may enjoy happiness and well-being. This is the attribute of man. This is becoming of man. Otherwise man is not man—he is less than the animal.
The man who thinks only of himself and is thoughtless of others is undoubtedly inferior to the animal because the animal is not possessed of the reasoning faculty. The animal is excused; but in man there is reason, the faculty of justice, the faculty of mercifulness. Possessing all these faculties he must not leave them unused. He who is so hard-hearted as to think only of his own comfort, such an one will not be called man.
Man is he who forgets his own interests for the sake of others. His own comfort he forfeits for the well-being of all. Nay, rather, his own life must he be willing to forfeit for the life of mankind. Such a man is the honor of the world of humanity. Such a man is the glory of the world of mankind. Such a man is the one who wins eternal bliss. Such a man is near to the threshold of God. Such a man is the very manifestation of eternal happiness. Otherwise, men are like animals, exhibiting the same proclivities and propensities as the world of animals. What distinction is there? What prerogatives, whet perfections? None whatever! Animals are better even—thinking only of themselves and negligent of the needs of others.
Consider how the greatest men in the world—whether among prophets or philosophers—all have forfeited their own comfort, have sacrificed their own pleasure for the well-being of humanity. They have sacrificed their own lives for the body politic. They have sacrificed their own wealth for that of the general welfare. They have forfeited their own honor for the honor of mankind. Therefore it becomes evident that this is the highest attainment for the world of humanity.
We ask God to endow human souls with justice so that they may be fair, and may strive to provide for the comfort of all, that each member of humanity may pass his life in the utmost comfort and welfare. Then this material world will become the very paradise of the Kingdom, this elemental earth will be in a heavenly state and all the servants of God will live in the utmost joy, happiness and gladness. We must all strive and concentrate all our thoughts in order that such happiness may accrue to the world of humanity.
II. COMPILATION
The question of socialization is very important. It will not be solved by strikes for wages. All the governments of the world must be united and organize an assembly the members of which should be elected from the parliaments and the nobles of the nations. These must plan with utmost wisdom and power so that neither the capitalists suffer from enormous losses nor the laborers become needy. In the utmost moderation they should make the law; then announce to the public that the rights of the working people are to be strongly preserved. Also the rights of the capitalists are to be protected. When such a general plan is adopted by the will of both sides, should a strike occur, all the governments of the world collectively should resist it. Otherwise, the labor problem will lead to much destruction, especially in Europe. Terrible things will take place.
For instance, the owners of properties, mines and factories should share their incomes with their employees and give a fairly certain percentage of their products to their workingmen in order that the employees may receive, beside their wages, some of the general income of the factory so that the employee may strive with his soul in the work.
No more trusts will remain in the future. The question of the trusts will be wiped away entirely. Also, every factory that has ten thousand shares will give two thousand shares of these ten thousand to its employees and will write the shares in their names, so that they may have them, and the rest will belong to the capitalists. Then at the end of the month or year whatever they may earn after the expenses and wages are paid, according to the number of shares, should be divided among both. In reality, so far great injustice has befallen the common people. Laws must be made because it is impossible for the laborers to be satisfied with the present system. They will strike every month and every year. Finally, the capitalists will lose. In ancient times a strike occurred among the Turkish soldiers. They said to the government: 'Our wages are very small and they should be increased.' The government was forced to give them their demands. Shortly afterwards they struck again. Finally all the incomes went to the pockets of the soldiers to the extent that they killed the king, saying: 'Why didst thou not increase the income so that we might have received more?'
It is impossible for a country to live properly without laws. To solve this problem rigorous laws must be made, so that all the governments of the world will be the protectors thereof.
(From a talk given in America in 1912 at the home of a government official.)
In the Bolshevistic principles equality is effected through force. The masses who are opposed to the people of rank and to the wealthy class desire to partake of their advantages.
But in the Divine Teachings equality is brought about through a ready willingness to share. It is commanded as regards wealth that the rich among the people, and the aristocrats should, by their own free will and for the sake of their own happiness, concern themselves with and care for the poor. This equality is the result of the lofty characteristics and noble attributes of mankind.
(From a Tablet to Olly Schwarz, Stuttgart, Germany. Mount Carmel, Feb. 1920.)
But where thousands are considering these questions, we have more essential questions. The secret of the solution of the whole economic question is divine in nature and is concerned with the world of the heart and spirit. In the Bahai teaching this is most completely explained. . . . .
The disease which afflicts the body politic is lack of love and absence of altruism. In the heart of men no real love is found, and the condition is such that unless their susceptibilities are quickened by some power there can be no healing, no agreement among mankind. Love and unity is the need of the body
politic today. Without these there can be no progress or prosperity attained. Therefore the friends of God must cleave to that power which will create this love and unity in the hearts of the sons of men. Science cannot cure the illness of the body politic. Science cannot create unity and fellowship in human hearts. Neither can patriotism nor racial prejudice effect a cure. It can be accomplished only through the divine bounties and the spiritual bestowals which have descended from God in this day for that purpose.
"If we liberate our hearts from petty selfishness, wish no ill to others, and become clear as a crystal diamond reflecting the light of truth, what a radiant picture will appear in us mirroring things as they are, without the admixture of burning desires, without the distortion of erroneous illusion, without the agitation of sinful unrest."
"Blessed is he who has become an embodiment of truth and loving-kindness. He conquers although he may be wounded; he is glorious and happy, although he may suffer; he is strong, although he may break down under the burden of his work; he is immortal, although he may die. The essence of his being is immortality."
"The truth is noble and sweet; the truth can deliver you from evil. There is no saviour in the world except the truth."
THE COMMUNICATION OF BLISS
One of the Parables
"Annabhara, the slave of Sumana, having just cut the grass on the meadow, saw a shramana (ascetic) with his bowl begging for food. And throwing down his bundle of grass he ran into the house and returned with the rice that had been provided for his own food.
"The shramana ate the rice and gladdened him with words of religious comfort.
"The daughter of Sumana, having observed the scene from a window, called out: 'Good! Annabhara, good! Very good!'
"Sumana, hearing these words, inquired what she meant, and on being informed about Annabhara's devotion and the words of comfort he had received from the shramana, went to his slave and offered him money to divide the bliss of his offering.
"'My Lord,' said Annabhara, 'let me first ask the venerable man.' And approaching the shramana, he said: 'My master has asked me to share with him the bliss of the offering I made you of my allowance of rice. Is it right that I should divide it with him?'
"The shramana replied in a parable. He said: 'In a village of one hundred houses a single light was burning. Then a neighbor came with his lamp and lit it; and in this same way the light was communicated from house to house and the brightness in the village was increased. Thus the light of religion may be diffused without stinting him who communicates it. Let the bliss of thy offering also be diffused. Divide it.'
"Annabhara returned to his master's house and said to him: 'I present you, my Lord, with a share of the bliss of my offering. Deign to accept it.'
"Sumana accepted it and offered his slave a sum of money, but Annabhara replied: 'Not so, my Lord; if I accept your money it would appear as if I sold you my share. Bliss cannot be sold; please accept it as a gift.'
"The master replied: 'Brother Annabhara, from this day forth thou shalt be free. Live with me as my friend and accept this present as a token of my respect.'"—"The Gospel of Buddha": Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago.
ON the twenty-eighth of November, one year ago, Abdul Bahá ascended to the City of Light. The press and magazines all over the world have written of his life and world-wide spiritual influence. Mr. Frederic Dean gives, in "The Independent and the Weekly Review," of December 24, 1921 a personal reminiscence of his meeting with Abdul Baha in New York City in 1912:
"Abdul Baha, whose death was chronicled in the press the other day, was more than a personality—he was an inspiration; an idealist, whose self-devotion breathed new life into dying creeds. His gospel appealed with equal force to Christians, Moslems and Jews; to Buddhists and Hindus, Shintoists and Parsis. His idealism was to many a manifestation of the very source of life, light and love. He came at a time when the soul's craving for hope and faith was—seemingly—unappeased by any one of the many organized and acknowledged religions.
"I first met the teacher in an uptown church. I had been sent by my paper to report the sermon. The speaker's likeness to my own father was so startling that, immediately after the service, I entered the anteroom and told him of the remarkable resemblance. Very quietly he answered: 'I am your father and you are my son. Come and dine with me.' Another engagement prevented, but I asked if I might take breakfast with him the following morning. 'Come,' he said. I went. And after that first meeting followed others. We walked in his garden, and, as we walked, we talked. I told him of his peculiar attraction to me on account of my own outlook on life; that I was a Buddhist—a Buddhist-Christian 'So am I,' replied the teacher. 'I am also a Confucian-Christian and a Brahmin-Christian; a Jewish and a Mohammedan-Christian. I am a brother to all who love truth—truth in whatsoever garb they choose to clothe it.' '
Major W. Tudor-Pole of London, England, who with General Allenby entered Haifa in August, 1918 prepared a beautiful memorandum of the expressions of love and appreciation which government officials and the press gave to Abdul Bahá after his ascension. "As I write," says Major Tudor-Pole, in conclusion, "certain memories come back to me with a strange insistence.
"I remember standing beside the Master in the pulpit of the City Temple, London, watching over five thousand people breathlessly absorbed in listening in Abdul Baha's living spiritual words, and in watching his every smile and movement.
"I remember walking with him through the woods at Clifton, 1911, when he spoke of the coming of a spiritual renaissance within the Christian Churches; or, wandering along the banks of the Seine at sunset, 1913, when the Master spoke of the Great War that was to come, and of the Most Great Peace that would ultimately follow it.
"I have sat beside him at Ramleh, Alexandria, Egypt, beneath the palms, and while he spoke of the essential unity of all mankind. There were Christians, Jews, Moslems, Parsis, Hindus and Freethinkers sitting around him on
that occasion, one and all united with the same faith and aspiration.
"I remember walking alone with the Master on Mount Carmel's slopes, sharing his frugal meals in his Haifa house, listening to his melodious chanting within the Garden Tomb, living as one of the family within Bahá 'Ullah's house at Acca.
"There is no death. The Master lives on in our midst, and the great spiritual work of human redemption goes forward unceasingly.
"Despite the apparent world tribulations of the present hour, the dawn of a new Day approaches, and it is the privilege of every man and woman alive to work serenely and faithfully for the coming of world peace and true human brotherhood."
It is very fitting that in commemoration of the Ascension of Abdul Baha one year ago we quote some of the immortal sentences from the last will and testament of the Master as they were chosen by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Cause and Lady Bloomfield in their little book, "The Passing of Abdul Baha." We quote also the connecting sentences from this wonderful booklet and, at the close, extracts from two of Abdul Baha's last Tablets.
"O ye beloved of the Lord! In this sacred Dispensation, conflict and contention are in no wise permitted. Every aggressor deprives himself of God's grace. It is incumbent upon everyone to show the utmost love, rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and sincere kindliness unto all the peoples and kindreds of the world, be they friends or strangers. So intense must be the spirit of love and lovingkindness that the stranger may find himself a friend, the enemy a true brother, no difference whatsoever existing between them.
"For universality is of God and all limitations are earthly.
"Thus man must strive that this reality may manifest virtues and perfections, the light whereof may shine upon everyone. The light of the sun shineth upon all the world and the merciful showers of Divine Providence fall upon all peoples. The vivifying breeze reviveth every living creature, and all beings endued with life obtain their share and portion at His heavenly board. In like manner the affections and lovingkindness of the servants of the One True God must be bountifully and universally extended to all mankind. Regarding this, restrictions and limitations are in no wise permitted.
"Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstacy of the grace of Baha; that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancour may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you, show your fidelity unto them; should they be unjust towards you, show justice towards them; should they keep aloof from you, attract them to yourselves; should they show their enmity, be friendly towards them; should they poison your lives, sweeten their souls; should they inflict a wound upon you, be a salve to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the truthful!
"O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive with all your hearts to shield the Cause of God from the onslaught of the insincere, for such souls as these cause the straight to become crooked and all benevolent efforts to produce contrary results."
Regarding the afflictions and trials that have befallen him in this world and his desire for martyrdom, Abdul Baha reveals the following:
"O God, my God! Thou seest this wronged servant of thine, held fast in the talons of ferocious lions, of ravening wolves, bloodthirsty beasts. Graciously assist me, through my love for Thee that I may drink deep of the
Chalice that brimmeth over with faithfulness to Thee and is filled with Thy bountiful Grace; so that, fallen upon the dust, I may sink prostrate and senseless whilst my vesture is dyed crimson with my blood. This is my wish, my heart's desire, my hope, my pride, my glory. Grant, O Lord, my God and my Refuge, that in my last hour, my end may even as musk shed its fragrance of glory! I call Thee to witness that no day passeth but that I quaff my fill from this cup, so grievous are the misdeeds wrought by them that have broken the Covenant, kindled discord, showed their malice, stirred up sedition in the land and dishonoured Thee amidst Thy servants. Lord, shield Thou from these Covenant-breakers the mighty stronghold of Thy Faith and protect Thy secret Sanctuary from the onslaught of the ungodly.
"Thou art in truth, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Gracious, the Strong.
"Lord! Thou seest all things weeping me, and my kindred rejoicing in my woes. By Thy glory, O my God! Even amongst my enemies, some have lamented my troubles and my distress, and of the envious ones a number have shed tears because of my cares, my exile and my afflictions. They did this because they found naught in me but affection and care, and witnessed naught but kindliness and mercy. As they saw me swept into the flood of tribulation and adversity, and exposed even as a target to the arrows of fate, their hearts were moved with compassion, tears came to their eyes and they testified, declaring: 'The Lord is our witness; naught have we seen in him but faithfulness, generosity and extreme compassion.' The Covenant-breakers, foreboders of evil, waxed in their rancour, rejoiced as I fell victim to the most grievous ordeal, bestirred themselves against me, and made merry over the heart-rending happenings around me.
"Lord! My cup of woe runneth over, and from all sides blows are fiercely raging upon me. The darts of affliction have compassed me round and the arrows of distress have rained upon me. Thus tribulation overwhelmed me, and my strength, because of the onslaught of the foeman, became weakness within me, whilst I stood alone and forsaken in the midst of my woes. Lord, have mercy upon me, lift me up unto Thyself and make me to drink from the chalice of martyrdom, for the wide world with all its vastness can no longer contain me. Thou art verily the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Gracious, the All-Bountiful."
He prays for the protection of his friends:
"O Lord, my God! Assist Thy loved ones to be firm in Thy Faith, to walk in Thy Ways, to be steadfast in Thy Cause. Give them Thy grace to withstand the onslaught of self and passion, to follow the light of Divine Guidance. Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Self-Subsisting, the Bestower, the Compassionate, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful."
For his enemies this is his prayer:
"I call upon Thee, O Lord, my God! with my tongue and with all my heart, not to requite them for their cruelty and their wrong deeds, their craft and their mischief, for they are foolish and ignoble, and know not what they do. They discern not good from evil, neither do they distinguish right from wrong, nor justice from injustice. They follow their own desires and walk in the footsteps of the most imperfect and foolish amongst them. O my Lord! have mercy upon them, shield them from all afflictions in these troubled times, and grant that all trials and hardships may be the lot of this, Thy servant, that has fallen into this darksome pit. Single me out for every woe and make me a sacrifice for all Thy loved ones! O Lord, Most High! May my soul, my life, my being! my spirit, my all be offered up for them! O God, my God! Lowly, suppliant and fallen upon my face, I beseech Thee, with all the ardour of my invocation to pardon whomsoever hath hurt me, to forgive him that hath conspired against me and offended me and to wash away the misdeeds of them that have wrought injustice upon me. Vouchsafe unto them Thy goodly gifts; give them joy, relieve
them from sorrow, grant them peace and prosperity; give them Thy bliss and pour upon them Thy bounty. Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Help in peril, the Self-Subsisting.
Touching the importance of teaching the Cause of God these are his words:
"O ye that stand fast in the Covenant: When the hour cometh that this wronged and broken-winged bird will have taken its flight unto the Celestial Concourse, when it will have hastened to the Realm of the Unseen and its mortal frame will have been either lost or hidden 'neath the dust it is incumbent upon the Afnan that are steadfast in the Covenant of God and have branched from the Tree of Holiness, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God, (the glory of the Lord rest upon them) and all the friends and loved ones, one and all to bestir themselves and arise with heart and soul with one accord to diffuse the sweet savours of God, to teach His Cause and to promote His Faith. It behoveth them not to rest for a moment, neither to seek repose. They must disperse themselves in every land, pass by every clime and travel throughout all regions. Bestirred, without rest, and steadfast to the end they must raise in every land the triumphant cry, 'Ya Baha El-Abha, (O Thou the Glory of Glories,) must achieve renown in the world wherever they go, must burn even as a torch in every meeting and must kindle the flame of divine love in every assembly; that the Light of Truth may rise resplendent in the midmost heart of the world, that throughout the East and throughout the West a vast concourse may gather under the shadow of the Word of God, that the sweet savours of holiness may be diffused, that faces may radiantly shine, that hearts may be filled with the Divine Spirit and souls may heavenly life attain."
"The disciples of Christ forgot themselves and all earthly things, forsook all their cares and belongings, purged themselves of self and passion and, with absolute detachment, scattered far and wide, calling the peoples of the world to the Divine Guidance, till at last they made the world another world, illumined the surface of the earth, and even to their last hour proved self-sacrificing in the pathway of that Beloved One of God. Finally in various lands they suffered glorious martyrdom. Let them that are men of action follow in their footsteps.
"Whosoever and whatsoever meeting becometh a hindrance to the diffusion of the Light of Faith, let the loved ones give them counsel and say: 'Of all the gifts of God the greatest is the gift of teaching. It draweth unto us the grace of God and is our first obligation. Of such a gift why do we deprive ourselves? Nay, our lives, our goods, our comfort, our rest, we offer them all in sacrifice for The Abha Beauty, and teach the Cause of God.' Caution and prudence, however, must be observed even as recorded in the Book. The veil must in no wise be suddenly rent asunder."
In one of his last Tablets Abdul Baha wrote: "Regard not the person of Abdul Baha, for he will eventually take his leave of you all; nay, fix your gaze upon the Word of God. Should it rise and be exalted rejoice, be glad and thankful even though Abdul Bahá be under a drawn sword, be imprisoned or be cast into bonds: for that which is of transcendent importance is the Holy Temple of the Cause of God and not the mortal frame of Abdul Baha. The loved ones of God must arise with such steadfastness that should hundreds of souls, even as Abdul Bahá himself, be made a target for the darts of woe, nothing whatsoever shall affect or lessen their firm resolve, their intention, their ardour, their enkindlement, their service to the Cause of God. . . . This, O ye beloved of the Lord is my counsel and my exhortation unto you. Well is it with him whom the Lord aideth to do even as bidden in this pure and sanctified Tablet."
His very last Tablet, graciously revealed for his loved ones in Stuttgart, conveys his reflections upon this transient world, and his counsels to his loved ones that dwell therein:
"O ye beloved of the Lord! In this mortal world, nothing whatsoever endureth.
The peoples of the earth dwell therein and spend a number of days uselessly, ultimately descending beneath the dust, repairing to the home of eternal silence leaving behind them no achievement, no blessing, no result, no fruit. All the days of their life are thus brought to naught: whereas the children of the Kingdom sow seeds in the fertile soil of Truth that will eventually spring up and bring forth many a harvest and shall forever bestow upon mankind its increase and bountiful grace. They shall obtain eternal life, attain unto the imperishable bounty and shine even as radiant stars in the firmament of the Divine Kingdom. The Glory of Glories rest upon you."
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Dr. and Mrs. James H. Talboy kindled by the spirit of service journeyed to the Near East to help in the relief of a suffering population. Mrs. Talboy, a journalist, lawyer, social worker and lover of mankind, gives in the following narration her impression of the people of Asia Minor. It will help everyone who in the spirit of the independent investigation of reality seeks to dispel the clouds of prejudice and discover how we "are all the leaves of one tree and drops of one sea."
AS I write I am seated in a Pullman en route from New York City to Chicago and I shall make the journey in less than a day. Presently I shall go in to a perfectly served, appetizing dinner and when I am tired to-night I will have the porter make up a comfortable, if narrow, bed and in the morning I will be at my destination. Meanwhile the porter has adjusted a small table before me and with "vest-pocket typewriter" I am as well-equipped for writing as I would be in my own home.
A year ago I made a journey of four hundred miles—less than one-half the length of this present journey—in Anatolia, going from Samsoun on the Black Sea to Kaisereyeh at the foot of lofty Mt. Argaeus. I made that journey also in the best conveyance obtainable—a yarleh or carriage with springs. Two sturdy mountain horses took us over the rough mountain roads at the rate of thirty to thirty-five miles a day and we were thirteen days upon the journey. We stopped at night at the native hahns or hotels and we carried, of necessity, our beds and bedding, our food and dishes. Roused very early each morning, while the men folded and packed the cots and bedding and stowed them
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A MOSQUE ON THE BOSPHORUS
in the yarlehs for the day's travel the women of the party were busy about breakfast. Usually we were able to get a "mongol"—a sheet iron stove with charcoal fire—and could make coffee and boil eggs, but because the Government had requisitioned all the donkeys for army transport sometimes no charcoal was obtainable, not even enough for a samovar, and then we were obliged to start without the bit of warmth that made the day begin gaily. If one of us had a thought of complaint that thought died before the sobering reflection that what to us was discomfort, because transient, meant a winter of horror to the helpless villagers. Here I am surrounded by well-dressed, comfortable fellow-passengers, indifferent to me and to each other, an indifference bred by custom. There at every village almost the entire population gathered about the strangers, frankly curious, always asking if we were Americans and then almost always inquiring if there were a Doctor amongst us. They would escort the Doctor to some mud hut where he would find, perhaps, a woman dying of sarcoma, or perhaps a case of advanced tuberculosis—almost surely someone in extremis.
As I contrast the two journeys today I am struck again with the thought that has been so persistent ever since our sojourn in Anatolia, the thought that these striking differences are after all superficial, with the knowledge that the thing we found strangest in Anatolia was not the strangeness at all but the sameness. The external differences are very evident and very great, the internal likeness not less evident, not less great. We had been led to expect strange people—we found people like ourselves. We had expected to find aliens—we found brothers, fundamentally like ourselves, and everywhere we met with friendliness and kindliness. In the differences of attitude, bred by environment, all the superiority does not lie with the Westerner. Though Western civilization has much to offer the Orient in the way of scientific and material knowledge and achievement, my life in the Interior of Anatolia taught me that we can learn as much from the people of that land as we can teach them. They have a quid pro quo to give us for all we can oifer them. This is less an opinion than a perception. I shall not attempt to support it by argument, but rather, in the space at my command,
by incidents, incidents chosen from crowding memories, not because they are exceptional but because they are typical.
One morning very early, before our six o'clock breakfast, the Doctor and I were taking our usual early morning walk. We paused at the head of a wondrous gulch facing the sunrise and as we sat there we were joined by an old Turkish peasant. He squatted near the Doctor and opened a conversation and though the Doctor had little Turkish and the peasant knew no other tongue they managed to understand each other sufficiently for friendly intercourse. And as, seated somewhat apart, I watched the two I wished that I had my camera that I might have a study in contrasts. And my camera would have recorded very striking differences—the American Doctor, big, blond, immaculate in white duck trousers, white canvas shoes, blue serge coat and panama hat—the Turkish peasant, lean and brown and very wrinkled, in baggy trousers, barefooted and wearing a fez around which was wound a strip of dirty, vari-colored rag, for he was not an effendi who was entitled to wear the white of the scholar nor had he the distinction of the green—he was only an obscure peasant. Yet these surface differences are probably all that the camera would have caught. It would have needed a painter who was also an artist to record what else I saw—the essential likeness back of the superficial differences. Two men, brothers, were communicating to each other their consciousness that they were brothers. Neither of them thought of brotherhood in the abstract. They did not theorize about it. They were brothers, that was all. As we walked back to the Personnel House for breakfast I saw high over a terraced wall a veiled woman tending her precious two or three red geraniums. To her they were rare, exotic flowers. I waved to her and called "choke guzel chickekler" (very beautiful flowers) and went my way unthinking. Soon we heard the sound of running feet and turned to see a boy, beaming but almost too breathless to deliver his message, bearing the red geraniums and the salaams of the veiled woman.
Traveling from Kaisereyeh to Sivas one hot summer day we stopped at the door of a country hahn for water for our Ford and While Mustapha, our Turkish chauffeur, brought the water two Turkish men who were evidently traveling
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CAMEL TRAIN AT REST IN THE HOSPITAL YARD AT KAISEREYEH
on horseback came out to greet us and question us in the friendliest fashion. After a little talk one of them went to the horses and from the saddle bags took three round loaves of bread, which he brought and gave to us. A little thing that may seem to the American reader, but to one who has lived or traveled in the interior of Asia Minor during the past few years, when bread is so difficult for anyone to obtain, it was not only an act of gracious hospitality, as it was meant to be, but a hospitality that involved real sacrifice. One might meet a similar courtesy in traveling in America, but it would be very rare, and still rarer if it involved the very real sacrifice which was present in that wayside offering of precious bread in a barren land.
One day a large sheet of note paper bearing in beautiful script an invitation to the Americans to attend prayer service for their "martyrs" was brought to the Personnel House at Kaisereyeh. The prayer service was for women only so on the afternoon appointed three of the American women went at the appointed hour to the house designated for the service. There we were received by the hostess and conducted to seats facing the small draped table, at which later the reader would officiate. Ranged about the room were perhaps thirty or forty Turkish matrons and from their bearing it was plainly to be seen that the service was a solemn one for them. Presently there came a tall woman with a beautiful, serene face who took her place at the draped table and laid her Quran thereon. For perhaps an half hour she read, or rather intoned in low, rich chanting voice, passages from the sacred book. I knew too little Turkish to be able to follow very closely the passages she read, but I was told afterward that they were in the nature of praise for the faithful dead and consolation for the living mourners. Several of the women present had lost husband, son or brother in the war which was even then being waged between Turk and Greek. Following the reading a girl of perhaps ten or twelve years old, dressed in white, recited with great fervor and dramatic effect a patriotic poem. She carried a flag in her hand and motioned toward it dramatically from time to time during the recital. Without any understanding of the language the tenor of the recital would have been clearly evident, as was the fervor of the child dramatist and of the group of listening women. The scene was not different in essentials from scenes enacted in our own land on countless occasions during the World War, differing not in essentials from scenes enacted in any land in time of national stress.
At Angora we had the good fortune to be able to visit the Turkish Parliament, the Great Assembly of Anatolia as it is officially designated. It was just after the Greeks had retreated along the Sakaria River from within about eighteen kilometers of the Turkish capital, Angora, back to the railroad at Affium-Kira-hissar. The Turkish General was presenting his report of that battle to his masters, the Great Assembly. It was a most dramatic scene and as the narrative neared its glowing peroration I felt that I was dreaming—surely this was not Turkey nor a Turkish General speaking—surely not! This was some patriot in one of the great nations of the world! Listen! "We are not fighting a civilized nation. We are fighting barbarians. They are the aggressors—they have invaded our homeland and have ruthlessly laid waste the countryside, burning villages and corn and mistreating women and children." At this a low, angry growl from the listening deputies. "Our soldiers are facing a foe many times greater than they in number, but their love for their homeland and their faith in Allah have steeled their arms." Surely this is not the "unspeakable Turk"—the listening deputies, the orator, seem like human beings, actuated by the same motives, experiencing the same emotions that men everywhere experience in such circumstances! Their foes are aggressors and barbarians—they are pure and noble patriots. The same thought, almost the same words, echo in every Legislative Hall in the world when the nation is at war.
And with incident after incident that crowds to my memory of the fervor of
patriotism and of sacrifice which animated the Turkish people during these days of war are coupled almost as many incidents showing their utter weariness of war, of their longing for peace. At Samsoun we were shown a tiny baby that had been left a foundling at the hospital door. None knew whence it came nor of what race, but the nurses took it in and cared for it and now it was thriving as mightily as if it were surrounded by an adoring family. The Turkish doctor had named it and had chosen for the name a Turkish word which means "Peace!"
We were calling one day on a "gentlewoman of the old school." She and her husband had fled from the heat of Kaisereyeh to the hills at Talas and we found her in a room on the upper floor of a little garden house. The windows looked out over a wide, walled garden that must have once been beautiful, but was untended, as most gardens in Anatolia are, now. Our hostess sent the toothless, grinning Armenian servant to fetch us some roses, who, when she returned, lingered in the doorway frankly enjoying the call and the conversation. Our hostess gravely bade me "welcome to our country" and the conversation ranged from the ever-recurrent theme of the midsummer heat through talk concerning the manners and dress of some of the younger women, who were "too a la Franca." "We did not so in my youth!" sighed our hostess. Thus in America we elders speak of the younger generation. Thus everywhere at all times have the elders sighed over the ways of youth. But very soon all pretense of interest in lighter topics was abandoned, and our hostess was speaking of the war, of the suffering and weariness of the Turkish people, of their longing for peace. "Why must it be?" she asked. Then, pointing to the rug at my feet she continued: "In your language how do you name that?" "In our language we say 'rug' or 'carpet,'" I answered. "And in ours," she rejoined, "we say 'kelim,' but we both mean the same thing. So, in our language we say 'Allah,' in yours you say 'God,' yet we both mean the same Person. He is the Father of us all and He never meant us to fight."
We were eight months in the interior of Anatolia and nowhere did I ever meet or see traces of the "terrible Turk" of tradition. I never had any first-hand knowledge of massacres or atrocities. I met and saw groups of deportees—Greeks who were sent back from cities and villages near the battle lines. I saw among them poverty, fatigue, disease—those things which are inseparable from wandering through that primitive land. I was told by many that their women were not sent back, that they accompanied their men of their own choice. With their men gone they would probably find life very difficult, as indeed all races and classes were finding life difficult in that land where continuous war had brought industrial ruin and abject poverty. I do not mean to deny that the Turks have been guilty of barbarities. I testify only to what I saw and heard and know at first hand. I found the Turks very human and wherever I came in contact with them I found them as tolerant and "civilized" as most nations in time of war.
Sometimes when I bear this testimony, as I must do, I am assured that I "have been gulled by the wily Turk." I am told that the courtesy and friendliness which I met everywhere were a mask, that underneath that mask is "fanatical hatred and terrible ferocity." One wonders at a conspiracy so widespread, at acting so perfect, and at why it should be aimed at such obscure persons. But I do not base my opinion of the Turkish people upon their courtesy or their friendliness. I base it upon more convincing evidence, upon the evidence of their own individual personalities. Day after day the Turkish women came to call upon the American women at Kaisereyeh—partly courtesy perhaps, largely curiosity probably—but it brought me into intimate social contact for hours at a time with scores of typical Turkish women of the merchant and official classes and at the Doctor's clinics I saw hundreds of the peasant class. Nowhere in the world have I seen a general level of nobility and serenity of countenance. Faces cannot lie.
When a woman has reached mature years the life she has lived, the thoughts she has cherished, have left an indelible and unmistakable stamp upon her countenance.
In the background of my consciousness persists the thought: "Yet there were Armenian massacres and deportations. No matter what the exaggerations the residual truth is bad, bad, bad. And recently, even under the Nationalists, of whom we hoped so much, there has been Smyrna." Who, then, is to blame?
I am haunted by a phrase imperfectly remembered, and unfortunately I cannot verify it as I write—is it from St. Augustine? Something about those who have unbridled desires being smitten "with certain penal blindnesses." In all nations when those who control the nation's policies have "unbridled desires"—lust for power, for territory, for national aggrandisement, for wealth, for revenge—are they not always "smitten with certain penal blindnesses?" They cannot see, then, that "though they say Allah and others say 'God' they both mean the same Person." They forget, then, that "He is the Father of us all and He never meant us to fight."
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TWO SHINING LIGHTS OF ISFAHAN
By Jenabe Fazel Mazandarani
The following narration is written in the radiant picture language of the Orient by the distinguished Persian historian and philosopher, Jenabe Fazel. The Persian original appears in the Persian section of this issue under the title: A Description of the Two Luminous Lights of The Most Glorious Kingdom, Their Honors, The King of the Martyrs and The Beloved of The Martyrs.
THESE two celebrated martyrs were pure descendants of Mohammed in body and soul. They were two fragrant roses, of beautiful color, from his rose garden and were named after his two grandsons, Hassan and Hussein. Their home was in the city of Isfahan, one of the great cities of Persia. They were distinguished from all others in excellence, popularity and wealth and were two shining stars in the heaven of the Cause of His Holiness Bahá 'Ullah. During the years 1844 and 1845 when dawned the morning of Reality the horizon of their race was illumined with divine lights and was honored and favored with the garment of guidance.
In 1846 His Holiness the Bab, because of the uprising of the learned men, was banished by order of the government from his native town, Shiraz to Isfahan. Then those who were thirsty for the water of knowledge and were seeking after the truths of religion in that city, Isfahan, attained to their wish through meeting His Holiness the Báb and were satisfied.
One night Mirza Ibrahim, the noble father of Hassan and Hussein, invited Bab to his house. Thus that place became illumined with the light of his presence and on that night showers from the clouds of grace and bounty poured
down incessantly and the heavenly banquet descended without interruption. From that time the light of guidance illumined the court of the consciousness of that entire family and they were renowned for their devotion to this Cause and became graceful and fruit-bearing trees in the divine rose garden.
His Holiness Bahá 'Ullah was after this banished from Persia by the order of the government. The blessed party arrived in Bagdad in 1852 and that city was thus for eleven years the dawning point of the light of guidance, the center of the diffusion of truth and the dwelling place of the followers of pure religion and wisdom. During this time it was the privilege of these two brothers to travel from Isfahan to Bagdad. They attained to the meeting and nearness of the Holy Presence (of Bahá 'Ullah) and quaffed for a time from the sweet-flowing, salubrious river of the divine fountain-head. They became intoxicated with the life-giving wine of the love of God, achieved that which they wished and their utmost hopes were realized. They implored the source of favor and bounty that they might attain to the heights of glory and wealth, and this prayer was answered.
When they returned to Isfahan they had become like two falcons with powerful wings soaring to the apex of material and spiritual success. They were as new creations and a wonderful spirit appeared in these holy temples. The light in their faces announced the glad tidings of the bounties and bestowals of God. Their hearts reflected the divine light. Their countenences were radiant and luminous, their characters were like a rose garden, their words gentle and their utterances were full of the precious gems of knowledge and spiritual susceptibilities. They were rich in the wealth of God and independent of all else save Him. In addition to this they attracted attention because of their material wealth. Their resources were plenteous from the business in which they were engaged and great was their reputation. The range of their business was extensive, they were in continual business relations with other cities and the important affairs of their city were entrusted to them. They associated with the leaders, the learned, the influential and wealthy merchants, with the high officials and were sought out by the needy and dependent. They were a refuge to the poor, a shelter for the orphans and widows, a protection for the failing ones, an ample treasury for the needy, a physician's remedy for every sick one and a help to every hungry traveler. They never refused those who asked of them and were the hope of the hopeless. The door of their generosity was always open to every one. For this reason, during the famine of Isfahan these two brothers gave away their wealth and furnished provision for the starving, caring for and saving them from death.
In those days the antagonism of the people to the Bahais was very great. The scholars of Islam called them infidels and sentenced them to death and the government at that time, willingly or unwillingly executed them. Every day news reached the ears of the people of the various methods used in confiscating the property of the Bahais and in murdering and imprisoning them. In this persecution Isfahan led all the cities, a wealthy and powerful Mohammedan Mulla there through his influence and authority causing the murder of a great number of Bahais. One by one he attacked these innocent people, with his claws and teeth tearing and biting the harmless sheep and shedding their blood. For this reason he was named Zi'b, The Wolf, and his son who succeeded him was called The Son of The Wolf. Bahá 'Ullah wrote for the awakening and guidance of this person a long and detailed epistle which is now circulated throughout the world. It is called The Book of the Sheikh and The Epistle of the Son of The Wolf.
The government of Isfahan was at that time in the hands of a cruel and unjust prince who destroyed many lives, confiscated property and seemed to derive special pleasure from the shedding of the blood of the innocent and oppressed. If the injustice and cruelty of this governor were told the narration thereof would fill a large volume.
At such a time as this these two brothers, Hassan and Hussein, opened their home to all the Bahais, fully performing their duties, fearing no one, nay, rather, they were the standard bearers of this blessed Cause in that city and the protectors of the oppressed. Whenever an attack was made by the enemies on any of the innocent they used every possible means to save that one. Their house was looked upon as the center for the Bahais who traveled back and forth and for general meetings. They feared not the hatred of the Mullas nor their public attacks and were so intoxicated with the wine of love and faith that they completely forgot themselves. They seemed not to live on this earth but to be soaring in another, an infinite realm.
When His Holiness Bahá 'Ullah was in Bagdad, these two brothers, longing for martyrdom, sent a petition to him asking that their blood might be shed for the succor of the tree of the Cause of God and that they might ascend to the Kingdom. Indeed, in heart and spirit they had already arrived at their goal and had attained to true martyrdom, which is severance from one's own desire and annihilation in the will of God.
Such was the state of affairs until, in 1878, the great tragedy concerning these two brothers, which is here described, took place.
In the city of Isfahan there lived a wealthy Mohammedan leader. So numerous were his followers and so great was his influence that even the governor, strong and independent though he was, had to defer to him. Bahá 'Ullah called this person The Raksha, that is, snake of beautiful spots with moles full of poison. Raksha owed the two brothers more than twenty thousand dollars and his property was in their control. In this year of 1878 they asked him to settle his account. And then a satanic scheme occurred to him. He determined to do away with them by accusing them of being Bahais. Thus could he escape the paying of his debts and he might, perhaps, even plunder their great possessions. He disclosed, confidentially this wicked plan to Sheikh Zi'b, The Wolf, who responded with the utmost hatred and blood-thirstiness and promised his assistance. Together they resolved to carry out their terrible plan and accordingly called upon the governor and, complaining, said:
"These brothers, because of their high positions and many virtues, are gradually drawing the people into the cause of Bahá 'Ullah and are destroying the religion of Islam. Therefore it is your duty to bestir yourself that we may exterminate them."
The prince at first was delighted, but later he asked to be excused, saying: "No one has ever seen them commit any unseemly deed, nay, rather they are adorned with qualities and deeds which are pleasing to God and His creatures. For what crime could they be punished?"
They replied, "There can be no greater crime than to leave the religion of Islam and take shelter under the shadow of a new religion."
The prince then said, "They are of the descendants of Mohammed and we will be responsible to God."
They answered, "We are willing to accept the responsibility as we will be the true murderers."
Then Raksha, The Snake, he who was so impatient and so anxious to have them killed, placed his hands upon his own neck thus signifying that the responsibility would fall upon him.
The prince said, "These two brothers are actively engaged in business in many cities and it is certain that if such a tragedy were to happen many merchants would suffer loss, their voices would be raised in protest and the Shah might perhaps start an investigation."
They replied, "We assume entire responsibility and will give you a written statement to the effect that we are prepared to answer any question which may be asked by the Shah or by the merchants."
They then gave him a statement in their own handwriting and promised him a large portion of the great fortune which they would appropriate.
The prince at last agreed to their plan and decided to act accordingly. He advised them, however, to keep the matter secret for the time being, and not to let anyone know about it.
When the Mohammedan Christmas, the anniversary of the birthday of the prophet Mohammed, came round it was customary for the people to call upon the governor and the scholars. This year, a large number, of varying rank, including a group of the governor supporters, gathered at that time at the meeting-place of Raksha, The Snake. All their plans were prepared in such fashion that the two brothers upon their arrival would be arrested.
The two younger brothers of the King of the Martyrs went to the meeting. When they were seated and had commenced drinking their tea Raksha began to rebuke them severely, saying, "You are Bahais, infidels, unclean and are leading the Moslems astray." Then he gave orders that the teacups be knocked from their hands and the tea spilled. At this the butlers dragged the brothers to the prince, heaping upon them meanwhile the greatest humiliations.
Not knowing where the eldest and most eminent brother, the King of the Martyrs, might be, Raksha started a search for him. He was at that time at the home of a famous Mulla of the city. This Mulla had the deepest love for him and held in high respect his ideals, his character and his knowledge. The King of the Martyrs on his arrival at the Mulla's home said to him: "Through the intrigues of Raksha and just because of his desire for my possessions a terrible tragedy will occur today. He has made full preparations for my martyrdom."
The Mulla was a near relative of the prince and because of this fact was confident that his home could render protection. Warm-heartedly he said, "I will tell the prince of the intrigues of Raksha and I will never allow any trouble to occur."
By this time Raksha had located the King of the Martyrs and his men, noisily seeking him, had arrived at the Mulla's home. The Mulla instructed his representative to dismiss the men, whereupon they returned to Raksha and informd him of the situation. The Mulla's messenger meanwhile acquainted the prince with what had occurred and insisted that he listen to the advice of the Mulla. Whereupon the prince at once sent his foremost and strongest deputy with more than a hundred heedless ones with strict orders for the arrest of the King of the Martyrs. The deputy gave the Mulla a letter which warned him against protecting the King of the Martyrs and said that dissension among the influential Mullas would lead to terrible results.
When these violent and cruel officers stormed the house the Mulla at last fully realized the state of affairs. Compelled to go to the King of the Martyrs, with the utmost anguish and vehemence he explained the situation, whereupon the King of the Martyrs without grief or agitation but, rather, with supreme joy hastened out of his shelter and to the altar of love. The officers surrounded him as though he were a criminal and dragged him to the governor. While he was being dragged along in that sad and sorrowful state the crowds filled the streets and with their teeth gripped the finger of astonishment and amazement. Some of the people were weeping but the King of the Martyrs was as happy and thankful as though he were about to attend a concert or a delightful musical entertainment.
When the city hall was reached he presented the agent with his watch and some of his handsome clothing and, apologizing, said, "I am at present unable to give you more than this."
As he stepped into the presence of the prince he saw his brother. Suddenly the prince with insolent words commenced to chide and insult him because of his religious belief. But the King of the Martyrs with supreme courtesy said, "Your Excellency, if you but knew what I know you would never utter with your tongue such unbecoming statements and falsehoods."
The prince became very angry at this and with a walking-stick he struck the King of the Martyrs, severely wounding him on head, face and body, insisting the while that he deny and curse the Cause. But the King of the Martyrs held his silence. The Mulla who loved him so much was present and he perceived that his friend's mouth was very dry. He ordered water to be brought, and with the utmost courtesy and gentleness the King of the Martyrs wet his lips. The prince was exceedingly surprised and said to the Mulla, "Strange it is that even under such circumstances as these he shows a refinement and courtesy which are his essential characteristics."
In brief, seeing the strength of the edifice of their faith and the firmness of their stand in their religion the prince in a fury ordered that those two brothers be dragged away by their chains and put in prison and that his plundering servants should strip them of their clothes.
Raksha on his part sent a company of his men to their home. They attacked the women and the little children who were there weeping from fear and distress. They imprisoned them all in one place and for a long time made them to suffer from hunger and thirst. They plundered and confiscated all the money, jewelry and furniture which were in the house. In like manner they went to their store and took everything they could find. The prince also sent a man to the prison to search the pockets of the two brothers and bring him all their checks, notes and receipts. He took all their investments and everything that was deposited in the banks. On that same day he also claimed all their servants, who were many in number.
Now while the two brothers were in prison many telegrams were sent by merchants from different cities to the prince informing him that this disturbance was causing great material losses and was a severe blow to business. The news also came that the Shah, even, had dispatched a telegram ordering that the brothers be sent to Teheran. But greediness for wealth and fear of Sheikh Zi'b, The Wolf, and Raksha, The Snake, finally induced him to put the two brothers to death and let the responsibility fall upon The Wolf and The Snake and falsely to declare that the Shah's telegram was not received until after they had been killed.
The prince all this time persistently urged these two great souls to deny the Cause of God, declaring that to say, even, "We are not Bahais" would be sufficient to save their lives. But each time those two miracles of steadfastness cried out loudly, "Ya Bahá El-Abha!" (O Thou Glory of the Most Glorious!) "Our utmost desire is this, that our lives may be a sacrifice in the path of the love of that Manifestation of Reality and in the spreading of His divine teachings."
At last the prince offered to spare their lives if thirteen thousand dollars were paid to him and he gave permission for the youngest brother, Mirza Ismail, to go and bring the money. But the Sheikh, The Wolf, and Raksha, The Snake, who were anxious to have them killed, on the eighth day of their imprisonment called a meeting and brought together a large number of Mullas and judges. All demanded and insisted that the prince should pronounce the death sentence and declared that they would assume every responsibility, in this world and in the world to come. Whereupon the prince said, "Then you are the murderers," and he instructed the executioner to carry out all the wishes of those two oppressors, at which they ordered the executioner to kill the two brothers immediately.
The executioner with drawn sword appeared in the prison at a moment when the King of the Martyrs was talking to and admonishing his younger brother thus:
"O brother, the original intention of these persecutors was to kill me only. Just say, 'My brother is a Bahai, not I.' Then your life will be spared. After I am killed take care of the family and bring up the wronged little ones."
The Beloved of the Martyrs replied, "O brother, The Beloved One will give
the best of protection to those whom we will leave behind and faithfulness requires that you and I be together in all the worlds of God."
The executioner was one of those who for many years had enjoyed the hospitality and generosity of the two brothers. He begged of them, saying, "Just say a word denying your religion. Then your lives will be saved and I shall not commit so terrible a crime."
The King of the Martyrs answered, "You are under orders and it is your duty to execute them."
So that blood-thirsty oppressor took them to the field of the martyrdom of hope and bandaged their eyes. During a period of about an hour each of them hoped that he might be martyred first and might step out of this world before the other.
The Sheikh, The Wolf, and Raksha, The Snake, meanwhile were strolling upon an elevation, talking to each other exultantly while waiting, watching with cruel hearts that pitiful scene. They signaled the executioner to finish his work; so, as the two brothers embraced one another, calling on the Greatest Name, "Ya Bahá El-Abha!" and offered thanks to God he cut off their heads and stained their blessed bodies with blood and dust. He then tied their feet with a rope and threw the bodies in a public square that the crowds might see them. After this the bodies were taken to a hollow piece of ground under a great wall which had been wrecked in order to conceal the bodies and place them beyond reach.
But in the middle of the dark night the youngest brother, Mirza Ismail, with several of the servants rescued the bodies from under the stones and wreckage and carrying them outside the city washed them at the river's brink, wrapped them in winding sheets and then, summoning grave diggers, and unknown to anyone, asked them to dig two graves in the cemetery. But the grave diggers were afraid, lest The Wolf and The Snake might hear of it. So the two bodies were buried there, in that place, and the men returned to their homes in a panic of fear.
Persecutors and disregarders of truth that they were, those people, especially Sheikh Zi'b, The Wolf, imagined that by the killing of these two great souls the Cause of God would be wiped out and that with the uprooting of these two fruit-bearing trees from the divine rose garden there would remain nor trace nor sign of the Eternal Rose Garden. After this tragedy they ordered detectives to watch for and to kill any Bahais who might come into the city and to inform them if any Bahai meetings were held. They searched, and in vain, to find the graves of the two martyrs in order that they might destroy the bodies.
The patience and fortitude of these great martyrs while enduring calamities and while losing their possessions and their families in the path of His Holiness the Chosen One and their joyful and willing acceptance of ordeals is the greatest proof of the power, influence, greatness and truth of this Cause. Moreover, the mighty influence of this great Cause upon the spiritual training of mankind became clear and evident manifested as it was in these martyrs through their greatness, their important positions, both material and spiritual, and through their cultivation and their severance. In like manner the wickedness of the leaders of the people, their tyranny and selfishness became apparent to every one. Indeed, this great calamity affected not only the Bahais but many of the fanatical people mourned them and paid tribute to them, chanting poems, of which this is one of the verses: "Heaven, perhaps, had none other arrow than this in its quiver!"
Soon after these happenings relations were broken between Raksha and the prince. Raksha fled, and hid himself. After a while, on that place on his neck which he had indicated when he stood before the prince and said, "I am willing to have the responsibility of killing the two brothers fall on my neck," there appeared an abscess, which became so infected and unpleasant that his own
family even avoided him and drove him away from the house to a garden out of the city where finally he died.
Sheikh Zi'b, The Wolf, and The Son of The Wolf suffered humiliation and degradation and became as fruitless and useless trees.
As to the prince, he was driven away by the Shah and was hated by him. He fell into the depths of abasement and finally, expelled by the Persian government, was forced to live an exile from his country. He returned, once, to Persia, in order to live in his native land according to his own desires on the enormous wealth which he had accumulated. But the people prevented this by throwing him in prison and punishing him very severely. In this connection a story may be related:
During the unjust administration of this prince there lived in Isfahan an oppressed Bahai. He was a target for the whip of the Mullas, accused by them of infidelity, and his property was plundered and confiscated. Fearful for his life he concealed himself in places where he could not be found. Once he appealed to the prince, reminding him of the sighs and cries of the oppressed, the broken-hearted and the helpless. He also tried to remind him of his responsibility to God. The prince replied with the greatest arrogance and contempt, saying, "Go to Abdul Bahá and accuse me and let him do with me whatever he can." An insult such as this hurt this broken-hearted Bahai more than anything else. Later on, when the prince was indicted, despised, imprisoned and expelled and was in utter humiliation that Bahai traveled from his distant native town to the prison, met the prince, made himself known to him and reminded him, saying, "Some years ago I spoke to you of my sufferings due to cruelty and oppression and of how all my possessions had been confiscated and I had no place of safety and rest and how I must needs, through fear of my enemies conceal myself every moment. You said to me, 'Go to Abdul Bahá and accuse me.' Though orally I did not accuse you in his presence yet the justice of God requires punishment and reward. For this reason His Holiness Baha 'Ullah said, 'The tent of the order of the world is supported and upheld by two pillars, punishment and reward.' Therefore, whatever has happened is inevitable and ordained."
In a word, those powerful enemies under such conditions passed away from this world and their light became extinguished. But their honors, The King of the Martyrs and The Beloved of the Martyrs, have ignited a light which will shine forever. All the days of their life unto the day of martyrdom the nostrils of the spiritual ones were ever perfumed by their fragrance. During their lifetime they were very prominent, just and happy and were loved by all. Because they held their souls in their hands, sacrificed them in the path of the True Friend and took their stand near to the great mercy in the Abha, Most Glorious Kingdom numerous tablets were revealed from the pen of Bahá 'Ullah concerning their exalted station and the grief of the Supreme Concourse for their ordeals. Such jewels of divine subtleties and infinite favors were revealed that they will remain throughout the everlastingness of the world and the Kingdom. The spiritual titles, The King of the Martyrs and The Beloved of the were granted them, and now, by these merciful names they are well known in the East and the West.
Translated by Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi and Emily Vail.
Note: An evidence of the great love of His Holiness Abdul Bahá for these holy martyrs is the fact that he was the essence of kindness to the bereaved families and cared for the son of the King of the Martyrs, Mirza Jalal, in his own home. Later he gave Mirza Jalal his daughter, Rouha Khanum, in marriage.
MY first practical use of Esperanto was in 1895. Two Esperantists, Mr. Zinovyev, from Kiev, and Dr. Zakrevski, from Poltava, wrote to me with regard to traveling in Finland with as little expense as possible. I was then a young student and owned a bicycle. I suggested to them that they come to Helsingfors, see the town, and then together we might travel on bicycles, which could be hired at a very low rate.
The two Russian Esperantists arrived, with a third companion, an Esthonian, a school teacher. For over a week, during the pleasantest time of the summer in the north, we four toured the southwestern part of Finland. It was most interesting to me to see what in my country was of most interest to foreigners. The life of the farmers, the roads, the houses, etc., were, as I discovered, very different in our two countries. I taught my companions about things in Finland, but at the same time learned from them concerning the ideas, the civilization and the manners of the country from which they came. We used Esperanto only and I must say it was the best language because it was neutral. I was not at all ashamed of my poor skill in the Esperanto language. If we had used, instead, Russian or German or any other language the whole situation and the cordial feelings would have been broken. As it was we were all equal with equal possibilities and we enjoyed ourselves not only in sight-seeing but also in seeing that above nationality and difference in civilization is the humanity of international friendship. Since that time I have had a firm conviction of the value of Esperanto, the language which makes differences of tongue and nationality give place to international learning.
Many tourists make yearly visits to Finland, the land of the thousand lakes and the thousand islands. But a German, an Englishman, a Swede or any other one who tries to find people who talk his language has indeed the feeling that he is a stranger in a strange country. For money he can secure a guide, but this guide, even in the best of cases, will keep himself for psychological reasons at a distance from the stranger and will give his answers without devotion or interest. There is the danger, for the guide, that he might talk too much, and make errors, which might be published later in some book about his country thus making him appear ridiculous. But using a language which is equally foreign and equally easy to all nations puts host and guest upon an equal footing and soon creates a tie which develops quickly into real friendship.
The question is asked: "Is Esperanto easy to understand?" On my way to Japan in December, 1919, I traveled in the express train from Paris to Marseilles with an Italian as companion. He spoke in Italian and I answered in Esperanto. He was astonished to find that he could understand me and asked me what kind of Italian I talked. It was the first time he had met anyone using Esperanto. We had a long discussion, asking many question, and we quickly forgot the passing of time. The Italian said he would learn Esperanto and was more than satisfied with the unexpected
acquaintance and experience which he had had.
In every country there are hundreds and thousands of young people who dream of going abroad and seeing interesting things in far-away countries. But most of them do not have the opportunity to go for traveling is expensive and besides this expense there is something else to be considered, namely, the foreign language. It requires many years of study to acquire a foreign language; but with Esperanto one can now travel in any country. There are very few countries where Esperantists and Esperanto clubs are not to be found. These Esperantists are everywhere. They live in Japan, or Finland, or Turkey, or South America and are most happy to meet you because they have dreamed of seeing for themselves your country and your countrymen. They are more than guides whom a foreign visitor acquires for money. To the Esperantist the "foreign Esperantist" is a personal friend whom he can receive in his own country and home. This means an acquaintance upon a basis of purely human interests, of learning more about the world through personal intercourse rather than by books, and without thought of profiteering. It is an excellent international education on both sides.
I am glad to be able to state that the authorities in Finland, my homeland, have done much for the spreading of Esperanto. The State railways give the Esperanto Association of Finland the right to advertise gratis in all waiting rooms of the Finnish railway stations. The advertisement placard gives the address of the Esperanto office in Helsingfors, the capital of Finland, also the address of the district delegate and of the nearest Esperanto guide. Such Esperanto placards are likewise to be seen in the postoffices of Finland. The Esperantists in Finland offer thus their services gratis to every Esperantist who arrives in Finland and every Esperantist visitor is a welcome guest. Furthermore, the Esperantist Congress held in Helsingfors, August eighth to sixteenth of this year, received from the government the most ample support, the President of the Republic being the High Protector of the Congress, the Cabinet giving fifty thousand marks, the city of Helsingfors ten thousand marks and the railways great reductions, namely, fifty per cent in the ticket price.
Here I must mention the services of Esperanto to me, in Japan. Arriving there in 1920 I was most cordially met ay the Esperantists of Tokyo, and not only in Tokyo but in every part of Japan had I this same experience, for later, visiting Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Sendai and other places everywhere I found the same feeling of friendship and the same eagerness to help and guide a "foreign" Esperantist so closely connected with the "neutral" language, called Esperanto.
Every traveler to foreign countries should think of this—the value of Esperanto. With comparatively little trouble he can learn it and he will then realize the value of the idea which has created this artificial but best way of international approach. Knowing Esperanto he can travel to any country, be well received and heartily greeted in every place where Esperanto is known and, losing nothing of his own nationality and without fear of ridicule because of a poor knowledge of the native languages of the great countries he can carry himself as a living specimen of his own nation. The common interest is the same in all nations—the will to undertsand each other and to learn from each other.
I do not hesitate to say that the time for such "neutral" and really international will to approach each other is now nearer than is supposed and that Esperanto is the language for this purpose.
Note: This article, translated into Japanese, appeared in the August number of "Kaizo", the leading Japanese magazine of Tokyo.
DR. COUÉ AND SPIRITUAL HEALING
TODAY in many circles a most popular topic is the work of the French physician, Dr. Emile Coué, who is teaching a method of induced auto-suggestion for the healing of physical and mental disorders. Dr. Coué repeats to his patients certain affirmations of health, of physical and moral betterment and encourages them to make the affirmations for themselves. Thousands of people we are told are daily reciting his general formula: "Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better." The success of the affirmation depends, he says, upon whether the mind and particularly the unconscious mind believes it. If we can induce an active faith wonderful results will follow. The mind, he teaches, is in its most receptive state just before we go to sleep and just after we awake. Dr. Coué gives his services freely, for the love of serving a distressed humanity, and remarkable cures it is said are effected, especially, we may believe, in functional diseases, those of nervous origin.
Dr. Coué does not as a rule go into the realm of religion. He teaches his patients to rely simply upon the hidden powers of the conscious and unconscious mind.
If faith in one's self can effect such striking cures how much more wonderful would be the results if one trusted in "the ocean" of the "healing power" of the Lord of all the worlds! Our subconscious mind is but a drop; His Being is an ocean: our conscious and unconscious self is a ray; whereas He is the Sun. If our spirit is strengthened when it trusts itself—when it relies upon the powerful and infinite Creator and His Manifestation it may win the faith which moves mountains. Therefore the great spiritual educators have always made a affirmations which turn the spirit to God and His Manifestation and open the door of the soul to the bountics of the Infinite. "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." "The Lord is the strength of my life." "I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me." "It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me."
Some of the Bahai prayers are sublime affirmations, some are petitions in the spirit of radiant faith. When repeated with conscious realization, with joy and spiritual fragrance they "awaken the heart, soul and spirit from the sleep of negligence with the trumpet of knowledge." "The darkness of error, doubt and uncertainty will be dispelled and the lights of knowledge and assurance will encompass all the pillars of existence." "The healer of all thy troubles is remembrance of Me."
Abdul Bahá gives us the following beautiful prayer of affirmation:
"O God, refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou are my guide and my refuge. I will not be sorrowful and grieved any more. I will be a happy and joyful
being. O God, I will not worry any more. I will not let trouble harass me any longer. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life. O God! Thou art kinder to me than myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord!"
These prayers of the Báb are aglow with spiritual dynamic:
"Is there any remover of difficulties but God? Say! Praise be to God! He is God! All are His servants and all are standing by His command."
"In the name of God, the Victor of the Most Victorious, proclaim: God will help all those who arise to serve Him. No one is able to deprive Him of His majesty, His Dominion, His sovereignty for in the heaven and the earth and in all the realms of God He is the Victorious and the Conqueror."
"Say! God sufficeth all things above all things and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent."
PHYSICAL HEALING
Some rules for health, from a Tablet revealed by Bahá 'Ullah.
O God! The Supreme Knower! The Ancient Tongue speaks that which will satisfy the wise in the absence of doctors.
O People, do not eat except when you are hungry. Do not drink after you have retired to sleep.
Exercise is good when the stomach is empty; it strengthens the muscles. When the stomach is full it is very harmful.
Do not neglect medical treatment, when it is necessary, but leave it off when the body is in good condition.
Do not take nourishment except when (the process of) digestion is completed. Do not swallow until you have thoroughly masticated your food.
Treat disease first of all through diet, and refrain from medicine. If you can find what you need for healing in a single herb do not use a compound medicine. Leave off medicine when the health is good, and use it in case of necessity.
If two diametrically opposite foods are put on the table do not mix them. Be content with one of them. Take first the liquid food before partaking of solid food. The taking of food before that which you have already eaten is digested is dangerous. . . .
When you have eaten walk a little that the food may settle.
That which is difficult to masticate is forbidden by the wise. Thus the Supreme Pen commands you.
A light meal in the morning is as a light to the body.
Avoid all harmful habits: they cause unhappiness in the world.
Search for the causes of disease. This is the conclusion of this utterance.
BAHAI PROPHECIES
With the fall of the Sultan of Turkey we realize anew the prophetic power of Baha 'Ullah, and we read again the Tablets which he wrote to the kings inviting them to establish "international peace and the oneness of the human world." God has willed that in this age universal peace must reign, and nothing can withstand the will of God.
Fifty years ago Bahá 'Ullah prophesied the World War, the fall of the kings and the social upheavals which would shake the world. "The events that have transpired," wrote Abdul Baha in 1919, "were all recorded fifty years ago in the epistles of Bahá 'Ullah, epistles which have been printed, published and spread all over the world." In California, in 1912 Abdul Bahá announced that, "We are on the eve of the battle of Armageddon referred to in the
sixteenth chapter of Revelation. The time is, two years hence when only a spark will set aflame the whole of Europe." These things have come to pass.
We now look with joyful anticipation to their prophecies of the future, to that Day of God which they tell us will appear, after these storms are over. Abdul Baha said: "Whatsoever is latent in the innermost of this holy cycle shall gradually appear and be made manifest, for now is but the beginning of its growth and the day spring of the revelation of its signs. Ere the close of this century and of this age it shall be made clear and evident how wondrous was that springtide and how heavenly was that gift." "Universal peace will be established. The oneness of the world of humanity will be established. The teachings of God will be promulgated, one language will be adopted and spread, misunderstandings will pass away, and it will be very good."
Abdul Bahá wrote to a Kurdish friend: "A century will have elapsed from the dawn of the Sun of Truth; then will the teachings of God be firmly established upon the earth and the Divine Light will flood the world from the east even unto the west. Then, on this day, will the faithful rejoice."
Some thirty years ago Dr. Benjamin Jowett, the revered Master of Balliol, Oxford, England, and celebrated translator of Plato, said to one of his fellow professors at Oxford, a Greek scholar at St. Andrew and translator of the Greek tragedies, that he (Dr. Jowett) was deeply interested in the Bahai Movement. This is the greatest light, said Dr. Jowett, that has come into the world since Jesus Christ. Never let it out of your sight. It is too great and too near for this generation to comprehend. The future alone can reveal its import.
To those who are now preparing for Christmas we suggest that a year's subscription to the Star of the West or a bound volume of our Bahai magazine would be a beautiful present to send to a friend. A year's subscription sent as a Christmas gift will mean that each month this Bahai herald will bring to a friend its glad tidings of peace and good-will, its news of world movements and their spiritual meanings, its articles from all lands and religions, its selections from the heavenly teachings—those life-imparting rays of the Sun of Truth which will build a divine civilization and "create men anew." To subscribe to the Star of the West is also a real Christmas present to the Cause of God for, in order to accomplish the glorious service which Abdul Bahá and Shoghi Effendi wish it to achieve in spreading the Glad Tidings the Star of the West needs this year a thousand new subscribers.
Therefore we call attention to our special Christmas offers.
We will be glad to mail to the friend for whom you subscribe, a card, sent at Christmastime, bearing the news that you have sent a five-months' or a year's or a two-years' subscription with your Christmas greetings.
Five months subscription to a new subscriber, $1.00. Two subscriptions to one address, $5.00. Ten subscriptions to one address, $22.00 (in America). Two subscriptions, one to come each month, one to be sent in a bound volurue at the end of the year, $5.50 for the two subscriptions, bound volume in cloth; $5.75 for the two subscriptions, bound volume in leather; postage for bound volume additional. Single copies 25 cents each, or ten copies to one address, $2.00.
صفحه 1 - 3
کسی بمحبس فرستاد و آنچه از اسناد و قبض و برات که در جیب و بغل برادران بود اخذ نمود و نیز باز از آنچه اسناد مطالباتی که نزد صرّافان و غیرهم داشتند بگرفت و حتّی همان روز شتران بارکش مخصوص را که معدودی کثیربودند ضبط نموده مخصوص خودش داشت و در آن مدّتی که ایشان محبوس بودند تجّار بلاد تلگرافهای متعدّده با شاهزاده حاکم مخابره کردند که صدمه ایشان موجب خسارت مالی و ضرّ کلیّ به تجارت و شنیده شد که از طرف شاه نیز تلگرافی به شاهزاده رسید که ایشان را به طهران روانه کند ولی طمع اموال و بیم از عاقبت مخالفت ذئب و رقشاء ویرا بالأخره بر آن داشت که در اعدامشان شتاب نماید و گناه را بتمامه در ذمّۀ ذئب و رقشاء گذارد و وصول تلگراف را بعد از وقوع واقعه اظهار دارد . اگرچه در آن ظرف مدّت چند بار با آن دو بزرگوار اصرار میکرد که تبرّی از امر الهی نمایند و نجات و خلاص یابند و ختّی همینقدر بگویند که ما بهائی نیستیم کفایت خواهد کرد و در هر نوبت آن دو آیت استقامت نداء یا بهاء الابهی بلند نمودند و با آوازبلند گفتند که نهایت آرزوی ما این است که جان خود را در سبیل محبّت آن مظهر حقیقت و نشر تعالیم الهیّه اش فدا کنیم و اخیرا رضا داد که مبلغی گزاف از ایشان بستاند و از تبرّی و قتلشان صرف نظر نماید و مبلغی از آن وجوه مقرّره را که قریب سیزده هزار دلار بود دریافت و برادر کوچکشان میرزا اسمعیل اذن رفتن به بیرون داد که باقی وجوه را فراهم آرد ولی ذئب و رقشاء که در شهادتشان عجلۀ تمام داشتند در روز هفتم حبس مجلسی در محضر شاهزاده گرد آورده و جمعی کثیری از ملاهای اهل فتوی را حاضر نمودند و در آن مجلس شاهزاده را اصرار و ابرام کردند و هر مسئولیّتی را که از هر جهت مترتبّ شود دنیوی و بالضروری در عهده و ذمّه خود قبول کردند و حکم شهادت آن دو برادر بزرگوار را مهر و امضا نمودند آنگاه شاهزاده گفت پس قاتل شماها هستید و به سیّاف امر داد آنچه آن دو ظالم میخواهند مجری دارد و آنان سیّاف را فرمان دادند که در قتلشان عجله نماید
دژخیم با تیغ کشیده بزندان درآمد موقعی بود که برادر مهتر والاگهر به برادر کهتر نصیحت میداد که ای برادر همانا مقصود اصلی این ظالمان من هستم هرگاه تو همین قدر بگوئی بهائی برادر من است و من نیستم نجات مییابی و پس از قتل من اهل و عیال و صغار مظلوم مرا نگاهداری و پرستاری میکنی و او در جواب میگفت که ای برادر آن محبوب یکتا بازماندگان ما را با حسن وجه محافظت مینماید و شرط وفا آن است که ما دو برادر در همه عوالم الهیّه باهم باشیم و سیاف در آغاز از ایشان پوزش خواست چه که سالها از خوان جود و کرمشان متنعمّ و متمتعّ بود و خواهش کرد که کلمۀ تبرّی بگوئید و مستخلص شوید تا من هم مرتکب چنین عمل فظیع نشده باشم سلطان الشهداء باو خطاب کرد که تو مأموری و به تکلیف و وظیفۀ خود مشغول باش لذا آن طالم خونخوار آن دو برادر بزرگوار را به میدان شهادت آورد و چشمهایشان را محکم ببست همینکه میخواست شروع بعمل نماید هر یک از آندو آرزو میکردند که در شهادت پیشقدم گردند و پیش از آندیگر از این جهان بگذرند ولی آن دیگری ممانعت میکرد قریب یکساعت بطول انجامید ذئب و رقشاء که با یکدیگر در محلی مرتفعی قدم میزدند و مسرورند و منتظرانه مکالمه مینمودند و با قلب قسی آن منظره رقتّ انگیز را مینگریستند بسیاف اشاره تاکه کردند که فورا آنعمل بانجام رساند و کار را انجام نماید لذا آن دو برادر را در حالتیکه با همدیگر دست در گردن بودند و به یابهاء الابهی متذکرّ و ذکر الهی را بجای می آوردند سر برید و جسد مبارکشان در خاک و خون غلطید و پس ریمانی به پای ایشان کرد بر زمین کشیدند و در میدانی بینداختند تا انبوه مردم بنگرند و پس از آن محلّ بکشیدند و در زمین بائری زیر دیوار مخروبه میگذارند و آن دیوار عظیم را بر آن دو جسد بیفکندند بنوعی که زیر
صفحه 2 - 3
فشار آن کوبیده و در هم شکسته و پنهان شدند ولی در دل شب تاریک برادر کوچکترشان میرزا اسمعیل باتّفاق چندین از خدّامشان آن جسدهای نازنین را از زیر خاک و خاشاک و سنگ درآوردند و در کنار نهر( زنیره رود ) در بیرون شهر برده شستشو داده کفن نمودند و حفّاران را حاضر کردند که در قبرستان قبری کنده و دفن نمایند ولی حفّاران در بیم و هراس میگفتند مباد کسی آگهی نماید و ذئب و رقشاء مطلعّ گردند تا در آنحال دو قبر حفر کردند آن دو جسد مطهّر را در آن محلّ دفن نمودند و با کمال خوف به منازل خود مراجعت کردند آن ظالمان غافل از حقّ مخصوصا شیخ ذئب را گمان چنین بود که به کشتن این دو بزرگوار مقتدر بر افحاء امر الهی خواهد بود و به قلع و قمع این دو شجره مثمره از بوستان الهی اثر و نشانی از بوستان باقی نخواهد ماند و بعد از آن واقعه جاسوس گماشته بودند که نفسی از بهائیان را مطلعّ گردند که وارد میشدند و یا مجالس ومجامعی و یا ظهور و بروزی است بقتل برسانند و به آخوندهای مدارس و غیرهم تأکید کردند و در جستجو و تفتیش بودند که مدفن آن دو شهید را پیدا کنند تا اجساد را از قبر بدرآورند ولی صبر و تحمّل این دو بزرگوار بر بلایا و گذشتن از مال و عیال در سیل حضرت مختار و و قبول ندا در حالت سرور و بالغة از بزرگترین دلیل بر قدرت و نفوذ و عظمت حقیقت این امر گردید و خصوصا بزرگواری و اهمیّت مقام صوری و معنوی و دیانت و اخلاق و انقطاعشان درجۀ بزرگی و تأییدات قویّه این امر عظیم را در تربیت روحانیّه نوع بشر واضح و عیان نمود و سوء اخلاق زمامداران و ظلم و نفس پرستی آنان را مشهور خاصّ و عام ّ ساخت فی الحقیقه این مصیبت عظمی نه تنها مؤثرّ بر بهائیان بود بلکه کثیری از بیگانگان متعصّب سوگوار و عزادار بودند و بخواندن ابیاتی که یک بیت آن اینست « آسمان گویا جز این یک تیر از ترکش نداشت » مترنمّ گشتند و بعد از آن طولی نکشید که مابین رقشاء و شاهزاده بهم خورد و رقشاء فراری و متواری گشت ویس در آنجای گردنش که دست زده و گفته بود تمام مسئولیّت های شهادت ایشان بر گردنم دوما درآمده و چنان مجروح و متعفّن گشت که بستگانش از او متنفرّ شده او را از خانه خارج و در یک باغی در بیرون شهر گذاردند و بالأخره بهمان درگذشت و شیخ ذئب و ابن الدئب دچار ذلتّ و خواری شدند ومانند شجر بی ثمر عاطل و باطل گشته و شاهزاده پس ازچندی مطرود و منفور پادشاهی شد و در حضیض ذلتّ و هوان مقرّیافت و اخیرا مطرود عموم ملتّ ایران و مجبور به زندگانی در خارج مملکت گشت و نوبتی عزم مراجعت به ایران نمود تا در وطن زیست نماید و از آن ثروت باهظه که بهر نوعی خواست جمع کرد ایّامی براحت بگذراند ملتّ ممانعت کردند و محبوسش ساختند و به اشدّ سختی و خواری با وی معامله کردند در این موقع مناسب است این حکایت مذکور آید یکی از بهائیان مظلوم اصفهان که در ایّام حکومت مستبدّه همین شاهزاده دچار تازیانه تکفیر ملای ها و یغما گردید و از خوف و خطری که برای او بود در خفایا و زوایا پنهان میشد نوبتی شکایت به شاهزاده مزبور برد و او را به تذکرّ به دود آه مظلومانه قلب سوخته و این ذوحنین بی پناهی داشت و مسئولیّت درگاه الهی را بخاطرش آورد شاهزاده در جوابش بکمال استکبار و تمسخر عتاب که برو شکایتم را نزد عبدالبهاء بکن آنچه میتواند در حقمّ مجری دارد این عتاب و سرزنش قلب محروق آن بهائی مظلوم را بیش از هر چیز بسوخت تا پس از سالها که شاهزاده محکوم و منفور و محبوس ملتّ در سرحدّ مملکت بود و ممنوع از دخول به وطن خود و در نهایت رذالت و خواری زیست میکرد آن شخص بهائی از موطن بعید بآن محبس در آمده و شاهزاده را ملاقات و خود را معرّفی نمود و مشارالیه را یاد آور شد که در فلان سنه موقعی که به تو شکایت از مظالم و و ستمهای وارده که تمام اموالم را یغما کردند و جای امن و راحتی ندارم و هر آنی از خوف اعدا متواری هستم بمن گفتی که شکایت به عبدالبهاء نما و من در ظاهر شکایت بحضورش نبردم ولی مقتضای عدالت الهیّه مجازات و مکافات است چنانچه حضرت عبدالبهاء فرموده است :
خیمۀ نظم عالم به دو ستون قائم و برپا مجازات و مکافات » لذا وقوع آن محتوم ولاریب فیه میباشد باری آن اعداء مقتدر باین احوال از جهان درگذشتند و چراغشان خواموش گشت ولی حضرت سلطان الشهداء و محبوب الشهداء چراغی روشن کرده اند الی الابد روشنائی میدهد و عطر خوش از ایّام حیاتشان تا یوم شهادتشان ساطع که همواره مشام روحانیان را معطرّ سازد حضرت بهاء الله الواح و عنایات و القاب ملکوتی سلطان الشهداء و محبوب الشهداء را به آندو عنایت فرمودند که حال بآن دو نام رحمانی مشهور در شرق و غرب آفاق میباشند
صفحه 1 - 2
نهاد و مشار الیه بابراز کمال عداوت و خونخوارگی خود وی را باتّفاق و همدردی خویش امیدوار ساخت و بعزم واحد بر این عمل شیخ مصمّم شدند و متّفقا با شاهزادۀ حاکم ملاقات کرده و مهر از این راز مکتوم برداشتندو عنوان نمودند که اینان بواسطۀ اهمیّت مقام و محبوبیّت عامّه و خصائل حسنه ئی که دارند مردم را متدرّجا بامر حضرت بهاء الله جلب و جذب مینمایند و اسلام را از میان میبرند لذا وظیفۀ شما اینست که قیام کنید تا ایشان را قلع وقمع کنیم شاهزاده در ابتدا تابی نمود و به عذرهای چند متعذّر گشت اوّلا اینکه کسی از ایشان عمل نالائقی ندیده بلکه بخصائل و اعمالی که مرضی خدا و خلق است آراسته اند پس بچه جرمی توان ایشان را معرّف داشت در جواب گفتند که هیچ جرمی اعظم از خروج از ربقۀ اسلام و ورود در ظلّ امر جدیدی نیست و این مسئولیّت درگاه خداوندی دارد در جواب گفتند که جواب آن را با ما و ضرر آن در گردن ما چه که قاتل حقیقی ما هستیم و رقشاء که دل بی صبر و قراری در شهادت آنان داشت دست بگردن خود گذاشت اشاره باینکه من مستحل تر آنروز میشوم شاهزاده گفت ثالثا ایشان طرف حساب با تجّار بلاد بودند و البّته این واقعه موجب خسارت تجّار و ارتفاع صدای آنان میشود و شاید شخص شاه بازخواست نماید جواب دادند که ما مسئولیّت را بتمامها در گرفته و سند کتبی میدهیم که جواب تجّار و شاه را خودمان بدهیم لذا بخط خودشان سند سپردند و شاهزاده را تطمیع کردند که از اموال فراوان ایشان نصیب وافری برای او خواهد شد از اینرو شاهزاده نیز با آنان همراز و دمساز گردید و متّفقا مصممّ بر این عمل گشتند و مقرّر داشتند که عجالتا مطلب را مکتوم بدارند که احدی از آن مطلعّ نشود تا آنکه روز مولد حضرت محمّد که عید میعاد است رسیده و عادة مردم بملاقات حاکم و علما میروند در محضر رقشاء جمعیّت معظمی از طبقات مختلفۀ مردم حاضر بودند دسته ئی از عوانان شاهزاده حاکم نیز حاضر و مهیّا و اوضاع را نوعی مرتبّ کرده بودند که چون آن دو برادر حسب الرسم بملاقات رقشاء بیایند آنان را خوار و دستگیر نمایند آن روز اتّفاقا برادر کهتر محبوب الشهداء با برادر کوچکترشان بآن محضر وارد شدند و در اثنائی که نشسته و مشغول به شرب چای بودند رقشاء بنای توبیخ شدید میگذارد که شما بهائی و کافر و نجس و مضلّ مسلمانان هستید و حکم داد که ریختند و ظرفهای چای را از دستشان گرفته دور انداختند و آن دو برادر را جمع فرّاشان شاهزاده حاکم بکمال توهین بمحضرش کشاندند ولی چون رقشاء از برادر مهتر والاگهر سلطان الشهداء خبر نداشت جمعی را به تجسّس و تفحّص گماشت تا خبر رسید که معظمّ له در خانه یکی دیگر از ملاهای مشهور بلد میباشد لذا جمعی از عوانان خود را برای دستگیر کردن ایشان به خانۀ عالم مذکور ارسال داشت ولکن آن عالم کمال دوستی با سلطان الشهداء داشت و خوشنود از افکار و اخلاق و معارفش بود و کمال احترام و مراعات مینمود و ایشان نیز لدی الورود باو گفته بودند که امروز واقعۀ هائله ئی بدسیسۀ رقشاء محض طمع باموال من واقع خواهد شد برای شهادت من تهیّه حکم دیده است عالم مذکور بواسطۀ تقرّب و خویشی که بشاهزاده داشت و از این رو مطمئن بود ایشان را در خانۀ خود مأمن مقرّر داشت
صفحه 2 - 2
و با دگرمی تمام اظهار نمود که من شاهزاده را از دسیسۀ رقشاء اطلاع خواهم داد و نخواهم گذاشت مکروهی واقع شود در این اثناء همهمۀ جوانان رقشاء که بطلب آیشان آمده بودند شنیده شد عالم مذکور به گماشتگان خود سپرد که آنان را جواب یأس دادند لذا آنان مراجعت به رقشاء کرده و شرح ماجری گفتند و او شاهزاده را از ماوقع اخبار و به شه عالم مذکور اصرار نمود شاهزاده فورا یکی از بزرگترین گماشتگان شدید خود را با متجاوز از صد تن از غافلان مخصوص بخانۀ مشار الیه بدستگیری سلطان الشهداء حکم اکید داد و مکتوبی به عالم مذکور نوشت و او را تحذیر نمود که حمایت ننماید چه که مخالفت تصمیم و اتّفاق اینچنین ملاهای متنفذ الکلمه عاقبتی بس وخیم دارد و چون آن مأمورین غلاظ و شدّاد بآن خانه سرازیر می شدند و عالم مذکور تفصیل را دانست ناچار بکمال حزن و حسرت نزد سلطان الشهداء واقعه را اظهار داشت ایشان بی حزن و ملال بلکه با کمال خرسندی از مأمن بیرون دویدند و بسوی قربانگاه عشق شتافتندو آن عدّه مأمورین وی را مانند مجرم شدید التقصیری احاطه نمودند و بمحضر حاکم کشیدند در آن حالت حزن و حسرت انگیز که ایشان را میبردند انبوه مردم در کوی و برزن برآمده و انگشت حیرت و عبرت بدندان میگزیدند و برخی میگریستند ولی خودش چندان شادمان و سپاس گویان بود که گویا به بزمگه عیش و سرور میرفت و چون به قرب سرای عالی حکومتی رسیدند در محضر ناس ساعت و بعضی ملبوسات ثمینه خود را بهمان گماشته شاهزاده بذل و بخشش نمود و لب بعذر گشود که حال بیش از این مقدورم نبود و چون وارد در محضر حکومت شد برادر او را آنجا مشاهده کرد شاهزاده حاکم بمجرّد حضورش با او بنای معاتبه را گذاشت و راجع بامر عقیده و ایمانش توبیخ و زشتگوئی آغاز نمود ایشان با کمال ادب اظهار داشتند که حضرت والا اگر شما هم میدانستید آنچه را من میدانم ابدا چنین سخنان نالایق و کلمات ناصواب بر زبان نمی آوردید از این سخن شاهزاده سخت در غضب شد و با سیلی و چوبدست سر و صورت و بدنش را ضرب شدید و جرح نمود و سخت گرفت که از امر الهی تبرّی نماید و کلمات ناشایسته گوید ایشان سکوت اختیار کردند و شاهزاده سخت در غضب بود آن عالم سابق الذکر محبّ ایشان حاضر بود چون دید از شدّت عطش زبان در کامشان خشکیده فرمان داد آب حاضر کردند ایشان آب را گرفته و با کمال ادب کام و لبی تر نمود شاهزاده در کمال حیرت و تعجّب بآن عالم گفت عجب است که حتّی در چنین حالتی از ادب و اخلاق حسنه ئیکه شعار ایشان است دست بر نمیدارند باری چون چنان استواری در بیان ایمان و پای فشاری در کیش و آئین را مشاهده کرده باهمۀ خشم فرمان داد تا آن برادران را در مجلس سخت در بند زنجیر گران کشیدند و فرّاشان یغماگر لباسهایشان را درآورده ربودند و از آن سو رقشاء گروهی از گماشتگان خود را بفرستاد که در خانۀ ایشان ریختند و اهل و عیال و اطفال صغار را که در حال خوف شدید و اضطراب و گریه بودند باجبار سخت در نقطۀ مجتمع و محصور بعوانان نموده و مدّتی آنان را گرسنه و تشنه در آن حال نگاه داشتند تا آنچه از نقود و جواهر و اثات البیت بود تالان و تاراج کردند و بعد بحجرۀ تجارتشان رفته آنچه یافتند بدر بردند و خود
نجم باختر
جلد 13 . شماره 9
سلطان الشّهداء و محبوب الشهداء
شرح احوال نورین نیّرین ملکوت ابهی حضرت سلطان الشهداء و محبوب الشهداء اثر خامۀ فیلسوف رحمانی حضرت فاضل مازندرانی
صفحه 1 - 1
شهیدین شهیرین روحا و جسما از سلالۀ طاهرۀ محمّدی و دو گل خوشرنگ معطرّ از بوستان احمدی بودند و نام دو حفید شهید آن حضرت حسن و حسین را داشتند و مولد و مسکنشان مدینۀ اصفهان از بلاد معظمّۀ ایران بود و در شرافت و عزّت و ثروت ممتاز از همگنان و در سماء امر حضرت بهاء الله دو کوکب درخشان بودند در اثناء سنه 1844 و سنه 1845 که صبح طلوع فجر حقیقت بود افق این دودمان به انوار الهیّه منوّر و بخلع هدایت مزیّت و اختصا ص یافتند و در سنه 1846 که حضرت باب بعلتّ ضوضاء علماء اسلام و حکم حکومت از موطن خود مدینۀ شیراز خارج و به اصفهان ورود نمودند و تشتگان سلسبیل معرفت و طالبان حقایق دیانت در آن مدینه به لقاء ان حضرت به مقصود فائز و سیراب میگشتند والد ماجدشان میرزا ابراهیم شیرازی شبی آن حضرت را بخانۀ خویش دعوت نمود و کلبه را بانوار قدومش منوّر ساخت در آن شب امطار سحاب فیض و عطا لازال هاطل و موائد سماویّه اش پیوسته نازل بود و از آنگاه انوار هدایت ساحت ضمیر آن عائله را متدرّجا بتمامه روشن فرمود چنانچه بانتساب باین امر مشهور و در بوستان الهی نخل باسق و شجر بارور بودند و پس از آنکه حضر ت بهاء الله حسب حکم و تبعید حکومت ایران از آن مملکت سرگون و مرکب مبارک در سنه 1852 در بغداد نزول اجلال نمود و دوازده سنه آن مدینه مطلع انوار هدایت و مرکز نشر حقیقت و مرجع صاحبان دیانت و درایت بود نوبت آن دو برادر متعا از اصفهان به بغداد سفر نمودند و اوقاتی چند به پیشگاه حضور مثول و بجنّت وصل و لقا وصول یافتند و از نهر عذب سائع جاری از چشمۀ الهی نوشیدند و از بادۀ جانبخش محبّت الله سرمست گشتند و آنچه را خواسته یافتند و به منتهی آمال خود کامیاب شدند و از محضر فضل و عطا ارتقاء و بمعارج عزّت و ثروت را رجا نمودند و بعزّ قبول و استجابت فائز گشتند و چون مراجعت باصفهان کردند مانند دو شاهباز با دو جناح قوی باوج ترقیّ ملکی و ملکوتی در پرواز بودند خلق جدیدی مشاهده میشدند و روح بدیعی در آن هیاکل مقدّسه جلوه داشت وجوهشان مستبشر به نعم و آلاء الهی بود و قلوبشان بجلای انوار سبحانی صورتی متلألاء و روشن و اخلاقی مانند گلشن لسانی شیرین و بیانی فصیح و دلنشین مخزن فکر و قلب مملو ازجواهر ثمینۀ معرفت و احساسات روحانی غنی بغناء الله و مستغنی از ماسواه و معذلک در ثروت مادیّه نیز مشار بالبنان شدند و در تجارت که اشتغال داشتند مکنت و دولت از هر جهت متواتر و متوالی رسید چنانکه جاه و جلال و ثروت فراوان حاصل و دستگاه مشاغل وسیع و روابط تجارت بسائر مدن متواصل و مرجع مهام امور بلد و بارکان و اعاظم از علماء متنفذ و تجّار متموّل و اعیان دولت در مراوده و مرابطه و طرف احتیاج و اعتماد و ملاحظه بوده اند و در عین حال جناب ایشان ملجاء فقرا بود و ملاذ ایتام و ارامل دستگیر هر افتاده ئی بود و گنج فراوان برای هر قصیر در تامه ئی طبیب هر مریضی بودند و مجیر هر مسافر بی زاد و توشه ئی هرگز سائلی را محروم نمینمودند و محلّ امید هر مأیوس بودند باب جود و کرمشان
صفحه 2 - 1
بر روی هرکس مفتوح بود چندانکه در سنۀ قحطی در اصفهان رخ داد این دو برادر خلق گرسنه را به بذل مال و جمع آوردن آذوقه و بخشیدن بهر کسی نگاهداری نمودند و از هلاکت رهائی دادند و با آنکه در آن ازمنه هیجان تعصّبانه مردم هیجان تعصبانه مردم برضدّ بهائیان بسیار شدید بود و ملاهای متنفذ اسلام هی حکم تکفیر و قتل میدادند و حکومت وقت نیز طوعا ام کبرها اجراء مینمود و هر روز اخبار انواع و اقسام قتل و یغما و اسر بهائیان بمسا مع عالمیان میرسید بالاخص اصفهان که از این جهات در صف اوّل بلاد بود چنانچه در آن مدینه یکی از ملاهای کثیرالقول شدید النفوذ اسلام بکرّات و مرّات بافتاء و اغواء موجب قتل عدّۀ کثیری از این طائفه گشت و مانند گرکی که برّه گان بی آزار را یکایک برباید و چنگ و دندان بخونشان بیالایدخون جمعی بی گناهان بریخت از اینر ویراذئب خواندند و حال او و پسرش که بعد از او جای ویرا گرفت بنام ذئب و ابن ذئب مشهور و رسالۀ مشروح معظمی از حضرت بهاء الله که بعنوان تنبّه و هدایت او صادر اکنون در همه جهان بنام کتاب شیخ یا رسالۀ ابن الذئب معروف است و نیز حکومت اصفهان در تصرّف خودسرانه پادشاهزاده مستبدّ ظالم متهوّر آن طمعکاری بود که نفوس کثیره ئی را بلاجرم معدوم نمود و و اموال بیجایی را ربود و گویا از ریختن خون مظلومان و ستم بربی گناهان لذتّی مخصوص میبرد و اگر شرح جور و ستم همین عالم وحاکم تنها نوشته شود کتابی ضخیم و حجیم گردد در چنین روزگاری دو برادر مزبور در خانۀ خود از برای عموم بهائیان بازداشته و در اجرای وظائف بهائیّت خویش دمی کوتاهی نکرده و خوف وهم از احدی نمینمودند بلکه علمدار این امر مبارک در آن مدینه و حامی مظلومان بودند و هرگاه از جمع دشمنان حمله و هجوم بر یکی از این مظلومان میشد ایشان بوسائل متنوّعه حمایت و سعی در نجات میکردند و بالجمله خانه ایشان مرکز ذهاب و ایاب مسافرین بهائی و محافل و مجامع مرجع شمرده میشد و ابدا خوف و هراساز عداوت ملاها و هجوم عامّه ناس نداشتند و چنان سرمست باده محبّت و ایمان بودند که خود را بکلیّ فراموش کردند و گویا در زمین نبودند بلکه در فضای بی پایان دیگری در پرواز بودند چنانچه عریضه ئی بحضور حضرت بهاء الله در ایّام توقفّ مبارک در بغداد عرضه داشتند و آرزوی شهادت و ریختن خونشان را برای نموّ شجرۀ امرالله و صعود بملکوت الله نمودند و فی الحقیقه در عالم جان و فؤاد بمقام شهادت حقیقی یعنی انقطاع از اراده و میل خود و فناء در ارادۀ حقّ رسیده بودند که آرزومند این شهادت گشتند. باری حال بر این منوال میگذشت تا در سنه 1878 که واقعۀ هائلۀ عاجیبۀ آن دو برادر واقع شد و شرح آن اینست که در همان مدینۀ اصفهان یک پیشوای اسلامی شدید النفوذ کثیر التموّلی بود که از کثرت اتباع و شدّت نفوذش شاهزاده حاکم مستقل مقتدر نیز ملاحظه داشت مشارالیه که حضرت بهاء الله ویرا رقشاء (مار خوش خط و خال پر زهر) خواندند طرف محاسبۀ یا آن دو برادر بوده و املاکش در سرپرستی ایشان واقع و متدرّجا مبالغ کثیری که شاید قریب بیست هزار دالر میشد از او طلبکار شدند و در سنۀ مذکور مطالبۀ دیون را خواستند پیشوای مزبور را خیالی شیطانی بنظر آمد و مصممّ شد که آنان را بجرم انتشار امر الهی را از میان بر دارد و از اداء دیون مذکوره سر باز زده دست تعدّی باموال باهظۀ ایشان دراز نماید لذا این فکر شیطانی خویش را با شیخ ذئب سابق الذکر در میان
