HE Bab, in anticipation of the approaching hour of His affliction,
had dispersed His disciples who had gathered in Chihriq and awaited with calm
resignation the order which was to summon Him to Tabriz. Those into whose custody
He was delivered thought it inadvisable to pass through the town of Khuy, which
lay on their route to the capital of Adhirbayjan. They decided to go by way of
Urumiyyih and thus avoid the demonstrations which the excited populace in Khuy
were likely to make as a protest against the tyranny of the government. When the
Bab arrived at Urumiyyih, Malik Qasim Mirza ceremoniously received Him and accorded
Him the warmest hospitality. In His presence, the prince acted with extraordinary
deference and refused to allow the least disrespect on the part of those who were
allowed to meet Him. On a certain Friday when the Bab was going
to the public bath, the prince, who was curious to test the courage and power
of his Guest, ordered his groom to offer Him one of his wildest horses to ride.
Apprehensive lest the Bab might suffer any harm, the attendant secretly approached
Him and tried to induce Him to refuse to mount a horse that had already overthrown
the bravest and most skilful of horsemen. "Fear not," was His reply. "Do as you
have been bidden, and commit Us to the care of the Almighty." The inhabitants
of Urumiyyih, who had been informed of the intention of the prince, had filled
the public square, eager to witness what might befall the Bab. As soon as the
horse was brought to Him, He quietly approached it and, taking hold of the bridle
which the groom had offered Him, gently caressed it and placed His foot in the
stirrup. The horse stood still and motionless beside Him as if conscious of the
power which was dominating it. The multitude that watched this most unusual spectacle
marvelled at the
No sooner had the Bab left the bath than the
people of Urumiyyih rushed to take away, to the last drop, the water which had
served for His ablutions. Great excitement prevailed on that day. The Bab, as
He observed these evidences of unrestrained enthusiasm, was reminded of the well-known
tradition, commonly ascribed to the Imam Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, which
specifically referred to Adhirbayjan. The lake of Urumiyyih, that same tradition
asserts in its concluding passages, will boil up, will overrun its banks, and
inundate the town. When He was subsequently informed how the overwhelming majority
of the people had spontaneously arisen to proclaim their undivided allegiance
to His Cause, He calmly observed: "Think men that when they say, `We believe,'
they shall be let alone and not be put to the proof?"(1)
This comment was fully justified by the attitude which that same people assumed
towards Him when the news of the dreadful treatment meted out to Him in Tabriz
reached them. Hardly a handful among those who had so ostentatiously professed
their faith in Him persevered, in the hour of trial, in their allegiance to His
Cause. Foremost among these was Mulla Imam-Vardi, the tenacity of whose faith
no one except Mulla Jalil-i-Urumi, a native of
The tales of the signs and wonders which the
Bab's unnumbered admirers had witnessed were soon transmitted from mouth to mouth,
and gave rise to a wave of unprecedented enthusiasm which spread with bewildering
rapidity over the entire country. It swept over Tihran and roused the ecclesiastical
dignitaries of the realm to fresh exertions against Him. They trembled at the
progress of a Movement which, if allowed to run its course, they felt certain
would soon engulf the institutions upon which their authority, nay their very
existence, depended. They saw on every side increasing evidences of a faith and
devotion such as they themselves had been powerless to evoke, of a loyalty which
struck at the very root of the fabric which their own hands had reared and which
all the resources at their command had as yet failed to undermine. Tabriz, in particular, was in the throes of
the wildcat excitement. The news of the impending arrival of the Bab had inflamed
the imagination of its inhabitants and had kindled the fiercest animosity in the
hearts of the ecclesiastical leaders of Adhirbayjan. These alone, of all the people
of Tabriz, abstained from sharing in the demonstrations with which a grateful
population hailed the return of the Bab to their city. Such was the fervour of
popular enthusiasm which that news had evoked that the authorities decided to
house the Bab in a place outside the gates of the city. Only those
On the second night after His arrival, the
Bab summoned Azim to His presence and, in the course of His conversation with
him, asserted emphatically His claim to be none other than the promised Qa'im.
He found him, however, reluctant to acknowledge this claim unreservedly. Perceiving
his inner agitation, He said: "To-morrow I shall, in the presence of the Vali-'Ahd,(1)
and in the midst of the assembled ulamas and notables of the city, proclaim My
Mission. Whoso may feel inclined to require from Me any other testimony besides
the verses which I have revealed, let him seek satisfaction from the Qa'im of
his idle fancy." I have heard Azim testify to the following:
"That night I was in a state of great perturbation. I remained awake and restless
until the hour of sunrise. As soon as I had offered my morning prayer, however,
I realised that a great change had come over me. A new door seemed to have been
unlocked and set open before my face. The conviction soon dawned upon me that
if I were loyal to my faith in Muhammad, the Apostle of God, I must needs also
unreservedly acknowledge the claims advanced by the Bab, and must submit without
fear or hesitation to whatever He might choose to decree. This conclusion allayed
the agitation of my heart. I hastened to the Bab and begged His forgiveness. `It
is a further evidence of the greatness of this Cause,' He remarked, `that even
Azim(2) should have felt so
exceedingly troubled and shaken by its power and the immensity of its claim.'
`Rest assured,' He added, `the grace of the Almighty shall enable you to fortify
the faint in heart and to make firm the step of the waverer. So great shall be
your faith that should the enemy mutilate and tear your body to pieces, in the
hope of lessening by one jot or tittle the ardour of your love, he would fail
to attain his object. You will, no doubt, in the days to come, meet face to face
Him who is the Lord of all the worlds, and will partake of the joy of His presence.'
These words dispelled the gloom of my apprehensions. From that day onward, no
trace of either fear or agitation ever again cast its shadow upon me."
The detention of the Bab outside the gate
of Tabriz failed to allay the excitement which reigned in the city. Every measure
of precaution, every restriction, which the authorities had imposed, served only
to aggravate a situation which had already become ominous and menacing. Haji Mirza
Aqasi issued his orders for the immediate convocation of the ecclesiastical dignitaries
of Tabriz in the official residence of the governor of Adhirbayjan for the express
purpose of arraigning the Bab and of seeking the most effective means for the
extinction of His influence. Haji Mulla Mahmud, entitled the Nizamu'l-'Ulama',
who was the tutor of Nasiri'd-Din Mirza the Vali-'Ahd,(1)
Mulla Muhammad-i-Mamaqani, Mirza Ali-Asghar the Shaykhu'l-Islam, and a number
of the most distinguished shaykhis and doctors of divinity were among those who
had convened for that purpose.(2)
Nasiri'd-Din Mirza himself attended that
| gathering.
The presidency belonged to the Nizamu'l-'Ulama', who, as soon as the proceedings
had begun, in the name of the assembly commissioned an officer of the army
to introduce the Bab into their presence. A multitude of people had meanwhile
besieged the entrance of the hall and were impatiently awaiting the time
when they could catch a glimpse of His face. They were pressing forward
in such large numbers that a passage had to be forced for Him through the
crowd that had collected before the gate. Upon His arrival, the Bab observed that
every seat in that hall was occupied except one which had been reserved
for the Vali-'Ahd. He greeted the assembly and, without the slightest hesitation,
proceeded to occupy that vacant seat. The majesty of Hisgait, the expression
of overpowering confidence which sat upon His brow--above all, the spirit
of power which shone from His whole being, appeared to have for a moment
crushed the soul out of the body of those whom He had greeted. A deep, a
mysterious silence, suddenly fell upon them. Not one soul in that distinguished
assembly dared breathe a single word. At last the stillness which brooded
over them was broken by the Nizamu'l-'Ulama'. "Whom do you claim to be,"
he asked the Bab, "and what is the message which you have brought?" "I am,"
thrice exclaimed the Bab, "I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose
name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose |
 |
 |
mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person." No one ventured to reply except Mulla Muhammad-i-Mamaqani, a leader of the Shaykhi community who had been himself a disciple of Siyyid Kazim. It was he on whose unfaithfulness and insincerity the siyyid had tearfully remarked, and the perversity of whose nature he had deplored. Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunuzi, who had heard Siyyid Kazim make these criticisms, recounted to me the following: "I was greatly surprised at the tone of his reference to Mulla Muhammad, and was curious to know what his future behaviour would be so as to merit such expressions of pity and condemnation from his master. Not until I discovered his attitude that day towards the Bab did I realise the extent of his arrogance and blindness. I was standing together with other people outside the hall, and was able to follow the conversation of those who were within. Mulla Muhammad was seated on the left hand of the Vali-'Ahd. The Bab was occupying a seat between them. Immediately after He had declared Himself to be the promised One, a feeling of awe seized those who were present. They had dropped their heads in silent confusion. The pallor of their faces betrayed the agitation of their hearts. Mulla Muhammad, that one-eyed and white-bearded renegade, insolently reprimanded Him, saying: `You wretched and immature lad of Shiraz! You have already convulsed and |
"The Nizamu'l-'Ulama' uthought it best to
challenge His Mission openly. `The claim which you have advanced,' he told the
Bab, `is a stupendous one; it must needs be sup
"He then repeated the same-words He had uttered,
to which Mulla Muhammad raised again the same objection. Shortly after, another
person ventured to put this question to the Bab: `To which tense does the word
Ishtartanna belong?' In answer to him, the Bab quoted this verse of the Qur'an:
`Far be the glory of thy Lord, the Lord of all greatness, from what they impute
to Him, and peace be upon His Apostles! And praise be to God, the Lord of the
worlds.' Immediately after, He arose and left the gathering."(2)
The Nizamu'l-'Ulama' was sorely displeased
at the manner in which the meeting had been conducted. "How shameful," he was
heard to exclaim later, "is the discourtesy of the people of Tabriz! What could
possibly be the connection between these idle remarks and the consideration of
such weighty, such momentous issues?" A few others were likewise
The persistent denunciations of that evil
plotter excited the apprehensions of the authorities of Tabriz. Those who held
the reins of power in their grasp took counsel together as to the most effective
measures to be taken to resist the progress of His Faith. Some urged that in view
of the marked disrespect which the Bab had shown to the Vali-'Ahd in occupying
his seat without his leave, and because of His failure to obtain the consent of
the chairman of that gathering when He arose to depart, He should be summoned
again to a like gathering and should receive from the hands of its members a humiliating
punishment. Nasiri'd-Din Mirza, however, refused to entertain this proposal. Finally
it was decided that the Bab should be brought to the home of Mirza Ali-Asghar,
who was both the Shaykhu'l-Islam of Tabriz and a siyyid, and should receive at
the hands of the governor's bodyguard the chastisement which He deserved. The
guard refused to accede to this request, preferring not to interfere in a matter
which they regarded as the sole concern of the ulamas of the city. The Shaykhu'l-Islam
himself decided to inflict the punishment. He summoned the Bab to his home, and
with his hand eleven times applied the rods to His feet.(1)
That same year this insolent tyrant was struck
with paralysis, and, after enduring the most excruciating pain, died a miserable
death. His treacherous, avaricious, and self-seeking character was universally
recognised by the people of Tabriz. Notoriously cruel and sordid, he was feared
and despised by the people who groaned under his yoke and prayed for deliverance.
The abject circumstances of his death reminded both his friends and his opponents
of the punishment which must necessarily await those whom neither the fear of
God nor the voice of conscience can deter from behaving with such perfidious cruelty
towards their fellow men. After his death the functions of the Shaykhu'l-Islam
were abolished in Tabriz. Such was his infamy that the very name of the institution
with which he had been associated came to be abhorred by the people. And yet his behaviour, base and treacherous
as it was, was only one instance of the villainous conduct which characterised
the attitude of the ecclesiastical leaders among his countrymen towards the Bab.
How far and how grievously have these erred from the path of fairness and justice!
How contemptuously have they cast away the counsels of the Prophet of God and
the admonitions of the imams of the Faith! Have not these explicitly declared
that "should a
From Tabriz the Bab was taken back to Chihriq,
where He was again entrusted to the keeping of Yahya Khan. His persecutors had
fondly imagined that by summoning Him to their presence they would, through threats
and intimidation, induce Him to abandon His Mission. That gathering enabled the
Bab to set forth emphatically, in the presence of the most illustrious dignitaries
assembled in the capital of Adhirbayjan, the distinguishing features of His claim,
and to confute, in brief and convincing language, the arguments of His adversaries.
The news of that momentous declaration, fraught with such far-reaching consequences,
spread rapidly throughout Persia and stirred again more deeply the feelings of
the disciples of the Bab. It reanimated their zeal, reinforced their position,
and was a signal for the tremendous happenings that were soon to convulse that
land.
No sooner had the Bab returned to Chihriq
than He wrote in bold and moving language a denunciation of the character and
action of Haji Mirza Aqasi. In the opening passages of that epistle, which was
given the name of the Khutbiy-i-Qahriyyih,(1)
the Author addresses the Grand Vazir of Muhammad Shah in these terms: "O thou
who hast disbelieved in God and hast turned thy face away from His signs!" That
lengthy epistle was forwarded to Hujjat, who, in those days, was confined in Tihran.
He was instructed to deliver it in person to Haji Mirza Aqasi. I was privileged to hear the following account
from the lips of Baha'u'llah while in the prison-city of Akka: "Mulla Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Zanjani,
soon after he had delivered that Tablet to Haji Mirza Aqasi, came and visited
me. I was in the company of Mirza Masih-i-Nuri and a number of other believers
when he arrived. He recounted the circumstances attending the delivery of the
Tablet, and recited before us the entire text, which was about three pages in
length, and which he had committed to memory." The tone of Baha'u'llah's reference
to Hujjat indicated how greatly pleased He was with the purity and nobleness of
his life, and how much He admired his undaunted courage, his indomitable will,
his unworldliness, and his unwavering constancy.
