Translation of French Foot-Notes of the Dawn-Breakers/Chapter II

CHAPTER II

Page 23, Note 5 The Báb, in the “Dala’il-i-Sab‘ih,” refers to Mullá Ḥusayn in these

terms: “You, especially, know who is the first witness of that faith. You ‘

know that the majority of the doctors of the Shaykhi and the Siyyidiyyih and other sects admired his science and his talent. When he came to Iṣfahán the urchins of the town cried out as he passed, ‘Ah! Ah! a ragged student has just arrived!’ But behold! This man by his proofs and arguments convinced a Siyyid, one known for his proven scientific knowledge, Muhammad-Baqir! Truly that is one of the proofs of this Manifestation, for after the death of the Siyyid, this personage went to see most of the doctors of Islam and found Truth only with the Master of Truth. It was then that he attained the destiny which had been determined for him. In truth the people of the beginning and of the end of this Manifestation envy him and will envy him until the Day of Judgment. And who then can accuse this master-mind of mental weakness and infidelity?” (“Le Livre des Sept Preuves,” translated by A. L. M. Nicolas, p. 54.)

Page 24, Note I

The Báb in this connection reveals the following in the “Dala’il-iSab‘ih”: “That which he was still saying at the time of his last journey, that which you, yourself, have heard, is it not being spoken of ? And likewise the account of Mirza Muhammad-i-Ak_hbari which ‘Abdu’l-Husayn-iShushtari relates? Mirza Muhammad-i-Alghbari, while at Kazimayn, one day asked of the venerable Siyyid when the Imam would manifest himself. The Siyyid looked over the assembly and said: ‘You will see him.’ Mulla Muhammad-Taqiy-i-Haravi also related this incident in Iṣfahán.” (“Le Livre des Sept Preuves,” translated by A. L. M. Nicolas, p. 58.)

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[Page 5]TRANSLATION OF FRENCH FOOT-NOTES

Page 34, Note I

A. L. M. Nicolas quotes in Chapter 3 of his “Essai sur le flgaylghisme,” II, p. 43, the following extract from the Sharh-i—Qasidih of Siyyid Kzizim: “I have announced that every hundred years there are a chosen few who spread and sow the precepts which explain that which is lawful and that which is unlawful; who tell of the things that were hidden during the hundred preceding years. In other words, in every century a learned and perfect man is found who causes the tree of religious law to revive and bloom; who regenerates its trunk to such an extentthat at last the book of Creation comes to its end in a period of twelve hundred years. At that moment, a certain number of perfect men will appear who will reveal certain very intimate things which were hidden. . . . Therefore, when the twelve hundred years will have been completed, when the first cycle is ended, which depended upon the appearance of the Sun of the Prophet and of the Moon of the Viléyat, then the influence of that cycle is ended and a second cycle begins in which the intimate precepts and hidden meanings of the former cycle are explained.” He himself then adds these words: “In other words, and in order to render clearer this amazing statement which truly needs no interpretation, Siyyid Kazim tells us that the first cycle which lasts twelve hundred years is solely for the education of the bodies and of the spirits which are dependent upon them. It is like a child in the womb of the mother. The second cycle is for the education of the pure spirits, the souls which have no relation to the world of matter. It is as though God wished to elevate the spirit by means of the performance of its duty in this world. Therefore, when the first cycle is completed, the glory of which is the name of Muhammad, comes the cycle of the education of the intimates. In this cycle the appearances obey the intimates, just as in the preceding cycle the heavenly name of the Prophet, which is Ahmad, is the place of the appearance, the Master: ‘But this name must necessarily be found to be of the fruit of the best soil and of the purest air.’” Nicolas further adds in a footnote the following words: “The name of Ahmad mentioned above would lead one to believe that it refers to _Sfiay_kl_1_ Ahmad, but one cannot say, however, in speaking of Lahca, that it is the best of lands, or of the purest air. We know, on the contrary, that all the Persian poets sing the praises of Shíráz and of its ideal climate. It is only necessary to see what Shayl_<_h Ahmad himself said of his country.”

Page 37, Note I

A. L. M. Nicolas, in his “Essai sur le Shayl<__h_isme,” II, pp. 29-30, describes the event as follows: “It was in the year 12 58 (1842) that this event took place, on the day of

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[Page 6]SUPPLEMENT TO THE DAWN-BREAKERS

the Feast of Qadr. The armies of Baghdad, under the leadership of Najib Pasha, took possession of Karbila whose inhabitants they massacred and whose rich Mosques they pillaged. About nine thousand people were killed, the majority of whom were Persians. Muhammad Shah was seriously ill at the time of this disaster and therefore his officials had kept the news from him.

“When the Sháh heard later on of these events, he grew furiously angry and swore fierce vengeance, but the Russian and English representatives intervened in order to quiet things. Finally Mirza ]a ‘far Khan Mu$iru’dDawlih, on return from his ambassadorship at Constantinople, was sent to Erzeroum there to meet the English, Russian and Ottoman delegates.

“Having arrived at Tabríz, the Persian plenipotentiary fell ill and Haji Mirza Aqasi appointed in his place Mirza Taqi _I{_han-i-Farahani, Vazir Nizam: this man appeared in Erzeroum with two hundred officers.

“The Turkish delegate was Anvar Effendi who showed himself both courteous and conciliatory, but one of the men of the Amir Nizam committed an oflense against the Sunnite religion; the population then attacked the camp of the Ambassador, two or three Persians were killed, everything was pillaged and the Amir Nizam was saved only through the intervention of Badri Pasha. '

“The Turkish Government expressed regret and paid -an indemnity of I 5,000 tumans.

“In his Hidayatu’t-Talibin, Karim Khan asserts that during the sack of Karbila, the victorious troops respected the homes of the §hayk_his. All those, he said, who sought refuge in them were saved,.together with many precious objects which were gathered there. None of the companions of Siyyid Kazim were killed, while those who had sought refuge in the holy sepulchres were massacred without mercy. It is said that the Pasha entered on horseback within the sacred precincts.”

Page 38, Note I

A. L. M. Nicolas, in his “Essai sur le Shay1_<hisme,” II, pp. 6o—6I, gives the following extract from the writings of Siyyid Kazim: “You have understood, I think, that the religious law and the precepts of morality are the food of the Spirit. It is then necessary that these religious laws be diverse; it is necessary that sometimes the older regulations be annulled; it is necessary that these precepts contain some things which are doubtful and some things which are certain; some things general and some things specific; some things absolute and some things finite; some of appearances and some of inner realities, so that the child may reach adolescence and may be perfect in his power and his capacity.

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[Page 7]‘TRANSLATION OF FRENCH FOOT-NOTES

“It is, at that time, that the Qa’im will appear and after his manifestation the length of his days will come to an end and he will be martyred, and when he is martyred, the world will have reached its eighteenth year.”

Page 45, Note I

“Karim Khan, regarding the taking of Karbila, speaks emphatically of the respect which the attacking troops showed to the &ay1<_l_1_is and to Siyyid Kazim-i-Rashti. He declares, without the least hesitation, that it is very likely that Siyyid Kazim was poisoned in Baghdad by this infamous Najib Page’; Who, he says, gave him a potion to drink which caused such intense thirst that it brought about the death of Siyyid Kazim. It is thus that the Persians record history!” (A. L. M. Nicolas’ “Essai sur le Shayl_(_l;isme,” II, pp. 30-31.)

Page 45, Note 2

“He was buried behind the window in the corridor of the tomb of the Lord of the Confessors. This tomb was built on an incline toward the interior of the forbidden precincts."

Page 46, Note I

“During the lifetime of Siyyid Kazim, the doctrine of the fihaykhis spread over all Persia so well that in the Province of ‘Iráq alone «there were more than a hundred thousand murids.” (:7oumal flsiatique, I 866, tome 7,

p- 463-)

Page 46, Note 9.

“Here ends the history of the establishment of fihayflism, or at least of its unity, for, after the death of Siyyid‘ Kazim-i-Rashti, it became divided into two branches. One branch, under the name of Babism, flowered as foreshadowed by the strength of the movement created by §_llay_l_(_l_1 Ahmad, thus fulfilling the expectations of the two masters, if one may believe their predictions. The other, under the leadership of Karim _Khan-i-Qajar—iKirmani, will continue its struggles against the Shiite sect, but will always seek security in affecting the outer appearance Iflna-‘As_l_1_arisme. If, according to Karim Khan, the Báb and his followers are infamous and impious, for the Babis, Karim _I§_llan is the Anti-Christ or Dajj al foretold by Muhammad.” (A. L. M. Nicolas’ “Essai sur le Shay_l_<_hisme,” II, p. 31.)