The Chosen Highway/Visit to Shíráz

The Chosen Highway by Lady Blomfield

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[Page 71] THE SPOKEN CHRONICLE

of

Munírih Khánum,

wife of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,

the Greatest Branch

of the

Tree of Life. [Page 72] One night during dinner, Mírzá Ibráhím turned to the Báb and said “My brother, Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, has had no children. Bless him, I entreat Thee, and grant unto him his heart’s desire.”

The Báb took a portion of the food with which He had been served, placed it in a platter, and handed it to His host, saying “Take this to Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí and his wife. Let them partake of this food; their wish shall be fulfilled.”

By virtue of that portion which the Báb had bestowed upon her, the wife of Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí conceived, and in due time gave birth to a child, who eventually was joined in wedlock with the Most Great Branch, and therefore became the consummation of the highest hopes of her parents.

Nabíl: The Dawn-breakers.

* * *

“The next event in the order of time was the arrival of Munírih Khánum, who was destined to become the loving wife, the staunch helpmate, the adoring friend of the Master.

“She is a majestic woman, stately yet simple, with an innate dignity and strength of character.”

Lady Blomfield.

[Page 73] Munírih Khánum, as the writer knew her, in the first days of mourning for the beloved Master's passing—wiping away the tears of the sorrow-stricken friends, which poured afresh as they came into her presence, comforting them with her love, whilst her own grief was infinitely greater than theirs.

The wonderful, the perfect wife!

The devoted, the Holy Mother, not only to her own daughters and their children, but to all the friends who came to Haifa!

She has a most beautiful voice, and her eyes are large, dark, still, with a serenity in their depths that holiness alone can give.

She lives in Heaven, whilst she is on earth, and, like Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf, she takes upon herself the burden of everybody's trouble.

These two saints, who lived so near their sacred Beloved Ones, whilst they sojourned in this world, and whose whole happiness lay in ministering to them!

Munírih Khánum would sometimes, at my desire, tell me of the events of her marvellous life, which I will try to write down from the notes I made at the time.

First of all it is needful to understand that none of the ladies of the holy household, Asíyih Khánum, the wife of Bahá’u’lláh, Bahíyyih Khánum, their lovely daughter, Munírih Khánum, the Holy Mother, and the four daughters of the Master, have ever bemoaned the difficulties of their daily lives. The conditions of suffering in all the prison period called forth a superhuman patience and self-sacrifice in trying to mitigate the misery of their fellow-exiles.

The fortitude of these gentle ladies never wavered in face of incredible hardships—endured for others' good—in that sorrow-laden time, when the days lengthened out into years of privation, where the simplest comforts of life were lacking.

Radiant acquiescence met all the incredible vicissitudes of the life in ‘Akká, from their arrival in 1868 to the release of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá forty years later. [Page 74] None of these difficulties seemed to them worthy of being remembered; they were all a matter of course, even as the air they breathed; it never occurred to them to mention them; it is only by inference that we have a glimpse into the depths of the pain which has been theirs, which has made up their laborious days.

Upheld by that holy preoccupation of the spirit, its courage and its joy, they are calm and loving to all, yet aloof, dwelling consciously in that "Peace which passeth understanding" in the presence of God, in Whose path all the sufferings and persecutions, heaped upon them by uncomprehending persons, count as less than nothing.

It is this attitude of theirs, this spirit, which is more arresting, more amazing, than the mere events; this spirit it is that gives the great significance, which envelops all the episodes and incidents of their existence with its radiant atmosphere.

We stand, trying to absorb something of its all-pervading influence, and gaining an inkling of the inadequacy of every kind of worldly plan with which men think to accomplish the Coming of the Kingdom, without seeking first this spirit.

If we do not realize somewhat of this attitude of the beloved ladies, we cannot but fail to grasp the meaning of the following events as told by Munírih Khánum, the Holy Mother. [Page 75]

CHAPTER I Visit to Shíráz

If I were to tell you all the vicissitudes of my journey from Isfahan to ‘Akká, you would be able to fill a large book with them alone. Therefore I will limit the story to my visit to Shíráz.

Always before my mind is the evening of our arrival in Shíráz the Dayspring of the Light of God—the birthplace of His Holiness the Báb.

My feelings of exaltation were indescribable. The whole air seemed to be full of the sweet songs of glad tidings, to which I listened with joy; all my soul and spirit vibrated to the voiceless sounds of the music I heard that day.

I was taken to the Khán (a sort of hotel), in which there is a part reserved for ladies.

Some of the Afnán* family came to welcome me, and cordially invited me to their houses. I went to the house of Siyyid Muḥammad, uncle of the Holy One. So dainty was the room, it seemed like a guest chamber in Paradise.

The ladies of the house consisted of the daughter of Siyyid Muḥammad and two daughters-in-law; they were not absolutely Bahá’ís, though interested in the Cause.

Therefore I thought it wise not to confide to them my destination.

After our ablutions, and when we had all joined in chanting the sunset prayer, they, being pleased that I had stood and prayed with them, questioned me.

"Where are you going? Is it to some far distant country?"

"I am going to the Holy Land."

"Because your love for God is so great, therefore are you journeying to the Holy Land?"

The collateral relations of the Báb and their descendants are called "Afnán." It is a sort of surname. [Page 76] Now the Holy Land was to them Mecca, the place of pilgrimage of Islám, and Bahá’u’lláh had directed us to journey through this Holy Place on our way to ‘Akká.

When one of the ladies said to me: "The widow of the Báb will come to visit you in the morning," I was so moved that my tears flowed, and my heart was full.

Oh to see the wife of the Báb!

We greeted each other meaningly; I saw that she knew my journey’s aim and end.

She took me to her home.

"I will first take thee to the room where He was born."

This room was kept sacred.

Here the dear Khadijih Khánum embraced me, and gave way to her heart’s sorrow. I wept with her; my soul seemed filled with her sorrow, yet this sorrow was mingled with the joyful songs of the Glad Tidings, those which I had heard at the sunset hour of my arrival.

Dear, dear lady, how beautiful she was, even then, with her dark hair and eyes, lovely still for all their weeping, and her soft, creamy skin.

She took me to the house of the martyred uncle of the Báb, he who had cared for Him, and brought Him up from the time when, His father having died, His widowed mother brought Him to live with her at her brother’s house.

Khadijih-Sultán-Bagum’s eldest sister was the wife of this uncle. She was now growing old, and had suffered terribly; all the more terribly because she had not been able to share in the joy of the Glad Tidings of the Coming of the Herald of "Him Whom God shall make Manifest," nor to understand that the Great One also had come. She was firmly attached to the orthodox ordinary Muslim religion, notwithstanding the martyrdom of her husband and his holy nephew.

She moaned "Why should religion cause so much bloodshed? Surely it should be a cause of peace. I am perplexed and distressed, and my heart is full of sorrow."

I tried to help her, I longed to do so. Being a stranger, she listened to me. I chanted some prayers, and she wept, but understood not at all.

This condition of mind was very usual amongst those Persians [Page 77] who, far from being enemies, were kind and good, but whose eyes had not been opened.

Whilst she talked, Khadijih-Bagum was silent. Then I said, "Please tell me of the childhood of the Báb, what thou rememberest of Him."

Gently she spoke: "The child came to us when He was four years old. From the first He was quite different from other children, so wise and gentle and serene. When He was seven years old He was taken to the school of Shaykh ‘Abid.

"The schoolmaster came to my husband and said:

"“The fees thou givest for teaching ‘Ali Muḥammad I can only accept as a present. He has no need of my teaching!

"“For instance, I said to him ‘Repeat this verse of the Qur’án after me.’

"“I wish first to know the meaning, then I will repeat it unto thee.”

"“I said to Him ‘No, Thou say it first, then its signification will be told unto Thee.’

"‘He amazed me by saying, “I, then, will explain it to thee.”

"“The verse was “He is the All-knowing.” His explanation of this was so marvellous that I was profoundly impressed.’ (Shaykh ‘Abid became a believer in the Báb.)"

"Now, Khadijih-Bagum, tell me, I pray thee, some of the many things thou must remember of Him."

"We were three sisters; our father was the least prosperous of the great-uncles of my Beloved. We were far from being wealthy when we married, as the world counts wealth. Therefore there I was little joy amongst our relations and friends at our union. But this was of no importance to us; the memory of my dream of two years before was always with me, and filled the time of my engagement with great happiness.

"I will tell of that dream, should you desire to hear it.*

"Whilst the Báb was at Búshihr, I again dreamed a dream:

"I saw Him in an attitude of prayer, His vesture was marvellous and beautiful, embroidered with fine needlework, and round its borders were written, in gold and in silver, verses from the Qur’án. The radiance of a sacred light shone round Him.

• This dream is related on page 14, Part I.

[Page 78] "When I told my sisters of this dream, they also recognized the truth that "He must be the Chosen One!"

I tarried with Khadijih-Bagum for twenty-one days of joy and wonderment.

She told me of those sad days, when He was in prison. How that she was full of anxiety, longing for news of Him. She was very closely watched-none of the friends were permitted to visit her. Very rarely would one of them, disguised as a beggar, succeed in reaching her door, bringing her such news as he had been able to gather. But this took place, oh! so seldom, and her lonely days dragged on, full of an anxious uncertainty as to His fate.

At length the devoted uncle, the father by adoption of the dear young husband, left Shíráz secretly to try if haply he could find out where they had imprisoned Him; perchance, with great care and trouble, he might even be able to discover some means of seeing Him.

Alas! never did he arrive, for he was arrested in Tihrán, and went to his cruel death, one of the "Seven Martyrs."

Such a spirit of ecstasy and devotion did they show, chanting prayers and smiling with joy in the faces of their torturers, that all were amazed.

But their praise to God never wavered, that they were counted worthy by Him to attain the Crown of Martyrdom.

When at length the terrible story of the martyrdom of her husband came, even her mother, who had been staying with her in her isolation, was taken away from her, so that Khadijih-Bagum had no earthly comforter in this time of anguish.

During my visit to Shíráz, I seemed to be all ears, so eagerly did I listen to the stories of those days when agony and joy, the depths of earthly agony, and the height of sacred joy were the only companions of this dear, gentle lady, at that time little more than a girl, so young was she. [Page 79]

VISIT TO SHÍRÁZ

She gave me two supplications to convey to Bahá’u’lláh, for she knew that it was to Him I was journeying.

One was to pray that the two families, the Afnán (relations of herself and of her husband the Báb) and the family of Bahá’u’lláh should be united in marriage.

The other was that she might receive permission to make the pilgrimage to ‘Akká.

Bahá’u’lláh granted both her wishes.

The first came to pass when my eldest daughter, Diyá Khánum, married Aqá Mírzá Hádí, one of the Afnán, again when Ṭúbá Khánum married Aqá Mírzá Muḥsin, respectively grandson and son of the brothers-in-law of the Báb, therefore also one of the Afnán.

How I longed to take Khadijih-Bagum with us, my brother and me, to ‘Akká, but the journey, we knew, would have been too unsafe, as well as too wearisome for her.

So we left her with great sorrow and weeping, never were we to meet again on this sad earth.

Some time afterwards a party of pilgrims were starting from Yazd on a pilgrimage to ‘Akká. They arranged to go by way of Shíráz, so that she might journey with them.

This plan gave her the utmost happiness, and she made ready for the great pilgrimage with much joyful looking forward.

Alas! the conditions at Shíráz became so increasingly dangerous that the Yazd pilgrims were obliged to give up their intention of passing through that town.

They managed with difficulty to get a letter taken to hersaying:

"To our regret and sorrow, we are compelled to go to that place without thee, but we will send one of the Afnán as thine escort, to the place where it is thy desire to be."

Thus the bitter disappointment came to her; but in a life filled with all possible griefs, sorrows, and sufferings this was to be the last, for, when the letter arrived, she was so distressed that she fell ill, and, chanting:

"We are from God and to God do we return. "Praise be unto Him for the Coming of His Great Day, and for all the glory of my life,"

her gentle spirit returned to its celestial shelter.